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This Week in Comics: 11/18/2009

Comic books. They’re lovely, aren’t they? The interaction of words and pictures, the way they’re considered sub-literate so reading them is borderline rebellious.

Welcome to This Week in Comics, where every day is a comic book. And only some days are sh*tty.

MONDAY – First Issues

Nola #1

(Chris Gorak/Pierluigi Cothran/Damian Couceiro)

BOOM! Studios

I read Nola last week and it has the potential to be pretty awesome–a pulpy revenge tale set in post-Katrina New Orleans. If it stops being as decompressed as the first issue and really amps up the revenging upon The Man, then I’ll declare it Comic of the Year. Unless I remember other things I loved more.

TUESDAY – New Manga Day

Oishinbo Volume 6: The Joy Of Rice/Black Jack Volume 8

(Tetsu Kariya/Akira Hanasaki)(Osamu Tezuka)

Viz Entertainment/Vertical

Cooking manga! Why do you appeal to me so? If I had more money I’d buy every volume of Oishinbo as it comes out. Especially this new volume, which is about one of my favorite foods: rice. Stop looking at me like that.

Originally, I was going to cover the new volume of Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, but it turns out an actual Tezuka book is coming out this week (sorry Naoki). Black Jack, research tells me, is a superhumanly talented “medical mercenary” who accomplishes amazing feats of surgery for the highest bidder. If House is a medical mystery, then Black Jack is a medical thriller.

WEDNESDAY – Mainstream Superhero Stuff

The Authority: The Lost Year #3 (Of 12)/The Flash: Rebirth #5 (of 6)

(Keith Giffen/Darick Robkertson/Trevor Scott)/(Geoff Johns/Ethan Van Sciver)

Wildstorm/DC Comics

The theme for superhero books this week is “things we totally forgot about. Grant Morrison and Gene Ha did two pretty good issues of The Authority and gave up after reading the reviews. Keith Giffen and Darick Robertson came in to pick up the slack and now the rest of the series is finally coming out. Three years later. Maybe Wildstorm can hire J.M. Dematteis and Rags Morales to finish up the contemporaneous Grant Morrison/Jim Lee WildC.A.T.S. series that didn’t get past the first issue.

Now for Flash: Rebirth, which was overshadowed by that Blackest Night crossover. Yes, Internet: a Geoff Johns event book managed to overshadow another Geoff Johns event book. That’s what bad timing looks like. How will the quality compare? I dunno. I hated the previous issues of Flash: Rebirth.

THURSDAY - Not Quite Friday, but Still Exciting

Dr. Horrible (one-shot)

(Zack Whedon/Joëlle Jones)

Dark Horse Comics

Who doesn’t love Dr. Horrible? The internet series had geek hero Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris, who continues to subvert any expectation we ever had of him. The music is great, the ending is heartbreaking, and it’s all incredibly funny. Now there’s a comic and Joss Whedon’s brother is writing it. And dig that ultra-exaggerated Fillion on the cover. This one’s a keeper.

FRIDAY – TGICNV

Cowboy Ninja Viking #2

(AJ Lieverman/Riley Rossmo)

Image Comics

I LOVED the first issue of Cowboy Ninja Viking. It delivers on its ridiculously self-aware premise and has a fine amount of violence and a final page reveal that had me giggling. Hopefully the second issue won’t disappoint. Even if it does, I still have the wonderment of Issue 1 to calm me down.

SATURDAY – Afternoon Reading

Runaways: Homeschooling (hardcover)

(Kathryn Immonen/Sara Pichelli)

Marvel Comics

Oh, Runaways, how you had diminished since Brian K. Vaughan left you. All the tension and surprise that defined you seemed to disappear when Joss Whedon and Terry Moore came in to handle you–which is surprising because both of them are incredibly talented creators. Still, something was missing, and it seemed like Kathryn Immonen was set to revitalize the book, but then it got put on hiatus, presumably coming back in time for the movie. At least you can read the hardcover of the last run of Runaways and see what could have been, or what might continue to be in a year or so.

SUNDAY – Last Issues

Dominic Fortune #4 (of 4)

(Howard Chaykin)

MAX/Marvel Comics

My life also needs more Howard Chaykin in it. So does yours. Just look at it. He’s got a swanky costume and he’s aiming a pistol on every cover. This is a comic I need to catch up on. I’ll have to save up for those American Flagg! Collections, too. You should follow suit.