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This Week in Comics: 04/12/10

Whatever happened to power pop? I look at Pitchfork’s reviews all the time but everything is Atlas Sound and other bands that push the boundaries of what a hipster can pretend to enjoy until he has to enjoy it ironically. I’m not very old, but the other day I’ve noticed that a lot of my new music listening choices does not feature the lovely combination of synthesizers and guitars. Is it too much to ask for a bit of Ozma?

The other day on my radio show I scoured the library for CDs that looked like fun power pop type stuff because sometimes a man just needs hooks in his life. I guess, according to what I found, the peak for this kind of music was in the early 2000s when Weezer was just coming back, but surely there are still some good power pop bands in the world.

Good thing there’s a New Pornographers record coming out soon.

So welcome to This Week in Comics, where I happen to have a lot to say about comics this week for some reason.

MONDAY

First Issues

Cold Space #1

(Samuel L. Jackson/Eric Calderon/Jeremy Rock)

BOOM! Studios

You know the drill: Samuel L. Jackson probably sort of came up with the plot and Eric Calderon and Jeremy Rock did all the work making the comic. That can be okay if the comic’s good. Cold Space looks a sci-fi noir kind of thing, so it could be a fun romp.

TUESDAY

New Manga Day

Dogs: Bullets & Carnage Volume 3

(Shirow Miwa)

Viz Media

For the sheer sake of generalizing, there are two major manga/anime stereotypes: the cute shojo romance story (for girls) and the futuristic urban sword and guns action book (for boys). Dogs certainly sounds like the latter, with talk of dystopian futures and people using guns and swords to fight, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Could be a fun romp (yes, I know I’m repeating myself).

WEDNESDAY

Mainstream Superhero Stuff

Flash #1

(Geoff Johns/Francis Manapul)

DC Comics

When it comes to Geoff Johns, I take a strictly indie kid opinion on his work: his old stuff was better. One of those old things was his run on The Flash with Scott Kolins. It was a fun superhero comic about Wally West, his supporting cast, and the rogues gallery that incessantly give him a reason to run around real fast. It was the kind of superhero book you didn’t need to read 12 other books at the same time to understand.

Now that he’s back on The Flash, I’m curious how Johns will fare. His original run was written before he became the guy that runs the DCU, but now he’s got all the toys he could possibly ask for (including a bunch of the ones that were previously broken) I can see this book being total rubbish with too many speedsters and too much continuity porn. We’ll see.

THURSDAY

Not Quite Friday, but Still Exciting

Forgetless #4 (of 5)

(Nick Spencer/Jorge Coelho/Marley Zarcone)

Image Comics

Nick Spencer is, like, the MAN right now: three indie books out via Image Comics and Platinum Dunes is producing a film based on on his Existence 2.0 series. And I don’t think the guy’s ever done work for the Big Two. That’s really f*@king impressive and I can only hope that my seething jealousy propels me to a similar superstardom. Half-kidding.

Forgetless, as I’ve said before, is the kind of book I’m hardwired to like: it’s got cute girls and shooting and hipsters and awesome art. My favorite part is that it’s part Tarantino-esque (which I say for the sake of being understood) high-concept hitman story and part indie comics cool kid slice-of-life hangout comic. I will be very sad when it ends.

FRIDAY

TGIT(hose Hyper-Talented Twins)

Daytripper #5

(Gabriel Bá/Fábio Moon)

Vertigo/DC Comics

The other day I was reading the twins’ De: Tales in a laundromat and struggling not to cry at the emotional truth (and fantastic art) of their stories. In a laundromat, mind you. Their stories are quaint even when there’s fantastic stuff going on, as in Daytripper, where it’s not yet clear what’s going on in the story (to spoil any of it for you would be a disservice), but each issue is fairly self-contained.

This issue’s about our protagonist at 11 years old and finally discovering the world outside his house, which should be incredibly powerful.

Good thing I still have clean underwear, or there might be a scene at the coin laundry.

SATURDAY

Essential Reading

BodyWorld

(Dash Shaw)

Pantheon

F*@k yes: Dash Shaw is an amazing comicker and Pantheon is publishing his webcomic BodyWorld (http://www.dashshaw.com/bodyworld.html) as a hardcover graphic novel. Which I’m totally going to buy when I have the money.

For those of you who don’t know Dash Shaw and are afraid of real comics, go buy Marvel’s Strange Tales #1 (or the hardcover collection, I don’t care) and read his Dr. Strange story. Then go buy BodyWorld and enjoy the bizarre story of a botanist who discovers a plant that gives the user telepathy when smoked.

Did I mention that BodyWorld is part high school drama? And that it takes place in the year 2060? Again, I say: f*@k yes.

SUNDAY

There are no last issues this week, so zeroth issues it is

Brightest Day #0

(Geoff Johns/Peter J. Tomasi/Fernando Pasarin)

DC Comics

The cover we’re posting is not the actual cover, by the way — unless it is, in which case David Finch has gotten real lazy. Oh, yeah, this is also David Finch’s debut as a DC Comics-exclusive artist. He doesn’t do the interiors, but he’ll be drawing lots of covers to trick you into buying the book before he starts his first actual DC project. If you like his art. If you ask me, it’s too Image Comics-y for my taste.

As for what’s inside the book, I’m a bit excited to see what Brightest Day entails after the insane end to Blackest Night. Chances are it will be about as interestingly terrible as Blackest Night, so let’s look forward to that.

By Danny Djeljosevic