This Week in Comics: 04/19/2010

In 2009 Blur reformed after kind of going on hiatus a bit after releasing 2003’s brilliant Think Tank which is perfect night driving music. They played a few shows during the summer (Hyde Park, Glastonbury), and called it quits again. On April 17, 2010 Blur released a 7” single called “Fool’s Day” completely out of nowhere. And it’s pretty good. Funny that they say they’re recording an album and decide to break up, but then they reform, break up again, and then release a single. Of course, these are the same boys who created Britpop and quickly abandoned it to be indie art-rockers.

Welcome to This Week in Comics, where every day is a comic and you can download “Fool’s Day” for free at http://blur.co.uk

MONDAY

First Issues

DV8 Gods & Monsters #1 (of 8 )

(Brian Wood/Rebekah Isaacs)

Wildstorm/DC Comics

Brian Wood doing a superhero comic? That hasn’t happened in a looong while. Back when he did superhero comics he was a relative newbie and Warren Ellis collaborator, and now he’s doing a comic that Warren Ellis created. Peachy keen!

Dv8, under Ellis’ original 8-issue run, was a very Warren Ellis concept: superpeople using their powers for purely selfish reasons. They were major assholes, and I only hope Wood continues the tradition.

TUESDAY

New Manga Day

Kingyo Used Books Volume 1

(Seimu Yoshizaki)

Viz Media

Thank heavens for Viz’s Signature line, which publishes books that appeal to me. For example, Kingyo Used Books, which is about a used manga shop and how the books people buy affect their lives — usually for the better. I love the idea of self-reflexive manga because it’s a world I know little about outside of the final product.

You know what’s a good manga about manga? Bakuman, which is about two kids trying to break in as creators. It teaches a lot about how the manga industry works. I think that comes out in July of this year.

WEDNESDAY

Mainstream Superhero Stuff

Spirit #1

(Mark Schultz/Moritat/Dennis O’Neil/Bill Sienkiewicz)

DC Comics

…and DC again attempts to make people care about The Spirit. We all know The Spirit is important and that Will Eisner is a giant amongst ants in the comic book word, but I doubt the average fan is as interested in Eisner and his work as much as the people who Spirit comics are.

I dunno if the last series was any good after Darwyn Cooke finished up — but 32 issues of Darwyn Cooke, Mark Evanier, Sergio Aragones, Mike Ploog, and Paul Smith doesn’t sound so bad. This new one’s by Mark Schultz, famous for Xenozoic Tales/Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, who I have no familiarity with outside of reputation. I’m a bit more excited for the back-up story, The Spirit: Black and White, featuring a different notable creative team every month. This time it’s Denny O’Neill and Bill Sienkiewicz, which sounds amazing. A cover by Landrönn doesn’t hurt, either.

THURSDAY

Not Quite Friday, but Still Exciting

Crossed Family Values #1 (of 6)

(David Lapham/Javier Barreno)

Avatar Press

It’s always nice to see David Lapham working because, despite creating brilliant comics like Young Liars and Stray Bullets, he’s a bit underrated. His newest series, Sparta USA, seems heir to the weirdness of Young Liars, and now he’s doing a spin-off of Garth Ennis’ Crossed, which is a supremely fu*@ed up pseudo-zombie comic. Even more underrated is Lapham’s tendency for the fu*@ed up, so I’m really, really looking forward to his take on the world of Crossed.

FRIDAY

TGIT(he people who made this comic)

Captain America: Who Won’t Wield The Shield #1

(Stuart Moore/Matt Fraction/Jason Aaron/Brendan McCarthy/Joe Quinones/Mirco Pierfederici)

Marvel Comics

Three comedy stories about unlikely candidates becoming Captain America. This is going to be very fun. I don’t know how funny Stuart Moore and Jason Aaron are, but Matt Fraction — besides being generally funny — cut his teeth doing a series of hilarious comedy/espionage comics called Rex Mantooth, Kung-Fu Gorilla. Oh, and Brendan McCarthy’s drawing Fraction’s contribution to. So it will be hilarious and well-drawn.

You should buy The Annotated Mantooth! because it’s totally punk rock and AiT/Planet Lar publishes it at a very affordable price.

SATURDAY

Essential Reading

100%

(Paul Pope)

Vertigo/DC Comics

You know who’s a brilliant artist? Paul Pope. Vertigo’s finally released his 100% in softcover format, so you should totally but it and read it and love it. Don’t ask me what it’s about, because I don’t know. I don’t need to know what a Paul Pope comic is about to buy the thing.

SUNDAY

No last issues this week, so read this not-a-comic instead

Do Anything Volume 1: Jack Kirby Ripped My Flesh

(Warren Ellis)

Avatar Press

Warren Ellis is no stranger to columns, having written for Comic Book Resources, Suicide Girls and Wired UK. But his best column is Do Anything, written for Rich Johnston’s Bleeding Cool website. Subtitled “Thoughts on Comics and Things,” Do Anything discusses  comics, the people who create them, David Bowie, and the disembodied head of Jack Kirby, among other things and manages to make all sorts of mind-blowing connections in the process.

Now Avatar Press has collected Ellis’ first phase of writings under the Do Anything banner in an affordable softcover collection, which I’m totally going to buy even though I’ve read it all already. It’s just that good.

But if you want to be a cheap bastard and read the thing online, go ahead. http://www.bleedingcool.com/category/do-anything-by-warren-ellis/

Danny Djeljosevic