This Week in Comics: 03/23/10

That The Decemberists went full on prog rock opera for The Hazards of Love shouldn’t have surprised anyone with ears, but I imagine a lot of their fans just wanted another album of sea shanties and Victorian hookers. You can hear them play a bit with prog rock in Castaways and Cut outs in “California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade,” where the first song seamlessly transitions into the second. Then they tested the waters some more with their EP The Tain. Then they threw a couple of song cycles into The Crane Wife that ended up better than a lot of the album’s standalone tracks.

So welcome to This Week in Comics, where every day is a comic book, and I really hope that the next Decemberists record scales back the proggyness a bit, just for the sake of not disappearing into increasing obscurity. You know, for the casual fans.

Oh, right. Comics.

MONDAY

First Issues

Shuddertown #1

(Nick Spencer/Adam Geen)

Image Comics

It must be pretty good to be Nick Spencer these past few weeks. His amazing miniseries Forgetless is in full swing, they might be making a movie out of his Existence 2.0, and now he’s got the first issue of Shuddertown out this week. Shuddertown is a crime comic about a troubled cop venturing into the titular projects. I love crime, and after Forgetless I’m willing to read anything Spencer does.

TUESDAY

No Interesting Manga This Week, So…

The Art Of Jaime Hernandez: The Secrets Of Life And Death

(Todd Hignite)

Abrams ComicArts

Chances are I like Love & Rockets more than I like you. But don’t feel bad — I like Love & Rockets more than a lot of things. Unfortunately, I only got into the book recently so I have nearly 30 years of material to catch up on. But don’t let that scare you away, people who know the ins and outs of X-Men Continuity. There’s a lot less to understand and it actually makes sense.

But that doesn’t have much to do with the book in question. The Art of Jaime Hernandez collets lots of sketches, drawings, and unpublished work, so it’s a must for fans. I can’t wait to check it out.

WEDNESDAY

Mainstream Superhero Stuff

Green Lantern #52

(Geoff Johns/Doug Mahnke/Christian Alamy)

DC Comics

For the record, I still don’t care about “Blackest Night” and can’t wait for it to be over. As the event nears completion I look forward to “Brightest Day” only to see what the hell it is. At this point I’m more interested in how DC attempts to manage and direct its fictional universe more than what actually happens within it. Fans seem to like it because (the haughty blogger generalized) it brings grim ‘n’ gritty to the much sunnier DCU and brings up lots of old continuity I can’t begin to care about even though I understand a great deal of it. Also, because DC keeps giving out free toys.

THURSDAY

Not Quite Friday, but Still Exciting

Supergod #3 (of 5)

(Warren Ellis/Garrie Gastony)

Avatar Press

Finally Supergod returns — I though I was missing issues at first but it turns out they just weren’t coming out. Being a Warren Ellis comic, it’s mean and darkly hilarious. Give it to anyone who likes superheroes to free them from that terrible disease.

FRIDAY

TGIM(ark Millar, sometimes)

Nemesis #1 (of 4)

(Mark Millar/Steve McNiven)

Icon/Marvel Comics

Forgive me for being obvious, but I’m really looking forward to Nemesis. Mark Millar is an interesting fellow, being one of the more controversial figures in comics and a guy who actively tries to get movies of his stuff made. I’ve just realized that a lot of his notable work is surprisingly meta, taking superheroes and remixing them into different contexts. What if some comic nerd decided to be a superhero? What if supervillains had taken over the world behind our backs? What if The Avengers were a slick Hollywood blockbuster? What if superheroes waged war on one another?

As you know, the basic pitch of Nemesis is — and I quote — “What if Batman was a total cunt?”

Enjoy.

SATURDAY

Essential Reading

Phonogram: The Singles Club TPB

(Kieron Gillen/Jamie McKelvie)

Image Comics

A couple weeks ago Kieron Gillen announced that The Singles Club would be the last Phonogram story for many reasons including that nobody was reading the thing. This makes me very sad (about the end) and angry (at the people who should have been reading Phonogram but weren’t). Maybe

If I don’t hope, I blog. You don’t like me when I blog.

SUNDAY

Last Issues

FVZA #3 (of 3)

(David Hine/Roy Martinez)

Radical Publishing

Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, huh? Look, as long as you keep not taking this comic book thing seriously I’ll keep writing about music in my comic book column.