This Week in Comics: 12/09/2009

Whoops. Last week I forgot to write an introduction so I ended up leaving in something I wrote for the first column.

Now here’s a totally interesting peek at what goes on behind the scenes:

If you pay close attention to Wednesday’s blurb, you’ll notice it was written through gritted teeth, as I wrote this whole thing about Nation X #1 thinking it was that upcoming Ultimate X-Men book. Turned out it was just some short stories about some X-People dealing with the fact that they live on an island off the coast of San Francisco. Maybe what I wrote will surface when Ultimate X comes out next year provided that site founder Monkey T. Tossford doesn’t fire me before then. In which case I’ll spite them by landing a gig at CBR.

Erm, just kidding, guys.

MONDAY – First Issues

Daytripper #1 (of 10)

(Gabriel Bá/Fábio Moon)

Vertigo/DC Comics

This should come as no shock that I go ga-ga over Bá and Moon. I love nearly everything I’ve read of theirs (it helps that they’re written by people like Gerard Way and Matt Fraction), but my exposure to their solo stuff is limited. I do, however have a copy of Pixu somewhere around here that I’ve yet to crack open.

With Daytripper, the brothers tell a quieter story about an obituary writer stuck in his father’s shadow. Apparently there’s a major twist at the end of the first issue. I have no idea what to expect, which bring me to this: Isn’t it more fun to experience non-genre work? I know what to expect out of Uncanny X-Men to a certain extent, but opening up something that doesn’t have a superhero on the cover could be anything. It’s like watching a Coen Brothers movie versus watching Iron Man 2.

I usually trade-wait for Vertigo books, but I feel like I need to buy Daytripper in single issue form for it to survive. It wouldn’t be the first miniseries that DC Comics cancelled before the damn thing ended (that would be the infamous Sonic Disruptors). Let’s all band together and make sure this gets a lot of money.

TUESDAY – New Manga Day

Detroit Metal City Vol. 3

(Kiminori Wakasugi)

Viz Media

If the name weren’t awesome enough, here’s the premise of Detroit Metal City: a nice boy named Soichi who likes fashion and Swedish pop music is also the front man for the eponymous death metal band. His stage name? Krauser II. Let’s be real here, Internet: we need more music manga. Hell, we need more music COMICS.

My favorite thing about Detroit Metal City is that Viz Media doesn’t even provide any plot descriptions after the first volume. Here is the ad copy for Volume 3: “Death metal screams the despair of dying heathens! What the hell kind of song would you sing?!”

SOLD.

WEDNESDAY – Mainstream Superhero Stuff

Invincible Iron Man #21

(Matt Fraction/Salvador Larocca)

Marvel Comics

Internet: I swear I won’t turn this into a weekly Matt Fraction lovefest. I’ve done pretty well at making this column not turn into a weekly Grant Morrison lovefest, haven’t I? If I had my way, I’d be telling you people to read Kill Your Boyfriend and a volume of The Invisibles every day. And my mancrush on Fraction exceeds my ongoing Morriwhoredom. Like Usher says, I got it bad.

That said, Invincible Iron Man is the Truth. The Eisner-winning series has been consistently great since it debuted as part of Marvel’s movie release synergy a couple years ago, but it got really, really, good with #20, the first part of “Stark: Disassembled,” wherein Tony Stark is in a persistent vegetative state and his buddies try to reboot his brain. It’s powerful, exciting stuff, and reads like a mainstream Casanova.

THURSDAY – Not Quite Friday, but Still Exciting

God Complex #1

(Michael Avon Oeming)

Image Comics

Here is the pitch for God Complex: this seemingly normal guy Paul is actually the Greek god Apollo, who is avoiding his family for some reason. As you might expect if you’re familiar with Greek myths, this pisses off said family, so they come after him.

That superhero fiction defensively and pretentiously gets referred to as modern takes on Greek myths makes me think/hope that God Complex is some kind of Merry Marvel version of Greek myth, except because it’s Image Comics I hope it has what Greek myths have but Marvel Comics often lacks: constant backstabbing and fucking.

FRIDAY – TGIS(till Like You, Alan)

Dodgem Logic #1

(Alan Moore/Others)

Knockabout Comics

Dodgem Logic isn’t quite a comic book–it’s more of a fanzine affair–but it’s got comic book elements and it’s written by Alan Moore, so it counts as far as I’m concerned.

In recent years, I’ve talked a lot of shit about Alan Moore. Which is because he’s an old hippie who continues to act a victim, makes broad generalizations about the comics industry, and so much wants to remove himself from American comics that I think he’d only be happy if Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and Marvelman were never made. If he continues to complain to every interviewer that comes his way, I’d be happy if he actually got his wishes. And I LIKE his work, dammit.

That said, his actual work remains brilliant. Did you read League of Extraordinary Gentleman: 1910? He made it a goddamn Brechtian musical! In comic book form! Fantastic. I’m going to buy Dodgem Logic on principle.

SATURDAY – Essential Reading

Crossing the Empty Quarter and Other Stories HC

(Carol Swain)

Dark Horse Comics

Do me a favor, Internet: go to a comic shop and pick up something that could potentially interest you, provided it’s written by someone you’ve never heard of. I guess it’s a bit of a misnomer to call it a favor since I’m not going to do anything for you in return. You won’t mind if you pick up something you like, right?

Maybe something by Carol Swain?

Carol Swain is a British comicker–one of those comickers who you probably haven’t heard of because, while she’s got a few longer works (Foodboy, Invasion of the Mind Sappers, Giraffes in My Hair: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Life with Bruce Paley), she mostly contributes short stories to anthologies. Now Dark Horse has collected 30 or so short stories in one lovely hardcover so you have no excuse.

SUNDAY – Last Issues

Citizen Rex #6 (of 6)

(Mario Hernandez/Gilbert Hernandez)

Dark Horse Comics

Many older indie creators are often famous for one long-running series–Jeff Smith has Bone, Dave Sim has Cerebus, the Hernandez Brothers have Love & Rockets–so it intrigues me when they either finally move on to a new project or do parallel stuff. It seems like of the three brothers Hernandez (including Jaime), Gilbert’s done the most parallel comic book work, having done a few things for Dark Horse and Vertigo. I’m slowly collecting single issues of Gilbert’s Grip: The Strange World of Men miniseries as I find them.

Here’s how much I suck: I haven’t been keeping up with Citizen Rex nor have I read very much Love & Rockets. This will change, but here’s a list of words that should compel you to read Citizen Rex: sci-fi epic, robot celebrities, mob intrigue, Hernandez Brothers.