A Descent into Dullness

Been really slacking on these again.  Which does highlight how little DC/Marvel I'm buying as singles right now.  If I don't count Vertigo imprint books, its a single title from each right now.  Mainline DC just isn't putting out much I want to follow and Marvel's $4 per issue thing is becoming more and more of deal breaker.  Including on the title I'm still getting in singles, New Warriors.  I'm liking this relaunch.  The characters, Yost's dialogue, the High Evolutionary based initial arc.  All good.  But I still may switch to trade waiting like I'm doing on Superior Foes, Ghost Rider, She-Hulk and the Daredevil relaunch.  'Cause $4 for a 20 page book is bullshit...

At least from the Big Two.  I'm ok with that price point for twenty pages of transgender action/adventure for IDW's Samurai Jack.  Plus shinier paper.  Or even better, $4 for twenty-TWO pages like kaboom!'s Adventure Time and Adventure TIme: the Flip Side.  Four bucks for Finn & Jake mistaking a nucleur silo for a traditional dungeon?  Or teaming with LSP to try and rig a prom election to get a monkey to kidnap a lady painting?  I'm down with that...

Hunh, Wonder Woman is only twenty pages as well.  Didn't notice that happening.  Still its sticking at the three dollar price point.  Plus its more cross-title setting with DC, and WW mostly avoids the general ongoing DCU stuff...

The Unwritten gang continue to try and make their way across broken London while avoiding the constant war stories.  But they do find out that Pullman is behind the whole thing, all part of another plot by him to try and slay the Leviathan...

Charles and Edwin and Crystal manage to avoid damnation and death and such in Dead Boy Detectives.  And someone gets to burn down their school.  Sure it was accident.  Mostly an accident...

Knights of the Dinner Table sticks to concentrating on the ongoing return of the uber-sword story.  With Brian and Sara getting an offer from said mad sword...

I'm pretty sure I missed an issue of Pretty Deadly at some point here.  Because there is otherwise an awful big jump in the story before it reaches the climax of this first arc...

In Invincible Universe, the Lizard King learns a valuable lesson.  Just 'cause you alter a person's DNA to make them a reptile, doesn't necessarily mean an alignment change.  And then IU goes on hiatus.  Again.  Hopefully when it gets started again it will have the same title.  I'd say even money on whether or not that happens...

Fatale picks back up with Jo and Nick and soon enough everything is all obsession and murder and stolen magic eyeballs...

This issue of Prophet gives some back-story on plant person Hiyonhoiagn and his race the Kinnian.  Plus..well plus the normal hard to accurately and easily describe scifi weirdness...

I'm starting to wonder if Police Chief Higgens' drive to arrest Lobster Johnson is entirely in the cause of Law & Order...

King Conan returns to the sea in pursuit of the Heart of Ahriman, gets captured by slavers and meets some old friends amidst the rowers.  And just like that Amra the Lion is reborn...

Empowered: Internal Medicine is another one-shot.  With Warren teaming with Brandon Graham on this one.  Graham is pretty damn amazing drawing Emp and Ninjette doing super-surgery on an alien spaceship baby...

And another one-shot from Dark Horse, this time Beasts of Burden: Hunters & Gatherers.  With the animal guardians of Burden Hill facing off against an invisible giant lizard monster.    And ending with an alliance between the Crows and the Rats.  Who still have their Rat King...

And finally a new Dark Horse Presents.  The main things interest for my in this one would be the "Nexus" story, a Kel McDonald Revolutionary-era balloon crossing of the English channel and the monstery mystery story involving kids teamed with the ghost of Davey Jones...

Only one book this week, balancing out the nine from last week.  That one to start the month is a Le Bruiser focused Invincible Universe.  Le Bruiser being the GotG's super-powered pug dog...

Starting off last week's pulls is the new D&Dish Rat Queens.  Which is basically one of those semi-humor What Happens When You Play D&D drunk things, just with an all female group.  Reminds me a bit of Skullkickers, except I actually find this one funny...

"Jane" over on Fatale continues to inspire and destroy the band that has taken her in.  And serial killer Wulf starts to study up on the secret world...

Two things sum up what makes Saga so wonderful this time around.  Someone pukes on the baby.  And Lying Cat + Slave Girl Sophie...

Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard has a dragon hunt and mole friendship and the danger of too awesome hats.  Plus the cover is as amazing as always (it involves musicians and ghosts)...

The Dark Man is fucking stupid and boring and I refuse to say anything else about the Unwritten until this fucking cross-over ends...

The major event of this Young Avengers is less the cliffhanger at the end then three conversations with Mother at the beginning...

Any pull list that includes some new Empowered is a good week.  And the most recent one-shot, EMpowered: Nine Beers with Ninjette is pretty fucking fantastic.  Because its a Ninjette focused story.  Plus Warren's latest art partner, Takeshi Miyazawa, is both one of the best he's worked with and a perfect fit for a ninja story...

King Conan continues on his quest to retake his kingdom.  Along the way he bloodily destroys some dudes, rescues a noble damsel and finds some allies in a religious cult...

For some reason Dark Horse Presents decided to bring back the "Blood" by Neal Adams.  Its totally incomprehensible and also crazy ugly.  Maybe its the colorist Adams is working with.  On the other hand, while I'm not sure how interested I am in vampire overrun Earth of the Strain I am very interested in seeing more ex-luchador El Angel de Plata and his decision to strap silver crosses to his fists...

A very light week with only a single pull. But I did finally get the Empowered one-shot from a couple weeks back that was underordered. Full of the God Damned Maidman action...

Also a 2nd issue for the new Dark Horse Presents. Honestly I'd be almost willing to pay the eight bucks just for the eight new color pages for Carla Speed McNeil's Finder. But its also got some new Concrete, an interesting crime story written and drawn by Howard Chaykin and the odd but cute Snow Angel by David Chelsea. Plus some other stuff of varying quality...

And the one pull item is a double-sized Thunderbolts that is more fall-out from the "Fear Itself" event. Concentrating on members of both teams mostly doing search & rescue combined with containment in the smashed up Raft prison...

MySpace Dark Horse Presents Vol. 1 featuring whole bunches of people

Back in the day Dark Horse ran an anthology comic as a way of featuring their various titles. Of course comic's anthologies are a hard sell nowadays even for the Big Two comic companies. So Dark Horse moved the project online. Specifically to MySpace. And so made it so I almost, ALMOST, would be willing to spend time following a MySpace site. Happily for my sense of self-worth and dignity Dark Horse collects the stories into trade paperback collections...

162 pages, divided between 17 stories. Stand-outs being the scifi adventure Sugarshock! (Joss Whedon story, Fabio Moon art, Dave Stewart colors and Nate Piekos letters), a two-page comic by Peter Bagge about George & Martha Washington, an 8-page color (Guru eFx) comic for Empowered by Adam Warren and another 8-pager featuring The Umbrella Academy's Kraken rescuing the mayor's daughter from a criminal fortune-teller (Gerard Way story, Gabriel Ba art, Dave Stewart colors and Nate Piekos letters). Plus more by Mike Mignola, Steve Niles and others. But honestly this first volume is worth it for the 33 pages plus cover by Moon and Ba...

Empowered Volume 3 by Adam Warren

The third volume in Adam Warren's tale of Empowered, a super-hero with poor luck and a great deal of self-esteem issues. This volume has less sex and humor (though still has some) and gets more into the back-stories of Emp's boyfriend Thugboy and best friend Ninjette. Even the inks are darker than normal. But between the bloodshed, Warren still has a drunken karaoke night, Emp's jerk male team-mates learning they're the subject of yaoi doujinshi and more sexy librarian cos-play. Plus super-hero wannabe Oceltina, last seen attempting to kidnap Emp and engage in unwanted naughty touching...

Like the previous volumes, the main draw isn't so much the humor or the sexy. Its the depth of characterization of the cast. You care about Emp and want her to succeed. And in the final story, where Ninjette has to battle ninja bounty hunters there's a real sense of tension as you worry about her survival...

The one fault I have for this volume? Not enough Caged Demonwolf. Though the one story he narrates does feature some true mastery of the art of alliteration...

Empowered Volume 1 & Volume 2
by Adam Warren

Empowered is a rookie super-hero with an unfortunate tendency to get captured and tied up. A tendency that isn't helped by her super-suit. Sure it enhances her strength and agility, protects her from damage and when she concentrates can generate energy blasts. But if it gets torn or ripped it rapidly STOPS working right. And it gets torn All. The. Damn. Time. But Emp keeps trying, despite the mockery of villains and her team-mates. She even manages to capture the powerful Demonwolf, using a leftover bondage belt she got when she was rejected for capture by an alien harem master for being too "bootylicious". Of course her team-mates then make her keep the Caged Demonwolf at her apartment because of zoning laws...

So its no surprise that Emp has some self-confidence issues. And wild mood swings due to body issues. No matter how often shes complimented by her boyfriend, ex-professional henchman Thugboy or her BFF Ninjette...

Adam Warren is one of the few American artists who takes manga styles and successfully makes it his own. And in so doing he manages to create a series that is cute, sexy and above all fun. Despite it growing out of fan requests for bondage/woman in peril fetish sketches, Empowered is just sweet and funny. You easily grow to CARE about the characters. You WANT Emp to succeed. And when she goes off on a self-doubting kick, you want to give her a hug and pep talk rather than the smack upside the head most emo/angst characters draw from me...

THIS is how you do a cheesecake book. Its sexy without being exploitative. Amusing without being mean. With just enough darkness and secrecy to lend it a sense of conflict and make you hunger to learn more...