Comic Books

For me this week, just Absolute Batman #17, and also seeing if they have Absolute Martian Manhunter Vol. 1 back in stock.

I picked up all of the current issues of Absolute Batman last week, and it took about three pages for me to think, "Damn, I'm going to like this."

Is anyone reading any of the other Absolute _____ comics? How are they so far?

Also, H R Giger and Escher?

I think it might be kind of cool to follow a long term story, centered around James Gordon. He could solve crimes, which span several issues. The kind of crimes which might still involve murder, but it's a bit below Batman's "pay grade" as it were.

No Joker. No big name villains....most of the time. You might go several issues without Batman. But during certain story arcs, when things are at their bleakest, Gordon could call on Batman via the Bat signal.

And maybe they could run a paralell comic centered on Batman. And they would always be the same issue number. Batman #1 releases same day as Gordon #1.

That way, whatever interactions Batman and Gordon have, are exactly the same in both comics. Which is why their interactions would be brief. Reading Gordon, you'd see the events from his perspective, and reading Batman, you'd see the story through his perspective....and they wouldn't even be the same story.

Actually.....we could go bigger. Imagine if they had 10 different comics running at the same time. Where you have 10 different stories, all set in Gotham, but they are 10 different stories.

So you might be reading Catwoman, and Selina Kyle happens to see on the news that Batman arrested Harvey Dent. It's not part of her story, it's just one or two panels of something that happens to be on the news. Meanwhile, over on the Batman comic, its a whole story.

So the idea would be the city is alive. Yes, I started this post thinking about just dedicated to Gordon, but just fleshing the idea out as I type, and I made it more about the city, than any individual. His comic would be about him, but the series would be about Gotham. Events taking place in a city of interconnected characters, even when they aren't connected.

So you could know on April 5th, at 9pm, Batman is fighting the Joker, but Gordon is drinking in his office after having a mental breakdown over emotions regarding Barbra being newly wheelchair bound. Meanwhile in another comic, Nightwing is intensifying his training, and trying to cope with the difficulty of reinventing himself from Robin to Nightwing. Meanwhile Harvey Dent (not yet twoface) is preparing a speech to deliver in court.

All seperate comics. And if the stories intersect, so be it, but that's not the point.

Have they ever done anything like that?

Tomorrow is Wednesday; what's on your list?

List is up! Let's see here..

Creepshow Volume 4 #5

Drawing Blood #10

Spirit Of The Shadows #1 - Maybe, looks weird, I like weird

Looks like that's it for me! What're you pulling?

“The stories told in Japanese manga and anime are incredibly powerful. I often find myself wondering, ‘What is missing in Western comics, and why aren’t they able to achieve the same flavor?’ Also, I think manga has an ‘advantage’ over American comics, which are mostly about superheroes, and that’s where the majority of sales and readers are concentrated.“

List is up! Let's see here..

Minor Arcana #13 - Still loving this series, also loved Fishflies so that's perhaps unsurprising. Something about the artstyle and the spooky small town subject matter just clicks (or should I say Crunch to reference the misprint in Fishflies lol), I hope he keeps it up.

Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees Rite Of Spring #5 - My favorite series right now still going strong.

Geiger #20 - I'm so behind but I'm still picking them up, I'll get back to reading Fallout Man soon enough.

That's it for me this week, what're you pulling?

List is up! Let's see...

Hank Howard Pizza Detective The Two Hollywoods #1 - Pizza? I'm in. If I can get it that is.

Archie Vs. Minor Threats #4

Minor Threats The Last Devil Left Alive #3

Hellboy And The B.P.R.D. The Ghost Ships Of Labrador #2

And that's it for me! What're y'all pulling?

Be safe! Don't drink and drive! Yadda yadda...

Good stuff to look for at your local shop, looks super light due to the holidays, looks like D.C. is taking the week off!

Marvel Knights The World To Come #5 (Of 6) - A future Black Panther story... TBH, I read through the first issue and decided to wait for the whole run to finish before reading it. Lots of time jumping here.

Skin Police 2 #4 (Of 4) - It's Blade Runner, but with clones instead of Replicants.

Ultimate Endgame #1 (Of 5) - Starting the end of the Ultimate line?

Ultimates #19

From the FAQ,

“DEAD★HEAT is about a guy who gets unwillingly transformed into a dog, and wants to change back at all costs.

~~Unless...?~~”

“DEAD★HEAT is meant for an older teen (16+) audience. There's violence, swearing, references to adult themes (drugs, alcohol, gambling, suggestive topics)... basically anything in an older teen manga, like Beastars or Chainsaw Man.”

Series by koepek on Bluesky

Not sure if our local shops are open 12/24 or not... Might be worth a call!

Good stuff this week:

1776 #2 (Of 5) - J.M.S. doing Marvel hero time travel!

Absolute Martian Manhunter #7 - Took a bit of a break after #6, should come back strong.

Fire And Ice Nekron #1 - I such a sucker for this continuation of the 80s animated movie...

Ghost Machine:
Hornsby And Halo #13
Rocketfellers #11
Sisterhood A Hyde Street Story #5 - All three of these have been good, but share a common problem of being artificially extended. Sisterhood could have been an excellent single issue, they pushed it to 5.

Flash #28 - NGL - I am so far behind on this...

Green Arrow #31 - Some of the best GA stories done to date!

Justice League Unlimited #14 - Not happy with how this is getting sidetracked by all the DC KO stuff. 😞

Skinbreaker #4 - Some of the best art going right now!

Superman #33 - I think this is the end of the Ultimate Legion story that's been running?

Trinity Daughter Of Wonder Woman #6 - Final issue!

Warlord By Mike Grell Omnibus Volume 1 - This is a pricey one, but Mike Grell is a brilliant artist and Warlord was an interesting pre-cursor to Jon Sable: Freelance. $100 but worth it!

X-Men - I haven't been following the whole Revelation nonsense, but it looks like this is the last week for it!

I actually remembered this week! But I'm rushing at work and posting this during my morning constitutional so I'm gonna have to do this one quick-style! And I haven't picked up in a while my shop must be so mad lol. Let's see..

Exquisite Corpses #8

Sacrificers #18

w0rldtr33 #17

Looks like that's it for me! What're you pulling?