League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 1910 #1 — Writer: Alan Moore;  Art: Kevin O’Neill Well, of course you should buy this; that goes without saying: it’s a new episode of one of the most high-profile, high-quality series of the ’00s. What makes it worth mentioning is Top Shelf’s handsome package — $7.95 for 84 squarebound pages (74 pages of actual story, plus some text features), with very high production values. There’s a lot of talk in comics retailing about the “satisfying chunk” theory — the idea that comics buyers will buy whatever makes them feel like they’re getting good story … Continue reading →

Irredeemable #2 — Writer: Mark Waid; Artist: Peter Krause I don’t like Waid when he’s in this fan-fiction mode (What if Lois Lane reacted with disgust and betrayal at Clark Kent’s revelation that he was Superman, exposing his identity, driving him away and eventually turning him into an apparent mass murderer? Yeah: what if? I don’t care). The best thing here is the house ad for Waid’s upcoming The Unknown, said to be “in the vein of Ruse,” Waid’s Victorian supernatural-detective series for Crossgen. Yes, more of that, please. Run! #1 (of 6) — Writer: Matthew Sturges; Artist: Freddie Williams … Continue reading →

Phonogram: The Singles Club #2 (of 7) — Writer: Kieron Gillen; Art: Jamie McKelvie, Emma Vieceli and Daniel Heard A twenty-something guy goes to a club and hears a song that reminds him of a former girlfriend. That’s all that happens, but boy, is it well done — haunting, even, and that’s the point. Gillen, who’s starting to get some mainstream US work (he did the Namor story in the Dark Reign: The Cabal anthology this week), isn’t afraid to trust his readers’ intelligence, and his quiet “music is magic” theme resonates with anyone who’s ever had a song transport … Continue reading →

War Machine #5 — Writer: Greg Pak;  Artist: Leonardo Manco Nova #24 — Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning;  Artist: Andrea DeVito If you want to feel old, consider that the current generation of younger comics creators grew up in the ’90s, and were influenced by books of that era. James Rhodes, the title character in War Machine, now looks exactly like Deathlok, and from the dark, Simon Biselyesque art to the grim government-conspiracy storylines, this has the sensibility of titles like that and, say, Ghost Rider.  Nova comes more out of the shinier, continuity-heavy early-’90s cosmic romps like Quasar; … Continue reading →