New Comics

Usagi Yojimbo #126 — Writer/Artist: Stan Sakai Every so often, it’s good to remind people what a treasure this book is, and here’s a good issue for that — a self-contained tale involving a talkative old woman and an innkeeper who isn’t what he seems, by turns funny, creepy and action-packed, with a precisely-constructed, satisfying plot and gorgeous art, all showing off Sakai’s 25 years of experience chronicling the adventures of his lupine samurai. It’s also one of those rare books that non-comics readers can immediately enjoy; buy one, enjoy it, and then use it to show a child or … Continue reading →

King City #5 — Writer/Artist: Brandon Graham The larger size of this book makes it hard to spot — it’s on the wall just left of the new comics rack — but it’s worth seeking out: a future-city landscape populated by quirky, appealing characters, drawn in a style that splits the difference between Moebius and Jim Mahfood.  The characters are probably too quirky (they’re sometimes a collection of tics instead of actual personalities, and that makes it hard to care about them), and sometimes it feels like Graham is making it up as he goes along, but it’s an impressive … Continue reading →

Joe the Barbarian #2 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Grant Morrison;  Artist: Sean Murphy With this second issue, the outlines of the story have become more clear: a kid, alone in a big rambling house, is going into what looks like diabetic shock, and has to make it from his attic bedroom to the kitchen downstairs, so he can drink a Coke, get some glucose into his system, and be OK. Complicating matters is that he’s hallucinating, so that the journey becomes epic, in a fantasy land peopled by his toys, his now-anthropomorphic pet rat, and various other entities, … Continue reading →

The Incredible Hercules #141 — Writers: Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente;  Art: Rodney Buchemi; (Agents of Atlas story/7 pgs.): Writer: Jeff Parker;  Art: Gabriel Hardman This ends the multi-part, multi-guest-star “Assault on New Olympus” storyline, and shakes up the status quo (or should that be “Cho”?) considerably (although, when a major player is “killed,” and the body is “vaporized,” the creators aren’t exactly bending over backwards to make you think it’s permanent). As always, Pak and Van Lente have proven adept at moving their large number of pieces around, and keeping the pot boiling; readers who like following these … Continue reading →

Phonogram: The Singles Club #7 (of 7) — Writer: Kieron Gillen;  Art: Jamie McKelvie, Nikki Cook, Becky Cloonan, Andy Bloor and Sean Azzopardi The conclusion of this series, a look at one night in a club from the perspectives of multiple characters (most from Gillen’s previous Phonogram book, Rue Brittania), and it’s been a perfect little gem: insightful, funny, heartbreaking, and stuffed with observations on British pop song history and the immense power of music. The (almost) wordless first story is the standout, and ends the book on an up note, but the others are good too (Becky Cloonan classes … Continue reading →