New Comics

Strange Tales #2 (of 3) — Creators:  Peter Bagge, Max Cannon, Jacob Chabot, Jonathan Hickman, R. Kikuo Johnson, Matt Klindt, Tony Millionaire, Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca, and Jhonen Vasquez Indie fans have had a lot to be happy about over the last few weeks, between the Simpsons: Treehouse of Terror book and this series. This cover-features a Peter Bagge Hulk story, which is as good as you’d suspect, but the best offering is Tony Millionaire’s Iron Man, a visually stunning, lushly-colored tale that looks like a cross between Tales of Suspense-era Gene Colan and Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot. Honorable … Continue reading →

Kill Audio #1 — Writers: Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert;  Art: Mr. Sheldon Strange enough to be worth a look, like some hallucinatory cartoon episode you’d see on Adult Swim, loaded with obscure music references and weird violence but with added drug references (those, plus the violence, are kind of startling coming from a Boom!  book, especially considering there’s no “mature readers” label or anything). You’ve got a dwarf, a skeleton, a chicken and a pillow (I think) all on a quest, one that moves from an urban setting to a sort-of steampunk/medieval one; the story can be sophomoric at … Continue reading →

Thor #603 — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski;  Penciler: Marko Djurdjevic;  Inker: Danny Miki This is Staczynski’s last regular issue of this title (he’s leaving because Marvel’s going to make Thor the linchpin of a Big Event Crossover next year, and he wants no part of it); he’ll resolve the current storyline in one of those Giant-Size Specials next month.  I’m surprisingly sad to see him go; I thought the beginnings of this relaunch were just OK, but he was very careful about laying all the bricks into the overstory’s foundation, one by one, and at this point Chick Loki, Lord … Continue reading →

Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #3 (of 3) — Writer: Frank Tieri;  Art: Mateus Santolouco You’d think I’d have known not to read this book — but, like a victim of trauma or some horrible past abuse, I keep pushing each issue out of my memory, approaching each new one innocently, free of any past preconceptions. I don’t look at the credits, and start scanning it, wondering at the grossly misguided narrative choices (here, the climactic battle the other issues were leading up to is told in disjointed flashbacks, providing no continuity or suspense, just sketchy confusion provided by endless rows … Continue reading →

The Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #15 — Creators: Tim Hensley; Matthew Thurber and Kevin Huizenga; Jordan Crane; Ted May and Sammy Harkham; Will Sweeney; Jon Vermilyea; Ben Jones; John Kerschbaum; Jeffrey Brown; C.F.; Dan Zettwach; Guest Editor: Sammy Harkham Harham is the editor of Kramer’s Ergot, the avant-garde indy comics anthology whose most recent issue was roughly the size of a Mini-Cooper, with a price ($125) to match. One of its contributors was Matt Groening, so it makes a certain kind of cosmic sense that he’d tap Harkham for this year’s Treehouse — it’s developed its own reputation as a … Continue reading →