Fistfull of Comics

Remember that comic shop I wrote about not so long ago... Well... I had picked up a handful of comics that I don't think ever touched the shelves of my LCS. That's what I like about that shop. He has a giant wall of kind of cool stuff that is pretty deep in regard to stuff that isn't all super-mainstream. He commented before when I bought some Glamourpuss and other things like that, that he wished he had more customers like me. I guess I could have told him how... but in reality I think his customer base may be pretty mainstream. I imagine he will drive himself out of business if he spends too much buying things he can't sell. (That's what killed the dinosaurs, I'm pretty sure.)

This shop is near my parents house, and about an hour and a half from where I live. I only go when I am visiting my parents... So of course I left the comics at my parents house accidentally. I was crushed, but I lived through it. I knew that we would be back there at Easter, and i was, and now I sit with a nice little stack of stuff I haven't read before now... Enough with the intro.

Mysterious the Unfathomable #2 (Of course they didn't have #1, but in this case it didn't get in the way of enjoying or understanding the comic). Jeff Parker is the writer, and Tom Fowler is the artist. I will go ahead and assume that this series will be as good as this one issue. Jeff Parker is one of those writers that just seems to 'get' how to make well written, funny and interesting comics. His Agents of Atlas Mini series, was just fantastic, and this has that feel to it. It's very funny without being 'jokey' The premise is cool and the story moves really well. There is a good bit of dialog, but not so much that it gets in the way, or takes away from the job the art needs to do. Tom Fowlers art is just perfect for this title. Pot bellies and bulbous noses are the order of the day, and it's more than just a little bit of awesome. Mysterious is a Magician for hire, and has a long and interesting history under his belt. This issue has him working on two different cases at the same time. One involves a bothersome curse that tattoos the victim with the names of all the call-girls he has visited, and the other involves a vicious book that has murdered at least one person so far. I look forward to reading more of this.

I love Parker's writing. I also love that There is an increasing stable of writers out there that are just cranking out funny and fun and cool comics on a pretty regular basis.

Johnny Monster #1 - Joshua Williamson & J.C. Grande - The art isn't bad, and the story is kind of neat. This is a three issue mini, and the first issue works pretty well. The setting appears to be present day + monster Isle style Monsters running amok, and Monster Hunters as well. Johnny Monster is the answer to the blood thirsty over-zealous monster-killers for hire that are running rampant as a byproduct of the monster problem. Johnny is different, thanks to his secret... He was raised by monsters from the time he was a baby. Not the greatest comic, but by no means a bad comic. I enjoyed it, and was excited to see the teaser for the second issue with Firebreather on it.

Killer of Demons #1 - Christopher Yost, Scott Wegener - This is another first issue of a three issue mini. I had wanted to see this, since I think Scott Wegener is pretty great (based on his extremely awesome work on Atomic Robo), and Christopher Yost, whose run on New X-Men I loved, and who is also responsible for the well received new X-Force series. How could this not be great?

The answer is... There is just no way this could be anything but great. Dave Sloan is a killer of demons. Demons are all over the place, convincing people to smoke and kill and lead lives of debauchery, and only Dave Sloan can see them. To the rest of the world they look like... the rest of the world. This is a great first issue. I hope I can pick up the rest.

Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead #1 & 2 - This is credited to Steve Pugh and Warren Ellis. Steve Pugh is listed as the writer and artist, and this is based on a story by Warren Ellis. The good news is the idea is cool as heck. The character design is pretty awesome, and the story is well written and cool. Detective Exorcist Hotwire. There is a lot of photorealism in this comic, which I am not the biggest fan of in comics... There is a lot more than that, though. The art is pretty spectacular. Blue-Lights are ghosts, but ghosts are really just a sort of cohesive set of electrical impulses, and can be fought and dispatched or contained in all the ways one might deal with electricity that wasn't supernatural in origin somehow. This is good stuff. I have only skimmed the second issue, but it only seems to ramp up everything started in the first issue. I love the character. She may be my current comic book girlfriend.