Thursday, June 18, 2009

CBD 6/17/2009 & not too much whining

Fantastic week - Mysterius the Unfathomable, Destroyer, Incognito, Tiny Titans, Executive Assistant Iris

But firs I revisit a thing I mentioned previously.

I am not able to go to Heroes (con) this year. I went last year with my girls and we loved it and loved Charlotte, NC. I was going to make it a family vacation, I got the cheap room at the great hotel, I got my favorite LCS owner to say he would get me in for free, I got the days off, I got the realities of some out of control spending and an economic downturn..., so...

I have adjusted my goals and am shooting for SPX this September. I will try to make that my con for the year, since it is within metro distance and it has the sort of stuff that's hard to find elsewhere, and has a very cool vibe about it.

Not driving all the way there and stretching our finances to do so is a little bit of a weight off, in a strange way, despite how much I was hoping to go. The other good aspect of this is that my family will go visit my parents for the long weekend, and that always means lots of leisure and good food and good company. Going there is always like a vacation for us, and indentured servitude for my parents (They insist on making amazing meals with veggies from their garden and my Mom's (and Dad's) amazing cooking. Plus we will do something with my Dad for father's day and it will be fun.

Oh, right... comics... Here are some lazy and tiny little reviews:

Incognito #4 - Still awesome. Brubaker and Phillips and Staples know how make the heck out of good comics. This should not be a surprise to anyone.

Mysterius The Unfathomable # 6 - Funny and smart and well written interesting stuff with fantastic characters. Parker and Fowler... I may be starting to realize something.

Tiny Titans #17 - My happy place. We get imps, we get Robin's myriad wardrobe, a battle for the cowl, and a discussion of continuity! Baltazar and Franco...

Destroyer #3 - I really love this. I think it is just very well done. Great writing, great art, a great look at a character I had probably seen, but never heard about until this series was solicited, even though he's one of the earlier characters out there. Kirkman, Walker, Staples... (more on that in a minute) This comic is violent. It also features my favorite premise, the 'hero' at the end of his lifecycle (a concept not just limited to Clint Eastwood movies, although Unforgiven and Gran Turino are both brilliant examples of this). Destroyer makes the Punisher look like he's not all that committed to making bad guys pay... Destroyer doesn't just punish... The guy Destroys for cryin' out loud. At one point he fights while covered head to toe in a sort of liquid latex-like body sheath of blood(his and everyone else's). I am not an across the board fan of this sort of bloody violence, but it is done in a tense and serious setting, and still keeps a certain sense of humor about it. It doesn't offend me in this context in the least. I am really enjoying this.

Which brings me to an observation. Every one of the books I got in my box today shares a very common trait. Every one of them has a stellar and proven creative team that knows more than a little about making pretty great comics. There is really no substitute for quality. I'm not suggesting that less experienced writers and artists can't produce amazing comics, I am suggesting that you don't have to buy bad comics. There are people out there who make some amazing stuff. Not only do you not need to buy bad comics, but big publishers don't really need to put out bad comics. It's possible to make good ones every time.

I picked up one book not on my pull list this week, and it is:
Executive Assistant Iris #1 - I haven't had time to do much but flip through it so far, and it looks great. The art is very good, and the feel of the comic is good.

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