This Week In Comics: 07/09/11 - Action Comics 1, Animal Man 1, Teen Titans!
This Week In Comics is exactly what it says on the cover. This is the place where every week, three reviewers on WhatCulture! give their recommended reading list for comics seeing release that week.
This Week In Comics is exactly what it says on the cover. This is the place where every week, three reviewers on WhatCulture! give their recommended reading list for comics seeing release that week. TWIC will be updated every Tuesday and on every Wednesday where links to reviews will be added. =============================================================================
Jamie's Picks
Book: Action Comics #1 Written By: Grant Morrison, Art By: Rags Morales & Rick Bryant Publisher: DC Comics Price: $3.99 Pages: 40 The time has come for the new man of steel to make his debut in the new 52 universe. Set five years in the past, the first arc of Action will detail how superman debuted as the first public superhero in the DCU and more importantly, how the world responded to him. When Grant Morrison took over Batman and fully re-invented the status quo back in 2006 he completely changed the dynamic of the book and what it means to be Batman. As he begins to wrap up his run on Batman it is time to leave a real mark on Superman. With already 16 issues of Action plotted out, if his mini "All Star Superman" is anything to go on - Action Comics is without a doubt a must read for every comic reader. FOR A FULL REVIEW FOR ACTION COMICS #1 CLICK HERE Book: Stormwatch #1 Written By: Paul Cornell, Art By: Miguel Sepulveda Publisher: DC Comics Price: $2.99 Pages: 32 Paul Cornell has been showing of his writing muscles in big ways over at DC Comics over the past year with books like Action Comics and the under appreciated Knight & Squiremini. With the new 52 upon us it's now up to Cornell to help incorporate Wildstorm back in the DCU: In Stormwatch we will bare whitens to the top secret Superhuman Police Force take battle against THE MOON that has become sentient and soon to destroy the earth. When given full creative freedom in his comics, Cornell has been able to write very out-there ideas in a big, coherent and very funny manner. For a fun, forward thinking and creative comic, read Cornell's stuff. That and the fact their fighting a SENTIENT VERSION OF THE MOON. Instant buy people. FOR A FULL REVIEW FOR STORMWATCH #1 CLICK HERE Book: Punisher #3 Writer: Greg Rucka, Art By: Marco Checchetto Publisher: Marvel Comics Price: $2.99 Pages: 32 For the past two issues Rucka has been charged with bringing back a newer, fresher and younger Frank Castle to the core Marvel U. While Frank is in the middle of under covering the plans behind a recent slaughter at wedding, he is jumped by a crime boss and their secret weapon: The Vulture. With artist Checchetto at Rucka's side, this is one of the best books Marvel has at the minute and a true force to be reckoned with. Two issues in Rucka and Checchetto have found a great approach in the book and made me love a younger Frank fighting villains in the core Marvel U all over agin. After two issues The Punisher has yet to say a single word and looking at every enemy he finds with a cold and calculated strategy. If you like your books a bit darker, give this story a go. =============================================================================
Dean's Picks
Book: Action Comics #1 Written By: Grant Morrison, Art By: Rags Morales & Rick Bryant Publisher: DC Comics Price: $3.99 Pages: 40 What more do you need to convince yourself to buy this issue? It's Grant Morrison, the crazily good (and perhaps crazy) writer that's responsible for redefining more franchises than I can care to count. Batman? Check. New X-Men? Check. Doom Patrol? Check (I really could just go on and on...). He's already worked his magic with the big blue boy scout in the pages of All Star Superman and Final Crisis, and considering he's getting the chance to start again with a clean slate, right at the beginning of Superman's career, we should be dealing with an entirely fresh take on the character. If the previews are anything to go by then it looks like Superman could actually be cool again... FOR A FULL REVIEW FOR ACTION COMICS #1 CLICK HERE Book: Animal Man #1 Written By: Jeff Lemire, Art By: Travel Foreman Publisher: DC Comics Price: $2.99 Pages: 32 Talking of Grant Morrison, remember when he took a little known, widely mocked character and made it the most mind baffling book out there? His run on Animal Man is historic for many reasons, but largely because he had Buddy Baker find out he was a character in a comic book and, after suffering multiple retcons, set out to find his creator. While this book is unlikely to be so meta, the fact that Jeff Lemire iswriting it has me drooling with anticipation. Lemire has a knack for character, filling his books with a heart and soul that is rare in mainstream comics, and his delicately place stories usually pay off enormously in the long run - let's hope it does here. Book: Sweet Tooth #25 Written By: Jeff Lemire, Art By: Jeff Lemire Publisher: DC/Vertigo Price: $2.99 Pages: 32One of the best books Vertigo puts out, this off beat post-apocalyptic tale about a little boy with antlers is poignant, full of intrigue and frequently heartbreaking. Lemire, who both writes and draws, has an extraordinary ability to capture the small, intimate moments which most books aren't subtle enough to pull off. You need this book in your life. ============================================================================= Ryan's Picks Book: Casanova: Avaritia #1 (of 4) Written By: Matt Fraction, Art By: Gabriel Bá Publisher: Marvel/Icon Price: $4.99 Pages: 40 Ignore what everyone has to say, in fact ignore my other two recommendations because this week isnt about the DC relaunch, its about the return of Casonova Quinn. By now everyone knows Matt Fraction,Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon, individually they create killer books, together they create the unmissable. What began five years go as a pioneering 16 page $1.99 Spy/Science/Action Comic from Image ended up being better than anything else on the shelves. After reprinting its first two sins under Icon its finally back, 32 pages long and in full colour. Its more timey wimey than Inception and Memento combined with alternate universes, polymorphic sexuality and giant robots. And its the only comic I will ever be able to overlook being priced at $4.99 an issue. Book: Action Comics #1 Written By: Grant Morrison, Art By: Rags Morales & Rick Bryant Publisher: DC Comics Price: $3.99 Pages: 40 This is the true start of the DCnU and after what Morrison has achieved in the past its audience is assured. Morrison just gets big characters and concepts, something hes proven with a body of work that makes my shelves groan. When hes confident about an idea and given enough space hes the best writer any superhero could ask for, just ask Animal Man. Seriously. Ask him. This isnt going to be All-Star Superman, that love letter was sent and received (to huge acclaim) but Morrison knows its time to move on, both for him and Superman. Those who read his book Supergods have an inkling what were going to get here. This is going to be a reinvention to make Superman more alienated than he ever has been before. Count me in. FOR A FULL REVIEW FOR ACTION COMICS #1 CLICK HERE Book: The New Teen Titans: Games HC Written By: Marv Wolfman, Art By: George Pérez Publisher: DC Comics Price: $24.99 Pages: 120 Bored with all this relaunch talk by now? I cant blame you; its starting to run a bit thin with me at times. So what better book this week than an original Wolfman and Pérez story about the 1980s New Teen Titans? Well, another series from them I guess, but we havent got a chance for that so this will have to do, for now. Ive kept myself in the dark for this book; I dont know the premise or all of the characters involved. Thats been hard to do with a book that has had as many delays as this. Needless to say this is going to be a nice breath of old DC if this weeks #1s turn out to disappoint.