1. Letter 44 #1 By Charles Soule And Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque (Oni Press)
In
last week's comics of the week roundup, I deferred the number one spot to the underdog title despite being equally as good as the number two comic that week, which was a big, big issue. This week, I can confidently say that the smaller publisher definitely won the top comic of the week by being the best of the bunch - and I say this as a huge fan of Fraction's Hawkeye. Imagine a non-white President being elected after 8 years of an unpopular, war-mongering President from Texas brought the country to the brink of ruination - sound familiar? And then what if this President discovered that there was a reason for the constant war:
imminent alien invasion! Kept secret from the general populace for fear of widespread panic, the newly elected President reads a letter left by the last President - Letter 44 - explaining that some kind of mining operation that could only be alien has been detected by NASA in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Several years ago, a manned spacecraft containing a small group made up of special forces military and scientists were dispatched to investigate and gather as much information as they can. Now, they are nearing their destination - and are about to discover things are worse than they thought... Savvy comics readers will have noted the name Charles Soule by now, an emerging talent in comics who's been recently tapped to write some of Marvel and DC's biggest titles, and who debuts his best comic yet with Letter 44 #1 from Oni Press. He masterfully tells the story of the biggest secret of all time being revealed to the most powerful man on the planet in a series of pitch-perfect scenes. His portrayal of President Blades' first few hours in office is utterly convincing and compelling all by itself but couple that with the crew and their lives aboard the spacecraft Clarke? Magic. Soule subtly introduces unusual elements to the crew's social structure over the course of the comic - there's something going on amongst them that's changed. They left traditional human society behind years ago as they realised they're not coming back and things are different now. The story is full of tension, excitement and is ripe for creative potential. It's the West Wing meets Alien! Alberto Alburquerque's art is outstanding as well. It reminded me of Ming Doyle's style - definitely a plus - and his character designs have a fluid canniness to them that's both cartoonish and real. I love his design for the spacecraft Clarke which straddles the line between realism and fantasy, especially inside the craft which looks a bit like the inside of a Ridley Scott spacecraft (pre-Prometheus). And that final page... phew! As editor Jill Beaton notes in her editorial at the end, there are all kinds of questions the storyline throws up about morality, conspiracies, and integrity on the part of the new President-Elect, and Soule has hit upon a rich narrative sure to yield even more amazing comics to come. It's been a while since I've been this excited about a new comic but I'm totally on board with Letter 44 and can't wait for the next issue. One other thing - the first issue is literally $1/75p for a full length 22 page issue, which is incredible value for such a high quality comic. Even if you're not sure, it's worth the handful of pennies it costs just to experience it and decide for yourself. If you don't like it, it didn't cost you much, and if you do - and I'm sure you will - then you've got yourself a bargain. If every comic cost this much, I'd be clearing the shelves of my local comics shop every week instead of cherry-picking (but I know subsequent issues will be regularly priced). Letter 44 #1 - look it up, guys, you won't be disappointed. * Those are my picks for the week - agree or disagree? Did I miss out any of your regular pulls? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see you next week. Happy comics reading!