Weekly Hit (and Miss) List: 9/26/2011

by Ben Peirce

The Weekly Hit (and Miss) List is a rundown of the best and worst things I read this week regardless of their original publication date. It doesn’t have to be new – just new to me.

2 and 2 this week and while I’d planned to spotlight 3 leading women of the New 52, I decided to throw in a Marvel #1 to balance things out. 

THE HITS

Batwoman #1 | DC | J.H. Williams III (w/a) & W. Haden Blackman (w)

It should come as no surprise that this book made the hit list. I’ve only been eagerly awaiting it’s arrival since oh … April of 2010. We spoke with J.H. Williams III when this series was announced over a year ago but since then we got only a #0 issue before the book was shelved (presumably in preparation for the DC relaunch).  Well, I’m here to tell you today that it was worth the wait! Fans of Kate Kane’s adventures in Detective Comics will be very pleased to see her story pick up right where it left off and Williams’ art is an absolute thing of beauty.

Weekly Hit (and Miss) List: 9/20/2011

by Ben Peirce

The Weekly Hit (and Miss) List is a rundown of the best and worst things I read this week regardless of their original publication date. It doesn’t have to be new – just new to me.  This was a light reading week for me, so I’m going to keep it brief and focus my efforts on some of the surprise (at least to me) hits of DC’s new 52.

THE HITS

Animal Man #1 | DC | Jeff Lemire (w), Travel Foreman (a)

I really can’t get enough of the New 52.  Make no mistake, they haven’t all been great but they’re all NEW and when you’ve read superhero comics for as long as Josh and I have, finding something new can be hard to come by.  Of the books I’ve read so far, Animal Man has done the best job of embracing the newness while still establishing a sense of history.  That’s a lot to accomplish in 22 pages but Jeff Lemire does it masterfully.  I’ll take some heat for liking this on account of my constant New Avengers-bashing, but within the first few pages (which yes, do take place around a kitchen table)  it’s obvious that Buddy Baker/Animal Man is an established character with some history but it’s a fresh start for both the characters and the reader and I found myself slipping effortlessly into the story.

Weekly Hit (and Miss) List: 9/12/2011

by Ben Peirce

The Weekly Hit (and Miss) List is a rundown of the best and worst things I read this week regardless of their original publication date. It doesn’t have to be new – just new to me.

THE HITS

Justice League #1 | DC | Geoff Johns (w), Jim Lee (a)

Let me start by saying that this wasn’t a perfect comic. The dialogue was a little clunky, there weren’t enough characters involved, and I found it a little too written-for-the-trade to call it new-reader friendly.  But that said, there was enough to like about this issue that I can give a resounding “it’s not that bad” to the flagship offering of DC’s New 52.  This was basically a Batman and Green Lantern team-up that served up a lot of action blended with an appropriate amount of dialogue to set the stage and get everyone up to speed on where we are in the universe.  It was set “5 years ago”, which I liked because it means we can have a “getting the band together” story in this title – meanwhile, all the other books, set “now”, can jump us right into an established universe with the wheels in motion.  I’m really not digging the armor-y suits, but other than that you can’t go wrong with art by Jim Lee and for anyone who was maybe a fan during the 90’s boom and then dropped off, it will be a familiar homecoming.

Weekly Hit (and Miss) List: 9/06/2011

by Ben Peirce

A day late this week due to the Labor Day holiday (I was busy sitting by the lake and reading comics).  If you’re just joining us, the Weekly Hit (and Miss) List is a rundown of the best and worst things I read this week. It doesn’t have to be new – just new to me.

THE HITS

Asterios Polyp | Pantheon Books | David Mazzucchelli (w/a)

Ok, I’m a little late to the party on this one.  Plenty has already been said about this Eisner-winning OGN and a 3-sentence review wouldn’t begin to do it justice, so I’ll leave it at this: Get it. Read it. Read it again.  Asterios Polyp an absolute masterpiece of comic storytelling and worthy of a place among the all time greats.  If Watchmen was a deconstruction of the superhero genre, Asterios Polyp is a deconstruction of the comicbook art form itself – and it’s every bit as good! BUY IT