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
Amazing Spider-Man #672 | Marvel | D. Slott (w), H. Ramos (a)
We sung it’s praises on our last podcast episode, but the greatness of Spider Island can not be overstated. This had everything a great Spidey story should – great action, unlikely heroics, the best supporting cast in comics and just the right amount of yucks. Dan Slott dug into the longbox and mined the web of way-back continuity to come up with a fresh story with deep roots. Top that off with art from the Amazingly-talented Humberto Ramos – who captures funny, dramatic, sexy and kinetic, with one epic pencil-stroke – and you have one of the best Spider-Man stories, not just since Brand New Day, but of ALL TIME. Coming on the lackluster heels of Flashpoint and Fear Itself, Spider Island is an “event” book done right. Everything you needed was in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man and the tie-ins were not only meaningful, but matched the continuity of the other books right down to dialogue and choreography in overlapping scenes. We put some heat on Spider-editor, Steve Wacker recently, but I have to hand it to him. He absolutely crushed it on this one! BUY IT
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
Orchid #1 | Dark Horse | Tom Morello (w), Scott Hepburn (a)
Written by guitarist, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, the Nightwatchmen), Orchid presents a post-apocalyptic world by way of rising seas and monstrous genetic mutations. The remaining human society has reverted to a feudal caste system in which the very wealthy rule as slave-masters … so, not unlike our society today. The art of Scott Hepburn is dynamic and brings a lot of personality to the protagonist rebels and shantytown dwellers we meet. While this first issue is a little wordy, Morello seems to have a handle on comicbook storytelling and Dark Horse has a proven track record of turning rock musicians into successful comicbook writers (see Gerard Way’s Umbrella Academy). I enjoyed exploring this desolate world and I look forward to the socio-political commentary that Morello is sure to weave into the story.
It’s been a while but we’re back with a vengeance! In this action packed issue, the boys open up with some coffee talk, including Ben’s award-winning appearance in the SNOB Film Festival, new additions to the website the upcoming NY Comic Con and the just-released Avengers trailer.
Then we get down to business and shake up the status quo as you know it. Ben and Josh (yes, Josh too) pitch a tent in the heart of DC and let thier voices be heard about the New 52. You’ll hear rapid-fire reviews lots of the the new titles, including Batman, Batgirl, Batwoman, Catwoman, Nightwing, Detective Comics … and a few books that don’t take place in Gotham.
If you still have anything left after a lengthy DCUssion, there’s talk of Spider Island, FF, Scud the Disposable Assassin, Ultimate Spider-Man and Fall TV. It’s more geek talk than you can shake a fist at!
Music in this Episode by: REM, Urge Overkill, Weezer, Juanes
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
Action Comics #2 | DC | Grant Morrison (w), Rags Morales (a)
I’m not a huge Superman fan and just picked up a copy of Action Comics #1 on a whim during my lunch break. If it keeps going the way it’s been going, Grant Morrison will have written my two favorite Superman stories. I loved All Star Superman a couple of years ago and the first two issues of this book have been amazing. I feel like the difficulty with writing Superman is the seemingly limitless nature of his power level. He has received so many power-ups over the years that he has become too God-like to relate to and to put into danger. Morrison and Quietly absolutely hit a homerun on All Star Superman by focusing on a hero who learned that his solar-based powers had given him terminal cancer. Morrison and Morales are taking Action Comics down another path. We are dealing with Superman when he first arrives on the scene. He can stop bullets and leap tall buildings in single bound, but he cannot fly and he can be knocked out. He’s cocky and flawed and interesting because the danger is very real and he is imperfect. I recently read some of the earliest Superman stories from the late thirties and the similarities between those stories and the current ones are prevalent and wonderful. Superman, originally conceived as a strong (but not omnipotent) man committed to protecting the downtrodden is returning to his roots and is in great hands right now.
Since you’re all comics fans, we know that you have a finely-tuned internal alarm clock that starts buzzing whenever your monthly fix is a few weeks late. And yes, we know we’re overdue to release an episode of everyone’s favorite comicbook podcast. Fear not, true believers! Ben and josh will be back “in studio” on Tuesday and a new episode will be headed your way by week’s end. And while we have taken a longer-than-usual break between episodes, we haven’t been resting on our laurels. In fact, we’ve been hard at work on some exciting new features here on nearmintcomicshow.com.
Here’s what’s new…
Podcast Archive We’ve completely overhauled the podcast page which now features a complete archive of past episodes including a link to the original blog post, a link to purchase books mentioned in each episode and best of all, a convenient embedded audio player so you can listen to each show without leaving the page. Want to hear the first Newbie Book Report? Wondering who Josh’s 2008 villain of the year was? Looking for our interview with Frank Quitely? It’s all collected in one place and easily accessible!
Help support the Near Mint Comic Show when you shop online
Amazon Store Do you like stuff? Do you like saving money? Do you want to help us cover some of the costs that keep this site up and running? Of course you do. You may have noticed the “buy it” links popping up in articles or the “shop” link in the new episode archive or the not-so-subtle “shop our Amazon store” button on the side of the page. All of those links will take you to our Amazon store where you can get great deals on all the stuff you buy online and a portion of your purchase will go to support the Near Mint Comic Show. Podcasting ain’t free, folks – and while we’re not planning a pledge drive anytime soon, we don’t mind a little help covering our operating costs. We’ll be populating the store with books we mention on the show or in articles and we may even throw out a great deal on our Facebook page from time to time. But we’ve also made it so you can search the entirety of Amazon.com through our storefront. So whether you’re looking to save a few bucks on the latest Walking Dead trade, or you’re shopping for a new washer and dryer, do us a favor and click our store link first. You’ll get the same below-retail prices you always find on Amazon, and you’ll be supporting the show in the process. It’s a win-win!
Art Gallery & Video Page If you take a look at the navigation menu at the top of the page, you’ll notice a couple changes. Gone is the Art Gallery, which we’ve moved to Facebook, where it’s easier for us and you to add convention sketches, pieces of original art etc. If you’ve picked up something awesome or done something yourself, stop by and post it – we’d love to see the gallery grow. In it’s place on our website, we’ve added a Video page, where we’ve embedded a few of our best video features and a link to more on Vimeo.
Weekly Hit (and Miss) List Since we know you visit the site religiously and read everything we post, hopefully you’ve been enjoying the Weekly Hit (and Miss) List columns … Ed Brubaker has! Each week, Ben reviews some of the best (and less-than-best) comics he read that week. This feature will continue weekly and may feature some guest columnists from time to time. If you’re interested in being a guest columnist, email us and as always, feel free to comment on the books you’re liking and not liking on our Facebook page.
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.
Checking in a little late this week, but not because I was particularly busy or even lazy. I just plain forgot. But that just means I have a few extra days worth of comics to choose from. Let’s get to it…
THE HITS
Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #1-4 | Icon | Ed Brubaker (w), Sean Phillips (a) w/ Val Staples & Dave Stewart (c)
If you’ve read any of the previous installments of Ed Brubaker’s crime noir series, Criminal, then you know that the man has a gift for this type of story. Each Criminal mini series offers up a self-contained tale from the underbelly of society, which intermingle and tie loosely together to form a larger continuity. What makes Last of the Innocent special is that series artist, Sean Phillips and world-class colorists, Val Staples and Dave Stewart get to stretch their artistic legs through a series of flashbacks done in a faux-Archie Comics style. It brings some levity and punctuates the backstory of Riley Richards, a small-time crook plotting to kill his millionaire heiress wife. It’s 4 issues (compared to 6, in previous volumes) and the pacing is perfect. Nothing is wasted and the tension remains high for every panel of this captivating tale of reprehensible people who you just can’t help rooting for. BUY IT
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