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User
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Last Active 02-16-11 5:19 am
Joined 09-02-06
Review Comments 1,220
| Favorite Ongoing Comic Books
In honor of the swiftly impending Free Comic Book Day, I wanted to compile ra list of my favorite ongoing comic series--as well as the respective bands I rfeel best represent each, for a variety of convoluted reasons. Also, I'm rsuch a goddamn nerd. | | 8 |  | La Dispute
Somewhere at the Bottom of the River...
Bedlam - Although on hiatus at the moment, Nick Spencer's Bedlam is a gruesome,
exploitative series that knows exactly what it's doing in the same way that some
ultra-violent comics don't (*cough*Millarworld*cough*). By pairing its grotesque depictions of
horror with some legitimate, Burgess-esque inquisitions of morality, the series
transcends the niche, baddie-gone-good niche exercise it could have easily
become. The same sort of introspective extravagance is rife in La Dispute's
increasingly divisive debut. | | 7 |  | Pity Sex
Feast of Love
Hawkeye - The only title on here from the Big Two of comic publishers (though not
necessarily from any ill-will against them, more just indifference and/or ignorance),
Matt Fraction's take on Hawkeye is a refreshingly (and, given the character,
fittingly) down-to-earth piece of superhero comic-ry, one where the hero frets as
much about hangovers and bitter exes as about international espionage. There's a
reason some call him "Hawkguy." And beneath its fun-loving exterior beats a
weary, wounded heart. The blend of fun and depression can be found in plenty of
places musically--some might argue it *defines* music--but one of the best recent
examples, at least to my mind, is Pity Sex's fuzzed-out fuckshow of a full-length
debut. | | 6 |  | Weird Al Yankovic
Straight Outta Lynwood
Chew - Without a doubt the funniest comic since the Tick (that I've read, at least)
on shelves today, Chew's biggest strength is that even--or especially--at its most
mythological, it never takes itself too seriously. Seven TPBs in, the series shows
no signs of slowing, nor of creative exhaustion. In fact, if anything, it's only
ramped up and gained relevance as it's gone along--much like the man himself,
Weird Al, whose full-fledged embrace of extracurricular comic forms like the podcast
(here's looking at you, Comedy Bang! Bang!), admirably tenacious work ethic, and
simple affability have worked wonders in keeping what could have been mere shtick
well within the realm of enjoyability. | | 5 |  | Meshuggah
Catch Thirtythree
Prophet - Heady to the point of exhaustion, Brandon Graham's sci-fi series about
the long-dormant Earth Empire's intergalactic quest of conquest is the graphic
novel equivalent of reading a Borges story, in that you (read: I) feel like an
absolute idiot. There's such deadpan, matter-of-fact world-building through action
rather than exposition that even if the series weren't a reboot of an also-ran from
the early nineties (which, full disclosure, I have not read), it would still as if we're
only getting photocopied excerpts from a textbook about a universe entirely
foreign. And I mean that all in the best possible way. Still, the series' cerebrality
can make it easier to admire than enjoy, and while I still think Borges is the aptest
comparison, the near-inhuman complexity of Meshuggah's album-length opus fits a
similar bill. | | 4 |  | The Receiving End of Sirens
The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi
East of West - Sort of like a Prophet-lite, sci-fi-wise, but much more weighty in its
political commentaries and wry humour, Jonathan Hickman's alt-reality Western is
sometimes a tough nut to crack, but rewards patience with surprisingly subtle and
arc-spanning character work--especially for a series whose ostensible protagonist
is, literally, one of the four horseman. For a similarly well-tailored, semi-sprawling
setting that abruptly hones in and reveals glimpses of a surprising emotional heft,
look no further than Receiving End of Sirens' unjustly overlooked sophomore LP. | | 3 |  | mewithoutYou
Ten Stories
Saga - Brian K. Vaughan, perhaps more so than any other author on this list, does
a fantastic job blending brains, humor, and heart. His unabashedly romantic,
unabashedly vulgar space odyssey is a masterclass in plumbing depth and pathos
from the most mundane of places (including, of all things, a cat with a one-word
vocabulary). And his central "love conquers all" theme subverts its own cliched-
ness by embracing it, and (over?)analyzing it so hard it ends up feeling fresh, the
sort of hyper-literate but un-ironic message espoused by mewithoutYou's sensitive,
corny, and all-around superb latest album. | | 2 |  | The Weeknd
House of Balloons
Fatale - The partnership of writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips has yielded
fantastic dividends over the years, from the super-powered noir of Sleeper to the
grimy realism of Criminal. Fatale, which sadly wraps up soon, is somewhere in-
between, with a healthy dose of Lovecraftian horror tossed in for good, eldritch
measure. And yet, despite its grit and dread, it somehow remains an almost
uncomfortably sensual experience--not so unlike the debauched wreckage of The
Weeknd's yet-to-be-surpassed debut. | | 1 |  | Between the Buried and Me
Colors
Manhattan Projects - Another Hickman joint, and really the one that got me into
Image comics. His great, sci-fi, tongue-in-cheek retelling of the titular Projects
brims with gleeful, bizarre twists and turns, featuring clones, aliens, multiple-
personality suffering cannibals, talking dogs, Wernher Von Braun with a rocket
launcher (get it?) arm, and Einstein wielding a chainsaw, among so much else. It's
ability to bounce from sophisticated intellect and profound insight to just plain old
bonkers brutality and absurdity is pretty amazingly mirrored by Between the Buried
and Me's similarly schizophrenic, sometimes silly, whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-
of-its-parts approach on this album. | |
thecheatisnotdead
05.03.14 | Honorable mentions:
Sidekick;
Jupiter's Legacy;
Ten Grand;
Serenity (duh);
Mind MGMT
...which are mostly all too young (or I'm too new to starting) for me to include in good faith. | AtomicShane
05.03.14 | saga and chew are both so awesome | neurisis17
05.03.14 | dude yes 2 and 4. I've been bad though, I haven't picked up a new copy of either since Fatale 20 and EoW 9. Love the covers for 1, but I haven't seen the 1st issue anywhere, so I haven't started it yet. | thecheatisnotdead
05.03.14 | @neurisis: At this point I'd recommend just caving and ordering the TPBs online somewhere. Definitely worth it. It might feel a bit talky at first, but you'll be hooked by the end of the first issue. | neurisis17
05.03.14 | ^yeah that's what I did with with EoW 6, since I never found a copy and had 1-5 and at that time 7-8. Would you happen to know if Manhattan Projects are gonna do any collections? That's how I started Fatale (issues 1-14 in 3 different books), since I found out about it about a year after the series started. | thecheatisnotdead
05.03.14 | I know they don't have any hardback multi-arc anthologies, but 1-5, 6-10, and 11-15 all have their own softcover collections at this point. And, really, it's a series that lends itself pretty well to marathoning, so it's not a bad way to go. | Onirium
05.03.14 | Dude, the Walking Dead! It's like one of the best comic book series ever | neurisis17
05.03.14 | that's good to know. Since I'd end up spending roughly the same price for the individuals, I may go the anthology route. | thecheatisnotdead
05.03.14 | @Onirium: I read the first anthology and definitely liked it, and now I feel like I'm just more intimidated by how much is out there than anything else. Still, felt the same way about Locke and Key and Y: The Last Man and ended up loving those, so who knows?
@neu: Yeah, definitely worth the trade-off to catch up. Also, Image seems to do a good bit of reprinting, so even if you're a stickler for single-issues, it should work itself out. What'd you think of East of West, by the by? | neurisis17
05.03.14 | I really like it. The story is excellent, and I dig the mix of sci-fi and old west, along with the looming apocalypse. The characters are bad ass too. | thecheatisnotdead
05.03.14 | So badass. Have a favorite character or two among the crowd? Also, I'm calling it right now, Death doesn't count. It's too easy. | neurisis17
05.03.14 | Big fan of Chamberlain, and after #9 John Freeman has a high spot. | thecheatisnotdead
05.03.14 | Chamberlain is up there for sure. Such a snidely Yosemite Sam. | thecheatisnotdead
05.03.14 | The Ranger, though. The Ranger. | RivalSkoomaDealer
05.03.14 | Do you read Remender's "Black Science?" Definitely need to check that one out if not. | thecheatisnotdead
05.03.14 | I've not, but I'll definitely have to give it a gander. |
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