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User
Soundoffs 1
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Album Edits 49
Album Ratings 298
Objectivity 73%
Last Active 02-16-11 5:19 am
Joined 09-02-06
Review Comments 1,220
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Just as my wallet begins to make baby steps recovering from RSD, we're faced with the back-to-back final Bandcamp Friday until September (I think?), and Free Comic Book Day, which despite its namesake, usually ends up finding a way to cost me a pretty penny at my local shop. List is my shortlist for the former, paired with some (unranked) highlights of the comic titles I'm currently following. | | 1 |  | Liars Academy
Ghosts
Saga - truth be told, haven't felt this book *quite* as much thus far post-hiatus, but that's probably more a product of the incredible highs and visceral, gut-punching lows of the first half of the series; anyways, even underbaked Saga is better than tons of what's out there on the stands, and I have faith in fellow gin-guzzler BKV and my one-day bride-to-be (whether she knows it or not) Fiona Staples to ramp it back up as we continue into the second half of this game-changing epic.
Album notes - Was sick and missed their album release show at a local spot last week, so bummed about that; doing penance and paying for shipping like a dang shmuck. | | 2 |  | Total Downer
Caretaker
Radiant Black – Another book from Image, a pretty nifty, down-to-earth spin on Power Rangers (which makes sense, since Higgins had a tremendous run on that title for a while); well-written, believable characters with real-world plights like debt and dead-end jobs, who also, y’know, just so happen to find themselves in the ramp-up to some cosmic conflict--plus, some very cool stylistic and high-concept issue choices going on here. Skeptical of the so-called “Massive-Verse” this is expanding into (I feel like that stuff’s best left to the Big Two), but still works quite capably on its own.
Album notes - A punchy pile of punk whose peppiness often belies just how brutal some of these lyrics are. | | 3 |  | Hammock
Raising Your Voice... Trying to Stop an Echo
Rogue Sun - The last bit above being said, this is by far the best title to spin out of the "Massive-verse," and excels for much the same reason as its parent RB: Great characters first, mythology as garnish rather than dominant focus, and some twisty storytelling and truly wild swings as issue concepts (like the choose-your-own adventure fight, still a series high point)
Album notes - A true classic right here, finally grabbing the deluxe version of this with the second disc of bonus tracks. | | 4 |  | Closure in Moscow
Soft Hell
Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing - Whereas so many Joker books (and media as whole, I guess) have really leaned into the whole gritty, grimdark aspect, this is a refreshingly...well, it's still pretty dark, but at least it's effin' funny. Not sure if this is gonna be an ongoing title (it honestly probably shouldn't), but I've certainly enjoyed the ride so far.
Album notes - Pre-ordered this bad boy, very glad to see these guys back in action. | | 5 |  | Strange Ranger
Pure Music
Immortal X-Men - While the X-books as a whole have definitely started to sag after erstwhile "Head of X" Jonathan Hickman's departure, this stands out from the bloated pack as really capturing the menace and maneuvering that made so much of the early days of the Krakoa era really sing. With Fall of X looming, I can only hope it keeps that bent.
Album notes - Another preorder, actually doing the bundle with their last one (see 6), which was phenomenal. The evolution of this act has really been something to behold. | | 6 |  | Strange Ranger
No Light in Heaven
X-Men Red - Another standout from an overstuffed line of tie-ins and spin-offs, basically a space opera + political allegory with mutants and a good old-fashioned occasional head-crushing.
Album notes - You should've heard this one by now, come on. | | 7 |  | JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown
Scaring the Hoes
Danger Street – Maybe mildly premature, since this is less than halfway through its run, but all signs so far seem to say we're on pace for another reliably great DC maxiseries from Tom King (fresh off the heels of his terrific Gotham: Year One, which was more noir than Bat-book--and as such a great companion to Frank Miller's ur-text).
Album notes - Been listening to this ad nauseum since it dropped, figure it's finally time to actually pay a little something for it. | | 8 |  | Fires in the Distance
Air Not Meant For Us
What's the Furthest Place from Here - Style in spades on this one, Rosenberg and Boss are truly firing on all cylinders here. It's punk af but also has some sneakily deft worldbuilding going on, all enveloped by a unique atmosphere that couples creeping dread with mordant humor, with sudden bursts of empathy and emotion. No idea where it's all headed, and all the more excited for it.
Album notes - Thanks for the reco, Sput! | | 9 |  | Sermon
Of Golden Verse
Barbaric - Another great combo package, blasts of gruesome violence and goofy gallows humor (a talking Axe gets drunk off blood! How has that concept not been done to death?), this is the best pulp fantasy title of its ilk right now, at least until Daniel Warren Johnson's next creator-owned project (which, if you haven't, treat yo'self and check out Murder Falcon and Do a Powerbomb!).
Album notes - Discovered by way of them being labelmates with 8, so...ditto! | |
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