WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: Fantastic Four #605.1 – I probably should give this to Saga #3 and can’t believe that I’m giving any honors to an issue with art by Mike Choi (because his art was very pedestrian in this issue), but Jonathan Hickman did enough to get it over the hump.  The story is basically an alternate history that shows Germany winning World War II and what a Nazi Fantastic Four would look like…..only to see that this story was really about one of the many Reed Richards from the Council of Reeds.  Very clever.

Top 5 this week:

1). The Unwritten #37 – I can’t wait to see what this story does next.  We’ve finished the “War of the Words” storyline that had all kinds of big events for the characters.  Last issue we had one of those done-in-one issues featuring that foul-mouthed bunny rabbit.  So, this issue will finally show us where the main story will go.  Lots was accomplished in the finale of “War of the Words” and I’m very curious to see if this series acts like it is going to wrap up OR if it will settle into another long story cycle.

2). Prophet #25 – If you’re looking for trippy science fiction storytelling, Prophet is the place to be.  We’ve now moved beyond our “wasteland Earth” setting of the first 3 issues into more of a space opera.  The storytelling and art have both been wonderful in this series so far.

3). Mind Mgmt #1 – Matt Kindt doing a monthly comic series?!?  Sign me up.  This is the guy who gave us the excellent OGN’s Super Spy, Revolver, and 3 Story, as well as the art on the OGN The Tooth–and did that great fill-in arc on Sweet Tooth a few months ago.  I don’t even really care what this is about.  I’m just excited to see how Kindt does with a monthly comic (much the same way I was eager to see how Jeff Lemire would do with Sweet Tooth when it launched a few years ago).

4). Elephantmen #39 – Last issue brought in a character I never thought I’d see in the contemporary Elephantmen storylines: Yvette!  And, that’s after years of seeing her character in these old flashbacks about “the war”.  Elephantmen never disappoints….it’s always interesting, the art is always pretty and the production values are unparalleled.

5). Hero Comics 2012 – An original TMNT story by Kevin Eastman?  An original Elephantmen story by Richard Starkings with art by Dave Sim?  With a J. Scott Campbell cover?  Plus, lots of other goodies from name creators and all the profits benefit the Hero Initiative?  These Hero comics are always good and the money goes to a great cause.

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Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: The Manhattan Projects #3 – It was between this and Saga, but ultimately, the awesome, European, Heavy Metal style artwork totally won me over.  Top this with ridiculously kooky characters, and you have a winner.  However, what made this issue special was that Jonathan Hickman actually made the bombing of Hiroshima comedic.  Seriously.  That alone is a massive achievement.  It was certainly irreverent, which can be said about this series in general, but not at all tasteless.  Between this and that FF done-in-one with  Spidey and Johnny as room-mates, Hickman is showing himself to have a surprisingly great handle on comedy.

Picks:  First up would have to be Justice League Dark #9.  Next to Catwoman, JLD was the biggest disappointment of the new 52 for me.  I loved the concept, the characters, and the art, but the book just wasn’t clicking for me, much that  having to do with the glacial pacing.  Now Jeff Lemire, a guy on my “buy anything he writes list” is taking over.  JLD is a winning concept and Lemire should be the man for the job.

Next up would be Fantastic Four #606.  With his major story wrapped up, Hickman seems to be spending the rest of his run with done-in-ones, each with a clear creative idea.  This week takes the team to Wakanda and if the done-in-ones last month were any indication, this should be fun.

Secret Avengers #27 continues what is so far my favourite AvX tie-in.  It’s last-stand heroism, the return of Mar-Vell, cosmic adventuring/politics, double-crosses, and Renato Guedes putting out some of the best work of his career.

Batman Incorporated #1 seems like a bit of an outsider these days, as Scott Snyder has so firmly taken control of the Bat-verse.  Still, it’s Grant Morrison doing his thing, which should provide a nice counter-point to Snyder’s Batman and provide a high-quality bat-book sans owls.

Finally, while I said that Justice League Dark was among the disappointments of the new 52, The Flash has been one of the nicest surprises of the relaunch.  It’s been nothing but lush artwork and old school gleefulness from Manapul and Buccellato.  The Flash #9 sees the Flash end up in Gorilla City, which is just the sort of wacky, old school “comics” thing that this creative team seems to dig.  Better still, it’ll mean Grodd, a sentimental favourite of mine.

Elephantmen #30 – Review

By: Richard Starkings (writer), Axel Medellin (art), Gregory Wright & Medellin (colors) & Comicraft (letters)

The Story: Hip Flask finally finds some love.

What’s Good: This was the best issue of Elephantmen (for me) in a long time.  This title is at its best when it is almost a slice-of-life story that follows these tragic Elephantmen through their daily lives because they simply don’t fit in.  They are huge and hulking and stick out like a sore thumb, and this aspect of their nature is best illustrated by contrasting our protagonists Hip Flask (the hippo), Ebony Hide (the elephant) and Obadiah Horn (the rhino) with the women in the series.  Simply stated, you don’t get a full sense of how large and out of place these characters are until you see them interacting with the outstanding human female characters in the book: Sahara, Vanity & Miki.

Obviously, this is a roundabout way of saying that this issue got back to more of this “slice-of-life” story telling and away from the action that had been the calling card for this Questionable Things story arc.  And, that’s really what I really enjoy most about Elephantmen.

Of course, one huge part of that “slice-of-life” drama is the love lives of the Elephantmen, especially the more tragic hero characters of Hip and Ebony.  How are these guys ever going to find love?  Are they destined (cursed?) to just spend their lives alone?  They have women who care for them, but… well, they’re huge and hulking and probably smell funny and you could see how they’re probably not destined to be all that lucky in love.  Well, let’s just say that this issue addresses Hip’s love life in a very complete way and (as a reader) I couldn’t be happier about where Hip is at the end of this issue.

I’ve enjoyed Medellin’s art on this series, but he really took it to another level with this issue.  The first two panels (both full page splashes) really establish the tone for the book.  The first shows Hip Flask, carrying his groceries home in the rain.  He just looks every bit the crusty, rumpled and soaked detective that he is.  I love how his whiskers even give him a sort of five o’clock shadow that you’d see on Bogart in an evening scene.  And, he just looks huge as Medellin has Hip fill almost the entire page.  Then, you flip the page and there’s Miki who doesn’t look crusty or rumpled.  She’s just standing there in a transparent raincoat looking sexy as hell and just by the way the page is framed, you can tell that she’s 1/4 the size of Hip.  This is a great issue from an art standpoint.  That splash of Miki in the rain has probably the best rain effect I’ve ever seen in a comic and could almost win an Eisner for the coloring alone with the way the neon signs reflect off her raincoat.  You really need to see it.