WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week – Mind Mgmt #1 – Well, that was easy!  I’ve had a few weeks without a standout winner of “Best of the week”.  Those weeks can be like picking which brand of vanilla ice cream is your favorite.  So, it was wonderful that Matt Kindt gave us this gem.  This issue was head and shoulders above everything else I read this week.  The story was clever and interesting: plane full of people develop amnesia mid-flight.  The art was somber and unique.  And the production qualities on the comic were top notch.  It was so nice to see proper, high-quality newsprint in a comic versus all this cheap-ass, glossy paper that the Big 2 shovel at us.  Track it down or find it digitally.

Most anticipated this week:

1). The Walking Dead #98 – After a brief period when I felt like I might be falling out of love with TWD, Kirkman has hooked me back it these last few issues.  Something very bad is going to happen as Rick’s group comes into conflict with this new character.  It’s almost like TWD is going all Mad Max on us.

2). American Vampire #27 – The last issue took us into the 1950’s deep south and showed us both the prejudice that happened to black folks during that time period and a cool new monster with a canine sensibility about him.  So, while Scott Snyder is continuing to explore the history of America in this series, he’s also expanding the scope of his monster story.  And….the art is always gorgeous; even when they get a stand-in artist they’re able to find guys like Roger Cruz.

3). The New Deadwardians #3 – This series has been a huge breath of fresh air as it shows a 1910’s London beset by zombies.  But rather than having a bunch of haggard survivors eating 3-year old cans of pinto beans and living in boarded up houses, this world is all nice and clean because the English chose to protect themselves in a certain fangy way.  This issue promises a closer look at the zombies and I can’t wait to see what other little differences the creators have in store for us.

4). Rachel Rising #8 – Hard to believe that we’re already up to #8 with this series.  It feels like the preamble is just about done and stuff is about to get “real” in Rachel Rising.  I mean….last issue ended with bodies erupting from the ground in the cemetery and landing in the shape of a pentagram.  That’s…..not good, not good at all.  Plus, the art is lovely.  Read it.

5). Glamourpuss #25 – I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t read Glamourpuss.  The art is always “off-the-charts” good and the story is like a double-scoop of insanity.  This lampooning of the fashion-models he’s been doing for the last few months has been wicked.

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Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: Justice League Dark #9 – I’ll be honest: while there were a lot of good reads this past week, there wasn’t one read that blew me away.  That said, JLD was one of the biggest disappointments for me out of the new 52 (possibly only Catwoman disappointed me more) and this issue, Jeff Lemire provides many of the foundational components that were lacking during Milligan’s tenure.  There’s a sense of enthusiasm and energy in the, a clear direction, a plot that’s going somewhere, and an actual team dynamic.  I really like the idea of Constantine really taking charge as team leader as well.  I did, however, find the colors a bit too bright at times and I’m not yet entirely sold on the “Justice League” more Indiana Jones, action-adventure tone the book has taken on.  Even if we’re moving away from horror, I’d prefer Lemire to keep it urban fantasy.

Most Anticipated: Batman Annual #1 – As a kid who grew up watching Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s Batman: the Animated Series, the Mike Mignola designed Mr. Freeze was my favourite villain.  Aside from looking cool, I loved the brooding, tragic nature of the character.  After what feels like years since reading a Freeze comic, I’m getting one of my childhood favourites introduced into the new 52, red goggles and all, by Scott Snyder, a guy who can do no wrong.  Sold!

Other Picks: Animal Man Annual #1 – It’s a giant-sized issue of Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man, a book that’s easily within my top 3-5 of the new 52.  Not much else you need to know.

Powers #10 – Powers was one of the books responsible for getting me back into comics around 7-8 years ago, so it’ll always have a fond place in my heart.  It really is Bendis and Oeming doing what they do best and feeding off one another like any ideal writer/artist team should.  It’s great to have this series shipping regularly again.

American Vampire #27 – AV may jump time periods quite a lot, but it’s amazingly consistent in its quality.  Frankly, I don’t think there’s ever been a bad issue.  American Vampire is a guaranteed good read and a nice mix of action and horror with great art.  No reason to miss out.

Incredible Hulk #8 – So…Aaron’s last arc wasn’t that great, but the point one issue, apparently, was really good and a huge change of pace.  Similarly, this arc seems to be a bit less ridiculous than the last arc.  If you read PunisherMAX, you’ll remember that it took Aaron an arc or two to find his voice and proper tone for that book as well and that may be the case here too.  So I’m hopeful to see if he’s made the correct adjustments here, as the point one issue seemed to suggest.  Also, it’s a Hulk issue…drawn by Steve Dillon.  That is really, really weird.  It’s either going to be totally fresh, unique, and cool or….a complete disaster.  I’m really, really curious to see how this book ends up looking.

Mind Mgmt #1 – Review

By: Matt Kindt (writer, artist, letters, colors)

The Story: Who is behind a series of episodes of collective amnesia?

Review: Issue of the week!  Ding, ding, ding!  We have a winner!  As regular readers of WCBR know, we do a weekly “best of the week” feature and there are many weeks where no issue seems to want it.  In those weeks, you just hand out the “award” to the comic that was best, but you don’t feel very good about it.  Mind Mgmt #1 is of the same caliber as Saga #1 from a few months ago: interesting concept, great art, well told, etc.  These are the kinds of issues that make reading comics enjoyable.

The primary attraction to this issue is the brilliance that is Matt Kindt.  If you haven’t been exposed to his OGNs (Three Story, Super Spy and Revolver), you should remedy that as soon as possible.  Kindt has shown in those works that he is a master of thoughtful storytelling and compelling art.  His stories always work both on the surface level – where they’re enjoyable to read the first time – and at a deeper level if you want to keep scratching.  Balancing “complex” with “accessible” is very difficult, but Kindt makes it look easy.

The basic plot of Mind Mgmt #1 revolves around an airline flight where everyone loses their memory mid-flight.  That’s right, they all just blink their eyes and suddenly have no concept of who they are, where they are or anything.  When they land, they don’t know their families, their jobs or anything.  So, you can imagine what a sad story this is.  Kindt’s art is perfect for this sort of sadness.  But, the story isn’t all mopey crap…. We quickly fall in with one of the victims who wants to get to the bottom of the mystery and figure out what happened.  There are implications that some nasty government agency might be behind events, but Kindt is too clever of a storyteller for that to be the whole truth.  I’m so eager to see how this turns out.

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.