New comics are due to hit the shelves on Wednesday so here’s a look ahead at some of the books we’ll be picking up this week.
Matt C: I feel like trying something new this week and I've spied Shanghai Red #1 from Image sailing towards my pull-list. An adventure on the high seas and the mean streets, taking us from China to America for a tale of kidnapping and revenge, this falls into the category of 'Something Different' for me and I'm hopeful it's a keeper. Image also have the next issues of three of their very best titles out on Wednesday: the intense Deadly Class #35 (coming soon to a TV screen near you!), the prescient Days Of Hate #6 (just look at the news and tell me this isn't scarily plausible!) and the beguiling Gideon Falls #4 (feast your eyes on that artwork!). Gideon Falls isn't the only book by Jeff Lemire vying for my attention this week: Dark Horse has Black Hammer: Age Of Doom #3, the continuation of his intriguing take on some familiar archetypes, and the springboard to a series of equally compelling miniseries the writer is spinning out of this universe. After an exceptional Joker-led issue a couple of weeks ago, Batman #49 continues where the preceding instalment left off, leading us towards the wedding of the year (has there been any other of note?). Marvel have Avengers #3: the second issue wasn't as persuasive as the debut but I'll be back again to see if this new take on Earth's Mightiest Heroes is one to stick around for.
Jo S: After last week’s budget-busting monster of a list, this week things are thankfully much more reasonable; still more than I can count on one hand, yes, but I won’t need to build the new wing on the family mansion just yet! Ant-Man And The Wasp #2 won’t take up too much space, given that they’re currently subatomically teeny! Waid’s writing and Garrón’s bold artwork were on the money in issue #1, creating a claustrophobic yet alien feeling where Adams’ sentient shade of blue might well have felt at home. Garrón’s chunky black outlines lend a boldness to the images, helping the miniature duo to maintain their gravitas in spite of being titchy. Two of my current best-evers both land this week, with Days Of Hate fighting Gideon Falls for pull-list top billing - Image have really got the juice at the moment. The art in each of these is so distinctive, and so succinct in its telling of the respective tales. The Beef has been weird at the best of times and just downright gross at the worst - wrapping up at its fifth issue is about right. I will see this to the (inevitably repellent) end but the story doesn’t really seem to have managed to stay worthy of Shaky Kane’s lurid artwork. A couple of ‘nice’ ones round off the list: Skyward #3 floats into view first; this picture of a gravity-free future for the Earth is full of holes currently but it doesn’t really detract from a sweet story with an interesting SF engine beneath it. The last course is Flavor #2 - this made a most tantalising entrée with its story of rebel chef kids and a totalitarian regime where food is both entertainment and precious commodity rolled together and is a good example of where taking elements of a number of cultures and applying the most subtle of torques to each can generate something really unusual and interesting.
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