DC Comics And Beyond: Comics Reviews
Written by Wayne Hall on November 5, 2009 – 12:30 pm -Okay, enough with the Halloween and scary stuff! Let’s look at some other books this week.
1. Stumptown #1. A while back, I read a very interesting murder mystery set in Antarctica called White out (coming soon to a theater near you, by the way). It was suspenseful and intriguing, so I bought the sequel, Whiteout: Melt, and it was just as good. So I now tend to follow Greg Rucka wherever he writes (the one exception being Queen & Country, but someday I will get into that, I’m sure).
Just like Ed Brubaker‘s Criminal series, Rucka can tell fascinating stories about ordinary, everyday people as strongly as he can spin yarns about superheroes. And since I like variety, I love to come across something new to read.
Well, this week Oni Press has released Rucka’s latest non-superhero book, called Stumptown. It is the writer’s first creator-owned series. Here’s the summary:
Dex is the proprietor of Stumptown Investigations, and a fairly talented P.I. Unfortunately, she’s less adept at throwing dice than solving cases. Her recent streak has left her beyond broke — she’s into the Confederated Tribes of the Wind Coast for 18 large. But maybe Dex’s luck is about to change. Sue-Lynne, head of the Wind Coast’s casino operation, will clear Dex’s debt if she can locate Sue-Lynne’s missing granddaughter. But is this job Dex’s way out of the hole or a shove down one much deeper?
As always, the first book is often tough to judge how it will go in the future since the creative team is setting the stage for future events. But I liked the pacing, the story thus far, and the art by Matthew Southworth.
Oni Press is not one of the bigger comics-producing companies, so you may have to look around for this book. I’m glad I saw it coming and ordered it through my local comics store. If you look interesting character drama mixed with crime-solving elements, I’d recommend this book.
2. The Marvelous Land Of Oz #1. I know, I know — this is a Marvel Comic, but as I have mentioned previously, I enjoy the books the company makes that do not have superheroes much more than the ones that do. And I also believe in variety (didn’t I just say that?), so I picked up The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz by the same creative team, Eric Shanower (writer) and Skottie Young (artist) and I really liked it. Given the mini-series format, the two were able to fill in some of the gaps the famous film of the same name had. When that series was released in hardcover, I bought it to keep. (Buying hardcover collections also makes people think I’m much more well read until they open the book and find it is a comic.)
Here’s the description of the story:
Join new characters Tip and Jack Pumpkinhead as they’re whisked to Oz, and meet foes and friends!
The art and story continue as they did in the first series, and I enjoyed this first book. I also believe that children and adults will both take a liking to it as well. And that’s a good thing, in my opinion.
Also out this week from DC Comics are Superman: World Of New Krypton #9 of 12 and The Mighty #10; Haunt #2 from Image; Grimjack: The Manx Cat #4 from IDW; and End League #9 of 9 from Dark Horse.
Doom Patrol #4 is also out, and what has me and my fellow comic book fans atwitter is the Sinestro Corps (yellow) ring that you get when you buy a copy (which, of course, deals with Blackest Night). In the coming weeks, look for more rings of different hues to collect and wear to show your true colors.
As always, don’t miss this Sunday’s SciFiPulse Radio on blogtalkradio.com. I’ll be talking with host Ian Cullen about even more of the latest comics. Don’t miss it!
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Tags: Ed Brubaker, Eric Shanower, Greg Rucka, Marvelous Land Of Oz, Stumptown, Whiteout
Posted in Comic Book Corner, DC Comics And Beyond | 2 Comments »
By weir vegas on Nov 7, 2009 | Reply
I have to ask… Is Jack a “friend of Dorothy”!?
Good review, I may have to look it up on Amazon!
By Wayne Hall on Dec 22, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for the kind words, weir vegas.