If you're a regular visitor of the site then you've probably noticed the lack of content over the past two weeks. Hopefully, as of this week things will go back to normal and I'll, at the very least, manage to write my Monday column. This week is seeing a huge volume of quality books. My recent switch to digital on over half my pull list seems as though it will be paying off this week, particularly on the Image titles coming out. Marvel launches their Omega Effect crossover this week in the pages of Avenging Spider-Man and the goodness that is Remender's Secret Avengers continues this week. DC has new issues of The Shade, Green Lantern and Batman & Robin (one of the real gems of the new 52) hitting shelves.
As usual this past Saturday we posted a new episode of the AC podcast; this episode featuring Adrienne Koosed in lieu of the vacationing Paul Shirley. We talked Avengers vs X-Men, and some random event comics from the past ten years with a focus on new-reader friendliness. Also discussed was the just-released Avengers vs X-men: Infinite. If you haven't had the chance, be sure to check it out. I feel like this is where digital comics are headed in terms of presentation and really felt it was one of the best books out last week.
Lets move on to this week's must-buys.
Batman Inc deluxe hardcover
Following his momentous (for us here at AC anyway) run on Batman & Robin, Morrison kicked off the next chapter in his long form story of the Bat family. Sadly, it met with less fanfare and slavish praise than the writers preceding work with the characters and it was hampered by delays and the DC relaunch. However, I feel it's a truly wonderful book with fantastic art by Chris Weston, Yannick Paquette and Cameron Stewart. Morrison plays with storytelling here in really interesting ways; from using preview pages at the end of issues to telling beautiful little one-off stories. For only 8 issues, he packed a ton of story into this series. This hardcover also includes the recent Leviathan Strikes one shot which concluded the opening arc of the series. With the continuing tales of Batman Inc kicking off next month, now is the perfect time to dig into this title.
Y'know, I realize that Image is launching America's Got Powers this week, and while I'm slightly interested in that book, for my money, Glory is the book that has me utterly excited month in and month out from Image, I've talked about it at length on the podcast but this book really feels like the way superhero comics should be. It's action packed, with an intriguing premise and lively art from a creative team that know how to mix fun with pathos and story. I wasn't expecting it, but this title has taken over the favorite Image superhero title mantle from Invincible. Also, if you're rocking an iPad, then I strongly encourage you to check this out on Comixology. Whether by design or by change the wide panels and dynamic action really translate well to the digital medium. Ross Campbell's art manages to convey motion and action extremely well and I am blown away by Keatinge's ability to make such an unfamiliar (to me) character accessible.
At one time Kurt Busiek was my favorite comic writer. I was completely entranced with his work on Astro City and adored his brief run on Superman, not to mention books like Arrowsmith and Superman: Secret Identity and his stint on Dark Horse's Conan. Well, it appears that he also worked on Spider-man at one point. Untold Tales of Spider-Man is a fairly self-explanatory title and it is exactly what it claims to be; a book that fleshes out the early days of Peter Parker's life as a superhero telling stories that happened between the previously told stories. I read this stuff back when I first got into comics again and I absolutely loved it. However, back then my grasp of who different creators were was nearly non existent so until now I hadn't realized Mr Busiek wrote these books. Getting to go back and re-read them within the framework of the rest of his career will be quite interesting I think. I'm not sure when I'll be buying this (an omnibus is darn expensive) but if you've got the bones to do so, get on this now before Marvel quits putting it out and the price rockets into the hundred on ebay.
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