Welcome to the Part-Time Fanboy picks of the week for September 3, 2014! Each week some of the crew at PTF will pick their most anticipated books for that Wednesday’s releases based on their own individual tastes. Hopefully this list will help give you, the discerning comic book reader, some ideas on what to pick up at the comic shop during that particular week.
Kristian’s Picks
By: Ryan Browne
Genre: Superhero/Humor
Publisher: Image Comics
I reviewed the original God Hates Astronauts Kickstarter book on the site just last August. You can see that review by clicking here. If you take the time to read that review you’ll see that God Hates Astronauts is a ridiculously entertaining take on the superhero genre. It’s monumentally absurd and fun all at the same time. This looks to be a completely new run of GHA tales and I personally can’t wait to see what sort of through the looking glass take on super heroics Ryan Browne has in store this time around. The Kickstarter collection of the original webcomic was more than a hoot so an ongoing series published by Image Comics is probably going to be a slam dunk for me. Ryan Browne is a creator whose imagination and sense of humor seems to be uncontainable and he’s an amazing artist as well. This is absolutely a comic you should be checking out if you enjoy superheroes but also think they are sort of nonsensical at the same time.
The Walking Dead Hardcover Volume 10
By: Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Image Comics
Yes, yes, I know, I know…everybody loves The Walking Dead…and a new Walking Dead collection needs no help from me in reaching its sales numbers. I can’t help it though…I loves me some Walking Dead comics and being that I gave up on single issue floppies a couple of years ago this book, along with Kirkman’s Invincible, is one of the most anticipated releases of the year for me. The Walking Dead was the last comic standing for a long time that I couldn’t drop on a monthly basis. Unfortunately, pull list guidelines at my local comic shop made it an impossibility for me to keep buying the single issues. Honestly, for a while there I was buying floppy comics that I didn’t want just so I could meet my local comic shop’s quota for a monthly pull list and get my Walking Dead issues. Now that I’ve decided to wait for the hardcovers of Walking Dead my anticipation is at an all-time high. This is a book that’s been a favorite of mine for a long time and since the last book left me hanging like Indiana Jones on a rope bridge I cannot wait to get my grubby little paws on this baby!
Paul’s Picks
By: Caleb Monroe, Mariano Navarro, W. Scott Forbes
Genre: Crime
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Street magic has become a very popular form of entertainment that has made its way into mainstream film (Now You See Me) and television (Penn and Teller’s Fool Us). Now, it’s time for a comic about street magic.
In Cloaks, a street illusionist named Adam uses his skills to entertain and steal. The book recasts the Robin Hood legend for 21st century New York as Adam steals from the Wall Street 1% and redistributes the money to the needy. Caleb Monroe works well with the espionage genre (see his fantastic Steed and Mrs. Peel series to see how he reinvents the old Avengers TV series) and this “ripped from the headlines” type of storytelling is perfect for the miniseries format. This is the first of four issues.
The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch 20th Anniversary Edition Hardcover
By: Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: DC Comics, Vertigo
When I’m measuring my comic book reading, I tend to lump things into two time periods: B.N.G. (Before Neil Gaiman) and A.N.G. (After Neil Gaiman). I read comics, but it was Gaiman’s Sandman and Garth Ennis’s Preacher that made me faithfully go to my local comic shop for years.
This is the third of Gaiman’s pre-Vertigo graphic novels that he made with long-time collaborator Dave McKean. Along with the amazing Signal to Noise and Violent Cases, it’s the last of a loose trilogy of work that explores the unreliability of memory, the effects of violence, and how we re-invent the world to make sense of it and survive.
In Mr. Punch, an unnamed narrator tells his family history. It’s filled with grotesque, fierce characters who commit unspeakable atrocities and who exude menace and lies. Yet for all of that, it’s funny. The book is framed and entwined with the story of the Punch and Judy slapstick puppet show. In the story, Mr. Punch is a hunchbacked jester who kills his family, outwits the authorities (to the point where the hangman meant to kill him hangs himself instead), and faces off with the devil.
Gaiman’s ability to make 16th-18th century puppet theater relevant and menacing to a modern audience is pretty spectacular. Dave McKean’s photo/illustrative collage style is outstanding here. It’s no surprise that the pair were courted by DC comics after this trilogy. 20 years later, it’s still a vital story, and I’m happy to see a new edition.
