I’m maybe too tired for this, but as a complete Non Sequitor, why have comics on your pull list if your store doesn’t get enough? I’m not even going to blame the store–they put in the right order–but Diamond can take a hearty fuck with its stupid off and fuck off. Fuck off is what I was getting at there, though I think I dropped the ball. Kind of like how they didn’t get me the new I Hate Fairyland! I want to know what’s going on with Gert, goddamnit.
I guess there are other books to talk about though. We can do that.
Spider King #1
IDW have something kind of cool on their hands here, though I’m not sure how much I like it. There’s a bit more text than what it needs, and it really feels like it goes on for too long even though its page count isn’t any bigger than any other comic on the market. It’s just a lot of stuff in its page space, and it drags for it. The idea is cool though–Vikings + aliens = murderdeathkill–and the concepts its working with seem pretty fun. I’m interested in more. I also really like the artwork. It’s a style all its own. For what will be a 4-issue mini, I think it’ll be worth keeping an eye out for. That’s a nice trade if the series winds up being good.
Prism Stalker #1
I’ll be honest, I don’t really remember what happened in this one despite reading it yesterday. The artwork is super trippy and maybe a little distracting even if it is gorgeous. I love the monster design, and the world design, and I guess the people look okay too. Plotwise, it’s hard to pin down. It’s doing that vague-on-purpose thing that works with the art style, but it means you have to pay attention to what you’re reading and be okay with some confusion for the first few pages. I’m pretty excited to follow this one though, because while I don’t know what’s in store, I do know it’ll be gorgeous. It might get spooky too, and I like spooks.
Highest House #1
This is the quintessential 5/10 where it has some amazing things going on and some awful things going on, and they cancel each other out. The amazing: The artwork is awesome, the characters are cool, and I like how it treats magic. The writing is good. The awful: There are two massive exposition dumps and they don’t do anything. I skipped both of them and am pretty sure I made the right choice. It’s, I hope, an issue of first-issue blues, that with some of the talking out of the way, we can get onto the story and characters, which I think will shape up to be pretty cool. It’s very low fantasy, which we don’t normally see in comic books.
Extremity #12
Extremity has come and gone, and what a delight it’s been. The final issue is a very well-deserved fight scene that’s basically a big robot fighting another big robot but the second one turned into a flesh monster. After 11 issues of character development, the fight really feels like the climax this series deserves, and the bittersweet ending fits it well. I really enjoyed this series, and I’m kind of sad to see it go.
Oblivion Song #1
In theory, starting a book off with a 12-page fight sequence is good. It’s flashy and there are monsters and bangs and running! All that stuff we want out of comics. The problem is, I don’t know what is going on, I don’t know who anyone is, and I don’t care. It’s flash with no substance, and honestly, by the time it ends and the character work begins, I was finding it hard to really care. Sucks too, because the writing is fine when it kicks off, and the premise/world are solid. Maybe the second issue will be better.
