Tuesday 26 March 2013

Pull list 27/03/13 - the "two weeks in one go" edition


Didn't make it to the local comic store last week, so there are quite a lot of books to pick up this time round. So, without further preamble, here goes:

Dark Horse

Dragon Age Until We Sleep #1

DC

Green Lantern New Guardians #18(Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)

Justice League Of America #2

Fables #127

Flash #18 

Red Lanterns #18 (Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)

Dynamite

Bionic Man vs Bionic Woman #3

Garth Ennis Red Team #2

IDW

My Little Pony Micro-Series #2 Rainbow Dash 

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic #5 

Transfusion #3 

Image

Five Ghosts Haunting Of Fabian Gray #1

It Girl & The Atomics #8

Revival #8

Saga #11

East Of West #1

Marvel

Captain Marvel #11

Deadpool #6 

Deadpool Killustrated #3

Independents

Adventure Time #14

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Pull list 15/03/13 - the "my money saving plan is finally working" edition

So, a (sort of) quiet week at last. Just in time for New York Comic Con to start announcing guests, and for me to start considering selling internal organs to get back there again this year!

Anyway, before I start sobbing in to my keyboard, this weeks books:

DC

Emily and the Strangers #2
Ghost #4
Start Wars #3 - if we actually get it, seeing as we're still waiting on issue #2!
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #6
Green lantern Corps # 18 (Wrath of the First lantern tie in)

Dynamite

Game of Thrones #13

IDW

Rocketeer Hollywood Horror #2

Image

Mind The Gap #8 - absolutely cannot wait for this, still my favourite book of the moment
Todd The Ugliest Kid On Earth #3

Marvel

Wolverine #1 - very excited about a new Paul Cornell book, especially taking on a favourite character of mine. This could get expensive though, as I will probably end up buying the regular and Skottie Young covers!

On a different note, this should be a very good week for the comic reading community, as not only have those lovely folks over at Talking Comics got Jonathan Hickman on their show, but they will also have the one and only Matt Fraction coming in for a chat too - well done those guys! I highly recommend checking out their weekly podcast for all things comic related, published every Wednesday with book of the week reviews and lots of listener question and comment.

Right, time for me to delve back in to the world of Dr Wertham, which I am still struggling through chapter by eye-twitching chapter! 

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Pull list 06/03/13 -the "split decision" edition

Hmm, seem to have a bit of a two way split between myself and MrGiantwoman as to the top publisher this week, with his five DC titles (well, three, two are for me) equally the tally from my five Image titles. Once again, Marvel fail to even make the billing, with Boom! and IDW slipping in one title each on the sly!

Enough pre-amble, here is the list:


DC

Before Watchmen Rorschach #4 
Green Lantern #18 (Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)
Insurgent #3
Lot 13 #5
Fairest #13

IDW

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic #4 

Image

Bedlam #5
Epic Kill #9
Lost Vegas #1 
Mara #3
Repossessed #3

Boom!

Adventure Time Fionna & Cake #3 Regular Cover

I am especially looking forward to Lost Vegas, as proven by my going all fan girl about it on Talking Comics earlier today. 

I'm also looking forward to the end of the Before Watchmen series, not for the usual "event dragging on too long" AvX type reasons, but because I've been holding off reading most of them until they are all safely tucked away in my long boxes, so that I can read them all in one. 

The end is nigh!

Neonomicon

Neonomicon

Writer - Alan Moore
Artist - Jacen Burrows
Colour - Juanmar
Publisher - Avatar Press

I first heard about Neonomican when there was a controversy over it being withdrawn from an American library due to complaints about it's content from the mother of a teenage girl who borrowed it. Whilst I disagree with the religious standpoint from which she argued, having now read it I can see why she disliked her daughter being able to read it. Having read it earlier this evening, I am still trying to digest what I have read and seen.

The story is based around the Cthuhlu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft, and brings a number of other authors and texts in to give it a decidedly literary feel, but the creeping, unseen horror so prevalent within the original stories pervades throughout, even when the terror is given a face. Whilst we do not see or encounter the Great Old One himself, we are given glimpses of creatures from the tales of Lovecraft, initially through a decidedly clever plot twist involving the perils of short-sightedness. These give enough of the style of the original tales for it to work wonderfully.

The story revolves around a number of unsolved murders and the FBI agents who are entrusted with finding the killer or killers. Whilst the book may start off in a fairly standard crime solving fashion, it soon takes a darker turn, which to remain spoiler free I will refrain from going in to. The book as a whole serves as a great example of how implied horror can be wholly more terrifying than the simply showing gore or torture. I am a great fan of this style, and would much rather be given the scope to fill in the blanks myself - which often enables me to scare myself more than any words or images could.

I am not sure that I could suggest other readers pick up this book, unless they want to be genuinely disturbed, as some of the darker twists that Moore takes you through are honestly disturbing, and the artwork - when it does show you some of the more twisted images - is pretty damn freaky. The book not only shows you the darker side of comic books, but it also explores some grander ideas about the nature of time and space, and our place within it. If you want a book that will disturb you and make you think, then by all means pick up Neonomicon. Just don't read it before bed time...