Light Week? Try SLEEPER OMNIBUS, BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT, & HELHEIM #1

So, I’m tendin’ bar there at Ecklund and Swedlin’s last Tuesday, and this little guy’s drinkin’ and he says, “So where can a guy find some action? I’m goin’ crazy out there at the lake.” And I says, “What kinda action?” and he says, “Comics action, what do I look like?” And I says, “Well, what do I look like? I don’t arrange that kinda thing,” and he says, “But I’m goin’ crazy out there at the lake,” and I says, “Well, this ain’t that kinda place.”

Josh Flanagan says try…

Sleeper Omnibus

Sleeper Omnibus HC

By Ed Bruabaker & Sean Philips

Built on the bones of what Alan Moore did before him, Sleeper is the best thing that Ed Brubaker ever did. It’s the best thing he and Sean Philips ever did together. This massive volume well deserves the omnibus treatment too. It includes all of Sleeper, plus all of Point Blank, the Brubaker series that preceded it. But that’s important is that it’s taught, tense, and tightly plotted as anything you’ll ever read in a comic book, and set the precedent for so many comics that followed. Buy with confidence.

Conor Kilpatrick says try…

Batman_Gotham By Gaslight_TP_New

 

Batman: Gotham By Gaslight TP (New Edition)

 

By Brian Augustyn,  Mike Mignola, P. Craig Russell, & Eduardo Barreto

The book that pretty much started DC’s Elseworlds line (even if it wasn’t officially labeled one, like Swamp Thing and Vertigo), Batman: Gotham By Gaslight and its sequel Batman: Master of the Future are back in print. Written by Brian Augustyn with art by Mike Mignola, Gotham By Gaslight features the exploits of Batman in 1889 Gotham City. It’s a bit steampunk and a bit superhero and it’s perfect for Mignola. The sequel, Master of the Future, set three years later in 1892 is just as much fun, if slightly more standard superhero-y if only because the art from the always excellent Eduardo Barreto lacks Mignola’s moodiness.

Paul Montgomery says try…

Helheim_1

Helheim #1

By Cullen Bunn, Joëlle Jones & Nick Filardi

So far as I know, no Nordic blood pumps through my veins. All the same, I’ve long been fascinated by the vikings and their sea-faring, hack and slash exploits. From Wood’s Northlanders to the title story in Wells Tower’s Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned to the flashbacks in Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic’s Thor: God of Thunder, those goons just have my goat. Maybe it’s the commiseration of bearded men who grew up on the open sea (If we can count my summers in Lake Laurel, New Jersey). So I was thrilled to learn that Cullen Bunn and Joëlle Jones were joining forces for this berserker rager. Let’s get savage!

Comments

  1. I’m just about as excited as I’ve ever been when I found out my Sleeper Omnibus shipped today. But it’s definitely I would warn people about before they commit to buying an omnibus.

    It’s not for everyone, but if you like espionage AND superhero books, it has potential to be one of your all time favorites

  2. What Alan Moore stuff are you referring to when you say ,

    “Built on the bones of what Alan Moore did before him, Sleeper is the best thing that Ed Brubaker ever did. “?

    IMO Sleeper is a super close second after Criminal.

    • Alan Moore did a lot of setup with Tao before Brubaker came on. It’s not worth tracking down to be honest though. Easily the weakest thing he’s written.

  3. My LCS doesn’t really carry a lot of stuff from smaller publishers, so I’d be surprised to see Helheim #1 on the shelves come Wednesday, but if it’s there I’ll give it a shot.

  4. I haven’t read Gotham by Gaslight in years, but it is a great book. Surprisingly, I wasn’t aware that it had a sequel. Not sure I need to buy this new edition just for that second story, but I’ll try to track it down from my library.

  5. I was able to find a first printing of Gotham by Gaslight and Master of the Future a year or so ago at Half Price Books. I haven’t read them in awhile so I think I may give them another read soon.

    I don’t have enough cash to buy it but I’m definitely going to check my library for that Sleeper Omnibus.