A wise man once said, “Variety is the spice of life” and an even wiser man once said “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!'”
So why not add some variety to your life and become one of those mad ones that make the world such a great place…filled with comics.
Ron says try…
Black Panther: The Most Dangerous Man Alive #524
By David Liss & Francesco Francavilla
One of the most pleasant surprises of 2011 in comics, for me has been Black Panther: The Most Dangerous Man Alive from David Liss and Francesco Francavilla. I never thought I’d be enjoying a Black Panther series this much. He never was a character I cared for all that much, but Liss and Francavilla have taken this fish out of water, or in this case Panther in the city, and made one of the most visually compelling comics being published today. Give it a shot and this issue, while tying into Spider-Island is a good place as any to jump on!
Conor says try…
Absolute Identity Crisis
By Brad Meltzer & Rags Morales
Sure, you could check out this landmark and controversial and polarizing mini-series because it changed the course of the last DC Universe. But, really, you should check it out so you can follow along with the video show on Wednesday. Isn’t that the most important thing?
Josh says try…
The Shade #1
By James Robinson, Cully Hamner, and Tony Harris
They say you can’t go home again, and very often they are completely right. However, in this on instance, I am pulling very strongly for this nostalgic return to greatness. We spoke to Robinson about the story on the Don’t Miss podcast, and now it’s time to see what happens. I quite simply love this character, and there’s no one out there who should be writing him other than James Robinson. I am excited. I haven’t even mentioned the cavalcade of amazing artists who are going to stop by, starting with Cully Hamner.
I’m onboard for the Shade series!
Me too! The site/show convinced me to read Starman as the HCs started to come out, and I loved it. I have high hopes for this.
Light week, spend 100 bucks on a book. That’s just funny to me, but I’ll still be getting it. I’m an absolute sucker.
Definitely in for the Shade.
Haven’t bought an Absolute since New Frontier. This definitely goes on my shelf.
I don’t think I quite understand what an absolute edition is. I’ve seen them on the shelves, but never got a chance to look inside. Are they just oversized reproductions of the book on archival paper?
Wikipedia says the following to it must be true:
DC Comics Absolute Edition is a series of archival quality printings of graphic novels published by DC Comics and its imprints WildStorm Productions and Vertigo. Each is presented in a hardcover, dustjacketed and slipcased edition with cloth bookmark consisting of one or more books which include restored, corrected and recolored versions of the original work, reprinted at 8 inches by 12 inches. Also included are supplemental materials regarding the creation of the work, including sketches, comic scripts and memos.
I am quite excited about the Shade series, but may simply wait for it to be collected. It’ll trim a couple dollars off the weekly budget and allow me the chance to finish the last couple Starman collections I never got a chance to read. Or I’ll just impulse buy it tomorrow, as I want to read it now . . .
I always thought that the Black Panther was a character with potential, but, alas, this is not a a light week for me. Maybe I’ll try to score a couple issues at the convention this weekend . . .
Never cared much for Identity Crisis . . .
Do you think I can jump on with Shade #1 having never read Starman? Doesn’t really matter. I am going to try it anyway, but I wonder what other people think. I am crazy for doing this?
You’ll probably be OK, and I recommend it!
In the past, when he writes the character, Robinson has always been good about providing the necessary background. It sometimes makes his comics a bit wordy, but it’s a good kind of wordy, as Shade is an awesome character. Failing that, you can always check out Wikipedia.
Sadly, until reading Justice League Dark #1, I had no idea The Shade and Shade, the Changing Man were two different characters. I had never actually read anything with the latter in it. All that aside, The Shade is probably the part of Starman I’m most comfortable with Robinson revisitiing. Let Jack Knight rest.
The Starman 81 issue was great with him.
Dudes (and dudettes), Black Panther has been fantastic. I second Ron’s sentiments. This will be a good jumping on point because the title just wrapped up a storyline and this is the first Spider-Island issue. Also, you should read anything Francavilla draws.
Love the cover for Black Panther. If’s available digitially on comixology, I’ll pick it up, which is like since they’ve been releasing all Spider-Island related issues day, and date.