The Week in Comics: April 16 2014

Welcome to The Week in Comics!

An early and slightly abridged WiC this week you guys, due to the Easter break coming up.

Nevertheless -This is my weekly column where I go through the new comics releases that I read every week, what I liked and what I didn't. Safe to say there'll be some spoilers but I'll try to keep them light.

So if you're looking for what to read or just some random guy's opinion on the comics he read this week (that's me. Hi there!) then join me as I separate the BEST from the REST in The Week in Comics!

PS -  I've also reviewed Valiant's X-O Manowar #24 over at  IndieAltRepeat as well as Marvel's Amazing X-Men #6 and Superior Spider-Man #31 over on Rhymes With Geek!



THE BEST 

Auteur #2

ONI. Spears, Callaghan, Anderson.

Hilariously visceral, so much funnier than issue 1, the Auteur is one of the funniest books out there at the moment. Nathan T. Rex dives deeper down the rabbit-hole by hiring a serial killer to work on his movie, but first he's got to represent him in court in order to get him out of prison. Provider of many gut laughs and constant smirking, the Auteur #2 is just gory, gory, very gory fun.

Batman Eternal #2

DC. Fabok, Seeley, Fawkes, Layman, Tynion IV, Snyder.

I'm not sure if it's because I'm maybe not a hardcore Batman reader or what, but I'm digging a series that everyone seems to be decidedly Meh about. Not sure how long I can afford a weekly comic like this (probably only until something else comes along) but for the moment this seems like fun, high-stakes Batman story telling to me.

Genesis GN

Image. Edmonson, Sampson, Wordie

An ethereal, haunting and beautiful exploration of one man gifted with absolute power. The art is superbly dreamlike and the writing is deep and thoughtful and most importantly real. It's strange for a book that deals with a premise so surreal to tackle it in such an intimately realistic way. Very much worth investing in.

Hulk #1

Marvel. Waid, Bagley.

This was good. It did more to setup a story to come than provide enough of one here, but the artwork was great - always been a fan of Mark Bagley - and his panel layouts go a fair way towards showing me that Hulk is in safe hands. As someone who didn't read what happened to get Banner into this mess, it doens't take brain surgery - he got shot. There, you too are up to date! No go read this and let me know what you thought.

Ms. Marvel #3

Marvel. Wilson, Mckelvie.

There is so so much that I love about this series. The amazing art, the brilliant writing, the cute badass that is Kamala Khan. This is the first issue since Ultimate Spider-man that really truly captures the teenager origin story that is the Marvel tradition so perfectly. If Amazing Spider-Man hadn't started all those years ago and started this week instead, this is the comic it would hope to be. My favourite issue yet, as Kamala wrestles literally and emotionally with a new life with powers. How does her old life fit with this new status quo? Does her old life even have a place anymore? Practically perfect.

Translucid #1

BOOM. Sanchez, Echert, Bayliss.

An awesome psychological deconstruction of the hero-villain relationship, Translucid inevitably draws comparisons to Batman and Joker, but it's a lot smarter than that. Providing engaging characters in its own right and flashes of a mysterious childhood yet to be fully revealed, this is a great first issue and I'm looking forward to issue 2.

THE REST

Star Mage #1

IDW. De La Torre, Dillon.

I kept waiting for this to not take itself so seriously, but no. It was almost as if it hadn't heard of Harry Potter (even though it references it a couple times) or Enders Game or any of the other 'normal kid finds out he's special and destined to save the world' kinda things. Wanted to be better than it actually was.

And that's it for another week! Again, apologies its a shorter edition, but safe to say that Marvel didn't storm away with a win for the first time this week. Yay for Indies! Don't forget to get in touch with me through Twitter, and check me out on IndieAltRepeat.com and RhymesWithGeek.com!

Until Next time, and Happy Easter!

Matt