Variant Covers: #OccupyGotham, Bruce Wayne Is A Corpo-Fascist.

Bruce Wayne is a corporate fascist. Imposing his will outside of the jurisdiction of the law, causing Socrates and good willed citizens of the world alike to shake their head.  How many schools could Bruce Wayne build with the amount of money he’s spending to build his fascist rodent state?

Occupy Gotham.
Occupy Metropolis.
Occupy Emerald City.

(This is Variant Covers, your weekly guide to the comics I’m checking out this week. Your pull-list is encouraged to be shared.)

—-

X-Men: Sega Regenesis #1.
Last week saw Wolverine and Cylcops hack out their UST in the midst of a sentinel strike. If there isn’t some haughty metaphor to be had about love on the battlefield, Solid Snake, and Wolverine’s penis then I don’t know anything about anything. (You’re probably agreeing with that latter statement.) This week we get to see the beginnings of the New X-Men World Order, with the Cyke/James divide forcing people to take sides.

Occupy Utopia.

—-

The Unexpected.
How does a horror anthology put out by Vertigo sound? It better sound fucking great. That’s how it better sound. Not sold? Need some enticement to get your nipples slick with anticipation? I can do that for you. Take that t-shirt off and give me a grin. For starters the cover is by Rafael Grampa. That should be enough. Rafael fucking Grampa. Feeling a bit moist but you need some prodding? All right, alright. Hard crowd.  We’re talking works from Brian Wood, Dave Gibbons, and Jill Thompson. Jesus Christ, you had me at Rafael Grampa, but once you said Brian Wood the toes started curling.

Occupy that swamp where Swamp Thing chills.

—-

Northlanders #45.
Speaking of fascist states, Ulf Haukur and his clan rose to prominence over 200 years ago within the pages of Wood and Azaceta’s Icelandic Trilogy. Splitting skulls, decimating those who opposed them. And a few who didn’t, just to stay sharp. This is part four of the nine-part son of a bitch, and  Wood is riding his Viking Thunder Political Commentary series out to pasture like a glorious solo played upon a Flying V whilst flying upon a unicorn. It’ll be over soon, so hop on the Axe Wound while you can.

Occupy Iceland?

—-

S.H.I.E.L.D. #3.
I was just bitching a few days ago to my brother about the lack of a new installment in this total philosophical porn treatsie by the modern mainstream comics guru of this genre. Mr. Johnny Hickman. He breaths philosophical truths in, and spits them into your welcoming face soaked in a delicious bile of non-linear narratives, action sequences with Leonardo Da Vinci, and some seriously goofy looking dudes underneath Rome.

Also? Dustin Weaver is paneling glory.

Occupy the Immortal City.

(Hickman is also dropping FF #10. Same tropes, different family.)

—-

Frankenstein: Agent Of S.H.A.D.E #2.
Human beings who enjoy fun will consequently get their money’s worth from this title. Jeff Lemire has Frankenstein (dur! you mean Frankenstein’s monster! Caff! [fuck you]) and his Creature Commandos running around uncovering conspiracies, bantering wittily among themselves and generally having a fucking blast. This title and Deathstroke, which is also seeing  a second issue this week, are two gems that burst out of the festering ass pustule that was Flashpoint.

Occupy DC headquarters.

—-

CBLDF Liberty Annual 2011.
Freedom ain’t free, yo! That’s what the bumper stickers on the back of those Douchebag Express Ford F150s tell me. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund knows that freedom has a cost, especially when it is in charge of defending people from fucking child pornography charges just because they had manga on their laptops in Canada or some shit. They’ve cobbled together some legitimate creative thunder for the Liberty Annual. Mark Waid and Jeff Lemire co-creating. J.H. Williams III. New Grendel. Is your comic book buying civic-duty to snag this son of a fucking bitch.

Occupy…Something? (This gimmick is getting hard.)

—-

Pigs #2 and Others.
Fitting for the times we are living in, Ben McCool, Nate Cosby and Breno Temura are dropping the second issue of their sleeper KGB cell gone super activation time comic book on the public this week. What’d I think of the first issue? I couldn’t find a fucking copy of it. How’s that for a blind recommendation? It’s Ben McCool, okay? Dude has some writing chops. Buy it, hate it, and prove me wrong. Did you check out The Cape? I caught it a couple of months ago and it was a surprisingly dark comic book based off of a story by Locke & Key’s Joe Hill. Washed-up late 20-something gifted with abilities via a cape uses it to off his girlfriend and wreak general havoc. Enjoyable.  Unwritten #30  is arriving, pushing me further and further behind in this series. For those who are caught-up: I’m not mad-cap bananas recommending this title, am I? (Caff, do you just read the hotness lists and then puke them up here? Sort of. Your momma wears combat boots.)

Occupy the Bay of Pigs.

—-

Ultimate Spider-Man #3.
Veil aside,  shtick  depowered*. This comic book is one of the best hitting shelves right now, and it’s Brian Michael Bendis’ best work in years. For all the jabronis out there who claimed that they “just wanted Marvel to tell good stories” and couldn’t handle them actually diversifying their line: guess what!, this title delivers with the excellence. In two issues Bendis – complimented by fucking fantastic artwork by Sara Pichelli – has built up a character whose well-being I am heavily invested in. Miles Morales is the real deal. I promise you. I promise you.

Occupy a place in Morales’ world.

*I realize the cover to this comic is utterly ridiculous.

—-

Phew! And that isn’t all I’m checking out this week. I’ll let you hit me with your titles.

Occupy the Comments Box.