Buy These Flippin’ Comics!!! (7.02.14) – Creative F-Bombs
Science fiction authors love makin’ up swear words. Frak. Frag. Frell. Ruttin’. Hawkeye’s Clint Barton likes to say “futz” or “futzing,” my personal favorite. All very creative ways of dropping the holiest of curses and squeaking past the censors, or an easy way of adding flavor to a world without using descriptors. The little critter pictured above, Rocket Racoon, even has one: Flark. And, oh boy, does he use it. All the flarking time. In fact, despite being a cute, anthropomorphic mammal, he really is a foul-mouthed, violent little fucker. Luckily for us, he’s bringing those tendencies to a brand new ongoing book this week! So step inside and lets talk some futzing comics, shall we?
Omega-Level Book of the Week!
Rocket Raccoon #1 – All New Marvel NOW (Marvel Comics)
W/A – Skottie Young
This doesn’t necessarily even need to be the pick of the week, honestly. At 300,000 books pre-ordered, and well over half of those being stuck in this months Loot Crate subscription service offering, the book is gonna be mighty ubiquitous. Shouldn’t be hard to find, and it’s just assumed that most of you will be picking it up, or at least giving it a read in the comic shop. Whether you enjoy the antics of Rocket or not, the character is destined for fame as one of the standout characters to this summer’s most anticipated superhero flick, Guardians of the Galaxy. I have a sneaking suspicion that this book is just the tip of the marketing iceberg once Disney realizes they’re sitting on a goldmine with this little guy. But that’s not why I’m pimping this book. I’m celebrating this book because not only is Skottie Young hitting the mainstage with his first solo ongoing stint in the Marvel U proper, but it’s on a book that will be one of the biggest sellers of the year, and I can’t think of a long-time creator that deserves this more. For those who have followed Young over the years and seen his art grow, to see these numbers on issue one is a major victory for him and his fans. He has a deft pen that has graced many a variant cover, and the Oz books, but I don’t feel he gets the credit he deserves for being a wickedly funny creator in his own right. This book looks to change all that, as the first issue is not only a hilarious intro to Rocket and his pal Groot, but looks absolutely beautiful, and not like anything else Marvel is putting out. Young presents Rocket as Han Solo at his jerkiest, but still not without the charm – a serial princess dater who has made himself more than a few enemies. The Marvel Universe depicted in this book is certainly more vibrant and madcap, suiting the animated stylings of Young as well as the less-than-serious misadventures of the protagonist. This is a fun, funny, confident reintroduction of both creator and character – Young and Rocket have been around for quite a while, and with 300,000 copies sold, Marvel is now being shown just how important both are to comic fans. This book is guaranteed entertainment, a near-perfect debut that should please a wide range of comic fans looking for a combination of brilliant visuals and wacky sci-fi action.
Moon Knight #5 – Marvel Comics
(W) Warren Ellis (A) Declan Shalvey
Speaking of great Marvel books (and, hoo boy, do they have a ton, it seems), Moon Knight is dropping in our laps this week, another dose of pop-punk confection courtesy of Ellis & Shalvey. Now, after the announcement that these two would only be on the title for the first six, I understand the sentiment to “wait for trade,” as the collected edition of this will surely look gorgeous. However, each issue is so different in tone and style that they work brilliantly, and perhaps better, as 45’s rather than an LP (so to speak). This issue looks to be Warren Ellis’ superhero riff on the films The Raid or Bruce Lee’s The Game of Death, and knowing how great a draftsman Shalvey is, I can’t wait to see his depiction of Moon Knight climbing floor to floor, kicking all kinds of mobster ass!
Also in the Marvel neck of the woods:
Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #3 (could that title be any longer?), Black Widow #8 teams Natasha up with The WinTURR SolDJUR (did anyone else notice how weirdly ScarJo delivered that line?), Fantastic Four: 100th Anniversary Special gives us a look forward to 2061 and the FF team of that time, including the Banner-Richards twins!, and Original Sin #5, where guys can just wear gigantic, alien eyeballs on their heads and act like nothing’s wrong.
Southern Bastards #3 – Image Comics
(W) Jason Aaron (A) Jason Latour
At some point in this book Earl Tubb is gonna team up with Bo & Luke Duke and all my childhood dreams will come to fruition when Boss Hogg is bludgeoned to death on the hood of his Cadillac El Dorado.
Other Image books to check out:
East of West #13, Lazarus #9
Wonton Soup – Collected Edition – Oni Press
(W/A) James Stokoe
Most people discovered James Stokoe through his excellent (and unfinished) Image series Orc-Stain, a vivid, violent, idiosyncratic fantasy book about a one-eyed orc. While that book is great, I found James Stokoe through a lesser known book (or couple of digest-sized volumes, actually) called Wonton Soup. Wonton Soup is a space-trucker adventure-comedy that combines cooking and Star Wars and space ninjas into a book that is silly and irreverent and non-stop entertaining. Dubbed as “Space Iron Chef,” this book is more of that Stokoe goodness, only (unfortunately) in black and white. Check out a free preview of the book HERE.
That’s gonna do it for me this week, frakkers. Pop down in the comments below and let us know what flarking books you scored! Or not. I don’t give a flip.
Later!