A listless dragging on of the summer has revealed something to me: I don’t care for the summer. I mean, theoretically when I’m not a bum and I have an actual job teaching, it shall be my reprieve. Theoretically. But once I get into July, all I’m doing is sitting around, hating the heat, hating the fact that I get pit stains within moments of getting dressed, and waiting for crisp air. I love the Fall. I sort of like the Winter. But once you get past 75 degrees (I don’t know what that translates to in the measurement system outside the Empire), I’m a sweaty groaning mess.

Monday Morning Commute. Every Monday I’m going to detail the various things I’m either currently or will be watching, reading, playing, and listening to in the next seven days. It’s Monday. You’ve got a long week of school, work, or compulsive masturbation to get through. Tell me what you’re diggin’ on to get through the drudgery.

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And a thousand thunders uttered, welcome to Variant Covers! Your hostel, your refuge from intelligent comic book talk. No sir, here at Variant Covers I pledge to inundate your unsuspecting brainstem with talk of superheroes, superpowers, and super fanboy-boners over things that are exciting me this current week in comic books. Don’t say I didn’t never warn you, ya’lll!

This week is chock full of fucking righteous comic book dalliances awaiting all of my kindred spirits. The sort of week that makes up for every installment of my blathering here which sounds like “Oh golly gee whiz, ain’t nothing droppin’ whine whine whine blah blah.”

Buckle up, I got a chubby for panels and pencils and dialogue boxes this week.

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Casanova #1
If you spend any amount of time loitering within the halls of Variant Covers, you know that one of my most revered writers is Matt Fraction. I think his ability to manipulate serious political issues within the realms of robot suits and billionaire playboys is amazing. In my more fanboyish moments, I am certain he’s doing something special with Tony Stark during a period in which the character’s popularity is unfathomably enormous. Pick up Invincible Iron Man, and you’re getting all the big budget theatrics of the movies interfacing with all the sort of culturally aware political commentary that you wouldn’t expect.

This week, Fraction’s getting his original work, Casanova, reprinted through Marvel’s Icon line. If you didn’t check out Casanova, you’re not alone. Penned back in 2006, it was where Fraction cut his teeth, and was to my understanding, not widely printed. I also understand nothing, so I could be completely incorrect. Whatever! Fraction takes you on a journey with intergalactic superspy Casanova Quinn, and it is absolutely insane. I’ve gotten to read the first couple of issues, and it really rocks out like nothing in Fraction’s Marvel catalog.

The series is getting reprinted in two four-issue arcs and in full color for the first time, and then Fraction is going to tackle the third volume of the series. I’m looking forward to it; it’ll be intriguing to see embryonic Fraction, fumbling through his first moments in comic book crafting. It’s a bit gushy, but the guy is extremely well-spoken, and beyond talented, and this is going to dominate my reading tomorrow.

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Batman: Odyssey #1
This week, we be getting the first issue of Neal Adam’s extravaganza. Adams has been instrumental in crafting the god damn Batman that we’ve come to know and love. His work in the 1970’s, were the “eggs [he] laid all those years ago” that have resulted in what “Batman has finally become”. Adams has returned to the Flying Rodent to examine the “now what” of Batman in this day and age. This meditation is arriving in the form of a six-issue extravaganza, and the man himself will be writing and drawing the entire storyline, as well as inking the first two issues.

I’m stoked.

Whether or not you’ve read Adam’s work on Batman, you’ve felt the repercussions if you’ve dallied in the world of Bruce Wayne. For someone who helped sculpt the character to return and give us a new storyline is pretty stellar. Frank Miller tried to do that with All-Star Batman and Robin, but I have a better chance of actually graduating from my Master’s Degree and entering the real world before it actually wraps up. So I’m going to have to cling Adams to deliver me some interesting new spins by someone who delivered a seminal work.

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[images & words is the comic book pick-of-the-week at OL. equal parts review and diatribe, the post highlights the most memorable/infuriating/entertaining book released that wednesday]

Spoilers Ahead. Forreal.

Shit’s late. I know. Normally I pump out Images & Words for Thursday consumption, sometimes even Wednesday. But this week I’ve been fighting the worst sickness I’ve had in years. This battle has included two trips to my primary care physician, a visit to the Emergency Room that lasted until 2:30 AM, and another voyage to Infectious Diseases. All in all, I stumped somewhere around eleven doctors. Huzzah? Oh wait, shit…

But despite feeling physically and mentally broken, I managed to read this week’s comic books. As they tend to, the comics lifted my spirits and helped me forget, if only for a few moments, just how miserable I was. It’s a magical gift, and truly part of the reason I will always return to the medium.

The comic book pick-of-this-week is Daredevil #506, which is hardly a surprise to me. Daredevil is easily the most underappreciated title of the last couple of years, even after Ed Brubaker departed with issue five-hundred. It feels like the only book from either of the Big Two Publishers that isn’t afraid to actually develop its characters rather than reeling in every progressive line cast. Matt Murdock is no longer a New York City attorney, but the leader of the global crime syndicate The Hand. He’s been trying to use The Hand for good — with mixed results. The one consistency, however, has been a refreshing and captivating monthly release.

This issue centers around Murdock’s attempts to bring together the Daimyos of The Hand’s various regions, despite their distaste for one another. The book opens with Daredevil and Bakuto, an outspoken critic of The Hand’s new leader, fighting off a pack of ninja assassins. Which, as you probably know, is a simple enough task — except that they’ve both been drugged. The result is a battle filled with all sorts of trippy visuals; Murdock looks like Satan, the ninjas look like ghouls, and the flashes of reality are grim & striking.

This sort of layered quality is present throughout the rest of the issue. There’s plenty of action in Daredevil, but it’s tempered with a story that keeps the reader guessing. Which of the Daimyos can Murdock trust? Is Bakuto really a villain? Was Elektra really on that page or was she just a vision? Writers Diggle & Johnston succeed in leading us to these questions while not instantly offering answers. There is a definite mystery to Daredevil and the title is the better for it.

The art provided by Marco Checchetto and colors by Matt Hollingsworth are simply perfect for this book. There is a real darkness to the imagery, conveying the sense that Matt Murdock is wondering through his own internal confusion. In fact, the brightest page of the whole book comes in the aforementioned opening scene, as a hallucinatory-moon shines onto the battle. Leaving a bit of a shroud around the characters really fits the tone at hand. Murdock is trying to sort out the mess in front of him and the reader has to occasionally strain an eye to do the same.

The other important visual characteristic worth mentioning is the range of subjects. Checchetto and Hollingsworth deftly work their way through crowded fights, evaporating skeletons, two-person conversations, dream sequences, and a slew of other varied scenarios. It’s always nice to have artists who can handle a variety of narrative styles within a single issue. And this is part of the wonder of Daredevil – we get to see the titular character travel through a number of different worlds. This isn’t just the rough urban environment Daredevil has become synonymous with, but a sort of mystical Japanese realm that harkens back to the days of feudal lords.

If you enjoy superhero comics, go snag Daredevil #506. It’s a worthy read, with writers and artists who know what they’re doing. Trust me. After all, I’m not an expert.