And a good afternoon to you all. Provided, of course, you’re reading this when I post it. This is Variant Covers, the column where I give the rundown on this week’s comic book releases. As all the women who have seen me disrobe have muttered, let’s get this over with.

—-

King Of The Flies Vol. 2: The Origin Of The World.
Did you miss out on the first volume of King Of The Flies, or am I the only dumb one? While perusing (far superior) columns today on what’s dropping tomorrow, Douglas Wolk  recommended this son of a bitch. Intrigued, I followed the various hypertextual references until I found a preview of the new volume. In short? It’s weird, man. Real weird. Wolk had me at “its look owes rather a lot to Charles Burns’  Black Hole, but it’s also got a sick, surreal vibe of its own.”

Sold.

(And if you haven’t checked out Burns’ latest, X’ed Out, get on it. My favorite graphic novel of last year.)

—-

Action Comics #897.
Don’t let the cover fool you, Action Comics is some of the most fun I get in my funny books diet today. Quick editorializing: Fuck misleading covers. I understand that some angsty David Finch cover probably grabs the nuts of the average fanboy, but it may also dissuade others. Action Comics is funny, intelligent, and relatively XTREME free. You wouldn’t know it by the cover, though.

This month’s issue has Lex Luthor rolling up into Arkham Asylum and soliciting the help of the Joker. I don’t know where it’s going to go from there, but I’ll find myself rooting for the bastard. A megalomaniacal sociopath on a quest for the Black Lantern energy, penciled by Pete Woods?

Pick it up.

Also In DC:
Detective Comics #837 is dropping, and as I said in my recommendation of #836, the artwork alone may be worth it. It’s Jock, yo!

Read the rest of this entry »