Comics of the Week

I continue to be surprised by how much I enjoy Uncanny X-Force. Issue #9 was no exception. The story was simple enough, Magneto has received some information on a Nazi officer, and we don't know for certain what he did to Magneto, possibly killed his family. Either way, Magneto wants revenge and he asks X-Force to help him, which is already interesting since no one is supposed to know the team exists. Wolverine agrees to do it, alone. What we get is a simple tale of revenge, trying to outrun your past, the weight of guilt and the inevitability of justice. To start with, the exchange between Magneto and Wolverine is fantastic. Very few words throughout the issue, but these are characters that understand each other all too well. This was an excellent stand alone story, but still lays pieces that will be picked up later, I'm sure, with Magneto knowing about X-Force.

On a completely different plane of existence is Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #3. This mini-series was so much fun. It had me laughing out loud and barely able to explain why I was laughing to my wife, because the more I tried to explain it, the more out there it sounded and the funnier it got. And the great thing is that even though it was crazy fun, there was at least one moment that picked up on what seemed like a throw away bit from the first issue, in order to wrap the story up. I hadn't heard of Axe Cop until this series came out, but I'll now have to go back and read the web comics. We need more books written by 6 year olds.

Comic Moments of the Week

Uncanny X-Men 534.1 is the latest of Marvel's .1 issues, designed to be jumping on points. In this case, I think it accomplished it's purpose because I am going to try to jump on. I didn't feel lost reading this, even though I haven't read X-Men in a very long time. But then, again, the last X-Men I read wasn't THAT long ago. It was during the Dark Reign, which I think set up most of the current status quo. In any case, Magneto is an X-Man now and the whole meat of this issue is that they've hired a publicist to help make him more acceptable to the public. Right off, that's a great concept. The execution is even better as most of the issue is spent in conversations between Magneto and the publicist about propaganda, fear, respect, etc, that manage to fill you in on events while not coming off as exposition for exposition's sake.

A new story arc, though I'm not sure a good jumping on point, begins in Sweet Tooth #20. I just don't see skipping the first 19 issues. The series hinges on these characters' development and even though part of what makes it brilliant is that the characters are revealed in every panel, their development over time, in relation to how all encompassing each panel can be is something to behold. There's two pages of conversation between Jeppard and Sweet Tooth in this issue that are absolutely perfect. Jeff Lemire, writing and drawing, puts a scene together that I would love to buy the original pages for. I won't post the whole page, but here's the first panel, which, by itself, would make a great painting. Beautiful composition.

And, what the hell, here's another panel from the issue that I love.

Also out, and as insane as expected, Axe Cop Bad Guy Earth #2. There's not much I can say about this issue that pretty much any random page couldn't tell you better. To top it off, this happens to be the first page. It's just pure, imaginative fun from a six year old brain.

Manga for the Comics Guy - Gantz Vols. 7 - 8

There have been many epic battles in comics. Superman vs. Doomsday comes to mind. That lasted four full issues of nothing but battle. Invincible # 60 did almost the opposite by having an entire crossover event contained in one slobberknocking issue. Right now, though, I hold up Gantz as the king of epic battles. This fight started in Chapter 61 and went all the way to Chapter 93, with nothing but bloodbath throughout the whole thing. Here, Kei sums up what reading Gantz does to your brain.

It's become clear now that there is no safety in this series. This appears to be a theme with the things I like to read (see Walking Dead). The Gantz world may have virtual reality undertones, but the stakes are all real. People died in this issue in rapid succession, in bloody ways, and each character death was increasingly important. The thing is, it would be easy to dismiss the mayhem as gratuitous, if not for the great character moments peppered throughout. I think my favorite was the Pretty Boy and the girl that was stalking him. When we first met them, before they entered the Gantz room, he was constantly trying to get away from her and she was always just out of view, hair draped over her face. It was kind of funny, actually, how nobody noticed her most of the time. During this battle, little by little, you realize, along with the Pretty Boy, that he actually cared about her, possibly because she was the only connection he had to his "real" life. These characters were not just filler. They had depth. You want to know more.

Although Kei has been the hero up until now, here, he winds up in a position of needing the others. Lucky for him, they rise to the occasion. Just when you think all is lost, it gets turned around. And just when you think it's turned around, all is lost. There is so much back and forth with the tide of this battle that it's hard to keep from panicking as you read it. I think I was sweating the whole time.

I have to say, Gantz has taken it's place among the best things I'm reading, and possibly the best things I will have read when I'm done. I have a feeling I'll be caught up with it very soon as I am growing more and more anxious about what is going to happen next with each chapter. I'm not sure how my mind will be blown further by it, but I'm pretty sure it will. And speaking of mindblowing, but in a different way, today is new comics day and out is Axe Cop Bad Guy Earth #2, by Malachai and Ethan Nicolle. This is a crazy fun comic, written by 6 year old Malachai and drawn by his 30 year old brother. The first issue was among the most imaginative things I've ever read. It's just out there fun and I highly recommend it.