Bring it on back, now

Whew, been a rough week so far. Apologies for the two-day disappearance. Let's quit bitching and get back to comics loving, though, eh?

*****

Lots of great stuff coming out this week.

"But it's kind of a light week, isn't it?"

Well, considering we're getting two of Ed Brubaker's very best Gotham Central story arcs in the Unresolved Targets TP, the final issue of Infinite Crisis, not just a new issue of Ennis' Punisher MAX but the trade of maybe his strongest arc yet (The Slavers), and second issues from the two best new series launches in recent months - Mouse Guard from Archaia Studio Press and War of the Worlds: Second Wave from Boom! Studios - I'd say that we're doing pretty damn well. It might not be a fifty dollar week, but how often do we really need those, anyway? The name of the fucking blog isn't Quantity Control.

I'm certainly a happy fucking man today.

*****

Speaking of War of the Worlds: Second Wave, issue the second, I've gotten an advance peek.



I thoroughly enjoyed the first issue, and the second issue keeps the pace. Michael Alan Nelson's script continues its high-density blend of characterization and plot development, as we learn some really chilling background information about Our Hero, Miles, who made a disastrous mistake in the first issue that left his wife dead. The opening sequence is especially chilling - having been really amazed by the emotional devastation of the first issue, I actually shuddered reading this.

The action stays fun, though I miss Matt Webb's coloring. The big moments are still nice and big - my only problem is atmospheric lighting (is it daytime? --nighttime?), and luckily that's not too prevalent an issue. Chee's large panels really convey a sense of power and danger, and the clifffhanger page at the end is a nicely terrifying moment.

Can't wait for more.

*****

Having lots of fun watching Pete bring the pain over at The Pete Mortensen Challenge. He's kick-started things with a full overview of DC's awesome Solo series and a look at the new Vertigo book, American Virgin.

'Course, it's just as much fun to start imagining the new Joe Casey / Charlie Adlard book that Larry Young slipped into the pre-Challenge conversation. Rock Bottom, you say? 102 pages of new Charlie Adlard artwork, you say?

Yeah, I don't really need to know much else, curious though I am. Adlard has become one of my world-champion favorite artists over the last few years, and his chemistry with Joe Casey was one of the major selling points of Codeflesh. I'm in.

*****

Big ups today to Doug Paszkiewicz, creator of Arsenic Lullaby and subject of the very first Quality Control review, way back in the day.

Why the mad props? Well, because he got MAD props. That's right, homeboy's got a strip in the new issue of Alfred E. Newman's favorite magazine.



It's a strip I've read before in the pages of Arsenic Lullaby, but for those who've yet to work up the guts to read my favorite black humor comic, this'll make a fine introduction. Well done, Doug!

*****

So throw your hands up in the atmosphere
And let 'em know the only party that was phat was here...