Comic Book DAY!!!

For those of you unaware of the common rythm that the life of a comic book geek goes through, Wednesday is more than just a hump day; it’s the day new comic books come out, and a great day it is.

So in honor of this day, I will post five comics I’m looking forward to, including one’s that you at home might be able to jump on to. And by jump on, I mean start reading. I kind of feel like a pusher man selling drugs, mostly because comic books can become very addictive and/or habit forming, so watch out.

First up is The Sword from Image comics. Right now we’re sixteen issues in, but if you feel the need to catch up on this series, the first two trades are for sale. The first one being Fire and the second being Water. You can get both over at Amazon for a little over twenty bucks, which is a pretty good deal.

But why would you want to star reading this series?

Well, if you’re like me, then that means you enjoy a good decapitation every once in a while. But what does it look like when someone only gets part of their head sliced off? The Sword answers all of your decapitation and limb removal questions. That’s right, this might be one of the goriest books out there.  People get chopped in half, jaws get ripped off, bodies are multiply pierced by sharp objects, and oh yeah, there’s a great story.

Without spoiling the shock and awe of the first issue, I’ll give you a quick run down. Dara is on a vengeful and gory vendetta to avenge the death of her family, but she’s not chasing down any normal villains. Instead, she’s going up against some super powered god-like immortal bastards that really want that Sword she’s carrying, because it’s the only thing that can kill them.

This comic is wonderfully written, mostly because it stretches from very realistic and modern dialogue to the kind of way that gods would speak to eachother. You get a lot of good things in this book, and that includes the art as well. It’s simple, yet it drives the point straight to you. This is definitely a must read.

Next up is Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk, which, if you haven’t heard, has an interesting back story as far as how long it takes for an issue to actually be released for this series. Issue one was originally released in December of 2005, then issue two came out some-what on time. Then, jump ahead to March 2009 when issue three finally comes out. It’s a pretty big gap of time. Part of the reason the book was under such delay was because it’s expertly written by Damon Lindelof , who, if you don’t know, is Executive Producer, Co-Creator, and writer for one of the best T.V. shows on television, LOST. So he kind of got backed up on scripts. Then when he did get all of the scripts done, the artist, Leinil Yu, got tied up doing tons of more Marvel books like New Avengers and Secret Invasion.

Which brings me to issue four, which SHOULD be coming out today. I trust them now.

Simply put, this book is exactly what the title says. It’s Wolverine and Hulk dukin’ it out. Lindelof writes a good Wolverine and an even better Bruce Banner, and since it takes place in the Ultimate universe, there aren’t any worries as far as what he can do with the story. Which is why he has Hulk rip Wolverine in half, because it can happen.

Leinil Yu’s art is like a gritty version of Jim Lee’s intense stuff he put out in the early nineties, giving the fight between them even more depth.

Marvel just recently did a reprinting of issues 1 and 2, and since 3 just came out last month, it shouldn’t be too hard for anyone to catch up on this series.

Another one from Image comics is Infinite Horizon #4.

In a nut shell, this is a modern retelling of Homer’s Odyssey, and so far, I’ve enjoyed the way they’re telling this story. Using a war in the middle east to replace the Trojan war. They still keep the main staples of the original story but change it up a little by making things a bit more realistic. Instead of fighting an actual Cyclops, it’s just a slightly enhanced soldier wearing night vision gear that makes him appear as if he has one eye.

Phil Noto’s art is brilliant in the way that he makes the characters and situations feel real, even though it’s coming from a fictional story that we’ve all heard before.

If you’ve ever enjoyed the original story of Homer’s Odyssey, then you definitely owe to yourself to check out this modern retelling.

All you need to know about this comic is as follows:

-British Super Heroes

-Vampires and mystical Villains (DRACULA!)

and…

-Blade

I can’t sing any more praise for this book other than that. This comic is just simply cool. Paul Cornell is actually British, so it helps out the authenticity of a book that actually takes place in Britain.

Leonard Kirk’s art brings it together beautifully, but I just wish Blade had a better haircut than he does now.

As I mentioned with my very first post yesterday, the whole Green Lantern story line is ramping up to the event known as Blackest Night, and with that, we are introduced to a whole slew of Lantern ringbearers.

Enter “Agent Orange,” the new storyline that introduces the Orange Lanterns. Since every Lantern uses a certain emotion or trait to power their rings, the Orange use avarice, also known as greed.

I’m curious to see where Geoff Johns takes me once again, because if you didn’t know this, Geoff Johns is quite possibly the best thing DC Comics has going for them right now. He recently just made Superman cool agian, and he’s been working on Green Lantern for a long time now, making it one of the cooler parts of the DCU right now.

First he gave a rebirth to the character of Hal Jordan, then he brought Sinestro back in to have the Sinestro Corps. Wars, and now everything is leading up for the Blackest Night. So consider me stoked.

Well that’s all I can say for now. By next Monday I’ll tell you about the comic I enjoyed the most from this week.

Oh, and I would be an idiot not to announce that the Eisner Nominations were released today. If you don’t know what those are, they’re the closest thing to the Academy Awards for comics.

So go check them out HERE!

-Ben, The Comic Guru