New Comics Wednesday: November 18th Edition

Happy Wednesday, people! There are a lot of great books out this week—and we’ll get to that—but it’s the time of year to be thankful, and I want to say “thank you” on behalf of Project-Nerd.

Yesterday morning, our Kickstarter campaign for Barrens reached and surpassed its goal of $2,000, and it’s all because of you. There are 24 days left in the campaign, and we’re at somewhere around 115% of what we needed just to get the book into production. Additionally, we’ve already started taking pre-orders for That Bulletproof Kid, and the support is really amazing. Going from writing about comics to making them has been a longtime dream of the people who run this site, and you’ve all made that happen.

So, thank you.

Now, let’s talk about some comics.


Godzilla

Godzilla in Hell #5 of 5 (IDW)
written and illustrated by David Wachter

Man, this was a really weird series that had some big hits and some wide misses for me, and while I’m glad it went out on a high note, I’m sad to see it go. I didn’t love every issue of the series, but I loved what the series stood for because it was essentially an excuse for some real top-shelf independent talent to flex their muscles on a character who’s pretty difficult to make compelling. He doesn’t talk, it’s questionable as to whether or not he has any real thought or if he’s just a mindless destroyer, and he’s got a pretty static—albeit iconic—body language that can look pretty stale if not treated right.

That said, damn, this issue proved all of those tenets wrong, and it did it so effortlessly that it made me a Godzilla fan.

Standing right along with James Stokoe’s first issue in terms of being a masterwork of wordless visual storytelling, this issue is stellar work on the part of David Wachter. Braving the icy caverns and volcanic pits of hell, and being relentless attacked by minuscule, eyeless flying creatures, Wachter’s Godzilla is an unyielding, unstoppable force of nature on the surface, yet the body language—which reads as wonderfully awkward and unwieldy as the old movies we’re all used to—suggests a Godzilla who has a deeper understanding of what makes him so strong. Every tail swipe, every stomp, and every “SKREEEEEEEEONK” carries a weight and authenticity that I would’ve thought impossible to convey on a page. We all know that Godzilla is huge—he topples buildings and lays waste to entire cities just by walking around—but Wachter’s creative use of scale presents the famous kaiju as practically an afterthought, dwarfed by the mountain blocking his way out of hell.

This is Godzilla reaching a personal state of nirvana and learning to overcome his worst enemy—himself—in a final attempt to triumph over an eternal existence in hell. And it is bad ass. So bad ass, in fact, that it leads me to question who would actually win in a fight: Godzilla or the Incredible Hulk—and anyone who knows me well enough knows that I think that the Hulk is basically the strongest there is.

Skreeeonk, indeed.


Usagi Yojimbo

Usagi Yojimbo #150 (Dark Horse)
by Stan Sakai

Stan Sakai is absolutely killing it with these one-and-done Usagi Yojimbo stories. This one is an apparent criticism of the entitlement of Western imperialism and its tendency to treat older civilizations as if they are backwards or lesser by subjugating their customs. There’s no subtlety to the plot, but the metaphor sells the sentiment of the story in which Usagi experiences a pyrrhic victory due a rash promise made to an arrogant Spanish fencer by an easily duped Samurai nobleman that costs a respected elder his life. The character acting is wonderfully executed—as usual—and Sakai has an inexplicable talent for page and panel design, knowing exactly when to draw lush background or when to drop the background altogether for a closeup.

Sakai’s work is unlike anything else being released to the mainstream right now, and it’s always shocking to me how much of what passes for all-ages action style comics artwork is informed by his work, despite how adult his subject matter is. The rage that Usagi feels at the news of his friend’s death can’t be described as anything but primal, and the difference between a calm, collected Usagi and a vengeful, enraged Usagi is a few well placed lines that would take any other artist entire panels to depict.

This one kept me on the edge of my seat and left me reeling at the end.


Giant Days

Giant Days #8 (Boom! Box)
created and written by John Allison; illustrated by Max Sarin; colors by Whitney Cogar

I may have said this about previous issues of Giant Days, but, at the risk of repeating myself: this is the best issue yet. John Allison has really tapped into something special by following Esther, Daisy, and Susan’s journey through the most formative years of their adult lives—their time at university (or…college, if you’re in the U.S. of A.) It’s such an awkward time for all of us—and I mean that, “all of us”—because, when we look back on it, we really had no clue who we were. It’s the proof positive that as people, we do change and evolve. For instance, we all knew that person who suddenly pulled an “about face” on their behavior, appearance, or hobbies because of someone they started dated. We all knew that other person who spent so much time being hung up on someone who had little interest in them that they were incapable of seeing the forest for the trees and looking for a connection somewhere else. Perhaps, in our circle of friends, also lived the cynic who failed to see the joy in things until someone unexpectedly thrust them headfirst down a hill on a sled. And I’m sure we’ve all known that person who tried to so hard to be all things to all people that they lost their way, only to be pulled back to reality by their friends.

That’s all in this single issue; it’s really enjoyable and impressive storytelling how Allison manages to weave all those things into a coherent, 22 page plot that anyone could pick up at any time and figure out what’s going on. Excellent work, and one of my favorite books this week.


Tet

Tet #3 of 4 (IDW)
written and lettered by Paul Allor; artwork by Paul Tucker

War comics were all the rage in post WWII America, lasting in popularity until the 60’s or so and then dying out sometime around the 80’s, when the “Silver Age” of comics ended. Nowadays, however, there’s room in the sandbox for everyone, and Paul Allor has done a great job using the backdrop of post-war Vietnam for a crime story that seamlessly blends elements of mystery, politics, love, and war that are relatable and affecting. The first issue floored me, the second felt a little paint-by-numbers for where the plot seemed to be going, but this issue really had an element of “everything you thought you knew isn’t what you know at all” that speaks to our ability, as people, to try and make the details of a situation fit the narrative as opposed to opening our minds to the truth that things are not always what they seem. As far as being the penultimate issue of a four issue limited series, I’m basically left in the same place as the two main characters—with no clue as to where it all ends. If crime fiction is your thing, it’s hard to find something better than this series right now.


Paybacks

Paybacks #3 (Dark Horse)
script by Donnie Cates & Eliot Rahal; art by Geoff Shaw; colors by Lauren Affe

This is the kind of rule-less, no-holds-barred superhero comic I can get behind. Paybacks exists almost entirely on the strength of the characters and how they relate to one another, and it’s impossible to predict. Last issue’s cliffhanger was explained in a very satisfying way within the first few pages of the book—followed immediately by a blindsiding baseball bat to the head from Miss Adventure—leaving the remainder of the book to explore a much larger plot—who’s getting to the alpha team’s targets before they do, and how do they know who the targets are? You can feel the team starting to coalesce and push back against Driver—Mr. Piece’s right hand who keeps the Paybacks in line as they work over their debts. We also start to get some backstory on some of the characters (in case you wanted to know what Bloodpouch keeps in those pouches…) and while it’s not hard to surprise us a mere three issues into a series, there are some great curveballs that will really keep you guessing. It’s great writing by Cates and Rahal, the way they’re unveiling information little by little while keeping the action moving, and artist Geoff Shaw is carrying it wonderfully.

Still one of the best superhero books on the stands, I’m going to keep reading this one.


Dark Horse Presents

Dark Horse Presents Vol. 3 #6 (Dark Horse)
by various artists

There’s basically something for everyone in this 56 page anthology from Dark Horse, but the real stand out is Hellboy: The Exorcist of Vorsk, a grisly fable about greed and consequences expertly told by Mike and Todd Mignola through the former’s eerily drawn puppetry. The runner up is David Chelsea’s Sandy and Mandy, which is a beautifully drawn and designed comic that takes some obvious cues from Little Nemo in Dreamland creator Winsor McCay. Starting out as a somewhat cute, lighthearted story about two friends spending the day together, eating lunch, window shopping, then quickly turning in to a disturbingly macabre commentary on depression and suicide, it’s a real gut punch of a story. Before, in-between, and after, there’s a lot of other material in the book that didn’t speak to me, but that’s the beauty of Dark Horse Presents—it’s an opportunity to showcase a wide variety of incredible talent that takes all types.


Also available this week:

Dark Horse – BPRD: Hell On Earth #137**, Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 10 #21, Eve: Valkyrie #2, Mulan Revelations #4, Plants Vs Zombies #6, Power Cubed #3, Rook #2, The Steam Man #2

Dynamite – Bob’s Burgers #5, Dawn/Vampirella #5, Frankenstein: Storm Surge #2, Looking For Group #8, Masks 2 #8, Vampirella #1969, Voltron: From The Ashes #3

Boom! Studios – Adventure Time With Fiona and Cake: Card Wars #5, Big Trouble in Little China #18, Cognetic #2, Escape from New York #12, Hacktivist #5, Lumberjanes #20, Sleepy Hollow: Providence #4, Welcome Back #3

IDW – Boy-1 #4, Classic Popeye #40, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency #5, Jem and the Holograms #9, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #36, Onyx #3, Orphan Black: Helsinki #1, Star Trek/Green Lantern #5, Transformers #47

** No Release Copy Provided


Project-Nerd is a press partner of BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, and IDW Publishing. If you would like to see your studios’ content included in our weekly release article, please contact our editors.

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