This Week's Comics: September 24th, 2021

As for last week's Next Week's Comics...

Well, I was wrong. I was wrong. I was real wrong. *

Hardware #2 has not come out yet. It's due for release October 12th. And Back Issue! #131 doesn't come out until October 6th. Den Of Geeks is responsible for disappointing me on the latter...its New Comics page listed the release date for Back Issue! 131 as September 22nd. When I didn't see it on the stands at The Great Escape, I decided that it had either sold out quickly or wasn't coming in...I know TGE doesn't sell a shitload of those rather expensive ($9.95 in this case) magazines about comic books, so I figured that that was that. So when I got home I went to the TwoMorrows website, created an account, and ordered Back Issue! 131. (For a mere $4.99, by the way. Hmmm.) Got my link for the pdf of the issue and clicked on it...only to find that--well, you know what kind of eyes she got.

So this week's haul wasn't as impressive as I'd hoped it would be.

I've already read Mamo 31 and #2 (thank you, Hoopla), but they were so fuckin' good that I wanted to have the physical artifacts in my possession. 

I'd intended to purchase Fantastic Four #36...the first Fantastic Four comic book I've bought since the 2018 #1 issue...and I got that for a buck at Half-Price Books. Which is not to say that I don't love the Fantastic Four. I do. But I think the comic book really lost its way, so we parted. The cover and ad copy info for this issue (Johnny gets stuck in Flame On! position) brought me back for this one. And? Well...I don't know the writer, Dan Slott, very well, but I have seen his name on a lot of Marvel comic books, and I know he's been around for awhile. So yes, it was a competently written comic book, for sure. I did feel a little bit cheated in that I thought I was buying the first issue of a new story arc, and that turns out not to be the case. 

So far as I can tell from the ComiXology preview pages and what I've read online, Dr. Doom flipped Johnny into the 🔥ON! position in Fantastic Four #34, and he stayed in the 🔥ON! position through #35 and on into this issue. (Aside: #34 is a "regular" $3.99 issue, but #35 is a special anniversary issue and retails for $9.99.) So I had that Walking Into The Theater After The Movie Is Underway feeling...a feeling I am not fond of. But once I got over that, I was interested enough. And Hoopla will probably give me access to those previous issues at some point. (As of this writing they have everything from Fantastic Four (2018) #1 through #30 available.) So I think I will just wait for that and leave off buying any more issues off of the stands.

I'd read the blurbs for Mazebook and decided not to buy it. For one thing, $5.99 is too much for a comic book. For another thing, Sweet Tooth: The Return had soured me a bit for Jeff Lemire, and I wasn't over that yet. But when I saw that cover...I mean, that IS Philip K. Dick, isn't it? I had to look inside. And when I looked inside and saw those fragile Jeff Lemire characters, I thought, "What the hell, it's a slow week," and started peeling off hundred dollar bills, slapping them down. And? Well, it was a good book. Interesting premise... though not exactly novel. In short, a guy has lost his daughter (not sure exactly what that means, but she's gone...and there's no evidence of a wife or girlfriend, etc.), and is having a hard time dealing with day to day life. Then he receives a phone call from someone purporting to be his daughter. But it's the little bits along the way that make the story, of course. And I am awfully fond of Lemire's art. Still, I'm thinking that I might just check to see if Hoopla carries this, because I don't think it's a thing I necessarily have to own, you know? And to be honest, I don't feel that I got my $5.99 worth here. There are 46 pages of story & art...and only a few in-house ads at the back of the book, which is good. But there are a lot of full page panels...and a lot of three panel pages. And most of the panels are pretty thin in terms of wordage. And there's very little color. I kind of feel like this was a 22 page story that just got stretched a bit, and not for artistic impact. So...yeah, I don't think I'll be back for issue 2. A shame, because I haven't been buying much from Dark Horse lately, and I do like that company. But I need more than this.

Next Week's Comics:

Checkmate! #4 

Deathstroke Inc. #1 Not something I would normally be interested in, but for some reason I find myself drawn to it. My guess is that that won't last beyond picking the book up off of the shelf, reading the first page, and glancing at the rest. But we'll see.

Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham #1 I was a pretty big Fables fan back in the day. Read most of the series. So I was more than a little surprised to see a crossover with Batman going on, and would like to have at least a peek at it. 

Icon and Rocket: Season One #3 About fucking time!

Groo Meets Tarzan #3 Kind of ready for this to be over, but I will probably soldier on for the sake of Tarzan.

And btw, this fellow who has been doing Spawn covers lately...Bjorn Barends? He is kind of amazing. So much so that I've actually been tempted to buy a copy of Spawn...something I haven't done since Alan Moore wrote an issue. (38...March 1, 1993.) Oh, wait a minute...I did pick up 280-282 because I was seduced by the Jason Shawn Alexander artwork. But even that was four years ago. At any rate...check out some Bjorn Barends stuff. I wish he weren't so caught up in the whole zombie etc. shit, but the man sure can draw.

P.S. Speaking of Mamo...check this out. And keep in mind that ComiXology is now Amazon.

Mamo on Comixology:

Mamo on Kindle:

* Please see...er, hear..."I Was Wrong" from Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports album. Vocals by Robert Wyatt if you need any more honey in the pot.