It’s a middlin’ week for me, numbers wise, but not in quality. I liked what I found in the first issue of Justin Jordan’s Dead Body Road but it didn’t blow me away. I’m hoping that this week’s #2 will ramp it up. A new arc starts in this month’s The Massive, which is good, because the last arc was one of the weakest in the series so far. And, of course, Kelly Sue DeConnick & Emma Rios’s incredible Pretty Deadly gets another installment. For me, I’m really anticipating…
Zero #5. Ales Kot’s timeline-skipping sci-fi military/spy thriller has been fantastic from the get-go, with a couple of real “Holy $#!+” moments in the last two issues. The way the story is constructed makes the new-artist-every-issue formula work really well, and I’ve become a solid fan. The book feels like something written by the love child of Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton, and I can’t get enough. But what I’m really looking forward to this week is…
Deadly Class #1. Rick Remender is one of those writers who I’ll follow into oblivion. Fear Agent ranks amongst my favorite comics ever, and Black Science is heading into that same territory. Now, take one of my favorite writers and pair him with a story about a high-school for the next generation of elite assassins, with a tagline like “Murder is an art. Killing is a craft. At King’s Dominion high school for the deadly arts, the dagger in your back isn’t always metaphorical, nor is your fellow classmates poison.“? I’m already hooked. But I also have to mention…
The Planetary Omnibus Edition hardcover. Warren Ellis and John Cassaday may very well have peaked with the book that, as we discussed on Trade Secrets Podcast, ranks amongst the best comics ever made. And now, the whole thing is available in a spectacular single-volume omnibus hardcover, and even includes the less-than-stellar spinoff mini-series’? Do it. Do it NOW.
This week’s Honorable Mentions: I’ve been a huge fan of Brian Wood’s run on Conan, but it’s a book I’m getting in hardcovers. If you’re a fan of Howard’s sword-slinging Cimmerian, go grab Conan The Barbarian #24 this week.
Luke’s Picks for January 9th, 2014: Dead Body Road #2, Deadly Class #1, The Massive #19, Pretty Deadly #4, Zero #5, Planetary Omnibus HC
