Yes, it's that time once again:
what I bought and what I thought, week of February 5
1. HAWAIIAN DICK 2 Well, I guess it should come as no surprise, after yesterday's post. If you take away the novel setting, this book doesn't really break a lot of new ground...we've seen this sort of thing before in countless B movies and pulp novels. That being said, this mix of Raymond Chandler, Weird Tales magazine and Hawaiian folklore still comes across as fresh, clever and fun through and through, in no small part because they just don't make pulp novels and 40s style B movies anymore. I sincerely hope that Clay Moore and Steven Griffin can maintain this high quality level. If you'd like to sample before you buy, go here for some online HD strips. I recommend them, and this comic, very highly. A
2. BATGIRL YEAR ONE 3 By concentrating more on Barbara Gordon the person rather than Batgirl the character, and all the interconnected strands of the Batman family history, Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty have really come up with a winning storyline. And the art is flat out outstanding. Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopez excel, especially when depicting the Caped Crusader himself. I hope to see more from this team; this is as high-quality as you can get from a mainstream super-hero book. A
3. JOHN CONSTANTINE, HELLBLAZER 180 Mike Carey, currently the best writer in comics not named Alan Moore, wraps up his first extended JC arc in smashing fashion, ably abetted by Marcelo Frusin, whose take on ol' Conjob is going down in my book as one of the very best ever. A
4. VERTIGO POP:LONDON 4 Well, in a week as outstanding as this one something had to be last, but not least. Milligan wrapped this up a bit neatly for my taste, and I'm not sure everybody got what they deserved at the end (especially Cassy), but it was still an enjoyable read...and I always am up for Warren Pleece and Philip Bond art, both together and seperately. A-
Seriously...go check out those online Hawaiian Dick previews. They're good. real good.
