Monday, August 16, 2004

While I'm at it, here's something else I haven't done for a while now: WWJBB (look for it on a bracelet near you), or "What Will Johnny B Buy" on Wednesday, according to the Diamond shipping list? Well, wonder no longer.

STEVE RUDE'S THE MOTH #4-the list says #4 of 4; I thought this was an ongoing. Just as well, I've kinda decided to drop this anyway. But if this is the last issue, then I'll pick it up.
ASTRO CITY SPECIAL-not a fan of Busiek per se, but I've enjoyed his Astro City books. That being said, I was underwhelmed by the last miniseries, and my continued patronage depends on the next couple of AC projects.
EX MACHINA #3-another bubble book.
H-E-R-O #19-continuing the theme, I'm dropping this too. I had high hopes for the current storyline, but it's been diminishing returns all the way and its strong start is but a memory.
HUMAN TARGET #13-safe for now, but I'm just not as fanatical about this title as I oughtta be.
LUCIFER #53-still one of my favorite titles.
DAREDEVIL #63-I can't believe that Bendis made such an ass out of himself at WW Chicago. Sounds like he wasn't alone, though...
DEMO #9-actually, I got this today from good ol' Uncle Larry, but I'm gonna buy my copy anyway (if they get it for me) and give it to someone.

...and that's it! If Daisy Kutter 1 shows up, it might change my plans a bit. If I had more disposable income, I'd snap up that Essential Iron Fist collection; I always kinda liked the Fist's title back in the day. I had the first half dozen or so Marvel Premieres, and also had a set of the Byrne/Claremont run. I see where a new Plastic Man is coming out as well. I'm kinda feeling a bit guilty about not buying it up till now, especially after reading Tim O'Neil's (cute Identity Crisis satire there, Tim) impassioned defense of the title, but after skimming over the first two issues I just wasn't impressed enough to buy regularly. I've been a fan of Kyle Baker's in the past; loved his Shadow stint, Why I Hate Saturn, and You Are Here; and even found a lot to like about King David, horrific coloring aside. But there's just something about the loosey-goosey, Mort Drucker-meets-Sergio Aragones-meets-Disney Studios style he's evolved into that leaves me cold. I liked The Truth very much, but I liked it in spite of Baker's sloppy, hideously colored art, not because of it. I know better than to make a blanket statement like "he doesn't seem to give a damn about his craft anymore", because I know that's not true- the effort to produce nine plus issues of any book belies that, plus the man still knows how to tell a story very well- so I guess all I can offer is the lame excuse that I just don't like where he's at stylistically these days and let it go at that. It's like the old adage about not liking broccoli. It's good for you, but it just doesn't taste good. This being said, I've spotted some affordable runs on eBay, so maybe I'll go that route one of these days.

Well, what was intended to be a short-n-sweet "What I'm buying Wednesday" post sure turned into a monster, didn't it! I'm done. Oyasumi nasai, y'all.

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