Man I Needed TV

I covered a lot of the Marvel and DC relaunches when they started. I haven't really mentioned any of these books lately (and haven't really mentioned much of anything at all here recently for that matter). I've narrowed my Marvel list down to three books (maybe one by the end of the year), but there is one book that I love month after month. Mark Waid is absolutely killing it on Hulk.

Let me tell you how awesome this title is: The new arc is a time travel arc where the timestream is fucked up and the only one strong enough to pull it together is the Hulk. So each issue of this arc puts the Hulk in a different time period. I open this issue up, and the first page introduces three classic Western Marvel characters. I turn the page to see a two-page splash of the Hulk punching a dinosaur in the face. And not just any pussy dinosaur but a T-Rex. If you want anything more from a comicbook than this, you're a dick.

JMS

 I've never really been a fan of Straczynski, but I guess I just never read the right stuff. I never read Midnight Nation or Rising Stars, his early creator owned books. I read a few sparse issues of various corporate superhero books and wasn't that impressed. Recently, he returned to his creator owned Joe's Comics imprint to go back to original content. I mentioned a couple months back that I tried out Ten Grand because of artist Ben Templesmith and really enjoyed it. So I figured, why not try out his new one Sidekick with artist Tom Mandrake. I might like this one even better.

I was a little skeptical on this because it's a superhero book. I've got a stigma. They're overdone and really hold back comic books as an art form. I read some Marvel and DC books, but that's more because I've already accepted those characters. I'm not saying that those are poorly written, (some are) because there are some good ones, but it's nothing new. And I'm not saying that people aren't doing innovative things with an old genre. Joe Casey in particular. Although I wasn't impressed by Sex or The Bounce, Catalyst Comix is pretty good and Butcher Baker, the Righteous Maker and Godland (who's final issue was just solicited) were spectacular.

Anyway, back on track, Sidekick takes place in a world with Superheroes but reads more like a story of a washed up child star. There are some pretty dark and uncomfortable scenes. Check it out.

The Melvins cover

Nov 5th