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The Shipping Forecast: Vampires, Barbarians, Mobsters And Muppets

Published Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:00:10 -0500

Last updated Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:13:03 -0500

Comics shipping today in the USA, tomorrow in the UK. These are the top ten comics that I'm interested in.

1. Groo: Hogs Of Horder#3 by Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier. The very best of Groo have been when he's taken on a subject far larger than himself. Whether destroying the perfect communist/natural society, or helping start a newspaper, it's a simplistic moral given depth and hilarity by Groo's slapstick. And thus it is here as Groo confronts the banking system – and this time the financial markets are far more destructive than Groo could ever be. This is the comic I'm really finding it hard to wait for this month…

2. American Vampire #1. Twilight Graphic Novel came out yesterday, now it's time for Stephen King's vampire comic. Possibly less smouldering and sparkling, possibly more necks being ripped apart I think. The last Stephen King comic I read was Heroes For Hope. Hmm. With the King crowd getting informed, news about him actually writing the book (albeit with no thought bubbles) and publicity all over the place, could this surprise one or two comic stores?

3. Joe The Barbarian#3. Okay, this really is The Stuff Of Legend mixed up with Neverwhere as the central character flits from one world to the other, with uncertainty as to whether this is madness or the supernatural, but Morrison has concocted a thrill-packed adventure along the way to, possibly, finding out.

4. Choker#2. Is this the coolest comic in the industry now that Phonogram has finished? Angry, funny, silly, this is mad villains versus madder police, Life On Mars meets Fell. And the two Bens, McCool and Templesmith, finding a unique voice to tell that story.

5. I Kill Giants Titan Edition – a massive compilation of the series, scripts and other matter in this definitive collection of one of the better mini-series of latter years. Joe Kelly and Jim Ken Niimura's tour de force of a young girl battling monsters, both real and imagined. Beautiful storytelling that takes small moments and makes them big, and gives a real sense of scale to the even bigger moments.

6. Dark Avengers #15 – nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I'm going down the garden to eat some worms. Bendis' Avengers work comes in for some stick from some quarters, not least the message boarders on this site, but I just love this villains-as-heroes-without-actually-being-reformed comic. Best to read without reading all the other Siege tie ins, so it feels not overused. If you were reading Dark X-Men and all the others as well, it might not feel so special.

7. X-Factor Forever#1 – Nostalgia time! Louise Simonson takes on the old continuity of the time when the original X-Men banded together to pretend to be mutant hunters in order to protect and save mutants. And then find that they're not so much using bigotry and genocidal hatred to fight against it, but fanning the flames themselves. Later it would twist and turn into various forms, but I always likes the original concept. Now to see it play out in a new way…

8. Muppet Show#3 – Roger Langridge has done something very special with The Muppet Show comic book. He has created a comic that reminds you of what you remember about the Muppet Show. Your nostalgic memories, condensed, are far greater than any episode could provide, but this comic does that. Condensing the best of the show, the innovation, the insanity, the characters, without any of the show's slow spots, bits that don't work and repetitivity. And he naturally rearranges it all from filmed stage show to take advantage of the comic book medium, just as he often did with Fred The Clown. One of the best comic books currently being published.

9. Locke & Key Crowne Of Shadows#4 – This absorbing horror story, with a group of youngsters and a set of keys that do all manner of horrific acts is one of those wonderful concepts that mean you can do anything, only countered by the author's imagination. Which seems limitless. Reminiscent of the best of Sandman, and written by Joe Hill, Stephen king's son, we really have a familial battle today. I expect American Vampire will sell more. But I expect Locke & Key to be the better comic.

10. Green Hornet: Year One. So Kevin Smith's Green Hornet may have been a little disappointing. But Matt Wagner's take on the original Hornet should be an entertaining one. Hell, it's Matt Wagner and this kind of thing is just his territory. The man behind Mage, Grendel, Sandman Mystery Theatre, those pulpy Batman books and Madame Xanadu. It feels like a perfect casting.

So… what are you buying?

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