COOL SHIT 1-12-12

THE TRANSFORMERS: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE #1: Holy shit, am I the only one excited about the new direction in the Transformers universe? IDW brought the Autobot vs. Decepticon war to an end. They got rid of Megatron. Optimus Prime died in a very unusual way (I won’t say anything about that in case you don’t know, but shame on you for not knowing). And now all the non-Autobot and non-Decepticon Transformer has returned to Cybertron, demanding preferred status because they had no part in the civil war. What’s going to happen from there? IDW split the franchise into two titles: this one and ROBOTS IN DISGUISE. I predict the other one will be about the political struggle to return peace to Cybertron with Bumblebee, Prowl, and Ironhide being stuck with this unfortunate task. This one, however, will probably be more fun. Rodimus Prime has gotten a bug up his ass about the ancestors of the Transformers, the Knights of Cybertron. He believes they’re out there somewhere, and if he can find them in this vast universe, perhaps they can save Cybertron. I envision a lot of adventures, possibly a few of them swashbuckling, especially considering the warning from the future that arrives on Cybertron just after Rodimus sets off on his journey. What warning is that? Read the book, fucker! The only gripe I have is the art. After the wonderful things this book accomplished with the Chaos storyline, I was hoping for better. All of the characters look somehow . . . wispy. Don’t worry, though. The story more than makes up for it. Good times ahead, folks. Now’s the time to hop on board.

THE STAND: THE NIGHT HAS COME #6: Here we are, after four long years of the retelling of Stephen King’s finest novel, in my opinion. Once again, the folks over at Marvel have done an excellent job of adapting King’s words with glorious art. This is the perfect epilogue to everything that’s happened. As the story finally finishes up at Hemingford Home with Stu and Frannie and little Peter as they head east back to Maine, there is truly some satisfaction to be found in these comic books. And of course, there’s the part titled “The Circle Closes.” If you read the novel, you know what I’m talking about. You know who Russell Faraday is. You know how wheels always come back around to where they began . . . . It’s too late to jump on board for this one, but there are still the trades. Get on that, you fool!

COOL SHIT 11-17-11

THE STAND: THE NIGHT HAS COME #4: Holy shit. I didn’t think they’d get to this point so fast. Larry, Glen, and Ralph have gotten to Las Vegas, and Randall Flagg is ready to publicly execute them in one of my favorite literary scenes of all time. Artist Mike Perkins nails it. The man is fucking amazing. When the Trashcan Man arrives with the a-bomb, the Hand of God looks far more awesome than the cheesy piece of shit in the movie. The look of tired resignation on Flagg’s face when he realizes how fucked he is is priceless. And the look on Larry’s face in the last moments of his life is just . . . wow. See it to believe it.

THE BIONIC MAN #4: I’ve never cared much for the Bionic Man. I wouldn’t even be reading it if not for Kevin Smith’s involvement. However, I find myself enjoying this book more and more with each issue. The story the doctor tells about the dog in this issue is just amazing. But the truly interesting thing is how they change Steve Austin. The science of rebuilding him is disclosed here, and it’s impressive. This Bionic Man can do a lot more than the original from the ‘Seventies.

THE WALKING DEAD #91: Wow. The one thing I did not expect was Rick to reject Andrea’s advances. I think they’d be perfect for each other, but it seems that Rick has noticed that his love interests tend to have short life spans. He thinks he’s saving Andrea’s life by not fucking her. Odd, but I can see it. In the meantime, I think Eric is awesome. Him and a bunch of others go out to forage for supplies, and what does he do? He grabs a bottle of 20 year old Scotch and keeps his mouth shut about it so he can share it with his boyfriend. How cool is that?

BUTCHER, BAKER, CANDLESTICKMAKER #5: I swear, I’m not just mentioning this book to keep my Ennis streak going. This is the issue where we find out how Mallory recruited Butcher into the Boys. How could I not mention something so important? But even more so, this is the issue where Butcher reads his wife’s diary and finds out why she died: the Homelander raped her. And since Ennis is a capable storyteller (and a gentleman to boot), he doesn’t go into the lurid details. She can’t bring herself to write about the actual act itself, but the psychological results are . . . horrifying. Cool shit, indeed.

COOL SHIT 10-13-11

THE STAND: THE NIGHT HAS COME #3: I don’t bring this one up here enough. Honestly, I don’t think I need to. It’s just as good as the book, really. In fact, most of it is the book, Stephen King’s direct words. But the images really are spot on, way better than the TV mini-series. For this alone, you should really be reading this book. It brings THE STAND to life in a way no one else could do, certainly not a movie director. There’s a lot of ground to cover, so it’s abrupt in places, but it’s really a fine, dependable read. Give it a shot.

THE CAPE #2: What is this? A father/son edition of COOL SHIT? At first I was iffy on a sequel to Joe Hill’s THE CAPE. It was an excellent story that really stood on its own. But this new series is really good as we see Eric sink to all new lows. How can a guy who learns he has the ability to fly become such a douchebag? Christ, he’s willing to slit his own mother’s throat and set his brother on fire, simply because he’s jealous. And he’s supposed to be our protagonist? Yeesh.

JENNIFER BLOOD #5: A week can’t pass without me bringing up Garth Ennis. With this issue, we finally find out why Jennifer is killing all of her uncles. Apparently, she’s a daddy’s girl, and can you guess what her uncles did to her old man? To say they pulled a Julius Caesar on him is an understatement. Read this book and see the ugliest knifing you’ve ever seen. Even moreso, read this book to see the most brutal axe murder ever put to the page. Ennis keeps topping himself when it comes to savagery. Perhaps he should start writing CALIGULA after Lapham’s done . . . .