Recommendations for the week of September 2nd including a new vol.1 trade edition of the ’80s/’90s Suicide Squad series. (11:13)
NOTES:
PLUTONA 1
imagecomics.com/comics/releases/plutona-1
JESSICA JONES: ALIAS tpb vol.1
marvel.com/comics/collection/54877/jessica_jones_alias_trade_paperback
PRISON ISLAND by Colleen Frakes
zestbooks.net/prison-island
SUICIDE SQUAD vol.1: TRIAL BY FIRE
www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/suicide-squad-vol-1-trial-by-fire-0
peter@thedailyrios.com
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Peter,
Thanks, as always, for TDR. Some great picks for New Comics Wednesday.
I finally read ALIAS a year or so back, and it was really strong. In my opinion, some of Bendis’s best writing at Marvel. The story was engaging, the character of Jessica Jones intriguing, and I appreciated Gaydos’s art for the series–definitely an acquired taste, but it really seemed to fit the story well.
PLUTONA — Jeff Lemire’s name on a book guarantees I will take a look at it. He’s one of the best “newish” writers to come along. I tend to prefer the books where he’s also doing the art, but Emi Lenox is no slouch (thanks to CGS, I learned of her work). And the idea of a more “mature” work being done in a more cartoonish way is always appealing to me. It’s definitely one of the strengths I find in Scott Morse’s work as well as that of Los Bros Hernandez, favorites of mine.
PRISON ISLAND is probably the most intriguing book in this set, for me. I’m only tangentially familiar with Colleen Frakes’s work and was not aware of this book at all, until I listened to the episode. But the subject matter is so enticing, as you were describing it my “writer’s mind” starting spinning furiously. This one, I’m very anxious to check out at some point.
And SUICIDE SQUAD. Possibly my favorite post-Crisis book. I went all-in with the new books spinning out of COIE and Legends, and it’s those books that really solidified me as a DC fan. Flash is my character and JLI is a classic (also loved the revamped Superman), but Suicide Squad has been the book I’ve returned to most, from that era. A number of years back, I lent my collection to a friend, and it eventually passed to a second friend once he’d read them. Now, that friend claims they were returned, so I’ve been re-incorporating the series in order to re-read it (thanks & shout-out to Mr. Phil who picked up a nice chunk at a Wild Pig sale a year or so ago, for me). I’ve made my way through the Janus Directive, and it’s just as fun a read as I remember. Great book. Hope they continue, as you said.
*and, a couple of corrections — the first issue cover was by Howard Chaykin, a really stark image of all the character faces lined up back to back down the middle of a black background, and the inker for the start of the series (and the one who seems most linked to the series because he also did a lot of covers for it) was Karl Kesel, for my money, the best inker working at the time because he could ease up on the brush and let a penciler’s work shine through (as he did with Byrne on Legends) or he could refine a penciler’s figure work when called for (as he did with Luke McDonnell on this series).
Anyway. I’ve gone on a bit and should probably get back to work. Thanks again, sir. Appreciate all the work that goes into the podcast.
-chris