"Pick of the Week" - What's Yours?

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Every week, one item or another in my pull and hold stands out for me above the rest in one way or another. Sometimes it’s a periodical, sometimes a graphic novel, sometimes a collection. Does that happen to you? If so, let’s hear about it here. It can be an item you’ve long anticipated or something you bought on a whim. If it’s something you were really looking forward to but ended up being a big disappointment, let’s hear about that here, too. I’ve been meaning to start this topic for a long time now, but chose today to post about something I’ve been waiting for a long time, long before it was even solicited.

SILVER SURFER EPIC COLLECTION BY STEVE ENGLEHART AND MARSHAL ROGERS

This is a favorite run of mine, but I’ve read it only twice: once as it was released, and I re-read it once after that. It came out as an “ESSENTIAL” a few years ago, but for this I held out for color.

EDIT: Most weeks I make my picks before I have read them, but feel free to choose either the books you anticipate most before you read or enjoy the most after you have read them.

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

Brilliant topic idea!

I absolutely have not had time to read any of my comics today (I just got home minutes ago), but the one I am most looking forward to reading is Vader Down by Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato. I hope to report on this one soon...and by "soon", I mean "within the month". :)

[Captain Comics]

I haven't had much time to read either -- what happened to those long, boring afternoons of my youth? -- but I'd like to mention Doctor Strange #3, which came out last Wednesday or the one before, and is the one post-Secret Wars Marvel title I had no hesitation in deciding to buy.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I finally got around to reading Prez #5 a few days ago, and that book keeps getting better and better. Beth Ross is a terrific character, bullheaded and admirable. I really hope we get the promised second miniseries after this one concludes. despite what seem to be really poor sales. 

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

Mine from this week was DK III. It was fun--not quite as epic as I was expecting, but that somehow improved my reading experience.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I haven't read everything I've picked up this week, but in a week of great books & favorites -- Saga, the Fade-Out, Black Magick, Lois & Clark, Omega Men -- the one  book that stands out over everything I read was Archie #4. I had to know what the #lipstickincident was that broke them up, and when I found out, it was heartfelt and well-earned, not selling either character short. Excellent storytelling from Mark Waid and Annie Wu.

And despite its place in the larger storyline of these first six issues of Waid's run, it also works very well as a done-in-one (as have all the issues so far). So if you have't checked out the new Archie, here's as good a place to start as any.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Because of the holiday, I didn't have the opportunity to read any of last week's new comics until last night. I did peak at this discussion yesterday, though, and moved DK III and Archie #4 to the top of my stack.

DK III: I didn't think DK I even called for a sequel, and I certainly didn't think DK II did. I went in with very low expectations and came out very pleasantly surprised. Very timely with the "Black Lives Matter" campaign. I'm not real thrilled with DC's format games, but I didn't care to wait until both formats were available.

ARCHIE #4: I've got to say I was hugely disappointed with Archie #4 (sorry, Rob). I knew Mark Waid and Fiona Staples weren't going to last on the series forever, but the artistic change this issue was much too jarring for my tastes. They should have kept the same artist for the entire first story at least.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Hey, different strokes. I would've loved more Staples art, too, but I thought Annie Wu killed it. (Plus, it meant we got an issue of Saga this week, too!) I loved the page where Betty's walking down the street and we get closeups of her lipsticked mouth while everyone reacts to her. And then the climax -- those three words she says to Archie -- broke my heart. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Oh, I’m sorry. I thought I was responding to “What Comics Have your Read Today?” not “Pick of the Week.” I’m going to leave that post here, though, because it is in direct response to the two above (and because rob has already replied). My own “Pick of the Week” for this week is…

THE INCREDIBLE HULK – SAL BUSCEMA MARVEL ARTIST SELECT SERIES #1

I’ve often described the Hulk as my “first favorite character” and, as the title implies, the stories in this collection were selected by the artist himself. While they might not end up being be the stories I would have selected, I’m looking forward to this collection because it has been so very long since Marvel has published “my” version of the Hulk.

[Captain Comics]

I don't recall how I felt about the art on Archie #4 -- meaning I probably didn't notice -- but I wish they'd change the artist on Jughead! That guy isn't doing it for me.

The good news is that now that Archie has dropped the Dan DeCarlo house style for something less cartoony, any artist is fair game. I wouldn't mind seeing Stjepan Sejic or the guy who does Rat Queens.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I enjoy reading Mark Waid’s introductions to the vintage stories as much as I do the stories themselves, but something he said in this one got me thinking. He said his readers naturally wouldn’t know what a hope chest was, being born after 1970. Does he really think a 45 year old wouldn’t know what a hope chest is? Or that 45 year olds are his audience? (It’s certainly not their desired audience.) I would bet a large portion of his audience born after, say, 1995 would not know what a hope chest is, but would that sound condescending? Would he risk offending a portion of his audience if he moved the bar one way or the other? Was 1970 chosen because it was “safe”? Did he even give it that much thought? Or am I overthinking it?

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I think you're overthinking it a bit.

That said, I was born in 1969, and had only a vague idea of what a hope chest was. It was a phrase I heard now and then (usually in old entertainments) and never cared to find out more. "Some old-fashioned girly thing" is about as close as I'd be able to define it -- "sort of like a scrapbook, but in a box, and of the future?" That's probably the closest I could get, if pressed.

I think Mark choosing the 1970 as his cut off probably has to do more with Mark's age than his readership. "I know it because I'm old. You don't because you're not an old man like me." It's the first round number after his birth year, 1962. Great, now I'm overthinking it.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Ha!

(I didn't know Waid was born in 1962. I thought he was older than that. Now I feel old.)

Not to over think it even more, but I'll bet a girl born in 1970 would know what a hope chest is.