The Colonel's Picks For April 17th, 2013

"I had a good home, but I left..." -Tom Waits

Maybe one day this old Colonel will tell you of how I first became a super soldier, and the blood soaked story of my first encounter with Paula Deen. Until then you'll have to wonder...but enough of that, here's my stack for the week.

Star Wars: Darh Vader & The Ninth Assassin #1 (Dark Horse)

Tim Siedell, Stephen Thompson, & Mike Irwin cast Darth Vader as Uma Thurman in Kill Bill in this new mini from Dark Horse. A wealthy beaurocrat loses his only son to Vader's lightsaber and enlists one assassin after another to take out the Sith Lord once and for all. So far, eight would-be bounty hunters have fallen, but what is the secret of the ninth? What edge could he possibly have over the force-choking tyrant? I'm more than a little excited about this one, folks.

Jirni #1 (Aspen)

I'm not gonna fib here, dear reader, the dollar price tag is what originally brought this little gem from Aspen Studios to my attention. The world needs more dollar comics! At least for first issues. Writer J.T. Krul and artist Paolo Pantalena introduce a new purple skinned, adventure-craving heroine in the scantily-clad Aspen tradition. It also turns out Mr. Krul has been prepping this series for a few years now and calls this his "magnum opus". I'm anxious to see what took so long. His writing at DC never blew me away, but he can still tell a good yarn. Maybe with a little more creative freedom, we can see what he's really capable of.

Miniature Jesus #1 (Image)

Ted McKeever's new miniseries from Image sounds provocative enough to warrant a label of some kind. When the devil on your shoulder is the loudest voice in the room and the angel who should be on your other shoulder is nowhere to be found, what's a recovering alcoholic to do? I don't know much else about this series, but it has definently piqued my interest. I'm making it a certified Colonel's Pick for the striking cover alone.

Popeye Classics Volume 1 HC (IDW)

This is a hardcover collection of the 1948 debuting Popeye comics written and illustrated by Bud Sagendorf, who was an assistant to E.C. Segar, the creator of Popeye. This collection contains four complete issues plus a whole bunch of one-page strips by Sagendorf. Any fan of comics or animation history would be remiss not to have this on their shelf. Popeye was once a pretty big deal, being one of America's most popular comic book adventure heroes until a certain man in a red cape swooshed by...

House Of Gold & Bones #1 (Dark Horse)

Stone Sour and Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor makes his debut in the world of comic books with a promising offering in the horror genre. A tale of nightmares brought to life, House of Gold & Bones tells the story of The Human and his surreal quest in an alternate dimension. Even if Mr. Taylor's music isn't your cup of tea, the preview art for this series looks fantastic. Apparently, this comic is going to coincide with his band's newest album, so that's a neat tie-in as well. I'm still waiting for Jethro Tull: Warchild #1, by the way.

...and there it is folks. Another piping hot bucket of picks for this week. Is Peace and Love the only alternative to life as a warrior. I have some big questions to ponder while reading this week's selections, it seems.

Cheers.