Hey Heroes! This week, it's Kung Fu, crime drama, and the Dark Knight like you've never seen him before. Without further ado, here's the popcorn overlord's picks for this week:
Paying For It (Drawn & Quarterly)
Chester Brown's controversial graphic novel about being a "John" was the talk of the walk back in 2011, and now it's available in a new edition if you missed it the first time. Seeing as this blog was not yet a thing two years ago, this old Colonel has decided to spare a few words about it now. With the Trinity War and the Infinity stuff coming up the pike this summer, they'll be plenty of superhero chatter in the coming weeks and I'd hate to overlook some of the great stuff happening left of center. Paying For It is one such project, a graphic novel depiction of the way one interacts with sex workers, from scary back alley rendevous to online hook-ups complete with Paypal transactions. A fascinating and thought provoking read to say the least.
Twelve Reasons To Die #1 (Black Mask Comics)
As a wise man once said, Wu Tang Clan ain't nothin' to f*** with! Ghostface Killah and the RZA have always branched out into other mediums besides music, and this is their stab at comic book writing. Featuring art by Breno Tamura, Christopher Mitten, and others, 12 Reasons to Die is the story of a vengeful street-saavy soul who wants to hunt down the twelve Mafia Dons responsible for his murder. The plot sounds cookie cutter, but really, what doesn't nowadays? The variety of art styles provide a nice blend of action and drama with a definent manga influence in the storytelling.
Batman: Death By Design TPB (DC)
Similar to Paying For It, this was released previously in hardcover format. Now that a less expensive softcover version is now available, it's time to gush about Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor's love letter to golden age Batman and urban architecture. Chip Kidd is the design genius behind the Bat-Manga collection and the Shazam retrospective published a few years ago and in this volume, he's doing the writing chores. Dave Taylor is an artist extraordinaire who spends this volume returning the dark knight detective to his pulp roots. If a bare-bones, low-tech Batman in a period piece setting sounds fascinating to you, it's worth going out of your way to pick up this graphic novel.
Chin Music #1 (Image)
Steve Niles and Tony Harris doing a crime comic with a supernatural twist? I'm there! The man known only as "Shaw" is on the run from forces unseen and lost in time. Landing in prohibition era Chicago, Shaw becomes embroiled in a war between the law and the spirit world. Fans of 30 Days of Night and DC's Starman should take note of this one. It's definently a different flavor than the 12 Reasons To Die book I mentioned above, but it's a damn good flavor. This is one of those titles that sells itself on the creative team alone.
Avengers #11 (Marvel)
Things are coming to a head in Jonathan Hickman's Avengers saga leading up to this summers Infinity event. This issue focuses on the man with the deadly hands, Shang Chi, as he leads a group of Avengers on a mission to China. I was beaming when Hickman put Shang Chi on the Avengers roster, as he is one character that doesn't get enough love in my opinion. His last appearance I recall was during Dan Slott's Spider-Island story and that didn't exactly set my world on fire. Let's see if Hickman and artist Mike Deodato can breath some new life into Marvel's Kung Fu master.
That's a swell stack of comics, friends! remember to check back on the regular for new episodes of the Club Of Heroes podcast (there's a new episode every couple of days ya'll) and other random musings from our contributors!
Cheers.
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