What 4/20 Comics I Would Recommend

Spoilers ahead!!

Ex Machina #10



Probably the coolest thing about Ex Machina is the intelligence of the book. It is a book that is not afraid to go into detail about theory and politics. That is to be admired, but what is even MORE admirable is that the book manages to avoid the sort of proselytizing that someone like an Alan Grant would do whenever he would turn an issue of Shadow of the Bat into "Anarchy is kewl!"

In addition, Vaughan has also dropped the whole "Factoids in place of dialogue," and to change your style like that is extremely impressive to me.

Finally, the plot itself is moving forward nicely, and all the characterizations remain impressive. It is sad about Jackson and his family, but hey, at least it wasn't Bradbury (I think Bradbury is cool...hehe)!

The art from Harris is awesome as ever.


JLA Classified #6

Okay, this one is kind of cheating, I will admit.

I make this big deal about how I will not recommend a book unless I am pretty damn sure that most people will enjoy it, to the point where even if I liked a book, if I think it is too niche-y, then I will not recommend it.

But what can I say?

I love Giffen/DeMatteis and Maguire too much to be rational like that.

So while this book is definitely NOT for everyone, I liked it a lot.

In this issue, they very wisely cut down on the sheer volume of the jokes in favor of more plot.

In addition, by splitting the characters up into three groups, we got to see some more in-depth interactions, especially the relationship between Guy Gardner and Power Girl. Interesting stuff.

The Demon's appearance was not awful (although the rhymes were, but very few writers do NOT write terrible rhymes for Etrigan, so I cannot say I was disappointed), and the basic plot was interesting enough.

Great art (as always) by Kevin Maguire and Joe Rubinstein.

And the ending?

WOW.

I like the idea of giving something BACK while the rest of the DCU is intent on taking stuff AWAY.

Walking Dead #18



This is a great example of what I was just talking about, how I would not recommend a book that I liked (Walking Dead #17) because it was too niche-y.

Well, luckily, Walking Dead #18 has a really cool addition to it - a CHARACTER GUIDE!

Woohoo!

Now I can totally, in good conscience, recommend Walking Dead #18 to anyone.

You will be impressed by the intricate characterization, the interesting interactions between the characters, the interesting situations that are created by being in a world overrun with zombies, and the drastic changes that Kirkman always finds room for in the book ("The only thing constant in Walking Dead is change").

Charles Adlard, as usual, provides rough, but character-soaked renditions of the cast (who you will actually understand who is who by the CHARACTER GUIDE! woohoo!).

Very cool book.

Klarion the Witch Boy #1



I feel silly repeating myself, so click here to see why I think Klarion the Witch Boy is a good comic.

Invincible #22



Like Walking Dead, the shtick in this comic (teenage superhero) is really not as important as the characters and their interactions with each other.

Although, do not fret, superhero fans, this book is more about its topic than Walking Dead is, so there is plenty of action and superhero stuff in this book.

It is just that it is overshadowed by the characters and their interactions with each other.

Kirkman is also running, like, 5647 plots at once, so the fact that the book not only makes sense, but makes sense (I think) to a NEW reader is, well, very impressive.

Ryan Ottley continues to impress on the art, as well. First Cory Walker, now Ryan Ottley?!!?

Kirkman must have made a deal with a demon to get such good young artists working with him (just so long as it is not a rhyming demon...hehe)!!

That's all the books that I would recommend this week!

The following are books that I liked well enough, though...

Runaways #3 - This book is fun.

Young Avengers #3 - This book is fun, as well.

Fantastic Four #525 - Karl Kesel is fun!

X-Men #169 - GASP! A coherent Milligan X-Men story! His first of this run! If he keeps this up, I will have to recommend it!

Livewires #3 - Read a little better to me than the first two. Also a fun book.

Spider-Man: Breakout #1 - Bedard makes you CARE about the U-Foes! Sadly, he doesn't actually give you enough info as to who the people in this book ARE, so TOTALLY new reader unfriendly. Which is too bad, as the story is very good.

Marvel Knights 4 #17 - I go a little bit more in depth with this, Breakout, and another Marvel book here. In any event, this was a great story, but I really dislike the art. Otherwise, I would definitely recommend it.

Conan #15 - I really did not like this issue, but I have been enjoying Conan so much that I wonder if I am just dumb.

That's all, folks!

What did y'all think about the week?

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