Friday Slice of Heaven
Parker: The Outfit (Richard Stark's Parker)
- Written and Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke, published by IDW. The follow up to 2009's amazing Parker: The Hunter
, this newest chapter was well worth the one year wait. Expertly adapted, written and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke, this story continues following career criminal Parker in his new quest to destroy The Outfit, a consortium of criminals who decided to push the wrong man. The story is intricately told and in chapter three mixes things up by detailing the exploits of Parker's accomplices as they too hit the Outfit from every corner conceivable while cleverly revealing to the reader how the Outfit ran their various rackets . A beautiful book worthy of anyone's favorite bookshelf, but be warned that the Parker: The Hunter is a prerequisite to this wonderful book. The third release is scheduled for 2012 and the year could not come soon enough. A must own for any fan of pulpy crime noir fun. 
The Walking Dead: "Vatos" S01E04 - I was severely disappointed with this fourth...Ha...just kidding. This episode ruled. Continuing a string of great installments, "Vatos" was the first episode completely written by Robert Kirkman and it showed. Loosely adhering to the original comic book and with the addition of Daryl Dixon from last episode, I was completely onboard with the changes and everything flowed just fine. Then came the vatos. At first, I was rolling my eyes at just how stereotypical the portrayal of this ruff and tumble street gang was as in "they were a Latino force to be reckoned with and after a life of growing up on the perilous streets of the city, no one was safe...," but then came the reveal. This blew me away. SPOILER....
Rick and his group's interaction with the vatos pulls a complete switch on all preconceptions, and the vatos could quite possibly end up being the most compassionate of people the survivors will ever meet for the remainder of the show. I was left wanting more, and hope to see more of them later.
Also of interest was Daryl dropping the tough, dumb redneck schtick long enough to show his general concern for the abducted Glenn. There's a human side to this character hidden somewhere, and hopefully more will show. Then of course there was the assault on the camp that played all to faithful to the comic, eliciting the horror the survivor's situation...while also eliciting a bone-chilling scream from my wife that scared the dogs. Great show.
The Walking Dead: "Wildfire" S01E05 - Things slow down drastically from the great "Vatos" episode and we witness the aftermath of last week's finale. Andrea's raw emotion and refusal to let anyone near her sister, with the exception of Dale, was rather heart wrenching, but gave a first glimpse at the strength within Andrea that will play out in the second season.
We also see the conflict building in Shane as he becomes more unhitched and desperate to return to the life he had prior to Rick's return. Thankfully Dale is there to witness Shane's contemplated treachery and now he suspects all is not well, even if Rick is too willfully blind to see it.
Finally came the completely new addition of the CDC, which I did not see coming at all, and I am curious to see how that plays out.
With one final episode left in the season--and over a year wait for the second season to debut--I will sit biting my nails to the nub and anxiously awaiting watching it with my friends. When all is said and done, I will rewatch the series--minus chitchat and screaming--back-to-back to see how it plays out and flows. Quickly becoming one of my favorite series of all time, second only to Firefly
.Heroes for Hire - Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Illustrated by Brad Walker, published by Marvel Comics. Okay, flat out, I loved this and I am so glad I decided to take a chance on this book. From the pages of Iron Fist, Misty Knight operates as the "Controller" who instructs the various street-level heroes of the Marvel Universe to partake in missions against a drug running operation. Enlisting the help of the likes of the Falcon to the Black Widow to Moon Knight and even harsher vigilantes, the Controller decides who is best suited to what task, based on their oftentimes questionable methods. Although the character of Misty Knight's Controller dances dangerously close to DC's own Oracle, she succeeds in remaining unique enough to not be a knockoff off. While I read the comic I could see and hear portions of the film The Warriors coming across with the parallels between the radio announcer and Misty, which is not a bad thing in the least.
Brad Walker's sequentials flow beautifully and I love how he portrays each character. There is also a shocking reveal at the end that makes waiting for issue number two painful in the best of ways. Loving it so far, although I still want to see Abnett and Lanning pick up again with Thanos, Starlord, Nova and Adam Magus/Warlock (no way is he dead), but I now also want them to keep writing this book, too.
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| Heroes For Hire - Engaging read. Will be back. |
Slice Into the Woods
Still No Morning Glories #4 - Gawdammit. Criminy. C'mon! What is it now? Fucking three weeks since this issue came out? I should have just ordered the book from www.mycomicshop.com and I would have had it by now. So, I wait...oh how I wait, cringing in the dark with not but a candle lighting my despair ridden features. I sit alone, wrapped tightly in my blue snuggie, watching the clock and counting every gruesomely stark "tick-tock" emanating from my grandfather's grandfather's watch..."tick-tock, tick-tock." Each sound translates to one less moment that I have to wait, but the horrid truth of the matter is I have no idea where this imaginary finish line is located. But, I will continue to wait.
The dog won't come near me anymore. I don't blame her alone for my missing comic, but I suspect that she might have had something to do with my LCS missing my copy of Morning Glories #4. I vibe with your scene, Tulip, I vibe. So what if I switched up your old kibble for a blend of low-fat Innova and EVO small-bites dog food. It's for your own health and well being. Damnation! It's supposed to give you a shinier, healthier fur coat, but if that's how you want to play it, then fine. We will play that game. I'm good at games.
Then again, maybe the wife is the one delaying my hope, my...my reading pleasure. I know that you are jealous of my Morning Glories wife of mine, I know. But to prevent my LCS from having it for the past three weeks? Your cruelty knows no bounds and you may as well pour boiling salt water onto that paper cut I received at the cubicle farm. For all I know, you and the dog are in on it together. Yeah, that's the ticket. I know what's going on here. Try to keep me from my Morning Glories #4....
In summary, I want my damn comic. Fuck!
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| I feel like this cover. In the dark and cold...so very, very cold. |
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