Friday Slice of Heaven, Slice Into the Woods 7/8/11

(Sung to the tune of Billy Idol's "Don't Need a Gun")

My itty bitty heart, it broke last night
Yes a comic that I love got a big stop light
I miss Drake, Becky and mudman Bill John, yeah
Oh, those haunted guns will have to wait for Don

Wop Bop a lu bop Don you gotta wait
Floppy denied
Lawdy two weeks
No western supernatural story to buy
Don't need no replacements in my life
Just need my comic is that so insane?

This little Donist got none
I still don't have The Sixth Gun
Yes, my LCS didn't get one
I don't have The Sixth Gun
I Just need to read some Cullen Bunn
I don't have The Sixth Gun


Dammit!  Okay, not only was my pull shorted The Sixth Gun #12 last week, here I am shorted again.  @#$%.  Couldn't I be shorted on something for a month that isn't one of my top-three favorite comics on the stand (Sweet Tooth and The Stuff of Legend being the other two)?  C'mon!  This happens all too often, especially with this title.  I'm casting the blame at Diamond on this one, but blame does no good, I just want my book.  *sigh*.  How am I going to tell Obie (my friends' Boston Terrier and my only other reader/follower besides my mom) that I won't be able to give him the lowdown on the latest issue of one of the best comics out there?  I guess one consolation is that there will be less of a wait between #12 and #13...provided this doesn't happen again next month.  *sheesh*

Anyhow, I still read some great books this week, so let's check out...


Friday Slice of Heaven


***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***

Sweet Tooth #23

Sweet Tooth #23 - Everythinged by Jeff Lemire, published by Vertigo Comics, a DC Comics imprint.  The latest issue of Jeff Lemire's wonderfully dark, post-apocalyptic tale opens with an awkward interaction between Jepperd and the secretly ill Luce, as the animal children discuss the merits of staying at the too-good-to-be-true dam and going to Alaska.  Walter begins to act even weirder than usual.  Singh agrees with Gus that they need to go to Alaska to find the truth of what has happened to the world, but he also reveals that Gus's father's book mentions the "White Demon" which Singh concludes must be Jepperd.  The issue ends on an insane note that guarantees a painful wait for the next issue.
The "Endangered Species" storyline has been slow going over the past four issues with the main points being the group finding the dam with its current odd occupant, and having to come to a decision whether or not they will stay or go to Alaska.  This is fine.  The story does progress, but the depths that Lemire digs into each of the characters fully warrants the slight slowdown and pace.  The reader feels the pain of each character and is left hoping for better things for them, which probably are not coming.  I care for these characters.  Hell, the last few issues had me tearing up and this one left me gasping for breath.  Sweet Tooth is a book that all fans of the medium should be reading.  VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Superman #712

Superman #712 - Written by Kurt Busiek and illustrated by Rick Leonardi, published by DC Comics.  First off, I do not buy Superman comics.  I'm sure that there are plenty of good runs out there, and of course I love the character, but I just have not been interested enough until I heard about this "lost classic" that has taken the place of the regularly scheduled and currently late book.  
This issue was meant to follow the events of Infinite Crisis when this Earth's Superboy was killed (of course he is alive and well now...at least until September) by Superboy Prime, an insane alternate Earth young Superman.  In the course of the battle Krypto, attempting to protect his master, was injured by Superboy Prime and this issue picks up with Krypto wondering what happened to his closest friend. 
*Sigh* I'm getting choked up thinking about this one, and while trying to explain the story to my wife last night I couldn't even finish what was saying.  I rarely find things that cause me to tear up, let alone choke up, but this comic succeeded in doing both.  Busiek brilliantly succeeded in capturing this poor dog's confusion as to the whereabouts of his master as he scours the earth while flashing back to the good times.  More to the point, Busiek tore my heart from my chest, dribbled it a few times and kicked it over the fence.  Dammit...I need to move on from this one, I can't handle it.  RECOMMENDED for the people who think animals are okay and VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for the dog lovers who wish to torture themselves.

Chew #19

Chew #19 - Written by John Layman and illustrated by Rob Guillory, published by Image Comics.  Now that we are back from the future that was issue number 27, we join Tony Chu as he is assigned by the ever-hateful Applebee to join NASA age Toni Chu, Tony's sister, on a special mission of great importance.  The mission: to stop the sale of bullets made from a special meteor that would kill the intended targets of the terrorist organization known as E.G.G.  The only problem is the sale has not yet happened and the seller has just recently thought of the idea to sell the bullets, making for some crazy Minority Report-type action.  Throw in purple, irradiated and mutated baby diapers and a new food based power and you're in for another exceptionally odd but enjoyable issue of Chew.  As I always say with this title, there is nothing else quite like it on the stands and although it is disgusting at times, it is a well-written and beautifully illustrated comic.  So much fun.  Another book that everyone should be reading.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Slice Into the Woods


Subway Ad in the Middle of Superman #712 - Okay, I get it.  The comic industry is going through some crazy times, and judging by the inside cover Green Lantern animated DVD ad (I want to see this), an add for Midtown Comics (who I love), a DC comics Green Lantern ad, a god-awful Superman shoe ad, a god-awful Flash shoe ad (if this is your type of thing, apologies and you should just own it!), a double-page Flashpoint ad, a War of the Green Lanterns ad, another Green Lantern ad, and yet another Green Lantern ad, and finally a back inside cover Green Lantern "got milk' ad featuring Ryan Reynolds things cannot really be all that bad at DC with all the ad revenue they are getting.  Of course most of the ads were their own, but the real coup de grace was the eight-page Justice League: Subway-Famous Fans issue #2 of 4 in the middle of the book.  Are you kidding me?!  I did not read the mini-"comic" and for all I know it kicked the main story's ass, but I kind of doubt it.  All I saw was some basketball guy and a car-driver guy cruising around while the Justice League fought some gorillas; one of which I am assuming was Grodd.  From what I saw, basketball guy hits Grodd in the face with a basketball, and Green Lantern helps the basketball guy win a game with the power of his ring.  Now I am not what you would call a sports fan, but I am pretty sure that an assist from a Green Lantern power ring falls into the "doping" realm that is so incredibly important to the news outlets lately.  The story ends with race-car guy and basketball guy eating their Subway sandwiches while Green Lantern punches the air in victory.
Okay, first of all, as I stated above, Superman# 712 was an incredibly moving story in such a way that few works of art ever elicit.  How much more of an impact would it have had if I was not treated to an obnoxious ad every other page?  Imagine how jarring it is to be ripped from the story you were completely immersed in by something that does not fit the tone of the piece in any form at all.  If the pages fell correctly in this issue, I would consider tearing all of the add nonsense out and read the story in the manner that the creators intended, as I don't believe Busiek was sitting in front of his computer going, "Well, I have all these spectacular ads, now I need to write a story to accommodate them."
C'mon DC, I recognize the need for ad revenue, but this is pushing it way beyond what is acceptable.  I doubt you want your comics to become Vogue-sized tomes of ads with a couple pages of substance, and at the very least have some consideration for the story that attracts your readership in the first place.   One positive was the story was 22 pages.


Hey Wait...Where's My New Issue of Supberboy?! - Double Dammit!  Foiled again.  Curses.

Friday Slice of Heaven, Slice Into the Woods 7/8/11