Last week’s comic book haul had a number of noteworthy titles in it. Gods learned about indoor plumbing. An ordinary man stood up in a world free of superheroes. Lend us your ear, and we’ll tell you which comics we liked the most last week.

Read on, no-prize winners!

Criminal (vol.2) #1

[Greg]

A broken body in a dark alley, two lives broken by one dumb choice. Noir at its finest. The relaunch of Criminal begins with a powerful standalone story about ex-boxer Gnarly. You see, Gnarly is a pretty good guy. He’s loyal and caring. The problem? He’s stuck in the criminal underbelly of the New York of the 70s. Gnarly just has the wrong friends, the kind that prove to be his downfall in the end.

If you’ve been following my posts on this site, you should know that I love a good crime yarn. as far as I’m concerned, there’s no better crime comic than Criminal. Luckily, I’m not the only one who feels that way. This title has won an awesome number of awards. Ed Brubaker’s name is like a touch of gold to every title that he writes. No one, and I mean no one, can write a gritty crime story like he can. Brubaker grew up as a devotee of the noir genre, and that love shows through on every page. Sean Phillips’ artwork is absolutely perfect for this series. I can’t think of a better artist to depict the dirty, shadow-soaked streets and lives in Criminal.

The new format doesn’t just add more space for the main story - the article section has been expanded as well. Every month, Brubaker and his fellow mystery writers discuss films and books that they love. These articles are like a treasure-trove for noir fans. I’ve gotten the chance to read a bunch of awesome books because of their recommendations. It’s a really cool touch, and it really shows Brubaker’s love for the genre.

I’ve recommended this series a few times already, but I really can’t repeat myself enough. If you’re looking for something outside of the usual realm of superheroes, something a little darker, something a little more nihilistic, give Criminal a chance. This relaunch is the perfect time to jump in.

Kick-Ass #1

[Gongonzabar Farbin]

So there I am in the comic book shop, scanning the new release section one last time for anything interesting that may have escaped my attention earlier. And there I see it, a comic book with a quirky cover, an expletive title, and a tagline promising to be the “greatest superhero book of all time.” As I approached the book to inspect it a little more carefully, I see nothing less than the names of legends cited as the creators of this new book. I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for the big names, and nowadays, the names of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. carry some heavy weight. It didn’t matter if this first issue sucked, this book had the writer of Civil War and the artist of World War Hulk, and I had to have it. After purchasing my stack of the week, I immediately flipped open the pages of this book and found myself more than pleasantly surprised.

Kick-Ass is a new comic book being put out by Icon, Marvel’s imprint of creator-owned titles. Set in Mark Millar’s own line of comics known as Millarworld, Kick-Ass is the most realistic superhero story you will ever get. The story is set in a modern day New York City without any sort of superheroes, any magic, or anything supernatural as you might see in a typical comic book. The protagonist of the story is a normal everyday boring teenager leading a normal everyday boring life. That is, until he gets the ingenious idea of putting on a mask and going out into the city as a costumed vigilante. You see, young Dave here ponders the same age-old question in the back of all of our heads: Why aren’t there any superheroes in real life? Well, most of us know that any costumed vigilante in real life would probably end up either getting caught and thrown in jail or bloodied up on a sidewalk with a bullet through the head. That doesn’t deter Dave, however. With a new resolve, Dave puts on a costume himself and runs through the streets looking for problems to solve and bad-guys to beat up. Things however, don’t go as planned for Dave; for at the end of this first issue, he is already lying in a pool of his own blood.

Being filled with only the crudest expletives and the most gruesome violence, this comic book is not for the weak of heart. This first issue does a fantastic job with setting up the story for what looks to be a very refreshing and promising comic for some time to come. So pick this one up, for this is one comic book that is truly Kick-Ass.

Project Superpowers #1

[Gongonzabar Farbin]

Every few years or so, it seems like people hit on similar ideas at the same time. Such is the case with recent comics such as The Twelve and Project Superpowers. The idea that both of these books share is that they both take superheroes of the Golden Age and stick them in a current superpowered universe. Even both books have an android character named Dynamic Man, though the one from Project Superpowers may have been slightly plagiarized from the character in The Twelve. That issue is one, for the past for each version of the character seems to have evolved into two different people. So how does Project Superpowers stand up to The Twelve? I can’t really tell you until I get my copy of The Twelve (which should come in any day now), but I can say that it holds up reasonably well on it’s own.

Project Superpowers is being spearheaded by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross, both noted for having worked together on hit titles such as the Earth/Universe/Paradise X series. While Ross doesn’t work with the interiors directly, he guides other artists into producing something that is more along the line of his vision. The artists working under the guidance of Ross for this first issue are Carlos Paul and Debora Carita. The first issues focuses on the character known as The Fighting Yank as he journeys to free superheroes of the past from an urn known as Pandora’s Box. The only problem with that is that most of the superheroes trapped inside the urn were trapped by the Fighting Yank himself. So you can’t imagine how happy they’ll be when they see him after they’re freed. The Fighting Yank enlists the help of an old war buddy known as The Green Lama to aid him on his journey to wrestle the urn from a now malicious Dynamic Man. Though I feel kind of lost just diving into these character’s story, this first issue does a bang up job of introducing them. Using Wikipedia and Google searches helps to fill in the holes. So give it a shot, to see if this modern day world can handle these age old superheroes, or rather if these heroes can handle the modern world.

Thor #6

[Greg]

In the stories and epics of old, there was always a firm line between gods and mortals. They would occasionally interact with each other, but they would each return home at the end of the day. What happens when gods and mortals have to live together in the same world? Even more important, what happens when the gods are from a long-dead religion and the mortals are those of the modern day mid-west?

These are the questions that J. Michael Straczynski has been trying to address in his new take on Thor. When we last left Thor, he was dead. Ragnarok, the end of the world, had come. That was it, the death of the gods, the end of Asgard. This being comic books, of course Thor came back. His task, to resurrect the dormant gods of Asgard. The mythical city, itself, has appeared over the plains of Oklahoma. The gods now live in a world of mortal men.

This premise is what makes Thor shine. The little details and encounters are what makes this book interesting. Volstagg, sitting at a town meeting, asks what a septic tank is. An average working-class Joe finds himself being doted on by a beautiful goddess. The conflicts amongst the Asgardians are pretty interesting, too. Thor isn’t sure whether to bring back Odin, fearing a return to the old ways. Loki has returned in the body of a woman.

If Straczynski can keep the book half as interesting as it has been thus far, I’ll be back for every single issue.

Coming Up Next Week

Here’s what we’re buying next week:

[Greg]
Amazing Spider-Man #552
Buffy #12
Logan #1
Twelve #3
Uncanny X-Men #496
X-Force #2

[Gongonzabar Farbin]
Amazing Spider-Man #552
Logan #1
X-Force #2

Do you have a particular comic that you want us to cover? Do you want to share your opinions on what you bought this week? Tell us in the comments section below!

Greg gets his comics from Gary’s Comics and More. Farbin buys his at Acadiana Book and Comic Shop. To find a comic dealer near you, call 1-888-COMIC-BOOK. Shipping lists can be found at Diamond Comics.