#IReadsYou Review: BATMAN #1

BATMAN (2025) #1

DC COMICS

STORY: Matt Fraction

ART: Jorge Jimenez

COLORS: Tomeu Morey

LETTERS: Clayton Cowles

EDITOR: Rob Levin

COVER: Jorge Jimenez

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Jim Lee and Scott Williams with Tomeu Morey; Marc Silvestri with Arif Prianto; J. Scott Campbell with Tanya Lehoux; Frank Quitely; Gabriele Dell'Otto; Julian Totino Tedesco; Stanley “Artgerm” Lau; Andy Kubert with Steve Firchow; David Aja; Jorge Jimenez; Jim Lee and Scott Williams

36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S., (November 2025)

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Rating: 13+

“Vast Colors in the Dark”

DC Comics recently relaunched its Batman flagship comic book series – the third time in 14 years.  It is written by Matt Fraction; drawn by Jorge Jimenez; colored by Tomeu Morey; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.  DC is pushing the series as the dawn of new era in Batman comic books.

Batman #1 (“Vast Colors in the Dark”) finds Batman at Arkham Towers in the wake of Killer Croc's latest escape.  Croc's physician, Dr. Zeller, urges patience on the part of Batman, but he has too much experience with Croc's acts of violence to buy into what the good doctor is saying.

Meanwhile, Vandal Savage, the new commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, is making changes in the department – changes that may not be good for Batman.  Plus, there is a Robin in trouble.

THE LOWDOWN:  For years, I had a subscription to DC Comics' Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? ongoing comic book series.  It was quietly canceled within the last year, but I had 14 issues left in my subscription.  Midtown Comics in NYC, which manages DC Comics' subscriptions, gave me the option of choosing any new DC title I wanted to continue my subscription, so I chose Batman – just in time for this new era.

I am not going to dig deeply into this new Batman #1, which is only the fourth Batman #1 issue.  It follows Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson's Batman #1, cover dated Spring 1940; Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman #1, cover dated November 2011; and Tom King and David Finch's Batman #1 cover dated August 2016.

Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez's Batman #1 reminds me of Snyder-Capullo's Batman #1 in that both are fresh starts and are different in terms of narrative and graphic aesthetic from their contemporary Batman titles.  Matt Fraction's script also gives this debut issue and its star, Batman, a jolt of energy that suggests both the very modern and the near future in terms of setting.  This is similar to what writer Grant Morrison brought to the first arc of his 2009-launched Batman & Robin series (which was collected in the Batman Reborn trade.  I imagine Fraction's biggest and most shocking twists and turns and re-imaginations will be revealed over the coming year, at least.

Thus, the real sense of newness comes from artist Jorge Jimenez and colorist Tomeu Morey.  Their vibrantly illustrated first issue is as the chapter title of this first issue suggests, “Vast Colors in the Dark.”  The team of Jimenez and Morey visually and aesthetically create a sense of amazing things to come in a fashion similar to what the team of Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley brought to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Book One.

I'm not saying that the Fraction-Jimenez Batman #1 is Batman: DKR, but you never know.  I simply felt excitement as I read this first issue.  This first issue is promising or, at the very least, hints at great things to come for our eyes and for our imaginations.  I have a subscription so I will be back.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Batman comic books will want to read Batman 2025.

A

[This comic book includes a five-page preview of “DC KO” from writer Scott Snyder; artist Javi Fernandez; colorist Alejandro Sanchez; and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhadu.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

A Kindle edition of BATMAN #1 is available at Amazon. The trade and hardcover editions of the first story arc of this series are available for pre-order at Amazon.

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#IReadsYou Review: CONAN THE BARBARIAN #10

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #10 (2023)

TITAN COMICS/Heroic Signatures

STORY: Jim Zub

ART: Roberto de la Torre

COLORS: Diego Rodriguez

LETTERS: Richard Starkings and Tyler of Comicraft

EDITOR: Chris Butera

COVER: Alan Quah

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: E.M. Gist; Roberto de la Torre; David Aja; Alan Quah

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (May 2024)

Suggested for mature readers

“The Age Unconquered” Part II: “Far Shores & Fearless Men”

Conan the Cimmerian was born in the pulp fiction of Robert E. Howard (REH), first appearing in the magazine, Weird Tales (1932).  In 1970, Marvel Comics brought Conan to the world of comic books via the title, Conan the Barbarian. With only a few pauses, Conan comic books have been published for the better part of five decades.

Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures are the new producers of Conan comic books, and they launched a new Conan the Barbarian series in 2023.  The current story arc is written by Jim Zub; drawn by Roberto de la Torre; colored by Dean White and Diego Rodriguez; and lettered by Richard Starkings and Comicraft.  Entitled “The Age Unconquered,” this arc finds Conan's body and/or soul transported 80,000 years into the past

Conan the Barbarian #10 (“Far Shores & Fearless Men”) opens in the dreams of Kull of Atlantis (also known as “Kull the Conqueror”).  Once awakened, Kull must confront the blind rage and mania that caused him to turn on his his loyal Pict fighter, Brule the Spear-slayer, and also caused him to engage Conan in fierce battle.

Conan!  Kull!  Brule the Spear-slayer!  How can this be when tens of thousands of years separate the time of Conan from the time of Kull and Brule?  Well, the result of Conan's encounter with a shard of the “Black Stone” has thrown him thousands of years into the past and has him currently located in Kull's capital, Valusia, “the City of Wonders.”

Now, Conan finds himself swept up in Kull's journey to find the source of the darkness that threatens his kingdom.  Kull believes the source of the darkness is in Atlantis, the land of his birth.  It will be a hard journey, however, and Conan, Kull, and Brule may find death before they reach their destination.

THE LOWDOWN:  Titan Comics has been providing me with PDF copies of their publications for review for several years now.  Conan the Barbarian #10 is one of them.

Writer Jim Zub has moved the Conan the Barbarian comic book series in a new direction.  Zub has transported Conan out of “the Hyborean Age,” the age in which Conan's creator, Robert E. Howard, set his adventures.  Zub has moved Conan into the past to “the Thurian Age,” the time in which Howard sets the adventures of Conan's precursor, Kull of Atlantis, another of his creations.

It is a big change, but it allows Zub to make Conan a stranger in a strange land, and that itself presents new opportunities for conflict and tension.  This tenth issue quickly resolves the conflicts of issue #9 and Zub begins to hypnotize his readers with an alluring journey into darkness.  Great action, great mystery, and great darkness and sorcery:  Zub makes it hard to stop reading.

I must admit that artist Roberto de la Torre, with his haunted storytelling, is the big star on this creative team.  Mixing elements and graphical styles of Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson, and John Buscema, de la Torre guides this second chapter from the mists of lost time and gleam of shining cities into darkness, death, and sorcery.  It is nice to see de la Torre recall the Conan comic books of yesteryear in telling this fantastic story, and it is nice that Diego Rodriguez's colors enrich the shadows and gloom.  Richard Starking's stark lettering is the pounding audio track to this fine opening chapter.

“The Age Unconquered” may end up conquering us, dear readers, as it carries us to a new direction for Conan the Barbarian.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Conan comic books will want to try Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures' Conan the Barbarian.

[This comic book includes the essay, “Kull of Atlantis: Barbarian King of an Antediluvian Empire” the tenth installment of Conan/Howard essays by Jeffrey Shanks.  It also includes a Q&A with Roberto de la Torre.]

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

This issue is collected in the "Conan" trade paperback, "CONAN THE BARBARIAN: THE AGE UNCONQUERED VOL. 3, which is available at Amazon.

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The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 20, 2023

MARVEL COMICS

OCT230729 ALIEN #2 $4.99

OCT230730 ALIEN #2 25 COPY INCV LEINIL YU VAR $4.99

OCT230579 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #40 $4.99

AUG239108 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #40 25TH CENTURY SUIT SPIDER-MAN 2 VAR $4.99

OCT230585 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #40 GALLOWAY SATURDAY MORNING CONNECT VAR $4.99

OCT230583 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #40 J.S. CAMPBELL SKI CHALET VAR $4.99

OCT230581 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #40 JOEY VAZQUEZ VAR $4.99

OCT230580 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #40 PEACH MOMOKO NIGHTMARE VAR $4.99

OCT230668 ASTONISHING ICEMAN #5 $3.99

OCT230652 CAPWOLF HOWLING COMMANDOS #3 $3.99

OCT230653 CAPWOLF HOWLING COMMANDOS #3 RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE VAR $3.99

OCT230624 DAREDEVIL BLACK ARMOR #2 $3.99

OCT230625 DAREDEVIL BLACK ARMOR #2 MARTIN COCCOLO STORMBREAKERS VAR $3.99

OCT230627 DAREDEVIL BLACK ARMOR #2 NETHO DIAZ VAR $3.99

SEP230925 DEATH OF THE VENOMVERSE TP $19.99

OCT230716 DOCTOR STRANGE #10 $3.99

OCT230718 DOCTOR STRANGE #10 PABLO VILLALOBOS SKI CHALET VAR $3.99

OCT230717 DOCTOR STRANGE #10 PEACH MOMOKO NIGHTMARE VAR $3.99

SEP230935 DOCTOR STRANGE BY MARK WAID TP VOL 01 $34.99

OCT230639 GODS #3 $4.99

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OCT230640 GODS #3 RUSSELL DAUTERMAN VAR $4.99

MAY230985 HAWKEYE BY FRACTION AND AJA OMNIBUS HC DM VAR NEW PTG $100.00

MAY230984 HAWKEYE BY FRACTION AND AJA OMNIBUS HC NEW PTG $100.00

OCT230725 INCREDIBLE HULK #7 $3.99

OCT230726 INCREDIBLE HULK #7 PEACH MOMOKO NIGHTMARE VAR $3.99

OCT230728 INCREDIBLE HULK #7 TIM LEVINS AVENGERS 60TH VAR $3.99

SEP230928 LOKI THE LIAR TP $15.99

JUN231099 MMW AMAZING SPIDER-MAN HC VOL 25 $75.00

JUN231100 MMW AMAZING SPIDER-MAN HC VOL 25 DM VAR ED 352 $75.00

OCT230685 ORIGINAL X-MEN #1 $5.99

OCT230687 ORIGINAL X-MEN #1 JOHN ROMITA JR HOMAGE VAR $5.99

OCT230688 ORIGINAL X-MEN #1 MIKE MCKONE VAR $5.99

OCT230666 ROM AND THE X-MEN MARVEL TALES #1 $7.99

FEB230911 SIGIL OMNIBUS HC $125.00

FEB230912 SIGIL OMNIBUS HC DM VAR $125.00

OCT230614 SPIDER-BOY #2 $4.99

OCT230618 SPIDER-BOY #2 E.J. SU VAR $4.99

OCT230615 SPIDER-BOY #2 HUMBERTO RAMOS SKI CHALET VAR $4.99

OCT230617 SPIDER-BOY #2 PACO MEDINA HOMAGE VAR $4.99

AUG230990 SPIDER-MAN GREAT POWER GREAT MAYHEM TP $13.99

OCT230658 SPINE-TINGLING SPIDER-MAN #3 $3.99

OCT230659 SPINE-TINGLING SPIDER-MAN #3 ALESSANDRO CAPPUCCIO VAR $3.99

OCT230748 STAR WARS DARTH VADER #41 $4.99

OCT230750 STAR WARS DARTH VADER #41 MARC LAMING VAR $4.99

OCT230757 STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #39 $4.99

OCT230758 STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #39 ANNIE WU VAR $4.99

OCT230732 STAR WARS REVELATIONS #1 $6.99

OCT230734 STAR WARS REVELATIONS #1 RAFAEL DE LATORRE VAR $6.99

OCT230739 STAR WARS THE HIGH REPUBLIC #2 $4.99

OCT230742 STAR WARS THE HIGH REPUBLIC #2 MICO SUAYAN CONNECT VAR $4.99

OCT230740 STAR WARS THE HIGH REPUBLIC #2 ROD REIS VAR $4.99

SEP230946 STAR WARS YODA TP $34.99

OCT230608 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #2 $4.99

AUG239113 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #2 ENCODED SUIT SPIDER-MAN 2 VAR $4.99

OCT230609 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #2 NIC KLEIN STORMBREAKERS VAR $4.99

OCT230676 UNCANNY AVENGERS #5 (OF 5) $3.99

OCT230677 UNCANNY AVENGERS #5 (OF 5) NIK VIRELLA AVENGERS 60TH VAR $3.99

OCT230669 UNCANNY SPIDER-MAN #5 $3.99

OCT230670 UNCANNY SPIDER-MAN #5 LEE GARBETT VAR $3.99

OCT230671 UNCANNY SPIDER-MAN #5 PEACH MOMOKO NIGHTMARE VAR $3.99

SEP230933 VENOM MODERN ERA EPIC COLLECTION TP VOL #05 THE SAVAGE SIX $49.99

OCT230692 WOLVERINE #40 $4.99

OCT230693 WOLVERINE #40 JOHN CASSADAY X-MEN 60TH VAR $4.99

OCT230694 WOLVERINE #40 PEACH MOMOKO NIGHTMARE VAR $4.99

FEB230907 WONDER MAN EARLY YEARS OMNIBUS HC $125.00

FEB230908 WONDER MAN EARLY YEARS OMNIBUS HC DM VAR $125.00

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#IReadsYou Review: KARNAK #1

KARNAK No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Warren Ellis
ART: Gerardo Zaffino
COLORS: Dan Brown
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
COVER: David Aja
VARIANT COVERS:  Gerardo Zaffino; Jim Cheung with Justin Ponsor; Skottie Young; Eric Powell (Monster variant) Kaare Andrews (Hop Hop variant)
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2015)

Rated T+

Karnak created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

“The Flaw in All Things” Part 1

Karnak is a Marvel Comics character that is part of the super-human race known as the Inhumans.  Karnak was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and debuted in Fantastic Four #45 (cover dated: December 1965), the same issue in which the Inhumans first appeared.

Unlike most Inhumans, Karnak was not exposed to the Terrigen Mists.  Because he did not undergo Terrigenesis, he did not develop additional powers like other Inhumans.  A martial artist, Karnak can find the weakness or the flaw in anything (people, ideas, objects, philosophies, structures, and systems).  Using his training and strength, Karnak exploits his talents and can turn a weakness into a weapon.

Marvel Comics is apparently expanding the profile of the Inhumans even more, and that includes launching Inhuman solo titles.  The first one is Karnak, which is written by Warren Ellis; drawn by Gerardo Zaffino; colored by Dan Brown; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.  [Of note:  due to unforeseen circumstances, the art team will change in future issues.]

Karnak #1 (“The Flaw in All Things” Part 1) finds Magister Karnak doing his thing at the Tower of Wisdom.  His thing is interrupted when S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Coulson come calling for his help and whisk him off to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in the Arctic.

It seems that William and Sarah Roderick have lost their son, Adam.  He recently underwent Terrigenesis and afterwards, was abducted.  The culprit seems to be I.D.I.C. (International Data Integration and Control), an old splinter group of A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), thought to be defunct. Now, Karnak, the baddest philosopher since I-don't-know-who, will find Adam and I.D.I.C.

Karnak is another intriguing series from the mind of Warren Ellis, one of most the imaginative and inventive writers of North American and British comic books.  When I first heard that there was going to be a Karnak comic book, I was all like “Puh-lease!”  However, once I learned that Ellis would be the writer, I was intrigued.

I read Ellis' Karnak as an amalgamation of a fixer, special operative, troubleshooter, and martial artist.  He is the Inhuman blunt instrument, called in when no one can get the job done.  I wonder if Karnak will be a pop comic, full of kick-ass and action swag, while offering up something new in terms of ideas, plots, and settings.

Surprisingly, I am as impressed with the art of Gerardo Zaffino and Dan Brown as I am with Ellis' story-script-concept.  Zaffino's compositions are representational in a moody and impressionistic way, but the art makes for kinetic storytelling – as if the narrative is always urging forward.  The colors are alluring; they are like candy, and I think Brown's hues were the elements that kept drawing me deeper into this first issue.

I heartily recommend Karnak.  Readers looking for the really different in the All-New, All-Different Marvel will want to buy this first issue, even if it means mail order or digital.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: TONY STARK: IRON MAN #1

TONY STARK: IRON MAN No. 1 (Legacy #601)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dan Slott
ART: Valerio Schiti
COLORS: Edgar Delgado
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
EDITOR: Tom Brevoort
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida
COVER: Alexander Lozano
VARIANT COVERS: David Aja; Alex Ross; Kaare Andrews; Adi Granov; Alexander Lozano and Valerio Schiti with Eber Evangelista
40pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2018)

Rated “T+”

Iron Man created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby

Self-Made Man: Part One “What's the Big Idea?”

Iron Man is a Marvel Comics superhero that debuted in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated: March 1963).  Iron Man is the alter-ego of Tony Stark, a weapons manufacturer, industrialist, and wealthy, glamorous ladies' man.  After an accident, Stark builds a suit of armor to save his life, and with that armor, Stark becomes “Iron Man.”

In the midst of another restart event, Marvel Comics has launched a new Iron Man comic book.  It is entitled Tony Stark: Iron Man.  It written by Dan Slott; drawn by Valerio Schiti; colored by Edgar Delgado; and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

Tony Stark: Iron Man #1 (“What's the Big Idea?”) finds Tony reunited with a former rival, Andy Bhang, whom Tony wants to join the team of geniuses at “Stark Unlimited.”  However, the arrival of the legendary super-beast, Fin Fang Foom, will test Tony smarts, Iron Man's armor and tech, and Bhang's place among the “team Stark genius collection.”

Dan Slott was a writer on The Amazing Spider-Man comic book series beginning in 2008, and he became the series sole writer beginning in 2010.  Surfing the Internet, I often got the feeling that a lot of Spider-Man readers had enough of him; they thought he had been writing Amazing for too long.  After being a regular reader of The Amazing Spider-Man during my childhood, teen years, and young adulthood, I stopped being a regular reader in early 1990s.  I returned for a few years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  I returned again as a regular reader about four years ago.

I like Dan Slott's The Amazing Spider-Man, which feels like classic ASM:  humor, action, cliffhanger thrills, and occasional heartbreaking and poignant stories, but he did recently exit the series after The Amazing Spider-Man #801.  Now, as the lead Iron Man writer, I think he will bring a similar tone to Tony Stark: Iron Man.  I am not crazy about that because I was perfectly happy with Brian Michael Bendis chronicling the adventures of the new Iron Man, Riri Williams/Iron Heart, in Invincible Iron Man and Victor Von Doom as Iron Man in Infamous Iron Man.

Even the artist Tony Stark: Iron Man, Valerio Schiti, reminds me of Stuart Immonen, who drew many issues of Slott's Amazing Spider-Man comic books over the last two years.  Tony Stark: Iron Man is not a bad comic book.  It is well written and well drawn, but I am not sure that I am ready for Dan Slott's “The Amazing Iron Man,” even if it is entitled Tony Stark: Iron Man, the way I was always down for Slott's The Amazing Spider-Man.

6 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: HAWKEYE #1

HAWKEYE No. 1 (2017)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Kelly Thompson
ART: Leonardo Romero
COLORS: Jordie Bellaire
LETTERS: VC's Joe Sabino
COVER: Julian Totino Tedesco
VARIANT COVERS: Marco Rudy; Marguerite Sauvage; Mike McKone with Chris Sotomayor; Leonardo Romero; David Aja
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2017)

Rated “T+”

Hawkeye/Clint Barton is a Marvel Comics superhero.  The character was created by Stan Lee and artist Don Heck and first appeared as a villain in Tales of Suspense #57 (cover dated: September 1964).  He later became a superhero and joined the Avengers in The Avengers #16 (cover dated:  May 1965), becoming one of the most prominent members of the team.

The latest character to wear the Hawkeye moniker is Katherine “Kate” Bishop.  This female Hawkeye first appeared in Young Avengers #1 (cover dated:  April, 2005) and was created by writer Allan Heinberg and artist Jim Cheung.  Kate headlines the new comic book, Hawkeye, that is part of Marvel Comics' new publishing initiative/event, NOW!  This new series is written by Kelly Thompson; drawn by Leonardo Romero; colored by Jordie Bellaire; and lettered by Joe Sabino.

Hawkeye #1 finds Kate Bishop trying to set up a private investigation service in Venice Beach, California.  So far, however, “Hawkeye Investigations” is simply attracting people with a grudge against the original Hawkeye, Clint Barton.  Then, a college student named Mikka comes to Kate for help with an Internet bully...

I was reluctant to read this new Hawkeye comic book.  Honestly, I have never been that interested in the character.  However, I found myself really enjoying Hawkeye #1.  It is like a blend of writer Matt Fraction and artist David Aja's Hawkeye comic book that was launched in 2012 and also DC Comics' Batgirl under the guidance of the creative team of Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr (which began in 2014).

Artist Leonardo Romero's compositions and colorist Jordie Bellaire's hues recall David Aja's Hawkeye art and storytelling.  Kelly Thompson's script captures Batgirl's vibe and storytelling style, focusing on the adventures of a young woman who moves into a diverse neighborhood.  Here, the young woman, in this case, Kate, finds offbeat superheroing in Venice Beach.

In comic books featuring female superheroes, I like offbeat and urban.  I'm sure after a few more issues, I'll be seriously recommending this series, if the later issues are like this fresh first issue.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

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Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for October 21, 2015

MARVEL COMICS

AUG150669     1872 #4 SWA     $3.99
AUG150674     AGE OF APOCALYPSE #5 SWA     $3.99
AUG150712     AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #2     $3.99
AUG150724     ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #1     $3.99
AUG150902     BUCKY BARNES WINTER SOLDIER TP VOL 02     $17.99
AUG150887     CAPTAIN AMERICA AND MIGHTY AVENGERS TP LAST DAYS VOL 02     $15.99
JUL150777     DARTH VADER #11     $3.99
NOV140863     HAWKEYE BY MATT FRACTION AND DAVID AJA OMNIBUS HC     $99.99
AUG150650     INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #2     $3.99
JUN150832     JESSICA JONES TP VOL 02 ALIAS (MR)     $19.99
AUG150866     JOURNEY STAR WARS FASE #4     $3.99
AUG150782     KARNAK #1     $3.99
AUG150851     MARVEL UNIVERSE ULT SPIDER-MAN WEB WARRIORS #12     $2.99
AUG150912     MOON KNIGHT EPIC COLLECTION TP SHADOWS OF MOON     $39.99
AUG150662     SECRET WARS AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 SWA     $4.99
AUG150684     SHIELD #11     $3.99
AUG150914     STAR WARS LEGENDS EPIC COLLECTION TP VOL 02 EMPIRE     $39.99
AUG150831     UNCANNY INHUMANS #1     $4.99
AUG150673     WEIRDWORLD #5 SWA     $3.99
AUG150774     WHAT IF INFINITY GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #1     $3.99

2014 Eisner Award Nominations Announced

Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2014 Nominees

Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards

Comic-Con International is proud to announce the nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2014. The nominees, chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges, reflect the wide range of material being published in comics and graphic novel form today, from history (real and imagined) to science fiction to autobiography.

Three titles lead the list with more than 3 nominations each: Marvel’s Hawkeye, Image’s Saga, and DC/Vertigo’s The Wake. Hawkeye is nominated for Best Continuing Series, Best Writer (Matt Fraction), and Best Penciller/Inker and Best Cover Artist (David Aja). Saga has received nods for Best Continuing Series (which won the category in 2013), Best Writer (Brian K. Vaughan), and Best Painter and Cover Artist (Fiona Staples). And The Wake is nominated for Best Limited Series, Best Writer (Scott Snyder), Best Penciller/Inker (Sean Murphy), and Best Cover Artist (Sean Murphy/Jordie Bellaire). Bellaire is also nominated in the Best Coloring category, for her work on The Wake and on numerous titles for other companies.

Titles garnering 3 nominations include Fantagraphics’s Love and Rockets: New Stories #6 (Best Short Story, Single Issue, Writer/Artist for Jaime Hernandez), Top Shelf’s March: Book One, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Best Publication for Teens, Reality-Based Work, and Penciller/Inker), and Candlewick’s Bluffton: My Summers with Buster, by Matt Phelan (Best Publication for Teens, Graphic Album–New, and Writer/Artist).

Other titles with multiple nominations are East of West (Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta, Image), Nowhere Men (Eric Stephenson and Nate Bellegarde, Image), Pretty Deadly (Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Ríos, Image), Sex Criminals (Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky, Image), Hip Hop Family Tree (Ed Piskor, Fantagraphics), Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life (Ullie Lust, Fantagraphics), The Adventures of Superhero Girl (Faith Erin Hicks, Dark Horse), The Fifth Beatle (Vivek J. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson, and Kyle Baker, Dark Horse), Richard Stark’s Parker: Slayground (Darwyn Cooke, IDW), Genius, Illustrated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth (Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell, LOAC/IDW), Rachel Rising (Terry Moore, Abstract Studio), The Art of Rube Goldberg (Abrams ComicArts), The Encyclopedia of Early Earth (Isabel Greenberg, Little, Brown), Watson and Holmes (New Paradigm), The Complete Don Quixote (Rob Davis, SelfMadeHero), When David Lost His Voice (Judith Vanistendael, SelfMadeHero), Hilda and the Bird Parade (Luke Pearson, Nobrow), and High Crimes (Monkeybrain).

Among publishers, Image and Fantagraphics top the list with the most nominations. Image has 17 plus 3 shared. In addition to the nods for Saga, East of West, Nowhere Men, Pretty Deadly, and Sex Criminals, nominated Image titles include Lazarus (Rucka and Lark) and Rat Queens (Wiebe and Upchurch). Fantagraphics’s 18 nominations—besides Love and Rockets, Hip Hop Family Tree, and Today Is the Last Day)—are spread among such titles as Good Dog (Graham Chaffee), Julio’s Day (Gilbert Hernandez), Goddam This War (Tardi and Verney), The Heart of Thomas (Moto Hagio), and several archival collections.

Dark Horse ranks third with 12 nominations (plus 1 shared), including 2 for publisher Mike Richardson (Best Anthology for Dark Horse Presents and Best Limited Series for 47 Ronin with Stan Sakai). IDW’s 9 nominations include 5 in the archival categories, with 3 of Scott Dunbier’s Artist’s Editions up for Best Archival Collection–Comic Books and 2 of Dean Mullaney’s Library of American Comics collections up for Best Archival Collection–Comic Strips. Mullaney has 4 nominations in all.

DC and its Vertigo imprint are next with 8 nominations plus 2 shared, the majority going to The Wake. Ranking next is SelfMadeHero with 7 nods (including 3 for When David Lost His Voice and 2 for The Complete Don Quixote), followed by Marvel’s 6 (plus 4 shared), led by Hawkeye. Drawn & Quarterly’s 6 nominations include books by Peter Bagge, Tom Gauld, Rutu Modan, and Art Spiegelman.

Other publishers with multiple nominations include First Second, Nobrow, and Top Shelf (4 each) and Abstract Studio, BOOM!, Candlewick, and TOON Books (3 each). Eleven publishers have 2 nominations each, and another 31 companies or individuals have 1 nomination each.

Individual creators with the most nominations are David Aja, Matt Fraction, Gilbert Hernandez, Sean Murphy, Matt Phelan, Nate Powell, and Fiona Staples, all with 3. Nineteen creators can boast of 2 nominations.

Named for acclaimed comics creator the Will Eisner, the awards are celebrating their 26th year of highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels. The 2014 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of comics retailer Kathy Bottarini (Comic Book Box, Rhonert Park, CA), author/educator William H. Foster (Untold Stories of Black Comics), reviewer Christian Lipski (Portland, OR Examiner), Comic-Con International board member Lee Oeth, library curator Jenny Robb (Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum), and Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist/critic James Romberger (Post York, 7 Miles a Second).

Voting for the awards is held online, and the ballot will be available soon at www.eisnervote.com. All professionals in the comic book industry are eligible to vote. The deadline for voting is June 13. The results of the voting will be announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 25 at Comic-Con International.

The voting in one Eisner Awards category, the Hall of Fame (LINK), is already completed. The judges chose the nominees earlier this year, and voting was conducted online.

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are presented under the auspices of Comic-Con International, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular artforms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture. Jackie Estrada has been administrator of the Awards since 1990. She can be reached at jackie@comic-con.org.

I Reads You Review: HAWKEYE #1

"Hawkeye: Year One?"
HAWKEYE #1
MARVEL COMICS

WRITER: Matt Fraction
ARTIST: David Aja
COLORS: Matt Hollingsworth
LETTERS: Chris Eliopoulos
COVER: David Aja with Matt Hollingsworth; variant cover by Adi Granov; Pasqual Ferry with Matt Hollingsworth
28pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Hawkeye is a Marvel Comics superhero character and the Marvel Universe’s most prominent archer, marksman, and sharpshooter. Created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, Hawkeye, whose civilian identity is Clint Barton, first appeared in Tales of Suspense #57 (September 1964 cover date). He first appeared as a member of the Avengers in Avengers #16 (May 1965 issue).

Marvel’s The Avengers movie is a shocking worldwide box office success. With the appearance in the film of a spiffy-looking Hawkeye, it was a no-brainer that Marvel Comics would try out the character in his own new comic book series. Hawkeye (2012) is written by Matt Fraction, drawn by David Aja, and colored by Matt Hollingsworth.

Hawkeye #1 opens in New York City and finds Hawkeye/Clint Barton having some serious health issues. After healing, Clint returns to his apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy), where he finds the real trouble. His Russian landlord is bringing pressure on Clint and the other tenants. When Clint tries to save the day and to make a deal with these Russian heavies, things get bad – for our Avenger and a cute dog.

If Hawkeye #1 seems familiar, it’s the highly-stylized riff on Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli’s Batman: Year One that plucked your memory. Hawkeye even comes across as being similar to Bullseye from Miller’s famous run on Marvel’s Daredevil comic book series in the early 1980s. That aside, this first issue of Hawkeye is more a Clint Barton story than a Hawkeye comic book, and that’s fine. I like how Fraction depicts Barton as a sort of laconic everyman who only turns on the extra-powers when he has to do so. Here, he does it just to balance the scales for the little guys and gals. Notice, I said, extra-powers, in this story, Clint doesn’t come across as a superhero.

As for Aja’s art, which is a scratchy imitation of Mazzuchelli on Batman: Year One, it’s nice, but not great. The storytelling is good; by drawing so many small panels, Aja creates a pace and rhythm that serves this story quite well. The only problem is that Fraction’s script is non-linear, jumping back and forth as if Fraction were trying to write a Quentin Tarantino movie. Thus, just as Aja’s graphical storytelling is moving briskly on a particular sequence, it moves to another set piece, which is jarring, especially when the previous sequence was going so well.

Still, I like this enough to read future issues. It’s both different and entertaining enough to warrant more attention.

B+