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Pulp Corner: Incognito
Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips are one of the most consistent writer and artist teams in modern day comic books. They benefit from doing creator owned titles that aren’t meant to go on forever. They have a definitive story in mind and they get tell that story and build the world using building blocks of their own. They’ve had slam dunks which each series they’ve worked on. I’ve had the pleasure of reading them all except for Incognito; which I needed to rectify immediately. The title is made up of 2 two different miniseries, a 6 issue and 5 issue respectively.
As I dove in the first thing that came to mind was how much the world of this book was similar to their previous work, Sleeper. The idea that the events we are witnessing are based in the real world where super powered beings exist in a very small number, maybe only a handful. The story follows Zack Overkill a former super powered person who worked for a criminal named Black Death in the past. Zack and his brother Xander became targets that lead to Xander’s death. Fearing it was his own organization that was trying to kill them Zack turned informant against them and was placed into witness protection by SOS, a group that hides super power involvement from the population at large. He’s been forced to take drugs so his powers are gone and made to live a shitty pedestrian life by comparison.
Cover(s) Of The Day 8/15/14
Fatale is no stranger to our Cover Of The Day segment, but in honor of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ series wrapping up we thought we’d highlight a montage put together by the good folks over at A Criminal Blog (your home for all things BRUBAKER including a comprehensive timeline for the events in Fatale). The montage below culls all 24 issues of the horror/noir comic as well as the 5 covers for the trade paperbacks. It doesn’t get much better than this folks.
Evil Geek Book Report – X-Men: Deadly Genesis
Awhile back, Martian Luthor Kang did an article about generally great writers who for whatever reason couldn’t hack it on X-Men titles. His inclusion of Brubaker piqued my interest and after reading many other reviews on his tenure with Marvel’s merry mutants I found that most people agreed with him. Generally speaking it seems this period is thought of with indifference or disgust. I haven’t read ALL of it yet, but with Marvel currently being in the midst of their far reaching Original Sin storyline I figured I’d go back and visit an earlier one by starting with the Deadly Genesis miniseries.
Evil Geek Book Report – Daredevil by Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark Ultimate Collection Vol. 3
Matt Murdock is a terrible person and that is exactly what makes him so interesting. I’ve said it before but I actually find him way more compelling than his super hero counterpart. As the storyline started way back by Bendis draws close to the end, the line between Daredevil and Murdock begins to blur again even further.
Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark begin the last act of their run together picking up where the previous installment ended. Milla is in the Insane Asylum thanks to Mr. Fear who Daredevil violently brought to justice. Yet, the crime has already been perpetrated and can’t be undone. Murdock seems to finally realize (and it’s about time) that anyone he loves ends up in harm’s way or worse dead.
Summer Trade Paperback Recommendations
Summer always seems to be a hot bed for the comics industry releasing trade paperbacks and this year is certainly no exception. I did my best to compile a list to the ones I feel are worth noting. Please realize though that all issue content and artwork are subject to change and shouldn’t be deemed as official. The dates also reflect online retailer likes Amazon (brick and mortar comic shops tend to get their hands on these a few weeks ahead of time). So think of this as more of a guideline.
Sledgehammer 44 Vol. 1
Release Date: June 10
Collects Sledgehammer 44 #1-2 and Lightning War #1-3
I’m not as well versed in the Mignolaverse as I’d like to be, but I try not to miss anything that takes place further back in its history. Mainly Lobster Johnson and any of the B.P.R.D. secret origin stories that occur in the 1940’s. This trade collects two miniseries, Sledgehammer 44 by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi and art by Jason Latour and Lightning War by the same writing team with Laurence Campbell art.
What about the story you say? I don’t know the finer details but I can tell you it involves a man in iron suit dropped into the front lines of WWII to decimate Nazis. Do you really need to know anymore? It seems like Mignola’s twist on Iron Man and I’m more than ok with that.
Pulp Corner: Sleeper
I tend to buy a lot of comics based both on my interest and the pedigree of the author without having read a single issue. It’s been known to bite me on the ass on occasion but more often than not I come away pleased with what I’ve read. Since returning to comic books Ed Brubaker has consistently dazzled me with almost everything I’ve picked up, but it’s his collaborations with artist Sean Phillips that I’ve loved the most. I could gush all day about Fatale and perhaps I will when the series wraps up in a few short months but I’m here today to discuss their first long form collaboration, Sleeper.
C-Mart
Biff Tannen
Greekimus Prime
Grand Master Zed
Lilith Assisi
Big Evil
Arthur Harkness
stormtrooperxj379
The Brotherhood of Evil Geeks
The Fairy Wizard
Undies Of Wondy