If youâre here in the Panel Discussion programming block, you might be a lapsed comics reader, trying to find a way back to the JLA Satellite. Or you might someone killing time until you pick up your weekly Wednesday pull list. Or maybe youâve said goodbye to dozens of longboxes to embrace the promise of digital comics. Whichever it is, youâre still interested in the good stuff.
Welcome, then, to the Panel Discussion Dozen Quartet, where I pick out just-released or out-soon comics that I think are worth paying attention to. Ready? Then, letâs meet the sequential art thatâll be draining your wallet this week. Be sure to chime in with the books youâll be picking up or that you think everybody should be ready in the comments.
Before Watchmen: Comedian #1
I wrote about the prequel problems that could hobble DCâs Before Watchmen project. While the first two very good books fell into that follow-up trap, this first issue by Brian Azzarello and J.G. Jones does not. Azzarello inserts a thread of relatability in the continuityâs most infamous character and the results feel surprisingly human. The great art by Jones doesnât parrot Dave Gibbonâs style and feels apropos for the era itâs bringing to life. Will definitely be checking out the rest of these.
Iâve been waiting for the characters on the cover for this issue of Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staplesâ excellent science-fantasy series to come into the spotlight. Iâve loved the moments where The Willâthe bounty hunter character chasing new parents Alana and Markoâhas groused to his talking cat about his job and canât wait to learn more about the pair. Iâm thinking these guys could be Sagaâs perpetual scene-stealers.
Astonishing X-Men #51
Superhero weddings can be big deals when they change a characterâs status quo, as they did with Superman and Spider-Man decades ago. Northstarâs wedding to his longtime boyfriend probably wonât be as earth-shattering in the X-Men mythos, but represents a sea change as far as portraying same-sex romances in superhero comics. Hereâs hoping the wedding doesnât get busted up by a bunch of super-villains.
Iâm a longtime Daredevil fan who always loved it when Matt Murdock faced up against someone it seemed like he wasnât âsupposedâ to fight, like the Hulk or the Sub-Mariner. So the fact that this issue pits him against Doctor Doomâand revives a plot thread from a few issues backâmakes me happy. Chris Samnee on art, formerly of the late, criminally overlooked The Mighty Thor book, also makes me happy. And that Paolo Riviera cover? With the rivets on Doomâs faceplate re-interpreted as Braille? Genius.
