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.
Look, we all know that Supermanâs not going to stop being Clark Kent, despite faking Kentâs death last issue. The high points of this issue will be in looking at how Morrison explore the emotional core hidden inside The Man of Steelâs personal lives. No one wants to be Superman all the time, even Kal-El. Should be interesting too see how Morrison addresses Supermanâs need for normalcy in this story arc.
The first two issues of this Image comics series have impressed me with its vision of how teen superheroes go wrong when their mentors disappear in battle. Personality cults and hormone-driven ultraviolence get mixed in with a mournful coming-of-age subtext where a whole society of kids desperately tries to do what their parents couldnât. Great archetype subversion in these pages.
For a while there, I thought I was going to drop Avengers vs. X-Men from my monthly reads. But the character work in this crossover event has been strong and todayâs Marvel Now! news indicates that Marvelâs next big status quo shift will be spinning out of this book. So, some folks wonât be ultra-powered for longâsorry, Magikâbut things will likely be more interesting as a result
God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls HC
One of the best thing about Jaime Hernandezâs workâ-whether together with brother Gilbert andr separateâis how they can meld strongly realized character relationships with all manner of weird sci-fi and superhero motifs. Itâs as if they never shook their adolescent fascination with rayguns and capes, choosing instead to deepen the metaphoric and escapist elements of such genre tropes. In short: God and Science is a loopy, heartfelt and sometimes biting usage of the adventure fiction template that feels lived-in and mature. A must read.
