Southern Bastards, Prophet, COPRA

Here's the thing, a Midnighter book, short of being written by Grant Morrison, is probably never going to sell again. While I like this book a lot (and Omega Men, and to a lesser extent Doctor Fate and Black Canary), I'd rather Orlando, Fletcher, and King all be on board with bigger, better selling characters, so…

Read it over the weekend, it's very good. Liew's take on various pieces of comics history by way of "Chan's art" could have been a little too precious, but he's able to pull it off by keeping everything centered on his focal point of "a mountain being unable to abide two tigers" with his two historical figures.

It's been a while since I've read it, and I had a whole book club discussion about a year or more ago where my buddies and I analyzed the thing from front to back. So forgive me if it's a little difficult for me to remember the specifics, but I recall we all sort of agreed that it an interesting meditation on…

I mean, there's always Year One. Does Spawn/Batman fall between issues TDKR?

It's been pushed back to April it looks like. Azzarello and Romita are on board for it, meh.

I wish it were anywhere near as interesting. DK2, for it's flaws, was a dynamic piece of work by an artist really pushing himself and thumbing his nose at convention. DK3 is as conventional as it comes.

Yeah, I always turn to the credits page with trepidation. Every issue of Grayson I've disliked has been written by Seeley.

Based on my experience with Azzarello's writing tics, I think it's pretty clear he's doing all the writing here based on broad ideas from Miller. The whole exercise just feels bland and lifeless compared to the far too underrated DK2.

To me, Michael DeForge is that next step beyond where Gilbert Hernandez was heading towards in New Love (one of the greatest comics of the 90's). Take a look at stuff like Blubber and DeForge's work in Lose and the parallels are pretty striking. I'm a huge fan. Ant Colony was one of the best comics I read in 2014, and…

Put me down as one of the folks that's more into Takahata than Miyazaki. While I find the latter enchanting at his best, Paku-san's work has me thinking about it for days, weeks and months after. He's also, of the pair, the one who is the most tied to his Japanese roots, which is something that pulls me in more than…

I just hope it's stronger than their second volume of Daredevil, talk about letting the air out of the tires…

Good:
The rumored assignments of Tom King on Batman, Marguerite Bennett on Wonder Woman, and MAYBE Peter Tomasi on Superman. I don't love the guy's work, but he's the kind of steady hand that the Superman line probably needs right now.

I promise you, if Morrison wants to do a DC book, DC will publish it. Guy has carte blanche over there.

I'm not sure Ellis moves the dial much anymore.

It's not a bad idea on its face…I like that Fletcher has got a serious Jaime Hernandez influence that pairs well with Annie Wu's art, but the superhero stuff really bogs it down. I'm gonna sit down and try to read issues 1-7 again and see if I feel any more strongly about it after that.

Wilson is the one that springs immediately to mind, and Aaron.

Their one real moment of inspiration for ANAD Marvel.

Along with Robinson, Soule, Edmondson, and Bennett, you've got a pretty iffy lineup to pull from. Marvel may have some real issues in the future.

Also, Marvel hiring some of DC's B-squad from the New 52 didn't help matters on that end.