This is not untrue.

It seems like a very weird choice after Secret Wars. Hickman pretty much did a Doom mic drop and I don't really feel like Bendis has much room to do much with the character.

SPOILER
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It's Doom without his mask on. He's fairly free of scars.

Yeah, allegedly before KFC was franchised, he had some very heated rivalries with other restaurants. He'd show up in front of the stores, gun in hand, every morning until they closed up shop.

He also used to chase his competition out of town with a shotgun so he's sullied his own image pretty thoroughly in some parts.

I think it's easy to see Bendis this way just because he writes so much and books that have a real legacy behind them. I think he's a solid writer, particularly with street level characters, but he tends to get overshadowed by more experimental voices. He's a good company man for Marvel, even if that means not being a…

WHAT

SOUTHERN BASTARDS is my favorite of the bunch. The rest vastly depend on your feelings on the creators behind them. I love East of West but it's pretty much pure, uncut Hickman cynicism and puzzle-box world-building that I know doesn't appeal to everyone.

It's the guy who used to run Multiversity Comics, which was one of the smartest commentary sites out there. This is supposedly his attempt to go a little more nuts-and-bolts into the industry. He's gotten some great interviews so I'm glad to see people are taking it seriously.

Grant Morrison has also worked the idea of obsession or fandom into a magical or spiritual force into a lot of his comics work.

It certainly depends a little on you recognizing some of the bands and some of the stereotypes of the late 2000s music snob scene but all that's a lot of set dressing. The most important thing to understanding Phonogram and, really to Wic+Div, is recognizing the way being a fan is a transformative force.

It's a book almost custom made for me. Dick Grayson is my favorite comics character and I'm a big fan of sidekicks in general and it seems like this is a book that's going to highlight them but, right now, it just feels kind of like filler. The hook it provides isn't new or unique and the adventure really isn't…

Aaron's Dr. Strange is basically just Tony Stark and it's super weird.

She doesn't appear but is mentioned. I assume she'll show up at some point.

New Mutants is probably my favorite of Claremont's X-Men spinoffs. He really manages to nail a different tone for those characters and build them into more than just the would-be young X-Men.

Yeah, the last couple of arcs, he's adopted the Mike Mignola style of releasing mini-series instead of numbered issues but it hasn't helped a lot. The book is good and the last arc was great but I always end up wondering if I missed an issue or if Powell is just behind.

I've admittedly slowed down on buying at Image. I think to some degree, they're giving the same superstar creators book after book after book and the number of new creators they have aren't getting any marketing push or attention. They're becoming the same behemoths they claim to offer a respite from.

All I really remember is that Sam basically drops every hanging 'g' from every possible word.

SKTCHD does a pretty good job looking at the business of comics. They're fairly new and don't publish as often as I'd like but they're about the only ones who try to regularly cut through the corporate puffery to see what sells and why.

Wha' ya't mea' Cla'rmont don' know who to write a Sco'ish accent?