Thursday, March 17, 2016

Thursday Morning Superhero

While I didn't get to enjoy the festivities due to work, there was a minor invasion from the comic book world this past week in my hometown of Austin.  The big news, at least in my opinion, was the debut of the first issue of Preacher.  Produced by Seth Rogan and airing on AMC, Preacher is an adaptation of Garth Ennis' comic published by Vertigo.  While I heard it is not completely true to the comic in a literal sense, it maintains the dark tone of the comic and should appeal to even the hard core fans.  Look for it on the airwaves this summer. 



Pick of the Week:
Huck #5 - Huck and his mom have been captured and it doesn't look good for the pair.  There will be some minor spoilers in this review so if you are concerned about that you should move on to the other books I read this week.   If you haven't read this series then I highly recommend going back from the start.  Mark Millar has once again delivered a truly stunning series.  That should be enough of a buffer.  In this issue we learn that Huck's mom had been held captive in an attempt to serve as a surrogate mother for a series of super soldiers.  She has the ability to control what someone thinks if she touches them, and the two find themselves trapped behind reinforced glass.  The new plan is for Huck to be a stud of an entire generation of super soldiers.  This is setting up for an amazing finish for what has been a breathtaking series.  Rafael Albuquerque and Dave McCaig really bring Millar's vision to life and we finally get to experience an angry Huck.  I think I am going to enjoy this angry Huck.

The Rest:
A&A: The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong #1 - If you aren't familiar with these Valiant characters, Armstrong is an immortal being, possibly the devil himself, who has spent the past 7,000 years drinking and partying with some of history's greatest figures.  Archer is a teenage martial arts expert who has been raised to kill the devil incarnate.  Fortunately for Armstrong, the two became friends.  This new series opens as the duo takes a trip into Armstrong's magical bag.  If that doesn't sound exciting enough, you should know that the bag is home to a library, a crew of goblins, trash monsters, a fully stocked bar, and much, much, more.  I will be honest and state that I haven't read much of either of these characters, and immediately regret doing so.  This series is packed with humor and insane action and was an absolute blast to read.  I didn't even get into the details about Archer's sister Mary-Maria, head of the Ninja-Nun Assassins or Davey the Mackerel, some sort of sarcastic fish-man who resides in the bag.  Really fun debut that has me searching for back issues of Archer and Armstrong to learn more about this duo.

Usagi Yojimbo #153 - This is a series that I am familiar with and one I have always been interested in, but for some reason have not read any of it.  This issue marked a part 1 of an arc called Kyuri so I thought I would give it a read.  Usagi is confronted by a savage Kappa who seeks to undo a truce that Usagi's people have made with the local Kappa population.  Kappa's are part turtle, frog, and monkey and from what I gather have always been a nuisance to Usagi's people until the truce was reached.  The comic has a vintage feel to it and was quick and to the point.  Stan Sakai has been writing and drawing this series for many years and it is clear he knows his characters well.  Definitely an enjoyable title and one that I will revisit down the road.


POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.