I admit it: I’ve never read 100 Bullets. I’m a casual fan of the crime genre, and have a bad habit of trade-waiting with long running, highly acclaimed series. Given its status from even its earliest issues, 100 Bullets would always be available, so the urge to be current was never insistent. But the team of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso is rightly celebrated, I know, from their Batman work in both Batman: Black and White and Wednesday Comics. Now, Vertigo launches a new Azzarello/Risso collaboration, a perfect gateway for the uninitiated such as myself: Spaceman #1.

Spaceman is another genre turn for the pair: science fiction. Like crime, sci-fi can offer scope within its very clear limitations. As a writer, Azzarello seems to understand these limitations, and deftly avoids them. Rather than dwell on expository schema of the world and times of Spaceman, Azzarello simply implies them through the dialogue and backgrounds. This does result in a somewhat disjointed first read, but upon closer inspection the frustration turns to intrigue. The entire issue is borne of a complex intelligence that is serviceable, not flaunted. It’s nearly impenetrable, but highly inviting.

Luckily Risso brings with him a rare chemistry, matching the script beat for beat with mood and atmosphere. His style exhibits wonderful flashes of Mignola, Ba and Fegredo, while maintaining an identity all its own. Virtuosity is eschewed in favor of storytelling, with nice layout variance and a solid underpinning of the story’s futuristic set pieces. Risso’s art sidesteps the cliche gloss that a lot of sci-fi yarns get sprayed on them, too, achieving a grit that roots the fantastic in realism, reminiscent of another genre cousin, the western.

Spaceman wouldn’t be as appealing without the contributions of colorists Patricia Mulvihill and Giulia Brusco. Their palette straddles the fine line between muted and vibrant, filling the linework in an attractive way that conveys the necessary chilliness. Even the reds seem cold. Ace letterer Clem Robins ties everything together with his expert, organic approach, lending this fresh, modern comic the timeless design it deserves. A Dave Johnson cover never hurts anything.

Overall, Spaceman is an imposing book, from its grotesque protagonist (a dead ringer for Mr. Hyde from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) to its bizarre slang (a la the Mutant gang in Dark Knight Returns). But what the best writers and artists in comics seem to do is take these familiar tropes, and twist, and pull, and stretch and beat them into something that seems wholly new. That’s exactly what you’ll get from Spaceman, if you have the patience: a new take on an old favorite. Whether it’s the genre or the talent, the hooks are there, deliciously baited.  So don’t wait…cashiers are standing by!

Heroes will be in two places at once this weekend!

We will be at the at the NC Comicon at the Morrisville Outlet Mall on Saturday and Sunday. We will be bringing great Modern and Silver Age books to this show along with some other surprises. This show has a great guest list, check it out on their site. Make sure to stop by and say hello to Shelton and the gang!

And on Sunday, Phil and Seth will be at the Atlanta Comic Convention with longboxes full of $1 comics and other great bargains culled from untouched, newly acquired collections!  This show is at the Marriott, Century Center, 2000 Century Blvd, Atlanta.

See you there!

In 2000, The Comics Journal published a list of the Top 100 American Comics of the 20^th Century.  Coming in at # 24, 22 and 17 are three works by Jaime Hernandez.  Originally published in the Comic Magazine Love and Rockets in tandem with the comics of his superbly talented brother Gilbert, these three selections, Flies on the Ceiling, The Death of Speedy and Wig Wam Bam represent some of the most influential and critically lauded comics of the past few decades.

Plan to join the Heroes Discussion Group on Saturday November 19^th at 1:00pm as we tackle the second Jaime Hernández trade paperback The Girls from H.O.P.P.E.R.S. We will discuss the entire collection but we will concentrate on Death of Speedy and Flies on the Ceiling. (Wig Wam Bam is in the following volume and we will just have to tackle it another day!)

For those of you who have read Jaime’s work, you know what to expect—wonderful art and rich rewarding story-telling.  In other words, it is sequential art at its best.  For those of you who are reading for the first time, I envy you.  One suggestion—read it slowly.  The fresh, clean line art and simple page construction makes it easy for the reader to fly through each page.  When you catch yourself sailing through, take a step back (or look again), as there is a lot there.  The fact that Jaime makes it seem effortless is part of the comic’s charm.

The Girls from H.O.P.P.E.R.S. is available from Heroes for $14.95 and don’t forget the Heroes Discussion Group 10% Discount—you must notify the clerk about the discount when you check out.

Note:  for anyone reading the stories in the LOCAS HC collection, start with House of Raging Women and continue on through Below My Window Lurks My Head.

Enjoy! And we will see you on the 19^th!

Image by Alex Kropinak, text by Sean T. Collins, originally posted on Robot6

1) Uncanny X-men #1

Marvel relaunches one of their biggest properties this week with writer Kieron Gillen and artist Carlos Pacheco.  Consisting of characters like Cyclops, Magneto, Emma Frost, Colossus, Storm, Namor, and Hope, this book looks to represent a thematic counterpoint to Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo’s school-based Wolverine and the X-men title.  With its roster of morally ambiguous characters, this title seems like it might be a book of mutants operating in gray areas.  It should be interesting to read both books together and see how Marvel aims to reshape the role of mutants within their universe.

2) Hellboy House of the Living Dead HC

Nothing says Halloween like an all new original Hellboy graphic novel!  Here Mike Mignola re-teams with Richard Corben to tell another story of Hellboy’s time in Mexico.  If you read their Hellboy in Mexico one shot from a year ago, you know how much fun this book should be.  In addition to HB’s inebriated encounters with luchadores, apparently he also has a wrestling match with a Frankenstein monster in this one!

3) Swamp Thing #3

It would be hard to write a Spotlight for the week of Halloween without mentioning Scott Snyder’s new Swamp Thing series.  Aside from continuing and broadening the history of DC’s muck monster, Snyder and artist Yanick Paquette (along with Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman on Animal Man) are bringing horror back to the mainstream DC universe, and producing entertaining stories in the process.

4) Avengers Origins Ant Man and Wasp #1

Our creative director Rico Renzi mentioned to me that I should check out work by this book’s artist Stephanie Hans, and I was admittedly impressed.  True, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle on seemingly endless Avengers titles, but this one is promising because Hans seems like a great fit for this book which documents the meeting of Ant Man and the Wasp, and how they went about becoming costumed heroes.  These Origins one shots are a great way to learn about some of Marvel’s classic characters if you’ve never read much about them before.

5) Batman Noel Deluxe HC

 While Lee Bermejo’s previous collaborations with writer Brian Azzarello Lex Luthor and Joker were critical and commercial successes, for this book Bermejo took up the writing reins to tell a story of several eras of Batman.  Aside from seeing Bermejo offer up interpretations of Batman and his villains through different parts of their history, this one was also inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

> Bonus Picks of the Week: Action Comics #3, Animal Man #3, Dark Shadows #1, Detective Comics #3, Fear Itself #7.1, Ganges #4, Joe the Barbarian HC Deluxe Edition, Six Guns #1, Roger Langridge’s Snarked #2.