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Hypergeek’s Hot Picks – Comic Book Recommendations for the Week of Wednesday 15 July 2009

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Hypergeek’s Hot Picks is a weekly column on the site, where I take a look through the list of comics being released that week, and decide which ones I think are worth picking up. I then pick out the comic which I am most looking forward to, and tell readers why I think it will be that week’s hottest comic. Because I like a lot of comics, I also include my other contenders for the week’s hottest pick, and tell readers why they should also grab those.

With most of the comics that I recommend, I have usually read a pre-release copy, and enjoyed it, or I have read a preview of the comic, and can predict that it is going to be a good read. At the end of the day though, it’s just my opinion, so don’t take it *too* seriously :)

Wow, there is a hell of a lot of great comics out this week. This one is definitely going to stretch the budget a bit…. and this is just the good stuff!

This Week’s Hottest Comic Pick

Nexus is one of my all time favourite comic series. Created in 1981, by writer Mike Baron and penciler Steve Rude, the series is a combination of the superhero and science fiction genres, set 500 years in the future. The series was published for many years, to both critical and commercial success. However, in the latter years, Baron and Rude had problems publishing the book, and eventually the series was discontinued due to low sales. Steve Rude announced plans on his message board in January 2006 to self-publish a new Nexus comic series. The first issue of the new series, numbered Nexus #99 was published in July 2007. Several months later issue #100 was published.

It’s been nearly two years since we saw Nexus #100, and I expect many fans have given up hope, but I have already read ashcans of #101 and #102, and I can guarantee that they are 100% amazing, and will probably be the best sci-fi comics that you read this year! These books have been so long in the works that I actually got my ashcan of Nexus #101 in September of  2008, when I did a full advance review of the comic, where I concluded that “The artwork presented in this ashcan is not the final art. It is inked but uncolored, and presented in a smaller format than a regular comic. Even so, the art contained within is some of Steve Rude’s finest, and I cannot wait to see the final product. It is amazing!”

The reason for the long delay between issues is that Rude had decided that he wanted to finish up the art for both issues before he made plans for publication, in order to avoid the scheduling issues that plagued #99 and #100. In May of this year I received an ashcan of #102, and then a couple of months ago, I found out that Rude was polishing up the interior artwork, and painting the final issue cover…. I was excited to say the least.

Well, the issues are finally being released this week, in all their beautiful, fully painted glory. Years in the making, Nexus: Space Opera deserves to be remembered of one of the greatest science fiction epics of all time!

Please, if you are reading this, get out there and buy this comic. If you can, try and pick up issues #99 and #100 too. If you can’t get them from your local comic store, try Steve Rude’s online store. Steve Rude has taken a huge amount of professional and financial risk to self publish this Nexus mini series, so get out there and buy them all up to show him it was all worth it!

Solicitation:

Combined into one, double-sized colossal issue, Nexus #101 and #102 will together bring the series to its final conclusion. Kreed, the most lethal Quatro of all time, has returned – but how?

Elvon Supreme leads the greatest fleet ever launched on Ylum. Nexus travels to Earth to address the United Planets. Ylum stands isolated and condemned by the United Web as the greatest invasion force in history draws near.

Sundra defends her child from a merciless foe, a foe who was once Sundra’s best friend. Finally, Nexus must choose between saving his planet and suffering universal condemnation or obey the will of the web!

Hot Pick Highlights

There are so many great comics out this week, that it is hard to pick favourites. Everything listed in this week’s hot picks would be a great choice, but here are a few of this week’s highlights:

I am a huge fan of the works of Philip K Dick, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Is one of my favourite novels of all time. Set in a dystopian future Earth, the novel follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter in future San Francisco, through one day of his life as he tracks down renegade androids who have assumed human identities. The story explores the idea of human identity based on the quality of empathy—the only thing that distinguishes humans from their uncannily humanoid counterparts. So much more than just sci-fi, this is an existential tale about what it truly means to call one’s self a Human.

This adaptation by Boom! Studios is a truly beautiful piece of work. I have read an advance copy of the  first issue, and can attest that the comic is packed full of terrific artwork that complements PKD’s story perfectly. The text itself is actually cut straight from DODOES, and is presented in an unabridged format. I can see why this approach was chosen, because PKD’s writing style is rather unique, and involves lots of character introspection and interiour monologue. The only problem with taking this approach with a comic is that it tends to make for large amounts of exposition, and big bulky text boxes that cover up all that lovely artwork. Don’t let that put you off though, because this adaptation is one of the best that I have read in a long time.

In the back of the book we get treated to a four page essay by Warren Ellis on the history of PKD and DADOES, and some analysis of the story. It makes for a really interesting read, so don’t just skip over it!

Those readers who are only familiar with the movie Blade Runner, be warned that this is not an adaptation of the movie, and the actual plot of DADOES is quite different from Ridley Scott’s creative vision. I am extremely pleased that Boom! have given this comic the title of the original novel, rather than slapping “Also a major motion picture…” on the front. It shows a real appreciation for the novel, and dedication to do this the right way.

Solicitation:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the book that inspired the film Blade Runner, comes to Boom! with backmatter by Warren Ellis! Visionary sci-fi author Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep has been called “a masterpiece ahead of its time, even today” and served as the basis for the Ridley Scott film Blade Runner.

San Francisco lies under a cloud of radioactive dust. The World War killed millions, driving entire species to extinction, and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn’t afford one, companies built incredibly realistic fakes: horses, birds, cats, sheep–even humans. Rick Deckard is an officially sanctioned bounty hunter tasked to find six rogue androids–they’re machines, but look, sound, and think like humans. Clever, and most of all, dangerous humans.

Rick Deckard, Pris, The Voight-Kampff Test, Nexus 6 androids, the Tyrell Corporation: join Boom! Studios as the complete novel is adapted into the comic book medium, mixing all new panel-to-panel continuity with the actual text from the novel in an innovative, groundbreaking 24-issue maxi-series illustrated by acclaimed Wolf artist Steven Dupre for the science-fiction publishing event of the year! Covers by Bill Sienkiewicz, Dennis Calero, Moritat, and Scott Keati

RASL is without a doubt, one of the smartest and most thought provoking comics on the shelves. The story follows RASL, a dimension jumping art thief, who finds himself on the run from “The Lizard-Faced Man”, who is chasing him though the dimension to retrieve the stolen knowledge and technology that RASL possesses. There’s a lot more to it than that, but I don’t want to ruin the story for those who haven’t read it yet (shame on you!)

This issue marks a change in the publication schedule of the title. Previously, the comic was being published in 32 pages volumes, three times a year. From issue #5 onwards Jeff Smith is changing format to 24 pages, which will be published quarterly, so there is less wait between issues.

Solicitation:

Time is running out for Rasl, the world’s first inter-dimensional art thief. He must surrender his secrets or spend eternity chasing the lizard-faced killer through parallel worlds trying to save the people he loves. Hunted and confused, Rasl keeps his date with the parallel universe’s version of his ex-lover Maya. And what an evening it is!

When I was a child, growing up in the UK, Doctor Who was my favourite television show. I was devastated when the series was canceled, I mean Sylvester McCoy was bad, but he wasn’t that bad!! When the series returned in 2005, it just didn’t work for me anymore, it just didn’t feel like the same show I used to love. Partially I think it was that the show was trying to attract a new, younger, audience, with a tougher looking Doctor Who, and staring Billy Piper as his slutty assistant. But other things were also wrong, gone were the campy special effects of old, to be replaced with painfully low budget digital effects that looked like they were off some old 16 bit video game. I couldn’t take any more, and I stopped watching… Doctor Who was dead to me.

That is until I read Doctor Who: The Forgotten, by Tony Lee! This wonderful series had that magical feeling of old, and reawakened my love for the character. I can’t wait to see if he can continue to work that magic on this new ongoing series. Who knows, maybe I’ll even give the TV series another try, though I do find the new emo Doctor a little… disturbing…

Solicitation:

At long last Doctor Who is an ongoing monthly series! Tony Lee (Doctor Who: The Forgotten), kicks off the time/space-faring series with the two-part “Silver Scream.”

In chapter one, the Doctor travels to 1920s Hollywood where he befriends Charlie Chaplin and, of course, discovers an alien plot! Lee is joined by Al Davison (The Dreaming) on this first story arc. Covers by Paul Grist and Davison.

Eric Trautmann is crafting a really rich story here that sees the JSA trying desperately to prevent the terrorist outfit, Kobra, from committing further acts of random violence. Inner conflict begins to tear the team apart as they are met with violence and deception at every turn. It’s a tense political thriller set on the streets of Metropolis, which takes a decidedly dark and gritty approach to the world of the JSA.

The DCU needs more books like this!

Solicitation:

A reinvigorated Kobra has attacked the Justice Society in their home, thrusting the heroes into a maelstrom of deception and violence, and the evidence points to an even bigger target on the horizon: S.T.A.R. Labs. As the Justice Society tracks Kobra sleeper cells through the streets of Metropolis, the mystery of Jason Burr’s master plan deepens. Can the team defuse the threat in time — or will the growing tensions between them spell victory for Kobra? Continuing the new miniseries event from Eric Trautmann (CHECKMATE, FINAL CRISIS: RESIST) and artist Don Kramer (DETECTIVE COMICS, NIGHTWING)!

I think that every issue of Unthinkable thus release has appeared in Hot Picks. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but go out and buy this bloody comic! I found out from my LCS owner that I am the only person he gets the comic in for, which is absolutely criminal! This issue of Unthinkable is the one that got Mark Sable detained by TSA a few months back, so make sure you pick it up, and make all those thorough cavity searches Mark had to endure count for something! (too much?)

Still not convinced? Check out this glowing review I did of issue #2

Solicitation:

Nobody believed novelist Alan Ripley when he revealed he created UNTHINKABLE terror scenarios for the government. Now the CIA doesn’t just believe him – they blame him. Can he survive interrogation in time to stop his next nightmare from coming true? Only writer Mark (TWO-FACE YEAR ONE, CYBORG) Sable and artist Julian Tedesco know for sure.

Third appearance for Sherlock Holmes in Hot Picks. Issue #2 had some really mind boggling plot twists, so I don’t want to say anything too spoilerish about the plot here, because it would just ruin things for people who haven’t read it yet.  However, If you want to see what I thought of issue #1, click here to see a full review.

This is indubitably the best Sherlock Holmes story that I have read since the original tales. I suspect that Moore & Reppion maybe using some sort of dark magic to channel the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is the only possible explanation for the astounding quality of this comic!

Solicitation:

The mystery deepens as Holmes remains on the run and Watson must put the pieces together to either save his friend, or condemn him!

Solicitation:

Not much to say really. It’s DC’s big Summer ‘event’ comic, either you are into that type of thing, or you are not. Personally, I think John’s has been producing some of the best Green Lantern comics ever committed to paper, but many would disagree with this vehemently. I’ve always been a huge Green Lantern fan, which probably skews my judgment a little. However, I don’t necessarily love *all* things GL, and happen to despise Peter Tomasi’s fanboy work over on GLC. BRING BACK DAVE GIBBONS!!!!

Expect lots of different coloured power rings to be flying around, familiar faces to return from the dead, a little ‘universe shattering’, and an obligatory sprinkling of retconning here and there. It is what it is, so don’t pick it up expecting anything groundbreaking, and you won’t be disappointed.

Also, make sure to see if your retailer has any of those cool Black Lantern power rings that DC have been sending out. They look amazing. Should go well with my complete pewter Green Lantern ring set and ‘light-up’ Power Battery *cough* nerd *cough*

Solicitation:

Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis raise the dead in the most anticipated comics story of the year! Throughout the decades, death has plagued the DC Universe and taken the lives of heroes and villains alike. But to what end? As the War of Light rages on, the prophecy of the Blackest Night descends upon us, with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps at the center of it all.

Don’t miss this 8-issue epic taking the DCU beyond the grave!

My Complete Hot Picks

Comics

TPBs & HCs

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Posted by Edward Kaye on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 3:39 am 
Filed under Columns, Hypergeek's Hot Picks · Tagged with

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