Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Wess Reads Comics - Vacation Edition!!

Each week, Wess shares what is in his pull list at his local comic shop (LCS). But this week, he’s on vacation so you’re getting Wess’ reading list for this week. These are books that Wess brought on vacation to catch up on or new items he picked up at a LCS.


A.D. After Death
Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Jeff Lemire
Words by: Steve Wands
Published by: Image Comics

I’ve written at length about A.D. After Death before so I won’t go into too much detail here other than to say: you need to go get this. Beyond being such a great concept and a great story by two juggernaut creators, it’s also such a unique book. It could have been published strictly as a one-shot graphic novel but instead is spread out as three separate issues until being collected in this edition. The mix of prose and graphic art is such a unique concept and only serves to enhance the story it supports. Again: stop reading this and go get it!



Batman: A Death in the Family
Written by: Jim Starlin, Marv Wolfman, & George Perez
Pencils by: Jim Aparo & Tom Grummett
Inks by: Mike DeCarlo & Bob McLead
Colors by: Adrienne Roy
Letters by: John Costanza
Published by: DC Comics

I’ve read “A Death in the Family” before but never owned the trade before, so when I found it for sale for 50% off at Memory Lane Comics I decided it was time to pick it up. Imagine my surprise when I realized that this also included “A Lonley Place of Dying” - the story of Tim Drake becoming Robin. With “A Lonely Place of Living” coming soon in Detective Comics, this was really an added bonus. These two stories aren’t necessarily regarded in Batman lore as the “best” stories featuring the Dark Knight, but they are definitely some of the most important in Batman’s history. Both of these moments had a profound impact on Bruce and are still referenced repeatedly over the last few decades.



Black Hammer Vol. 1: Secret Origins
Written by: Jeff Lemire
Art by: Dean Ormston
Colors by: Dave Stewart
Words by: Todd Klein
Published by: Dark Horse Comics

This read came about based on a recommendation from the guys at Fanboy Comix  We Were having a discussion about the great work Jeff Lemire has been doing and they said I needed to check out ‘Black Hammer’. I had heard of ‘Black Hammer’ but didn’t really know much about it. The general premise is this: a group of superheroes from another universe were wiped out by a huge crisis and low are confined to a small town in which they live together, posing as a dysfunctional family living on a farm. This story is a great blend of classic, golden-aged superhero and gritty, creator-owned. It’s a fantastic story that gradually unveils more backstory around each character while they continue to try to find their place in this new world, even after 10 years. Check it out! 



The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract 
Written by: Marv Wolfman
Pencils by: George Perez
Inks by: Dick Giordano, Mike DeCarlo, Romeo Tanghal, & Perez
Colors by: Adrienne Roy & Anthony Tollin
Words by: Ben Oda, John Costanza, Todd Klein, & Bob Lappan
Published by: DC Comics

I’ve always loved Dick Grayson so I thought it was time to finally read the full story of how he evolved from Robin to Nightwing. I now understand why this story is a classic and why The New Teen Titans was DC’s best selling title at the time. For a story about “teens” a lot of the content is very mature and advanced, even with the inclusion of Garth (Beast Boy). It’s great to see so many elements that are spoken of in such high regard in the DC Universe in addition to the debut of Nightwing like Dick and Kory’s relationship, the growing threat of Deathstroke (here called the Terminator), and a great team book that wasn’t just dirivitive of the Justice League. If you’re looking for a great, classic story that has ramifications for decades to come, then this is a great story to jump in to.



Pull List

  • A.D. After Death by Scott Snyder, Jeff Lemire, & Steve Wands
  • Batman: A Death in the Family by Jim Starlin, Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Jim Aparo, Tom Grummett, Mike DeCarlo, Bob McLeod, Adrienne Roy, & John Costanza
  • Batman: Death and the Maidens (The Deluxe Edition) by Greg Rucka, Krause Janson, Steve Buccellato, Lee Loughridge, & Clem Robins
  • Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne (The Deluxe Edition) by Grant Morrison, Chris Sprouse, Frazer Irving, Yanick Paquette, Georges Jeanty, Ryan Sook, Lee Garbett, Karl Story, Michel Lacombe, Walden Wong, Mick Gray, Pere Perez, Alejandro Sicat, Guy Major, Nathan Fairbairn, Tony Avina, Jose Villarrubia, Jared K. Fletcher, & Travis Lanham
  • Batman Beyond Vol. 1: Escaping the Grave by Dan Jurgens, Bernard Chang, Ryan Sook, Pete Woods, Marcelo Maiolo, Jeremy Lawson, Tony Avina, Pete Woods, & Travis Lanham
  • Black Hammer Vol. 1: Secret Origins by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, Dave Stewart, & Todd Klein
  • Descender Vol. 4: Orbital Mechanics by Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen, & Steve Wands
  • Detective Comics Vol. 2: The Victim Syndicate by James Tynion IV, Marguerite Bennett, Alvaro Martinez, Eddy Barrows, Ben Oliver, Al Barrionuevo, Carmen Carnero, Raul Fernandez, Eber Ferreira, Scott Hanna, Julio Ferreira, Szymon Kudranski, Adriano Lucas, Brad Anderson, Ben Oliver, Gabe Eltaeb, Hi-Fi, & Marilyn Patrizio
  • The Flash Vol. 2: Speed of Darkness by Joshua Williamson, Davide Gianfelice, Jorge Corona, Neil Googe, Felipe Watanabe, Oclair Albert, Ivan Plascencia, Chris Sotomayor, & Steve Hands
  • Justice League Vol. 2: Outbreak by Bryan Hitch, Neil Edwards, Jesus Merino, Matthew Clark, Tom Derenick, Daniel Henriques, Andy Owens, Sean Parsons, Trevor Scott, Adriano Lucas, Tony Avina, Richard Starkings, & Comicraft
  • Justice League vs. Suicide Squad by Joshua Williamson, Tim Seeley, Rob Williams, Si Spurrier, Jason Fabok, Tony S. Daniel, Jesus Marino, Fernando Pasarin, Robson Rocha, Howard Porter, Christian Duce, Riley Rossmo, Scot Eaton, Giuseppe Cafaro, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Sandy Florea, Andy Owens, Matt Ryan, Wayne Faucher, Jay Leisten, Daniel Henriques, Ocalir Albert, Francesco Mattina, Alex Sinclair, Hi-Fi, Ivan Plascencia, Mat Lopes, Gabe Eltaeb, Jeremiah Skipper, Rob Leigh, Pat Brosseau, Richard Starkings and Comicraft, & Josh Reed
  • The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Dick Giordano, Mike DeCarlo, Romeo Tanghal, Adrienne Roy, Anthony Tollin, Ben Ora, John Costanza, Todd Klein, Bob Lappan

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