Wow, and I thought Batman #1′s victory in the overall weekly poll was a dominating one. Scott Snyder’s tale also took down the DC-only poll… in what could only be called a LANDSLIDE. But we still have to mention the second place DC Universe Presents #1, because that was also very good, as were the #3 and #4, Red Hood and the Outlaws and Nightwing.
This week, our last week doing this poll, features some very strong competition and we’d be surprised if it turned into a runaway. Look out for Aquaman, Batman The Dark Knight, Voodoo, Flash, Superman and Teen Titans to name just a few! So…
This week brings an end to the first month of DC’s new 52! There were many impressive additions to DC’s lineup this week, and one really standout book! So let me tell you what I thought because I know you all are dying for my opinion!
I, VAMPIRE #1
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Andrea Sorrentino
Without a doubt this was the best and most surprising release this week. I, Vampire finds Andrew, a vampire, trying to prevent a vampire war that his lover of four centuries, Mary, has begun. The book flashes between Mary and Andrew’s last night together and Andrew’s fight against a horde of the undead.
This book is smartly written, the dialogue is sharp, and you can tell Joshua Hale Fialkov understands the mechanics of telling a good story. I also appreciated that the story did come full circle.
I have never read a comic illustrated by Andrea Sorrentino and that is a shame. The art comes across as a more expressive version of Jae Lee’s work. It is visually striking and and sold me as a fan from page one. It is in contention for the best looking book of the entire relaunch!
FINAL WORD: One issue in and I am on this book for the long haul. Best of the new 52 issues this week!
Last week, I read Legend of the Scarlet Blades, which was an excellent samurai story for those who don’t want to read a 1000-page manga epic. This week, I felt the need to read something real. Personally, I prefer “slice of life” books when the characters and situations are extreme. Stories about people in situations that I could easily find or have been in myself tend to bore me. I want to read about people doing things that are as far away from my world of experience as possible. And I found that in KING OF FLIES VOL 1: HALLORAVE and VOL 2: THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD written by Pascal (Mezzo) Mesenburg, illustrated by Michel Pirus, published by Fantagraphics.
King of Flies is a series of interconnected 3-4 page stories about the people who live in the City. There’s Eric, the protagonist, who in between ingesting copious amounts of drugs, likes to sleep with his best friend’s girlfriend, Sal. Eric is lucky enough to have a mother who supports his drug addled existence, unlike Sal who must work for a living. Sal find acceptance in life by sleeping with Eric and Dennis because Dennis is a drug dealer. Dennis is just a dope. Then there is Marie the teenager just looking for love and a father figure who is sleeping with Eric because she wants to be cool. She does lots of drugs too. Once people start dying and the living start hallucinating about them the story enters a whole new level of strange.
King of Flies is not for the meek. Mezzo has written a story that is about the seedy underside of suburbia. There are lots of drugs, lots of sex, and lots of people who have lost their way both morally and mentally. In Eric, Mezzo has created one of the most unlikeable, yet incredibly interesting characters I have read in a long time. Words like narcissistic and shallow are some of the nicer ones that I would use to describe him. But, for all his faults, Eric is fascinating because he is so amoral and apathetic to those around him you can’t help but read more. Eric is needlessly cruel yet while reaping the seeds he has sown, wonders how he got there.
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This week brings an end to the first month of DC’s new 52! There were many impressive additions to DC’s lineup this week, and one really standout book! So let me tell you what I thought because I know you all are dying for my opinion!
Last week, I read Legend of the Scarlet Blades, which was an excellent samurai story for those who don’t want to read a 1000-page manga epic. This week, I felt the need to read something real. Personally, I prefer “slice of life” books when the characters and situations are extreme. Stories about people in situations that I could easily find or have been in myself tend to bore me. I want to read about people doing things that are as far away from my world of experience as possible. And I found that in KING OF FLIES VOL 1: HALLORAVE and VOL 2: THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD written by Pascal (Mezzo) Mesenburg, illustrated by Michel Pirus, published by Fantagraphics.
