The Best Books You Aren't Reading - Patsy Walker: Hellcat

Patsy Walker: Hellcat is, from what I know, the first book from writer Kathryn Immonen, and it teams her up with artist David Lafuente Garcia. A relative no-name writer on a relative no-name character on a miniseries that doesn't even touch Marvel continuity beyond the premise for the mini... yes, this was a book that was destined from #1 to be a Book You Aren't Reading. What I didn't know was that it would be one of the Best Books you weren't reading. I'll admit it, I picked it up because the premise for the first issue made me smile and the cover for #1 was absolutely gorgeous.



Patsy Walker, S.H.I.E.L.D. wants YOU to join the Initiative…and protect the frozen north. You heard me right, sister. The Klondike. Seward’s Folly. Alaska. So pack some long johns and prepare for trouble. GUEST-STARRING: IRON MAN!
-MARVEL.COM

Patsy Walker is, at the behest of Iron Man, sent to Alaska as part of the 50 States Initiative. Unfortunately, she's the only member of the Alaska team, because... who the Hell wants to attack Alaska? Still, ever loyal, she heads off to Alaska and finds herself embroiled in some bizarre, mystic quest.

I'll be honest, I sneer at people who are confused by most Morrison comics, but off the top of my head, I couldn't describe to you the plot of Patsy Walker: Hellcat, thus far. Despite that, though, the book has had a sense of cleverness and of FUN that many modern comics forget to include somewhere between all the death, rape and angst that gets tossed around.



Combine the offbeat sense of humor with absolutely gorgeous art from Lafuente, and you've got a winner. While the much-delayed mini seems to come out once in a blue moon, when it does, it's a breath of fresh air amongst the largely stagnant comics it sits between. It isn't a powerful narrative, it isn't comics-as-art-as-literature, and it isn't anything you haven't seen before... but, well, imagine Holly Golightly with superpowerrs written by someone on shrooms with an affinity for wordplay, and ask yourself: is this something I can really afford not to try out?

R.I.P.

If you've read my blog ever, you probably know that I'm a pretty huge comic book nerd. If you're read my blog for more than two days, you probably know that a lot of the books that I like are a smidge off the beaten path. Not too far off...just a little to the side. Through my 'The Best Books You Aren't Reading', I offered a series of articles, and will continue to offer them, pointing out little-read books that deserves your attention. Unfortunately, I am now left to demonstrate what happens when they don't actually get your attention.

I must warn you all - this is an image-heavy post, and it is a bile-heavy post. While the fires of my wrath have cooled, there is still a lingering aftertaste of anger in my mouth, and this will seep through at time. For the most part, though, this is meant to be a relatively loving post. If you don't want me to insult you and everything you love repeatedly, I'd recommend you stop reading right now and move on your way.

Blue Beetle: Cancelled
- Blue Beetle was one of the best teen comics out there. A pitch-perfect blend of comedy, drama and action, Jaime Reyes was one of the best new characters of the decade, and I'll hold his supporting cast up against any in comics in a heartbeat. After John Rogers left, we saw Will Pfiefer and Matt Sturges each take a turn with the character, and through some arcane magic, each was still awesome. Blue Beetle deserved much more than it ever got, but that's okay - its readers will remember it fondly for a good, long while....







Checkmate: Cancelled
- Checkmate is another book to come out of the overbearing, overlarge, overambitious Infinite Crisis. Written by Greg Rucka, it detailed a United Nations-run Peacekeeping Organization and the crazy stuff they go through in a world like the DC Universe. Imagine Marvel's S.H.E.I.L.D. if someone bright and uncynical were writing it. Always clever, Checkmate gave us an enormous cast of B-D list characters and made them all awesome in their own way. For a time in comics that many fans claim to be a bitter, depressing era, Checkmate was a beacon of hope, offering relatively complex metahuman espionage, new characters, and an infinitely more satisfying answer to the question of lethal force in superhero comics. Of all the new characters Rucka created in his run of Checkmate #1-25, perhaps my favorite is Josephine Tautin, known as Mademoiselle Marie.
Checkmate wasn't perfect - it was often wordy and many were turned off by the occasional moral grey areas in which the characters found themselves - but in a comicdom populated frequently by bitter naivete and fanboy pacification, Checkmate managed a strong run.



Criminal: Cancelled.
- Criminal. Ah, why am I not even remotely surprised to see you on this list? Every arc, you introduced us to new characters. Every single arc. The lack of a recurring cast certainly couldn't have helped you out. The fact that almost every character in the setting was a dirtball of some sort also couldn't have helped. Where Checkmate let it's characters occasionally visit moral grey areas, Criminal lived in them. Solid writing from Ed Brubaker combined well with art from Sean Phillips that perfectly complemented the noir stylings, Criminal was a rock solid love letter to comics and to noir. Dark and slow-paced, it was never destined to be a big seller, but I'm still sad that it is going away.

EDIT: As a note, I have had my tragic misinformation fixed, and return to you a cleaner, happier man - Criminal remains. While it will be taking a break for the beginning of Incognito, it is not dead, merely napping. Rarely have I been happier to be wrong.

To Sean Phillips (!) for correcting me: merci beaucoup, どうもありがとう, and stay classy.

To everyone else: go give Criminal a shot!



Birds of Prey: Cancelled
- It's sad to see Birds of Prey on this list, but when excellent writer Gail Simone left the book to move on to Wonder Woman and Secret Six, you can bet that we all saw this coming. Birds of Prey, under Gail Simone, turned out to be a fun, clever action book that served to flesh out the characters of a number of the premier heroines of the DC Universe - most notably, of course, Barbara Gordon, Black Canary, and Huntress.
After Barbara Gordon was shot in the spine by the Joker in an attempt to torture and drive insane her father, Commissioner James Gordon, she was devastated. As Batgirl, she had always fought hard at Batman's side. It wasn't until John Ostrander used her in his Suicide Squad mini as the enigmatic Oracle, though, that her crime-fighting career really took off. As Batgirl, she beat up muggers. As Oracle, she masterminded the information technology of the DC Universe. Quickly becoming a vital organizational hub, Oracle and her team of superheroes-turned-spies had some awesome adventures.
With the cancellation, we've been assured that we're getting a wonderful Oracle mini. I somehow suspect that this will see her return to Gotham City as the sidekick of Batman, and will be written by whoever does it cheapest. I'm sure it will make money, but Birds of Prey was a great lens through which we could see all the heroines of the DC Universe treated, as they so rarely are, with a little respect. Here's to hoping that DC doesn't forget this lesson, shove these characters out of the way, and relegate them to sidekicks of their male peers.



Manhunter: Cancelled
- This one comes as a surprise to precisely no one. Cancelled once, Manhunter was saved by one of the most passionate fanbases I've ever seen. Cancelled a second time, they redoubled their efforts, trade sales did well, the book got brought back. Unfortunately, it got brought back without telling anyone about it, and to an arc that, while decent, wasn't quite up to the quality of the rest of the run. And so now, it's on its last legs, on the verge of cancellation once more.
Manhunter shouldn't have been good. Overly violent without offering any real danger while having a super-complex, almost incestuous relationship with DC's deepest continuity, it should have been purely mediocre. Instead, it offered a great supporting cast, from one of the only well-done gay relationships in comics to the novel support of a former tech-geek for supervillains who entered the Witness Protection Program. It also offered a no-nonsense, smoking single mother as a heroine willing to kill - and who thought that'd come from DC?





The All-New Atom: Cancelled
- The All-New Atom was, much like Blue Beetle, hampered in large part by a whiny, clingy fanbase that pouted the book to death because it wasn't veteran Atom Ray Palmer helming, but newcomer Ryan Choi. If I'm being honest, and I rarely am, then I will say that it was also hampered by a creative attitude that comics don't like - which is to say, that of almost manic creativity. Ivy Town was a bizarre, surreal place, a place that I couldn't picture existing anywhere but in the DCU, but which feels almost completely necessary to the DCU. Severely warped by the bizarre super-science occurring in the town, Ivy Town feels like the setting of a David Lynch movie, if David Lynch was on crack and had a 500,000,000,000$ budget.
A perfect blend of action and comedy, of the mystic and super-science, The All-New Atom was doomed from the start. But throughout Gail Simone's run, it was an enjoyable book, and I'd highly recommend that you give it a shot.









Shadowpact: Cancelled
- Once again, say it with me: Shadowpact spun out of Infinite Crisis. Shadowpact was a book dedicated to a team of magical misfits. Wow, who didn't see this cancellation coming. I'm sure some of you have heard my thoughts on the fanboy opinion of magic, and they all worked against this book.
"Why," posits the fanboy, "would I want to read a fun, well-written book with good art? There are people casting spells fer chrissakes."
"But...you just said so yourself - 'tis a fun, well-written book with pretty good art," quoth I.
"Ah," laughs the fanboy. "You misunderstand. Magic is totally for fags, my friend. Because I am Super Manly, I am going to read Wolverine."
"But," beginneth I, "is not Wolverine essentially magic? What with the whole 'a billion tons of super-metal welded to the spine of a midget who can heal from anything in seconds?"
"No," answers the fanboy. "No. That, my friend, is Science."
There may have been some exaggeration, or a vast amount of imagination, in that conversation, seasoned with bitterness and left in the oven far too long, but Shadowpact nonetheless had just such a problem, as have many other books in recent days. I can't say that highly-publicized stories like Spider-Man's frankly embarrassing 'One More Day' are much of a help in converting people to the 'magic is fine in the hands of a decent writer' side of things, though.
It's unfair, though - for all that Shadowpact was a pretty good book, it was far from the breathtaking example of awesome that was Blue Beetle or The All-New Atom. It was just...good. You picked up an issue of Shadowpact, you knew you were getting a pretty quality comic. Simple as that. It's unfortunate that it didn't last longer, and got spun into the current relatively average mini-series 'Reign in Hell', but it was fun while it lasted.

*

I could, of course, go on. A bunch of books have been cancelled in recent months that seem to be heralding some sort of bizarre comic book armageddon, while perennial mediocrities like Green Lantern swim in a vast pool of adoration.

Still, why focus on the bad? Sometimes you must, I admit, to clear yourself, to prepare yourself for more wholesome fare in the future. And thus shall I do. I recent months, I have let slack my list of The Best Books You Aren't Reading. An enormous part of this is because I am reasonably sure that they are not widely-read. Of the audience of this blog with which I am familiar, few have the resources or interest to pick up a comic book merely on my say so, however awesome my say so might be.

However, as someone who is absolutely convinced that I have better taste than everyone else alive - well, okay, not everyone else, but, I have better taste than at least five living people right now, and that'll have to do for you all - I feel a peculiar responsibility to nonetheless inform you of all the juicy offerings that are out there, waiting for you to come and save them, or at least distract them from their imminent doom.

And so with that, I leave you. I hope all of you have a fabulous night, and I hope that I will be forgiven for interjecting the occasional less-than-polite comment. Not every insult is directed at you, faceless fanboy - they are merely comments on broad, sad trends I occasionally see pop up. I shall, I swear to you all, be more hopeful from here on out.

At least until the next Cancellation Season.

Signing off,
-Still bitter about the cancellation of Veronica Mars

The Best Books You Aren't Reading: NewUniversal

"One live superhuman, and we commence surveillance and defense preparations. Two superhumans, and we put troubleshooters in the field. Three superhumans and the mathematical model predicts an intolerable probability they will meet. Then we have to kill them."

Marvel Comics is rather famous for the grim 'n gritty take on things, a world where everyone hates the hero and you can't trust anyone. Unfortunately, Marvel's 'mission statement' here is hampered by the fact that, when it comes right down to it, the heroes have been serving the public for decades, now, and have saved the entire world countless times. Furthermore, it there are metahumans of every stripe all over the place - not that it matters, because mundane scientists are more than a match for them when it comes to creating bizarre super-tech.

Last year, Warren Ellis decided to launch NewUniversal, a retake on a failed 80's project to start a new universe of heroes and villains. Ellis' launch, NewUniversal: Everything Went White, was an excellent recreation. The ideas are novel, and the advent of superhumanity is done in such a creative way that I can't help but fanboy over it a little bit.

However great NewUniversal's launch was, though, it ended after six issues. I wasn't sure how it did, financially, so I wasn't sure if we'd ever see it again. However, a few months back, I noticed that Marvel's solicits page had NewUniversal: Shockfront, a new mini by Ellis, scheduled. Soon after that, I saw NewUniversal: 1959, a one-shot, also up. It seems that NewUniversal did well enough to warrant another series - and a few supporting one-shots.

Comparisons to Marvel's other new Universe, the Ultimate Universe, is inevitable. But where the Ultimate line exists solely to cash in on the Big Names of the Marvel Universe (but, of course, far more EXTREME!!!), NewUniversal is building it's universe slowly. It has no big names - though 1959 gives us the first recognizable character from the Marvel Universe in a brief, sad cameo. It just has great setting-building and story-telling.

NewUniversal shares some big similarities with the Marvel Universe. Super-humanity is treated with fear and loathing - and super-humanity is far from perfect. But so far, it has a purpose. They're here for a reason, but humanity doesn't know that. All they know is that there's something bigger and better, and no longer entirely human. What happens if they start to breed? Do they experience the same emotions as us? Do they think the same? How does this happen?

NewUniversal: Everything Went White introduces you to Project Spitfire, as well as the current batch of superhumans that emerged during the White Event. You meet Philip Voight, the man in charge of Project Spitfire. You find out why the super-humans are being created, who has been chosen, and what obstacles stand in their way.

NewUniversal: Shockfront deals with the emergence of other superhumans. Scarily enough, the emergence of superhumans that aren't part of any Plan, that seem to have no explanation. Meanwhile, we see the story of the original four superhumans (Justice, Cipher, Nightmask, and Starbrand) continue as Project Spitfire finally moves against them.

NewUniversal: 1959 shows you the origins of Project Spitfire, and Philip Voight's first terrible task as it's agent and champion. This single-issue is a great starting point and an examination of the mythology of the NewUniversal setting. It's a little sad, but it's an excellent first issue by relatively unknown writer Kieron Gillen.

NewUniversal: Conqueror delves further into the past of the NewUniversal setting, going back thousands of years to perhaps the first super-humans ever to exist. They built and defended a mythic city in the far past, the technological capital of the world for centuries yet to come, defended by Starr. I don't know how this one will turn out, but it's set to release on August 20th, and based on the quality of the rest of the series, I'll be looking forward to it.

"This is a paradigm shift. The universe sends a Justice, to maintain order. A Cipher, for the technological leap. A Nightmask, for the consciousness shift. And a Starbrand, for defense."

The Best Books You Aren't Reading: Manhunter

A few years back, Marc Andreyko, a rookie writer for DC, launched a book called Manhunter. It isn't the first book to bear that name - it's the third, in fact. But, while Andreyko made nods to the previous series', and indeed used many of the previous casts in his supporting cast, he and artist Jesus Saiz worked together to create a new person to wear the Manhunter mantle: Kate Spencer.

Kate Spencer smokes. Kate Spencer is a divorced, single mother. Kate Spencer is violent. Kate Spencer is fully-clad. In other words, Kate Spencer is everything you never expect to see in comics today. Hell, Marvel recently jumped through hoops vast, flaming, and cheesy to avoid having Spider-Man get a divorce, and most comics don't tend to deal with divorced single mothers. She's a lawyer on the West Coast, a famous prosecutor who loves to shut down the sociopaths and sickos of the DC Universe. But when Copperhead, a vicious cannibalistic murderer, gets off on a technicality, Kate takes justice into her own hand. She steals some equipment, blackmails a tech guy into helping her - does whatever is needed to get the job done. And what the job is, that first time, is putting a hole bigger than a fist through Copperhead's skull.

Kate may not be like the average DC character, but the tone and style of the book are pure DC. There's a deep sense of interconnectedness that Kate has with the past - one slow-burning side-plot throughout the series has to deal with her unknown father, and his past in the DCU. She's got connections to a number of bigger heroes, but she doesn't really care, in the end. All she wants is to stop these madmen from running loose.

The book has a solid, well-rounded supporting cast, ranging from her young son Ramsey to her co-worker's boyfriend, JSA's Obsidian. Mark Shaw and Cameron Chase are two old-school names that some fans might recognize, and they're both given a second life in the book, as is Director Bones.

Manhunter is a good book. It's not great, but it'll never let you down. It's violent, but fun, with more than a touch of criticism on the society that lets these people run free. But it never has that sense of "I MUST BE BAD-ASS" that pervades and often destroys the similarly themed Punisher books.

Manhunter just restarted. The entire first 'season', in a way, is collected in a series of four trades, and there are two issues out now in the second season, a perfectly fine jumping-on point, from the looks of it. Manhunter had a very near run-in with death a year or two back, as the book was on the verge of cancellation. An inordinately strong fan-campaign saved it, but good will and great fans only takes you so far, and the book deserves at least a shot.

Remember the deal? You buy an issue of one of The Best Books You Aren't Reading (just click on the tag below for a full list of 'em) and you don't enjoy it, I'll send you an MVL/DCL/MUN/promo EA or rare and I'll ask you to find some sort of contest to give the copy you didn't like away.

Sorry I don't have a plethora of images for you to enjoy on this one - I'll add 'em as I find 'em. As is, take it on my word: the art is good, the writing is good, the book is good.

Edit: Also, as a note, this was apparently my 75th post. Go me!

The Best Books You Aren't Reading: The All-New Atom

First, I have to apologize for not posting that deck-list - I left the deck at my girlfriend's place. Apologies, all. Now, back to me telling you what you should be doing with your life and your money.

The All-New Atom is insane. I mean this literally. The book has some of the craziest imagery, settings, and characters imaginable. Born from the mind of comics legend Grant Morrison and written by one of the industry's best, Gail Simone, The All-New Atom deals with Ryan Choi, a young Chinese professor come to America to teach in place of his mentor and friend, the missing Ray Palmer.

The first thing the book establishes Ivy Town, the traditional home of Ray Palmer, as a magnificently warped town. There are Lovecraftian-style Old Ones in the sewers and a group of the most bizarre aliens around living on and controlling the town's dogs. Some of the parts of town dress and talk largely like it were still the 1700s (but with updated slang). And let's not even star talking about the Ivy University teaching staff...

The one thing this book has that most other books on the shelves right now don't is a sense of humor. A great sense of humor. The dialogue is fun, but it's more than that. The supporting cast is great - especially the Lighter Than Air Society, and Head, and Doctor Zuel, and... - and it has, in the Big 2 of Marvel and DC, some of the craziest visual storytelling around.

So, here are a few things that should entice you to read The All-New Atom.

The first arc deals largely with a war between Magic and Science for the soul of Ivy Town, with Ryan Choi stuck in the middle. On one side, the Waiting, alien conqueror wannabes. On the other side, representing magic, is M'Nagallah, an ancient Cancer God and former enemy of Swamp Thing. There's betrayal, a little bit of romance, an enormous romance, fighting, fighting, mad science, and the Old Ones. How much better could things be?

So, to recap:

1: Awesome Fights!
(I had to leave out the tragically awesome fight that preceded this scene between him and a giant, naked Giganta)


Aw, man, the above image is obviously not working. That's tragic - I'll try and find my copy to scan.

2: Gail Simone gives you Head.



Head is an evil alien overlord conqueror captured by Ryan Choi while he was trying to stop the aliens from killing his father and best friend. Ryan never really got around to returning him to the aliens, so now, Head lives with him.

3: ...interesting cameos?



Indeed. Reality has jumped the shark.

Give the book a shot. Remember what I said a week or two back? If you want to try an issue of one of my The Best Books You Aren't Reading, leave a comment here telling me which book you're willing to try, and I'll give you a good jumping off point. If you aren't satisfied with the book, PM me on VSRealms and let me know why you didn't enjoy it, and I'll send you a MVL or DCL foil or rare.

The list is now as follows
The All-New Atom (Gail Simone)
Criminal (Ed Brubaker)
Blue Beetle (John Rogers)
The Immortal Iron Fist (Ed Brubaker)

The Best Books You Aren't Reading Best Deal You Aren't Taking Deal Offer Extravaganza

Now, I've opened my mouth and gone and told you exactly what books I think deserve your attention. But it's not just your attention I'm asking you to give - it's your money*. And your money could be going towards other things, not better, but at least as good. VS, just to name one.

And not all of you are comics fans, or you don't read too much beyond a core set of books you've always read. It's tough, generally, to convince people to branch out to these titles with characters they know nothing about.

So, I'm making you an offer, and I'll remind you of this offer every time a do a new The Best Books You Aren't Reading segment. If you buy an issue of one of these series on my recommendation and don't like it, PM me on Vsrealms at SeventhSoldier, let me know what series is was. I'll mail you a random Marvel Legends or DC Legends rare or foil, or a random EA (don't worry - I'll only pull from my pile of Silver Age hobby league stuff)

Now, you can't go and buy 10 issues of Blue Beetle, tell me you hate them all, and then expect 10 rares. I'll give you once chance per series.

I know you won't make back the money you spent on that issue, probably - I don't have a lot of the pricey rares. So, I apologize for that. But, hey, you get a random card if you give one of these series a shot and aren't satisfied with it. That's not a bad deal, all things considered.

And, you know, you'll have an issue of a comic that you don't want. I won't ask you to send it to me, 'cuz that would be too much of an expense to you. So, I'll ask you to give that comic away somehow to another reader who has never done it.

You could give it away as part of a hobby league, or as a contest of some sorts - deck-building, a small tournament, I don't know. Or, you could just ask your local comic shop to give the copy away to someone else who hasn't read it before.

So, there you have it - pick up an issue of John Roger's Blue Beetle, Ed Brubaker/Matt Fraction's Immortal Iron Fist, or Ed Brubaker's Criminal. If you don't like it, tell me about it, I'll reward you for giving it a shot. That's the deal. I'll remind you sometime soon.

Finally, if you want to give this a shot, you can always ask me what issue I think you should pick up. 1 isn't always the best place to start, after all...

Enjoy!

*Unless, of course, you do what I did when I first tried a number of series' and avail yourself to your excellent local library system.

The Best Books You Aren't Reading: Immortal Iron Fist

This one was iffy for me. Not because it's not good - the insane kung-fu exploitation style action meshes so well with the super-hero genre it continually amazes me that we don't see more of it - but because, unlike Criminal and Blue Beetle, and some of the books I'm going to talk about in upcoming segments, it's not on the verge of cancellation. Still, hovering on 30,000 readers and not coming out monthly, it's still not exactly a high-profile book, and the sheer awesome it contains compels me to compel you to read it. So, we're going to have a little talk.

The Immortal Iron Fist is very much a product of cheesy 70s martial arts films. Daniel Rand is a rich white kid, owner of an enormous corporation. One might be tempted, in fact, to call him a millionaire playboy. But, in truth, Danny isn't a playboy. He doesn't have the heart for Bruce's lie. Danny is, really, a pretty sweet, optimistic guy. He's also a guy who plunged his fist into the still-beating heart of Shou-Lao the Undying in one of the Seven Cities of Heaven, and emerged with the powers, and responsibilities, of The Immortal Iron Fist.

Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker work together here to do more than just turn Danny into one of the best pulp action heroes in the Marvel Universe. They're also greatly adding to the mythos. Almost every issue of the first arc, titled "The Last Iron Fist Story", opens with a 1-3 page intro to a past iron fist, some of which have even gotten entire awesome issues, and some of whom have become fan-favorite characters in their own rights. Like, meet this Iron Fist of the past...



The Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay was one of the more popular single-issue stories, both for its action, but also because it's a genuinely sweet love story, in a way. And the entire first arc of Immortal Iron Fist deals with Danny meeting the Iron Fist from WW II, Orson Randall. The two are confronted by the Hordes of Hydra, led by the Steel Serpent, an old nemesis of the Iron Fist legacy due to a bad past. The action comes heavy, but the story and dialogue are never sacrificed to make room for action scenes. Lots of fun.

Finally, I want you all to remember, I was talking about madcap exploitation action? Well, Iron Fist is joined by an excellent supporting cast. First off, there's Orson Randall, introduced above. Then, there's the Old Guard, Danny's friends that have always been there. As much as Bendis wants me to love Luke Cage in every book he writes, Brubaker is the one who got me to like him. Luke and Danny, along with Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, the old Heroes for Hire. Here they are, together again despite the fact that they're on opposite sides of the Registration Act.





Immortal Iron Fist is probably the best action comic on the market. David Aja, the artist, seems to have immense fun drawing the martial arts action, and I've never seen an artist with a better sense of how to do it. The book is crazy and keeps up its sense of fun. The plot is great, the one-shots are gorgeous and bizarre, and the book is just pretty. Go pick it up.

The Best Books You Aren't Reading: Blue Beetle

Another one of the best books that you probably aren’t reading is here for you: Blue Beetle. John Rogers has no history in the comics industry, aside from an obvious love of the industry. Together, he worked with comics-legend Keith Giffen to start a new Blue Beetle series honoring the legacy of recently-deceased Ted Kord. The series got off to a rocky start with a perfectly average first arc, but Jaime Reyes, the hispanic teenager they created to fill the Blue Beetle identity, has become a cult favorite, with a small but extremely loyal fanbase and a great deal of critical acclaim.

So…why all the praise? I mean, if a book isn’t selling well, how good can it be? Well, first off, ‘selling well’ is hard to figure out in comics these days. Blue Beetle is selling horribly in single issues…but, Marvel and DC are realizing, slowly, that 15,000-25,000 readers is becoming the average for the industry on books that don’t feature heroes like Batman or Spider-Man, or Events. The industry has changed, become more fearful of new characters, and they’ve started to realize it. They’ve also realized the importance of trades, and Blue Beetle trades sell extremely well on places like Amazon.com. So, it’s selling alright.

Now, here’s a brief rundown of why Blue Beetle is one of the best books that you aren’t reading.

1) The characters. John Rogers has a strange habit – everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame in the series. The perfectly normal supporting cast all have moments of bad-assery that will make you grin and cheer. Besides that, though, they’re all quite realistic, and deal with real issues. Blue Beetle features, in fact, one of the most realistic and dynamic supporting casts in all of current comicdom.
2) The story. Blue Beetle took a little while to start going – the first arc is fairly slow and purely average, and the second arc, while good, doesn’t feel extraordinarily important. However, many seemingly unconnected events tie together nicely by the end of Rogers’ run. It takes awhile for things to come together, but it’s immensely satisfying when it does.
3) The humor. It’s one of the few genuinely funny books on the shelves that’s funny in a way that feels completely natural. Banter is age-appropriate to the characters, and gives a sense of their lives outside of Jaime’s superhero world.
4) Finally, Blue Beetle has some of the best allusions to the rest of the DC Universe out there. Batman finds him to be a responsible kid struggling with something bigger than himself, and you start to see tiny, interesting little things pop up to make superheroing a little easier for him, like insurance covering the destruction of his house…

Blue Beetle isn’t the best book out there by any means. But if you’re looking for a good, fun read, you should check it out. It’s one of the most realistic books I’ve ever read when it comes to simple human relationships, and it’s a joy to read because of it. It’s not grim, it’s not gritty, and there’s not much angst, so if you’re looking for a break from all that normal fare, go pick it up.

The Best Books You Aren't Reading: Criminal

This is the first in a set of comics-related articles. In case you couldn't tell from the pretentious and obvious title, it's about some of the best comic books on the shelves that have a criminally small readership (that sure was punny, right? Right? Oh, god, shoot me). Today, I'll be talking about Criminal, a book put out by Marvel Comics under their Icon label, and a book that has just very recently gotten a second shot as they released Criminal volume 2 #1. And before I receive accusations of being indier-than-thou (seriously, I don't think Criminal counts as indie...at all, but I have been called such), let me just point out: you KNOW all the big-name good books. You know that Ed Brubaker is doing great stuff in Captain America, and some fine work in Daredevil. You know all about Grant Morrison's Batman or All-Star Superman. Those books that sell well, some of them are great - but they're selling well, so obviously, people KNOW they're great. Criminal or Blue Beetle? Those are the books that could use a boost.

While there is continuity to Criminal, each arc is kept apart from the one before it, with a different main character and an all-new supporting cast. Under a less-talented writer, this might cause some problems, but Ed Brubaker, long familiar with noir-styled comics, seems to enjoy being able to shift his focus.

Now, why should you care? That's the question that makes books like Criminal a tough sell. It doesn't have any of the characters you know and love. It's constantly in danger of cancellation. It veers off the mainstream superhero stylings. Why am I asking you to throw down your precious money on a complete wild card.

Well, a few reasons.

The art. The art on Criminal, done by Sean Phillips, is amazing. No, really, it's really damn good. If I had scans - and I WILL have scans once I get my scanner hooked up - I'd post them to prove it. Suffice to say, Phillips' noir-stylings and perfect panelling give the series so much atmosphere it hurts, and he can do a great job with any kind of scene: action, romance, or just the dreaded talking-heads segments.

The characters. The characters are complex and entertaining. They're realistic, and you realize as the story goes on that you can understand why these people became criminals. Leo Patterson is one of the best new characters in recent memory - he's heroic in his own way, but the criminal culture has him tagged as a coward, just because he's smarter than your average crook. Tracy Lawless is a whole other kind of criminal: he's the sort of in-your-face, fearless bastard that you don't want to run into on a street-corner, the one who shows you just how important how you're raised can be.

It never insults your intelligence. Brubaker doesn't assume that you're too stupid to put A and B together. You begin to catch on to all the subtle relationships that exist between even minor characters. It seems like each member of these teams is a fully realized character, one about whom the next arc could be featured without trouble....

It's not a lot, but it's there. Criminal is consistently well-written, with beautiful art and a complex crime story. It won the Eisner Award for Best New Series in 2007. And it's a great book with a small readership that deserves a much larger one. If you like crime dramas, heist stories, or getting in close and dirty with the criminal underworld, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Criminal is for you.

On top of a new issue just recently coming out, the first two arcs are collected in trades.

Criminal: Coward

Criminal: Lawless

I sincerely hope you give the book, and others that I'll talk about sooner or later, a shot. Ask your local libraries to pick it up, if you don't want to drop the cash yourself. Libraries are an important resource, and are slowly becoming more and more open to comic books.

Enjoy!