GIANT – SIZE Weekly Haul #11

Good evening! The sun may be out where you are, but it’s a warm, rainy night here in the swamp. Outside in the distance, the bass-line ripple of thunder underscores the discordant, drunken beat of the rain and the high chorus of the cicadas, and here in the rambling Mansion my wife, my ancient monster-cat friend, and I call home, it is time for another Giant Sized edition of the Weekly Haul! We’ve been gone for almost a month, but the amount of comics we have accrued is downright irresponsible, so let’s dive right in and see what’s in the stash this week, shall we?

You know in your heart that that photo of a wistful Mr. Jackson posing with Immortal Men #1 is one of the best we’ve ever posted on this site. As for the book itself, it is the definition of a solid comic, it’s not fantastic, but there are enough cool character designs and weird dreamy action sequences to make it interesting. Captain America 698-702 have been great as Mark Waid winds down his short and sweet run, with absolutely fantastic art from Chris Samnee. I’ve started picking up Batman again after dropping it for 2 issues due to budget and shelf space, because he’s getting hitched to Catwoman and and I’m a sentimental Swamp Ghoul who want’s to see that happen. Also it’s a great title. Koschei The Deathless continues to be the best Mignola book since Hellboy In Hell, and I couldn’t resist Action Comics #1,000 with that incredible Mike Allred cover. The double sized anniversary issue also contains a great collection of stories by DC’s top talent, even the duds ain’t bad.

Between the Free Comic Book Day extravaganza at the old Swamp Trading Post and a trip to a creaky dockside comic shop up in Froghook Maine one rain soaked morning,  I’ve picked up a veritable buttload of comics. Batman White Knight wraps up this month, and Andy Kubert’s New Challengers begins. A new arc in Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. also starts up this month as well as the new Avengers book from Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness. It features the ancient Avengers (Odin, Pheonix, Iron Fist, Black Panther, the Spirit of Vengeance, Neanderthal Starbrand, and Agamotto in 1,000,000 BC) plus a cool new team line up and evil Celestials, it’s great so far. The Mighty Moe Szyzlak is the funniest and most on-brand Simpsons comic I’ve ever read, and I nabbed the 2nd and 3rd issues of Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin’s Barrier after the 1st free issue turned out to be my surprise favorite from Free Comic Book Day. On top of this, I piled on a healthy handful of Marvel’s True Believer $1 reprints of Wolverine and Captain Marvel comics and regret nothing.

Digging through dusty dollar bins at the old Swamp Trading Post, I found Swamp Thing #46, Crisis on Infinite Earths tie- in that I couldn’t resist with Batman, Hawkman, and Phantom Stranger on the cover. I also found Dark Horse Presents #51, part 2 of the first ever Sin City story from Frank Miller, not a bad pair for two bucks.

While taking full advantage of the fire sale at the old Swamp Trading Post, I picked up JLA Volumes 7 and 8, completing Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke’s run, and including work from classic 70’s X-Men pair Chris Claremont and John Byrne, I genuinely wonder if that’s any good, I stopped paying attention to Claremont around 1992. I also used the sale as a good excuse to pick up Grant Morrison and J.G. Jone’s Final Crisis, an imperfect but very fun and re-readable miniseries I initially read from the library. Along with it I picked up Grant Morrison and Chris Truog’s Animal Man Vol.1. I read it that very day in a sunny garden and enjoyed it so much I ran back to the Swamp Trading Post the next day to get Volumes 3 and 4, which were in the dirt cheap bin for $5 each, but vol. 2 was not available, anywhere it turns out, they are between printings.

After a week of grueling dirty work, I was up North in the ramshackle haunted port town of Froghook. I was on the road in a driving rain when I pulled over at the sight of a chipped and tarnished sign reading ‘COMICS’ swinging in the wind outside an ancient dockside shop. In this humble, seldom-visited shop I found Animal Man vol. 2, completing my brand new collection, as well as Head Lopper Vol. 2: The Crimson Tower, Andrew MacLean’s barbarian cartoon masterpiece.

When the shop keeper, an old cycloptic sea-captain named Obed something or other, saw my selection, he challenged me to an ancient sailor’s drinking game called “who goes blind first”. When I inevitably beat him, I won two free books of my choosing. I walked out of that store with difficulty, as well as The Flash by Mark Waid Vol. 3,  and The Black Panther: Panther’s Rage Epic Collection.

You can see the book here, where Mr. Jackson gazes through it as he contemplates his Totemic King T’Challa. Being a fan of the late 70’s Kirby Black Panther series as well as the more recent Reggie Hudlin run, I have somehow never read this 70’s run by Don McGregor and Rich Buckler before, but I’ve heard nothing but great things. It includes among other things, the storyline the recent and excellent Black Panther movie was based on, as well as a lot of dinosaurs, monsters, and pretty great artwork, as well as the 2-part first appearances of the Black Panther from Jack Kirby himself in Fantastic Four. So far this book has been excellent and I’m glad I drank that old pirate under the table for it. Though I wish I had not outpaced him by such a margin, I tried to grab a bite down the street afterword, but the clientele looked to me, in my stupor, like a bunch of giant fish. I would have slept it off somewhere if I felt even slightly safe in that weird little town afterword, but I hit the road. Those Fish Men gave me the heebie jeebies.

And that ends this gigantic, rambling edition of the Weekly Haul! I’m going to be working my way through this stash for weeks! And as for my signature sign off, GET OFF MY LAWN YA UGLY PUNKS! See ya next time!

-Grim Doin’s