Retro Review

There was a three-week break between shipments to my local comic book store this time around, so there was a lot to look through. By the way, have you any idea how difficult it is to avoid spoilers when you get your comics later than people in the US? If there’s a comic or storyline coming up that I don’t want to know anything about, I have to stay away from so many web sites, particularly if it’s a big book. We have the same problem over here with movies. I saw The Dark Knight at its German premiere… a good five weeks after most of my friends in the US had seen it.

Anyway, as always, I spotted quite a few interesting books in the large shipment that had come in, but the one that got me most excited was Top Ten Season Two #1. I was initially sceptical, because Paul di Filippo and Jerry Ordway’s Top Ten: Beyond the Farthest Precinct, the sequel to the original series, was only average, but seeing as Zander Cannon and Gene Ha are on board this time, I’m more confident. I will warn you that there are a couple of repeated plot devices, but it’s too early to say where they’re going with it. The art is excellent, and the characterization is spot on, so it’s shaping up to be a great read.

Of course, the best book of the month was Jeff Smith’s Rasl #3. This is an excellent piece of fiction. Nothing like Bone, nothing like everything I’ve read, Rasl feels like the work of a writer who’s matured and is ready to deliver a masterpiece. I can’t praise it enough. Bone was good: it had a solid well-crafted story, and a unique style of art, and was thoroughly enjoyable, but somehow familiar. Rasl is unique.

I really liked the cover to Secret Invasion: Front Line #4. It’s an interesting image in an interesting style. It calls to mind wartime propaganda, and even if you’re not following the story or interested in the crossover, the cover is worth a look. This mini-series is probably the best thing about Secret Invasion; it focuses on ordinary people caught up in the warzone, and it has a strong post-apocalyptic vibe with a disparate group of strangers having to work together. It’s different, and that’s always good.

What have you been reading?

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