What I buy Wednesdays April 1, 2009

Welcome to Week 2 of the internet's most popular selection of subjective sequential greatness. Let's get to the goodies;

The Flash: Rebirth #1 (DC): Sometimes you have to go with the known commodity. Johns and Van Sciver know their shit. They know how to jam together, and they know how to successfully revamp characters in such a way that they maintain their classical identities, while updating them to the extent that they can operate within the modern context of comics. They don't disappoint here, setting up the Silver Age iconoclast Barry Allen for his uneasy reentry to the modern DCU. While I think the new, CSI detective angle on the character will be a strong one, I'm more interested to see what Johns will cook up for the other parts of the Flash family, like sometimes Kid Flash Bart Allen. The thing that Green Lantern: Rebirth did best was not only bring Hal Jordan into the limelight, but also better define the other Green Lanterns in contrast to him. If this title can do that, we can expect the Flash franchise to sparkle as brightly as GL. Plus, my first exposure to this creative team came on the hard-to-find Flash: Iron Heights one-shot, and all the nods to that story here shows how committed to this story and character these guys are. Despite Final Crisis, this is probably DC's most important book of this year.




Amazing Spider-Man #590 (Marvel): I'm not quite sure why I don't buy every issue of this series. I think it's because I can. That's actually a compliment to the creative and editorial team of this book, because while I enjoy each and every issue I read, and while I know there are plotlines and stories I miss, I never feel like the title has gone so far that I'm out of the loop. Also, due to their really unparalleled patience with regards to long-term story threads, there are still a bunch of questions set up from the first issue of OMD to be answered. This Fantastic Four team up issue finally begins to address the mystery surrounding Spidey's once public, but now once again secret identity, and how that affects people who consider themselves his friends, like the Human Torch. Plus it's a classic team up of mighty Marvel proportions from Dan Slott and Barry Kitson, so there's really no good reason to miss it.Unless you hate fun, that is.





Haunted Tank #5 of 5 (Vertigo): Again, this is a title I've seen gestate and evolve from its early stages. It's a really cool story with subjects spanning race, America history, foreign policy, Confederacy etiquette. Frank Marraffino delivers aggressive scripts, and Henry Flint portrays an unflinching Iraq. Sometimes to be successful, a Vertigo book need only be different enough from its peers on the shelves to deliver on the brand's promise, and I think this book does that.











Killer of Demons #2 of 3 (Image): I bought the first issue of this series because of Atomic Robo pencil-man Scott Wegener. I bought the second issue because writer Christopher Yost delivered a strong enough concept with the first issue to warrant the follow up. The teeny-bopper Satanist vixen sociopath was, ahem, an interesting inclusion. You don't usually get that many panty-shots in an adventure comic. Oh, plus, foul mouthed angels kick ass.










Destroyer #1 (Marvel MAX): Any time Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker make a comicbook together, I buy it. I don't care if it's Invincible or Mille the Model Spends Too Long in the Ladies' Room. I'm there. Never mind the fact that in this issue a guy impales an opponent with a rifle while screaming "Guns are for pussies!" Yeah. Sold.













Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #1 of 3 (Vertigo): I don't think one needs to have seen an original to enjoy the sequel, and that was the thinking with this pickup. Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart have made their bones enough in this industry for me to want to see what this book's all about. If anything, this new book is more likely to make me check out the old stuff. Which is, y'know, exactly what Vertigo editorial and collected editions is hoping for. Happy to oblige.










Jersey Gods #3 (Image): I'm trying with this book. They've had no shortage of Hall of Fame cover talent, (with Paul Pope bringing it here), and the Kirby- infused artwork by Dan McDaid belongs on the highest top shelf you've got, but I've really struggled to get invested in this story. No slight to writer Glen Brunswick, because I don't think he'd be able to wrangle all this talent if he didn't have one helluva hook, but I'm still waiting for it. I've found the dialogue stilted, and the characters flat, but I'm trying. My hope is that once all the world-building is complete, and the premise fleshed out, the voices and characters will breathe a little more, and ring more true. Great covers and art can keep my mighty dollar coming for a while, but eventually I'm going to need more substance.






Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #1 of 2 (Marvel): Marvel's at its best when being free-flowing and letting creativity guide content. Today's assistants are tomorrow's hiring editors, so checking what they get up to when left to their own devices is a vital exercise. This special was in line with Marvel's fun-loving image, and gave various talents a chance to work on less-known properties. I was surprised, actually, that there weren't more unknown creators working on these books, but I suppose that was left to-










Astonishing Tales #3 (Marvel): I don't know why this book is succeeding for me everywhere Marvel Presents failed, but man am I digging it. Each of the ongoing plotlines have been just strong enough to sustain my interest issue to issue, and the talent is just off-beat enough to warrant their own platform. Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra are the breakout stars of this book, with their hilarious buddy story set in the Mojoverse. This story is just a distinct enough flavor that it couldn't exist without the platform Astonishing offers, which is exactly how it earned my $4.









The Freedom Collective: Communism's Mightiest Super-heroes (Rough Cut Comics):Looking at the cover, and peeping the first page, I saw that the whole pitch for this book was “What if the Avengers were communists.” So, yeah, I was sold.














Justice Society of America #25 (DC): Johns really integrates artists' talents into his stories as well as anyone in comics. All of his collaborations with Jerry Ordway have either hearkened to the classical stylings of Earth-2, or channeled Ordway's earlier success, as in this arc's Marvel family focus. Black Adam is the single most compelling character in the DCU to my mind, and I never tire of seeing his rise, or fall. Johns puts his prized toy on the shelf here, but there's not a doubt in my mind that he's just being saved for the right story, in the future. Also, I am super bummed that Johns will be leaving this book, but all good things, I guess. I also hear really good word on upcoming writer Matthew Sturges, so maybe hope is on the horizon. After seeing the train-wrecks that were the follow-ups to Johns' runs on Teen Titans and The Flash, I can only hope.






Deadpool #9 (Marvel): This Thunderbolts crossover has been a fun celebration of the Marvel U's more morally challenged corner, and this issue keeps pace. The only thing more hilarious than mass-murderers in love is trite sitcom-style hijinx of body doubles and girl-fiending. I don't know why Marvel bothered teaming up 'Pool with Cable for a series when Wade and Taskmaster so obviously make the best blade-wielding duo since Starsky met Hutch... and they found swords.











Secret Warriors (Marvel): Jonathan Hickman has made Nick Fury the badass he needs to be. It says a lot that I empathize more him than his punk squadron of young operatives. Caselli is doing the work of his life with the pencil, selling the quiet drama as effectively as the loud action sequences. The story is as layered and complex as one would want a spy book about secret worldwide organizations to be, and it features a cast that has been tempered in the greatest battle of recent MU memory. I think this book has rode the wave of Secret Invasion as well as anyone could have hoped.




War of Kings (Marvel): Sci-fi (or Sy-Fy if you're a fucking dumbass network) is always best served as parable. The more outlandish the situation, the more vital the grounding. Jim Starlin got this, which is why even the most ridiculous Infinity saga had, at its heart, very real, basic, philosophical debates. After years of positioning, Marvel editorial finally has the pieces in place for a massive, intergalactic 'world' war of each and every fleshed out alien race in the Mighty Marvel stable. The story is regal and grand, and Paul Pelletier is as strong a penciler as there is in the game. I don't want to care about the far corners of the Marvel U, but there I am anyway.