Harvey Pekar

This Week in Geek is a weekly blog about new comics written post-comic-shop-visit by WorthPoint comic book Worthologist Matt Baum. Every Wednesday Matt takes a look at the week’s new comics from a collector’s point-of-view and discusses which the comics he’ll be purchasing and why. Make sure to click on the hot links for previews and more information on the comics, characters, story-lines and creators discussed here. Make sure and post your comments below.

Sad news this week. Celebrated indy comic creator Harvey Pekar (pronounced: pee-car) died this week at age 70 in his home in Cleveland, Ohio. Cause of death is yet to be determined, but Pekar reportedly suffered from asthma, prostate cancer and depression. The latter, undoubtedly, fueled his stark and unabashed autobiographical comic series American Splendor. Pekar worked with several famous indy-comics pioneers, but his most famous collaborations were with R. Crumb on his first issue of American Splendor, published in 1976, which was adapted to film in 2003 starring Paul Giamatti as Pekar. His work is by no means an easy read, it but pushed independent comics in an autobiographical direction that had never been seen before. Harvey Pekar will certainly be remembered as the grumpy old man of indy-comics and a true pioneer.

The Cover of the Week:

Steve Rogers: Super Soilder #1

Before I get into my stack, here’s my pick for the best looking cover on the stands this week. Steve Rogers: Super Soilder #1. Dale Eaglesham is quickly becoming one of my favorite artists at Marvel. His Fantastic Four work was amazing but cut short for this miniseries. So it better be good. The cover certainly didn’t disappoint.

The Stack:

Here’s a look at my stack of comics from Wednesday, July 7, 2010, followed by some short reviews of stuff I’ve read and some thoughts on why I’m picking these titles up. Remember, no one is sending me this stuff for free so all comics reviewed here are comics that I bought. Make sure and post your own weekly stack of comics below so I can make fun of what you’re reading and vice-versa. For a full list of comics that shipped last week, click here. To find a comic shop near you, click here.

Amazing Spider-Man #636
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1
Batman and Robin #13
Brightest Day #5
Godland #32
Hawkeye and Mockingbird #3
Hellboy: The Storm #1
iZombie #3
Moon Knight #10
Red Robin #14
Scarlet #1
Secret Six #23
Shadowland #1
Steve Rogers: Super Soldier #1
X-Force #28
X-Men #1

Thoughts on the Pile:

After each review you’ll find my new rating system which works on a four level scale consisting of “Leave it” (the lowest rating meaning leave it on the stand), “Read it” (pick it up and give the issue a read if you have time), “Buy it” (worth the cover price) and “Archive it” (the highest rating meaning add it to your permanent collection). I’ve also thrown in a Collector’s Rating scale measuring from “Low” to “Medium” to “High,” with a brief explanation of whether you’ll need to add the comic to your collection. Let me know what you think.

Vengeance of Moon Knight #10

Vengeance of Moon Knight #10: I’m really beginning to wonder why I’ve now bought 10 issues of this series. At first I was just excited to read a Moon Knight series that I could understand, and the amazing art of Jerome Opena didn’t hurt either. As we’ve trudged on through the series, I really can’t remember much other than the Opena art and, now that he’s left the title, there isn’t much worth remembering. I want to care about Moon Knight, but writer Greg Hurwitz isn’t giving us much more than repetitive tough-guy posturing and one-liners. It would’ve been nice to see Hurwitz re-launch Moon Knight, much like Ed Brubaker did with Iron Fist in 2007, when he took an underdeveloped backstory and fleshed it out into a whole world for the character. Let me tell you: If anyone needs their origin and backstory fleshed out, it’s Moon Knight. The guy’s wikipedia page reads like a choose-your-own-adventure novel written by multiple schizophrenics. I’m just not sure who Marc Spectre (Moon Knight’s real name) is anymore, and Hurwitz isn’t giving me much reason to care. This latest issue sees Moon Knight teamed with the Secret Defenders, but rather than showing readers why he’s on this team—or what his motivation for joining them—instead we just get a Moon Knight-narrated Secret Avenger story full of that aforementioned tough-guy posturing and one-liners. Not to mention there’s already a Secret Avengers monthly title where you can read the vastly better-written adventures of this team by Ed Brubaker. It seems Hurwitz is missing a golden chance to establish some real characterization for Moon Knight here. Show us him and Steve Rogers on a two-man mission, or even Steve trusting Moon Knight on a solo mission. Show us Moon Knight trying to redeem himself in the eyes of the former Captain America and prove himself to his team-mates. Give us something other than punching, kicking, rip-off-bat-gadgets and one liners like “That ain’t gonna happen today.” I was pleased to see Marvel giving artist Juan Jose Ryp some work. Ryp has penciled several Avatar titles, including No Hero, and is known for his busy style, reminiscent of Geof Darrow, and his talent at illustrating incredible amounts of gore (Ryp even succeeds to sneak in here in a scene where a victim has his skin literally blown from his bones). I look forward to more Ryp pencils at Marvel, but I don’t know how much more Moon Knight I can take.

Rating: Leave it.
Collector’s Rating: Low: Moon Knight isn’t selling well and this issue may have been its last chance at a sales boost before cancelation, which may have already happened, seeing as the next Moon Knight issue is re-titled Moon Knight: Shadowland #1 and ties into the Daredevil Shadowland story. If the Moon Knight: Shadowland miniseries doesn’t drum up some sales, I wouldn’t expect to see another series starring Marc Spector anytime soon.

Shadowland #1

Shadowland #1: Let’s start with the cover. I don’t get it. I love John Cassiday but this is not a good John Cassiday cover. It’s weird at best but definitely not good. Luckily, the inside art by Billy Tan is amazing, with just a couple of exceptions. His Iron Man just looks strange. This is the second time I’ve complained about Iron Man looking odd when drawn by two different artists, making me wonder if the new suit isn’t hard to make look good by anyone but Salvador Larocca. Story-wise, there’s some fun stuff going on here that’s been culminating in the pages of Daredevil for a while now. That said, and maybe I’ll learn more after reading the second part in Daredevil #508, but did Daredevil turn to the dark-side a little too quickly? Just last issue of DD he was still trying to convince The Hand to use non-lethal tactics. Now, with Shadowland #1, he’s . . . well, I won’t spoil anything for anyone here. Let’s just say DD isn’t the same ol’ Hornhead were used to. Shadowland looks to be fun and, hopefully, all the mini’s are as good as this issue. My first thought when hearing about the storyline was that of Tom Defalco’s classic Spider-Man storyline “Gang War,” which saw several of the street-level heroes coming together to stop a gang war in the wake of the disappearance of the Kingpin. I’m hoping writer Andy Diggle and crew can recapture that same magic. Now, I’ve gotta ask, why is the Punisher walking around looking just fine here when in his own book not only was he dismembered by Daken (Wolverine’s kid), but afterwards sewn back together as Frankencastle and fighting monster hunters? What the hell? Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect Frank to be a Punisher/Frankenstein forever. I want Frank Castle back and he is back in this issue. We just have no idea why or how it happened? Some of us are paying attention here, Marvel, and trying to play by your rules. The next Frankencastle storyline is a crossover with Daken so presumably, when it’s over, Frank will be restored. In the meantime, we’re left wondering what’s the deal with the Punisher? Good issue, just some bad timing.

Rating: Buy it.
Collector’s Rating: High. #1 sold out before it even hit the stands, making the initial scramble for issues online a crazy one. Now that the reorders shipped, prices have come down, but I’d expect them to creep back up as the story picks up steam.

X-Men #1

X-Men #1: I wanted to love this issue. This is not to say it was bad. This is not an Internet-hater’s review of X-Men #1. It was fine. Not great, but fine. Paco Medina is perfectly suited to be an X-Artist and I love his design on the Vampire in the S&M gear in the first few pages. His paneling is strong, the ladies are hot, and his Wolvie is mean as hell. Truthfully, I’d rather see Medina sharing the art duties on Uncanny X-Men with Terry Dodson than Greg Land, who I’m finished with. So, the art here is great. The story is . . . well, maybe I need to read more, but the steam that writer Victor Gischler had picked up with the Death of Dracula didn’t carry this book. I like the idea of the vampires spreading their infection through suicide bombers, but the Ann Rice-esque dialogue of the newly infected humans I can do without:

“I just can’t sleep. My heart is racing. The night seems brighter somehow. The night . . . Wants me.”

Bleccch. This is the stereotypical vampire BS that the Death of Dracula lacked and yes, it’s a very minor part of the story but it’s this same bad poetry and romantic garbage that turns me off the second a vampire enters the picture. My vampires are monsters, scary ones. Not good-looking high school kids or whiney poets with frilly sleeves. Now, honestly, there aren’t pages and pages of this dialog, and I admit I’m very sensitive to it. This issue was fine. I’ll pick up #2. I just didn’t love it. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe I’m still reeling from Second Coming and not ready for the next X-crossover. This just didn’t feel like the X-Men #1 I was hoping for. Not bad, but not great either.

Rating: Read it.
Collector’s Rating: Low. There should be piles of these at comic shops everywhere. Not piles like the last X-Men #1 in the early 1990s, but certainly plenty to go around.

There Can Be Only ONE

If I had to pick one comic to read this week and one only (I could probably get this basement gutted and actually make room for my damn collection) it would be . . .

Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1

Solicitation: The Young Avengers return in an epic, bi-monthly Marvel maxi-series by series creators Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung. When Wiccan’s reality-altering powers begin to rival those of the Scarlet Witch, the young hero sets out on a quest to find her that spans the Marvel Universe and pits Wiccan against both the Avengers and the Young Avengers. But will Wiccan’s desire to solve the mystery of his parentage be his salvation or his undoing?

Written by Alan Heinberg; art and cover by Jim Cheung.

Why this one? I loved the first Young Avengers series so much that I actually watched the first season of The OC, also written by Heinberg, and it wasn’t bad. It had been a long time since Marvel had introduced a group of young heroes that I actually cared about, let alone ones that were well written. Heinberg excels at writing believable teens, even when they have super powers. Not to mention writing a convincing homosexual relationship between two of the characters. Gutsy for a comic about kids. The other great thing about Young Avengers is the heritage. All these characters are directly related to current or former Avengers and have been brought together by those relationships. There’s history here, great dialogue and the amazing art of my personal favorite Marvel artist, Jim Cheung. All I ask is that Marvel doesn’t make us wait another five years for the next Young Avengers story.

Rating: Archive it.
Collector’s Rating: Medium; This is a tough one. It’s been just long enough since the last Young Avengers series that retailers may not think this one has selling power. This could be one to watch after issue #2 hits and #1 sells out with reorders.

Nerdy Question of the Week

X-Men vs. vampires; do you care? Is this fun, or just Marvel cashing in on Twilight and True Blood?

Collection Update!

Really bad, yet predictable news from Marvel this week: Jeff Parker, writer of Atlas, announced that he will be ending the series with issue #5. Notice I didn’t say Marvel was canceling the series. It sounds like Parker looked at the sales numbers on issue #1, which were very low, and decided to man-up, take his series out back and put a bullet in it. This is the second time Marvel has re-launched Atlas to low sales. It’s a great book, but it’s one that no one is reading. I admire Parker for making the choice to end the series on a high note and with some dignity. It’s just too bad sales weren’t better and it was by no fault of Marvel’s. There was plenty of promotion of for Atlas, including a back-up story in The Incredible Hercules and previews of issue #1 in the back of every Marvel title. Unfortunately, when Namora is the biggest name on your team book, it seems it won’t sell no matter how well it’s written. If only Parker could have found a way to squeeze Deadpool on the team. That was sarcasm by the way.

If this ranting and raving wasn’t enough for you feel free to follow me on Twitter, where I talk about comics, snipe about how College Baseball isn’t a sport because they use metal bats and host Read Along with Matt , where currently I’m reading the Roots of the Swamp Thing Hard Cover. Search #readwmatt on twitter for updates.

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This Week in Geek is a weekly blog about new comics written by WorthPoint comic book Worthologist Matt Baum. Every Wednesday, Matt takes a look at the week’s new comics from a collector’s point-of-view and discusses which books may be hard to find in the near future and why. Make sure to click on the hot links for previews and more information on the comics, characters, story-lines and creators discussed here. Also, feel free to post your comments in the new “comments” section below, or you can follow him on Twitter, where he is always screaming about something nerd-related. Want to know what your comics are worth? Join WorthPoint for free and post your comics in the “Ask A Worthologist” section. Remember to post the title, issue number and cover price. And finally a word to the Federal Trade Commission; all the comics discussed here are purchased solely by the writer, who receives no gifts or free merchandise from any publishers even though he would graciously accept them.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Blog Entry, Books, Paper and Magazines, Comic Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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