The Gosh! Authority 19/06/08 - Telltale Games: The Return

Hello! This week I’m kicking off with a great big plug for king cartoonist Jeff Smith’s brand new series Rasl, the second issue of which releases this week! Sure, we were promised it would be out last month, but who cares, eh? It’s all-new Smith, and after the first issue, this series seems packed with ideas and beautiful drawings galore.

For those of you who missed out on the first issue, worry not! We’ve got copies in stock right now, and let me assure you, it’s worth catching up on. It’s the story of the titular anti-hero, an interdimensional art thief who makes his way in the world boosting parallel Picassos and tangential Titians. The first issue captures the fearful and transitional nature of Rasl’s existence and introduces a mysterious interloper who chases our hero into an ill-advised jump into an unfriendly world. Spooky, huh? Grab yourself these fine first two issues, and put a little of the rasl dasl back into your reading diet.

The other release of the week which promises to light the shelves quite literally on fire is Y The Last Man Vol 10: Whys and Wherefores, closing the book on this smash hit Vertigo series. It puts me in a bit of a funny position because there’s not really much to say. If you haven’t read it, the paperbacks are in stock as always, and if you have, there’s not much chance that you’ll decide to give it up one volume from the end! What I can say is that I read these final issues as they were released individually, and they’ve got all the twists, turns, revelation and heartbreak that you’d expect from the finale to an epic series like this. But as I say, you were probably going to buy it anyway.

After reading Y and weeping at the loss of this beloved series, grab ahold of one of its successors in the brand new wave of Vertigo quality with Scalped #18. As I mentioned several weeks ago, I’ve only just caught up with the issues of this series, and good lord is it worth the effort. The most recent storyline, Dead Mothers, has just ended, and by the end of it writer Jason Aaron had effectively lashed my heartstrings to a pair of wild horses and fired a shot into the ground. I genuinely can’t wait to see where the team goes with the series now, and all I can be sure of is that I’ll be going with them.

And if that’s not enough Aaron for you, then take note: he’s also scripting this week’s issues of Ghost Rider and Hellblazer! He’s everywhere, and this is an extremely good thing! He’s the first American writer since Azzarello to write for John Constantine, so witness the faith Vertigo’s editors have in him! What’s more, those of you who are cynical of the notion of picking up a Ghost Rider comic – Aaron’s run thus far has been absolutely excellent. He’s doing his usual Aaron thing of injecting an established character with ideas and an energy that makes you wonder where they’d been in the past. Ghost Rider under his steady hand is a rip-roaring, barnstorming road trip through the most dangerous regions of rural America. This week’s issue begins a new run with art by the excellent Tan Eng Huat, so jump on now!

Marvel’s biggest release of the week is certain to be Wolverine #66, the first issue from the team behind Civil War, Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. The run, currently slated to run for eight issues, promises to provide Logan with his very own Dark Knight Returns, presenting a post-apocalyptic vision for the Marvel universe. The villains have long since beaten the good guys and it’s only an appeal from war buddy Hawkeye that brings Wolverine back into action. Old Man Logan kicks off here!

And if it’s old guys kicking ass that you’re looking for in your Marvel comics, you’ll be three times treated, as we’re also getting in Punisher #58 and Incredible Hercules #118. The former is the penultimate instalment in Garth Ennis’ history-making run on the series, and the latter is another episode of Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente’s unexpectedly excellent relaunch for the little demigod that could. At this point, Incredible Hercules is knee-deep in Secret Invasion, with Hercules and his old god buddies voyaging into another dimension to track down and defeat their Skrull equivalents. What a notion, eh? Rafa Sandoval’s keeping their divine invasion easy on the eyes, so what possible disincentive could you have?

Finally, there’s another weird one (surprise surprise), this time from Image Comics in the form of Amazing Joy Buzzards writer Mark Andrew Smith’s new comic, Kill All Parents. No, it’s not a Marilyn-Manson-style cry for attention, it’s an offbeat new series playing off the history of tragic superhero origins. The pitch? An authoritarian government initiates a plan to ensure that every child born with a superpower becomes a hero by sending out a secret task force to kill their parents, inspiring Bruce Wayne levels of moral drive and, no doubt, thrilling consequences. Smith’s other recent work of insanity, Aqua Leung, proved to be a very worthy distraction, so this could easily turn out to be similarly compelling. Take a chance and Kill All Parents today!

I’m afraid there’s bad news for everybody who’s been wondering about the whereabouts of Kick-Ass #3 - it seems that we will not be receiving our full quantity of the first printing of the issue. At first it seemed that we, along with all the other retailers in the UK, had just been heavily allocated on our initial quantity, but it seems the situation is somewhat bleaker than that. Here’s the distributor’s word on the problem: “Due to a printer/shipping error, all outstanding orders on Marvel/Icon’s Kick Ass #3 will now be cancelled.” We’ll be replacing all of our non-supplied standing orders with copies of the second printing, bearing a new cover by series artist John Romita Jr. as soon as possible.

Also in the news: JG Jones is to be joined in his artistic duties on Final Crisis by Superman superstar Carlos Pacheco from issue #4 and on into the rest of the series.

And now for our world-famous competition spot, once again hosted by our very generous friends over at Telltale Games! To celebrate the release of Rasl #2, they’ve given us three sets of their first two Bone videogames to give away to three lucky winners! True to the original graphic novels on which they’re based, sublimely rendered in 3D and wittily voice-acted, these games are a must for any Jeff Smith enthusiast. To win a set, all you have to do is tell us…

Who is this?

The first three people to comment with the correct answer win a set of the games. If you can’t sign in to a personal account, you can comment anonymously – but don’t forget to leave your name and email address in the comment itself! If you’re a lucky winner we’ll contact you with details on how to download your games. Good luck!

- Tom