The Gosh! Authority 09/04/09

Hello folks, Andrew here stepping in for the Oz-bound Hayley. Spare her a thought down there in the sun and heat of Queensland, as we enjoy the climatically temperamental fruits of spring. Honestly, who needs all that warmth and vitamin D anyway?

Anyway, on with the comics! Bit of a small one this week, but there are a few things worth pointing out. Certainly, for a Jason Aaron junkie such as myself, Wolverine Weapon X #1 would have to be top of the list. Okay, it ain’t high art, but this new series promises to be a lot of fun, with Aaron given the reigns to produce new-reader friendly Wolvie stories, introducing new supporting characters and new villains without getting too bogged down in any convoluted continuity. If his past work with the character is any indication, Aaron will be a perfect fit for this book. Team him up with an artist like Ron Garney, who is ridiculously under-appreciated, and you’re on to a winner. And who says I never give you any previews?

But enough of my Jason Aaron love-in. You want credibility? How about a new collection from the excellent Ellen Lindner? Undertow is a story of 1950’s New York; Coney Island to be precise. Rhonda is a girl struggling with traumatic events, looking for a way out and some kind of understanding of who she should be in an America that’s not the dream it may look to be on the surface. It’s a great read from a brilliant London-based (NYC-raised) talent and not as widely available as it should be. Tell your friends. Oh, and preview it here.

Flipping back to fisticuffs, did you happen to catch Marvel Zombies 3? Now, I have to admit I wasn’t wowed by the first issue of that Fred van Lente-penned followup to Kirkman’s rather underwhelming Marvel Zombies 2, but I stuck with it and it turned out to be an excellent resurrection (har har) of the franchise. Well, #4 is out this week, featuring the return of none other than the 90’s horror heroes the Midnight Sons! Lead by Morbius, the team are hunting down the zombies who managed to escape from the A.R.M.O.R. stronghold. Van Lente again writes, with Britain’s own Kev Walker once again bringing the gore.

“But I want art,” you cry “I want beauty!” Well, how about the beautiful art of Pixar animator Ronnie del Carmen? And There You Are is del Carmen’s latest work, mixing fact and fiction, journal entries and art to tell the story of a girl named Nina, a figure already established in his Paper Biscuit series. Ronnie del Carmen is a wonderful draughtsman, and those unfamiliar with his work should do themselves a favour and pick this little gem up.

Warren Ellis fans will be happy to know that his new Deadwood/Buck Rogers mash-up Ignition City hits the shelves this week. An idea he’s had knocking around for a few years now, Ellis seems very enthusiastic about the series, which bodes well for it. From what I’ve seen it should be a good laugh, worth the price of admission for the author quote: “I found myself looking at the clapboard and pine of the Deadwood camp and seeing it made out of bits of abandoned 1930s sci-fi rocketship, and a fifty-year-old Flash Gordon calling people ‘c**ksucker’.”

Quite.

On the anthology scene, the latest volume of Popgun hits the shelves this week, with the usual high quality line up of creators. The list of contributors is too exhaustive to list here, but includes Paul Grist, Juan Doe, Erik Larsen and up and coming artist (and friend of ol’ Gosh) Christian Ward. Nice work Chris!

Aficionados of classic British comics art will be well-advised to pick up the first volume of Century 21, a collection of strips from the venerable TV Century 21 magazine. Featuring comic adventures of characters from Gerry Anderson’s ever-popular family of television series, the magazine was home to the likes of Frank Bellamy, Ron Embleton, Frank Langford, Mike Noble and many more. A second volume is coming soon.

Also of note this week: Mike Grell returns to the world of Skartaris and a character that was a firm childhood favourite of mine with the return of Warlord; Daredevil Noir plays against the usual light and breezy style of Daredevil with a pulpy take on the character (facetiousness aside, it actually looks pretty decent); and over in Dark Reign Hawkeye there’s an Andy Diggle/Tom Raney created solo outing for everyone’s favourite psychotic killer, Bullseye.

Don’t forget, we now have even more pages of original art from the upcoming League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910 up around our walls, a whopping 10 pages in total. Don’t worry, we’ve been careful not to choose anything that’s going to spoil the story for you. Our thanks to Kevin O’Neill for loaning us his terrific art.

Finally, don’t forget that the Easter weekend will be playing its usual tricks on delivery times next week. New comics day will be Friday 17/04/09. Everything will be out on the shelves from 10am, as per usual, just that one day later. Those who come in on Thursday will, I’m afraid, gain no more than a sympathetic smile.

And with that, I’ll see you next week! Happy Easter everybody!

- Andrew.