This Nerds Life: Sad Times
Those of you paying attention, all both of you, will know
that there was no New Comic Day last week.
For that I am sorry, but last week was an emotional time for us here at
Nerd Is The New Cool. Our beloved comic
shop Starbase 21 – which will celebrate its 29th Birthday next month
– announced last Wednesday that it will be shutting its doors as of December 31st
of this year.
It has been a long time coming – the owner is sick and hasn’t
been able to take an active hand in running the store for quite some time and
with the state of comics in this day and age – most casual readers and many collectors
using national chains – keeping the store going is unfortunately not feasible.
This will mark the end of a beloved Tulsa landmark and the
loss of a major part of my week.
But worry not, Fan Boys and Geek Girls, your good buddy Nerd
Is The New Cool will soldier on and continue to bring you the best of what’s
gracing this week’s shelves.
New Comic Day Presents: Countdown to Halloween (8 Days)
What with the Scary Season in full swing, I focused this
week’s shelf searching on Halloween issues and didn’t come up too shabby. Daredevil
32 features a crossover with a number of Marvel’s Mighty Monsters –
including a stylish cover featuring Satana, The Marvel Zombie, Werewolf by
Night, The Monster of Frankenstein, and the Living Mummy facing off with a mob
of angry torch and pitchfork totting villagers.
Be warned, fair readers, the three dread works appear at the climax of
this issue “to be continued.”
Marvel’s other entries this week include the special Marvel Now What?! a humor title in the vein
of What The..?! Written by a host of TV comedy writers,
the book doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that is somewhat refreshing
against Marvel’s often blotted lineup of titles.
DC isn’t doing quite as well in the Halloween
department. But a $1 reprint of the
first issue of Neil Gaiman’s seminal title
Sandman is a passable offering to the
ghost and goblin crowd.
Also at DC, is – and Starbase 21’s Pick of the Week – is Beware the Batman 1 a comic adaptation
of Cartoon Network’s (already cancelled?) Batman series of the same name.
Leaving the big two behind up, over at Dynamite a true
Halloween offering appears in the form of the Army of Darkness/ReAnimator one-shot. As is so often the case with comics nowadays,
the cover art – by Randy Valiente – far surpasses its interior art – also by
Valiente. The story by Mark Rahner – featuring
a time lost Ash (though he only uses that name in a single panel of this book)
finds himself in H.P. Lovecraft’s New England of the 1920s, butting heads with a
fairly true to Lovecraft Herbert West and battling both AoD’s Deadites and ReA’s
Re-Animates – though far from great is fun and engaging and does lead me to
forgive the art. The issue also reprints
2005’s Reanimator 0, featuring a more detailed retelling of Herbert West’s
origin. The story is by Jim Kuhoric with
art – that makes me remember the main story’s art fondly – by Nick
Bradshaw.
Also of note this month, Rocketeer/Spirit
2 finally graces us with its presence – the first issue of this
mini-series, my long ‘memberin’ readers will recall, I reviewed back in July.
Tell us what you thought of these titles or if you read
something else you think is worthy of getting picked up let us know in the comments
below or on twitter @nerdisnewcool.
Until next time,
Nerd Is The New Cool, signing off.
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