Sunbathing with Vertigo
By Martijn Form
Hello Vertigolovers,
The weather here in Amsterdam has been so-so, although summer has just begun. But thanks to Vertigo, June has been a tropical holiday for me, with complimentary cocktails. With a cool drink, shorts and slippers and my favorite reading chair I make my own summer, baby!
Vertigo delivered some excellent comics and trades this month, and this week promises to be just as good. I've got you some nice preview art from the upcoming Hellblazer Presents: Chas--The Knowledge, which we will look at further down the column. But first let me guide you through some special comics that I love reading every single issue.
House of Mystery #2Only two issues old, and already this is on top of my reading stack. I think Vertigo does marvelous things with fantasy worlds. They showed it with series like Sandman, Lucifer and of course Fables. I have high hopes for House of Mystery. The premise of common folks being trapped in this mysterious house, which is more of a town than a house, is wonderful. Artist Luca Rossi is a real treat for my spoiled comic eyes. His pencils are quite detailed, but his inking amazes me even more. The inking creates so much atmosphere and personality to this story that colorist Lee Loughridge, brilliant as always, can hit the ball out of the park, again and again.
100 Bullets #92
None of you Vertigolovers aren't reading this crime saga, right? Because after 92 issues it's hard to single out a lousy issue. See if you can do that with any other series from a different publisher. I dare you.
Young Liars #4
David Lapham isn't the easiest writer to sink your teeth into. His writing is all about creating a feeling and a mood that is quite kaleidoscopic, but effective in the end, no doubt. We readers must act like detectives and piece together the different puzzles of the story, to grasp the genius of Lapham's Young Liars. Scrapbooking with a drag queen on the Loveboat? It doesn't get weirder than this. I love it.
Hellblazer #245Well, Jason Aaron had quite an exciting Vertigo month. Scalped #18 was a stand alone issue, but good as always. If you aren't reading this but you love 100 Bullets, do yourself a favor and start buying and reading. Misery guaranteed!
Talking about misery, Aaron provided the most disturbing image of the month in Hellblazer #245. Page fourteen! Shame on you Jason, with your sick and twisted mind. HAHA! The image sticks for days, thanks to artist Sean Murphy.
The Un-Men #11
The first story arc didn't quite cut it for me, but if you ask me, issue #11 is the best of the series so far. Marvelous drama, excellent writing by John Whalen. The father and son story creates so much emotional baggage for Killcrop, that it made me re-read all issues, and appreciate the first story arc more and more.
DemoLook at that list. Hours of thought-provoking entertainment. In this trade list there isn't any book that I wouldn't recommend. Picking a favorite is beyond my capabilities, but Vinyl Underground deserves your reading attention big time. You will not find any stranger bunch of detectives than in this trade. It's a gem and much better than sale numbers suggest, but in this day and age, quality doesn't always sell itself. Too bad, because I can point at least 50 series in the top 100 sales chart that are far less than this story.
Fables Vol. 10: The Good Prince
Vinyl Underground Vol. 1: Watching The Detectives
The Absolute Sandman Vol. 3
Y: The Last Man Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores
Jack of Fables Vol. 3: The Bad Prince
Simon Oliver is writing the five part limited series Hellblazer Presents: Chas--The Knowledge. That was the only thing I needed to know to get jumping up and down on my chair. Oliver is my hero and a great writer for what he has been doing with The Exterminators.
Seeing new art by Goran Sudzuka is always a treat. I loved what he did with the Vertigo series Outlaw Nation by master storyteller Jamie Delano. I notice here that Sudzuka's art is developing into a style that has more detail in his drawing lines, which I happen to like.
Other books I'm really looking forward to are:
American Splendor: Season Two #4 (of 4)Quite a reading list for this week. So take your pick… or do as I like: take them all. HAHA! I'm greedy and needy on my Vertigo fix, week in week out.
American Virgin Vol. 4: Around the World
Army@Love Vol. 2: Generation Pwned
DMZ Vol. 5: The Hidden War
Fables #74
Hellblazer: The Fear Machine
House of Mystery #3
Northlanders #7
The Vinyl Underground #10
See you next week.
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