Image: Dark Horse
I admit it, I’ve become a comics addict. I’m a regular at the local comic shops, and have been hoovering up some good stories lately. This is what I’ve been grooving on:
Conan the Cimmerian (Dark Horse)
Dark Horse does Robert E. Howard better than anyone. Their latest Conan offering is up to its fourteenth issue, and contains all the pulpy staples you expect: daring action, wicked villains, and scantily clad princesses. Contains some tasteful nudity and plenty of action.
Poe (Boom)
What if Edgar Allan Poe’s classic writings — Murders in the Rue Morgue, the Raven, etc. were all true, and combined into a single convoluted plot? Awesome premise combined with excellent execution makes for great reading. Good for kids too, my 13-year-old loves it and even better, has made her want to read the original Poe stories.
Rawbone (Avatar)
Rawbone just finished its four-issue run. A buccaneer tale featuring a plausibly authentic pirate experience: nudity, sexual violence, severed heads, evisceration and worse. The excellent heroine is La Sirena, a former nun turned pirate. Kid-friendly quotient: Like, negative kazillion.
Thulsa Doom (Dynamite)
You know him, evil magician and arch-enemy of Robert E. Howard’s Kull and Conan. I just read #1, where he’s introduced as a sympathetic character. I’m still not sure about turning a snake-cultist villain into a hero, but I’m willing to be convinced. So far so good.
Punisher Noir (Marvel)
The Punisher, aka Frank Castle, battles famous mobsters like Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano in the ’20s and ’30s. Great idea for reimagining the blood-soaked vigilante.
Immortal Weapons (Marvel)
Marvel just finished out an excellent 27-issue run of the Immortal Iron Fist, and I had just one complaint: the panty-waisted title character, Danny Rand. So what does Marvel come up with? A five-issue interlude starring the five other immortal warriors allied with Iron Fist. In other words, the Iron Fist mythology without Danny! Can’t go wrong.
So, what have you been reading?
