New Comics I Have Tried, 5/19/15

God Hates Astronauts #1 – I have been intrigued by this title for a while, and since its creator, Ryan Browne, was in Artist’s Alley at C2E2, I figured I’d give it a go. I talked with Browne a bit. He was insanely nice, and I picked up both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 in trades. I’ve only read the first issue, but I’m loving the insanity of it. I laughed out loud a couple times already. The sense of humor is wonderfully warped, but there’s still a story happening, which I appreciate. Looking forward to diving into this some more.

Lantern City #1 – I was excited about this one based on some of the early press and solicits. It’s a gorgeous book to look at, full of steampunk-inspired vistas. The story, though, doesn’t quite match the ambition of the art just yet. It’s only the first issue, so I’m hoping more twists and turns will come up. But so far it’s your fairly typical story about downtrodden masses being subjugated by the elite. There’s even a wall that either keeps bad stuff out or the people in. The very end of the book could make for some interesting wrinkles, though, and I like the art enough I’ll give the book a full first arc before making too many judgements.

Pop Star Assassin #1 – This was another C2E2 pick-up. It’s self-published, and its creator hopes to shop it around to some publishers or self-publish the next issue. I was intrigued by the set-up and the cover. The art is really great with lots of energy and pop appeal. The colors, also, are beautiful. But the story is REALLY chaotic. Chaos can be good, but in this case it just becomes a little fractured and jumbled. There seems to be just a few too many concepts and characters introduced at once. I’m not quite sure how I feel about the way the female character is treated here, though. She’s a drug addict who fell in with the mob. When the main character saves her and she says she doesn’t know how to thank him, he says “maybe they can figure something out.” Clearly much about this book is a throw back. But… well, it feels like something new could be done with that particular aspect to match the imagination of the rest. That being said, I’m intrigued by what’s going on here. 

Howard The Duck #1 – Howard is back! Chip Zdarsky is on writing duties, and Joe Quinones is on art. They are perfectly matched, and the comic is regularly laugh out loud funny. And, even when it isn’t, it’s smile-on-the-face funny. Guest stars abound in the first three issues, but in a fairly organic way. I’ve not read much Howard, I must admit. But I have a sub to Marvel Unlimited, now, so I’m hoping to fix it. But I’m three issues in now and I’m digging the hell out of this book.

Superior Iron Man #1 – I’ve been catching up on all of Hickman’s Avengers leading up to Secret Wars. This spins out of the Axis crossover event, where Tony’s psychology is tweaked so he’s, basically, evil. Make no mistake, this is a supervillain book. I’m a huge Iron Man fan, but I know this isn’t a permanent change so I can just have fun with this. And it is fun. And terrible. And, also, highlights what a hero the real Tony is, despite the way the books sometimes like to paint him. He’s not perfect, but he’s a hero. And truly relieving him of all his morality results in this guy, who is incredibly frightening and entertaining to read about. I’ve actually read all the issues available so far, and it looks like next issue may provide some kind of finale leading into Secret Wars.