Vertigo going SF, Skullkickers getting snarkier, and Doom partying like it’s 2099 tops our list of comics we can’t wait to read this week.
The Complete Doom 2099 By Warren EllisOh, man. Finally.
The title is more than a little misleading: This isn’t a complete collection of Doom 2099, easily one of the best 2099 series and certainly one of the more dynamic and engaging Marvel stories from the ’90s, but only a collection of the last year or so of the series, when Warren Ellis took over from John Francis Moore. This picks up with Doom taking over the United States of America and then… well… then things take a singularly nasty turn from there.
This is Warren Ellis right on the cusp of becoming the cyberpunk visionary we know and love, and a lot of themes and ideas that he’d refine in Transmetropolitan were first tried out here. While it isn’t the complete series, at least this series is getting a second chance.
“Savage” Skullkickers #1 Skullkickers isn’t art, per se. But it’s fun. Pure, unmitigated, unrestrained, ridiculous fun. And currently the creative team is needling both Marvel and DC. Last month the book kicked off a new arc by renaming itself the “Uncanny” Skullkickers (really issue #19) and it’s a good time to pick the book up.
Basically, it’s about a guy with a cursed gun in an D&D setting killing monsters. It’s a lighthearted, ridiculous book and it’s even more fun than it sounds. To give you an idea of the sense of humor at work, last issue had two plotlines: The main plot of the book and, at the bottom of the page, a dead guy floating in the ocean that ended on the cliffhanger “Yup! Still dead!”
We can’t want to see what’s in store for this next “reboot”. We suspect it won’t disappoint.
Time Warp (One-Shot) Vertigo puts out an SF anthology book packed with talent. Sure, there’s Damon Lindelof’s Rip Hunter reboot, although that’s more interesting for the art from Jeff Lemire. But there’s also Dan Abnett of the superb and underappreciated New Deadwardians. There’s Matt Kindt with a short about man versus machine. And, as they say, so much more.
It’s hard to turn that down, and we’re looking forward to seeing what DC has coming.
What’s your most anticipated comic this week? Take a look at the list and let us know.