Super Bowl weekend, and no superheroes in sight! Pick Of The Week goes to Jeff Lemire for Sweet Tooth #30 (Vertigo)! Fast Five picks include O.M.A.C. #6 (DC), Locke & Key: Clockworks #4 (IDW), Animal Man #6 (DC), The Strange Talent of Luther Strode #5 (Image), and Swamp Thing #6 (DC).

Let’s go Giants!

I’m sick this week! Hopefully you won’t catch what I have from listening to this episode. Pick Of The Week goes to Jason Aaron & R.M. Guera for Scalped #54 (Vertigo). Fast Five picks include Secret Avengers #19 (Marvel), Locke & Key: Guide To The Known Keys (IDW), Fantastic Four #600 (Marvel), Invincible #85 (Image), and Captain America & Bucky #624 (Marvel).

This episode has been brought to you by, Zombie Outlaw.

Tons of comics this week, only so many slots available. Pick Of The Week goes to Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez for Locke & Key: Keys To The Kingdom #6 (IDW)! Fast Five picks include Detective Comics #876 (DC), FF #2 (Marvel), The Walking Dead #84 (Image), Justice League: Generation Lost #24 (DC), and Avengers #12.1 (Marvel).

This episode has been brought to you by Valkyrie Squadron.

In this episode I switch things up slightly; I only talk about three titles. The three that really stood out to me this week are Annihilators #1 (Marvel), Locke & Key: Keys To The Kingdom #5 (IDW), and Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1 (Dark Horse).

Like the new jacket? I do too.

Independent titles rule supreme! Pick Of The Week goes to Ben McCool & Nikki Cook for Memoir #1 (Image). Fast Five picks include G.I. JOE: Cobra #12 (IDW), Hellblazer #275 (Vertigo), Doctor Who #1 (IDW), The Boys #50 (Dynamite), and Locke & Key: Keys To The Kingdom #4 (IDW).

Also, none of the titles this week are under $3!

G.I. JOE: Cobra #12 by Antonio Fuso

First of all, that is one pink cover. And what does a shade of hot pink do? Why, attract your attention of course! After being seduced by the colors, your eyes slowly wander to the top of the comic and see G.I. JOE: Cobra, and instantly you’re intrigued like a young boy seeing a nude woman for the first time. All the main characters in crosshairs with the promise that “and one shall surely die!”, and you start guessing which one. The use of circles in the space provided is just wonderful.

Northlanders #36 by Massimo Carnevale

Every time I see a Northlanders cover by the wonderful Massimo Carnevale, I fall to my knees and weep tears of joy. The man has the kind of talent that you see in modern day museums, and yet, here he is providing covers for comic books and it seems beneath him. He’s like James Jean on the Fables covers; truly spectacular work, and yet, he belongs in the pantheon of artists tiers above what is seen in comics. This cover in particular captures the feeling of dread of the old man in the foreground, as the savage behind him is about the strike. The story inside is actually reflected here on the cover, so that’s a huge plus for not teasing the audience with false promises. Brian Wood better woo the pants off Mr. Carnevale, because he is meant for much greater things.

The Boys #50 by Darick Robertson

Look at the cover of issue one, then look back to issue fifty. Issue one again, then back to issue fifty. What do you notice is missing? Are you serious? Are you as smart as a box of hair?! The obvious answer is Mother’s Milk has a booger sticking out of his left nostril. Kidding. The real answer is that old man in the bottom-right corner ain’t Wee Hughie. For the past fifty issues (if you’ve been following since it began at WildStorm), we’ve known that there was someone on the team before Hughie entered the picture, and something bad happened to him when shit went down with The Seven. Now that his story is finally being revealed, we can easily connect the dots while at the same time enjoy the homage to the first issue of this series. Darick Robertson has done just a kick-ass job on the covers for these past fifty issues, that I raise my pint of Sierra Nevada to him, and tell him to keep going forth and rocking!

Locke & Key: Keys To The Kingdom #4 by Gabriel Rodriguez

Upon examining this cover before reading its contents, you get a sense of dread. Obviously, someone is not going to live to see the next issue! The main thing I like about this cover, as silly as it sounds, is the correct anatomy for the G.I. JOE action figure. Growing up, I personally didn’t own any G.I. JOE toys, but my cousin had a ton of the little buggers, and sure enough there were casualties and sure enough, they looked exactly like the poor guy on this cover when split in half. I also appreciate the key incorporated on the cover, because it usually tells which key is going to make an appearance. Does it always? No, but it sure is cool to mentally catalog another key that’s introduced. It’s all over in fifteen issues, and that makes me a sad panda.

Hellblazer #275 by Simon Bisley

Hellblazer has been such an enjoyable read these past two-hundred and seventy-five issues (Note: I have not read anywhere close to that number), but the cherry on top is definitely Simon Bisley’s covers. If you know the character of John Constantine, you know he’s gritty, foul, and a complete wanker. What better to set the tone for the reader than Bisley’s art? This issue (if you couldn’t guess) focuses on John’s wedding to Epiphany, and it’s no way going to be pretty. Knowing the company John keeps; booze, cigarettes, and other ungodly creeps will be running amok for sure. The decorations seen on the cake are beautiful in their own twisted manner, and definitely deliver the mood of how the reader should be expecting this wedding to turn out. It screams “John doesn’t deserve a girl like Epiphany“, followed by “That prick deserves whatever is thrown at him this issue!” Absolute eye-candy.

The year may be coming to an end, but the good reads keep going strong! Pick Of The Week goes to Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez for Locke & Key: Keys To The Kingdom #3 (IDW). Fast Five picks include Batwoman #0 (DC), The Traveler #1 (BOOM! Studios), Justice League: Generation Lost #14 (DC), Scalped #43 (Vertigo), and Detective Comics #871 (DC).

Bat books are still going strong as well!

Another week, another episode! Pick Of The Week goes to Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez for Locke & Key: Crown Of Shadows #3 (IDW). Fast Five picks include Green Lantern #51 (DC), Hellblazer #264 (Vertigo), Blackest Night: The Flash #3 (DC), Incorruptible #3 (BOOM! Studios), and Green Lantern Corps #45 (DC).

Reminder: WonderCon this April!

The Book of the Month for February 2010 is none other than Locke & Key: Welcome To Lovecraft (IDW Publishing) written by Joe Hill with art by Gabriel Rodriguez.

I remember reading the first issue of this volume when it debuted, and completely loathing it. Looking back, I might have been overwhelmed by all that was going on; gruesome violence, rape, and spirits. My mind must have been having a difficult time computing it all, not being able to make sense of what was happening in front of my very eyes. Who were these psychos? What’s that key do? Was there a zero issue I missed? So after reading that first issue I decided to say “fuck it” and just move on to the next comic book in the stack. A year passes and a second volume comes out, Head Games, and it’s getting nothing but great reviews. Still, I cast the series aside and swear it off as too extreme for my tastes. Then finally the third volume starts, Crown Of Shadows, and I decide to give the series a second chance. After all, I was bored at work and running out of new comics to read.

At this point in the review I would like to take a moment and apologize to two individuals. Mr. Hill, Mr. Rodriguez, I’m so incredibly sorry I dismissed this series and paid no attention to it. Please forgive my ignorance, for I am not worthy to grovel at your very feet. If you’d like, I’ll even commit Seppuku to lift the shame I’ve brought to my family and friends.

Locke & Key is by far one of the best series I’ve read in the past decade. What Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez manage to do to with horror comics is the equivalent of what Andy Warhol did for art. Each issue in this first volume is jam-packed with action, humor, and horror, leaving you the reader hungry for more. I have to warn you though; as much as you want to devour the series whole and read it all in one sitting, do try to pace yourself and savor every bite. I found myself instantly hooked after re-reading the first issue, and forty-five minutes later and I was done, and craving more immediately.

Enough about how brilliant it is, let me explain what the story is about.

The Lockes were a normal family at one point until the father, Rendell Locke, was murdered by a troubled former student and his psycho friend. Because of this tragic event, the surviving family moves to the family mansion in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. The story focuses on the three kids; Tyler, the oldest, Kinsey, the rebellious middle child, and Bode, the youngest and my personal favorite. The death of their father traumatizes them, and they each deal with the loss in their own way. Bode spends his time exploring the dusty old mansion, and discovers a strange key that when inserted into a specific door, will allow the key-bearer to walk through. Only two things will happen when you walk through; the first being you die. The second being, your spirit allows you to travel wherever you want. Enter back into your body, and you’re alive again. As if having the same psycho who killed your father escape prison not bad enough, it gets worse; there’s an evil being trapped in the well, and all she needs is a certain key to get free so she can collect them all.

That’s one of my favorite things about the series, is all the magical keys. We’re only introduced to a few in this volume, but the fact that there are several more that have not yet been discovered thrills me to no end! Just imagine all the possibilities!

Gabriel Rodriguez’s art in this fits the tone of the story wonderfully, and you get a good sense of what each character is feeling. I especially love the spirits, because they’re not there altogether. You might see a little bit of face and maybe an arm, but the spiritual body is constantly changing. And if you’re a fan of blood and gore, you’ll especially be enjoying some of the spreads throughout this volume.

Overall this is the perfect choice for fans of the horror and fantasy genres. It’s also a nice little reminder what comics can be without having to involve capes and cowls. So before you run out to your local comic store and pick-up this wonderful collection, remember what I said before; try to slow down and savor it, because you’ll definitely be wanting seconds after you’re finished.

Discuss this pick on the forum!

Book Of The Month – June – LOCAL

Book Of The Month - July – Sub-Mariner: The Depths

Book Of The Month – August – Superman: Secret Identity

Book Of The Month – October – Welcome To Hoxford

Book Of The Month – November – The Nightly News

Book Of The Month – December – CLA$$WAR

Book Of The Month – January – The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite