Blue Beetle Comics

Last week had a whole whack of great artists doing some damned good work. This week we take a closer look at Darkwing Duck, Atlas, Ultimate X and Black Cat.

Darkwing Duck #1
Ian Brill and James Silvani

So, Darkwing Duck is back and this warms my heart. I honestly believed growing up that I would become Darkwing Duck in some capacity. I figured I was just waiting to meet my Launchpad McQuack and Taurus Bulba to spur me onto some sort of adventure. Seriously though, DW has one of the best rogues gallery this side of Batman and Spider-Man. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got pretty high standards for this comic!

Come for the art.. don’t worry about the story. Loeb overwrites more than Claremont does, but god-damned can Art Adams draw.

At what point did Gabriel Hardman become my favourite new artist? He’s like a great synthesis of Michael Lark and David Mazzuchelli. Except with more of a sense of humour. Jeff Parker is great at bringing reality and the fantastical with his scripts and that’s what Hardman does perfectly with this page. I’d love to see what he could do in the DCU.

This is some John Romita Sr. style romance cover going on here. Javier Pulido is amazing. I love, love, love his women.

Acuna’s art has grown on me quite a bit, maybe it’s just that he’s more suited to drawing ladies in trenchcoats and catsuits than he is at Star Sapphire’s crazy get up. Either way Liu is at the top of her game with this book and it’s a shame that they’ll be off the title soon.

Marvelous Land of Oz #7
Eric Shanower and Skottie Young

It’s all about the coloring on this one.

Afrodisiac (Ad House)

Written by Brian Maruca and Jim Rugg

Art by Jim Rugg

For those of you unfamiliar with the team behind Afrodisiac – they’re also the team behind Street Angel.. probably one of my favourite comics of all time. Unfortunately it’s out of print, so if you’re not aware just ask me and i’ll lend you my copy In the mean time why not just gaze at the awesomeness that is this Afrodisiac trailer.

and you can see a PDF preview at Adhouse Books.

Oh and if you’re still not sold, dig this panel and tell me you don’t want to buy twelve of these:

If you check our What’s Shipping page, you’ll see what’s coming in this Wednesday. I have gone through and picked a few titles that I know for sure I’m going to be picking up.

ADDED BONUS: enjoy my attempt at a Kirby Pose.

RASL #6 (Cartoon Books)

Written and Drawn by Jeff Smith Jeff Smith’s newest title is a far cry from Bone. First – it’s sci-fi i story about a inter-dimensional art thief. Secondly, it’s much darker territory than Smith’s ever gone for. His artwork is pretty interesting as well, with unique design work that eschews the cuddly nature of Bone. I’m in no way slagging Bone – as I think it’s the best series for kids to come along in a very long while – it’s just for those expecting a similar thing are going to be disappointed. Especially considering #5’s disturbing opening sequence. RASL is just a totally different beast – and while it doesn’t come out often enough, when it does the reviews and the reactions are always incredibly positive. Check out this three page preview [via B o n e v i l l e] below.