The Comics That Wouldn't DIE!

I am weak! Its Sunday, October 30, 2011, I just can't stay up like I used to, and this is The Side. Doctor Madblood was showing THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE last night and I konked out halfway through it.

I used to have a lot more staying power.

COMIX!!

THE WALKING DEAD #90 starts us out this week. Fans of the AMC TV series are a bit divided on the new season, and there's been a lot of rumblings about this latest story arc. Carl is still recovering and doing well considering he was shot in the head in the battle with the walker herd. A lot of people were really up in arms about Carl getting shot (again) but the criticism shifted to how "slow" this story arc has been. Personally, I enjoyed this arc quite a bit. We just had something huge happen and this arc was all about dealing with the fallout. We open up with Rick confronting Nicholas about his rebellion. It was hard to tell how this was going to play out. Were we going to see diplomatic Rick or take-no-prisoners Rick? A lot happens here that sew what could be the seeds for some intense stuff coming up with our major characters. There are set up issues in comics. This was a set-up arc, and sometimes you need that when you're doing good long form storytelling in a comic like this.

ANGEL & FAITH #3 is really good. Angel is continuing his quest to resurrect Giles. Faith is long with him, but still thinks this is a bad idea. Plenty of action to be had here. What really stands out here is the character development of Faith. Many of characters in the "Buffyverse" have gone through a lot of character development, but I've always found faith's to be particularly interesting. She's gone from being 'the bad girl with a good heart' to 'evil slayer' to working on that whole redemption ting slayer' and now she's at 'mature slayer'. I don't mean mature to be old. She's been through a lot and she owns it. She's accepted that she's made serious mistakes, but she doesn't spent all her time moping about it. Its made her a very strong character, and one that's really cool to read. Angel was pretty cool here too. Just not as cool as Faith. Too be fair, its really hard to be as cool as Faith. This comic is good stuff.

THE RED WING #4 wraps up the series and I'm pretty sure that I need to gather all four issues together in one place, grab a white board and create a great big chart to explain everything. This chart would be an epic thing. Something that even Teatime Brutality could appreciate (which is easy since the brilliant Brit has a soft spot for charts). I fully understand the concept of time travel and parallel dimensions as explained here, but if you don't, I don't blame you. Hickman is using a heavy science fiction concept as an allegory for sons looking at their fathers. This also makes for one nutty family tree. The stylized Oroboros symbol takes on a whole new meaning now. I said when reviewing earlier issues that this was a concept driven story, but this issue almost attempts to be a character driven one. Ultimately, we're having characters surfing an insane conceptual wave, telling a story about how men view their fathers. I remember my dad when he was my age. I don't think I can imagine him when he was twenty. I do know that he's making photo albums with some old pictures for me and my brother to give us a better since of some family history. This comic takes such a unique twist of looking back at our fathers and seeing them for what they are, what we wish they were, and what they aren't. The last page changes the context of the entire story, and snaps a lot of things into place. I can't recommend this comic to everyone because wrapping my head around this was quite chore, but it was a good comic.

MUSIC!!

Usually when you take their heads off they stop coming after you, BUT NOT ROLAND!



Alrighty, you guys have a fun and safe Halloween. We'll see y'all Wednesday.