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Potter’s Field HC:  Mark Waid can do anything.  Seriously, if Mark Waid wrote the obituaries, I’d post them here as my weekly pick in the newspaper.  With Potter’s Field, Waid shows off how he can not only write superheroes and science fiction, but crime comics as well.  The series follows the mysterious John Doe, an enigmatic avenger of the silent dead in Potter’s field, a graveyard in New York City where corpses with no identity are buried with numerical headstones.  Doe is slowly making his way through the cemetary, number by number, identifying the deceased with the help of his crack investigator skills and network of agents in various areas of law enforcement.  Waid not only creates a winning procedural a la Law & Order, but also recaptures the feel of classic pulp comics like the Shadow and Operator #9 from the ’30′s and ’40′s.  Doe is a character with no identity, but still manages to be interesting and three-dimensional and the cases, while seemingly simple, still manage a third act plot-twist that keeps the readers interest.  The art by Paul Azaceta is also noteworthy.  In this day and age of artists who spent pages using photo-reference for intricate details, seeing an artist use the Mignola style of “less is just as good as more” approach is a relief, especially in a crime comic.  Azaceta renders scenes with minimal detail and maximum emotion and while that sounds difficult to imagine, just take a look at the book and you’ll see why I’m so impressed.  Waid shows once more why he is still a voice in the field that should be an automatic buy at the stands.  Potter’s Field is worth every penny.

Codeflesh HC:  A few years ago, Image comics scored what they thought was a coup with the hot writer at the time, Scott Lobdell, coming to do indie comics.  This “coup” lasted all of ten minutes but it produced a comic called Double Image with Lobdell’s lead story upfront (so amazing and original that it escapes me at this time) and Joe Casey and Charlie Adlard doing a back-up tale.  Codeflesh was that back-up tale and I was hooked from the pitch when I first heard it.  Bail bondsman Cameron Daltry doubles as his own masked bounty hunter to track down and recapture the super-powered convicts that use his services to post bond.  The question espoused by the comic is, “Why does Daltry do this at the expense of his lovelife and his health?”  The answer is never really addressed, but that question allows us a way into the main character’s psyche from which we’re intrigued enough to follow the rather simple and episodic plots from short to short.  This edition has been digitally colored and arranged in a very elegant reading format to showcase Adlard’s gritty and attractive style and Casey shows of his love for the character in his afterword reminicising about working on the project.

Note:  This was a pretty unique buying experience and not necessarily in a good way.  Both of these books are collections of extremely good indie crime books.  Potter’s Field was published by Boom! Studios and Codeflesh was published by Image (and then reprinted at AIT/PlanetLar and is now back at Image).  Both are written by top talent with Mark Waid on Potter’s Field and Joe Casey on Codeflesh.  Both books are reprinted in gorgeous formats with Potter’s Field getting a dust jacket, ribbon bookmark, and being packed with bonus scripts and sketches and Codeflesh being recolored from it’s original black and white with an all-new coda to its story.  So what’s the problem?  I paid over ten dollars more for Codeflesh than I did for Potter’s Field for probably equal the material (112 pages for Potter’s Field vs. 128 pages for Codeflesh).  Even my comic shop owner did a heavy sigh and noted the discrepancy in pricing.  That discrepancy equals out to almost a dollar extra a page difference.  Now, I ordered these books (since I’d read the material and wanted the proper treatment), so I was going to buy them regardless, but this felt slightly off as a consumer.  I could have sworn that the Codeflesh was originally solicited as cheaper than this final product and the fact that it took almost 5 more months to come out than the original release date… Regardless.  Just a note regarding hardcovers from independent publishers.

Big Book of Barry Ween, Boy Genius:  There are a lot of Judd Winick haters out there.  Don’t worry, I’m sort of one of them.  He’s the definition of hit and miss author with me.  His Exiles was pitch-perfect comics while his Green Arrow was preaching and banal.  His Batman was twist-filled and fun while his Outsiders was… well… preachy and banal.   When Winick just relaxes his inner liberal (and before anyone says anything, I’M a liberal also, so we can smell our own) and just writes comics, he can really pull out all of the stops of great humor and dialogue (his two biggest strengths as a writer).  Barry Ween, his first comic book work from Oni Press, showcases those abilities along with his own cartooning talents.  The book follows the title character,  who is the smartest person on the planet and is also only 10 years old.  Barry and his best friend, Jeremy, are constantly getting into trouble while he’s creating devices or working on experiments (usually due to the hyperactive Jeremy getting too curious) and hijinx ensue.  Winick manages to take what could be a too-simple concept and actually craft characters that are not only funny but deep and relatable.  Without being preachy, anyone who has ever suffered from depression can sympathize with Barry’s plight as he describes the fact that he’s ALWAYS thinking and can’t stop and how horrible it is to be this intelligent while the world is so distant to him.  Jeremy offers a simple voice of reason seeing as how he’s, well, simple in comparison to Barry and it’s these somber moments that cement the characters as a winning comedy pair with a great deal of heart.  The book contains all of their appearences including a color short from an Oni Color Special from back in the day.  It’s well worth the money to grab this book and own the best thing Judd Winick wrote that DIDN’T win a GLAAD award.

Thor vol. 2 HC:  As far as I’m concerned, J. Michael Straczynski should be the only person writing Thor right now.  I’m talking guest appearances, cameos, and even advertisements, too.  Here’s the thing to keep in mind:  I hated Straczynski’s Amazing Spider-Man run.  I mean, seriously loathed it.  Everything he came up with felt forced, uninteresting, and was devoid of anything worth reading for me.  When I heard that he had taken up the reigns of Thor, I was slightly intrigued but ultimately wasn’t going to give the book a shot until someone else read it for me and told me what to expect (we like to call this, “lazy criticism”).  Suffice it to say, every time I read anything about the book, I felt like I was missing the best book being published by Marvel at the time.   When I finally read the first hardcover of the series, I was floored.  Straczynski had managed to take a character that I’d never really felt close to in the Marvel Universe and slowly turned him into one of my current favorites.  The concept of gods walking among men (as the Asgardians due with their home now floating over Oklahoma, USA) may have been done many times, but Straczynski seems to add a freshness to it that takes these classic Lee/Kirby renditions and turns them on their heads as comedic foils for stories without drifiting into parody territory.  Thor himself is presented as being looking to reexamine what exactly it means to lead his fellow gods.  Straczynski subtley points out that Thor is not a superhero, but a god of old who protects the weak and vanquishes evil not because of the whole “great power, great responsibility” deal, but because that’s what Odin had always taught him was important.  When examining the character this way, you can feel that Straczynski knows what he’s doing and that the coming issues will only get better and better with each release.  Oliver Copiel and Marko Djurdjevic both handle art duties here and consistently show off why Thor is not only one of Marvel’s best written comics but also one of its best drawn titles as well.  Neither artist disappoints on their issues and if that created lateness, then honestly, I don’t care.  It’s worth the wait.  This hardcover completes the first year of the title and the arc of Thor and the Asgardians return and Loki’s sinister plot to overthrow Thor’s reign as King.  Enjoy and watch as I take back almost everything I ever said negative about J. Michael Straczyniski.  Almost.

BPRD: The Warning:  Dark Horse has taken to publishing their Hellboy spin-off series, the BPRD, as a series of mini-series and it has so far worked out pretty well for the title.  Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Guy Davis have been the creative team on almost every book in the BPRD series thus far and have been crafting quite the complex story for the core group of characters to follow.  Fans of the Hellboy property know Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, and Johann Krause, but characters like Roger the Homunculus, Capt. Benjamin Daimio, and Kate Corrigan are somewhat new to people who have read a few Hellboy books or just seen the films.   There are many plotlines going on in the title at the moment from Capt. Daimio’s secrets to Abe’s origins to Liz’s importance to a coming war.  In the background (and in some books, the main plot) is a war with a race of creatures referred to as “the frogs” and their involvement in the destruction of the human race.  Dynamic characters and amazing art are a staple of the Hellboy series and the spin-off BPRD series manages to stand on its own with head held high.

Nova vol. 4:  To say I’m a fan of the Nova series from Marvel would be an understatement.  I’ve had an affection for the character since the New Warriors series in the early 90′s, but had pretty much lost track of him with every mishandling of him since that series insistence on giving him a five o’clock shadow and a ponytail (really, what was wrong with us in the 90′s anyway?).  Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (the affectionately named DnA writing team from the UK) have pretty much been given the keys to Marvel’s cosmic characters with Annihilation, Guardians of the Galaxy, and War of Kings and have shot every series out of the park.  The duo seem to be able to call all of the shots in their corner of the universe with any characters that they wish and that’s what can make a book like Nova work so well:  You never know what’s going to happen next.  This is what can truly make for a good comic.  You have an everyman hero that your reader can relate to (Nova’s alter ego, Richard Rider, constantly refers to himself as, “just a kid from Long Island”) and have him thrown into insane situations such as tracking down a serial killing, body-hopping alien during a planet’s final destruction by Galactus.  You have a guest star list that includes Darkhawk, the Silver Surfer, and Super Skrull.  You have plot twists that show just how much Nova can’t rely on anyone but himself.  Best of all, you have extremely clear and detailed action scenes from talent like Wellington Alves and Andrea Di Vito that really makes the book feel balanced between emotional and thrilling moments.  Nova is a book that I’ll most likely never cut from my pull list and even buy in trade and hardcover just to keep all the stories in one place.  Highly recommended for fans of great comics.

Scalped vol. 4:  Fans of noir and gritty southwestern drama alike can take heart knowing that a series like Scalped exists.  Jason Aaron carved his name in the pantheon of Vertigo’s top creators by crafting a story of the dark secrets that lie on a Native American reservation populated by “villains” that are almost more complex and interesting the “heroes” (I really do emphasize the “almost” there).  When I started this series, it seemed like pretty straight forward crime fiction in the vein of Elmore Leonard or James Ellroy with an emphasis on a formerly proud people and the corruption that they have to endure.  As the series has progressed, though, something amazing happened:  the main villain became one of the most sympathetic characters in the whole book.  That’s Aaron’s true achievement with this series.  The antagonist, Chief Lincoln Red Crow, who at first glance could have easily just been a Native American version of Marvel’s Kingpin, has had layers and layers of depth added to his portrayal until you are entranced by his story along with the stories of the other characters like main protagonist Dashiel Bad Horse, our anti-hero, or Dino Poor Bear, who you just know has a larger part to play down the line.  That’s the true beauty of Scalped:  It’s not about wondering what will happen next, it’s about wondering what new aspect of a character will draw you closer to them.

Astounding Wolf-Man vol. 2:   Robert Kirkman is an idea man.  He was obviously raised on a steady supply of 90′s Marvel comics and must have been constanly jotting notes in his margins about characters he wanted to one day explore in comics.  Thankfully, not only did he eventually achieve the success to do that as a full-time gig (and a new member of the Image partners), but he’s actually an extremely capable writer who not only creates human characters that come off as realistic and series that always zig when you think they’ll zag.  Whether it’s the Walking Dead or Invincible or Tech Jacket, Kirkman never rests on his laurels.  It’s for that reason that I leapt into his latest series, the Astounding Wolf-Man, with open arms and little to no trepidation.  The series follows Gary Hampton, a successful CEO who is bitten by a werewolf while on vacation with his family.  Hampton realizes the effect of the bite and what it means to his life and decides to combine his money and his newfound powers to fight for justice as the Wolf-Man.  Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned.  The second volume picks up on the cliffhanger of the previous one and also lays the groundwork for upcoming storylines while addressing the backstory and motivations of characters that are lining up to be the main antagonists.  Penciler Jason Howard is a find.  His simple style is almost like something from the DC Animated titles but he is able to handle gory action as deftly as emotional melodrama.  The book is one of my favorites from Image and I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Thor: Ages of Thunder HC:  Matt Fraction is a god.  I don’t say this for embellishment.  Based on how he writes a Thor comic, it’s obvious that Matt Fraction has a little bit of a god in him.  I’m not one for the sword and sorcery set.  I am not a Wheel of Time or Lord of the Rings or Dark Tower reader.  I begrudgingly sat through the LOTR films and cringe at the thought of a Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game.   Yet, I was spellbound by Matt Fraction’s take on Thor and the Asgardian Gods of legend as it unfolded in this collection of his one-shots.  Stories that tell the tale of magic apples, manipulative frost giants, vengeful fathers and defiant sons, and forgotten warriors unfold with a narrative that draws the reader in and refuses to let go.  With art chores from the likes Patrick Zircher, Dan Brereton, Doug Braithwaite, Clay Mann, and Marko Djurdjevic, not only does the book read well, but it looks gorgeous to boot.  The range in styles is never jarring to the reader and the narrative flows from one story to the next with ease.  While I also enjoy the ongoing series by Thor writer J. Michael Straczynski, I hope one day that Fraction is handed the keys to Asgard for what would promise to be a spectacular run.

Foolkiller: White Angels:  I was hesitant to give this series a shot when the first mini came about.  Foolkiller isn’t a character that can be made into something memorable too easily.  In the mainstream Marvel comics that he first appeared in, he was just a crazy man with a big hat and a disintegration gun.  Seriously.  He killed “fools” or those that he deemed as consisting of behavior that was foolish.  He wasn’t a hero remotely (barely even an anti-hero), but he was also not really a villain.  Frankly, the irony was that he acted like a fool and many different people carried his legacy on since, y’know, the character kept getting killed off.  Flashforward to a year ago when novelist Greg Hurwitz was interested in writing comics at Marvel.  He apparently was extremely interested in the Punisher, but at the time Garth Ennis’truly superior run was still underway in Marvel’s MAX line of comics.  The editors proposed taking the Foolkiller character and seeing if Hurwitz could do anything with him.  Hurwitz, reluctantly up for a challenge, came up with a fresh take on the character: vigilante performance artist.  It actually worked.  The first Foolkiller series was gritty, dark, and violent following a protagonist that was governed by his own moral code and hunting down those he deemed unworthy to live for their crimes, punishing them in creatively gruesome ways and displaying them for all the world to see as the fools they were.  Imagine the Joker as a good guy and you’ve pretty much got the new Foolkiller.  The Foolkiller: White Angels series was another adventure of Foolkiller taking on the bad guys, this time white supremacists in LA.  The added bonus was that since Hurwitz had proven himself on the title, the editors gave him a crack at adding the Punisher as a costar for half the issues.   The story has simple villains and a pretty straightforward arc with minimal surprises, but really, do you actually need any?  Good Rated R fun for all.

Perhapanauts vol. 3:  Todd Dezago and Craig Rousseau created the Perhapanauts way back in 2005 and published the initial issues through Dark Horse Comics.  It’s a shame that no one read this book at that time since it is extremely well-done and fun.  I personally didn’t hear about it until the late Mike Weiringo posted a sketch of the characters on his blog and gave a shout-out to the creators and said that people should give it a shot.  The next Wednesday at my shop, I grabbed the first trade and was hooked.  The characters were fun, the art was simple but clean and well done, and the story of a group of paranormal investigators (who were in turn made up of the paranormal) was played more for the Challengers of the Unknown than Hellboy that it was able to stand on its own.  With volume 3, the title has moved to Image comics and you can tell the creators are very excited about this.  Image has done a rather large advertising push for the book and has also packed this trade with enough bonus features to make fans new and old feel justified in their purchase.

Dan Dare Omnibus:  Apparently, Dan Dare is the biggest thing ever in England.  Twice as awesome as America’s Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers and also twice as old and timely.  I’d heard the name one or two times when imported comic book talent would talk about work they’d done before breaking in with the Big Two (Marvel and DC), but I’d never really read anything about the actual character.  Well, there I was talking to my local comic shop owner and he noticed I was a huge Garth Ennis fan.  ”Do you like his war comics?” he asks.  ”Yup.  Totally love his war comics and really anything he does that isn’t over-the-top gore or toilet humor,” I reply.  ”Well, what if I could give you a Garth Ennis war comic set in space that hits all the same highlights of his best stuff?”  Lo and behold, the Dan Dare Omnibus from the issues published by the now defunct Virgin Comics and republished in trade form by Devil’s Due Publishing.   Ennis infuses every scene with the grit and intensity of a WWII film and keeps the dialogue and action uber-tight.  Gary Erskine takes the art reins and turns in some of his best work pretty much showing off how he and Chris Weston are some of the best British artists out there (Weston doesn’t contribute to this book, but Erskine’s style is eerily similar to his).  While there are nods to what I’m assuming are the classic characters and relationships that were present in previous versions, I was able to follow the arcs with ease and didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything that was integral.  Effectively, this is the Battlestar: Galactica equivalent in updates for the Dan Dare property.  It’s the complete story, so enjoy.