expatNERD

Tag: Mark Waid

  • You’re late

    Howdy folks and welcome back to our regular Thursday programming when your pal Marv recommends something to you, our loyal readership. As you know, Franka hijacked it last week, but really it was a friendly hijack and I did not mind at all. In fact, I do think we can expect her to pop up on these Thursday musings more often.

    This week’s pick is an interesting one because it is actually the second of the three issue series. Now that might not be particularly interesting to you, but if I were to tell you that the first issue came out way back on July 25, 2023, you would punch me in the face for being a liar. But it is true. Ladies and gentleman, please welcome to the store Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #2!

    "Image" of Lex Luthor saying "Your'e Late."

    I still have not read the first issue because I usually wait until the full series comes out so I can digest them in full. So as you can imagine my tummy has been rumbling for quite a while now. This thing pairs up Mark Waid with Bryan Hitch, so the story should prove to be riveting and beautiful at the same time. Hitch is an incredible artist who manages to put in so much detail in his panels it is insane. When I close my eyes I still can imagine his epic first twelve issues on Hawkman that came out back in 2018. And now because this thing is finally coming out, you can and need to grab it now.

    But you do have a conundrum. Because this thing has been so late, DC is pumping out issues #2 and #3 then in about two months you will already have a nice collected edition when #3 hits the stores (I think). So buyers choice on this one. And remember Lex Luthor hates it when you are late so he must have been squirming during this one.

    -Marv

  • The Power of the Atom

    I must admit, I am still trying to figure out what these Thursday posts will be. But I think it might be wise to mention some current comics that have struck both my and those of my customers’ interest.

    This week, my sights are set on DC Comics and I would like to highlight two series that do have something in common.

    The first is Justice League: The Atom Project. I was a huge fan of Captain Atom in the 80’s by Cary Bates with a big chunk of that drawn by Pat Broderick and truth be told we have not seen much of the big guy as of late. So coming out of the events of Absolute Power, with a bunch of powers being transferred to different characters and others being quite different, I had my eye on this one. It basically brings all three atoms together: Ray Palmer, Ryan Choi and of course Nathaniel Adam. It has beautiful art by Mike Perkins with writing conceived by John Ridley and Ryan Parrott. My DC gang really likes it so far and the only fault I can attribute to it is that it has been announced as a limited series. I do hope it continues to have some legs.

    The second is Action Comics. If you are not in the know, Mark Waid and Clayton Henry did a wonderful twelve parter when the series went weekly for twelve weeks. It was riveting and if you are a fan of Superman do not sleep on those back issues. Plus, it had a Supergirl backup, continuing what Tom King and Bilquis Evely laid down but this time from Mariko Tamaki and Skylar Patridge. That thing moved.

    So needless to say, with Action going back to monthly status, John Ridley and Inaki Miranda have some shoes to fill. And there you have the commonality between my two picks: John Ridley. I am very happy to see him again. He had a great run at DC, writing a lot of the Batman books and also the Other History of the DC Universe, a very thought provoking book that I can heartily recommend to pick up. He was absent for a bit, and dipped his toe here and there on some short stories, but now it seems he’s revving up his presence on the DC line once again. Thus, if you are hesitant on any of the two above titles, don’t be, because you and your money are in good hands with John Ridley.