Pick of the Week 4/4/2012

Pulls big enough to club a seal. Excuse the trades, I was afraid it was going to be a light week.

The pile... it's made of stars!

Hundreds and hundreds of pages of fine writing and finer art, this week was a doozy. Each book was a little different: I had the child's folktale, the spy thriller, the supernatural horror and -- okay, a few of that last category. Boiling it down the issue of the week that charmed me the most was Animal Man #8 while the award for best trade of the week had to go to... Oh God, don't make me choose.

Animal Man #8: Pick of the  Week: After several issues of road-trip shenanigans and fleeing the rot, the line is drawn. It was great to see Buddy Baker in action and the issue had a tremendously effective two-page spread, effective because it's not only the first I can recall in the series so far but that it was deservedly earned. After eight issues of gripping incremental gains it was fantastic to see Buddy return to being a hero and leap to his daughter's aid with primal fury. The series has continued on since the first issue as the little-engine-that-could while delivering reliable plot twists but this issue was a step-up by Lemire and Pugh.
Team: Jeff Lemire, Steve Pugh, Travel Foreman.

Swamp Thing #8: The riotous rot faces retribution. I would have been content seeing Swamp Thing strike from the shadows, hidden in some sort of similar dramatic tension as the previous issue, but Snyder, Rudy, and Paquette blow past it to deliver Alec Holland's new form as armored and mean. It was great to see the new form of Swamp Thing but the last page left me feeling a little underwhelmed. Part of writing (good writing) is the ability for a writer to dump mayhem on their protagonist. Wanting Swampy to succeed so badly I felt my sidelines cheering for the Green Giant unfounded. After all the fighting up to Sethe, Holland is dispatched in a single blow. I would've liked to have seen the battle go further for another issue.
Team: Scott Snyder, Marco Rudy, Yanick Paquette.

Fatale #4: This book is proving to be an exercise in memory for me. Each issue I'm witness to the things that go bump in the night without any sense of why. Returning to the start of the series and reading it through in one chunk  did much to clarify the current situation but I'm still waiting for the book to grab me. Until then I'm looking forward to the essays/back-matter each issue.
Team: Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips.

-----Books of the Week----

BPRD: Plague of Frogs Hardcover #3: (Trade of the Week) The world is ending very slowly. Enough is happening to keep it interesting. Having originally joined onto BPRD during this hardcover's arc, the emotional impact wasn't as great. The stories are still fantastic by all accounts and a must read for anyone getting into the current BPRD: Hell on Earth arc. Fan favorite Daryl the Wendigo appears this arc and steals the show for me. God, I missed that poor, cursed, guffer. The best part of the series is its happiness to "break" things, and while the Abe Sapien arc was so-so it introduced a new mysterious character and led into the knock-down-drag-out-finale of Benjamin Daimyo (whom I totally forgot about his relationship to the Nazi villians and the Black Flame who has just popped up in the new Lobster Johnson mini). Contiually high-quality BPRD is a series that can't be missed.
Team: John Arcudi, Mike Mignola, Dave Stewart, Guy Davis

Queen and Country #1: It all started here. I started reading Q&C in its definitive editions (2-4) before learning that #1 was out of print. After hearing back from Greg Rucka in a prompt tweet I was happy to discover that it was going back for its new printing (further investigation revealed the reason for the delay being Oni Press's new logo). Reading Q&C#1 thankfully evaded the typical "prequel" feel, instead layering on more and more of the character building and political intrigue I'd enjoyed before. The early volume's art is a far cry different than later instalments bu it's impressive to see that Rucka had, from the get-go, such a strong handle on the world and formula. Impressive by all accounts it makes me want to seek out the novel(s) now.
Team: Greg Rucka, Assorted.

Anya's Ghost: The book goes down as quick as punch and tastes just as great. An indie gem that follows the life of Anya, a Russian immigrant in America who unexpectedly finds the displaced spirit of murder victim. With some provoking the two become friends and the ghost helps Anya fit in at school -- until strange circumstances begin to build. The book is the labour of love by Vera Brosgol and shows in its quippy writing and animated style. The lines are crisp, the story never languishes, and the saddest part is that it's over so soon (even at over 200 pages). A must-read for anyone that likes childrens literature or dark folk tales, Anya's Ghost fits into the similar vein as Coraline and other dark fantasies. Highly recommended.
Team: Vera Brosgol.