Tag Archives: Thor

New Comics: Dept. H

IMG_0669In his new series for Dark Horse Comics, MIND MGMT and Super Spy creator Matt Kindt teams up with wife Sharlene to pull the reader under for a fantastic, immersive murder mystery. Dept. H takes place in a deep-sea research station, thousands of miles below the sunlit surface (deptH, get it?) and within the first few pages, I’m already terrified.

I like to think that I have a healthy fear of the open water. I grew up a few miles from the Pacific, and now live even closer. I love the ocean, but it scares the hell out of me. And when special investigator Mia dons her superunderwatersuit and investigates the crime scene, one beautiful Kindtian clue at a time, the culminating image of the floating body absolutely chills me.

IMG_0671I’d like to echo the closing comments in Kindt’s afterword. I’m as guilty as the next guy of waiting until certain series have been collected before purchasing and reading. But let’s help keep those floppies on the comic book shelves, team. We’re in the era of binge-watched Netflix shows and discounted introductory TPBs. I get it. But I also get how valuable it can be to patiently wait for each new installment of an engrossing series, especially when the creators go out of their way to make each installment so individually worthwhile. And, in the case of Dept. H, we’ll be rewarded for swimming along with each successive issue, each day in the life of our main character. Continue reading New Comics: Dept. H

The Best of All New All Different Marvel #6: The Mighty Thor

The Mighty Thor

Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman

Much like Dan Slott and Mike Allred’s Silver Surfer, this new volume of The Mighty Thor, relaunched for All New All Different Marvel, gets the if-it-ain’t-broke treatment. Aaron and Dauterman’s “Lady Thor” was one of Marvel’s most entertaining titles of 2015, and it’s my personal pick for best among the new series in the current relaunch.

Thankfully, we’ve moved past all the Who Is Thor? nonsense. (Remember that long, drawn-out Who Is Red Hulk garbage? NOBODY cared and the climactic reveal was a yawner even for Hulkophiles.) Jane Foster is Thor, and she’s incredible. We don’t know what’s going on with O.G. Odinson (but that’s coming); we don’t know how Jane’s going to handle the cancer that’s eating away at her mortal body; and we still don’t know how well she’ll wield The Hammer. But those are the kinds of questions that a great series can address.

And in a rousing trial by fire, we’re going to find out exactly how worthy she is of Mjolnir. Within the first few pages, a meteorite shower of dead elves announces a sensational opening arc, and one of the best jams on mythology-infused superheroics since the Walt Simonson Thor stuff I devoured as a kid.

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Continue reading The Best of All New All Different Marvel #6: The Mighty Thor

All New All Different Marvel – Week 7

We’re through seven weeks of the All-New All-Different Marvel era. The total number of relaunched or new titles is now up to 36, halfway to the anticipated total. Truth be told, there are a few team members in the Idle Time ANAD focus group grumbling about the “seventy-two and counting” announcements. The griping is understandable when a turd like Black Knight hits the shelves. But for every clunker, there’s a Spider-Woman and a Mighty Thor. So keep reading, true believers. We will too. And then we’re going to rank the whole damn lot of them.

All New All Different premieres
Black Knight #1
The Mighty Thor #1
Ms. Marvel #1
Spider-Woman #1
Star-Lord #1

Continuing and related titles
Astonishing Ant-Man #2
Captain America: Sam Wilson #3
Deadpool #2
Extraordinary X-Men #2
New Avengers #3
Uncanny Avengers Annual #1
Uncanny Inhumans #2
Continue reading All New All Different Marvel – Week 7

2015 First-Half Favorites: IP’s Top 5 Comics

Buying floppy comic books from week to week is expensive. It’s a real bummer because there is something special about spreading a pile of comics on your bed and randomly picking a new series to read. That being said, Trade Paper Backs are a great deal, and Image Comics has begun to sell first Trades for under $10. This is the best time to find new amazing comics to follow, and with DC having just relaunched a few years back along with Marvel about to do something similar, this year is a golden opportunity. These books represent those that I had the most fun with so far this year.

My Top 5 from the first half of the year, in a totally random order.

Thor
Jason Aaron & Russell Dauterman
Marvel Comics

After Jason Aaron’s excellent run on Thor came to an end last year the best possible thing happened… Jason Aaron continued writing Thor, this time allowing the mantle of the God of Thunder to be taken up by a woman. This series is fun, brash, and bad-ass. Thor hasn’t ever had this much balls.

The first arc of the series concerns the Dark Elf Malaketh (terribly rendered in the film Thor: The Dark World) who joins forces with the Frost Giants to aid their quest for their king’s skull. The God of Thunder is the only thing stopping them from freezing the entirety of Midgard.
Continue reading 2015 First-Half Favorites: IP’s Top 5 Comics