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Monday, January 14, 2008
Why so serious? It's Jeffrey Morgan's Slush Pile #6!

Just like I do every Boxing Day, last month I went down to my friendly neighborhood comic book store and loaded up on as many books as I could lug out. Then I spent the rest of the year reading them. Here's the best of what I bought.

Brian Wood & Davide Gianfelice - Northlanders #1 (Vertigo) :: He comes from the land of the ice and snow in the year A.D. 980 and Sven of Orkney is hell-bent on a mission of vengeance to get back the money his uncle stole from him--and that's just the beginning of this frozen Norse saga that's tougher than Conan and bloodier than 300.

Various Artists - Batman: The Resurrection Of Ra's Al Ghul (DC Comics) :: The good news is that Ra's Al Ghul has been resurrected. The bad news is that he's been resurrected into a decaying radiated shell so he needs the body of Batman's son to survive--which means this is Ra's Al Ghul at his most ferocious. Now if only someone would cast David Carradine as Ra's in a Batman movie...

Joe Kubert & Robert Kanigher - Showcase Presents: Sgt. Rock (DC Comics) :: This first volume has everything contained in DC's two earlier full color Archive Editions, plus more, all housed in one extremely affordable 500 page black and white package. Kubert and Kanigher were the greatest war raconteurs ever so I can't recommend this one highly enough.

Steve Niles & Scott Hampton - Simon Dark (DC Comics) :: It's the Frankenstein bit! But like you've never seen it before!

Darwyn Cooke - The Spirit: Book One (DC Comics) :: Although it's foolhardy in the extreme for anyone to try and step in Will Eisner's big boots, Cooke does an admirable job of doing a genial daylight update that doesn't even try to compete with the original. So think of it as an alternate universe offering that's not a hoax! Not an imaginary story!

Howard Chaykin & David Tischman & David Hahn - The Complete Bite Club (Vertigo) :: Anyone expecting this sociologically satirical bloodsuckin' saga to be a sequel of sorts to Black Kiss is gonna be sorely disappointed. But once you get past the corny pun of a title, you'll find a light little diversion that ain't all that bad as far as nocturnal girl on girl action goes. That said, I really do wish that Chaykin would illustrate more of his own stories.

Aaron Alexovich - Kimmie66 (Minx) :: Y'gotta love a comic book company that's got the temerity to name its teenage girl imprint MINX. I sure do.

Michael L. Fleisher - The Original Encyclopedia Of Comic Book Heroes: Volumes 1-3 (DC Comics) :: The man who wrote the greatest Jonah Hex and Spectre stories ever has come up with these three exhaustive dossiers on Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman which contain a whopping 1200 pages of absolutely everything you ever wanted to know about them but were too fanboy to ask.

Frank Miller & Jim Lee - Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder (DC Comics) :: Issue one came out in early 2006. Issue eight came out in early 2008. Not bad for a monthly comic that's now officially listed as being bimonthly. I'd make a joke about it being the best biannual comic of the decade, but this is one multi-parter that's actually worth waiting for. That said, I really do wish that Miller would illustrate more of his own stories.

Steve Niles & Justiniano & Steve Scott - The Creeper: Welcome To Creepsville (DC Comics) :: Meet The Creeper as Steve Ditko's 1968 nutcase creation gets yet another revivalist kick at the can with one major difference: this time around the experimental serum that inadvertently transforms TV wiseacre Jack Ryder into Gotham City's craziest crimefighter includes an unhealthy dose of Joker venom--and you know what that means.

Greg Ruka & Tom Mandrake - Crime Bible: The Five Lessons #1 (DC Comics) :: "Crime Bible" is the absolute greatest title for a comic book in the past fifty years--and it's not a bad read, either!

Dwayne McDuffie & Ed Benes - Justice League Of America #14 (DC Comics) :: Superman and the Justice League are, like, so totally helpless against Luthor and the Injustice League. Don't ask! Just buy it!

Geoff Johns & Dale Eaglesham - Justice Society Of America #10 (DC Comics) :: The Superman of Earth-22 (I said don't ask, but do the words "Kingdom Come" ring a bell?) tries to fit into a world he never made. Or did he? Okay, ask away 'cause his very public return is one heartfelt action sequence that you won't wanna miss.

Will Pfeifer & David Lopez - Catwoman #72 (DC Comics) :: Selina gives her daughter up for adoption and loses all her worldly possessions in the process. This ish contains some of the finest-written dialogue you'll read in a long time, ranking right up with the very best of Ann Nocenti and Frank Miller.

G. Willow Wilson & M.K. Perker - Cairo (Vertigo) :: Don't Bogart that hookah, my friend. Pass it over to me.

Percy Carey & Ronald Wimberley - Sentences: The Life Of M.F. Grimm (Vertigo) :: The living word straight outta Harlem about the fall and rise of an influential rapper you need to know about. Featuring cameos by Suge Knight, Chuck D, Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre, this is essential reading if you want to know what's going down right now and how it's going down. It's a graphic thing, y'gotta understand.