New This Week: January 12, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:



The pick of the week is Jason Lutes's Berlin, book 1 trade collection from Drawn & Quarterly. This is actually a reissue, but it's definitely worth picking up if you haven't yet encountered it. Lutes's drafting and drawing is exquisite, deceptively simple but actually dense and detailed. The art would be enough for me to recommend Berlin, but there's also a fascinating story of love and politics set in the Weimar Republic-era.



In other comics:



Atomeka has Hero Squared Xtra Sized Special #1, from the crew that brought us Formerly Known as the Justice League.



Avatar has the final two of Warren Ellis's Apparat books, Angel Stomp Future & Simon Spector.



Beckett has the seventh issue of Ruule: Kiss and Tell.



DC has the collection of Gail Simone's first Birds of Prey stories in the Sensei & Student collection, as well as Rucka & Johnson's Wonder Woman in the Bitter Rivals collection. The start of Dixon, Beatty & McDaniel's "Nightwing: Year One" is in Nightwing #101, and Mr. Majestic returns to the WildStorm universe in yet another Majestic #1. Also from DC are new issues of Fables (#33), Gotham Central (#27), JLA (#110) & JSA (#69).



Image has the first issue of Darkness/Superman, and something called Two Bits, which I couldn't tell you anything about, but it's only a quarter.



Marvel has the first Araña digest and the first District X trade, a second Marvel Knights 4 trade, the first issue of Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill, and new issues of Captain America & The Falcon (#11), New Thunderbolts (#4), Pulse (#7), She-Hulk (#11), The Punisher (#16), and Ultimates 2 (#2).



Oni has the second Love Fights collection.





Finally, if for some reason you were considering buying the Youngblood Imperial Premium Signed Edition for $24.99, please for the love of all that's right and good take that money and instead donate it to a worthy cause. You have too much damn money.

Quick GN Reviews

She-Hulk, vol. 1; Single Green Female

by Dan Slott, Juan Bobillo, Paul Pellitier, Marcelo Sosa, Roland Paris, Tom Simmons & Don Hillsman

Sometimes you can believe the hype. She-Hulk turns out to be one of the most interesting and fun titles that Marvel has put out recently, and this trade colelcts the first six issues. After She-Hulk's partying lifestyle causes her to get kicked out of Avengers Mansion and her super-hero doings cause her to lose her job as a prosecuting attorney, she finds heself approached to work for the prestigious law firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway. The catch is that the firm wants Jennifer Walters, not her alter ego She-Hulk, so Jen has to spend her time in court de-powered, a state that she is not used to living in. Thus begins the fun as Jen adjusts to her new life and takes on cases with a non-traditional bent, such as a ghost testifying at his own murder, or Spider-Man suing J. Jonah Jameson for libel. The art in the first four chapters is by Bobillo, whose clean line and slightly cartoony style and really shines in the many non-action scenes. The final two-part story is more of a traditional super-hero story, and Pellitier's more action-oriented art serves it well. If depressing super-hero mega-events are getting you down, try She-Hulk for a dose of old fashioned fun with a modern twist.

Rating: 3.5 (of 5)




Human Target, book 2: Living in America

by Peter Milligan & Cliff Chiang

In this second collection of the regular Vertigo series, Milligan continues to explore the concepts of identity and American nationality in ways both interesting and thought-provoking. The opening chapter is a story of Christopher Chance taking on the identity of a priest who has been targeted by an assassin, and while you won't be surprised by where the plot goes, it does offer an intriguing look at the nature of faith and forgiveness. The longest story in the collection is the three-part "Which Way the Wind Blows," which finds Chance entangled in a web of violence and deceit involving ex-60's radicals, modern-day anarchists, and the Feds, and interoduces what may be a long-term antagonist for Chance. The book closes with another one-shot, in which Chance takes on the identity of an escaped convict who wants the chance to live free for just five days so he can live life to the fullest. Throughout the book Milligan's writing skills are at the top of their form, and the art by Chiang looks great and moves the stories forward with seeming effortlessness (though as we can see by Chiang's bonus materials, it does require a good deal of effort!) Anyone looking for intelligent action comics should give Human Target a look.

Rating: 4 (of 5)