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Weekly Comic Shopping List 11/25/09

I didn't realize that dropping the Amazing Spider-Man collections was only going to be the beginning.  But I'm looking at my shelf and realize that while the past 5-8 years have delivered some good superhero stories, I've had enough.  Eleven Spider-Man collections in the past 2 years?  Probably as many Green Lantern related books and Avengers related books?  That's enough for me right now.  I'm closing out the latest overarching stories (Blackest Night and possibly Siege) and then bowing out.  It seems like a lot of major storylines are being wrapped up and that's the perfect time to clear some decks.

  • Blackest Night #5 -- I honestly don't care about the bad guy here and I ended up dropping the main Green Lantern titles so I'm wanting to see how well this reads without caring or seeing half of the story.  Let's be honest, what's happening in Green Lantern is a big part of Blackest Night.  Like so much else, this series started off strong but I think it's just my own enthusiasm for this that has fallen off.  Part of me feels like I just need to detox off of Geoff Johns after this and that's probably a good thing.  After last week's amusing but labored Adventure Comics #4, I can't tell if Geoff Johns likes the people who read his comics, puts up with them or detests them.  Any way, I honestly don't care.  The art sure is pretty though.  I'm still enjoying Reis's Alan Davis/Neal Adams mashup style and love the way that the Flash is drawn in this book.

  • Detective Comics #859--  This book continues to impress me.  Rucka's lean writing and J.H. Williams III's chameleon-like approach to this book are creating an interesting read that's got me more enthralled than Morrison's Batman and Robin right now.  Morrison's take is clever and grand but I prefer the smaller, more character driven story by Rucka right now. 

  • Shade The Changing Man Vol 2 Edge Of Vision TP-- I want to pick this one up at some point because I like both Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo.  For some reason, when this was originally coming out, I never got into it but I'm curious to go back and look at these early Vertigo books that featured British writers exploring the concept of America.  From Moore to Milligan to Morrison, there was a theme of trying to find meaning in America in Vertigo back in the day.  That's shifted a bit now where you have American writers like Brian Wood doing the same thing.

  • Winter Men TP-- This is one of those series that I've heard a lot about but never read.  I'm actually a bit surprised that DC/Wildstorm got the collection of this out as quickly as they did.  I'm looking forward to reading it.

  • Criminal The Sinners #2
  • Incognito TP-- I didn't care as much about Incognito as I do about Criminal but where ever the artistic pair of Sean Phillips and Val Staples show up, I'll be there.  But I'm looking forward to reading Incognito all in one sitting, to see if it flows any better or if it's still just a second-hand Sleeper.  Criminal, on the other hand, continues to be one of the best comics around

  • Ganges Vol 3 TP-- Someday soon, I have to sit down with a lot of Kevin Huizenga's work.  I like the individual pieces but haven't felt a connection to his larger body of comics.  Weird, eh?