Waiting for Wednesday, Issue 3

Another week, another Wednesday. It's like a little bit of Christmas every seven days, isn't it? Sure it is. Stop snickering at me. Before I launch into this week's list of books I'm most looking forward to throwing my money at, I wanted to mention that last night I saw Will Ferrell's one-man show, You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush.

And, since I jumped into the DeLorean to go back in time to Tuesday morning to write this week's "Waiting," uhm...I guess I'll write about how funny Ferrell was later this week.

Right.

So, on to it, then. It's a light week for me, which is good, because of all the money I spent...last...night.

First up we have a book that's put out by Image Comics, called Soul Kiss. Issue One shipped last month, and I finally got around to reading my copy this past weekend. It was a good first issue, with enough intrigue to get me to come back for Issue Two. Here's how Image describes the series:

A deal with the Devil gone bad leads production assistant Lili Bloom to strike a second deal with the Devil gone worse: To save her boyfriend, Lili must deliver ten innocent souls to Hell by sealing their fates...with a kiss.

As I mentioned, today sees the release of Issue Two, written by Steven T. Seagle and with art by Marco Cinello. Seagle's story is fast-paced, with a minimalist approach to exposition and dialogue, and he lets Cinello's stylized, painted art do most of the "talking."

This is a mature readers' book (that's a cropped cover image by and by), though, so far, it seems to be a case of the covers being more risque than the material within, which is a tried and true comics...uhm...marketing thing. Anyway, so far so good with this series, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

Next up we have X-Men Noir, Issue 4. Written by Fred Van Lente with moody art by Dennis Calero, this series is a re-imagining of the X-Men universe. A classic whodunit set in the 1920s, this series so far has been a nice change of pace for Marvel.

And, since we all know how bad I am at giving a summary of something, here's the Issue One description from Marvel's Web site:

The coroner's men flipped the redheaded corpse over so Dukes and Magnus from Homicide could get a better look at her. 'Better' being a relative term in this case, with the claw marks that slashed her face into a featureless, bloody mask and turned her guts into a butcher shop explosion.

But the tattoo--the simple, encircled 'X' above the left shoulder blade--remained intact, and Dukes pointed it out with the toe of his wingtip once Peter the rookie was done heaving up lunch.

"See this ink?" he said. "Means she did time at this reform school upstate, run by this shrink, Xavier..."

I've never been the biggest X-fan, so I'm enjoying seeing familiar faces (how many names did you catch in that write-up above?) in different, interesting settings and situations. The first three issues have been entertaining, and the art is dark and...well, noir-ish. If you haven't yet checked this series out, picking up today's Issue Four may not be the best place to start, but it's a six issue mini-series (at least, I'm pretty sure it is), so the trade is just around the corner.

And, finally, we have something completely different. Written by Brian Hibbs, owner of the hugely successful Comix Experience shop in San Fransisco, comes Tilting At Windmills, Volume Two.

Now, this is an actual book (no pretty drawings) but it is a book about comics. Well, actually, it's a book about comics retailing. And, before you ask, no I don't own a comics shop, nor, I imagine, will I ever. However, this stuff interests me, and I bought Volume One on a whim, and ended up greatly enjoying it.

Basically, these are collected columns that Hibbs wrote for both a retailer magazine, and then later online. He is in the middle of writing Volume Three of Tilting for Comic Book Resources.

Volume One focused on the 1990s comic book bust, and the insights of a retailer that survived that time are pretty intriguing. I like Hibbs' laid back and informal writing style, and he has a wealth of information about the direct comics market.

He's very opinionated and passionate about comics, and about the comics industry, and all that comes across very clearly in his writing. So, if you're a retailer, or if you're thinking about one day opening up a comics shop, or even if you're a creator trying to figure out the day-to-day operations of the stores where you'll eventually sell your wares, check this book out.

And that's all for me this week. So, only one question remains: What are you waiting for this week?