Top 10 Comics of the Week

Even out there Dan here aka the comic concierge,

and this is my top 10 countdown. This is a go

through all the books I read in this past week

and tell you my top ten favorites. Of course,

this is a subjective list. This is just my personal

opinion, so maybe take it with a grain of salt.

I will not go into any major spoilers about these

books, so don't worry. However, if you don't

want to hear anything about a book or something

like that, check out below because I'll have

chapters and timestamps there for you so you

can skip if necessary. So it's a big week of

books, as usual, and I had a pretty solid week.

I will say this upfront, because I know one of

the biggest releases this week was Red Room Number

One by Episcore. And people may be wondering

why that's on my list. And it is on my list.

It was on my list a few weeks ago when it was

available digitally, at least for a brief moment

in time. So if you don't see it on my list this

week, It's not that I did not dislike it or I

disliked it, but I just kind of, I guess, jumped

the gun early a little bit with that one. So

there you go. But enough of that. Let's get into

the actual countdown, starting with my number

10. My number 10 this week is Knowing Jill's

number four. This is published by Comlexology

with written by Jeff Lemire and Art by Jacques.

And this is the last issue in the first chapter

of this book. This sees Mei Mei and Millie. on

the run, trying to protect themselves from this

evil snowman with their dad in tow, although

he's still nursing a leg injury because he was

bitten by a bear. And for those that don't know,

this story takes place in a dystopian future.

I know there's a lot of those, but it is another

one of those. But it exists in this actually

like ice world, basically. And what's different

about it is how isolated the actual world is.

It all takes place in this in this ice canyon

that everyone has now been living in and After

the first issue where there was a smalling by

this creature or person or robot, we're not really

sure, called a snowman, Millie, May May and their

father have been on the run trying to find a

way to get free. The issue is that there's really

no place to run and they're finding that out

more and more because again, they're limited

on this one path when they have attempted to

go away, they ended up getting into an issue

with a bear. So it is this. tense situation where

you basically have the Terminator following them,

that is killing them, trying to kill them, and

really nowhere to turn. It's a very desolate

situation. In this issue, there is also some

relatively major revelations that I think will...

Obviously majorly shaped what moves forward and

it was a pretty emotional issue too And of course

violent. It's also great. Just getting jock art

again now It's been a while since we saw him

in a book like this and I think one of the benefits

of it being Commuxology is that there have been

no delays like these first four issues came out

all on time all within a monthly even maybe quicker

than that basis and if you love his art, it's

again, it's stylized, it has a lot of intensity

to it. I think it really fits this type of mold,

especially when you have a world that is so desolate

and when the violence does occur and seeing the

sharp reds and blacks played against the crisp

white I think helps enhance it for sure. So I

did like this issue and I'm enjoying this series.

Comixology Unlimited Comixology has actually

been having a pretty steady year, one of the

best years they've had. thus far when it comes

to the original series. Number nine this week

comes from the world of Oni Prask, and it's Jonah

and the Impossible Monsters, number three. This

is written by Chris Samney and Laura Samney,

art by Chris Samney with colors by Matt Wilson.

So he's been joining the Firepower series from

Image, of course, Kim Sandie has been drawing

that, and it's the same art team as that book,

but in a very different style of book. This is

your YA. Kids type of story where you have this

again. I wouldn't say it's a soapy in the future

It's more like a fantasy world that's being overtaken

by these monster creatures And this issue we

see Jonah and her sister again are traversing

the land trying to find their father There's

a lot of themes this book in that sense of seeing

individuals on a journey And this is another

journey book another book that had some emotional

beats to this actually I think took some time

to I think Catch up and take its breath a bit

because you get this scene with John and her

sister after they're Dealing with some monsters

that you know, they're underground and you get

some more world building within it, but I felt

unlike sometimes when you get world building

that feels like heavy exposition that is just

there more for the reader than the characters,

I felt this actually had a good combination of

both because it felt natural and organic to the

story that was being told. One of my favorite

moments of the entire book was actually in the

opening. It was a good example of how to use

perspective and scale in an effective manner.

We see these two monsters at first that are fighting

these like looks like giant bugs and then as

things quickly turn awry when we see a foot come

and step on them. and we look up and it looks

like it's Jonah and she looks like this giant

figure that just is. all over the page and just

by using really great perspective i think that's

something christianity is really good at is he

knows where to place the camera to add emotion

and add uh exciting elements like this you know

placing the camera is a big part of good storytelling

when it comes to comics and he's great at that

and i think too it's just a good way of informing

us about the character of jona knowing that yes

she might be a small package but she packs a

heavy punch she is a In a way a giant herself

although she may not have the stature of one

as we've seen she certainly seems to have Potentially

type of superpowers. It's not sure but it's also

great Just getting a kids book and in a monthly

format like this. It's doesn't happen often,

you know only press They have some monthly books,

but mostly the monthly books tend to be on on

the mature side It's nice seeing kids books that

are like this that are done by you know creators

that are well known outside of the YA market

It's also cool seeing, you know, a husband and

wife team doing a book together. That's pretty

cool as well. If there's one complaint about

this issue is in the series so far is that I

still think it's still trying to figure out its

pacing. Each issue tends to end rather abruptly,

like we start to see things going and then we

get an abrupt ending. That's a nice cliffhanger,

but story wise, pacing wise, it just seems like

it comes out of nowhere in the way. Maybe this

will read better in trade overall, but as a single

issue, despite that. little quibble i i did really

enjoy this book and continue to enjoy it and

like i said it may not be everyone's cup of tea

because it is very much your kid book it's a

very quick read there's not a lot of dialogue

here although this is probably an issue that

had the most dialogue as we get more of an unbuilt

perspective of what the world is like and i think

it's really adding to the danger and what we'll

be moving forward with the narrative my number

is actually the entombed on number seven actually

thought this was going to be the last issue of

the series based upon the way issue six ended

but we're getting one more issue at least I would

assume one more issue because I don't know how

much story you can yield out of this but I will

say the first thing I think about when I think

about this specific issue will be this series

or the colors and I'm a fan of autumn I love

the changing of the leaves that's usually a warm

aesthetically pleasing season now with this how

the yellows and oranges pop off this page especially

in the opening scenes in this I'm just gonna

think of the Intensity that exists. It was one

of those books where it's just like everything

was happening right away and it just everything

felt crowded and busy in a good way in the sense

of like the world is all caving in on itself

and we learned a lot of secrets a lot of what

was really going on and I don't think necessarily

there's anything super surprising I felt like

it went to direction you were expecting but that

didn't necessarily hinder the, uh, what I got

out of the issue. And I do wonder like where

this is going to go next. I was, I was kind of

concerned, like I was waiting for the next shoe

to drop in a way. Like I'm thinking, okay, here

we're going and we're just waiting for the craziness

to subside in order for our protagonist to make

a heist and get out of this situation. And that

didn't exactly happen. And I think you kind of

understood too, and what you've had at the central

theme of this too has been the connection between

Mothers and daughters has been a big piece of

this and I think you kind of see that coming

to had any idea family and Coming together in

this and that relationship and the murkiness

of it and and this I think the chemo went in

here What was all leading to it happened right

at the end of this very issue? And then you have

a character that hasn't make a choice She makes

a choice and maybe she she changed her mind at

the very end I just love the general look of

the book too like how things look faded on the

page And it makes sense because you have this

town that is built upon this ideology that is

kind of crumbling in on itself But we we shall

see how it actually ends up in the end not to

disparaged the book, but I did think of something

like Wicker Man, where you have like this cult

coming together at the end, except this wasn't

insane and you had no one like Nicolas Cage screaming

bees. I'm sorry that I really did enjoy this.

For my number seven, we're going from a kid's

book to something that may seem like a kid's

book, but very much is not, was Three Dogs, number

four. This is by Tony Flex and Twist Forsner,

and they've done in the past books like My Little

Pony and things of that nature, and I think they

certainly got a claim for those. This stone almost

seems like they're letting loose with what is

happening, especially in this issue and this

story has been about these dogs have all resided

with one another and one dog. Tends to remember

her master and believes. Their new master is

in fact someone that killed her that he might

be this crazy silly serial killer that kills

individuals and Part of his plan is then to take

their dog and now they're all residing together

The problem is with dogs they have messed up

Remberries and they tend to you know go to whoever

feeds them and they become a fan of them It's

interesting seeing like almost like canine Stockholm

syndrome and then seeing them try to remember

what happened and this issue answers pretty much

any question you may have of who's good who's

bad who's evil and it's it's a relatively twisted

again with this not being a kid's book this issue

definitely answers that question and I love though

that it never strives away from the animation

style in the sense of it never gets overtly gruesome

or something like that which I feel like could

be you know cliche or something almost nihilistic

this level of tact when they showcase violence

in the sense of they're not going to show you

everything they're going to leave some things

up for interpretation but when they do show you

something and It is against the wall or something

of that nature. Because of that tact, it has

that greater of an impact. And the coloring here,

the style, is all on point. And these characters,

these dogs, are seeing a bit of a rift in them

as well. Because, again, dogs are loyal in a

way. This goes against who they are. But you

see this conflict ensue. Very much like a prison

movie, but. Do dogs like i mentioned like a canine

socom syndrome i think when it came out it was

compared to silence of the lambs means lady in

the tramp and kind of there's no love story here

if anything it's the opposite if any love story

it's between the dogs and their past owners but

been really enjoying this book it's been. quite

the gem. I don't wanna say it's a surprise, because

again, these are creators who have had a lot

of acclaim done, a lot of quality stuff, but

it's one of those books that I'm glad that people

are paying attention to, and I think it's one

that's going to just gain in popularity as more

and more people get the chance to read it. For

my number six, we're going to a book that returned

this week with Stillwater, number five. This

is written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Mike Spicer,

and when we left off... In the last interview

of Stillwater there was this massive explosion

at town hall and now we're dealing with the repercussions

and what we're seeing with this issue is that

this new arc is an entire new status quo in a

way. Stillwater is about this town where no one

dies. It started with the story of this individual

who went back to his hometown and not really

knowing what happened and what he learned is

that they're not a big fan of outsiders and that

he was originally from this town and was one

of the few to escape and now has come back and

the overall characters of these sounds has really

expanded. It actually reminds me a lot of something

like a Jason Aaron book, for example, something

like Scout, where you start through one perspective,

you start through certain characters, and then

it takes a step back to take time with other

characters to really fill out this world. And

now we're seeing that with this issue. This was

by far the most intense issue, arguably the best

issue of the series thus far. A piece of this

issue that really stood out to me was how when

we have a world in which Everyone kind of comes

back to life that there's no death that extreme

violence in a way It doesn't really impact any

people what they actually take offense to is

when property is damaged So it wasn't the fact

that people were hurt in this explosion that

people are upset was but the fact that it actually

destroyed a part of their town That's why they're

mad and I I have a tendency to think that there's

an element of comment commentary in that I don't

know for sure, but I definitely think, considering

we've seen that debate a lot recently about property

damage or his personal life and what it means,

perhaps that was there on purpose, perhaps it

wasn't, but I just thought. On the other side

of it, it was just a good way to showcase what

these people value in a way and how being immortal,

being able to not die, how it changes your perspective,

how it changes what you value. And it was just

a way to then take a concept and expand upon

it in a way that's interesting and beyond just

the. The general idea of everything so I was

a little worried about this series. Honestly,

like I was starting to kind of lose interest

a bit I just feel like it needed something to

kind of propel it forward. It was lacking that

and the last two issues I think Or what this

series was waiting for because now we have this

this major threat and you really have no idea

like How can they get out of this you have this,

you know, these marines basically that are taking

over this town And now one of the repercussions

what it was the answer before it was like this

this debate between Does the town let them know

who they are just do they reveal themselves from

the public? But now that debate has intensified

to an entirely new degree So there's a good chance

the second volume will be even better than the

first volume so if you're a person like me that

was debating about kind of Dropping this book

or going elsewhere. Maybe check out this issue

because I do think that this started this New

York and a really strong footing for my number

five We're going to the world of Marvel for fantastic

for life story number one This is written by

Mark Russell with our by Sean is a case and this

of course is a new installment to the life story

series last year we saw Sprite -A -Man life story

that it's all Sprite -A -Man start in the 60s

and go to 70s 80s and with each installment we

see him age kind of rewriting the origin of that

character that was written by Chip Dzarsky with

art by Mark Bagley and now we're getting a new

installment of that with a new creative team

with a new team that they're focusing on of course

this time the Fantastic Four and the one thing

I think I really liked about this issue specifically

was it took its time. Like that was something

I was curious about because you're covering basically

a decade in time with four characters. Like how

exactly do you make that work? You may want to,

with Spider -Man you have one character, you

have one storyline really that you're focusing

on. Here you have a lot to juggle and to me this

was just an exercise in patience in the sense

of really good pacing to help divvy out the story.

We're trying to understand what exactly is happening.

John of Kennedy, who's in this book, reaches

out to Reed Richards and tries to get him to

help with their space program in doing so. And

then because of certain budget cuts and things

like that, after being approved, Reed Richards

and with the help of Sue Storm and Ben Graham

and Johnny Storm, they kind of come together.

Unexpectedly, they're not necessarily people

that are best friends. Grimm is this kind of

tangential character that comes into the fray.

But then it makes what happens even more tragic

because he kind of just took a chance. He doesn't

have that relationship with Reed beforehand,

which I think we've seen in different versions

of Fantastic Four where they were college friends.

And then we see this tragedy happen. But now

that is not the case. Ben Grimm is first. Interaction

with read is this mission and of course goes

horribly so it stayed with you know the general

origin pretty well But then expanded beyond that

and you saw the fantastic for becoming the fantastic

for at least in the public eye, but Personally,

maybe things are not as strong again Ben Grimm

dealing with the repercussions of becoming this

monster this fiancee no longer loving him the

way that she did because he looks like this man

this monster to quote one of the best single

issues of comics of all time And of course then

did interact some real -life political moments,

but not to a great degree Honestly thought there

would be more to that But I think it does make

sense because you have a lot for this issue already

And I think the 60s comparisons have been done

a lot but you get things like Linda B. Johnson

showing up a single panel to help emphasize the

John F. Kennedy assassination which the the iconic

image of young John Kennedy kind of Saluting

his father and that's all that was there. I think

it was very economical in that to utilize historical

moments, their classic iconography or imagery

rather than kind of hammering home each and every

bit. So kind of balancing both of those. That's

what I think was most impressive about this was

how it was able to balance so much and give us

all these characters and really meaningful moments

and then also the struggles with each. I would

say really the two characters that probably shine

the most are Ben. And Reed, Johnny and Sue, I

think, don't have as much at stake within this

issue outside of that. So my hope is that with

the upcoming issues that we'll get more into

them and more into the dynamic between Reed and

Sue, that's my guess, especially when we've seen

them interact in the past life story issues with

Spider -Man. I think they showed up there as

well. But generally, though, considering everything

that was done. I really enjoyed the tone of this.

I really enjoyed the approach. If you did enjoy

Spiderman Life Story, I think you'll enjoy this,

even if you're not a huge Fantastic Four fan.

I think you might enjoy it, because my Fantastic

Four fandom is not gigantic. I've read some Fantastic

Four. I enjoy them here and there, but it's not

a team that I am over the moon about. But I just

thought the approach here, the craftsmanship,

is what really sold me. My number four this week

comes from the world of Aftershock comics with

Undone by Blood, The Other Side of Eden number

three. And this is a continuation of the Undone

by Blood series that came out last year, but

changing the overall characters in it, but continuing

with a similar premise. The idea of this story

is that you have one story that is the main focus,

but then you have a character that is reading

a book and that's a Western book that relates

to what that character is going through. This

is written by Lonely Nadler and Zach Thompson

with art by Sami Cavella with Colors by Jason

Wordy and letters by Hassan Osamilayo. My apologies

for any names I mispronounced there but what

you have with this issue is Silvano after the

heist of last issue they're going on the run

and in that process they have a car that is broken

down and gets stuck so they walk and walk and

walk eventually getting to a friend, a mutual

friend and they get help with him and his young

son is there as well and they're kind of hanging

out but I don't want to give things away but

bad things happen as you would expect and I think

why I love this issue. two reasons. One, the

colors here, I think, are really what drive this

concept from working as well as they do. When

you have so many, you know, shifting pieces,

you have two different storylines going at at

the same time. It can be easy to get convoluted,

but I think the colors do a good job of really

setting the stage, especially in this you have

kind of two desert locations and kind of getting

that desolate feel when they're In the chase

and they're being kind of overcome with this

sandstorm to me Coloring that was was ideal to

kind of make that moment work to make it As effective

as it is what I really love though is the little

details in this book to kind of really to sell

the concept for example You know, he's reading

the book and something is dropped on the book

Angus dropped on the book and then in the next

page when he flashed back to the western story

you see how that actual egg and impacts the art

on the page a little bit. The page looks stained

and the lettering itself, how the lettering has

a design to kind of look like old text. So it

looks like you are reading the book along with

him. So in its stylized lettering, I think is

dangerous to do, especially when you have this

bunch of it because sometimes it can hinder.

the reading experience rather than help it, but

it just has the right text, the right color choice.

So you kind of, you know, you understand and

get the impact, get the effect of the choice,

but at the same time, it doesn't make reading

any harder. So. kudos to the entire art team

and like the writing team as well. I don't know

Lolly and Adler all that well, but I do know

Zach Thompson, who I think is one of the most

versatile writers in comics right now, because

I'm looking at this book. I look at something

like Breathless. I look at something like Lonely

Receiver. I think one thing is really certain

about the way he approaches comics, even written

stuff for the big two with Marvel, is that he

takes a lot of chances and seems not to settle

on one idea or one concept. There's a lot of

agility in the way he writes in the sense of

like, Sometimes there are those writers where

a bend is, for example, even like a Jeff Lemire,

when I'm reading that book and it feels like

their story, there are certain elements that

reminds me of them. There's a certain artistry,

there are tours in that way, where I think Zach

Thompson, his voice is not as pronounced, but

not necessarily in a bad way in the sense of

he's able to adjust it for the story that's being

told. This is very different than something like

I Breathe the Body, or Lonely Receiver, or other

books he's worked on. And to me, that's... Makes

me really excited anytime his name's on the book

It's one that I go to because I feel like I'm

going to see something that is Taking chances

is trying to do things and getting creative teams

like this that are able to pick up and do those

chances Successfully and with the little details

that all buy into the idea. They all work together

Of course, it's not just him and making this

idea really worth it And I do think this is one

of the bigger unsung series The last series was

even more under it was underrated in this. I

think people even lost it and like it Like I

said, one of the biggest benefits of this series

is even if you've not read the first volume,

these are all new characters. This is all new

setting. Really the only thing that's the same

is the concept. So you can pick it up and read

it and enjoy it. And I would highly advise that

you do so. So my number three, we're going back

to Marvel for the Immortal Hulk Time of Monsters

number one. And I've been really enjoying these

different one shots they have been doing in the

Immortal Hulk universe. Actually, I think almost

enjoying them more than the main series. And

what's been really good about them is the fact

that You can actually read them without reading

any of the past Immortal Hulk stories. And when

the Immortal Hulk first started, one thing I

loved about it was its episodic nature, how you

got a complete story with each and every issue.

That's kind of changed in the last arcs or so.

But this, I think, is bringing back that style

in a big way with different writers and different

creative teams. This issue is written by Al Ewing

and Alex Peckendale with art by Juan Ferreira.

Also, we have a backup story with David Vaughan

and Kevin. What I really liked about this was

both issues, the back matter story as well as

the main story were really good, very different.

I don't think they have much in common narratively,

but the back matter story was Hulk having this

basically fever dream in this movie theater.

It looked fantastic. This doesn't deal with Bruce

Banner at all. This is a completely new set of

characters dealing in with a more ancient times

almost biblical era reminds me a lot of the biblical

story of Abraham and Isaac how Abraham was told

by God to kill a son and he goes to the motions

of potentially doing that but then God showing

him a sign at the very end saying no you don't

need to do that he was just testing his faith

and going from there This is basically taking

that idea and saying, what if everything he went

through it? What if the person that Abraham was

someone else that was a little bit more nihilistic

in his approach to the people in his tribe? And

that's what happens here. Individuals basically

sacrificed, and that sacrifice leads him to become

this Hulk -like creature. And what starts as

kind of a celebration for this town, for this

village, turns into something much more Brutal

much more violent and to be looking at the story

one one forever's art. Oh my goodness. It is

great. The art the coloring is Gorgeous the one

word that kind of keeps in my mind when I look

at his art is actually cinematic like he has

a way of telling stories that Really flush out

the page his page designs are always you need

to give this great page spread for example where

he's able to kind of Really follow your eye in

interesting ways and as well as having great

inserts and shot design That is very different

than your typical comic. He's always doing something

new something original His his character designs

are brutal at times. There's a lot of violence

in this issue I know definitely I think a book

that would not be approved by the comics code

if that was still a thing but That violence also

had a level of beauty to it in a way and I thought

the story too kind of got it what people will

become in the acts of desperation. You see these

individuals trying to survive because the world

has become desolate. There's no food. And because

of that, they turn to actions that are immoral.

to the greatest degree, even, you know, the sense

of they may not know the extent of what happened,

but kind of buying into this cult -like leader

because of what it means for them and then dealing

with those massive repercussions. So again, like

a classic fable within the Immortal Hulk universe,

it's something that I feel like can breathe a

lot of new life into the Immortal Hulk storyline.

And, you know, we've been getting a lot of these,

as I mentioned, we had the one a few months ago

by Declan Shelby, and they've all been very different,

all their own little flavors. Taking kind of

the general concept of Mortal Hulk, but really

adjusting it through different perspectives,

through different ideas. Like I said, this is

an issue that if you've never read a Mortal Hulk

issue, you can understand everything in this

and follow it quite well. And hopefully this,

to me, gets more people, more eyes on Juan Pereira

art, because I think he's been one of the best

Marvel artists, really artists, in some time.

He's done recently books like Killmonger, which

I thought was... quite good, and it's a very

different style of something like this, like

I mentioned, especially with the coloring. The

page looks aged in a way, like it looks rustic,

like you're reading like an ancient document

with some of the choices that are made. So with

Immortal Hulk nearing its end, people are wondering,

what is the next steps? If this was their next

steps, like doing one shots like this, getting

different creative teams to kind of still approach

this idea, I think Hulk would be in good hands.

Again, If this team were to take over the whole

book, I would be for that as well, because I

think it could lead to some great things. For

my number two this week, I do get one DC book

on the list for this week, and it's Nightwing

with issue number 80. And the one word that keeps

popping up when I'm reading this series, at least

since Tom Taylor took it over with this creative

team, is delight. This series has been a delight.

Despite the fact that you have a big storyline

in this dealing with the homeless, which is,

of course, a serious issue. Generally, the tone

has still been delightful. It's been able to

really capture the spirit of why Nightwing is

the character that he is. And as mentioned, it's

written by Tom Taylor with art by Bruno Redondo

and colors by Adriana Lucas and letters by West

Abbott. And I gotta say, this week has been a

cavalcade of great creative teams that have really

brought their all from the colorist to the letterist.

In the same case with this issue, again, the

colors are fantastic here. The art, the creative

designs between Bruno Redondo and I think he

really gets this character and the sense of pacing.

It's a book that is just a feast for the eyes.

It's great to look at with each and every page.

His fluidity and his motion from some of the

bigger action scenes, the more human moments,

they're all there in each and every issue. And

I love some of the side jokes that happen in

this too, as Dick lost his wallet to one of the

pickpocketers and you have the rest of the Bat

family kind of harboring on that and you have

Batgirl in here. their dynamic. There's just

a lot of fun here, but some emotional beats as

well that are always around the corner. But the

emotional beats, I think, lack cynicism. This

is an entire book that lacks cynicism. It lacks

the dour aspect that you typically get from a

Batman book. And I think that is what's really

propelled it to the way it is. There's also been

a lot of different moving pieces with us. You

know, we have some of the... Bloodhaven politics

in the background and then you have this character

the heartless that's been going around taking

people's hearts despite the fact that you have

multiple pieces everything still feels very character

focused and that Nightwing and Dick Race and

the conflict that he has right now has been the

driving force and really the dynamic between

him and Batgirl and Barbara Gordon I think has

been the biggest highlight seeing them interact

with one another seeing them happy Like I feel

like we haven't had a Batman book in I don't

know forever and a half where you see characters

that have any son of happiness, and here you

get that. And then again, like I mentioned, bad

things do happen and they deal with it, but it

doesn't send them into this endless spiral of

despair or depression. And as a person that has,

I think, a limited experience with Nightwing,

I've not read a lot of Nightwing comics that

really got onto this because of the creative

team. It makes me want to go back and check out

other Nightwing books to really see what's out

there. I've read a little bit of the, you know,

the New 52 run with Kyle Higgins, but generally

to me this has been... a book that I had a lot

of anticipation going into it and has never disappointed

since. It's been a shining beacon for all of

DC and I'm hoping we get more DC books like this

because I do feel like they have a lot of characters

that would fit this mold much more than just

Nightmare. My number one this week was actually

a pretty easy choice at the end of the day and

sometimes you have those weeks where your number

one is hard to choose. Like last week my number

one, two and three are really close to one another.

That wasn't the case this week when I... Read

this book. It was actually one of the first books

I read. I was like if another book beats this

book It's gonna be one heck of a week I still

think it was a good week, even though nothing

beat it and that's the many deaths a label star

number two and this story has been a wonderful

read on so many different reasons this is written

by ram v with art by flip a andrade and it's

a story about death the character of death who's

now become mortal and The only way for her to

maybe become immortal again is to kill the boy,

kill the individual that's going to cause individuals

to become immortal. Unfortunately, she's finding

that the actor becoming immortal is having impacts

on her that she did not expect, despite the fact

that death has been her game forever. It's not

as easy as an act that she thinks it is and this

specifically looks at a very pivotal moment in

that individual's life really jumps off the page

for me in this book is the act of kindness the

the emotion behind kindness and love and appreciation

for individuals is it's there on each and every

page almost and What this general narrative is

looking at is this boy having this relationship

with this worker that comes and kind of helps

out his family. And you see that there's a respect

there again. He appreciates this individual and

what he does for the family. And he almost looks

like a God -like creature in a way. He looks

inhuman. He's large, lanky. He looks like an

individual that would be amongst the gods himself.

But as time goes on, you see that maybe is not

the case. And you have this running motif as

well of these two figs basically that. you see

these individuals share and it runs throughout

the page. And I love the art in it and how it

represents them as like basically this heart.

And that is something that this book has is heart.

To me represents the power of life and the importance

of death, despite the fact that this is a book

that is about the lack of death, but you see

why that's important and where mortality can

kind of help inform our values and morality as

individuals. And I think some people have been

comparing this to something like Neil Gaiman's

The sandman universe or something like that and

I can kind of see that comparison But I feel

ultimately that this story is much more human

in its design and in its execution Sometimes

I feel like the gaming universe is good, but

is emotionally cold at times this I don't get

the feeling of course That's not universal for

all the stories. But to me the human element

Is the most important part of this story? Not

the the godlike piece and the art here is always

very good I look how it opens up and you get

basically it's almost like a 12 page grid Of

the of death in this crow kind of having this

conversation very quick pace But as the story

goes on you get a lot of vertical grids a lot

of wide chants I think to represent this world

and you see these funerals and you see the perspective

of this child as Death is informing of who he

is like your understanding of why would this

individual drive? To get people to become immortal

and you're seeing he has this caring emotional

center, you know He's a very empathetic individual

and seeing life through his eyes like we can

share in his empathy So to me, this was a book

at another level this week. It was no question

to me that this was my number one book It's probably

one of the best single issues. I read this year

thus far not to keep Unimpassed amount of hyperbole

on a book. I do try to avoid that but when it's

true It's true when I read this book I was I

was hit in a way I have not been hit by a book

in some time like I've other loved other books

because of their craftsmanship like something

like Warshack that I liked last week that I appreciated

on on that level and I did like Carmen last week

It did have an emotional impact on me as well.

But this was a bit different maybe because of

the earnestness of it That's why I liked it But

it was a great read and one I would advise checking

out with a series only being two issues thus

far something that you can you know easily pick

up in and enjoy and I hope more people do read

this book because I think comics are better when

we get books like this, so anyways Those are

my picks for this week. I appreciate you taking

the time to check out my thoughts. Let me know

what your favorite books were in the comment

section below. But just remember that comics

are for everyone. The key is finding the right

one. Until next time, keep reading.