Josh Crawley

by Josh Crawley

For those of you who missed me last week: I’m sorry. Between a roommate’s sick pet (he’s better now) and tornadoes & a thunderstorm (and the accumulation of mental drain from other things), I wasn’t up to writing anything. If you didn’t miss me: you’re welcome!

I’m going to try something a little different this month. I usually try and point out a bunch of cool stuff that I  think may be overlooked or is just generally awesome. This month I’m going to try and limit it to many fewer items (ideally five; go figure) with the intent of being sure they get that extra attention.

Incognito: Bad Influences #1

When the first Incognito mini-series hit racks, many of the people buying it had never heard of Criminal. Yes, really. While I have faith everyone learned from that, just in case, I’m going to recommend checking out Point Blank, the mini-series by Ed Brubaker & Colin Wilson that set up Sleeper Seasons One and Two, which are also by Brubaker with Sean Phillips on art.

Northlanders Volume 4: Plague Widow

If you’re looking for more by writer Brian Wood, I think the Tourist was over-looked. Joining Wood is Toby Cypress on art, who was one of the artists (along with Frank Espinoza) on Killing Girl. Another great book by Wood that seems to be over-looked is Fight for Tomorrow with industry legends Denys Cowan & Kent Williams.

Ame-Comi Jesse Quick as The Flash.

This is the best Jesse Quick I think I’ve ever seen; 2D, 3D, as the Flash, or not. Sure, I wouldn’t call it perfect, but then I’d have to buy it despite my vow to no longer purchase non-Masters of the Universe figures. This also makes me want to re-read my Mark Waid Flash run, which I really wish DC would do a better job of: 1) collecting more into trade paperbacks; and 2) keep in print.

Liquid City Volume 2

I’m not going to lie; I didn’t even remember there was a Volume 1 until I saw this listing. I never had a chance to read it, but it’s still in print, not that I imagine one is needed to enjoy the other.

Hopeless Savages: Greatest Hits

My first ever employee pick here at Westfield Comics was for the very first issue of Hopeless Savages. Just days (maybe a couple of weeks) later, I got to meet artist Christine Norrie at a Chicago convention. After doing a quick Zero sketch for me, she showed me pages from issue #2 that hadn’t even been fully lettered yet. I stood shaking my head in disbelief at her storytelling abilities and how much I loved her linework. She was worried I was shaking my head in dissatisfaction. I hope she believed me when I said it was quite the opposite. Since then, Norrie has become one of my favorite artists ever. I highly recommend her graphic novella Cheat to anyone who loves a great heart-wrenching romance.

Also in this massive tome you’ll find work by some guy by the name of Bryan Lee O’Malley. If you aren’t the kind of person who pays attention to the names of the people who actually have to craft these entertaining artifacts, you may know him as the Scott Pilgrim guy. But more on him in a couple of weeks.

Alison Dare Little Miss Adventures

Between Hopeless Savages: Greatest Hits & now Alison Dare, it feels like 2001/2002 all over again!  Anyways, I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to recommend these books to anyone looking for a great comic for girls. These are also great kids books; Torres has written his share of Teen Titans Go!. They’re great for readers of all ages! Alison Dare Heart of the Maiden is the follow-up to Little Miss Adventures.

Street Fighter II: The Ultimate Edition

While I realize these aren’t for everyone, they seem to have everything! Recently, I’ve been enjoying some of the 1980s graphic novels from First, Eclipse, Kitchen Sink, Starblaze Graphics (and more!) that measured about the same size as a standard magazine (8 1/2 by 11 inches). Something about the size just feels… right. Anyways, This volume, along with a new edition of Street Fighter: the Ultimate Edition,  have similar dimensions to them, though much higher page counts! I dig that. Also not to be over-looked is Vent Volume 1, a giant-sized volume celebrating of ten years of Udon!

That’s it for this week. Next week, I plan on taking a look at a couple of Ron Marz books, including one that isn’t in Previews: Shinku!

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Josh Crawley is the tenured Master of Disaster at Westfield Comics. He is not the keyboardist for Everclear.

http://www.twitter.com/joshcrawley
josh@westfieldcomics.com
Westfield Comics
ATTN: JOSH
7475 Mineral Point Rd STE 22
Madison WI 53717