IDW’s Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1 may not be the biggest release of the week, but the title character is certainly the biggest comic book protagonist this week. In this new ongoing series, Godzilla will be in the company of some of his monstrous Toho enemies and allies, and in the capable hands of writers Tracy Marsh and Eric Powell (the latter of whom is also providing covers) and artist Phil Hester. It’s a $4 book.
I have two nagging questions about the series. First, will Marsh and Powell be able to formulate the perfect onomatopoeia to capture the sounds of Godzilla and his fellow monsters screaming and shooting things at each other? Because the sounds are probably my favorite part of the old movies (In a perfect world, Doug Moench would probably be called in to write just the sound effects, and John Workman to letter them).
The other is where exactly IDW expects to sell this thing, now that Godzilla has gone ahead and destroyed so many comic shops…
The Bronx Kill: The latest Vertgo Crime original graphic novel is from longtime Vertigo writer Peter Milligan, with art by James Romberger. The subject matter? A frustrated author who must find his missing wife wit the help of his police officer father.
Butcher Baker, The Righteous Maker #1: This is Joe Casey and Mike Huddleston’s new series about a superhero coming out of retirement, and it has a hell of a title. Huddleston’s art looks pretty great too, although it doesn’t sound or look like this is going to be a book for everyone. See for yourself here.
Caligula #1: Caligula, David Lapham and Avatar Press—a perfect combination? Sounds like. Lapham writes this historical horror story about one of Rome’s most notorious emperors, here possessed by a demon. German Nobile provides the art. It’s a $4 comic. You can see a preview here.
Fish Police Vol. 1: This $15, 110-page black-and-white trade from IDW collects Steve Monscue’s 1980s underwater, anthropomorphic police comic. It’s about some fish. Who are also police.
5 Ronin #5: This is the fifth and final issue of Marvel’s five-part weekly series by writer Peter Milligan and different artists reimagining various Marvel heroes as characters in 17th century Japan. In each of the previous issues, the Deadpool character made brief appearances guiding the other ronin characters toward taking revenge on the man who wronged them all—presumably, this is the issue where they do it. Leandor Fernandez draws this final chapter. Meanwhile, Marvel has a trade collection of a previous five-issue weekly series they produced, Heralds, in which a completely random assortment of female Marvels bounce around a Kathryn Immonen-written, Tonci Zonjic and James Harren-drawn story about former Fantastic Four supporting character, Nova. It’s a $16, 120-page trade.
Jack of Fables #50: The Fables spin-off series reaches its fiftieth—and final—issue. Pretty respectable run, especially for a Vertigo series these days. The $5, 48-pager is from the writing team of Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges, and features art from Tony Akins, Andrew Pepoy, Russ Braun and Jose Marzan Jr.
Jimmy Olsen #1: Nick Spencer and RB Silva’s Jimmy Olsen back-up feature from Action Comics gets both collected and completed in this $6, 80-page giant, which includes the previously published four chapters plus 30 new pages, all under a brand-new dynamite cover by Amanda Conner.
Kenk: A Graphic Portrait: This $26, 300-page work of comics journalism tells the story of the world’s most prolific bicycle thief. You can see a preview here.
Kick-Ass 2 #2: Wow, they sure aren’t in any hurry to get this thing out, are they? The first issue in the miniseries was cover-dated December 2010.
Ultimate Comics X #4: Hey, remember this series? It still exists.
Undying Love #1: Tomm Coker and Daniel Freedman blend vampires, Chinese folklore and Hong Kong cinema in this new series. You can see a preview here.
March 29th, 2011 at 11:48 pm
The Bronx Kill is just a soft cover version of an earlier Vertigo Crime book. Not a new story.