This week's picks

Thee were a lot of books that were good this week but not too many that really stood out as blowing me away. That's not a bad thing; I'll take a book that's reliably good over a book that hovers around a mediocre point with a few blow-away issues mixed in. It's incredibly rare for a series to blow you away with every issue (though there are a couple books I'm skipping over this week in picks that have kind of done that throughout their series). That said, I do think there were a good deal of good books and plenty that I think laid the groundwork for possible huge issues. Still, this post requires a few books that stood out beyond the rest so HERE THEY ARE, in alphabetical order yet still somehow starting with 's.'

Secret Avengers 9
I've been a bit put off by this series so far, which I think has a lot to do with the needed set-up for the series, which is fairly convoluted, and the focus on SHIELD as an organization. SHIELD is a tricky animal because it exists so prevalently in the Marvel Universe but kind of needs to be crappy so that our heroes can shine. This issue still focuses on SHIELD in a wide-angle sense but it's more personal, dealing with Johnson vs. Hill. It's a more intriguing story and it's pretty easy to follow, even with the persistent talk of mind-wipes and international incidents. As I said in my review this week, the Secret Warriors feel doesn't hurt the book either. I'm not going to lie, this also gets added points for the inclusion, though we knew it was coming, of Winter Soldier. This is a good role to put him in, squaring him up against SHIELD knowing that they're toying with Natasha's memories (even if she agreed to it). Should be fun going forward. Also nice to see Guice drawing Bucky again.


Thunderbolts 15

Speaking of fun, this book is absolutely full of it suddenly. There's a real characterization to this Thunderbolts team which is rather the characterization I was waiting for when the lineup was announced. It's a solid team that lends itself to both tension and a sense of fun, in the same sort of way an action movie can. Deadpool's a great character for that feel because his brand of fun can be both like an action movie and something else entirely, just regular type fun. For example, this issue finds him strolling the streets of New York, being called Spider-Man and kind of rolling with it. It's not like the our and sometimes obnoxious Deadpool who would proclaim himself Spider-Man and get a little too into character, shouting through the streets. Instead, it's a Deadpool who is called Spider-Man and kind of just goes "yup, sure. Web things are broken so I'm taking the subway." It's a really good Deadpool, you guys. Even with the fun sense in the book, there's a real underlying tension ready to burst, with the Leader quietly sabotaging Red Hulk and the extremely powerful Mercy just dying to get freed (dying, that's kind of a pun, you guys, keep up). Really solid book. Still really like the artwork here.

Ultimate X-Men 31

This book continues to be one of the best books out there for pacing and overall storytelling. That's not to say that characters are a weak point or anything, I'd still say they're fairly well-defined, even given how big the cast is. But the tension, which continually ramps up without feeling overwhelming, is a really impressive touch. That's been true arc after arc and it continues here, as Kitty and Jean both react to moves made by the other. There's a lot happening and it would be easy to get lost in subplots or minutiae here but Wood stays his path and keeps putting out a really reliably good book with strong characters. Also, for all the worry of a lack of strong female characters in comics, this one features a few really solid ones. Kitty leads the pack but there's also Storm, Rogue, Mach Two (even for her age), Jean (even for her crazy), and plenty of smaller characters we haven't seen much of but who haven't been weak, for sure. Really good book all around, continues to delight issue after issue. I'd have to say this is one of the most consistently worthwhile buys.


Best Cover - Ultimate X-Men 31
G. Hardman w/ E. Breitweiser
I've long been a fan of the Ultimate X-Men covers which tend to go more for symbolic or idea over a standard comic cover of a specific character or characters doing something rather extreme. This week is a change from that as we get three of our lead characters driving and riding in a jeep while attacking an unseen target just to the side of the camera. It's a well-drawn cover but really, this goes back to the coloring for me, which is superb. There was a nice comforting feeling about this cover when I first looked at it, like someone I hadn't seen for a while showed up again in my life. That's exactly what happened, in fact. These are, one hundred percent Bettie Breitweiser colors and guys, she is amazing. I said way back in my post about colorists that Breitweiser was the first real colorist I noticed and could pick out because her palette was so defined. Even these colors, which aren't really the colors I've seen her use too often in the past (her great work through a lot of Captain America and Winter Soldier stuff tends to stray darker than this), stick out as being part of that very specific palette. Really wonderful stuff. This one beats out another solid Shalvey/Bellaire Venom cover and a Samnee/Rodriguez Daredevil cover.

Colorists

Like I said after missing last Monday's post, I want to write something on the importance of colorists in comics. However, the more I sit and try to think about what I'd say, the more I realize I'm totally unqualified to say it. I qualified myself for this whole comic blog idea because I have read and currently read and will continue to read a ton of comics. I'm pretty up-to-date on Marvel history and characters and I know enough about writing and about character to consider my own opinion somewhat worthwhile. More than that, if I was looking for a blog to read about comics, I think I'd want to read something like this one. That I could judge for myself. I can't truly qualify myself for a post about colorists because art tends to take a backseat to story and character with me. It's a bad thing about the way I see comics and I wish I was better. If I actually dedicate the time to looking at the art and fully experiencing it, that might be different, but I know I'm not coming from an artist's background. I like what I like and it almost always serves to better the book for me, but rarely does it hold the book up on its own.

Still, it's an important topic and one I'd like to speak about, so here goes. Before I start, I recommend anyone interested read colorist Jordie Bellaire's recent post on the role of colorists and the respect they're afforded (or disrespect, as the case may be). She knows why more about it than I do, clearly, and she's a smart lady. I also consider her in the top of the field, alongside people like Bettie Breitweiser and Matt Hollingsworth. Any of these three people CONSTANTLY make me jump back to the start of a book halfway through because I'm asking who colored it. Either that or I figure out a page in that it's one of them because their style is so defined for each book they work on. It may switch between books (hence the sometimes-confusion) as applicable but their skill is unquestioned. Of the three, I'd have to start with Breitweiser.

Bettie Breitweiser was the first colorist I really noticed. It did not hurt that she was the regular colorist on Brubaker's books, such as Captain America, Cap and Bucky, and Winter Soldier (at various times). The mood she sets with her colors is unmistakable and ALWAYS fits the noir style of Brubaker's writing. There are only a handful of artists who make me stop mid-book to identify them. Breitweiser was definitely one of those artists. I say "was" because I'm more or less at the point now with her where I can pick out her colors at a glance. I'm thrilled to say that she's going to be taking over as the colorist on Brubaker's creator-owned Fatale series.

Jordie Bellaire is all over the place in Marvel. She's taken on coloring duties for so many books and frankly, none do her justice as much as the colors on the last issue and next issue of Captain Marvel. Filipe Andrade's art is absolutely incredible, I can't deny that. The more that I look at it, the more I want to look at it, which is kind of a weird place to be in. However, his shapes are kind of all over the place, and his figures are often positioned strangely. Characters stretch in odd directions, they contort their bodies in interesting ways; it's chaos. Andrade's art is absolutely the type of art that needs a confident colorist to create mood and to explain how a person's body moves like that. Bellaire's shading aids in both those things while her soft colors match the tone of Andrade's pencils and of Kelly Sue Deconnick's writing.

Matt Hollingsworth epitomizes why I'm such a bad person to write about this (that's why I saved him for last). He only recently jumped on to my list. Like, really recently. Like since issue seven of Hawkeye. I had known going into that issue that the regular artist, David Aja, wasn't drawing it. On page one, though, I had to close the book again and check because I was so sure it was still Aja. The book still felt EXACTLY the same as when Aja, whose art I adore, drew it. But it wasn't Aja keeping the tone the same, it wasn't even Fraction's writing. It was more immediate than both of those; it was Hollingsworth's colors that made it feel like the same book I love. But that's not even why I'm such a bad person to write about this. I'm such a bad person to write about this because Hollingsworth has colored TONS of books that I've loved, including an issue of the newest Daredevil series, Brubaker's run on Daredevil, Brubaker and Fraction's run on Iron Fist, an issue of X-Force, and so on. I've come across him THAT MANY TIMES and only after Hawkeye 7 did I go "oh geez, he's awful good." But he is. He's awful good.



Look, I can't tell you why colorists are important. Jordie Bellaire should have already done that above. Hopefully the galleries of the colorists above and more will show you how important colorists are to the comic industry. So respect your colorist, guys.