Yes, I go totally overboard with my titles. I’m aware of that. But I really need to get those Beatles references in there, thanks to my OCD. Anywho…
I haven’t been reading that much lately, mostly because I was consumed in working on creative things myself. But what I read was pretty good for the most part, so I think I can give some recommendations. One could say that this column shouldn’t be about recommendations, but, well, what am I to do? I can’t think of anything funny right now, nothing related to comic books anyway, so you’ll have to deal with it.
First up is the new “Fantastic Four”. Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham took over for Mark Millar and Brian Hitch (even though, none of those finished their run. I don’t even remember who did that. But it was abysmal..) Hickmans approach is simple, obvious and working perfectly: Balance the family stuff with the sci-fi elements. So, you have Reed being in a pocket dimension with a bunch of other Reeds trying to solve everything, while Johnny and Ben are planning a vacation, with Val and Franklin not far behind. I don’t want to spoil the cool moments, so I’ll leave it at that. What I will say, is this: Hickman understands, what makes the Fantastic Four great. In his first arc (which entails the first three issues) he manages to introduce his crazy concepts and make you care about this family. And like the Man said: ‘nuff said (Did I just use said two times? Reads weird. But I have no idea how to fix it, which means it stays in. Isn’t that fun? Reading the writer’s critique on himself? No? Okay, back to the recommendations…).
The next thing I need to touch upon is Batwoman, eh, Detective Comics. I’m not sure if I have written about this before, and I’m sure I haven’t, but this book cannot be praised enough. Not for the story this time, even though I’m a big story-guy and usually only buy books for the words, seldom for the pictures, anyway, but for the art. What J.H. Williams and Dave Steward create on those pages is absolutely breathtaking. Every single page could be framed and put up as a piece of art. There is a constant shift of art-styles, depending on the scene. The color schemes reflect changes in the characters attitude. And the layouts in the Batwoman sequences are jumping out of the book. That thing is a beauty to look at, and no one, I repeat: NO ONE, can miss this gem of comic book.
Okay, that were my two recommendations. Not very well formulated, I suppose, but pretty heart-felt. See you next time around, when I’ll find the three things Spider-Man and I have in common!
P.S. Don’t count on that. It’s called a tease. Well, see ya…
P.P.S. Hickman’s run started in #570, but there was a Dark Reign Mini, that lead into that. Batwoman appeared in Detective with #854.
Pete Schueler is currently residing in Berlin, Germany. He’s desperately trying to get his writing career somewhere. Where that is exactly, is not defined yet, but it should be somewhere where it’s visible. He’s been a comic book and pop culture geek all his life, but started reading them funny-books again on a weekly basis just three short years ago. In this time he matured from reading just DC books, to preferring mostly Indie titles. He still has a reverence for the Big Two and superheroes in general, and consumes them at a regular rate. The books, not the heroes. 
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