Greetings, true believers! Con-time is almost upon us!
Michael and myself will be sitting behind our very first table at the MCBA Fallcon this weekend, Oct 10th & 11th 10am-5pm both days. Hopefully some day we too will sit behind a microphone at our own Q&A as we field questions about ruptured continuity and who would win in a fight between … and …? Until that day arrives we will be very happy to sit at our gloriously appointed booth and try to woo potential readers…ah, the glamorous life of a self published comic book creator.

Ok, enough of that and onto the comics!
So, I’ve done the “Covers I dig” thing twice on this blog, and while I’ve written about comics that “inspired” me i’ve yet to talk about what I’m reading currently. Well, the time has arrived! So here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite current comics. Enjoy!

Scalped

I have been reading this comic since it’s first issue and I fell in love instantly. I’ve heard Scalped described as “The Sopranos on an Indian Rez.” I think I’d describe it as a gritty, unblinking series worthy of it’s own category. The world of Scalped is inhabited by a collection of rich characters and is, IMHO, one of the best series around regardless of media.

The Walking Dead

I’ve only begun to read this comic this year, but it has quickly risen to the top of my read stack. Well paced story telling combined with an “anyone could die at any time” tension combine for one hell of a great comic.

Hellblazer

I’ve been reading this comic in single issue and/or collection for years now, (hard to believe it’s run began waaay back in ‘88!) While the series has had more than it’s share of ups and downs over the years, I’ve always dug the adventures of the “laughing magician”. The past year or two have seen the series find it’s stride in story and art once more, despite the somewhat unsightly cover redesign.

The Sword

At first this was the series that defined the term “written for the trades” for me. Individual issues really did little to impress me and the story seemed to plod along at a snail’s pace. It wasn’t until I re-read the opening run that I decided to save this title from the chopping block. The current arc has seen the story move along briskly finding a nice balance between revealing the history of the Sword, furthering the story, and developing the characters.

Locke and Key

I dig the art. I dig the story. I can’t wait for the third arc to begin!

Criminal

I haven’t had time to read the first issue in the new arc yet, but I’ve included it here based on the strength of the previous installments. I’m not always too impressed by Brubaker’s “mainstream” work, but this title combined with “Sleeper” and “Incognitio” combine to make for some of the best comics I’ve read this decade.

Finally here are two comics I am looking forward to:

Daytripper

This title is by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba and will be coming out at the end of the year from Vertigo

Bloom County Complete Library Volume 1

This hardcover collection will be the first in a series that will reprint every strip in chronological order. Bloom county is my all time favorite newspaper comicstrip, just edging out The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes. This volume has come out since I first learned of it and I’ll be ordering it as soon as I can afford to!

I’ll be posting a few more “fav” lists as I have time.
Coming up in our next post: we’ll be sharing pics and stories from Fallcon.