I recently wrote about BOOM! Studios' "Push Comics Forward" campaign to see more diversity in comics (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--My Mission, My Statement"). And while we still have quite a ways to go I don’t believe it would hurt if, every once in a while, we stop to acknowledge it's now a lot better than it was. Case in point, shipping this week are titles as varied as Abigail and the Snowman, Joe Frankenstein, They’re Not Like Us, The Multiversity: Ultra Comics, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Gotham Academy and Rob Hanes Adventures. And those are only the ones I personally will be getting.
I could pretty it up some but truthfully I was gobsmacked by the news the comic Crash Ryan had been optioned for a movie (see "1980s Marvel 'Crash Ryan' Comic Optioned"). This is in no way a reflection on the four-issue comic book mini-series created by Ron Harris and published by Marvel Comics' Epic Comics line in 1984. It should say something about how much I personally liked it that I've managed to hold onto those comics after several moves and much paring down of my collection. It's just that one of the ways I can usually tell when a bubble is about to go bust is when Hollywood starts optioning everything.
Back in the 80s I knew the jig was up when they optioned Radio Boy, an Eclipse one-shot by Chuck Dixon and Flint Henry that poked fun at manga in general and Astro Boy in particular. Twice. If you wake up one morning and find they've optioned one of my comics you'll know it's all over but the shouting.
The Diamond Previews for June is out this week. I've already worked my way through it and while I know your concentration will understandably be focused on ordering Convergence and Secret Wars titles, there are actually a couple of other comics you should be aware of (that is, other than Archie #1; the thought of trying to figure out how many copies of 22 different variant covers makes me very glad I don't have to do that sort of thing anymore). There's also:
The world always feels a little 'wrong' when there isn't a Mickey Mouse comic book being published, probably because I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for The Mouse, especially when he's written by Andrea Castellan (Mickey Mouse on Quandomai Island, Mickey Mouse and The World To Come). He's the modern master of placing Mickey at the heart of old fashioned adventure stories which always seem utterly contemporary, and from the cover of #1 it looks like Castellan and Giorgio Cavazzano have crafted themselves a real beaut.
I've never been shy about the fact that I'm fond of both Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2, seeing as how it's the eminently relatable story of the mid-life crisis of Felonious (yes, he has a first name) Gru*, a bald fat man with bad posture. The fact that, thanks to the Minions, the producers managed to pass the films off as children's entertainment all over the world somehow made it all the sweeter. So it's always kind of troubled me that there weren't any comics, which is why I was happy to see a listing for Minions #1 from Titan Comics, just in time for the release of the Minions movie.
There are a lot of great comics being published right now: Invisible Republic, Chrononauts, Secret Identities, Red One, Ei8ght, etc. But there are a couple worthy of extra mention, including Giant Days from BOOM! Studios by John Allison and Lissa Treiman, about the lives of a trio of college girls. It's a simple enough premise but every element is expertly delivered; it's just wonderful. And as I keep saying I'm always looking for something I've never seen before, well I've never seen anything like Image Comics' The Surface. Created by Ales Kot and Langdon Foss it features stunning visuals and perplexing ideas; I've read it twice and I'm still trying to figure out what it is, let alone where it possibly could be going.
* It took me years to figure out that the character was named after the Grus grus, aka the common and/or Eurasian crane. So he's actually "The Crane," which makes sense given his rather pointed profile. As super villain names it's not exactly top notch but it's certainly a good sight better than "Gru."
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.