COMIC BOOK REVIEW: All Star Western #14

All Star Western # 14 (DC)
Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers); Moritat ( art, main feature); Phil Winslade (art, back-up feature)

One of the most consistently excellent reads of the New 52 has been Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Moritat's All Star Western. Jonah Hex is an enduring and fun western anti-hero and his time in 1880s Gotham has mined great depths of his character. Here we have Hex and Dr. Arkham hired to find Dr. Jekyll, which is an inclusion that works, even if this veers the story further away from what part of its title promises. Taking place in an industrial eastern city and including characters from Victorian fiction isn't exactly "western" but it does pass muster on the "all star" part. I'm particularly keen on the inclusion of the Barbary Ghost in the main story and enjoyed the banter between Ghost, Jonah, and Tallulah Black during their fight in Gotham's Chinatown.

Tomahawk gets the back-up again this month in part 2 of his tale, a methodical, historical-based story in the years after the Revolutionary War, that hasn't really drawn me in outside of Phil Winslade's gorgeous art. How this guy isn't drawing a monthly somewhere is beyond.  Always a treat to see his lithe, lively, classical renderings. These back-ups have been a great showcase for him, but I wish DC would give him his own book. In the meantime, I can only hope that

Winslade is on board to draw what I predict is a Barbary Ghost/Tallulah Black back-up feature in coming months.

Recommended.

2 Snapshot Reviews and This Week's Haul

Last week's purchases were a solid bunch. Here's two of the standouts:

All-Star Western #7 (DC) *pick of the week*
Jonah Hex leaves Gotham for Nawlins and meets up with Nighthawk and Cinnamon in a fun tale that further blurs the line between Hex's anti-hero tendencies and the fact that he is pretty darn heroic. The Nighthawk and Cinnamon back-up hits all the right marks as well. The back-ups thus far have been excellent additions the All-Star Western roster. This book remains in the top 5 of the New 52. Recommended

Captain America & Bucky #628 (Marvel)
The closing chapter of the 2nd Bucky and Adam III story as well as the final Cap & Bucky tale as the title shifts to Cap & Hawkeye next issue. This arc was pretty great. The story had depth, action, whimsy, and sorrow. Well done, Ed Brubaker and James Asmus. But, the real accolades go to Francesco Francavilla, who just killed it over the 4 issues. Just amazing art and coloring. I was planning on dropping this book after this arc, but since Cullen Bunn of the fantastic Sixth Gun is hopping on board for the Cap/Hawkeye series, and he promises dinosaurs, I'll keep it in the "to buy" pile. Recommended

Later today I fully expect to have these in my possession:

Action Comics #8 (DC)*
Animal Man #8 (DC)
Creepy #8 (Dark Horse)
Daredevil #10.1 (Marvel)**
OMAC #8 (DC)
Swamp Thing #8 (DC)
Ultimate Spiderman #9 (Marvel)

*DC has Action #8 listed with 4/4 as the release date, but my LCS doesn't have it listed as an arrival for today. I'll see what happens.

**Not sure I get this ".1" business for comics. I'll flip through and see if it's worth my while.

In other news, IDW announced a new Godzilla series for the summer in addition to the new ongoing Godzilla beginning in May. It'll be nice to get my Godzilla fix again after a succesful run of three series overthe past year (h/t Comics Reporter)

This Week's Haul & Thoughts On Print v. Digital

New comic book day yesterday! Here's what I picked up from the Ye Olde Local Comic Book Shoppe (LCS):

All-Star Western #7 (DC)
Captain America & Bucky #628 (Marvel)
Daredevil 10 (Marvel)
Flash #7 (DC)

Light week for the floppies. However, I buy other titles that came out this week but I deferred these to my digital purchases via Comixology. As the digital comics drop in price after a month, I wait for the price change, so I'm about a month behind on many of my titles.

I've slowly become a digital enthusiast for a number of reasons:

-Storage. What do I do with these 30 plus issues per month. They take up space. A part of me wishes I would treat these like the Sunday paper, read it and into the recycling bin it goes. But, that's not going to happen. So, transferring to digital allows me to purchase issue by issue and doesn't clog up my house. (Related, I have around 20 longboxes in my brother's basement and he's moving soon, so I need to find space for those in my place. Sigh.) Also makes reading comics during travel easy. Load up the iPad with comics to read, saves space on carrying around trades. (The trick is to get the iPad away from the kids during airplane rides.)

-Ease of Use. I mean this in both the reading experience and the ability to buy. It's really easy all around. Plus, I have an iPad 3 on the way and Comixology has upgraded the comics to be compatible with the retinal view or HD or whatever the iPad 3 is bragging about. Should be great! (I'm not a fan of the "guided view." I have it set-up to see the full page then tap to view each panel then again see the full page before moving to the next page. I need to keep the experience of turning the page somewhat intact.)

-Taking Chances. Buying digital issues makes it easier to take a chance on a series, writer, or artist that pique my interest. It's a cheaper gateway than buying a trade. Buy the first issue then if I'm hooked, buy more. That's how I discovered the amazing Sixth Gun (Oni Press). I bought the first issue on a lark for sale ($0.99) and soon after the entire back catalog and it's now in my monthly rotation. Conversely, switching to digital for some titles allow me to cull my list. Since I wait a month to get the cheaper digital price, I can see if, when the discount takes effect, I'm still interested in the title. I haven't officially dropped titles yet with this method, but I do have a few that I'm a few issues behind in purchasing. Plus, no back issue hunting if I let a month pass without buying. It's always available for downloading.

Now, slowly becoming a digital enthusiast doesn't mean that I'm wavering in my enthusiasm for the print monthlies. There's still a jolt of excitement in going to the LCS on Wednesday and scanning the shelves for the new arrivals or wandering around the aisles looking for a new title, writer, artist to discover among the trades and graphic novels. Though I don't really socialize or linger in the shop, I still feel a sense of community with the other patrons and employees. I suppose a bit of nostalgia comes into play as well when I eavesdrop on a conversation between two teens discussing the events of new Spiderman or Avengers or Batman. That was me over 25 years ago when my brother, a friend, and I would go comic shopping together and excitedly discuss what we were purchasing, why we were purchasing, and probably joshing each other about the lame stuff in our piles too.

Also, I'm a flipper. Nothing better than sitting down with a pile of comics and flipping through each to get a taste of what's going to happen. Can't really flip through the digital pages. An added bonus to getting the floppies each month is that my soon-to-be 5 year old at home also loves flipping through my weekly haul. It brightens my day to watch him happily sit on the couch with a pile of comics studying each page. (He likes anything with Captain America, Flash and monster books like Godzilla.)

So, for me, it's not a case of print versus digital. Rather, it's print and digital. I'm happy to be an advocate for both.