What I’ve Been Reading 4/22/09

I’ve noticed for a while now that Marvel has been steadily raising the prices on their trade paperbacks.  Where a collection of a 5-issues used to run you around $13-14, it’ll now run you anywhere from $15-20 these days, depending on how well the series sold in single issue form.  While I’d say that the best way to get them to lower their prices would be to stop buying these trades, that’s just not an option.  Instead, I just look for better deals.  So instead of shopping at my local comic shop, more and more of my business these days has been going to Amazon.com.  And for those titles that are too expensive even with Amazon’s generous discount?  There’s my “List of books to find for 50% off at Comic-Con this year.”  Shop smarter, not harder fellow readers. That being said, I only paid full price for one of the following books.  See if you can guess which one it was:

B.P.R.D. vol. 10:  The Warning This is billed as part one of the “Scorched Earth” trilogy on the back, but it’s still a satisfying story in its own right.  While Abe Sapien searches for Capt. Daimio (or what’s left of him…) Kate, Liz, Johann and the living mummy Panya try to figure out the mystery of the “Fu-Manchu Guy” that’s been haunting Liz’s dreams for the past several volumes.  While they do get answers, as is the case for stories like these, they’re not the ones they wanted at all.  After the middling detour that was “B.P.R.D. 1946,” we get back into the main story with a vengeance with some epic monster-movie action scenes, courtesy of artist Guy Davis, and a story that lays out the stakes for the next two installments of the trilogy quite well.  Writers John Arcudi and Mike Mignola also set the stage for some interesting character developments, particularly with the ectoplasmic spirit medium Johan as his agenda looks to be diverging from that of the B.P.R.D.’s.   There’s also a priceless bit involving agent Devon and a phone booth that made me laugh out loud after it recalled his exploits in “The Eternal Machine.”  Another strong volume from this creative team, as expected.

Punisher War Zone:  The Resurrection of Ma Gnucci Garth Ennis’ run on the character reaches its punchline and Steve Dillon comes back to illustrate it.  For some (like me), that’s all they need to hear before they’ll shell out the cash for the hardcover (for now) collection of this series.  For everyone else, know that this involves the return of key characters from Ennis’ first Punisher storyline “Welcome Back Frank” as the quadruple-amputee mob boss Ma Gnucci makes a surprising return from the dead to unite New York’s remaining mafia families against the title character.  Things are not what they seem as down on his luck goon Charlie Schitti, the son of the uber-elitist vigilante Elite, and detective Molly Van Richtoffen also figure into the plot as well.  It goes without saying that if you like Ennis’ brand of humor, you’ll get a kick out of this (one scene involves a monkey ripping out a guy’s testicles and then flinging them across a zoo) and the series is further proof that his humor works better and his action scenes  hit harder when they’re being drawn by Dillon.  Those of you who thought Ennis “Punisher MAX” stories were the be-all, end-all for the character will probably be a little put out by this return to the goofy humor and action of his original stories.  I’m of the opinion that bringing his run on the character full-circle like this makes the fact that we’ll probably never see him write Frank Castle again easier to accept.  (And yes, having read “Welcome Back Frank” will add greatly to your enjoyment of the series.  Normally that’d be a minus, but if you haven’t read it, you should.)

Claymore vol. 14 Girls with giant swords and demonically enhanced strength fight demons known as Youma at the behest of the mysterious “Organization.”  That’s the gist of this series, or at least it was until the main character and several of her comrades faked their deaths after the Organization considered them expendable.  This series has always felt like “Berserk Lite” to me, but it’s still been a fairly entertaining of fantasy action comfort food.  You know what you’re getting, and it’s always nice to see the formula done well.  Volume 14 involves novice Claymore Clarice and her immensely powerful but childlike partner Miata continuing their search for the former Claymore Galatea.  They find her with little effort, but they also find an immensely powerful Awakened One (a Claymore who lost control of her powers and turned into a Youma) hiding in the city.  The ensuing fight goes through the standard shounen action cliches, and doesn’t really become interesting until its final page when Claire and her group of rogue Claymores show up.  While the two extra stories that follow are interesting (they tell the story of how Awakened One Isley met Claire’s nemesis Priscilla, and how Claire survived her final test to become a Claymore) I’d have rather had more chapters devoted to showing how the fight played out.  Especially when the next volume won’t be out until “Fall 2009.”  I’d be more upset at the wait if the series was truly exceptional, but in the end it’s just “comfort food.”

Oishinbo vol. 2:  Sake It’d be easy to just say “see my previous” review to sum up this volume, but fortunately that’s not the case here.  While all of the stories do follow the “Yamaoka shows someone how their opinion about something is wrong” formula that’s this series’ stock in trade, there are a few key differences here that set it apart from the first volume.  First off is the running theme about the sorry state of Japan’s sake industry that writer Tetsu Kariya touches upon through most of the stories here.  While I like sake well enough, it’s interesting to read the opinion of someone who lives in the country where it originated and he provides a multitude of facts to back up his opinions.  The multitude does make it feel like I’m reading an illustrated essay at times, but it was interesting enough that I didn’t mind too much.  There’s also a lengthy six-part story involving Yamaoka and co.’s efforts to save a small sake brewery from being bought out which showcases much of writer Kariya’s opinions on the industry and it’s interesting to note that when he feels something warrants a longer installment than just one or two parts, he really digs into it.  Bonus points are awarded for the use of Yamaoka’s father Kaibara in this arc as he comes off as less of an unlikeable, arrogant bastard here than he has been shown to be in previous stories.  Here his arguments have some merit and his antagonism provides a nice indirect motivation for his son to deliver proof that there is hope for Japan’s sake industry yet.  This series isn’t a the same “must-read” level as the rest of Viz’s Signature line, but if you liked the first volume, and especially if you like sake, you’ll like this too. (However, you can simply “cut-and-paste” everything I said about the art in my previous review and apply it here.)