Air #10
Vertigo

By about the sixth issue of G. Willow Wilson’s and M.K. Perker’s Air I thought I had a pretty good handle on just what in the hell was going on. Amelia Earhart showed up in a floating city in the clouds and made everything clear to me. Now I’m in Mexico before the French conquered England and I feel like I’m just starting over again. While I may have lost the path of the story the comic continues to be fresh, crisp and smart. This series is definitely worth your time but this isn’t the time to jump in.

The Dark Tower: Fall of Gilead #2
Marvel

To tell you the truth, I’m just slogging through most of these tragic bits until I can leave the tales of Roland’s adolescence and move on to the parts of the stories where he’s a bad-ass ninja with cowboy boots and a revolver. Much like watching Titanic, we know Gilead will fall, we know Roland will live and his father will likely die. All that happens later though. For now Stephen King fans will have to make do with Roland going to jail. I get the feeling this is just leading up to a mountain of tragedy in the next four issues.

Executive Assistant Iris #1
Aspen

This comic is a steaming plate of bad-ass. While most of the issue is turned over to the task of demonstrating just how epically bad-ass it is, there is a kernel of a story in there. David Wohl seems to have an interesting story going for him but so far it’s obfuscated by a lot of business speak and ass kicking. Eduardo Francisco’s art lives up to the high standards set by Aspen’s other works and John Starr’s colors are visceral and vibrant. This isn’t a must have but you definitely need to take a look because there won’t be very many copies of these laying around.

G.I. Joe: Cobra #4
I.D.W.

What makes the Cobra series so good is the way it forces you to question your own morality as Chuckles goes deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. I can’t say much about this issue because it has a pretty significant twist in the plot. I will say that something big is coming in the next two issues and I certainly hope that this series will persist longer than that. This is the most adult oriented series in the G.I. Joe line of comics and typically the most intelligent. If you’re not hooked after the first issue maybe you should stick to Archie.

Herogasm #2
Dynamite

Take everything that is raunchy, rude or profane from The Boys and concentrate it into its own monthly title and what you’ll get is a sausage I call Herogasm. The Boys are spying on a hedonistic retreat for superheroes and their target is Vic the Veep. Drugs, guns, hookers and sunshine make for an entertaining summer read. Don’t expect the brains of The Boys but this spin-off should fix your jones in between issues of The Boys.

Incognito #4
Icon

The bigger picture is finally starting to be revealed. Zack’s in a heap of trouble and both sides want to use and abuse him. Both sides want to play him against the other. The only problem is Zack might be all used up by the end of it. Incognito is very similar in style to Brubaker’s Sleeper comics and long time fans will be familiar with this territory. You should be reading this.

Olympus #2
Image

With Olympus I think I put it on my pull because I liked the idea more than the execution. Neither the illustration nor the coloring by themselves lend much to the clarity of the art but the combination of the two produces a trippy, kaleidoscopic effect I’ve never seen anywhere else. Up to now everything in the story has been all flash, if this comic’s going to work you’re going to need some motives and some morality. You can’t have stories about hell without morality.

Red Mass for Mars #3
Image

I have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this to finish. Pax Romana and Transhuman have both been in the ground for months which I took as a sign that this work would soon be over as well. At the least I can now say I think I know what’s going on. If not, then at least I’m looking forward to the last comic to come out. Unless you can find the first two issues I wouldn’t pick this up. Wait for the trade to come out, let’s just hope we don’t have to wait a year for that to happen.

Young Liars #16
Vertigo

I’ve given up on anything making any damn sense in this story. Last I heard the comic had been canceled. Given that, it’s understandable that some meaning would have to be sacrificed in order to reach the conclusion on time. Even allowing for everything I just said this is one of the best comics being written. In just this single issue we’ve explored the beauty and especially the ugliness of human nature and human endeavors. You punks are lucky this will almost certainly be available in a collected form.