Vinny’s Comic Picks of the Week!
Bloodshot Salvation #7 (Valiant Comics)
Runners Up: The Amazing Spider-Man #797 (Marvel Comics), Captain America #699 (Marvel Comics)
What a strange week. First, I have to race a Nor’ Easter to snag my books from the shop. Next, I select my three books without a single entry from DC Comics. After that, as I’m about to start writing the article, my power goes out. My entire house was in the dark, just like this week’s issue of Bloodshot Salvation. Now that’s what I call a transition, folks! Anyway, this issue was written by Jeff Lemire, who apparently created most of the interior art as well. You’ll see what I mean when you read it, but this one is pretty different than most comics. Comics are an art form built on both writing and art, its part of the reason so many readers get attached to certain designs for characters and a great selling point for the format. Lemire and Renato Guedes throw the rules out on that a little bit here, but with the catalogue Bloodshot has, it is a total master stroke. This book wouldn’t work if the fans weren’t emotionally invested in Ray, and without years of stories, this would stick out as a gimmick. Sometimes art excels when the right conventions are broken. The risks taken make it one to be remembered, and my undisputed pick of the week.
Dan Slott and Stuart Immonen continue the final arc of The Amazing Spider-Man before it resets to a new #1…again. Though I’m not sure where it’s all going, this is some of the best stuff Slott has written in years. The characters are clear and the action is exciting. It reminds me of the stories when The Superior Spider-Man was really rocking and rolling. Sure, there is a little bit of the old “combine things people like” angle here, but the creators are doing a fine job of convincing me that’s okay.
Last this week is Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s Captain America. Since the team took over, I’ve had mixed feelings about the book. They were always fun, but there was a weight that seemed to be lacking. Unlike their run on Daredevil, I didn’t immediately begin to ponder each issue as I finished it. This issue brings a lot of the emotion that was missing earlier, though I have some mixed feelings on another point. It was recently revealed that Samnee is leaving the book after #700, and though Waid will continue further than that, Ta-Nehisi Coates will take the reins in July. While Coates arrival has due buzz around it, it seems as if Marvel has lost another powerhouse team, just as things were starting to pick up.