Welcome to this week’s edition of Pull List. In it, I’ll be talking about the stuff I’ve been getting at my local comic store for the past few weeks!
When it comes to my local comic book store (Sub City in Galway, if anyone wonders), I don’t really have a pull list in the sense of asking them to put issues of certain series aside for me. I don’t like buying issues mostly because I don’t have a nice box to put them in or the energy to think about collecting them. So, when I go there I tend to buy trade paperbacks.
This is the stuff I’ve gotten there between the last two weeks!
Batman Zero Year
Written by Scott Snyder and James Tinion IV.
Art by Greg Capullo, Danny Miki and Rafael Albuquerque
Recently I saw this Legend of Batman collection that apparently compiles Batman’s storylines in chronological order. Considering the retcons and reboots Batman had over the years, I assume the end of the collection will be a Frankenstein monster of continuity.
However, I still bought the first two volumes. They’re cheaper than the rest of the collection but I also bought them because they compiled the whole Zero Year storyline, and I’ve always been curious about it. Nothing to do with Ghost‘s ‘Year Zero‘ though.
I had read many good things about Scott Snyder‘s stint writing Batman, but I never got down to reading anything. But since I enjoyed American Vampire, I knew it was going to be an interesting read.
I was very impressed by Zero Year. It managed to take elements from Batman’s origin story but he made them feel fresh. I especially enjoyed that the main foe on the series turns out to be the Riddler instead of the mafia. The references to some iconic Batman images (like the first cover and the Dark Knight Returns lightning strike) were nice nods as well.
And seeing this Batman was refreshing as well, because he’s not the Batman we are used to, he’s not the Batman that has a plan and countermeasures for every possible situation. Batman is over his head here, and he insists that he has to work alone. At least until he realizes that’s stupid.
I think this might be the only thing I will buy from the collection. If I got the whole thing, I’d reach one of those situations where I’d probably have nowhere to sleep in because of the amount of books I already own.
The Fade Out
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips
I’ve come across Ed Brubaker‘s name quite often, but I’m not that familiar with his work, other than reading a couple of Criminals story arcs and bits of his run in Daredevil. Since most of his work tends to be noir oriented (a style I love), I knew I was going to get there sooner or later.
So I bought the first two volumes of The Fade Out. Then I found out that volume three actually closes the series, but I can always go back for it later.
The Fade Out is a series set during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The main character is a guy called Charlie. He’s a writer who suffers from PTSD and writer’s block, but he’s working on a film fronting for a friend who was blacklisted. Charlie wakes up after a party in a studio apartment and finds a dead starlet. So he and a friend decide to find out who killed her, while the studio chief and his fixer are trying to bury the scandal to keep the cameras rolling.
I am reading it right now and so far it’s good, and knowing the series is over already doesn’t put me with the pressure of “Will I have enough space for the rest?” that I usually get.
I mean, I think I can find space for three trade paperbacks in my room. Maybe.
What about you? What have you picked this week in your local comic book store? Let us know in the comments.
Angry Spaniard, adoptive Irishman. Writer, reader, tea drinker and video game player/designer.