Fannish Fifty #9: Comic Recs
Mar. 9th, 2023 06:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brokenmnemonicI thought that for this week, I'd rec some comics I've liked in past years that I thought might appeal to people on my reading list here.
Hexed was published by BOOM! Studios, and began with a limited series followed by a 12-issue run, for about 400 pages of comics. I think I originally found this because the author also wrote the 28 Days Later comic book run based around Selena from the movie, and my comics dealer suggested I try Hexed. Hexed is based around Luci Jennifer Inacio Das Neves - who mostly goes by the nickname "Lucifer" - and is a marked supernatural thief. She spends her time stealing mystical objects from supernatural beings, often at the request of her ally, a mysterious older woman named Val. The mini-series is a self-contained story, and as the later series went on, you learn more about the supernatural beings who want to control or recruit Lucifer in some way. One of the things I really like about this series is that for all the supernatural trappings, it's effectively about heists, and I do like a good heist story. The interior artwork is by the same artist who did the art for Pretty Deadly, another BOOM series that manages to be interesting and pretty and creepy and pretty creepy. The complete run of Hexed is available in a single anthology now. I've also discovered there's now a Hexed novel, so I must add that to my tbr list...
Copperhead is a sci-fi western that focuses on Clara Bronson and her young son. Clara takes up a job as the new Sheriff of Copperhead, an outback mining town on a backwater planet, and has to deal with problems almost immediately, from arguing rural alien families, a dodgy wealthy mineowner, a resentful deputy and a mysterious android. Clara ends up having to solve various crimes (including murder) and work out what's going on in Copperhead and in the desert outside the town, while also trying to avoid her past. Published by Image, this ran for about two dozen issues, and is available as 4-5 graphic novels.
Crosswind is a 6-issue limited series created by Gail Simone and Cat Staggs; Cat Staggs also did the interior art for the comic book run, and I think the story's been optioned to be a tv series. One of the problems I had with making this list of recs is that it's difficult to pick my favourite Gail Simone series, but I think this is the one I've bought most copies of to give as gifts! The comic starts with two people with nothing in common - an experienced and smooth hitman from Chicago and a smart housewife from Seattle married to an arsehole - wake up one morning to find that they've swapped bodies. They both end up having to try and work out what's going on while keeping their lives going. For a six-issue comic, this book did a lot of things, all of which I basically adore, and I found the ending extremely satisfying. It was fun watching a hitman trying to deal with giving advice to their gay son and also navigate dinner with the husband's boss. Equally, seeing a quiet housewife reacting to being emneshed in a world of gangster and mobsters and an angry sort-of girlfriend and somehow making everything work was great. A number of the minor characters are good too, and I really enjoyed seeing the series go in directions I didn't expect, with some delightful little moments - like seeing the result of the hitman giving advice to his - or her - son on how to deal with bullying at school. Both characters start in a situation they could never have anticipated, and yet come out of it better and I think happier than they went in.
Hexed was published by BOOM! Studios, and began with a limited series followed by a 12-issue run, for about 400 pages of comics. I think I originally found this because the author also wrote the 28 Days Later comic book run based around Selena from the movie, and my comics dealer suggested I try Hexed. Hexed is based around Luci Jennifer Inacio Das Neves - who mostly goes by the nickname "Lucifer" - and is a marked supernatural thief. She spends her time stealing mystical objects from supernatural beings, often at the request of her ally, a mysterious older woman named Val. The mini-series is a self-contained story, and as the later series went on, you learn more about the supernatural beings who want to control or recruit Lucifer in some way. One of the things I really like about this series is that for all the supernatural trappings, it's effectively about heists, and I do like a good heist story. The interior artwork is by the same artist who did the art for Pretty Deadly, another BOOM series that manages to be interesting and pretty and creepy and pretty creepy. The complete run of Hexed is available in a single anthology now. I've also discovered there's now a Hexed novel, so I must add that to my tbr list...
Copperhead is a sci-fi western that focuses on Clara Bronson and her young son. Clara takes up a job as the new Sheriff of Copperhead, an outback mining town on a backwater planet, and has to deal with problems almost immediately, from arguing rural alien families, a dodgy wealthy mineowner, a resentful deputy and a mysterious android. Clara ends up having to solve various crimes (including murder) and work out what's going on in Copperhead and in the desert outside the town, while also trying to avoid her past. Published by Image, this ran for about two dozen issues, and is available as 4-5 graphic novels.
Crosswind is a 6-issue limited series created by Gail Simone and Cat Staggs; Cat Staggs also did the interior art for the comic book run, and I think the story's been optioned to be a tv series. One of the problems I had with making this list of recs is that it's difficult to pick my favourite Gail Simone series, but I think this is the one I've bought most copies of to give as gifts! The comic starts with two people with nothing in common - an experienced and smooth hitman from Chicago and a smart housewife from Seattle married to an arsehole - wake up one morning to find that they've swapped bodies. They both end up having to try and work out what's going on while keeping their lives going. For a six-issue comic, this book did a lot of things, all of which I basically adore, and I found the ending extremely satisfying. It was fun watching a hitman trying to deal with giving advice to their gay son and also navigate dinner with the husband's boss. Equally, seeing a quiet housewife reacting to being emneshed in a world of gangster and mobsters and an angry sort-of girlfriend and somehow making everything work was great. A number of the minor characters are good too, and I really enjoyed seeing the series go in directions I didn't expect, with some delightful little moments - like seeing the result of the hitman giving advice to his - or her - son on how to deal with bullying at school. Both characters start in a situation they could never have anticipated, and yet come out of it better and I think happier than they went in.
