1: Universal Monsters:  Invisible Man #2 - Image

             Universal Monsters: Invisible Man has been one of my most anticipated titles of the year. Similar to the Universal Monsters: Dracula and  Universal Monsters: Frankenstein titles, this one has been an attempt to expand upon the movies, which I think is the best use of the licenses for these comics.

 

           For the uninitiated, James Tynion IV did the first (and my favorite of the bunch) UM title Universal Monsters: Dracula and when the series was launched said that the two that he wanted to do the most were Dracula and the Invisible Man – so it's evident when reading this series that Tynion is a fan. He understands the tone of the character so well and doesn’t use Jack Griffin’s invisibility as a pretense to become evil as that tracks with his character in both the movie and the H.G. Wells novel.

 

            The story and pacing in this one are exceptional, it makes it much easier for me to look forward to all of these knowing that they’re only four issue mini series. And if you don’t believe that I’ve been excited about this one for a whole go pick up Universal Monsters: Creature From the Black Lagoon Lives! #3 and look at the first fan letter.

 

 

2: New History of the DC Universe #3 - DC

             Mark Waid’s retelling of the history of the DC Universe has been a fun ride for nerds like myself that want to know what the current status quo of the DCU is. This one isn’t a traditional comic book and is almost closer to an encyclopedia laying out the events that have/have not happened in this iteration of the DCU.

 

            Issue #3 goes from the mid to late 80s up until early 2010s with the New 52 relaunch at DC. This section was the one that I had the most pre-existing knowledge about so it was the most interesting of the three issues so far for me. Not to say that I wasn’t familiar with what had happened in #1 and #2, just that I hadn’t read most of those issues despite knowing the broad strokes.

 

            I’d be interested in hearing someone who was new to comics opinion on these because they’re great for someone with an amount of pre-existing knowledge on the DCU to learn about the new history but I’m unsure of how effective it would be for someone just getting into comics. If you’re reading this and fit this category please let me know at the shop!

 

3: Twilight Zone #1 - IDW 

            “This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call ‘The Twilight Zone…’” 

Once again in comic form! For the first time in nine years, Twilight Zone is back in print and now with IDW. With every issue being done by a different creative team, this series is off to a strong start with Dan Watters and (Denver based) Morgan Beem.

        Every year around September and October, I fall back into The Twilight Zone and every year I’m impressed by how consistent the quality of each episode is. I was talking to Scorpio Steele (local artist and friend of Time Warp Comics) the other day and he compared them to Lay's potato chips because of their short, addictive qualities – a perfect comparison that I’ll be adopting by the way. This first issue was right in line with what I was expecting and the water color black and whites by Beem were the highlight for me, especially the way that she used that technique for shadows.

 

 

            While I could nitpick the ending, it didn’t stop me from enjoying the issue and I’d be remiss not to draw emphasis to that awesome Martin Simmonds cover. Can’t wait for #2 which is done by Tom Scioli, writer and artist of my favorite book of the year, Godzilla: Monsterpiece Theater.