Wednesday's New Things: 20,000 Leagues

1. Alan Moore says some off the wall stuff in interviews sometimes. At this point, if he were to give a normal interview, I think people would be disappointed; the spectacle is part of the appeal. That said, with Watchmen being one of the comics waiting to greet new comics readers and the Miracleman stuff from the 80s finally seeing the light of day again, he remains relevant, even as he tries his damnedest to make us forget about him. But I can also feel interest on the wane; this is the second volume of Nemo, a sequel series to the now wildly-concluded League of Extraordinary Gentleman, and it rather snuck up on me, while the last was announced with what seemed like at least a little fanfare. These last several efforts from him have been worthwhile, at least, and looking at Top Shelf's preview, it seems like Kevin O'Neill's art remains worth at least a look. The relatively low price point for a hardcover helps, although 56 pages does seem a mite few.

2. I've been pretty dismissive of Marvel's recent relaunch strategy (AVENGERS 24.NOW = AVENGERS #1!!!1!!!), but I've liked a few things about it, notably the whole slew of new books, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, Magneto, that aren't just resets of books that ended in the last few weeks. Daredevil, though, is different-- I'd fallen off at some point, and rather than just keep buying a comic I didn't seem to be reading, I stopped trying to keep up, maybe 18 months ago or so. This new direction, with DD in San Francisco, is a a rehash of an old plot point from the 60s, but I remember Mark Waid's writing and Chris Samnee's art consistently being among Marvel's best (which is why I have no idea why I stopped reading.) Count me in. 

3. Speaking of relaunches, the drop in quality between this volume of Wolverine and the X-Men and the last one was precipitous-- this one isn't bad, but with the amount of excellent stuff that Marvel is putting out, it's not good enough to make the cut. I'm out. 

4. It's not just Marvel, though. The couple of years have been building to what seems to be high point in terms of quality titles from the mainstream presses (except DC, maybe-- after their own recent relaunch, the comics were so bad that I stopped reading even the one book I liked; I can't speak to present quality), and that is due, at least in part, to a flourishing of genres once dormant. Among these recurrences is the fantasy comic, of which Orc Stain and Rat Queens are supposed to be exemplary (again, I just couldn't tell you one way or the other). Based on the preview, this one, from Chris Roberson and Paul Maybury, looks like it might join them.