I Know This Is Sort of Cheating But...

I always try to review Criminal and I just never seem to have the words. With the new one coming out tomorrow, though, I wanted to share my enthusiasm for this new Brubaker/Phillips mini, and here it is:

Wait, hold on, let's check in with the other thumb:

HOLY COW! A PERFECT TWO!

Weekly Process Roundup 4/11/11

The weekly process roundup is a collection of sketches, pencils, inks, thumbnails, everything other than finished product, from The Long and Shortbox of It's favorite artists and illustrators, hitting every Friday.

• Darick Robertson shares some pages from the upcoming, The Boys related, Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker!
• Chris Samnee sketches Bucky!
• Sean Phillips inks Criminal!
• Skottie Young warms up with Hellboy!

Weekly Process Roundup 4/8/11

The weekly process roundup is a collection of sketches, pencils, inks, thumbnails, everything other than finished product, from The Long and Shortbox of It's favorite artists and illustrators, hitting every Friday.

• Pascal Ferry sketches something summery (above)!
• Jamie McKelvie has some fun with Secret Avengers!
• Sean Phillips inks Criminal.
• Paolo Rivera videotapes himself doing the cover for Daredevil's new #1.

There Are No More Innocent

You know what's great news? This:

CRIMINAL: The Last of the Innocent #1

By Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips with Val Staples on colors

The best-selling crime comic finally returns, and with their most ambitious story yet. Obsession, sex, money, murder, and nostalgia for days long past all collide in THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT.

Riley Richards got it all… The hottest girl in school and a ticket to the big time… so why isn’t he happy now? Why is he getting involved in gambling and drugs and shady characters in the city? Why can’t he forget the life he left behind in small town Brookview? And why is he suddenly plotting murder?

And as always, each issue of Criminal contains unique back-up features, articles and artwork, which are only available in the single issues.

32 PGS/Mature Content… $3.50

I love comics, and I love comics a lot, but recently I've been feeling a little burned out. I think it was the news that, come this summer, Marvel is going to give Captain America a new #1 that did it but, for all I know, its possible that I have to go so far out of my way to go to my store these days that's making me so tired of the whole thing. Comics like this, though, are what make me still buy monthlies. Comics like this are why I believe in the medium and, more importantly, in the power of the medium.

I've attempted to write about Criminal before, but each time I fail spectacularly: it is, quite simply put, the best series in comics. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are so damn good and they work so well together that they're practically one unit at this point, and there is nothing, nothing, about their work together that I do not adore.

With this on the horizon, my burnout is salved.

A Belated Already Tired of Tuesday...

I'm only picking up one book this week.

I know, right? This is really weird, particularly last week I only picked up four. I might use the opportunity to look around and see what catches my fancy, but barring a surprise purchase the only book I'm buying this week is.....

Thunderbolts #137.

What makes this week so weird is that I don't even usually pick up Thunderbolts- but the story is a bigger than usual tale featuring the Heroes For Hire- and, after being disappointed by the Immortal Weapons one-shots, my life is sorely lacking in Danny Rand these days.

Check back in a few days, and I'll tell you how it is; I've got a Criminal review in the works too.

Already Tired of, uh, Monday....

I know I'm way early this week, but I'm procrastinating on a paper, and this seemed like a perfect way to do it. Also, there's a lot of really great stuff coming out this week, stuff I'm really excited for.

First, and foremost (perhaps even foremost of any comic being released this year) is the grand finale of one of the greatest comic stories of all time- Planetary. The long awaited issue #27 of the Warren Ellis penned and John Cassaday illustrated series comes out this week and I'm really, really excited. If you haven't already checked out the preview pages Jon posted about earlier in the week, well, you should. They're pretty fantastic, as is the rest of the series.

And that's just the start of the barrage of the comics on the imprint front this week. From Vertigo we get the second issue of Jeff Lemire's fantastic Sweet Tooth and the Bill Willingham penned Fables novel Peter and Max (although I'm hoping to win a copy through this contest over at Graphic Content). What's really exciting me this week, though, is an imprint release from Icon: Criminal: The Sinners #1. The dynamic duo of Ed Brubaker (who, lets be honest, turns whatever he touches into gold) and Sean Phillips (who, aside from David Aja, might be my favorite illustrator in all of comics) proved themselves once again with the conclusion to Incognito, and I'm ready to return to the tale of Tracy Lawless- and this one sounds like a killer. Brubaker's crime stories are the best in all of comics, which is why I was sad to see him leave Daredevil...

But the new writer, Andy Diggle, seems to be planning some cool stuff- after buying the Daredevil Dark Reign one-shot, I'm convinced that Matt's life is about to get really difficult- and that makes for great Daredevil comics, so I'm pumped for #501 to come out this week. I'm also pumped for the X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas mini to get started- although I was disappointed by the last issue of the AoA ongoing a couple of weeks ago, I think the manic energy that Jeff Parker brings to his work is perfect for a short series like this and I'm curious to see which X-Men he's going to use (hopefully Nightcrawler is going to be one of them; the blue elf has been criminally underused by Matt Fraction in Uncanny). Strange Tales #2 comes out this week too, as does the new issue of The Torch, but I'm not sure if I'll be picking up the latter- I think I might trade-wait it. As for the former, well, I think Jon and I are going to take another shot at reviewing it jointly and seeing what happens. And then, of course, add Batman and Robin #5 to the list and, well, I've got a huge week to make up for last week's tiny little one.

It's going to be a good Wednesday.