Shopping List

A very short shopping list for me this week...

Green Lantern #52

Northlanders #26

Captain America #604

Secret Warriors #14

I'm skipping the new Millar book, Nemesis, because I'm just about done with limited series at the moment. I'll pick it up in trade.

Almost dropped Northlanders because I've fallen behind by a few issues and it would probably make more sense to pick the stories up in the trade format which they are written for. I've said it before, but it's worth repeating - I think the single issues of Northlanders would really benefit from some decent back matter. It's what keeps me buying Criminal in floppy format and I wouldn't even be considering switching up to trade if Northlanders followed suit. Yes it would entail a price hike to $3.50 (probably) but I have a feeling that this wouldn't hit the numbers too hard. When you're dealing with a series so rooted in real world history, it makes perfect sense to have some accompanying historical text pieces. At least I think so.

Green Lantern continues its zombie-like shamble through Blackest Night, an event which I've enjoyed for the most part, but which I'm ready to see wrap up now. More plot, (as opposed to character), driven shenanigans await, no doubt.

The current Captain America story has been top notch and I look forward to reading the latest installment. However, given the fact that I have zero interest in the back-up story, I am a mite hacked off at the price hike. Pretty soon comics will all be $3.99 with no back-ups, but for the moment I'd rather they kept Cap at $2.99 and spared us the Nomad bilge.

Secret Warriors has its moments. It can be tough keeping track of a large - and for the most part C list - cast but there's enough cool stuff going on in the background to keep me coming back, and the cast of baddies is an impressive one. Say what you like about Mark Millar, but Gorgon is one of the few decent new Marvel villains. He's a genuinely creepy, nasty piece of work who is badass enough to be a player for many years to come. Hickman's done him well in Secret Warriors too.

LLC Recommends: Northlanders #9-#10

VIKINGS! You need to read comics about VIKINGS! Specifically (given that I think it's the only viking comic on the stands) Northlanders from Vertigo. The first eight issues were excellent, but with the second and much shorter story in Brian Wood's ongoing series, the book really comes into its own.

It reminds me a lot of Criminal. Different setting obviously, but like Ed Brubaker, Wood has built a world and populated it with enough characters to be able to tell a variety of different stories. He's not limited himself by focusing on one character in particular, so while he's arguably constrained by the genre, he still has the scope to explore different themes by introducing new characters with every arc.

Issues 9+10 are dramatically different to the first eight which told a traditional tale of homecoming and revenge (similar to the Lawless arc in Criminal in many respects). They tell the story of a young Saxon boy who grows up hating his violent Christian father and by extension the monks on the island of Lindisfarne where he lives. This hatred drives him on to help the vikings as they launch the first of their infamous raids on the monasteries of Lindisfarne.

It's a fast paced short story, with a smaller cast than the first arc in the series. But it's also much tighter than Sven the Returned was. The art by Dean Ormston is perfect, his characters look suitably windswept damp and bloody while the landscapes are rugged, full of spindly trees and shadows. The battle scenes often look like they could have been torn straight from a dark age tapestry.

It's a style that proves to be a perfect match for Wood's script. Perhaps the writer takes some liberties by putting contemporary turns of phrase and expression into the mouths of 6th century characters, but he does it for a reason and while there may be very few "arts" "thous" or "verilys" in Northlanders, there's no doubt that Wood has captured the brutal spirit of the age.

There's nothing particularly sympathetic about most of his characters, they live in a rotten world filled with violence and greed, where the struggle to survive often precludes sentiment. The reader can feel sympathy for the child in Lindisfarne, but by the end of the two issue story it's clear that the child himself has had to abandon any thoughts of sentiment to stay alive.

The conclusion of his story is a fitting one which makes me hope that we see him again. One of the strengths of Criminal is that characters who were the focus of earlier arcs often pop up as bit part players later on. It's a device that would serve Northlanders equally well. I'd also like to see Wood take another leaf out of Brubaker's book and include some back matter with the comics. A potted history of the viking raids on Lindisfarne for example.

Even without these, Northlanders is an excellent series. If you missed the first arc it's coming out in trade pretty soon and is well worth picking up. The second story is better though. At two issues it's a decent taster for what I hope is going to be a long running series.

Last week's comics TODAY!

I missed new comic day last week, but on a trip to the West End with the missus to buy doormats and baby seats, I nicked five minutes in GOSH!

Really, I needn't have bothered. After all last week's shopping list was probably the shortest I've ever compiled. Seriously, I only picked up two comics for a total spend of £4. At least they were good comics. First in the old nerd sack was Northlanders #5: More Viking based tomfoolery and a nice preview of the forthcoming reboot of House of Mystery. House of Mystery was a firm favourite of mine as a kid, and I'd be delighted if this latest attempt to resurrect the old favourite worked out. With Bill Willingham scripting, it has a decent chance.

The other comic on my list was Checkmate #25. Greg Rucka's last. Boooooo! I doubt this title will last much longer without Rucka at the reins, which is a shame as he's done a great job of getting me excited about a relatively obscure corner of the DC Universe. Now that it's done, I might just have to go back and read all 25 issues again. Yes, it was that good.