Or - “I Think We Can Be Certain It’s Not Really Final…”
I started to try and write a big clever open, but y’know what?Â
RACCOON WITH A HEAVY MACHINE GUN!!!!!
How am I s’pose to top that?
Or - “Hell, Man… I Only Have So Much Free Time!”
There seems to be a thing out there called “Real Life.” It’s composed mostly of things to annoy you and drain your wallet of cash, but sometimes it also feeds on your free time. One of the joys of this gig is getting to share the wondrous things that happen in comics and split the burdens of that which is terrible, which means I usually bite off more than I can chew in terms of comics that I’d like to review. Since this has happened yet again, it’s time to play catch-up (because mustard stains the carpet.)
Or - “My Newest Summer Blockbuster Fave-Rave...”
Most comic writers have a certain thing that they do really well, well enough that you think of it as “their thing.” For Brian Bendis, it’s the rapid-fire-Joe-Friday-vulgar-conversation. For Judd Winick, it’s the moment of tragedy in the middle of goofiness. For Robert Kirkman it’s the completely unthinkable Holy $#!+ moment. And, in my mind, Warren Ellis really shines in a setting where his characters have completely hit rock bottom, only to find that there are sublevels of unpleasantness yet left to descend into. Wanna guess what happens this issue? (Be warned: it involves violence, four-letter words and adult situations…)
Or - “Not Precisely A Retro Review…”
A couple of weeks ago when I was blown away by Black Summer #2, I mentioned that if enough people were interested, I’d go back and touch on issue #1. Due to unprecedented fan response (which means somebody responded… Thanks, Lou!) and a delay of this week’s comics due to the Labor Day holiday (you’d think after reading the things for decades and working in the industry since ‘98 I might get a clue on holiday shipping delays, but alas…) I’ve decided to go back and cover this one. And while I’m certain that most of our faithful Spoilerites don’t worry about such issues, I have actually struggled with whether or not to label this one a Retro Review… The main reasoning, for those interested in such ephemera (both of ya) was that this book is still an active concern at the time of writing, whereas previous R.R.’s have always covered a book/creator run/storyline that was complete. Thus, we’re going to treat it as a current book, and leap like a Kzin towards a restroom after fifty-four triple salsa black bean burritos… (It should be noted that there is some serious adult content within, this is your warning.)
Or - “Sometimes A Book Will Come Out Of Left Field And Surprise You…”
Black Summer is one of those books that I wasn’t entirely sure about, dealing as it does with the murder of the President of the United States (and it doesn’t pull it’s punches, making it clear that the Prez in question is unequivocally the sitting Commander-In-Chief.) My usual goal in life is to strenuously avoid discussions of politics, religion, or alternate lifestyles, but the setup to this issue (and the Warren Ellis writer credit) piqued my interest. Issue #0 was as interesting as the premise promised (say that ten times fast) and #1 just flat blew me away with it’s detailed art and excellent character work. Usually when I buy my weekly comics order, I set up a pile to buy, a pile to buy if the buy pile doesn’t exceed the budget, and a pile that can wait for payday, but the awesome cover of Black Summer #2 made certain that it was the first thing in the Must-Buy category, and the innards once again exceeded all expectations…
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