For whatever reason I've never been a voracious reader of the DC imprint, Vertigo. About the only book I buy that they publish is Fables (which, by the way, is one of the best books out there, comic or otherwise) and I've never really tried to dive too deeply into the line. There's a pervading darkness to most of the books I see published by them that turns me away.
However, this month I got around to checking out three Vertigo titles and all three have turned out to be interesting reads.
I purchased the Unwritten volume 1 trade a couple weeks ago and read it quickly, loving every demented, creative idea put on the page. Mike Carey is crafting an intricate story that reminds me of a book like Fables but with a far more literary bent and a hook that still hasn't quite made itself apparent. Is it an adventure story about famous figures (fictional and otherwise) inhabiting a world with normal folk or is it a mystery about a possibly mental Harry Potter-like guy discovering that his entire life is a lie?
At the end of the first volume I still have no clue. The writing, and art are fantastic but the story is what's going to bring me back for volume 2. I want to know what's what with this book.
Daytripper #8 was probably the best single issue of a comic I've read in a good long while, with amazing art and a lovely story written and drawn by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba. The series is basically just a vignettes about one man's varying ways of living and then dying. It's every bit as depressing as it sounds but it's got heart and it says some interesting things about the way we live our lives.
Pick up any issue but if you can track it down #8 is the one that gets the job done.
Finally I got around the picking up an issue of iZombie. Despite the fact that Mike Allred is one of my favorite artists I'd failed to pick up an issue of this series. After giving it a quick once over all I can say is my interest is piqued but I wasn't blown away. The first issue lays out a lot of story and does a quick introduction to what I'm assuming will be the main and secondary characters through out the series.
It's fun, and does a good job of straddling the line between horror and comedy. The art by Allred is beautiful as ever and the story seems interesting but the writing is lacking something. It almost comes across half baked at times in terms of the dialogue and pacing. It's still a good read but not enough to make me want to pick up any more single issues.
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