Bloody Knuckles in Green Hell

 

A little High on Fire to start your day. From 2012's De Vermis Mysteriis.

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NCBD:

Here's my NCBD haul. Man, since I slimmed down the number of titles I buy, I really don't miss anything I cut, however, some weeks I just miss comics.

First up, I've been waiting for this 13th issue of Ghost Rider for a few months now. Danny Ketch will always be my favorite Ghost Rider, and to have him back as, apparently, part of the Weapon Plus program just makes me salivate with the possibilities.

The final issue of Sins of Sinister's Immoral X-Men. Definitely curious to see what year 1000 looks like.

SO much love in my heart for Saga, and I did not expect the possibility brought up at the end of issue 62, so we'll see where this goes. 

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Read:

I finally read Jeff Lemire and Doub Mahnke's Swamp Thing: Green Hell. I dug this one about as much as I can dig a DC book (I don't know why my prejudice against DC continues to escalate, but it does). 

The thing I liked best about Green Hell was the way it sort of acted as a final chapter for the storylines Lemire and Scott Snyder established in the original, 2012-2013 New 52 Swamp Thing and Animal Man books. I read Snyder's run on Swamp Thing and actually quite liked it, and while I jumped off when Lemire came on and didn't read his Animal Man, I followed those books from afar and understood what they were doing.

I also quote liked what they did with John Constantine in this one, although this tendency to fall back repeatedly on having him barter his soul to the devil for favors got old after the first time, and repeated use with it really just undermines the gravity of Garth Ennis' Dangerous Habits, still one of the greatest stories ever told with the character.     

In all, I'll probably revisit this one at some point; the oversized Black Label books are a joy to read when they are worth reading. To me, that's not very often, so it's nice to have one I enjoyed.

       

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Playlist:

SQÜRL - Silver Haze (pre-release singles)

Bexley - Eponymous

Goatsnake - Black Age Blues

The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes

Ghost Bath - Moonlover

High on Fire - The Art of Self Defense

High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis

Jon Clearly - Dyna-Mite

Steve Earle - J.T.

            

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

Settling into a work routine will lead to a transformation that brings breakthrough.

 

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Batman, Incorporated #8 (Spoilers)

Oh my! I am very curious about this upcoming issue of Batman, Incorporated which - despite there being apparently a lot of hate for the book - I REALLY like.

Morrison's Batman run, which started somewhere around 2005, was overall fantastic. However I thought what really knocked it out of the park was the short-lived run on the post-Final Crisis Batman and Robin title that featured Dick Greyson as Batman and Damian Wayne as Robin. Batman, Inc. was the book that seemed to carry on that thread and tone for me, a sister book if you will. But Grant has made it clear that he's leaving Batman altogether soon and as we wind up, no one is really sure what is going to happen or how the ongoing conflict with Leviathan is going to end.

Now, the above cover is awesome, but there's another one that's been leaked and potentially has a MAJOR spoiler on it, though we all know what appears on a comic's cover is often hyperbolic and not necessarily a direct translation of how the same concept appears inside. If you want to see that cover go ahead and go here and scroll down a bit. You'll see it.


DC's solicitation for Batman, Incorporated can be found on their website here. There's also a lot of speculative articles on newsarama. Issue #7 killed one of my favorite peripheral Bat characters - Knight of Knight and Squire, a duo both Grant Morrison and Paul Cornell did a spectacular job with. As Morrison's run on Batman, Inc. is winding down we may be in for some shocks. Especially as the Bat-stuff he's writing is, I think, the only DC book that takes place in the old DC continuity and not the New52