The Book I Want to Buy:
The Many Adventur
es of Miranda Mercury
by Brandon Thomas and Lee Ferguson; Archaia, $24.95
I don’t know a whole lot about Miranda Mercury, except that it was another victim of Archaia’s coma (what do you call it when a comics company stops publishing for a while?) a couple of years back. It’s a science fiction epic, and I remember the first issue (which was actually something like #597 – a trick done before Deadpool Team-Up started playing around with numbering) got some very good reviews on the internet.
One of the main reasons why I’m interested is because the writer, Brandon Thomas, had a column on one of the sites that I read, and he wrote about this comic with such enthusiasm and love, that it made me want to check it out. I’m sure most creators working on creator-owned properties feel this way (and probably lots of the contract ones do too) about what they are creating, but still, it was nice to see someone come out and talk about it so clearly.
And, you know, I do like me some science fiction epic comics.
The Book I Think You Should Buy:
Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story
by Mat Johnson and Simon Gane; DC/Vertigo, $19.99
Normally when I recommend a book in this part of the column, it’s because I’ve read it and believe strongly in it. I own a hardcover copy of Dark Rain, and it’s sitting in my pile of books to read; I just haven’t had enough time to get to it yet. The truth is though, I don’t think I have to read it to recommend it.
It’s a story about two guys who recognize that Hurricane Katrina is providing them a great opportunity to pull off a robbery – they figure that with most of the town evacuating, and chaos reigning on the streets, they’ll be able to slip into the city, and pull off one last job. My guess is that it doesn’t work out that way.
This book is written by Mat Johnson, who wrote Incognegro, a terrific story about a ‘light-skinned black’ who passed for white and wrote about racism in the South for a black newspaper. It was very tightly written, and showed an interesting perspective. Dark Rain is drawn by Simon Cane, who impressed me on a short arc of Northlanders earlier this year.
Thinking about it now, I should probably bump this up on my to-read pile a little…
So, what would you buy Were Money No Object?
