Pretty Deadly, Shutter, and books from unproven writers

[Ilan Preskovsky]

I, for one, adore both Pretty Deadly and Shutter. Pretty Deadly is dreamy/ nightmarish so it might take some while getting into it but read in one sitting, it's really really strong. Shutter is just pure imagination with some pretty great characters so I'm kinda surprised that the response to it has been so lukewarm in this thread. And, yeah, both comics have spectacular art.

[Trilipush]

Pretty Deadly is most definitely NOT I would call 'pretentious.' I actually hate that word because there's an undercurrent of anti-intellectualism in its usage most of the time. I've listened to Emma Rios and Kelly Sue DeConnick talk about the series on a couple of podcasts before the title got released and their collaborative work on that title is nothing short of organic and sincere. It may require at least one reread to really get all its finer sensibilities and be able to attune oneself with its lyrical hooks. Of course, it's not for everybody (I'm not in any way insinuating that those who don't dig it are dumb) but again, really, one should not use the word 'pretentious' so loosely.

IMHO.

[Thennary Nak]

I like both Pretty Deadly and Shutter, though I will agree the former is not the easiest title to get into as it is not until the third issue that things start falling into place. Shutter I loved with the first issue but felt it faltered a bit shortly after but seems to have recovered and is getting into its stride again. The only other titles I am getting from Image though are Rat Queens and Lazarus so my tastes are a bit all over the place.

[Cryptid]

It's kind of strange that Pretty Deadly and East of West started at around the same time. Who would have guessed that Image would release two different mythological westerns with Death as a main character? Did these writers not trust modern readers to see the Western as a genre about national myths even without biblical horsemen galloping all over the place? Things like Pale Rider and even Red River tip toward allegory without the benefit of mysticism. Was El Topo on TNT the weekend they came up with this stuff? Oh well.

That said, I don't dislike either series. The mixture of biblical apocalypse and futuristic western in East of West seems like a premise more likely in manga than western comics, but it's not a bad start for the kind of grandiose world-building that has become Jonathan Hickman's stock-in-trade. I would only quibble that the western and biblical iconography sometimes seems incidental to the story Hickman is actually telling. The book often feels like Hickman became invested in the idea of a western without bothering to watch very many of them, although obviously he's not responsible for evoking the film tradition if that's not his thing.

And Pretty Deadly feels much more organically weird. What other series begins with a frame narration by a dead rabbit followed by an expositional puppet-show by a girl in a vulture costume? The art looks great, even if the frantic detail sometimes overwhelms the narrative through-line, and Emma Rios has a great instinct for showing that long horizon that's such a big part of how westerns look.

[The Fn Man]

Did not like the first arc of Pretty Deadly and it is ongoing they are just taking break inbetween the arcs. My way of trying out "New Writers" has been GN/Trades, many of the Image books do a first arc for $10 or $5 Instocktrades.com. I discovered Transmetropolitan by then lesser known Warren Ellis this way. Walking Dead, Invincible, Chew just to name some other titles that are now on my monthly list. Also Previews is good way to see if there is something coming up that interests you.

[Hero]

Hmm, I read Pretty Deadly all at once and really enjoyed it. Maybe I was just in the right mood...