Image Comic of the Week - Lazarus #13, Ody-C #1, Manhattan Projects #25, Sheltered #13

[Groo Odyssey]

Last Week's Winner



Deadly Class narrowly beat out Invincible and Zero last week, picking up 8 votes. Of note is both Invincible and Zero picked up the most votes to date for their respective titles with 7 votes each. Well done! Big story this week is a new Matt Fraction title Ody-C #1. Early reviews are in and it looks like it's either a hit or a miss as Christian Ward's art may be polarizing. Should be interesting to see what our readers think for those that picked it up.

New This Week



Publisher: IMAGE COMICS
(W) Matt Fraction (A/CA) Christian Ward
An epic 26 centuries in the making: In the aftermath of a galactic war a hundred years long, Odyssia the Clever Champion and her compatriots begin their longest, strangest trip yet: the one home. A gender-bent eye-popping psychedelic science fiction odyssey begins HERE, by MATT FRACTION (CASANOVA, SEX CRIMINALS, SATELLITE SAM) and CHRISTIAN WARD (INFINITE VACATION, OLYMPUS).

INCLUDES SPECIAL EIGHT-PAGE FOLDOUT!

[InformationGeek]

It was an alright week personally, but I don't read a lot of great books this week. I read a lot of average sort of middle of the road books. Here's how the breakdown went:

Lazarus #13
Sheltered #13 (no review, but it was pretty great. 9 out of 10!)
Satoshi Kon's OPUS (8.5 out of 10)
Wayward #4 (no review, but it's a 6 out of 10 again)
Pop #4
Ody-C #1


If you are looking for a really good book this week that is complex, has a more challenging narrative, intelligent, and has some fascinating meta-fiction; you got to buy Satoshi Kon's Opus. It collects Kon's last big manga series before he switched to directing (he directed Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, and Paprika) into one big book and it's so good. It's about a writer who is trying to finish his big action manga. He plans on killing his main character in the story, but much to his surprise, his creation rebels against him and he ends up being pulled into his own story. It's familiar, but the commentary and discussion on the role of a writer, what he or she does with his creations, and more... it's just so good! If you liked Morrison's Animal Man, you'll like this. Hell, I think it even goes further in the metafiction and the commentary on writers and stories.

The only downside to it is that it is depressing. Very depressing and for different reasons than you think.

[Detox]

I read Lazarus, Sheltered and Trees this week. Lazarus was a bit of a filler, with a killer ending. Sheltered was insane as the series gets ready to come to a close. I voted for Trees because I absolutely loved this one. Lots of goodness and this may have been my favorite issue yet.

[Groo Odyssey]

LOL Matt you got your letter printed on Oddly Normal. I was reading your letter and knew right away it was you, could tell by your writing style and your mentions of Courtney Crumrin, Princess Ugg and Rat Queens.
Anyhoo I loved this issue, I wasn't too fond of last issue (6/10) but this issue was great. My favorite of the series so far.

I read Sheltered and it's usually my book of the week but Oddly tops it this week for me and is my pick. This issue is a whole lot of fun. I went to my shop to try and order Pirouette #1 and #2 but unfortunately they couldn't get #1 for me. Good news for the series is that even though Pirouette is listed as a 2 issue miniseries I saw that #3 and #4 are available to order from the retailer. Problem is I can't find #1 anywhere and went to several shops buy none had ordered it. Well, that certainly sucks.

I still have Wayward and Usagi Senso to read but I'm quite sure my favorite this week would be Oddly Normal. Glad I took a chance to pick this up and stuck with it, I'll be in for the full run. Another home run from you Matt! Also I think Informationgeek gave the first issue a favorable review on his site.

[TotalSnorefest]

Question about ODY-C: Does it feature anything like back-matter, are they asking for letters to run in the future? Or just a straight-up comic? It's the same for me here as it was last month with Tooth & Claw, if it features back-matter I'll continue in single issues, if not probably switch to trades because both of these series feel like 'artwork for on the shelf' if that makes sense. Wish I could just check myself but my copy is gonna be a week late and by then the order cut-off date for #2 will have passed...

Ody-C #1[/URL]

Wow I liked reading your ODY-C review, very different than what I expect to think of it. Kinda interesting you didn't know about it being an Odyssey riff from the start, I feel like the whole book sounds like a meta-textual commentary on the Odyssey and it's extensive celebration of masculinity (hence largely gender-swapping the cast). Wonder if knowing/expecting that from the get-go makes one more predisposed to liking it. (In my case probably will.) Couldn't disagree more about the art, all the previews look gorgeous and lush to me and I love the trippy aesthetic, but yeah personal preference there.

It's dissapointing to see you not liking the end of POP; as so far I've always agreed with your reviews there. Kinda stuck with the series anyway, hoping it would get more interesting (and I quite like the art), but looks like that's not in the cards. I'll read it myself to give it a fair shake of course, but yeah this is shaping up to be a major dissapointment for me this year. It's not entirely awful and the art salvages a lot but it's yet to surprise me in any way, 5/10 material so far.

[cc008]

Question about ODY-C: Does it feature anything like back-matter, are they asking for letters to run in the future? Or just a straight-up comic?(

I'm not sure about any backmatter... but there is an 8 page fold out right in the beginning which basically takes the place of the "Iliad" story that would have led to this version of the Odyssey.

[InformationGeek]

Question about ODY-C: Does it feature anything like back-matter, are they asking for letters to run in the future? Or just a straight-up comic? It's the same for me here as it was last month with Tooth & Claw, if it features back-matter I'll continue in single issues, if not probably switch to trades because both of these series feel like 'artwork for on the shelf' if that makes sense. Wish I could just check myself but my copy is gonna be a week late and by then the order cut-off date for #2 will have passed...

The copy that I got directly from Image does not feature anything in the back other a word from Matt asking for letters and talking about the book It doesn't have any foldouts like others are saying. Maybe that's a bonus for the physical copy? If so, that's kind of annoying since its sounded like actually added background material and history for the in universe stuff.

[Maxpower00044]

COWL #6 for me. Maybe a little bit predictable onthe story side, by the art and 60's feel (definitely felt like a comic from that era down to the 'ads') made this book a joy to read.

[Dorktron]

I'm going with Sheltered this week. It will be a sad day when that series ends soon.

[Detox]

I'm going with Sheltered this week. It will be a sad day when that series ends soon.

I will miss this series too. Great issue, i'm sure it will end in an epic blaze of glory.

[matt levin]

I would've voted for Lazarus, as this title seemingly can do no wrong, for me, but I figured Lazarus would get a strong supportive vote, and voted for Oddly Normal, a warm, wry, funny title, where there's too few of them. Glad you like it, Oddly Groo; sorry you're having trouble finding Pirouette. I'm still waiting for my issue 2, as my LCS was short-shipped. Maybe we can work something out..! Have to say I gave up on Trees; just seemed too slow to get anywhere, for me.

[TotalSnorefest]

I'm not sure about any backmatter... but there is an 8 page fold out right in the beginning which basically takes the place of the "Iliad" story that would have led to this version of the Odyssey.

Whoa sounds awesome, doubt that'll be a regular feature though but we'll see. Thanks!

The copy that I got directly from Image does not feature anything in the back other a word from Matt asking for letters and talking about the book It doesn't have any foldouts like others are saying. Maybe that's a bonus for the physical copy? If so, that's kind of annoying since its sounded like actually added background material and history for the in universe stuff.

Alright thanks! Does sound like it was just for the physical copy then, per cc008's post. It's super weird they wouldn't include that in the issue given to reviewers though; that sounds like a cool thing you'd want people to know by getting it mentioned in reviews? Can't be they added it super last-minute either because presumably the lead-in time for a fold-out to be included in print copies is much longer than to just change the digital file...? Weird move to promote your book.
If it is indeed an 8-page summary of the Ilyad then that's pretty vital material too. Like, the whole point is that you first have 7 years of war in the Ilyad and its endless stand-off, then Trojan Horse invasion at the end; followed by the equally long and harrowing journey back to Ithaca (Odysseus' homeland).

[El Sombrero]

Voted for ODY-C. It's not really my thing (I don't enjoy reading dialogue and scripting in the Greek mythology lyrical style) but the detail in the universe was immense and the execution of the project was really amazing. Easily the best of the four books I read even if I probably won't continue with it.

I wrote reviews in each issues' respective threads. Quick ratings here:

ODY-C - 5/5
Umbral - 3/5
Wayward - 2.5/5
Rasputin - 2/5 (upgraded for the art, would be a 1/5 with an average artist)

Probably won't continue with any of the above. Starting to feel a big gap between my top four Image books (Saga, Chew, Southern Bastards, Deadly Class) and the rest.

[Detox]

I would've voted for Lazarus, as this title seemingly can do no wrong, for me, but I figured Lazarus would get a strong supportive vote, and voted for Oddly Normal, a warm, wry, funny title, where there's too few of them. Glad you like it, Oddly Groo; sorry you're having trouble finding Pirouette. I'm still waiting for my issue 2, as my LCS was short-shipped. Maybe we can work something out..! Have to say I gave up on Trees; just seemed too slow to get anywhere, for me.

I almost did the same as it is very slow moving. It's really well written of course which is why I've stuck around, and it is starting to pick up with this last issue.

[Conway]

Manhattan Projects actually showing us the writing of the Clavis Aurea was satisfying. They placed all the stories into a position where they could be mothballed for a while in preparation for the next incarnation. While a little convenient it did the job of making me excited for the future of the titles. I'll be missing it, but I'm already waiting for March.

Roche Limit is quickly becoming a favorite. They manage to move fast and include a lot of information in just three issues. I think it's the "Watchman" style stories at the end of each one. I'm not sure how many are reading it after the slow #1 but I hope it's enough to keep it going.