Schwappathy...Ended?

I didn't intend for my first new posting on the site in ages to be about the decline of my old stomping ground.

No, I planned on talking about the successful DC relaunch. Why? Because curiosity got me running into the store to get the books and the horror stories of sold out issues had me hot-footing it over there instead of taking days or weeks to head in.

While my pile has been dominated by DC, I've actually bought some single issues I wouldn't have otherwise picked up. I've been trafficking comic related sites and social network entries more, so I saw Clevinger asking fans to pick up a new Atomic Robo issue and people talking about Pigs by Nate Cosby.

Now, I love Robo, but it is normally trade purchase for me. Seeing as how Clevinger had an interesting take on Firestorm that I wasn't going to get to see published, I figured I'd pick up this first issue to show some support (and then decide whether or not to trade-wait on the rest later).

Cosby? He's been a damn entertaining Twitter follow since leaving the editor chair and I was keen to see what a book written by him would turn out like.

There are certainly other non-DC books I pick up, but they were things I'd likely have picked up without this whole New 52 thing reinvigorating my anticipation for Wednesday deliveries. SIXTH GUN is one of the rare books that I'd actually search through the old weeks' shelves at the shops to make sure I didn't miss if work had gotten in the way of my making a weekly visit.

But, yeah, the apathy has come to a rather abrupt end. I plan on trying to post opinions and all around here to see if anyone wants to read them. Most of the traffic I ever got was because of a passionate fan working at a publisher, leaking information because he had concerns about what they had planned. Since he's ridden off into the sunset (for the purposes of this site, not in his life or career), it remains to be seen how piqued curiosity is for my musings...

Fourthman Reviews: Abyss #3

Abyss #3
Published by Red 5
Written by Kevin Rubo
Pencils by Lucas Marangon

Red 5 Comics is the best new publisher period. Too bad this is not their best book. The problem with parody is that all too often, people throw in too much. That’s why I don’t really go for the whole Airplane or Scary Movie thing. As a parody of Wanted, Abyss functions really well. In fact in that aspect I would call it pitch perfect. Problem is it is marred by all the pointless Scarface gags. It drags down an otherwise great book. There are some inspired gags here that take jabs at Superman, Batman, the Thunderbolts, etc. Knowing your comic history makes this a more enjoyable book. It did produce several audible laughs and that is hard to do for me. The pencils are fine. It is what I expect of a funny book, but the coloring. Who the hell let Top Cow’s digital coloring guys loose at this thing? It makes it very hard to look at. All in all, Abyss is almost a good funny book.

"Ultimate Comics, we have more comics then your shop has!"