How far behind is it possible for me to be on comic books? But, my new-found lack of time is a both good and bad for this blog.

The bad? I’m way behind on weekly picks and just updating here in general. The good? That was kind of the purpose of this blog in the first place – trying to give people a peek at the world of comics from someone who is just a “casual” fan. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that this is the best thing that could have happened to the Casual Comics Guy. 

So, while I sit at Buffalo Wild Wings, watching the Buccaneers lose a painful football game, I’m going to look through the comics from next week and last week to tell you what I’ll be looking for if I finally manage to get to a comic shop this coming week.

Last week

I’m kind of cheating and only including last week for one thing – my retroactive OFFICIAL Casual Comics Hot Pick of the Week.

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool #0 (of 4)

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool #0 (of 4)

A limited series is always just what the doctor ordered for a casual comic book fan. The fact that this one features Hawkeye (whose current book I love) and Deadpool (who is usually good for a laugh) makes this the only book from last week I’d dig through a back issue bin to find. 

One question – if this is #0 (of 4) will the last issue be #3 or #4. If the answer is that there will be five books (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4), it should be “of 5”. But then you would think they would say “of 5”, which would make you think the last issue was #5. 

They kind of painted themselves into a corner, logic-wise, with the numbering. 

I should also probably mention Original Sin #8, but I stopped caring about that title at #6. Actually, that’s not true. I stopped caring at #2, but Marvel got $16 more bucks out of me before I stopped buying with issue #6.

The last time I was this disappointed was… well about 10 minutes ago when I saw Logan Mankins hurt himself in the Bucs game. See… I CAN multi-task.

Original Sin #8. By: Jason Aaron, Mike Deodato, Julian Totino Tedesco. Marvel Comics. Sure to be terrible.

This Week

Dicks End Of Time #4

Dicks End Of Time #4. By: Garth Ennis, John McCrea. Avatar Press.

Last I checked in with Warren Ellis was Rover Red Charlie, which I really liked. I even thought he nailed the ending of that book. It might have been my favorite mini-series of the last two years. 

So, find me a comic with Ellis’ name on it and the following description, and I’ll even go out looking for the back issues:

“The Boys from Belfast continue their trip through the annals of history as they romp through time screwing up the world for just about everyone. Garth Ennis and John McCrea leave no insult unslung as they attempt to offend every comics reader one page at a time. Don’t miss this latest wallowing in the gutter with Dougie and Ivor, the Dicks.

Available with Regular, Offensive, and Classic Moment Incentive covers by McCrea”

Teen Dog #1 

Teen Dog #1. By: Jake Lawerence. BOOM Studios.

Odds of this being the worst purchase I’ll make? Extremely likely. But how can I resist this solicit: 

Teen Dog is John Hughes meets ’90s Nickelodeon cartoons, two of our absolute favorite things. It’s a totally awesome adventure that stars the canine that spun out of Jake Lawrence’s web comic Time Cowboy and kickflipped his way into our hearts.

How was your high school experience? Teen Dog is high school if it didn’t totally blow, and instead totally ruled the most. Teen angst and whimsical adventures collide in this new series reminiscent of Doug, Saved By the Bell, and Kim Possible.

Admittedly, that’s a lot of name-checking, but they’er pretty good names to check.

Six Million Dollar Man Season 6 #6

Six Million Dollar Man Season 6 #6. By: James Kuhoric, Juan Antonio Ramirez, Alex Ross. Dynamite Entertainment.

Wow… Good for you. You made it six issues! Looks like Jamie and Oscar are in this issue, too! Nostalgia!!

 Fantastic Four #10

Fantastic Four #10. By: James Robinson, Derliz Santacruz, Leonard Kirk. Marvel Comics.

This is another recent favorite of mine. I think the current run of FF is one of my favorite for Marvel’s first family in a looooooong time. I gotta get some of these back issues, too. I still love the red outfits. Hope the story is still good. 

Showcase Captain Carrot And His Amazing Zoo Crew TPB

Showcase Captain Carrot And His Amazing Zoo Crew TPB. By: Roy Thomas, Scott Shaw. DC Comics.

For once in the history of Casual Comics Picks DC Comics finally nails down the Official Casual Comics Hot Pick of the Week – even if they had to dig into the vaults to do it.

Captain Carrot is one of my favorite DC characters of all time. i might have some of these issues in a longbox or pile of comics somewhere, but most of my run of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew is likely to be missing.  Thank you, DC Comics, for finally compiling an old series that actually deserves to be seen again.

Filled with terrible puns, great comic action, and even more terrible puns, I can’t wait to revisit the world of Captain Carrot in Gnu York (get it..? Gnu York…) And, for a book filled with awful jokes and cartoon animal superheroes, this excerpt from the Wikipedia entry reminds my why, in general, I can’t take DC Comics:

The various members of the Zoo Crew lived on a parallel Earth that, during DC’s pre-Crisis multiverse system, was named “Earth-C.” Earth-C consisted of a world where various anthropomorphized talking animals existed; the series featured many animal-themed pun names for real-world aspects.

Did they really have to try and figure out how this figured into normal DC continuity? I mean, DC also publishes Scooby Doo, Where Are You? Did they try and squeeze that into the “multi-verse” somewhere?

OK, that’s enough bitterness. Let’s see if I can find an old page from Captain Carrot to end this post on a high note.

 Have a great week, all. Don’t forget to visit your local comic book shop. 

Cheers!

– CCG