Daredevil #7; Mark Waid & Paolo Rivera

This week, another great issue of the new Daredevil arrived and like the previous six issues of the relaunch, it's FANTASTIC! After two great long runs by Bendis and Bubaker, they were followed by writer, Andy Diggle, for a run that didn't leave much of an impression on too many people. Now we have a Daredevil comic that is lighter in tone (Daredevil works really well with a grittier, dark tone, but it's been time for a change for a long time) written by Mark Waid and drawn by Paola Rivera (with some alternating issues by the also excellent Marcus Martin - actually his last issue was #6 as he's going to be doing a creator-owned title with Brian Vaughn next year) and is one of the best reviewed comics of the past year.

If you haven't read this new Daredevil series yet, the first collection comes out in late January (and here at Alternate Reality Comics, I have most of the issues in stock), but this latest issue, is a great stand alone story that a person could read without having read the preceding issues. Daredevil #7 is also a wonderful story that is perfect for the holiday season and works as a great chaser after reading Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon's dark, demented, Punishermax (which is also fantastic, the best Punisher ever, in my book!)! Waid & Rivera's Daredevil will most certainly receive multiple nominations from the Eisner Awards next year!

Miracleman #9; Alan Moore & Rick Veitch

Sorry to be continuing to tease people (well those of you who haven't / aren't able to read Moore's seminal superhero epic Marvelman / Miracleman) - see entry below for an earlier tease - but I just reread Miracleman #9 (that fell off the back of a truck - grin!) and I wanted to share some thoughts upon having done so. And before I go on, I'm not going to get into the long sordid reasons of why Marvelman / Miracleman is not in print (please go over to Wikipedia for some details) and no, I don't have the whole run to sell here unfortunately.

Miracleman #9 is the issue in which Michael Moran's (Miracleman) wife has their baby and in only sixteen pages, Alan Moore and artist Rick Veitch really toke the sequential art medium to a new level of greatness, beauty, and maturity. Consider the following descriptive prose by Alan Moore of Mike Moran delivering his baby:

"The moment swells, an organ chord, deep and prolonged, adrenaline sharpens my perceptions until each instant glitters like a diamond."

Another thing I'd like to share from Miracleman #9 is the inside front cover publisher editorial page called The Penumbra, written by Catherine Yronwode (similar to Marvel's old Bullpen Bulletins page), in which one of the items was about Alan Moore: "This popular writer, once known among long-suffering editors for his ultra messy manuscripts, has bought a new typewriter!" - This comic came out in 1986, so obviously this was before computers (and even before word processors) replaced typewriters as that upon which practically everyone uses, but reading an item like that really reminds one of how much has changed in just 25 years! For you kids reading this, who don't know what a typewriter is (grin), you can look that up on Wikipedia also!

The Silence of Our Friends; advance tease, no spoilers

Today I got an advance copy of The Silence of Our Friends, a new graphic novel about the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, written by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos and drawn by Nate Powell, published by the fine folks at First Second. The Silence of Our Friends doesn't come out until the end of January, but having read it just now, I want to strongly suggest that you look for this graphic novel, based on true events, when it hits finer comic book stores next year.

While I'm being a graphic novel tease, I also want to put out a little advance tease for some exciting changes that will be happening on my Alternate Reality Comics website and Ich Liebe Comics! blog by early January 2012. I haven't been posting here as much as I'd like and I really do appreciate all of my Ich Liebe Comics! readers and would like to apologize for my lackluster posting here of late. Having said this, my Alternate Reality Comics website, which will be newly designed by my artist friend, Ron Horsley, will definitely turn this all around in a positive way (actually I'm happy with the way my website and blog look presently, but the new versions will be less static) so I hope you all are looking forward to these changes as much as I am to share them with you!