Essex County Vol. 2: Ghost Stories
Jeff Lemire
Top Shelf Productions
$14.95 US (Paperback)
**** (out of five)
Lou Lebeuf is an old man and his hearing is all but gone, but the voices from his past are as loud and clear as ever for him.
As
he whiles away his remaining days on his family farm in Essex County,
down in southwestern Ontario, Lou reflects back to better times, back
to when he and his brother, Vince, played pro hockey in Toronto and
they felt like kings of the world.
Of course nobody’s life is
perfect and Lou’s trip down memory lane takes him to a bunch of
different places, both good and bad — from the glory of raising his
stick in the air with thousands cheering him on, to the hearing his
knee snap and knowing his career was over, to falling in love with the
perfect girl to the sound of Chet Baker records and that one amazing
night in her arms that cost him dearly for the rest of his days.
Talented
Toronto cartoonist Jeff Lemire continues his Essex County trilogy,
which he started last year with the moving Tales From The Farm, with
Ghost Stories, a thoughtful and emotional reminisce that intertwines
the love of hockey, the love between brothers and the deep love of home
into one thoroughly engaging read.
Serenity: Better Days #1 (of 3)
Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad, Michelle Madsen
Dark Horse Comics
$2.99
**** (out of five)
They’ve
been scraping by on the edge of civilization for so long that the crew
of the Serenity really wasn’t prepared for things to go… right?
When
yet another grand scheme by Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his ragtag
bunch of space pirates actually comes together, they might just find
their days of living hand to mouth finally over with. But are they
really ready for life on easy street?
Co-written by
Firefly/Serenity creator Joss Whedon, Better Days finally brings this
cult-classic universe back to comics in an adventure set prior to the
cataclysmic events of the feature film (which saw a couple of crew
members die) and puts the crew into an interesting scenario that ought
to pay off big time.
The Goon: Fancy Pants Edition Vol. 2: The Rise And Fall Of The Diabolical Dr. Alloy
Eric Powell
Dark Horse Books
$24.95 US (Hardcover)
**** (out of five)
He’s attacked the Goon with giant, laser-wielding robots, fire-breathing giant lizard monsters and more and yet Dr. Hieronymous Alloy always comes out looking like a million bucks.
Granted, his entire body is covered with gold as the result of an alchemy experiment gone wrong, but still.
Dr. Alloy has definitely become one of the most interesting enemies for the Goon, the enforcer of the Labrazio crime family and self-proclaimed protector of the community from zombie, monsters and other nasty things.
Now all of the Goon’s wild and darkly humourous conflicts with this maddest of scientists — including the classic battle that sees the hero transformed into a King Kong-esque monster to battle a rogue Godzilla-esque lizard — are available in one place as the deluxe, limited edition hardcover Fancy Pants edition gets a second volume.
Creator Eric Powell’s wild and wacky work never looked so good.
Wonderlost #2
C.B. Cebulski, Matt Santolouco, Ethan Young, Tony Fleecs, John Amor, Jason Meek, Rafael Albuquerque, Seth Frail, Alina Urusov
Image Comics
$6.95/$5.99 US
**** ½ (out of five)
Nobody in comics does a better job of humiliating himself than C.B. Cebulski.
The first volume of Wonderlost saw this longtime Marvel Comics editor deliver six stories from his youth that were sometimes touching and often tragically humbling.
Now this glutton for punishment is back to lay even more awkward teen experiences on the line, including his first (truly scary) experiences with oral sex, his first (and only) experience with magic mushrooms and the revelation of a rather specific interest in dating blondes.
With the help of a very talented team of artists, Cebulski truly captures the fumblings of youth perfectly and delivers another masterwork of self deprication.
