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Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

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Justice League #44 CoverWednesdays are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in!

We’re bringing back something we haven’t done for a while, what the team thinks. Our contributors are choosing up to five books each week and why they’re choosing the books.

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this Wednesday.

Alex

Farlain The Goblin #4 (Studio Farlain) – Oh my goodness. This is an absolutely great comic that tells a story of a goblin trying to find a forest. If it sounds simple, well, it is. But it’s also incredibly endearing, and amazingly fun.

Archie #3 (Archie Comics) – It’s hard to believe I had never read an issue of Archie before this version was released. This reminds me of the early days of Ultimate Spider-Man minus the spandex. And radioactive spiders.

Batman Annual #4 (DC Comics) – After the last issue of Batman (if you haven’t read Elana’s article about it, you should), my excitement level is really high with this comic. I cannot wait to see what is in store for us in the fourth annual.

 

Brett

Top Pick: Secret Coders Vol. 1 (First Second) – The latest graphic novel from Gene Luen Yang. This is one I’ve been waiting for since I heard about it a few years ago at the National Book Festival. It takes place at Stately Academy, a school with many mysteries to solve, and Yang has worked in real logic puzzles and programming instruction into this graphic novel which not only entertains, but also teaches you too!

Justice League #44 (DC Comics) – Justice League is in the middle of an epic with the team caught in between a battle of giants, and members going every which way. This is a story on a massive scale that can only happen in comics.

Rasputin #9 (Image Comics) – It’s Rasputin in the middle of a modern-day political campaign, and it’s fascinating.

Transformers #45/Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #45 (IDW Publishing) – I love IDW’s various Transformers series, and both take interesting spins this week, one with a lot of action, and the other with a look at some reject Decepticons. So good and never disappoints.

Zodiac Starforce #2 (Dark Horse) – The first issue was fun, and fleshed out the previous minicomic I read from years back. The series looks like it’ll be an interesting take on a familiar formula (Sailor Moon), but overall the key is fun and entertaining.

 

Elana

Archie #3 (Archie Comics) – I have never read an Archie book in my life (other than Archie Vs Predator) till I read this one. It is so good. Cute dialog, wonderful character studies. All ages goodness. Fiona Stapels is Magic. Jugghead is my new fave.

Grayson Annual #2 (DC Comics) – This series manages to be funny, suspenseful, unpredictable, fanservicey as hell but also suprisingly emotionally raw when it wants to be. I think this week it wants to be.

Material TP (Image Comics) – If this comic had a genre it would be Derida. The new trade paperback includes an essay by friend of GP, Spencer Ackerman. A political an urgent comic about the issues of the day like racism, surveillance and artificial intelligence.

Zodiac Starforce #2 (Dark Horse) – Sailor Moon 2.0? A former sailor scouts type team is coming into their later teens and struggling with what that means. Lovely art and colors. Nice diverse cast.

 

Mr. H

Top Pick: Grayson Annual #2 (DC Comics) – Every issue of this title has been an absolute hit. Now factor in we get a meeting between Clark and Dick in their new lives, you’ve got the makings of a classic!

Captain America: White #2 (Marvel Comics) – I loved the first issue. This team is always dynamite for me, it’s nice to see Cap and Bucky back in their purest form.  Bring on the baddies!

Green Lantern Annual #4 (DC Comics) – We finally get to find out where Hal got Darlene from and more insight into his new mission. I’m buckled in, lets head through the blasting zone!

Justice League #44 (DC Comics) – The cosmic battle royale continues. I am so pumped to see what becomes of Bat-God, Evil Superman and oh yeah those other guys too.

Superman #44 (DC Comics) – The awaited finale to “Truth”. Let’s see if it comes with some Justice!

Review: Farlaine The Goblin #4

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ftgFarlaine The Goblin #4, published by Studio Farlaine, is an all ages fairy tale comic that follows a goblin tree shaman by the name of Farlaine (pronounced Far-lin) and his companions, a robot named Tink and Farlaines’ friend Ehrenwort the tree as they travel the lands looking for a forest to call home, and after years of searching, there is only seven lands left for them to find a forest.

If they finish exploring the world without finding a forest, poor Ehrenwort will wither and die, and the loveable goblin Farlaine will wander the lands alone, forever.

Once you’ve read Farlaine, you’ll understand why that would be heartbreaking.

The fifty plus page comic is written and drawn by the same person who remains anonymous in order to keep the focus on the comic itself. Farlaine The Goblin #4 may be the fourth entry into the series, but as each entry thus far has been a self contained story, unless you want to read them all in order, there’s no need to start from the beginning in order to fall in love with the hapless goblin – I didn’t. If you do want to start from the beginning, though, there is a free pdf of the first issue available at Farlaine‘s website, here.

As has already been mentioned, Farlaine The Goblin is is an all ages comic book. But don’t be mistaken by assuming that means it is a comic primarily for younger readers; it’s not, Farlaine The Goblin is a comic that’s all ages because it can be enjoyed by anybody. The anonymous creator injects the story with humour and an excitingly fun and refreshing sense of adventure that includes riding mini-twisters like a skateboard or unicycle. Likewise, the quality of the dialogue between the characters took me back; I didn’t expect to be able to identify with, and understand the characters as quickly as I did. The character development here, especially with Farlaine is really quite something.

In conjunction with the writing, the artwork is a key component to both the superb characterization, and to the story; although the cover is in colour, the main comic is black and white. The art style is easily readable, and yet it’s far from simple. Our anonymous creator has a fantastic ability to render facial expression on the characters, indeed the close up shots of Farlaine‘s face in three panels on pages 10 and 11 of the comic are a personal highlight for me because of the emotion conveyed on the little fellow’s face.

Farlaine The Goblin #4 is, in all honesty, and without any exaggeration, probably the best comic I’ve read all week. The issue will be released to the racks on the 30th of September, and you can also order the previous issues online, here.

This was a joy to read, and I hope you check it out upon release. In the mean time, go read the free copy of issue #1.

Writer: Anonymous Artist: Anonymous
Story: 9 Art: 9.5 Overall: 9.5 Recommendation: Buy

Studio Farlaine provided Graphic Policy a FREE copy for review.