Digiversity: Digital Spotlight (Week of 10/28/11)

Article originally written by Ryan Closs

There are lots of high-profile digital releases this week. Along with another round of #2 from the new DC 52, we had Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (of 100 Bullets fame) reuniting with a new Vertigo mini-series called Spaceman. We also had the first glimpse at the new X-Men Regenesis status quo with Wolverine and the X-Men #1 by Jason Aaron and the astonishing Chris Bachalo. Both were absolutely fantastic and were looked at in depth elsewhere on Multiversity, but I will say this, both are absolutely great and you especially can’t beat Spaceman at $0.99. There was also a small Jeffrey Brown (of Clumsy and Incredible Change-Bots fame) OGN called Be A Man. I’d say that for $0.99 it’s plenty fun, basically a series of one page gags where Brown is an asshole to a woman. That’s just a taste of what we’ve got this week, let’s dig in and see what else is noteworthy this week that may have flown under your radar.

Green Wake #6 ($2.99/Image, Comixology/iVerse/Graphicly): Green Wake is a place that exists, next to the real world. It’s not entirely imaginary, but it’s not entirely real and it’s a place where people who feel a lot of guilt go. The first arc started with a murder and the appearance of a new visitor, the second arc starts the same way. Riley Rossmo has really stepped up his art for this arc and they’ve also shifted from green tones to blue. I’m really happy Green Wake has become an ongoing, while the first arc was satisfying I’m really looking forward to a prolonged and more complex story in Green Wake.

30 Days of Night #1 (Free/IDW, Comixology): I’ve been hearing about 30 Days of Night for years and for some reason, despite being a big fan of Ben Templesmith, I never checked out the series. This week the first issue went up for free so I downloaded it. The art was, as expected, totally great. The story? Was good but it definitely didn’t blow me away. I liked it enough to read the rest of this 3 issue series though. Check out this series that launched Templesmith and Steve Niles’ careers for yourself though, it’s free!

Kill Shakespeare ($0.99 * 12/IDW, Comixology): Another series I missed when it was coming out and have been meaning to check out, and at $1 an issue? Now’s the time. I haven’t read much of it yet but based on what I’ve read and heard it pits assorted Shakespeare characters against each other all trying to kill William Shakespeare. It’s got great art from Andy Belanger and a really interesting premise. I’ve heard mixed reviews about the story, often from die-hard Shakespeare fans but I’ve also heard a ton of praise from people whose opinions I generally trust.

Syndrome ($7.99 (w/free Preview)/Archaia, Comixology): I grabbed the preview of this because Archaia are a publisher that puts out some of the more creative and interesting books these days. They don’t always hit for me but I applaud them for their variety. Syndrome seems to be about a fringe doctor trying some new technique to cure a sociopathic murderer. The preview seems to imply that it’s going to be some Truman Show fake-world type situation since they hire an actress to play a role that would likely entice the murderer to kill again. I really loved the art and while I didn’t get a ton of writing to go on yet I’m enjoying it enough to pay the $8. Another really interesting premise from the people at Archaia.

Usagi Yojimbo Volume 1 Bundle ($8.99 Bundle, Dark Horse): I first heard of Usagi Yojimbo when he appeared on the old Ninja Turtles cartoon I watched as a kid. Since then I’ve known there were Usagi comics but they’d been going on since the mid 80s and I was wary about jumping in. This week Dark Horse released the first issues of Usagi Yojimbo originally published by Fantagraphics. I’ve read the first few issues and I’m loving it so far. The art is fantastic and who doesn’t love the idea of a Samurai Rabbit? If you don’t, I just don’t think we can be friends.