ADVANCE SCOUT: Four Fantastic Books (6/5/13)

WHAT IS ADVANCE SCOUT?

Each week, the Capeless Crew picks out those books that we think are most worthy of your dollars and attention. These books are chosen based on a variety of qualities, including relevance to real-world issues of the day, their sheer excellence as examples of the medium and often with an eye towards the importance of a given book within the context of the comics industry.

SITUATION:

We kept the list light this week, as there is a lot of standard mainstream fare on the docket, and many of the best indie titles are mid-stream. The titles that we did select represent a good cross-section of the market and feature stories that are either just getting started or are early enough in their run that you can (and should) catch up.

THIS WEEK’S SELECTIONS:

1. “Movement #2″

Gail Simone and Freddie Williams II have set the stage for one of the more intriguingly relevant titles of the year, and look to continue their early success in this second issue.

The solicits state that we will see clashes between the citizens of Coral City and the police, another strong echo of the book’s Occupy roots.

This book will sink or swim, though, not on the strength of its connection to the Occupy movement, but on the ability of Simone and Williams to tell a compelling story. Now that the introductions are out of the way, we will hopefully see the book in full swing and be able to judge whether this title has staying power beyond it’s initial buzz appeal.

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2. “East of West #3″

There have been no doubts from month to month when it comes to choosing this title. If you haven’t been reading it, you may be hard-pressed to find hard copies on your local store’s shelves. With that in mind, turn to your digital platform of choice, get caught up, and get on board NOW.

Jonathan Hickman’s alternate history/western/science-fiction world is both marvelous and terrifying to behold. No one is safe as the horsemen ride, and one can’t help but think that very, VERY bad things are in store.
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3. Misty Circus (HC)

Dark Horse comics has been on somewhat of a tear lately, with gritty action and science fiction tales. This is a tale of Victoriana for all.

Capeless own Eric Santos has an ADVANCE REVIEW here.
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4. “Astro City #1″

Kurt Busiek is back writing Astro City.

This title is one of the original good comics, and Busiek’s work stands apart in many ways, as he crafted a realistic world that still inspired a sense of wonder, all while delivering characters who were themselves just as real.

This should be all you need to know.

Buy this book. If you live in the future, buy it now and send it back to us.

ANALYSIS

After all the flak we’ve been tossing in DC Comics’ general direction of late, it felt a bit odd to have two of our four titles coming from that house, but excellence is excellence and deserves to be recognized. We hope that you enjoy each of these quality titles with stellar creative teams that should not disappoint.

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Thanks for checking out ADVANCE SCOUT! Be sure to check back next week for more recommendations, and don’t forget to share the link below!