THIS WEEK IN PANELS: March 28, 2012

Last week for THIS WEEK IN PANELS, folks. In case you missed yesterday's post, later this week TWIP will undergo an expanded format under the title PULL LISTED. I'll probably let the link to TWIP linger for a few weeks in the Features column but I don't have any intention of merging labels for the two features. So bookmark away or get friendly with the search function if you want to backtrack.

Let's start this (last) week off with one of my favorite comics by one of my favorite artists. I missed it in the March 21st post and, frankly, nothing this week compared for the coveted "panel of the week." Abbreviations still go (S) Story, (A) Art, O))) Sunn.

The Goon #38

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This month's Goon marks the second issue focusing on tales of semi-fictional characters that aren't Goon. Kizzie, feeling out of place in her podunk town, leaves her family and fiancé to join the traveling circus, eventually displaying her brute strength as the Iron Maiden, and (without giving too much away) becomes a very prominent figure in the Goon's life.

More panels make ya jump, jump.

THIS WEEK IN PANELS: March 21, 2012

Revel, one and all, in the new formatting! Bask in the equalizing page breaks! Tremble at the sight of creator credits! (S) Story, (A) Art, (You) Smitten!

Also, next update -- new feature title (finally) and header icon. Excelsior!

Dark Horse Presents #10

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DHP #10 is a welcome return to the indies of my rebellious teens. The return of Milk & Cheese? (Not entirely sure they went anywhere, really. Time to bone up on that.) Geof Darrow and Andrew Vachss? All I needed was some Tank Girl and I'd have been transported back to hovering over longboxes, flipping through back issues of Deadline USA.

More after the jump. Don't stop, get it get it!

THIS WEEK IN PANELS: March 14, 2012

THIS WEEK IN PANELS features the best in comic book panels each week. No criteria, no rhyme, no reason. Excelsior! (Click pictures to embiggen)

The Strange Talent of Luthor Strode #6 by Justin Jordan & Tradd Moore; Image 2012

Going on a year of reintegrating into comics after a lengthy break (Battle Chasers was still ongoing when I stopped), I find myself already tiring of the same ol' hero-punch-villain routine. The DC reboot was revitalizing at first for new/return readers but seven issues in, it seems most titles are already running on superhero auto-pilot.

Luckily, indie titles are vibrant in today's industry with Image pumping out new creator-owneds each week. I don't know that I'll find anything quite like, say, The Maxx which blew my 16-year-old mind, but Luthor Strode came pretty damn close. The pivotal panel above illustrates Moore's Adam Warren-esque style with the hyper-reality pacing of Scott Pilgrim that made this mini such a quick and incredibly satisfying read.

THIS WEEK IN PANELS: March 7, 2012

THIS WEEK IN PANELS features the best in comic book panels each week. No criteria, no rhyme, no reason. Excelsior! (Click pictures to embiggen)

Swamp Thing #7 by Scott Snyder & Yanick Paquette; DC 2012

Snyder and crew absolutely killed it this week in Swamp Thing. Paquette's art here is the best we've ever seen, its beautiful and gruesome (that child's head on the Rot's abomination) and minutely detailed in all of the Green fauna: the sunflower in panel border bloom, Swampy's cabbage coccoon, the psychedelic haze, leaves, and distortion of the Rot borders. J.H. Williams III better come back from his break on Batwoman with a vengeance because Paquette's progressive page designs are giving him a serious run.

Oh, and did I mention Swampy? This is the issue we've all been waiting for. Although I could have posted any damn panel here there was only ever one. The beast is back.

THIS WEEK IN PANELS: Feb. 29, 2012

THIS WEEK IN PANELS features the best in comic book panels each week. No criteria, no rhyme, no reason. Excelsior! (Click pictures to embiggen)

Wednesday I tweeted a lack of variety among new titles this week and indicated I may feature some titles I was late to the draw on from past weeks. Rather than backtrack, I'm going to feature more than one panel of this week's comics

So, with only three titles what say we blow our load right off the bat. Spoiler alert, an' all 'at.

Venom #13.4 by Rick Remender, et al, & Lan Medina; Marvel 2012

Having just plowed through a stack of Ghost Rider comics from my childhood, the final page of part four -- no, wait... five? Can we just agree this point system is ridiculous? -- is every aggressive, adolescent, comic geek's wet dream. All that amalgamation of Red Hulk, Venom, and Ghost Rider up there needs is a set of adamantium claws and this would be a million-selling title for Marvel each month in 1996.

THIS WEEK IN PANELS: Feb. 22, 2012

THIS WEEK IN PANELS showcases our favorite comic book panels each week. No criteria, no rhyme, no reason. Excelsior! (Click pictures to embiggen)

The theme this week seems to be superhero team dynamics. And, go:

Secret Avengers #23 by Rick Remender & Gabriel Hardman; Marvel 2012

Secret Avengers has Hawkeye on the verge of a breakdown, unable to manage his new team and clearly opposed to Captain America's newly appointed recruit. Remender does a great job of establishing a new villain in The Father who threatens the creation of a new species homo synthezoidus -- superior even to the homo superior mutant -- and for making Ant-Man a total bad-ass, even if he had to kill him to do so.

THIS WEEK IN PANELS: Feb. 15, 2012

THIS WEEK IN PANELS showcases our favorite comic book panels each week. No criteria, no rhyme, no reason. Excelsior! (Click pictures to embiggen)

No recurring theme in panels this week, folks; just an à la carte of great art, storytelling, and notable moments. More, of course, after the jump.

Batman #6 by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo; DC 2012

The "Court of the Owls" storyline continues from last month's dizzying maze issue as Batman takes a serious beating by Talon at the bequest of the Court. This marks a literal turning point to the story arc, though, as the events of this issue seem to mirror themselves as the *ahem* Dark Knight rises.

THIS WEEK IN PANELS: Feb. 8, 2012

THIS WEEK IN PANELS showcases our favorite comic book panels each week. No criteria, no rhyme, no reason. Excelsior! (Click pictures to embiggen)

A common theme across Marvel Comics this week seems to be economic and civil unrest. To quote the late, great comedian Bill Hicks, they must be "going for the righteous indignation dollar. That's a big dollar. A lot of people are feeling that indignation. We've done research -- huge market."

First, Sgt. Nick Fury lays into a couple "candy-ass pogues" over the handling of the UC Davis protestors and more in the finale to what can and should be considered the equivalent to Morrison and Quitely's All-Star Superman -- the quintessential continuity-free Punisher story:

PunisherMAX #22 by Jason Aaron & Steve Dillon; Marvel 2012

Then the England riots in Secret Avengers and general economic woes (albeit of the supernatural variety) in part 2 of the "Circle of Four" storyline in Venom:

THIS WEEK IN PANELS: Venom #13

THIS WEEK IN PANELS is a feature presenting our favorite solicited comic panel(s) each week. No criteria, no rhyme, no reason. Excelsior!

Venom #13
by Rick Remender & Tony Moore
Marvel Comics; 2012

Aside from being one of my surprise favorite issues this past week, part 1 of the Circle of Four arc (reprising The New Fantastic Four from Fantastic Four #'s 544-550) features two laugh-out-loud panels. The first suggests what's on Johnny Blaze's iPod:

While the second shows Raoul Duke, the bumbling, perpetually tweeked narrator of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and his attorney Dr. Gonzo, among the tourists outside Flash Thompson's motel. Buy the ticket, take the ride:

Did you see what God just did us, man?!: Various artists, We Were So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie

THIS WEEK IN PANELS: Justice League Dark #5

THIS WEEK IN PANELS is a feature presenting our favorite solicited comic panel(s) each week. No criteria, no rhyme, no reason. Excelsior!

Justice League Dark #5

by Peter Milligan & Mikel Janin
DC Comics; 2012

[Edited to accommodate THIS WEEK IN PANELS feature. Original post follows:]

Here is a panel from DC's Justice League Dark #5 out last week. I cropped it for a "this week in comic panels" type feature that never came to fruition and I just couldn't pass up posting. You should just be reading Justice League Dark, anyway.

I like to think the fiction readers are book owners and the reality TV folks are eBook readers.

Tunage: A Place to Bury Strangers, Onwards to the Wall [EP]