Shooflypie

Last weekend I had a hard time deciding which of the too-many books in my TBR pile I wanted to start, so I ended up reading some single issues and finishing a trade instead. After that, I made a decision and managed to read a book during a busy week. Oh, and the new issue of Astro City came out. Some thoughts... Astro City: Confession - I love what Kurt Busiek does with this six-part storyline. It's the story of Brian, who moves to Astro City after the death of his father and sets about getting involved in the world of super-heroes. He manages to get noticed and becomes Altar Boy, the sidekick of The Confessor. That's the basic plot and it sounds like a typical type of super-hero comic. It's not. Sure, we are given some scenes of The Confessor training Brian but those scenes are marginally about the nuts and bolts of fighting crime with no powers and a cape. Brian is also learning how to be a detective and about that world of super-heroes he is joining. This story deals...

My pop culture consumption has slowed considerably over the past few weeks, what with school in full swing and swimming lessons running once again plus football games (my son is in the marching band this year) and the Popcorn Festival. Obviously, I haven't been talking about what I've managed to consume so I thought I'd do some quick hits here... FOUR SIXTHS I finally bought a copy of the 4th volume of Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four run, which is titled "Three" because one of the FF dies within. Now this is a story I've known the outcome of for quite a while but that didn't change how much I enjoyed these issues. Hickman's character work is strong, not just with the FF but others who are pulled into the story, from the arrogance and confident flirting of Namor to the enigmatic Galactus and the fearful but dangerous Doom. The issue where Ben Grimm takes the potion the kids of the Future Foundation created to help him return to human form was...