Top Comic Books for the Week of July 30, 2014

Top Comic Books for the Week of July 30, 2014

The best of my pull list by Scott Bachmann

I’ve put to the top the comics that made my week. That doesn’t mean the others were bad, just that these stood out. Note: I get my comics from mail order by a week delay, and by ComiXology, so some titles may be older, especially indy books.

hawkeye 19Hawkeye #19: Story Mat Fraction, Art David Aja, Colors Matt Hollingsworth, Letters Chris Eliopoulos

Despite a lack of Kate Bishop, this is of course another brilliant comic in a series of brilliant and offbeat comics. As we start out, Hawkeye is deaf from a fight in the last issue, and so the comic explores the use of sign language and visual cues and empty word balloons to convey that deafness.

While not visually as cool as Daredevil’s radar blindness, the comic is stylish and clever in its way of telling a story about a deaf hero. The comic takes a little work to figure out, but it’s worth the effort. It’s not as fun as the infamous Pizza Dog issue, but it adds some history to Clint and his brother Barney. It’s also a rallying point which looks to be heading to the end of the series. A shame; I could follow this series forever.

anne bonnie 1
Anne Bonnie #1: All art by Tim Yates, Story by Tim Yates & Lelan Estes

In case you missed it, ComiXology gave out 100 indy books during SDCC for $9.99. (Mine wasn’t in the list, wah…) And I’m combing through them for hidden gems.

The first is Anne Bonnie. It’s magic and pirates in the vein of The Legend of Korra and the better elements of Pirates of the Caribbean. The heroine is a young woman held hostage for years, who steals a pirate ghost ship and escapes. The art is top notch, especially the ocean scenes. The colors are equally perfect. The story is well paced and fun and suitable for younger readers.

deluge 1Deluge #1 Story by J. D. Oliva, Art & Letters by Richard P. Clark.

The next in the indy bucket is a story that’s set in Katrina as racism and crooked cops clash while biblical floods try to wash it all away. No magical realism here, this is a straight up crime story done well. The point of view character is a good cop letting bad things happen around her, and bad guys turn out to be not so bad. Lots of moral gray here and that matches the grey color tones of the book.

feather 1Feather #1: All by Steve Uy

Feather is an apocalyptic anime set in a world after its war with dragons brought it down. Instead of being dark and depressing, it’s light and fun. The main character is a girl with dragon wings who thinks she is a dragon, or rather will grow into one. Most of the sub plot is teasing out the magical logic of this world without saying if she is telling the truth, or if she’s delusional. The main story is about a boy and his brother, surviving alone in the wastes. They are on the side of humans and the boy dreams of being a dragon slayer, but his new best friend is a girl who might be a dragon.

It’s anime logic, and it works well. It’s a well done character piece with an interesting world. The art is unique. Its digital backgrounds evoke wonder like the old game Myst, while the characters have an anime style that is detailed and well shadowed. A little more action and plot would be welcome, but it’s fine to enjoy the lush world while we wit for the drama to kick in, instead of just being foreshadowed.

Scott is a contributing writer for Drunk on Comics. You can follow him on Twitter at @ScottABachmann, or at Scottcomics.com.

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