Well, today’s tax day. I hope you folks got your forms filed on time, and that you declared all the income you made rocking the mic and selling hand-labeled cassettes on Telegraph. Hopefully you have a few bucks left over to blow on some funny books. Although my last day at the comic shop has come and gone, the boss has graciously decided to let me use my employee discount for the foreseeable future, and I couldn’t be happier. What a great shop. If you’re in the Huntington Beach area, why not stop on in to Comics Unlimited at 16344 Beach Boulevard? You’ll be glad you did. At any rate, the name of the game here is comics, so let’s jump into the pool, shall we? Cannonball!!! So, comics. Regular readers of this post may remember that I really didn’t get shit last week. Unusual, but true. I ended up coming home with only one book, Terry Moore’s Echo (#2, to be exact). I really like this one, though. Well written, beautifully drawn in black and white, this series promises to get real good down the road. Mister Moore’s last book ran for 15 years, so cop this comic and get in on the ground floor.

Speaking of Moores (the last name, not, like, Othello…that’s spelled differently), I wonder how my good friend MF Shalem is coming along in his quest to create his own Alan Moore library (a worthy effort, to be sure). Just let me know if you want my two cents on that subject, Sha. I’m always happy to help. And by the way, Shalem, I’m told that your song on my album is listed on iTunes as “MF Shalom’s Talk About It Mix”…I’ll have to look into that. Tomorrow brings with it a slew of new books, but only a few will have the pleasure of joining me back at the Bum Shelter.

First up, we have Avengers: The Initiative #11. I liked this story from the start…basic training camp for new heroes is a cool concept, and the rowdy teens they got together for the first class had kind of a Runaways vibe going on (not quite as good, but still). This issue caps off the KIA arc that began a few issues back, and while I’m interested to see where they go from here, I may drop this one from the list in the near future if it doesn’t break some new ground.

Captain Marvel #5 finishes up the Return of Mar-Vell arc and hopefully explains why he’s back in the first place. Rest assured, it’s got everything to do with the ongoing Secret Invasion. I crossed this book off my pull list a while back, but I’ve still ended up buying every issue. Not because it’s amazing, but because it was all leading up to this…I’m not sure what “this” is yet, but here’s hoping it’s pretty Skrull-tastic.

Finally, Captain America #37 continues the ongoing Death of Captain America saga, as the Winter Soldier settles in to the role of the new Cap and the nefarious Red Skull prepares to further unsettle the world with sleeper cells, mind control, and a subprime mortgage crisis. Always entertaining stuff.

So that’s it for the pull list this week. In other news, anyone who likes great storytelling full of heart-stopping twists and hairpin turns needs to check out the collected editions of The Walking Dead from Robert Kirkman and Image Comics. Ostensibly a horror book (and it’s pretty grim and gruesome at times), this fan-favorite tells the tale of a scrappy band of survivors struggling to piece their lives back together in the wake of a zombie holocaust. The basic premise is this…at the end of all those zombie movies, when zombies have taken over the world and the hero narrowly escapes to limp off into the sunset, what then? Where does he go? How will he live? What does living even mean when you spend every day running for your life? While zombies are a constant threat on the perimeter of this book, it’s really all about the relationships between the desperate survivors and their struggle to maintain the last vestiges of civilization. Kind of like Lord of the Flies, but with zombies. And a million times more grisly. Every issue ends with a cliffhanger, which keeps fans of this title ravenous for more. Now available in deluxe hardcovers, this book is well worth checking out, and not just for horror buffs (although be ready for some deeply disturbing stuff, kids). Buy it now and buckle in for a bumpy ride.

I guess that’s all for now. Why not drop me a line a tell me what you’re reading? And I’ll tell you if it sucks. It probably does. But maybe it doesn’t. And if you’re not reading anything, go buy a brain, you idiot. People who don’t read scare the shit out of me.

‘Til next time…

Bagged and boarded,

Grip