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The time is soon coming when I will be removing a number of titles from my regular collection. This is due to both a desire on my part to cut back on titles that just aren't keeping my attention and a new factor of needing to cut back on finances. Still, as someone who has been reading comics for twenty-five years, it's not easy to simply stop reading a title. There is that part of me that is afraid that after I stop reading things will get better, or the historical trend that my interest in a title will outlive that of others and I'll have a full run of issues because a title gets cancelled. Yet, I can't avoid what I know I want and now need to do.
However, this doesn't mean I won't be sampling things and as luck would have it I've been able to sample two titles recently that I have found to be interesting. I have read through the first three issues of each title, and for me that is just enough to decide if a title is worth being on my list for regular reading.
The first title is Thor. Now, while I've been a fan of J. Michael Straczynski since the days of Babylon 5 (as have many others) the titles I've enjoyed most that he has written are Rising Stars and Midnight Nation. While I read a fair amount of the issues of The Amazing Spider-Man that he did I never actually purchased the title myself, I only read those issues that friends have. That wasn't due to Straczynski's writing though, it's just due to my lack of interest in Spider-Man (but yes, I have seen and enjoyed the movies). So, when I heard that he would be writing the new Thor title I actually had no interest. Again, this was due to a lack of interest in the character. But when I saw Thor: Rebirth on the shelf last week I figured I'd check it out (three issues for five bucks, it's worth a glance).
While I did enjoy the first three issues of this new relaunch of Thor, I'm afraid there just wasn't enough in it for me to justify going beyond the collected issues. Straczynski's theme of Thor returning and paving the way for the rest of his Asguardian friends to return is nice, but it's been done. By the end of the three issues the thing I cared about most and enjoyed most, was the throw down Thor had with Iron Man. I'm sure it's safe to assume that Straczynski is simply getting a few little things out of the way in preparation for planting seeds that will come to fruition down the line. After all, that is what he does best. For me that is not enough though. To get my interest, and my dollars, every month a title really has to grab my attention. While I do have faith in Straczynski and I do like Olivier Coipel's artistic take on Thor and the title itself, I'm afraid that at best I'll be waiting for the first trade of this current run for Thor, and that will only happen with lots of positive words from friends. Still, if you are a hard core Thor or Straczynski fan you should look at getting the Thor: Rebirth collected issues if you haven't already check out the title.
The other title I've been checking out is Drafted, by Devil's Due Publishing. Now, while I'm leery of any title a company that appears to use the same quote of praise twice on a single page advertisement, I have been VERY impressed with DDP's current World War III storyline in G.I. Joe and that tells me they can find some unique and risky ideas (or takes on them) and get a quality story out of them. So far Drafted has delivered just that.
The basic story isn't all that unique. An alien race appears on Earth and we as a whole planet begin to gravitate together due to our desire to unify against a shared threat. Ok, we've had that before. The aliens cure major ailments for people across the globe. Again, nothing new and a well established sci-fi "divide and conquer" technique. Then things shift a bit. It turns out the aliens are here because a bigger threat is coming towards Earth, and we're going to unite against that threat whether we like it or not. There is where the name of the title comes into play. We, as a planet and humans as a species have been Drafted into a war that we didn't start and have only been told does exists, and will exist. There is no fleeing to Canada, there is no neutrality in Switzerland. You live on Earth, you may be Drafted. The people Drafted so far come from all walks of life and include the President of the United States.
Three issues in and this title is just getting the groundwork of the fight going, the nice thing is that we are still in the dark about how "real" this war is and will be. We really don't know if it was going to involve us no matter what, or if we've simply been chosen as a pool of warm bodies for these aliens (which appear to be of various races) to wage their own war. I'm expecting that we will see battle in the pages of Drafted before we have any understanding of how truthful the claims of the aliens are. For me, this is all enough to create the right formula for a new title I will be getting (goodbye Mighty Avengers . . . you delayed, drawn out bird cage liner). Drafted is written by Mark Powers and drawn by Chris Lie. The two of them have taken the things I've mentioned and throw in some connections to current events to create a great title.
So, there you have a tidbit of information on two relatively new titles that are out. You can easily get into Thor thanks to the collected Thor: Rebirth issue and if my comic store is any indication you should be able to track down the first three issues of Drafted without too much trouble. While I will only be getting one of the titles I do think both have potential and the first three issues will perk up your ears for the approaching storm each will surely have.
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