This week is Morrison-tastic

And I'm not even planning on picking up Batman.

In the other-sites department, I've got a review of The Boy Who Made Silence #3 up at Comics Bulletin. Man, that's a weird, crazy, fascinating comic.

And in the non-comics department, I wanted to mention the movie I watched yesterday, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. It came out a couple years ago, and it's directed by Tom Tykwer, who also did Run, Lola, Run. It got pretty poor reviews (56% on Rotten Tomatoes), which I suspect all result from the super-crazy ending. Up until that ending, it's a fairly normal, if pretty stylish, serial killer story, about a guy in the 18th century with an incredible sense of smell who starts killing pretty girls in order to capture their scent and create the greatest perfume in the world. Sure, that's fine enough, but the ending is where it goes nuts, in a way that I found hilarious and awesome, but probably pissed off most people. Here's what happens (this means spoilers if you want to see it, so if it sounds like you might like it, skip the rest of this paragraph): Mr. Perfume gets captured right after completing his perfume, and he's going to get publicly executed. But he puts on his perfume beforehand, and when he goes up in front of everybody, it has a profound effect on them, with them all thinking he's an angel or some sort of prophet. Instead of calling for his head, they all scream at him worshipfully, and then everybody starts making out with each other. The scene turns into a big, naked orgy, with hundreds of people stripping down and turning into a mass of writhing flesh. It's totally insane; I imagine most people wouldn't be able to make the leap required to accept this, but I thought it was so crazy it worked. There's also a funny final scene, but at this point, you can do whatever you want, you're in crazy-land. So, yeah, good times. Check it out if it sounds like your kind of thing.

Okay, on to the main business:

New comics this week (THURSDAY, 5/29/08):

All Star Superman #11

I wasn't expecting this to show up this week, but I'll take it. Man, the last issue was one of the best superhero comics I've ever ready, and I have no idea what Grant Morrison will come up with here to finish the cliffhanger he left with. Damn, this is good comics.

Dan Dare #6

This seems kind of late, doesn't it? I'll have to try to recall what was going on, but I'm pretty sure I was enjoying it. Garth Ennis writing a sci-fi version of his style of stolid British war comics. Good times.

Firebreather Ongoing #1

I'm not familiar with the original miniseries this is a sequel to, but it's by Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn, both of whom I like, so it might be worth a look. It's about the adventures of a guy whose father is a giant monster, I guess. Sounds like fun.

Final Crisis #1

Here's the other Morrison book of the week. I was thinking I would try to avoid big crossover events like this, but I don't think I can resist Morrison playing with the large-scale, cosmic, Kirby-based elements of the DC Universe. God, I hope it doesn't suck.

Giant Sized Astonishing X-Men #1

Whoa, and here's this book finally showing up. It's been a long ride, but the finale of the Joss Whedon/John Cassaday run on the book is finally showing up. It's had its ups and downs, but it's been pretty good for the last couple arcs, so hopefully it will end well, with a big slam-bang finish. Don't let me down, boys!

Immortal Iron Fist #15

I haven't been following this comic (I switched to waiting for the trade after the first arc, which I probably shouldn't have done), but I believe this is the final issue of the Brubaker/Fraction run. In fact, it's written solely by Matt Fraction, and it's another one of those one-shot stories about an Iron Fist of the past. I don't know what will end up collected, so I might have to get this by itself at some point. And then I can ignore the book for the foreseeable future, since it's being done by creators I don't care about.

Jimmy Zhingchak One-Shot Special

I'm usually not that interested by Virgin's India-based comics, but this one looks goofy enough to be worth a look. It's an adventure set in the disco-Bollywood world of the 80s, and it could be fun. Or it could suck. We'll see.

Marvel 1985 #1

Mark Millar and Tommy Lee Edwards continue Millar's odd spate of recent stories, with a story about Marvel villains invading the "real world" in the titular year. I read a review PDF, so I should have something up about it on Comics Bulletin tomorrow, I think. It's interesting.

Northlanders #6

I thought the recent flashback issue of this series was pretty good, but it will be good to get back to the "present" and see the repercussions of what happened at the end of #4. That was pretty crazy. Bring on the violence!

Speak of the Devil #6

Gilbert Hernandez's miniseries finally ends, so hopefully that means it will be collected soon so I can read it. I've heard it's good.

Hellboy Vol. 8 Darkness Calls

Here's the collection of the latest Hellboy series, which I purchased in single issues for some reason. It's pretty darn good, with huge fight scenes and awesomely-detailed art by Duncan Fegredo. I had trouble following it, but that's just because I haven't read all of the various Hellboy stories. Someday I'll get caught up, and then maybe I'll be able to reread this and fully understand it.

Immortal Iron Fist HC Vol. 2

Here's the hardcover version of the recently-ended Iron Fist story. I'll save my money and wait for the paperback version in a couple months, but I do really want to read it. My only question is if it will contain everything that came out after I stopped getting the monthly book. I think it contains issues 7-14 and an annual, but what about the Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death one-shot? And #15, which comes out this week? I might need to get those separately. Dammit, Marvel, you can't make it easy for me, can you?

Jack Kirbys OMAC One Man Army Corps HC

Ooh, this should be cool. A collection of the sadly-truncated series about "the world that's coming!" I have most of the individual issues of this series, and it's awesome. Big, crazy action in Kirby's kick-ass manner. Check it out if you haven't read it before, and see the cool ideas that DC keeps trying to bring back in especially lame forms.

Johnny Boo HC Vol. 1

James Kochalka's new kids' comic, about a cute little ghost. Probably fun, but I would prefer to read more Superfuckers. Come on Kochalka, cater to me instead of the (probably much more lucrative) kids' market!

Judenhass GN

The always-controversial Dave Sim's "secret project #1", which will hopefully be able to avoid any feminism-based arguments and just focus on the subject matter, the Holocaust. The samples I've seen look incredible, and no matter what you think of his personal views, Sim is a genius artist, so I expect this will be a pretty good comic. Don't let me down, Sim!

Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus

$25 for a huge collection of Fred Hembeck's cartoony versions of popular comics. Sure to be cute and fun.

Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 HC

A new Thomas Ott book, containing what will surely be some creepy and offputting stories. I dug his Cinema Panopticum, so I'll definitely try to get my hands on this one.

Skyscrapers Of The Midwest HC

This is one of those books that I've heard great things about, but haven't read. Maybe now I'll get a chance with this collected version.

Starman Omnibus HC Vol. 1

And finally, here's a series that I always hear is really good, but I never read when it was out originally. I don't think I'll drop the $50 for it, but it is there to check out someday, or maybe read from the library or something.
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And that's it for the week. Kind of slow, but what's showing up is a big deal, so it should be exciting. And maybe I'll get around to reviewing something else at some point. Stick around and find out.