Treasures of the Longbox 1: September 3rd

Welcome to Treasures of the Longbox, a poorly-named feature that will be subject to change as soon as something better occurs to me. In this weekly event I'll be looking at the comics I bought and passing wrathy judgement upon them like a crazed and hairy deity.


First up is Image's Chew 4, John Layman and Rob Guillory's current darling of both the indie scene and eBay, as the auction site rakes in listing fees from everyone rushing to sell their copies every month it comes out.

Layman has taken the first issue's brilliantly off-kilter concept (a food-telepathic cop in an America where chicken has been declared illegal due to avian flu), and thrown on an increasingly surreal twist each issue since, culminating in this edition's climax of planet-shattering proportions - although whether this is meant to be a punchline to this instalment's setup, or a development to be touched upon at a later date is something that could've been made clearer. Consistently entertaining though, and well worth a buy.

Marvel's Strange Tales 1 is an anthology book where a horde of independent comic creators are invited to give their take on a plethora of fan favourite characters, and in that sense it's not too dissimilar to DC's current Wednesday Comics. Where they differ however is in Strange Tales' giddy unpredictability that pours from every page - whereas DC's effort offers up some pretty and solid storytelling, it's apparent that the stips involved are serving preconcieved expectations of each character - Superman is heroic, Batman is brooding, and so on. Strange Tales is a comic where we see Spider-Man goad Doctor Octupus into a barfight by inviting him out for a beer and then tossing a pint over him, and Dr. Strange faces his greatest challenge yet in fighting a contagious yawn. It's to Marvel's credit then, that this willingness to be unashamedly goofy in the portrayal of it's cashcows that translates into such an infectiously fun book, and their choice of creators has done them no harm either.

From Paul Pope's stunning cover, which is worth the otherwise steep $4.99 admission alone, and his delightful spotlight on Lockjaw and the Inhumans, through Dash Shaw's Ditkoesque Dr. Strange, the consistently entertaining Michael Kupperman's take on Namor, and even a couple of single page delights from Nicholas Gurewitch's Perry Bible Fellowship, the quality bar is set consistently high. So much so in fact, that a couple of clunkers can be forgiven - James Kolchalka's Hulk tale is woefully unfunny, and Peter Bagge's Incorrigible Hulk appears to be something of a damp squib, given the hype built up around it after close to seven years on the shelves in Marvel's offices. Given that Incorrigible Hulk is one whole comic which has been chopped up and spread across this three-issue mini, perhaps it would be harsh to write it off with one-third gone.

Overall, this is a fantastic concept delivered by an amazingly idiosyncratic collection of talent - those who have contributed to the project more than deserve your further attention, and for that reason alone it's my pick of the week.

Also worth a fleeting mention this week is Fred Van Lente's Marvel Zombies: The Return 1, where he continues the sterling job he started with his work on Marvel Zombies 3 and 4, which is ultimately cleaning up the bitter aftertaste of Robert Kirkman's Marvel Zombies 2. The Return 1 drags the concept of an undead Spidey kicking and screaming back to a point where its possibly even more entertaining than the original Marvel Zombies, which is lofty praise indeed.