I was so eagerly awaiting this series that I purposely didn't read it (which was tough!) until I had time today to sit down with a cool beverage and a quiet house, and open the book up to its full size and really appreciate what the series had to offer me.
First off: the art: its just gorgeous at this size, and it took me right back to those thrilling days of yore when as a kid I would read my treasury comics and simply be overwhelmed at the size of the pages.
I don't want to get bogged down in specific critiques of each strip, because as the format dictates, we're just getting started. But there were a few that jumped right off the page at me, and have the feeling of an insta-classic:
--Gibbons and Ryan Sook's Kamandi, which feels like a modern Prince Valiant (and the Kirby credit box is a wonderful touch--imagine what the King himself might have done in a series like this!)
--Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck's Deadman, which has a great pulpy feel, and works as a great contrast to the other more sci-fi-y strips
--Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred's Metamorpho, which already feels like it should accompanied by a soundtrack called Greatest Groovy Hits of the 60s
--Paul Pope's Strange Adventures, which, after just one page, makes me want DC to start a regular Adam Strange book and hand it over to Pope
--Dan Didio, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, and Kevin Nowlan's Metal Men, which feels like those great comics I grew up with in the 70s
--Karl Kerschl and Brendan Fletcher's Flash Comics, which is a wonderful up-ending of the format--its two, two, two strips in one! (I wonder if the Allen's house number is 3G?)
--and Kyle Baker's Hawkman, which already feels like its shaping up to be one The Great Hawkman Stories
All in all, Wednesday Comics was everything I thought it was going to be--solid stories, fantastic art, all wrapped up in an exciting package. And the best part is, we only have to wait a week for the next issue!
Since there's never been an ongoing, over-sized comics series running during the existence of Treasury Comics.com, I never had to come up with some format to cover said series as it rolls along.
But now that we have one (thanks, Mark Chiarello!), I'm going to be posting a mini-review of each new issue the Sunday after it comes out. And when we get to the end, and all 12 issues are published, I'll add a permanent Wednesday Comics page to the site, where they can take their place alongside the classic DC treasuries we all know and love!
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