You know what’s annoying? Not getting all the news for one publisher in one place outside of huge press releases on that publishers site. What I’ve done here for you, and really this is for your benefit, is take all of that information and condense it down onto one post that contains everything that IDW has going on right now. Fun right? Let’s begin.
New York is the center of the comic book industry, and the heart of America’s theater scene too. It shouldn’t be surprising that an underground comic book like Action Philosophers by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey has been adapted into an off-off-Broadway show. It is performing this week at the Brick Theater’s Comic Book Theater Festival in Brooklyn. Action Philosophers makes learning fun by putting a group of six famous philosophers together onstage to recount their origin stories, comic book style! While it might sound like something for kids, this is intelligent humor for grown-ups, and even your smartypants friend who yammers about philosophy all the time just might learn something too.
Remember when you were a kid, playing superheroes and acting out stories you saw in comic books or cartoons. Well, there’s a new performance art piece called Batz, which is just like that, except by and for grown-ups. In it a narrator reads aloud from issues of classic Batman comics from the 30’s and 40’s while a company of actors act out the adventures of Gotham City’s winged hero, never failing to point out dated language, implausible plotlines, and unintended sexual themes.
Where to begin with this issue? If you thought that Cole Haddon was going to save it all for the fourth issue then be ready for the best disappointment of your life. This issue just keeps going and reveals more and more to the point where you don’t know when it’s going to stop. I will say that this issue is so good that the bar is set pretty high for the fourth issue, which means this one could end up being the best of the series.
A new Magdalena is out this week and this time is not only a new issue. Magdalena, issue seven, is the start of a new story arc by the creative team of Ron Marz and Keu Cha. It is really a great jumping on point for new readers. Although the story is continuity-driven, you don’t need to pick up the last few issues to know what the gist of the story is.
The action is this book is so crazy it’ll have you laughing out loud as people’s head explode and Leon the Professional type scenes play out before your eyes. This book really kicks the Hit List Agenda into high gear as a new executive assistant is introduced… Orchid!
After the zero issue I was pretty interested in where this series was going and looking forward to this issue to answering that question. Unfortunately it kind of rehashes the same formula as the last issue, but does manage to be entertaining with the action even if the story kind of hangs out. Even though this is Iris’ book the story is still focused on Diane Coverdale and her executive assistant Acteia. The first few pages give a deeper look at Diane and how she came to be in charge of her late husband’s fortune 500 business.
