Recent comics reads

My local library system has a surprisingly robust digital comics selection. There are comics on there that I've never heard of and it's pretty great. There's a decent selection of the comics you are familiar with from Marvel and DC, but the real treasure is all the smaller comic publishers. So I read a bunch. It's an easy thing to pull up and read on the Kindle and they're much shorter than reading a novel. Here are thoughts on some of them from recently.

East of West - I'd heard a lot of good things. I like the art. I like the basic premise. I very quickly (2 tpbs) got tired of all the characters being assholes. Watching assholes try to fuck each other over as most of them try to bring about the apocalypse is not a fun time. Hell, the idea of people who are trying to bring about the apocalypse trying to get one over on each other kind of ruins it for me anyway. 

Secret: Don't Get Caught - I came across this while looking for other comics from the East of West author, hoping that I might find one that suited me better. And I enjoyed this one more, but have a hard time really recommending it anyway. It's kind of a spy/espionage thriller. And it's competently written and solid that way. The art was something of an issue, not because it was bad, but because there was a bit of a "characters look too similar" issue that made it a bit hard to follow early on. Still, it was only 7 issues (1 tpb) and self contained *and* free. 

Nailbiter - The real gem of the comics I've been reading recently. Haven't finished this yet. About halfway through, give or take. The premise is that there's this town in Oregon which is the birthplace to 16 of the worst serial killers in history. An Army investigator and the town sheriff investigate *why* with the help of one of the serial killers who somehow got found not-guilty at trial. It's well written and interesting. Pretty grotesque (as you might expect) but occasionally pretty funny. I'm looking forward to see it to the end. 

The Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin - It's... okay. If you like The Dresden Files, it'll scratch the itch for a new story (set pretty early on in the series). If you aren't familiar with the series, it's actually not an awful introduction. But I felt as a Dresden fan that Welcome to the Jungle was a better original comic. 

Resident Alien - I picked it up because I saw the commercials for the new TV show version. I can tell you *just* from seeing the commercials that the TV show and comic are pretty different outside the original premise. But without passing judgement on the TV version, the comic is excellent. Harry is an alien stuck on Earth and hiding out in a small town in the Pacific Northwest, before he gets involved in the town's affairs (like murder and the like) when they need a doctor. It's really enjoyable. Engaging and frequently funny. 

Sledgehammer '44 - A comic set in the Hellboy universe about an armored suit powered by mysterious energy fighting Nazis (and their own weird shit) in WW2. It's self-contained by and large, don't need to know more about the Hellboy universe. It's a fun action/horror thing. 

Upcoming comics I'm going to read: Witchfinder by Mike Mignola. I don't think it's directly connected to Hellboy (but it might be) but I'm a sucker for Mignola works. So I'm looking forward to it. After that and Nailbiter, I dunno. I have a lot of things saved for later on the library app. Could do Mass Effect comics, Fall of Cthulhu, Valerian, etc. Just have to find out later.