Quarter Bin 76 "Automatic Kafka, and other stuff"

A lot of comics bought from an actual quarter bin.  Don't say it never happens...

Automatic Kafka #2 (WildStorm)
From October 2002.
Joe Casey was one of the big names in comic at that time, but then he split off with a couple of his fellow luminaries to form Man of Action, which produced hit concepts like Ben 10 and Big Hero 6.  But before he left, he left a splash, with stuff like Automatic Kafka.  Chances are if he hadn't left, Kafka would have a lasting memory.  Like a lot of Casey and WildStorm's efforts from that time, it was a post-millennial superhero deconstruction project, although today it looks like a precursor to Matt Kindt's MIND MGMT, which to my mind is a very good thing.  So it was certainly a pleasure to read some of it, and I certainly wouldn't mind reading more.  It was certainly the most pleasant discovery of this particular lot, although there was plenty of other good stuff, such as:

Batman: Futures End #1 (DC)
From November 2014.
The Futures End specials were such a rich creative opportunity, and I love checking out what the more adventurous ones attempted.  This one wasn't an attempt, it was Scott Snyder, with Ray Fawkes scripting, revisiting his fascinating vision of the future Batman, so obsessed with his mission that he sets up a series of clones who will continue it indefinitely.  It was easily Snyder's richest Batman concept, and one seen otherwise only sparingly, from a short story in the pages of the anniversary Detective Comics #27.  I didn't read this special when it was originally released, because I didn't imagine that Snyder would revisit the concept, and fan reactions at the time didn't catch on to the significance of the issue, but I eventually read it digitally, and so now I've got a physical copy as well.  This is the origin of the clone initiative, an older Batman who defies the odds and breaks into Lex Luthor's secret lab to get what he needs for it.  I'd love if Snyder eventually returned again to the concept, but a small collection of these two stories wouldn't be out of order, either, so fans know they exist...

Bone Holiday Special (Hero)
From 1993.
This was something of an unbelievable find, a Hero magazine special from the early days of Jeff Smith's Bone.  In it is an exclusive story, plus an interview (Smith comes off as less than impressive, alas), and reprints of early strips predating Bone, back when it was called Thorn.  Bone is an endlessly charming memory, one of my all-time favorite comics, and Smith has proven to be an enduring talent as well, with RASL and Tuki (an ongoing project) also under his belt by this point.

Cerebus #201 (Aardvark-Vanaheim)
From December 1995.
Dave Sim is such a unique character in comics lore.  He was a virtual god of the indy press at his prime, but since Cerebus ended fans have tended to reflect more on his alleged shortcomings than on what he accomplished.  This issue begins the "Guys" arc, and seems to feature parodies of George Harrison and Ringo Starr (and virtually incomprehensible dialogue to match their accents).  I have no idea how representative it is of Cerebus as a whole, but it was certainly unique reading.  Sim includes an origin of Cerebus (and the name of its publisher, Aardvark-Vanaheim) in an essay, so that was pretty lucky for a guy who's not usually lucky enough to find an issue...

Chosen #2 (Dark Horse)
One of Mark Millar's formative projects (he's since retitled it American Jesus, and plans on further volumes) features a boy who may or may not be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.  It's actually pretty interesting.

Empire #3 (DC)
From November 2003.
Mark Waid was my favorite '90s comic book writer.  Eventually, he started to try and figure out how he was going to follow up all the stuff he'd accomplished in that decade, and everything he's done since has been a continuation of that.  Empire was his first shot at what the kind of superhero storytelling he later developed in his Irredeemable comics.  The concept was, What if the bad guy wins?  This issue features the superhero who the villain only wants the world to think died.  I don't know, maybe my lackluster opinion of Waid in the last few decades colors my impression of Empire, but it's hard to see now why fans were so wild about it.  But they've consistently been wild about a lot of minor work from Waid.  I should know.  I knew his work when it was great...

Green Lantern: Mosaic #6 (DC)
From November 1992.
1992 was from the era I last saw bargain packs all over the place, and how I first discovered Green Lantern: Mosaic.  This was, as I know understand it, the Vertigo version of Green Lantern.  Gerard Jones ruled the whole Green Lantern landscape at that time, and it was surprisingly expansive landscape at that time.  Mosaic was the big gamble.  I guess I couldn't really appreciate how big a gamble it was until I read its letters column.  The first issue of the series was the first issue I read, and for decades remains the only issue.  But I loved that issue.  Eventually, I caught another issue, and then even the arc from Green Lantern where it originated.  Turns out, fans really didn't know what to make of it, and Jones didn't go out of his way to make it any easier.  I mean, this was a Vertigo title.  And it seriously needs to be rediscovered.  It's pretty much the Green Lantern version of Grant Morrison's Animal Man.  And this is how you make John Stewart relevant.

Haven: The Broken City #9 (DC)
From October 2002.
A couple of upstart creators were given a shot at creating something new at DC.  This was a time of pretty wild experimentation at DC, and so it was as good a time to let upstart creators try their thing as any.  The result is better than its complete lack of impact indicates.  I caught the first issue from the same quarter bin a little while back, so it only seemed appropriate that I caught the last issue, too.  Bookending the series were two specials featuring the Justice League.  I don't really know what happened, why the upstarts vanished and the whole thing forgotten.  But it didn't really deserve that fate.

Hawkeye #3 (Marvel)
From December 2012.
But then again, the much better established Matt Fraction couldn't help this series make a bigger impact...

Infinite Vacation #5 (Image)
Back when I thought I was going to continue to be a big fan of Nick Spencer, I caught the first issue of this one, and so reading the last one seemed like it would finally be appropriate.  In hindsight Infinite Vacation may be remembered, if anything, for helping launch Image's continuing obsession with really bold coloring.  This is the era of colorists, folks.

Infinity Man and the Forever People: Futures End #1 (DC)
From November 2014.
This Futures End special is pretty good, too, and is the first time I actually read this New Gods series.  I think its only shortcoming is that it...really doesn't seem all that relevant a New Gods concept.  But it's still a good read!

Justice League Europe #36 (DC)
From March 1992.
Gerard Jones again, this time helping smooth the transition from the Giffen/DeMatteis era to the Jurgens era, as he dismantles the old Bwa-Ha-Ha League (a lot of the members in this issue join Jurgens' Justice League America).

The Mice Templar: Volume IV - Legend #3 (Image)
From June 2013.
I was such a fan of Mice Templar, but I kind of got...tired of it after a while.  The black and white art doesn't help, because it's hard to distinguish characters, especially since they're all rodents.  But it was such an ambitious concept, and eventually ran for, I think, forty-two issues across five mini-series.  This is actually a pretty good issue, and the new essay writer explains the history of anthropomorphic storytelling, which is kind of handy.  So it was a good random issue to help revisit the concept.  Plus, the Salmon of Knowledge! 

Moon Knight #16 (Marvel)
From August 2015.
Predictably, Cullen Bunn features the least imaginative version of Marvel's project to make Moon Knight its second most interesting character (actual storytelling results may vary), after Deadpool.  Although I hear Jeff Lemire is doing some truly killer work with the concept at the moment...

Promethea #22 (ABC)
From November 2002.
Alan Moore is the comics genius (so proclaimed by at least one whole generation of fans) I consider more lackluster than not.  Promethea was his project with future superstar J.H. Williams III, who later collaborated with Neil Gaiman on a new Sandman.  Speaking of which, this issue reads like a lackluster, Alan Moore version of Sandman.  And speaking of which...

Sandman #63 (Vertigo)
I've been trying to catch up with Gaiman's seminal comics saga for a while (as evidenced by my annotations of The Annotated Sandman, a project that will continue at some point).  This issue is from late in the series and, more specifically, "The Kindly Ones."  It is not, however, particularly an issue to hold against counterfeit Alan Moore Sandman.  It's a pretty busy issue, and certainly better than Moore's effort, but not an easy issue to laud among the greater Gaiman material available...

Smax #3 (ABC)
From December 2003.
"ABC," by the way, stands for "America's Best Comics."  Which these really aren't.  They were pretty popular at the time, and Alan Moore's last real stab at popular work (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen came from this era), and the funny thing is, they were all variations on stuff he originally did for Rob Liefeld.  It makes sense somehow.  Anyway, if Moore weren't so completely obsessed with sex, he might do better work.  That's my theory, anyway...

Superman/Wonder Woman Annual #2 (DC)
From February 2016.
This is pretty much how the romance ends.  It's kind of sad.

The New Titans #66 (DC)
From May 1990.
The cover of this later issue from the seminal Wolfman/Perez collaboration features Raven...not making out with Dick Grayson.  It only looks that way.  Raven's meddling in Dick's love life would come a little later in Wolfman's run (a development that's routinely overlooked by fans, by the way).  It's worth noting that George Perez is not on art duties this issue, but rather co-scripting (the beginning, perhaps, of his writing career).  The art, rather, comes from the formative pen of Tom Grummett, whose style is somewhat evident in this early work.  If memory serves me right, he's also drawing when Wolfman has Raven crash Dick's would-be nuptials with Starfire...

The Legend of Will Power #1, 2 (Primal Paper)
From March, August 2011.
A local comics creator produced these comics (it's always worth sampling the native talent, which includes Drew Moss, who was in the store sketching once, and complaining about his publisher complaining about him...).  This isn't Moss, however, but Vince White, and the reason I picked up these issues was because I had the suspicion there might be some Green Lantern in these pages.  But the utter lack of connection between the superhero and his name (which is actually his real name) shows the disconnect between White's ambitions and his actual talent.  He's a better artist.  He needed a co-writer.  Live and learn?