Cheap Date: August 1st
I’m sorry about the lack of a Cheap Date last week, but there was seriously nothing to get excited for (well, maybe a few comics but that was it). Plus I am sure most of you are trying to rewatch The Dark Knight Rises. Either way, this week we actually have a few items that you should consider spending your money on. Remember for Cheap Date, we will keep everything to under $30.
Hit the jump for all the lovely details.
Comics – $9
Over at Marvel Comics, the amazing team of Matt Fraction and David Aja reunite for the first time since their landmark run on Immortal Iron Fist. They made that series a must-read for the decade. Even if you did not care for Iron Fist, they made you care. Now they are tackling a fan favorite in Hawkeye #1, this should be good.
Now at DC Comics, the Animal Man and Swamp Thing series are finally crossing over in each book’s issue #12. Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder, the writers for each book respectively, have worked for year to develope the mythology of the Red, the Green, and the Rot. These two books will serve as a prelude and catch new readers up to these fantastic horror series. You need to pick up both books.
Movie – $10
The Total Recall remake, coming to theaters this Friday, looks to surpass the original in almost every way. Most of the trailers have amazed me and I have been excited for this for a while. The movie looks to combine the science fiction of the false memories with the stylization of Blade Runner and I, Robot. August looks to be filled with all the action blockbusters with Total Recall leading the charge.
Games – ???
Why the question marks for the Games section? Well, all three of the major indie bundles are out this week. If you are not familiar with this, then indie bundles are a set of games that are put out as a pay-what-you-want model. Not only is it pay what you want, you can also decide how to allocate the money (to charity, developers, or the people hosting the bundle). Then if you want to pay more the average, you receive some extra goodies.
Humble Bundle is doing something different this time around and showcasing indie music instead of games. MC Frontalot and Jonathan Coultan are the artists that I am excited about. You have eight days left for this one.
Indie Royale have six games for everyone to go crazy for. My personal favorite out of the bunch is Puzzle Agent which goes for five bucks by itself normally. This one is ending soon in three days.
Indie Gala also has a bundle out this week. While I am not entirely thrilled with the lineup they are providing, Indie Gala usually gives out a good bang for your buck. Not to mention they have yet to reveal the extras if you pay more than the average. This one has a whopping eleven days left.
Anyway, I hope you have fun this week and that this Cheap Date helped you enjoy it. See you next week.
Call Yourself A Nerd 
Last week I went to a comics convention. When I reached the DC stand, I bought the Swamp Thing TP, because I had read only good things about it. This week I read it: it’s so wonderful, I can’t believe I hadn’t tried it before. Yes, I had read a lot of enthusiastic reviews, but they never persuaded me to buy it before, because I was thinking “It’s a fantasy comic book, it’s set in a marshland, how could I enjoy something like this? That’s not my cup of tea, it would be a waste of money.” How stupid I was. It’s true, I don’t usually read things like this, but Swamp Thing is a real gem.
Also, I was lucky to read it as a TP. Each issue is so strictly linked to each other that you have to read them in a single session, to understand the plot properly.
While I was doing the line at the DC stand, I saw Before Watchmen: The Minutemen # 1 on the shelf near to the cash desk, so I picked it up and gave it a look. I was so lucky to bump into it: it had an old fashioned style that immediately talked to my heart.
Swamp Thing is definitely one of those books that need be read to truly appreciate how good it is. I don’t think a simple pitch can ever do it justice.
The Before Watchmen books have been quite interesting in their own right. While I may disagree with how they arrived to these books, I can say that the creative teams have done stellar work. You should also check out Darwyn Cooke’s other work, I have been dragged into his Parker series which are based off the crime noir novels.
I’ve read a review of Cooke’s Parker describing it as a hard boiled comic book: every time I read “hard boiled”, I instantly get very interested, so I will surely buy it.
If some other hard boiled comics come to your mind, I’m open to your suggestions.
I probably would have never discovered Cooke’s Parker without your help, so thank you for your reply and recommendation! : )
Anytime you see Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips working together, that is an instant classic hard boiled, noir book. My favorite is Criminal but any of their other stuff is great.
For a more “superhero” book, you should definitely check out Powers by Bendis and Oeming. For an even more traditional comic book, Brubaker’s run on Daredevil had a good feel for noir.
I’ve been reading Daredevil since the very first issue written by Miller, and since then the series has always kept the “pulpy noir feel” that makes me love Matt Murdock so much. Yes, Daredevil had some bad periods (Chichester’s run, for example), but in the last years it has always been a very nice read. I agree that (Bendis and) Brubaker took the “pulpy noir feel” to the extreme level.
I bought the first TP of Criminals years ago, but I never found the time to read it, so I can’t say anything about it. Now that you are recommending it, I may give it a try when I find the time. Thank you again! : )