That's fine, but if the creators are using that argument to justify an erratic release schedule then they don't get to winge about how important it is for us to pick up the floppies.

Both the artist and the editor had their fathers die during the delays.  I'd say that's a pretty good excuse.  Not that they need one. 

I reread the initial issues of Future Quest I had read and then read the rest of the series I hadn't read. Fantastic series. All the fun of my old favorite Saturday morning cartoons but all the sweeping excitement of a good adventure/sci-fi story for all ages, masterfully put together by Jeff Parker and his army of artists.

Now I need to catch up on the 2 issues of Future Quest Presents that I have.

-M

So after seeing Jody Housler's name come up in the SyFy Wire list of best writers of the last 25 years I was curious. I hadn't read anything by her. Our local library didn't have anything by her, but it does offer the Hoopla service, and I had seen good things about Mother Panic, her book in the DC Young Animals line, so I signed up for Hoopla via the library and "borrowed" a digital copy to check out of the first volume of the trade. It was quite good. It collects the first 2 3-part stories (i.e the first 6 issues) with Tommy Lee Edwards, an artist I quite like, doing the first arc and most of the initial designs for the series. Shawn Crystal, who I was unfamiliar with, did the art for the second arc. His work is looser and cleaner than Edwards gritty style, and a little more towards the cartoony end of abstraction than Edwards (whose style is also abstract-hey can you tell I've been rereading McCloud again-but in a different way than Crystal's art). Crystal's style reminds me in some ways of Sean McManus's stuff, not in look per se but in tone and style.

Mother Panic is essentially another vigilante in Gotham, but as Gerard Way (curator of the Young Animal line) says in the afterword to the volume, the genesis of the idea came from exploring the question of what would happen if someone tried to create the secret identity facade of the rich celubutante of today's fake reality social media fueled entertainment as a cover for vigilante activities, and it is an interesting exploration well-executed in the initial stories.

There is also a very good back up series called Gotham Radio written by Jim Kreuger with art by Phil Hester and Andre Parks centered around a late night radio talk show in Gotham whose host is murdered on-air while giving thanks to the Batman for protecting the city and its aftermath.

I still haven't read enough of Houser to determine if I think she should be on that 25 best list, but I did dig this series and her voice on it shows a lot of promise for more good stuff to come. I'll have to check out further volumes as they become available, and I may have to check out some more of the Young Animal stuff via Hoopla.

-M

I've now read Mother Panic and Bug: The Adventures of forager and enjoyed both, so I am inclined to try Doom Patrol, CaveCasron and Shade, all of which are available from Hoopla, and I get to borrow 10 a month from the service for free, so I'll probably give them a try in between coats of paint over the next few days.

-M

So between spackling walls and sanding bookcases today, I read through the first volume of Gerard Way's Doom Patrol from the DC Young Animals line via Hoopla. It managed to capture some of the fun I don't know what the f**k is going on vibe of Morrison's Doom Patrol but had its own voice and story, so I enjoyed it quite a bit. I wasn't familiar with Nick Derrington, but I am quite digging his art too.

So far, Young Animals is 3 for 3 with me, with a few more to give a go to.

-M