Mixed Media

[UPDATED]
Everybody's got an opinion, but too much of the time you don't get to hear from the people who's ideas might actually interest you. So when you stumble over some unexpected connection to such opinions, you feel you have no other choice but to indulge. That's how I felt when I discovered that Eddie Argos, the voice behind Art Brut, was reviewing comics. I had no idea that he followed comics (and claims to be, as a matter of fact, "infatuated with DC comics"). He's not the most prolific reviewer I've ever seen, with only two reviews two weeks apart so far, but he's definitely got the enthusiasm.

His reviewing home is at Playback, a pop culture site I've so far been unaware of. He seems to take on a couple of titles at a time. In his first outing, he takes on Millar and Jones's Wanted (which may, actually, have been his impetus far starting reviewing--he claims that he's glad he got the gig "as for a long time I've been looking for an outlet to vent my hatred for the comic book Wanted, and if it hadn't turned up soon I would have started filling a sock with coins and heading down to the offices of Top Cow Publishing") and Booster Gold, which he loves. Review #2 focuses on Angel: After the Fall (which he's too intimidated to buy from his normal Camden shop but has no trouble picking up in Pasadena) and Ed Brubaker's Captain America (which he's surprised he likes, but he prefers the issues after Cap's assassination, since Cap isn't around to get in the way of the more interesting characters).

As it is on stage, Argos's enthusiasm is infectious, and even if you're not interested in the titles he's picked, it's worth the time to go take a browse. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for his next column.

UPDATE--Wow, that was quick. Down in comments, Playback's comics editor, Jason Green, alerts us to Eddie's latest column, in which he takes on the inconsistency of long-term corporate characters, in this case, Batman. He also sings the praises of Robert Kirkman's Invincible. Apparently new pieces from Eddie Argos will appear every other Friday.