Flippin’ through ‘Previews’ – April 2017

You know, it’s time for us to travel through the depths of Previews, this time #343, so we can see what treasures we can find behind that truly depressing cover! Let’s get to it!

Regardez! I am in blue, because it is the warmest color, while Travis is like Vin Diesel trapped on a hostile planet. Join us!

That’s so poetic, man!

Dark Horse:

I’m a little tired of all the H.P. Lovecraft riffs, but I do trust Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer, so Calla Cthulhu, about a teenage girl who’s a descendent of the Great Old Ones, might be worth a try on page 55.  Plus, it’s 10 bucks for 240 pages!

Yeah, that’s a tough one to decide on. To the thinkatorium!

On page 58, Dark Horse collects four horror anthologies into The Dark Horse Book of Horror (I know, how original!), featuring work by Mike Mignola, Gary Gianni, Evan Dorkin, Jill Thompson, Sean Phillips, Kurt Busiek, Kelley Jones, AND MORE!!!! I’ve probably read some of this, but this is only 20 dollars, so I’ll be getting this!

I’m looking up the books that it says it includes.  Looks like some good stuff here.  A couple of them are ones that I saw on a Bleeding Cool post about DH “semi-liquidating” books, so this new book explains that, anyway.  Also last month’s resolicits and the stuff on pages 76-78 seem to show that DH is trying to rid themselves of some of their back stock.  Hope it’s just early spring cleaning and not some sort of money flow issue or something.

But back to this one, sounds like a good deal, as well as giving us the first Beasts of Burden story.  Cool.

Dead Inside looked pretty cool in single issues, so I’ll probably get the trade on page 61. John Arcudi is an interesting writer, and this is five issues for 15 dollars, so once again Dark Horse fools around with pricing to make waiting for the trade more economical. Next time getting it in single issues might be better!

I like when something like that works out for me, because I was waiting on the trade for this, as I too like Arcudi.  Booyah!  Yeah, though, if they do a second volume, it’ll probably be better to get singles (if they offer it in singles, even), because the sales on the singles probably won’t be as good to support having the trade be a lower price than the singles.  So confusing to figure out (or to even figure out what I typed!)!  And we’re just the consumers!  Imagine having to figure all this out because it’s your job and you have to weigh all the different factors into the pricing!

Grendel Tales gets an omnibus on page 62. These aren’t quite as good as Wagner’s original series, but there is a lot of good talent working on these. “Four Devils, One Hell” is the first and best story, but the others are definitely worth a look. Plus, it’s 25 dollars for over 400 pages, which includes beautiful art by Teddy Kristiansen, Paul Grist, and the late, great Edvin Biuković.

I may have the trade of “Four Devils, One Hell”, as I know I got one of the Grendel Tales trades for very cheap at a local store that’s unfortunately no longer around.

YAY!  The Venture Bros. art book, Go Team Venture! The Art and Making of the Venture Bros. HC is finally reoffered on page 66!  I believe I ordered this (or wanted to) when it was solicited a year or two ago, and was disappointed when it was cancelled.  Glad it’s back!  I’m in!  Probably!

DC:

Page 80: Dark Days: The Forge. The solicit text: DARKNESS COMES TO THE DC UNIVERSE WITH THE MYSTERY OF THE FORGE! Yes, that’s right – “darkness” is just now arriving in the DC Universe! I remember those cheery, charming stories about Roy Harper getting his arm chopped off, Wendy and Marvin getting eaten by “Wonder Dog,” the Joker peeling his own face off – those were cheerful tales! Only NOW is darkness coming to the DC Universe, people!

That was the warmup, but now DARKNESS IS ON, MUTHAFUCKAS!!!!  Good god, why is DC obsessed with making their characters so “badass” and “dark”?  I wish I could enjoy their universe again.

I wondered why Aquaman looked so sexy on the cover of 25 on page 83, and now I see that it’s because Stjepan Sejic is doing the cover and art for that issue.  Good for him.  I saw the first Aquaman Rebirth trade at a local library, so I’ll check that out soon.

I saw that too. Good for him!

Is it possible that there’s never been a Joker and Riddler face off before?  That’s actually a pretty good idea, so I may eventually check out the trade where Batman 25 (page 87) will be collected.

So in Green Arrow #24, DC is actually just getting rid of Seattle and renaming it Star City. I mean, I know DC loves its fictional metropolises, but replacing an actual city with a fake one? That’s a weird, ballsy move.

That’s interesting.  I wondered if they still used Star City and Seattle as separate cities or not, so I guess that answers that.  But really, is it so “unthinkable” that Oliver and Dinah break up, like they say about issue 25?  Weird.  (page 94)

Wait, Oliver and Dinah are breaking up? It must be Tuesday!

That Teen Titans 9 cover on page 109 is actually pretty good.

Yes, but homages are still annoying.

Man, I am so buying the Batman/Elmer Fudd Special on page 113. That’s just genius. And I love Lee Weeks’s art, so that’s an extra bonus!

“Hewwo, I’m Bwuce Wayne, millionaire.  I own a mansion and a Batmobile!  Uh-huh-huh-huh!”  That is cool.

Speaking of genius, getting Mark Texeira to draw the Jonah Hex/Yosemite Sam Special on page 114 is also thus.

Ooh, fuck yeah, I loves me some Tex!  And Tom Grummett on the Legion of Super-Heroes/Bugs Bunny Special is cool, too, on the same page.

And finally, Kelley Jones drawing the Lobo/Road Runner Special on page 115? Holy shit, that’s some next-level stuff right there.

That is sweet as fuck.  And Bill Morrison backup!  Same page, too, is the obvious Martian Manhunter/Marvin the Martian Special, with Aaron Lopresti art.  Should be neat.  And hot damn, the Superman/Bugs Bunny mini is reprinted (as DC/Looney Tunes 100 page Super Spectacular) for 8 bucks in a 100 page special on page 116.  MUST HAVE!

The Flintstones ends on page 124 with issue #12. I knew the Hanna-Barbera stuff wasn’t selling all that well, but this is still a huge bummer, because this book is excellent. I only hope that Russell and Pugh simply didn’t want to do more than 12 issues. But seriously – this book is amazing. Buy it!

I need to get the trades!  Well, as recently revealed (then deleted) on the Twitter, a great run was truncated at 12 issues due to poor sales, and in interviews the team pushed the narrative that they’d “told the story they wanted to tell”, even though THAT story was BS — they would have done plenty more if the sales were there.  I won’t say any more except that it was a glorious run on a title.  How is Scooby Apocalypse still going, though?

Sheesh, be more opaque, why don’t you. And I assume Scooby is still going because it sells, man!

There were 12 comics done and then no more.  Hey, the artist tweeted about it then deleted the tweets, so I’m not going to spell it out.  I gave a hint!

Buh-guh-wuh-oh my glory, Plastic Man is teaming up with the Scooby gang in Scooby Doo Team Up 27, on page 125.  YES!

Mother Panic and Shade, the Changing Girl get trades on page 128 and 129. Neither of these are as good as Cave Carson and Doom Patrol, but Mother Panic is pretty decent. I’ve read some good things about Shade from others, but I don’t like it, unfortunately. The characters aren’t interesting, the story is bland, and the art is occasionally wonderful but often puzzling. But that’s just my opinion!

Hmm.  Well, I had to pass on the other two (I wanted too much other stuff!), so I guess I’ll be passing on these, too.  I had high hopes for Shade, too.

There’s a big hardcover called Batman: The Caped Crusader on page 133. It collects Detective #575-584, which is a strange bunch. That includes “Year Two,” which is better than its reputation, the ‘Tec Millennium crossover, and a weird Two-Face story. “Year Two” is worth having if you don’t already, but it’s still a weird batch of comics. I do hope that DC is still going to publish the rest of Norm Breyfogle’s work on the character (his first issue, the Millennium crossover, is included here), but that’s a wish for another day!

I guess that’s basically the beginning of the post-Crisis Batman, but yeah, it’s a weird batch of stuff.  Also Batman 413-420, so Ten Nights of the Beast is in there too.  Great creators, though.

I’m tempted by the trade of Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the same page, though.  I’m so weak!

Page 135 is interesting stuff.  There’s the He-Man/Thundercats miniseries collected, and happily for Simon, all the issues are out (and I’ve reviewed them once, twice, three times a lady).  Gotham Academy Second Semester is finally starting to be collected (although why no issue 4?), and the second Elseworlds collection with Justice League stuff, including the cool Ted McKeever books based on silent movies and the Elseworlds 80 page giant, which are things I do not have!  So I may be getting this!

I own the Ted McKeever ones and the Elseworlds, so I’ll probably skip this, but good for DC!

DC gave up on hardcovers for the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League a while ago, but now on page 137, we get an Omnibus collecting so very, very much of the run, basically everything you need. Included in this giant book is the main Justice League title through issue #46 (which I hope is a typo, as that’s the first issue of a FIVE-PART story), Justice League Europe #1-21 (which should be through issue #28, but whatever), and five annuals, including the great one with the Joker and the great one in Antarctica. It’s not quite the perfect collection (I’m not sure why JLE #22-28 aren’t in it), but it’s close. It’s 100 dollars for over 1000 pages, and while the binding on these giant books is always a concern, these are GREAT comics. So check it out if you’re interested in a time when DC published comics where people didn’t get their arms chopped off!

I do have pretty much all of this, if not all of it, so I won’t be bothering with this, but from what I’ve read, agreed that these are great comics!  Looks like they cancelled the Breakdowns HC they offered recently, which would be a good portion of the second volume of this.

The Absolute Authority on page 138 collects all twelve issues, the crossover with Planetary, and a new story by Ellis and Hitch? Really, DC? That’s kind of a douchebag move, especially since these comics have been available pretty much since the first issue was published, so it’s not like everyone hasn’t had a chance to get them. I’m certainly not paying 75 dollars for a new story! But if you don’t already have these, you should get them. They’re quite nice, if a bit shallow. I mean, it’s basically “Really bad dudes do horrible things, good guys punch them in the brain.” Given that it’s Ellis and Hitch, it’s done very well, but still.

I don’t have quite all of the issues, for some reason, but yeah, that totally sucks that it’s a whole damn Absolute collection just to get us one short story.  Bad move, DC!  However, on the same page are a couple of good Midnighter books, with the new Midnighter and Apollo mini (I’m assuming that’s good, it sounded interesting — Steve Orlando brought back Extraño, for crissakes!), and the 20 issue Wildstorm series from the early/mid ’00s is collected, and that was a pretty damn good series, particularly the first arc by Ennis and Sprouse involving Hitler and the “backwards” issue.  I have the 20 issues, but I don’t know if I have the Armageddon issue, though, so I’ll have to find it!

Hmm, the new version of Planetary in trade includes stuff from the Absolute Edition.  As I’ve only read this part of the run from the library and don’t own this (and never got to read the rest of the series past issue 18, bar a few odd issues I found — don’t judge me and my odd back issue diving!), I may go for this version on page 139.

You really should read it. It’s great.

Neato, a collection of the earliest Supergirl Silver Age stories on page 140.  Didn’t I get this recently in some form?  The Showcase Presents volume, maybe?  It’s well worth it, I’m sure, as she is adorable as drawn by Al Plastino!

Watchmen: The Annotated Edition shows up on page 141. I adore annotated books, so I will be all over this, even at 50 dollars. This will be the third edition of Watchmen I own – I have the original trade and the Absolute Edition. I don’t care! I’m just waiting for an annotated edition of Morrison’s Doom Patrol so I can own a third version of that book!

I’m always torn, as I love the book, but the way things shook out with this re: Moore vs. DC makes me not want to pay for this.  I’ll wait and see if a library gets it.

Also on page 141 is The Wonder Woman 100 Project, another Hero Initiative collection of art.  Great creators, great cause, one printing only… I’m in!

On page 146, we get a new edition of It’s a Bird …, which I assume has been out of print. This is a terrific story by Steven Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen about Seagle getting the job to write Superman and not being sure he can handle it. It’s a superb book, and I encourage you to check it out!

I loved House of Secrets, and I always wanted this, so I may be in!

Also on page 146 is the trade of Frostbite, where an apocalyptic virus is freezing people to death, and there may be a cure!  I thought this sounded interesting.  May I also recommend to anyone who has not gotten Scalped in any format before the trade of the first 11 issues on this page.  One of my favorite series of the last 10 years or so.

That Death statue on page 151 is pretty neat looking.

IDW:

The reboot of Jem gets started on page 156 with Jem and the Holograms: Infinite and The Misfits: Infinite. Jem has been a great comic, so I have high hopes for this new iteration!

Ah, I didn’t realize it was going to be 2 different comics.  Cool.  I’m in.  Maybe I can even get around to reading all of the issues by the time this comes out!

Well, sonofa… The Batman/TMNT Adventures trade is offered on page 165, so both trades are available this same month!  Craziness!  That direct market exclusive cover seems to be a spoiler, though, huh?

Well, I guess. I mean, I don’t think the identity of a bad guy matters that much, though.

I’m not personally “annoyed” per se, but it amuses me that they’d make it that obvious!

Paul Allor is a pretty good writer, so I want to like Clue, the new series based on the game, but then I see that there are three alternate endings (like the movie) and that the different variants have different clues, implying that you really should buy all of them! Much like the movie, if you have three endings, that doesn’t mean people will see it three times, it means they won’t see it at all, so I wonder if that will be the fate of this series. (People forget how badly Clue bombed when it was released. It only became popular on videotape, where you could see all three endings at once. Comics companies: learning the wrong lessons from history since 1939!)

Yeah, I’m interested, but the whole variant cover on ANY book pisses me off.  This variant interiors annoys me as well.  I may go for the eventual trade, but maybe not.  Fun fact, the dude who played Mr. Boddy in the movie was Lee Ving, the singer of the band Fear (unless I’ve been misinformed!). (page 168)

New version of Kull on page 169, which…updates?  makes futuristic? the character.  Maybe Greg Hatcher will be interested!

It looks like it just puts him in the modern world. Which, sure, why not?

I don’t think I love GI Joe enough (and one library in my area gets a lot of that stuff anyway), but the first trade of the series drawn by Giannis Milonogiannis is available on page 180.

And the first MASK trade is available on page 181.  For what it’s worth.

New version of Return of the Dapper Men on page 183.  I did like the gambling/heist book Jim McCann and Janet Lee did together from Image (what was it called, though!?), so I might go for this.  Whatever happened to Mind the Gap, either?

Lost Vegas. And Mind the Gap just up and disappeared. I know McCann and Lee were working on the next book of this series, so the fact that it’s being reprinted gives me hope that the next one isn’t too far off!

Well, on the flipside, there’s an interview with McCann and Lee where they’re talking about the Dapper Men trilogy.  Lee is working on the second book now (after an issue of Moriarty, btw), and McCann talks about wanting to get back to Mind the Gap.

Well that sounds creepy. Shed on page 184 is about a dude shedding his tattooed skin and exposing his nervous system.  Ew!

Another Super Weird Heroes collection on page 191.  We talked about this behind the scenes, but never went further.  I have to look at the original, but I’m guessing I’m in for this.  I bet they found more stories that they wanted to use, and instead of using them all in one big book, they split it.  I’m guessing, of course!

Image:

I usually enjoy Gail Simone’s writing, and I like Cat Staggs’s art, but “Freaky Friday meets Goodfellas,” which is how the solicit actually describes their new series, Crosswind (page 194), does not sound all that appealing. A Chicago hitman and a Seattle housewife switch bodies? I mean, the possibility for hilarity exists, but it seems like this is going to be bleak, which seems odd. Oh well.

Sounds like it might be interesting, but I’m not holding my breath.  I’ll get the trade, though.  The art looks a bit too much like the figures are pasted onto the backgrounds, or something, the different layers don’t seem to integrate well.  There are other artists who do that too, but I’m blanking on my examples right now!

Howard Chaykin is at it again, with The Divided States of Hysteria on page 196. Considering Chaykin hasn’t done anything that good in 20 years, I’m not pinning my hopes on this!

Ooh, burn!  He won’t see this, though, because as he says in this delightfully prickly interview at Previews, he doesn’t read criticism of himself, good or bad.  I like Chaykin in general, but yeah, I haven’t been as impressed with him lately.  Hey, HE’S another one where the figures don’t integrate well with the backgrounds!

Not sure about this new look for the Image section.  But look at pages 198 and 199, 25th anniversary of Savage Dragon (at issue 225) and Spawn (issue 275).  Congrats, guys!  I’m not a gambling man, but I would not be surprised if the original Dragon dies this issue.  Just a hunch.

Kill the Minotaur seems straight-forward enough – it’s about killing, you know, the minotaur – and it’s drawn by Lukas Ketner, who’s terrific. I might get this, or I might continue my attempt to wait for trades!

Yeah, I haven’t seen enough of his work to be swayed, so I’ll be trade waiting (page 200)

I might not buy or, if I do, enjoy Shirtless Bear-Fighter on page 202, but come on, that title is pretty awesome. I mean, you’re not going to forget it!

I am a fan of shirtless fighting, per Ra’s al-Ghul in that Kyle Baker Plastic Man series, but this one, I’ll wait to hear about when the trade is offered.

Alison Sampson showed me some preview pages of Winnebago Graveyard last year (2016) in Seattle, and they looked amazing. I’m glad it’s finally here (on page 203), even if I’m not ever sold on Steve Niles. Sampson is a superb artist, so that might overwhelm my trepidation about Niles!

Art looks cool, based on this cover and the samples in Image Plus 12.  However, the description of this book sounds a lot like Niles’s Lot 13 that he did with Glenn Fabry a few years back at DC.

There’s another Bulletproof Coffin book on page 205. These are just bizarre, incredibly fun comics. Everyone loves that, right?

This sounds great.  I really need to read the other Bulletproof Coffin trades that have been sitting around, but yes, I’m in on this.  This one sounds so meta!

I read at least the first several issues of Astounding Wolf-Man, and it was decent.  55 bucks for 26 issues isn’t a bad deal on page 206.

Did you end up getting Loose Ends 4 (if it’s out yet)?  Was the story worth the wait?  The trade is offered on page 207, and since I like the creators and the art, I may go for this.

As of this week, the final issue of Loose Ends is not out yet. It’s just too bad!

Hey, an 18 month Sunstone calendar on page 209, with new art!  I may get this…to keep track of what day it is.  Yes.  That is why.  Of course.

Hey, Black Magick is back (page 211)! That’s neat. I enjoyed the first arc and despaired of ever seeing another one, but it’s back!

Presumably why Nicola Scott left Wonder Woman.  I…I got the singles but never read them!  What is wrong with me?!  (Don’t answer that!)

OK, I guess I’ll be ordering the 3 Chew Smorgasbord volumes offered on page 212, so I can finally go back and read the whole series.  I hear from Bleeding Cool that Layman’s next creator owned series will be tied in to Chew somehow, which I believe you alluded to at one point.

Well, apparently Mike Garland hadn’t been told how many issues The Dying and the Dead would be, as it is 10 issues according to page 215, not the 7 or 8 that he mentioned to me and I reported the other day.

Huh, God Country was a 6 issue miniseries, per page 218.  I was interested in the trade, as apparently the first print of #1 re-sold for crazy prices.

Green Valley ends here with issue 9 on page 219, which is good because it means the trade will finally be offered imminently.

So Tom will cream himself, let’s show Image Plus 15 on page 222, which features Mage on the cover.

Lotta story arcs ending this month.  Including the series finale of They’re Not Like Us (issue 18 on page 240), the first arc of which was one of my favorite comics of the last few years.  I fell behind on reading, so I need to catch up soon!

Marvel:

So how many issues of Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man do we think Adam Kubert will actually complete?  2?  3, maybe?  (page 18)

Yeah, 3 is probably the over/under.

Let’s see … on page 20, we have Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist in a new Defenders book. Why on earth did Marvel put those four characters together? I’M RACKING MY BRAINS!!!!

Sina Grace is writing Iceman (page 22). Good for him! Grace is a very nice dude, and he’s an interesting writer, so it’s nice that he’s getting a shot with Marvel.

That’s cool.

I know you’ve been mocking the Hulk book for no Hulk, but I’m going to mock it for how an “internet-famous cooking show host” hulks out in issue 7 on page 29.  BWAHAHAHA!

So in Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider 3 and 4 on page 32, Ben is back in the original Scarlet Spider hoodie costume, which I understand was “story-driven”.  What happened, did the IRS clean out his bank account?  (Too soon?)

So rather than do a big HC of the whole series, Marvel is trying to sell The Vision series in a 2 per bumper issue series on page 58.  Just give me my goddamn complete hardcover collection, dammit!

That seems like a dumb strategy. Of course, a lot of what Marvel does these days doesn’t seem that smart, so what do I know?

And you wrote that before the other stuff that happened this week!

So, with issue 3 of All-New Guardians of the Galaxy, we’ve already got a guest artist (page 64).  That’s even quicker than I thought it would be!  Granted, it’s Frazer Irving, so it’s cool, but still …

So, we need to talk about the cover to Weapon X #4 (page 72). I mean, I know Greg Land is … who he is, but DEAR GOD OF ALL THAT’S HOLY, WHAT THE FUCK IS FUCKING UP WITH THAT COVER?!?!?!?!? We need to kill it with fire right away!

(Travis, about to turn the page to this cover): gee, Burgas seems to be overreacting to this, I wonder what it looks like.

(Travis, having looked at the cover): OK…that’s disturbing.  What sorts of porn is Land looking at that he was able to get a guy that looked like that to trace?

The cover of X-Men: Blue #5 (page 76) cracks me right up. “Ooooh, look,” says Marvel. “It’s Wolverine, and he’s back, and we’re barely making an effort to pixelate his features!!!!” Yeah, because it’s probably Daken. Because the world was crying out for the return of Daken. It’s not Wolverine, I can tell you that much.

Bleeding Cool suggested that it’s the more recent Ultimate Wolverine, who was in a series that Cullen Bunn wrote and Art Adams did covers (and possibly interiors) for.  But I don’t give a flying fuck either way.

We mock the solicit writers plenty (particularly Marvel’s), but credit where credit is due, because the Deadpool vs. Punisher 5 on page 80 is amusing: “when the shells all hit the ground, who finally wins? I mean, aside from ammunition manufacturers.”  Not bad, solicit writer, not bad!

I doubt if it’s worth $125, but the Thor: Heroes Return Omnibus on page 101 is pretty good. Dan Jurgens’s run on Thor is the only time Jurgens actually seemed to be writing something interesting rather than just middle-of-the-road superhero stuff, so this is a nice book to have. It doesn’t collect his entire run, but presumably Marvel will get around to that eventually, right?

I’m not interested enough to order, but maybe down the line when they liquidate it.  I feel like I should probably go for the Simonson Thor Omni new printing on page 98 if I picked one or the other, but I’m pretty sure I got almost all of that.  Also, it’s the recolored version, so….

I’m going to discuss this over at A Moment of Cerebus as well, but I’d like to point out that the fourth (and final?) Omnibus of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu is available on page 102.

It’s probably the final one. Moench stopped writing at issue #119, I’m pretty sure, and #125 seems like a good place for the series to end.

Whoa, flashback to Saturday mornings, with the Muppet Babies Omnibus HC on page 103.  The theme song is going through my head right now, and it won’t “go bye bye!”.  AUGH!

Man, that Monster ABCs HC on page 108 looks fun, but that’s still too pricey for me.  But I do want those covers!

The Black-Eyed Peas original graphic novel on page 110 does not sound like anything I’d want to read, despite Damion Scott doing the art, so it will look fantastic. However, I’m intrigued by the writers. We have Will.i.am, naturally, and … Benjamin Jackendoff? That can’t be his real name, can it? I mean, come on!

I’d have to listen to some Sun Ra instead of Black Eyed Peas, but it might be fun.  If that is Will.i.am art on the cover, too, that’s kinda neat.

And hey, yes, that’s not his real name.  It’s just Ben Jackendoff, ok?  He uses Benjamin to sound formal!

I wonder if these versions of Foolkiller on page 120 or Ghost Rider on page 121 were any good?  And wasn’t GR 5 cancelled?

They resolicited the Great Lakes Avengers trade on page 123, I see, now including the seventh and final issue.  I’ll consider it!

At least the Monsters Unleashed: Battleground trade on page 131 that collects 8 related one shots is a little cheaper than the single issues were.  Of course, the issues are probably clogging up back issue bins everywhere….

Well.  Maybe it is Daken, though, in that X-Men Blue, as they’re reprinting the Daken: Dark Wolverine series on page 134.

Synergy!

Ooh, Spider-Man: Webspinners is collected on page 135.  I have some of this, and it wasn’t great, but it does have Michael Zulli, JRSR, Giffen, Sean Phillips, JG Jones and more on art.  The black and white stories are a nice bonus too, as the Marc Andreyko/Jill Thompson one is a nice little tale.

The post-Bru Captain America title teamed up Cap with a lot of Avengers, and it’s collected on page 136.  Barry Kitson and Francesco Francavilla on art, among others!

Let’s head to the back of the book, shall we?

Adhouse Books has Tarantula on page 254. This is a modern pulp/noir story, brought to you by Fabian Rangel and Alexis Ziritt, who collaborated on Space Riders. That book was disappointing, ultimately, but the art was wild and for a good part of it the story worked – it just faltered at the end. So while this is 15 dollars for 96 pages, I still might get it, because those dudes are working on a whole different wavelength, man.

I have to read Space Riders still (who’s surprised, really?), but I liked that art, and I like the art to this cover.  For more than 2 reasons, really!

Dave Dwonch is a good dude and a good writer, and I took a look at the first issue of Infinite Seven at ECCC, and it looks really cool, so I’m looking forward to the trade on page 257 from Action Lab. It’s about a teenager somehow joining the world’s most elite assassin squad. As they do, you know.

Who didn’t, in their zitty teen years?  I’m liking the Adventures in Crime and Kid Sherlock first issues on pages 257 and 256 respectively.  Adventures in Crime deals with the mob connections of Golden Age comics, and Kid Sherlock, beyond being a young Sherlock Holmes, has a dog Watson.  OK, but looks cute and could be fun.  What’s nice about both is that Action Lab has both variant covers at the same price, instead of upping the price on the second covers, as they’ve been doing.

Garth Ennis and Russ Braun team up again for Jimmy’s Bastards from AfterShock on page 260. It’s Ennis mocking James Bond, and given the title, I’m assuming it’s what happens when James Bond finds out he’s a father. Given Ennis’s view of these kinds of characters, nothing good. Still, I’m sure it will be amusing.

So, a spy version of Dynamo 5, sort of?  I’ll be looking for the trade.  On page 261, there’s Babyteeth, where a teen girl is going to give birth to the Anti-Christ, which should be fun.  And liberals think there’s no consequences to pre-marital sex!

Also from AfterShock, we get Captain Kid volume 1 by Mark Waid, Tom Peyer, and Wilfredo Torres. This is about a 40-something dude who magically becomes a teenage superhero and what he does. Waid and Peyer are good with fun stuff, and this sounds like fun stuff, and I don’t love Torres, but he’s not bad.

I told Tom Peyer TO HIS FACE that I would be getting this, so by dammit, I’m getting it!  His upcoming (next year, I think he said) self-published book sounded fun too, so we’ll be pimping that when it shows up!

Alterna has more of its $1.50 or even $1-comics on page 266. The Chair sounds neat – a dude on death row who claims he’s innocent is suddenly involved in a murder spree by the warden and the guards. Sounds neat. Right underneath it is Trespasser, which I read a few years ago and really liked, so I’m glad it’s coming out now. It’s just a post-apocalyptic story about a dude protecting his daughter, but it was told very well and the art is stunning.

Yeah, it’s easy to have such cheap cover prices when you’re reprinting old stuff.  The Chair has been solicited multiple times before, so I’m glad I never went ahead and got the trade at, like, 4 times what this series will cost.  I’m going for (almost) all of these (although where are the number 2s from last month’s issues?).  Trespasser sounds neat, and your recommendation helps to assure me that they’re putting out some good stuff.  Scrimshaw, with a (space?)ship crew of “pirates” who are the good guys sounds like it could be fun.  I can’t quite recommend Mother Russia yet, as I never read it when it came out a few years ago, but it’s part of the FUBAR universe of zombie comics.  I’ll have to dig them out.  But I probably won’t get this separately.

Well, I haven’t read the trade of Killbox, either, but American Gothic Press has a new mini set in Chicago on page 268.  I’ll wait for this trade, too!

Overground Comics is dead, I guess, because they’re now part of American Mythology, where America #4 gets resolicited on page 272. Part of the charm of this series was Jason Pearson’s wild art, which Ale Garza can’t quite match, but it’s still not bad.

Yeah, Garza isn’t as good, from what I’ve seen, but few are as good as Pearson.  I hope they eventually get around to collecting the other Overground titles, as I had ordered the trade of Graduate, which sounded good, as did all of their titles, really.

Graduate was okay, more for the art than the story. But the story was decent.

Another Starring Sonya Devereaux comic (Debutante Desperado, which is a fun title) on page 273, along with the other 2 issues being resolicited.  I can’t remember if I read the first one, but I definitely didn’t read the second, but it’s “adaptations” of direct to video schlock movies starring this actress, and it’s got art by the Fraim brothers, who are pretty good.  So I cautiously recommend this!

The trade of Drums is resolicited by Amigo Comics on page 274, so maybe I’ll finally get it now.  It was on the list for last August!  It’s a good thing Amigo books are quite good and worth the wait!

Well that’s interesting.  There’s a restored comic by Al Hartley (although the GCD claims the pencils were by Dick Ayers) called Crossfire out from Antarctic.  Hartley did work for Marvel/Atlas, and also did the Archie comics where Archie got Jesus in his life (which was fun to be able to get comics at a religious shop when I had to go there for some church thing, back when I had to go to church).  Weird thing is, when I think of Crossfire, I think of the Mark Evanier/Dan Spiegle book, but oddly enough, according to the GCD, Antarctic also published an issue of that!  How weird is that?  Anyway, this is about a cop that loves the Jesus and how that shapes his policing, it appears.  It’s so oddball, and it’s a 4 dollar one shot, so I think I’ll probably take a gamble on it!

Also from Antarctic is a collection of Brian Denham’s Airship Enterprise, a steampunk Star Trek, it appears.  It does look pretty neato from the preview pages on page 277.  I’ll consider it!

I don’t know how I missed that, but thanks for pointing it out (because I might have missed it when I was actually ordering stuff!), because I will be getting this. I dig Brian Denham quite a lot, and this sounds fun.

It’s funny because it’s nearly a full page solicit!

Yeah, I know. I’d like to think I’d have seen it, but I’m not too bright, so who knows?

Archie prints Marvel, in the Marvel Comics Digest: Amazing Spider-Man, which appears that it will finally bring Marvel back to the newsstand.  Will it help their sales?  Who knows?  But I do like over 200 pages of Spidey in a digest for 7 bucks, so I’m in.  Also on page 278, Archie resolicits the Complete Sabrina the Teenage Witch v1 ’61-’71 big phone book trade for ten bucks.  Will it actually come out this time, like it was supposed to…is that 3 years ago?  DAMN!

There’s what looks like a new Nocturnals book on page 288 from Big Wow Art. Dan Brereton doesn’t do nearly enough comics work, so if he’s back doing his signature comic, I’m all in!

Cool.  I may have to order the other books offered here too.  I think I have the first 3 issues of the original, as well as the Gunwitch, which I think Ted Naifeh did art for.

Yes, he did!

Ryan K. Lindsay and Sami Kivela brought us Chum last year, and this year they’re bringing us Beautiful Canvas from Black Mask on page 290, about a hitwoman who saves the small child she’s been hired to kill and hits the road. Chum was a pretty good comic, so I assume this will be too!

I may even get this in singles.  I should probably read Chum first, though, huh?  (I’m SOOOO far behind!)

Also on page 290 is the first volume of The Skeptics, which sounded quite good, about the Cold War.

The Skeptics ended a bit weakly, unfortunately. It could have easily been five issues, because it seemed a bit disjointed, especially the final issue. Not bad, but not excellent, either.

Cullen Bunn is writing a new horror comic for Boom! on page 296 called The Unsound. A new nurse at a psychiatric hospital discovers that things are weird. You know, like they always are in psych wards!

That’s got to be tough on the artist of this book, being named Jack Cole.  No wonder he uses the middle initial T.!  Looks good.

Also, the Boom! section redesign looks pretty good!

My pal at work is getting the new Bill and Ted mini on page 297, B&T Save the Universe, so look forward to reviews of those issues in the next few months here!

Boom! has the 1970s Planet of the Apes from Marvel collected on page 303. This is by Doug Moench, Mike Ploog, Tom Sutton, and Herb Trimpe, among others. It’s $50 but it’s 369 pages, so it’s probably a pretty good value. Never before collected! I might have to grab this.

Is it the comics stories from this series, then?  I’m sure Hatcher will let us know if this is worth it!

Namesake gets collected on page 305, with a world that overlaps with Earth every 7 years, and it’s written by Steve Orlando, so I may consider this.  It’s slightly cheaper than the singles, too!

This is another series that would have benefited from an extra issue. There’s a lot of world-building that doesn’t get done, so the main character’s predicament isn’t as urgent as it feels. It’s a pretty good story, and the art is quite neat, but I wish it had been a bit longer.

Mega Princess gets a trade on page 307. Travis has been raving about this, so I’ll probably get this book. Unless we don’t really trust Travis …?

In general, a good idea, but in regards to this series, I am completely and totally worth trusting, because it is a-may-zing!  So good!

Caliber Entertainment collects Legendlore: The Realm Chronicles, which features early art by Guy Davis, on page 317.  I’ve heard of this book from the ’80s, and I’m mildly interested.  Note, though, that it’s the first of 12 volumes!  Yikes!

Chapterhouse has a couple of neat trades on page 318, with Freelance v1, which I thought sounded a bit like a Canadian Planetary, and Life, Death, and Sorcery v1, which the solicit describes as Buffy meets Love and Rockets, which seems right in my wheelhouse.  Also, the Die Kitty Die HC is resolicited, in case you missed it.

Cinebook offers, on page 319 and 320, Valerian Complete Collection volumes 1, 2, and 3, with 3 books per collection.  I’m sure Simon will weigh in on this.  I’m interested in the movie because the teaser image I saw had Rihanna looking yummy.  I have no idea what the story is about.

Because Sholly Fisch is writing it, and he’s been doing great stuff with DC characters, I’m going to get at least the trade of the Mighty Mouse series that Dynamite offers on page 332.  Interesting, Mighty Mouse is exiled to a drab and cynical world — ours!

GWAR GWAR GWAR GWAR!  The classic metal band comes back to comics with Orgasmageddon on page 336 (as there were GWAR comics in the Dark Horse Deadline USA series).  I actually like their music, what I’ve heard, and I might go for this.  At least in trade.

I think you’re overstating the word “classic.” I mean, really? Gwar? Classic?

Another friend of mine at work will have words with you, sir!

Wait, Magnus is a girl now, and a robot psychologist?  Why don’t she just punch them AI in the motherbox? (page 338)

Hmm, another book from Fabian Rangel Jr. on page 340, Blood Brothers, about a detective and luchador who are brothers and work in a city populated with mythological creatures.  Not necessarily super original as a concept, but it sounds like it could be fun.

The Great Divide was a neat sounding take on apocalypse/zombie stories, with a disease passed from skin to skin touching, and a possible cure.  The trade is offered on page 342!

Ooh, on page 348 Dover has Peter Kuper doing Kafka in Kafkaesque, which has 3 new tales.  Presumably that means the stories he adapted previously are collected, which includes his great version of “Give it Up!”.

Philip Pullman is writing a comic book, The Adventures of John Blake from Graphix on page 362. It appears that these books (it’s a series) are not adaptations, but written as comics, so there it is. I’m a fan of Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy, so I might pick this up.

That’s cool.  I have a boxed set of “His Dark Materials” that I haven’t gotten around to reading yet (which surprises no one.  NO ONE!).  This will probably be at a local library, though.

I highly recommend Apama: The Undiscovered Animal from Hero Tomorrow Comics on page 370.  The first trade was excellent and is offered again here, and volume 2 is offered here, with all copies signed and numbered.  Neato!  Benito Gallego’s art has a look not unlike Joe Kubert or John Buscema’s.  Yeah, I said it!

I saw that solicit, and I thought I should probably get it. Now that you’ve endorsed it so thoroughly, I’ll probably … totally skip it! Bwah-ha-ha-ha! Actually, I thought about buying the first trade, so I’m glad it’s re-offered. Good to know about it!

Cold burn, dawg!  (We’re sooooo white!)

Keenspot offers the first trade of Marry Me on page 375, which sounded like goofy fun with a pop star who marries a random fan at her concert.  Hijinks, I presume, ensue.

Kingpin Books have a few interesting sounding books on page 376 (with an ad with preview art on page 377).  Petals is about a fox family where one of the cubs leaves to find firewood and encounters a bird and makes friends.  The Mermaid of Mongagua is about a weird town with taxidermists and burlesque hypnotherapy and a mermaid.  Ultra Pig: Nipponic Roulette has a pig businessman’s son kidnapped by Yakuza, which sounds…weird.  But interesting.

Knopf Publishing has Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo v1, on page 376, about a singing skeleton who retained his soul, who’s friends with sentient goo.  Might be fun. I know I’ve heard of co-writer/artist Ben Costa before, but I can’t think of where from.

I’ve reviewed his web comic, Pang the Wandering Shaolin Monk, so perhaps that’s where you’ve heard of him. Unless, of course, you don’t read my posts! {Sniff}

I remember reading about those, so that could be it!

Speaking of Damion Scott, on page 384 Lion Forge brings us Accell, a Flash analog written by Joe Casey and drawn by Scott. This should be suitably kooky.

Looks cool.  I saw something where I thought it was this series that had been offered a few years back but is re-tooled for this Catalyst Prime stuff.  Maybe it was a different one of these series.  I see Lion Forge has upped their space in the Previews, huh?

Oh crap, they’re bringing back Xorn in Noble 2!  (page 386)

Marvel Legal on line 1!

I’m not entirely sure what they mean by “single-issue series” (in the quote on 389 by Mike Kennedy — formerly of Dark Horse?), like Jazz Maynard on page 388, but I guess it’s one shot comics?  This one, about a trumpeter with hidden skills hunting down his long-lost sister to rescue her from sex traffickers, looks good in the preview art.  Man, indie comics are so tough, the creators of this book, Raule and Roger, can’t even afford last names!

I saw that too. I suppose it just means one-shot. But yes, the art looks quite neat. It has a distinctive Eduardo Risso kind of vibe going on.

NBM continues the “Louvre” series with The Cross-Eyed Mutt on page 393, in which a supervisor at the museum is pressured by his girlfriend’s family to include one of their old paintings in the Louvre. These books are always quite good quality, and this sounds fun.

It’s described as raucous, so it must be good!

On the same page is Garbage Night from Nobrow Press, about a dog, raccoon, and deer who hang out in a dystopian post-apocalypse world where humans are a myth.  Sounds interesting.

Oni has the trade of Angel City on page 399, which was about a former Hollywood hopeful who works for the mob and uncovers a scandal.  Sounded neat and Megan Levens does some good art, from what I’ve seen.

That’s another book that’s decent but not great. It had enough room (six issues), but some je ne sais qua was missing. Still, pretty good.

Oh good, another Bad Machinery volume on page 400!

One Peace Books has, on page 402, On the Wall, a graphic novel about a teenage girl who can pass through shiny objects, and how she has to deal.

Sweet, Rebellion/2000AD has the Complete Skizz collection by Beardy and Jim Baikie on page 404.  I think I’ve seen some of this, but I need it for my complete McGrumpypants collection!

It’s a fun comic. Definitely worth a read.

Also from them on page 405 is Lawless: Welcome to Black Rock by Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade, a Judge Dredd spinoff, and One Eyed Jack, a precursor to Judge Dredd by John Wagner, Gerry Finley-Day and John Cooper.

Also on page 405 from Rothic is the first collection of REM 8, about Michael Stipe and crew having adventures…no, wait, I read the solicit wrong.  It’s got a Zenescope looking cover on it, so I dunno.

Scout offers Smoketown #3 on page 406. I only point this out because I had no idea that issue #2 had been solicited. Now I’m bummed. Issue #1 was pretty keen, so I’ll have to hunt down issue #2!

Hmm, yeah, dunno when it got offered, but it did sound interesting.  Also from Scout on page 407 is Tinkers of the Wasteland, a post-apocalyptic tale where chickens are scarce.  Is there a Chew crossover in the making?

Titan offers a new Hard Case Crime comic, Normandy Gold, on page 422, which sounds neat, where a small town sheriff has to avenge her younger sister by infiltrating a ’70s prostitution ring.  I’ll be getting this in trade.  Also, there’s yet another comic adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on page 424.

I’m waiting for all those Hard Case Crime books in trade. I just read The Assignment, which was better than it had any right to be!

On page 431, World War X is collected, and since it has art by Peter Snejbjerg, I’m somewhat interested.

The first story was pretty good, and I have to make sure it’s not part of this, because I don’t want to get it again. We shall see. But yes, the art is quite nice.

Yeah, it was weird, because I thought this (and some other Titan book — Masked, maybe?) was offered and collected before, but this isn’t indicated as a volume 2.  So I would recommend caution.

Ooh, the original Hookjaw is collected on page 434!  I don’t know why they didn’t resolicit the new version or put this out sooner, but whatever.

TwoMorrows does their usual awesomeness and has some good stuff.  Back Issue 98 has a spotlight on DC in the ’80s, which should be awesome (John, do you have an article in there?).  Reed Crandall: Illustrator of the Comics HC, about the Quality comics artist.  Gee, just from the solicit, I learned more about him than I knew before!

Valiant has a one shot of Rai written by cool dude Rafer Roberts on page 454.

The first trade of the new X-O Manowar series is offered on page 456 for just 10 bucks.  The art looked great, and I wonder if the extras are from the pre-order bundle versions.

Z2 offers Murder Ballads on page 470, about a failing record exec who “discovers” African-American brothers who play doom-laden country blues.  I’m guessing things won’t go well.  Cover looks neat, although they do threaten you with original music from a dude from the Black Keys (BURN!).

That does sound pretty good. My eyes glazed over when the original soundtrack news showed up in the first sentence, so thanks for reading the rest of it and letting us know more about the book!

So there’s an art book of the Garfield comic strip on page 478 from Hermes Press, and somehow they manage to not mention whoever actually did most of the artwork.  BURN!

That joke only works if you’re actually able to look at Previews, sir!

There’s a Doc Savage and Shadow teamup novel, Empire of Doom offered on page 485.  Neato.

I don’t know about Iron Fist and the whole “whitewashing” controversy, but based on the “hair” of the Iron Fist Minimates figures on page 525, dude needs a beating.

Well, that’s it for this month. Have a grand time paging through the catalog, because there’s gold in them thar hills!