Flippin’ through ‘Previews’ – April 2019

Hey, Previews #367 came out, so we’re all in on taking a look at it! As you might recall, in these posts Travis “My Girlfriend Is Definitely Not Virtual” Pelkie is in black text, while Greg “No, My Gut Is NOT Quite Bigger Than A Beach Ball” Burgas is in blue! Let’s do this thing!

Everyone thinks that about my girlfriend and everyone gets proven wrong, dammit!

OK, sir, we believe you!!!!

Image:

The solicits are here.

Thumbs on page 44 sounds interesting, as a social media company’s end goal is creating an army to take down the government.  The only thing I don’t agree with is that these social media companies don’t need to physically take down the government, they just need to manipulate what people see!  I’ll probably get the trade for this 5 issue series.

Ooh, I really like The Ride stuff, and there’s a new mini on page 50 celebrating the 15th anniversary of this sort of shared world crime series.  Also, that unicorn jammies cover by Adam Hughes looks good.  Looks like the kind of style my girlfriend (who is definitely real) would like!

David Hine writes some interesting and creepy comics, and he and Brian Haberlin have a new one, Sonata, on page 54. It’s a science-fiction story, but it still sounds and looks pretty keen. I’ll probably get the trade!

Sounds a little more fantasy to me, but with a science fiction flavoring.  I might get the trade since Hine is good.

Spawn #298 (page 58) has a fun cover.

I don’t know which Spidey issue it’s homaging, though.

Sweet Fancy Moses, sir, turn in your nerd card!

Heavy Liquid is offered in a new edition on page 61, and you should probably get this if you don’t have it. It’s a very cool Paul Pope story – weird but not too weird, and with gorgeous artwork.

I have the original singles from Vertigo, but I don’t really remember the story.  Hey, it’s 20 years old, dammit!

On page 63, we get the trade of Murder Falcon, which sounded like goofy fun – a dude plays heavy metal to power a thing that can save the world – and features very nice artwork. Who doesn’t love goofy fun?

Yeah, Daniel Warren Johnson is pretty good.  8 issues for 20 bucks is a good deal.

Dark Horse:

The solicits are here.

There’s another slim hardcover of a Gaiman story, this time Snow, Glass, Apples on page 101. It’s a Snow White story drawn by Colleen Doran, and although these things are a bit too spendy, I’ll still probably get it, because they’re always good and the production values are really nice.

Technically I believe it’s a poem, and a short one at that, so even getting 56 pages out of this is amazing.  But it’s Colleen Doran, so it will look fantastic.

Wyrd gets collected on page 104. I like Curt Pires and the art looked good, and it sounds like a neat story – the government hires a dude to take care of the strange stuff – but it’s also 18 dollars for four issues, which is annoying. If Dark Horse doesn’t recognize that trades are the way of the future, then why should I pony up for this? It’s quite annoying.

Well, the problem is that the people who don’t buy the singles aren’t guaranteeing that a trade will happen. What they should do with these kinds of books is just go straight to trade. This did sound good though.

Yeah, I get that, but it’s still stupid. Companies can track trade sales as well as they track singles sales, can’t they?

Yeah, but with something less sure, if you will, the costs of printing a trade and having it tank are larger, of course, than printing a few singles and having those tank.  They should be doing more digital singles then to trade like Marvel has been doing with the Jessica Jones series that Kelly is writing, for example.

I would love that if more companies did that. I really hope Marvel is doing okay with those titles, because I want it to be the wave of the future!

They pull this shit again on page 106 with the trade for Girl in the Bay, which is by J.M. DeMatteis and sounds pretty cool – a girl chucked in a bay in 1969 inexplicably crawls out of it in the present, and what happens afterward. It’s also 18 dollars for four issues. Fuck the heck, Dark Horse?

Keeping with the theme, on page 108 we get the trade of Archie Vs. Predator, which is a pretty funny and very blood-soaked crossover by Alex de Campi and Fernando Ruiz. It’s a fun book, but is it worth the extra two dollars for the trade? No, Dark Horse, it is not. Jeebus.

This was in a 20 dollar HC at first, so I might find one of those instead.  But I think I just heard there’s going to be a sequel to this.

DC:

Here are the solicits.

Frank Miller and John Romita Jr. are doing Superman Year One on page 2. I would have thought DC’s obsession with “Year One” stories would have died off years ago, but it keeps going strong! In this case, it’s kind of a dumb move, because Superman was super from his arrival on Earth, so unless this is a baby crushing steel and flying around the room pooping on everything, I’m out. I will also say that Romita’s cover is … not good. It’s kind of freaking me out, to be honest.

As much as I like Frank Miller (even this later period Miller), I think the Superman of Smallville book on page 5 by Art Baltazar and Franco sounds better than the Year One that Miller and JRJR are doing on page 2.

I’m on the fence about getting Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass on page 4, because it’s a weird retcon of Harley and yet another “Year One”-type story that sounds kind of lousy (ooooh, the Joker is a cool anarchist!), but Mariko Tamaki is a decent enough writer, so she might make it work, and Steve Pugh has been posting some art on Facebook, and he is absolutely killing it. I might get it just for the damned art!

The solicit writers at DC are really smelling their own farts, aren’t they, as they call The Green Lantern #8 “brilliant” (page 28). I mean, it’s The God of All Comics writing it, so it very well may be, but that’s a strong move by the solicit writers. Way to leave no way out for yourselves, people!

Almost missed this, but Kelley Jones is the guest artist on Lucifer 9 on page 37.

I think with the end of Silencer on page 45, it’s the end of the New Age of DC Heroes, which never really piqued my interest.  But I’ll probably snag the books from somebody’s cheapo back issue bin someday.  Oh, no, wait, the Terrifics are continuing on page 49, but obviously they feature new permutations of old DC heroes, which is different from the rest of the New Age stuff.

I need to catch up with The Wild Storm, which ends on page 50.  There was much more intended with that, but it never quite took off.

It’s actually quite good, but I didn’t know more was intended. The first issue had 24 numbers on it, after all!

Well, they did have the Michael Cray series, and I believe they intended to spin out more series out of it, is what I meant.

Ooh, that Crisis on Infinite Earths box set on page 63 sounds intriguing, but it’s way too pricey for me. Also, why are they showing us that sweet Alex Ross art if it says the box art will be by Nicola Scott and Jerry Ordway? Not to slight them in any way, because they’re both great, but they are not “super fucking sweet Alex Ross Crisis art” great. At least not for this!

If you’ve ever really wanted to read Paul Kupperberg’s take on Doom Patrol just before Grant Morrison came on and turned it into the best comic ever, DC is obliging you with a Doom Patrol: Bronze Age Omnibus for $99.99 (just like Earl Scheib!) on page 64. It collects more than just those 18 issues, but those are the ones I’ve read, and they’re … not great. They’re actually not terrible, though, and they have some good art by Steve Lightle, Graham Nolan, and Erik Larsen, and it’s actually kind of cool that Morrison used some of the stuff Kupperberg came up with during his run (Dorothy Spinner, most notably, was NOT created by Morrison, but by Kupperberg). But $100? You can probably find the entire run in the back issue boxes for a dollar each. That’s a good enough way to get them!

From what I understand, not only does the Bronze Age Doom Patrol Omnibus on page 64 collect all the stuff after the death of the group and before GMozz took over, it also includes a story (or stories, not sure) that were intended as fill-ins if necessary but never saw print. Cool.  And that Earl Scheib reference is a deep cut, sir!

Earl Scheib was awesome!

I want to read the new GMozz GL book, but I don’t want to pay HC prices, but someone else who reads this might, so let me tell them that it’s offered on page 66.

There’s a Norm Breyfogle style Batman in the B&W figure set on page 86.  I kind of see it?

If I were super ultra mega rich, I’d get the DKR style statue of Batman on page 81 and put it on the back of my toilet so that guests of my grand soirees would know what to do in that room.

IDW:

Here are the solicits.

Well, Dark Horse might be doing these pricier trades because they keep losing things like Usagi Yojimbo to IDW.  It’s come to IDW in full color on page 133.  Cool variant covers by great artists too, but from things I hear about IDW, I worry that this will have to go somewhere else soon …

Why? What are we hearing about IDW?

There are things I’m hearing about their finances that indicate things are shaky, the upper management has been changing recently, I think they have financial backers that aren’t happy that comics lose money … it’s several little things I’ve just gleaned from skimming different articles.

I won’t go for this in singles, but the Crow: Hack/Slash book on page 147 tickles my ‘90s lovin’.

Man, they’re expanding the Green Lantern franchise in weird ways, with Little Jackie Lantern on page 161.

Bwah. Ha. Ha. Ha.

I got the first issue of The Great and Secret Show years ago, but couldn’t find the others. The “deluxe edition” on page 163 has annotations, and I’m a sucker for annotations, so I might pick it up.

I’m tempted to get the new printing of Full Bleed v1 on page 163, because they have good stuff in there.

Marilyn Manor on page 167 looks pretty decent. It’s about the First Daughter and the ghost of Abraham Lincoln throwing a party in the White House in 1981, and finding out some weird stuff about the government. It’s by Magdalene Visaggio and Marley Zarcone, so it will probably be pretty good.

Marvel:

Here are the solicits.

Oh, good, there’s a Black Cat ongoing offered on page 26. That’ll go well.

Tradd Moore is drawing Silver Surfer: Black (page 28), which pretty much guarantees that I’ll be getting the trade!

More like “Trade” Moore, amirite?

Okay, Peter David.

Peter David (segue!) and Dale Keown are doing Incredible Hulk: Last Call, a one-shot on page 31. It will probably be good.

Hells yeah on some of these Spider-Man True Believers on pages 36-37!  Of course I want the Spider Armor issue!  (Oh god, I’m going to order the Spider Armor issue, aren’t I?)

I proudly own the Spider-Armor issue!!!!

I can’t help it, I am loving that oh so ’90s cover to Marvel Comics Presents 6 on page 64.  God help me!

Ah man, why you gotta tempt me with a Wolverine by Sam Kieth story in Exit Wounds on page 69?  And why the fuck can’t you spell his name right?  His studio name in the ’90s was literally, I believe, I Before E Studios!!!!

I know, right? It’s usually easier for me to spell because I know it’s spelled strangely, so I pay attention! Unlike, say, Marvel editors. Call Tom Brevoort and Steve Wacker!!!!!

Don’t invoke them!

On page 100, we get Namor the Sub-Mariner by John Byrne and Jae Lee Omnibus for $125. It’s a bit pricey, but you do get 40 regular issues and several annuals, and the comic is really terrific, especially when Byrne was drawing it. Lee’s issues are good, but not quite as good, and once both Byrne and Lee left the book, it fell apart pretty quickly. But this is definitely something to check out if you can’t find single issues anywhere!

Marvel Masterworks are a bit too dear for me, but the ones on pages 102-103 are tempting – we have Doctor Strange #47-57 and the first appearances of Ghost Rider. I’ll have to think about them …

That’s the Roger Stern and Marshall Rogers stuff on the Doctor, btw.

That’s why it’s so tempting!

Damn, they’ve got a Frank Miller on DD box set on page 104, and it’s so tempting! Even though I just got the Born Again trade recently! Stop reprinting so much good stuff, dammit (he says facetiously!).

If you have $100 to spend, you could drop it on the Marvel Universe by Rob Liefeld Omnibus on page 108. Or you could just burn your money – it’s probably more satisfying. Holy cats, the eye-searing images contained within this tome!

I’m so tempted to get Jim Lee XXL on page 111, even though it’s just X-Men issues I already own. It’s in a giant-sized format, and I’m a sucker for those kinds of books! Damn you, Marvel!

I just saw that apparently it’s doubling in price from what’s listed here.  Sorry!

Consarnit!

Of course I’m picking up West Coast Avengers v2 on page 118, because it’s our old pal Kelly, even though I haven’t read the first volume yet.  I figured they cancelled this book, but I thought there was supposed to be an issue 11?  Maybe I hallucinated it!

Didn’t you read my review of volume 1? It’s totally good!

I try not to do more than skim reviews of stuff that I am definitely going to read so I go in as untainted as possible by the views of others!

You said “taint.” Hee-hee.

Yes I did!

Man, that collection of Conan stuff on page 120, The Jewels of Gwahlur and Other Stories, is tempting, because P. Craig Russell, but also Tex!  When Darick Robertson is the weak link artistically, you’re still doing damn good!

Did they do a Master of Kung Fu Epic Collection volume 1 that I forgot about?  Because volume 2 is on page 129.  I know they don’t always do these in order, but with a title like this I’d think they would.

Yep, they did. You missed it!

Another comic I already own but might get in trade is the New Mutants Epic Collection: The Demon Bear Saga, as it collects the entire Bill Sienkiewicz run on the title, and that is a great motherfuckin’ run.

I’m pretty sure I have 2 or 3 copies of certain issues because I’d see ones in back issue bins for cheap and snag them because I couldn’t remember which I had or didn’t have!  So I think I have all of this, but I’m not sure.

And on 131, we get the “interregnum” stories of the X-Men, between the end of their series and Giant Size 1, in another Epic collection.

Warren Ellis wrote Starjammers?  Well, I will have to check out the back issue bins, because I’m not paying 30 bucks for the collection on page 135.

I assume the ’95 series. Ellis wrote some weird stuff for Marvel in the mid-Nineties.

Not Brand Echh: The Complete Collection shows up on page 136. I think I’m going to have to get this.

As will I!

And then on page 137 is the complete Peter Porker Spectacular Spider-Ham volume 1, which is tempting as well, because I have a soft spot for funny animal stuff.  Damn you, Marvel, for putting out good collections!

Cool, an early ’90s Tomb of Dracula tale is collected on page 139.  I think I’ve heard of this, but since it re-teams Wolfman and Colan, it’s probably damn good.

Weirdworld is collected on page 140, or at least the Epic Illustrated tales and Marvel Super Action from ’76 are.  I probably have most if not all of the Epic issues, so I probably don’t need this.  It’s about elves on a quest, which sounds familiar …

Dynamite:

Here are the solicits.

So there’s a new Red Sonja series on page 178, but that’s not what I care about. Red Sonja was created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith in 1973, so why doesn’t Marvel own her? She’s NOT a Robert E. Howard character, so the Conan rights shouldn’t affect her. So what’s the deal with her? I need to know!!!!!!

Well, what’s weird is that she’s owned by some other group, so somehow it’s not even tied to the Conan rights.  Maybe Hatcher can enlighten us!

Help us, Hatcher, you’re our only hope!

Of course I’ll get the trade of Warlord of Mars Attacks when it comes out, but issue 1 is on page 182.

And I’ll probably pick up the Mars Attacks trade on page 196, because it’s Mars Attacks and that’s a good creative team.

Jeff Parker and Dean Kotz – yeah, I can dig that.

I meant Kyle Starks and Chris Schweizer on the MA trade, but I do dig just about anything Parker does.

Oh, sure. I might get that, too. I just hope Schweizer got paid enough that he can start another Crogan book, because they’re awesome!

Will I cave and get the Rainbow Brite trade on page 197?  Maybe if the girlfriend (still very real, tyvm) wants it!

Boom! Studios:

The solicits are here.

I might get the softcover of Klaus on page 222, since I do loves me some GMozz!

I still haven’t read this, although I bought the hardcover at ECCC at least two years ago. Damn, I’m slow.

Amateur.

It’s time for the back of the book!

I’m not getting into the latest Cerebus in Hell? one shot and its controversy, but the wonderful Jaka’s Story is remastered on page 236 from Aardvark-Vanaheim, and you should get that!

I was going to beg you to get into the controversy, but just the solicit text seems like a huge problem, so I can probably assume from there!

Yeah, no.  As much as I like Cerebus and Dave Sim, there are things he does that are completely confounding and/or irritating.  But this just takes away from the fact that one of his masterworks, Jaka’s Story, is coming back in a beautiful remastered edition and that’s not the main story.

Action Lab has Banjax 1 on page 238, another superhero bringing a final solution to crime story, and it might be ok but the fact that they refer to it as “The” Watchmen in the ad copy annoys me.  Yes, I’m petty!

No, I totally get that. Get the damned title right!

Also from Action Lab on page 242 is a new Athena Voltaire collection and Big Alien Moon Crush from Art Baltazar, which is of course cute, and on page 243 is a collection of Sweetie, about a girl who has taught herself stunts and martial arts, and This Love So Brief, a one shot collection of short stories from Fred Chao, who is pretty good.

I will point out that the Athena Voltaire trade is from the upcoming story arc, the single issues of which have not shipped, so take that solicit with a grain of salt.

It’s possible they’re going straight to trade.  That’s what they did with Cougar and Cub (which was great, btw!) after the first issue shipped and didn’t sell well.

I should ask Bryant. He’s a cool dude!

Aftershock has a second volume of Shock, their HC anthology, so I should probably read the first one before I order this from page 244.

They also have Relay on page 252, which is a resolicit. The first issue, which was a FCBD offering, was pretty good, so I imagine the trade will be decent. Let’s hope it comes out this time!

Ahoy has a bunch of good stuff on page 254, including Steel Cage, a one shot with three short stories where the readers vote on who continues in a series, as well as the trades of Captain Ginger, the cats in space book, and High Heaven, the terrible Heaven book.  Both are highly recommended!

Amigo Comics has an interesting one on page 258 with Planet of Daemons, a graphic novel about a Puritan dude who locks up bad daemons (you know they’re bad because of that extra A!)

OK, American Mythology, you’ve got me with your Zorro Masters: Alex Toth on page 262.

Antarctic Press has a trade of Offbeats on page 264, which is described as Tintin meets Tarantino, and if that doesn’t intrigue you I don’t know what to tell you.

Yeah, that sounded fun. I’ll pick it up!

On page 266, Angry Robot has a comic adaptation of Liege-Killer, with art by Jon Proctor, who’s a decent artist. I wrote about the trilogy of which Liege-Killer is the first book, and I dig it, so I’ll probably check this out.

I think this must be tied in with the old Helix series Gemini Blood, which was pretty good from what I remember.

Yeah, that was a prequel series, I think, although I never read it.

I’m probably not going to get it, but I must point out the solicit text for Blackbox Comics and their Militia #1, written by Chuck Dixon, on page 284.  It says “Terror’s worst nightmare, a woman with a gun,” which is just amusing somehow.

Dixon is such a weird writer. He writes women very well, but then he has such regressive ideas about politics, and it’s just bizarre. He’s kind of like Orson Scott Card in that regard – his novels are so humanistic, but his real-life persona is not quite like that. Writers are weird, man.

Man, do I want to get the HC 10th anniversary edition of Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose volume 1, reprinting the first 5 issues, from Broadsword on page 292?  C’mon, it’s for Pride Month!

You do you, man.

I do like Jim Krueger, so I’m hoping that The No Ones on page 294 from Cave Pictures Publishing is good, even though it’s another “superheroes gone bad” story.

I know you like the Fillbach Brothers, so in case you missed it, Devil’s Due/1First has Shotgun to Sugarland from them on page 300.

I didn’t miss it, because I hadn’t even looked at the catalog yet! But yes, I will get this. I do think there’s a typo in the solicits, though, as it says that both characters will “fund” their savior. Is Jesus running a Kickstarter? I would buy into that!

That would be awesome, actually.  Until a Martin Luther type gets all annoyed and shuts it down …

Oh yeah!  Drawn and Quarterly is collecting one of the best comics ever, Little Lulu, on page 301.  It’s so good!  Apparently the text is unaware, however, that feminism happened in decades that you wouldn’t “think of” as feminist.  We didn’t just magically get to a more feminist world from nowhere, ya idjits.

OK, settle down there, Betty Friedan.

Excellent burn, sir!

Fantagraphics has comics for all your wanking needs on page 308, with the latest issue of Beto’s weird sex comic Blubber (#5), and a collection of the erotic art of Wallace Wood, which is tempting.

I’m so getting the Wood erotica, because Wood is amazing, and they also have (on page 309) The Woman Who Loved Life and Other Stories, a collection of Johnny Craig’s EC horror stuff. That’s fine stuff!

First Second has an interesting one called Old Souls, with art by Les McClaine, who worked on The Tick, I think.  It’s about a dude who can relive his past lives and how he has to find closure in one of them.  Might be good.

I’m so disappointed in you, sir. Yes, McClaine drew The Tick for a bit, but he was the original artist on The Middleman! How dare you not know that, sir! Pistols at dawn!!!!!

Ah, yeah, that’s right.  I knew it I guess, but I must confess that I didn’t get quite as enamored of The Middleman as some of you here at the blog.  I think y’all hyped it so much it couldn’t possibly be as awesome as you said, so I didn’t love it as much as you guys do!

Gah-gack-kkkkkiiihhhhh … Sorry, I was just choking there for a second. I was trying to resist reaching through the internet and punching you in the brain!

Graphix has the latest Scott Morse comic, Dugout, on page 318, about twin girls who play baseball and also do magic, and how it goes wrong.

I’m not liking the design of the Humanoids page on page 322, but the stuff on the page is really interesting.  Dark Rage, a crime noir; Jodorowsky and Boucq’s Twisted Tales; Ignited 1, a new superhero series cowritten by Mark Waid; and Urban Legendz, about urban legends being real and a group of kids looking into them.

If a library gets it, I’ll look at Insight Editions’s Masters of Comics book on page 326, with looks at studio spaces of cool artists like Walt Simonson, but it’s too pricey otherwise.

Iron Circus has Minus on page 328, an intriguing story of a girl on her way to college with her overprotective father, when a gas station stop goes horribly wrong.

Knockabout has Hunt Emerson’s version of Rime of the Ancient Mariner and a Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Compendium on page 329, which are both probably good.

Alay-Oop from William Gropper is one of those “lost” early GNs (that weren’t called that), a wordless narrative set in a circus and NYC, is offered from New York Review Comics on page 343.

Oni has Little Witches on page 344, a retelling of Little Women but they’re witches.  Cool.

Meredith McClaren is doing Super Fun Sexy Times on page 346, with sexy stories of superheroes.  Nice.

This has one of the most annoying solicit texts I can remember, and I’m going to get the book and think McClaren is awesome. But that text … hoo boy. Not only do they stress that these stories feature “consent,” they’re also “told with care, sex-positivity, and humor.” I mean, did anyone really think Oni would publish a book and McClaren would write a book about rape? I guess it’s good that they mention the “humor” part, because up until then, this sounded like the dullest sex book you could imagine (if you didn’t know anything about McClaren, that is, as she has a very good sense of humor in her work). I get that when we live in such fraught times, perhaps Oni felt they needed to stress these things, but it feels really unnecessary and it makes a sex book sound boring, which is never a good idea. End rant!

2000AD/Rebellion is doing a special homage to Carlos Ezquerra on page 356, and I will be getting it because he is awesome.  They also have on page 357 Durham Red, a Strontium Dog book (I think) that he drew.  They also have some other cool stuff on these pages, like Chopper, which has some Brendan McCarthy art, Counterfeit Girl, a Milligan/Dayglo production, and lots of other cool stuff.  I need to catch up on the stuff they send me in their promotional emails!

Every once in a while, they have a month where I want a lot of what they have, and this is one of those months!

Scout has the Sabretooth Dan trade offered again on page 360, which had been offered ages ago, as well as Gutt Ghost, a one shot of a ghost who has intestines.  OK.

Titan and Hard Case Crime are putting out a couple of awesome sounding ones.  Ryuko on page 368 is a gangster manga, the first of two volumes, and the reviews make it sound very cool, while on page 369 is the long awaited (by many of us here at the blog) Ms. Tree volume 1, collecting the first several stories of this tough female PI.  I’m looking forward to it, her stories are very good.

I’m definitely getting the Ms. Tree book, and probably Ryuko, too.

I’m not sure if I’m going to get it, but Titan also has Santa: My Life and Times (page 374), which is an “autobiography” with illustrations by … Bill Sienkiewicz?!?!? That’s very tempting!

I saw an article about it but didn’t see it in the catalog, so that is going to tempt me.  Damn it, we’re in the real Golden Age and there is way too much good stuff!!!

TwoMorrows has the usual slew of awesome on page 376.  I believe from what he’s said, our pal John Trumbull has a piece in Back Issue 114, with black superheroes featured.  Jack Kirby Collector 77 is all about monsters and monster movies and their influence on Kirby.

University Press of Mississippi has Steve Gerber Conversations in SC on page 377 for 25 bucks, and it’s probably a good overview of insight into the mind of one of the premiere comics writers of the ’70s and beyond.

I can’t remember if I got the third trade of Britannia, but the first 2 were really good, and now all 3 minis are in a dee-loox edition on page 383 from Valiant, along with Ninja-K and Bloodshot Classic Omnibus on the same page.  Damn you, Valiant!!!

The third volume of Britannia was pretty good, although it wasn’t quite as nice-looking because Ryp didn’t draw it. Still worth it if you want to get this big collection.

I’ll probably just find the third trade cheap, or maybe the singles, since I have the first 2 trades.

Is Interceptor actually going to be released from Vault?  It’s on page 386, but it’s been solicited before from Heavy Metal, I believe.  I’ll probably order this and wait to see if it actually comes out!

It’s always a mystery!

There’s a book from Viking Books for Young Readers on page 388 called Sea Sirens: A Trot and Cap’n Bill Adventure, by Amy Chu and Janet Lee, but didn’t someone else do a similarly named pair for National Lampoon?  Sharry Flenniken, maybe?

I might get this, but I wonder why Janet Lee isn’t working on the next Dapper Men book. I know there was supposed to be another one!

Probably money.

Also on 388 is a new Dylan Meconis book called Queen of the Sea from Walker Books US (I assume the Texas Ranger is implicit).  It’s historical fiction too, so you’ll probably actually drool for this one, sir!

I swooned when I saw this as I looked through the book for the first time, so there may have been some drool involved. I knew Meconis had been working on something big for a while, so I’m glad it’s here!

I’m not going to list them all, but there are a lot of manga collections that look good in the manga section.  Too many to choose!  Why can’t I be made of time and money?!?!

But I do have to point out one on page 422 from Yen Press, because it’s too weird.  Little Miss P is about an anthropomorphized version of a woman’s period.  Yeah.  Comics can be anything, man.

Well, there’s a Jiro Taniguchi book on page 429 from Fanfare/Ponent Mon. Sky Hawk is about exiled samurai during the time when the Meiji took control of Japan, and it sounds pretty cool, and Taniguchi is great, so there’s that.

On page 458 it’s another Squirrel Girl shirt I want but won’t be able to afford!

On M40 you can see a cute figure of Batman and family.  Batman’s even smiling!

On M41, apparently the villain of Shazam is … Grant Morrison?!?!

That’s all we have this month, people! Have a good time making your way through the catalog!