Flippin’ through ‘Previews’ – August 2017

Well, in the wake of the San Diego convention and several outlets talking about the collapse of the comics industry (not going to happen, people!), we have a new catalog of comics to check out. Yes, it’s time for Previews #347, with a story starring the Joker on the cover! A Joker story? Oh, I’ve been waiting so long to read a Joker story! Yay, DC!

I missed that talk about the collapse of the industry.  Or, this round of those talks, anyway …

As per usual, Travis is in black, while I’m in blue. So let’s get to this sucker!

Dark Horse:

Get your super-groovy full solicitations here!

Normally, I wouldn’t care too much about Sherlock Frankenstein and the Legion of Evil on page 42 (I’m a bit weary of old IPs getting mashed up), but it’s Jeff Lemire and David Rubín, which is a good creative team, and it ties into Black Hammer, which is a fine series, so I might have to pick it up.

Speaking of which, Black Hammer gets a second trade on page 45. This continues to be an intriguing series, so if you’re thinking about it, pick up both trades! I see that Dark Horse has stopped telling us which issues are collected in trades, which is odd. Well, possibly only to me …

No, I thought that was weird too.  I like to know what’s in a trade so that if I get weird and decide to start getting the singles after getting a trade, I know where to start so I don’t miss anything.  Or in the case of this book, I want to know if that Annual that is reoffered on page 42 is in the second trade or not!  I did get the first trade, but of course haven’t read it yet.  I’m working on getting organized, though!

Troy Nixey definitely should do more comics work, so the fact that he’s drawing Gaiman’s Only the End of the World Again adaptation (written by P. Craig Russell!) on page 48 is keen. Of course, it’s 16 dollars for 56 pages, so …

However, it’s a story from about 20 years ago.  This was originally serialized in the Oni Double Feature comic (issues 6-8) that Oni Press started out with, in about ’98.  It was originally just in B&W though, so seeing it in color might be neat, although I see that when it was collected, it was colored.  I don’t remember the story, though!

Whoops, I didn’t know that. It doesn’t change the fact that Troy Nixey should draw more comics, damn it! Unless he’s making gobs of money doing something else.

I believe he’s been directing movies.  He did one called Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, but that was back in 2010.  (And a click on that Amazon link can let you help us out here at the AJS!)

On page 61 is the second volume of the EC Archives collection of Panic.  Oddly enough, I just uncovered the first volume when excavating some comics!  I’ll have to take a look, but undoubtedly this is good stuff.  And this finishes out the run of that title, as it only lasted 12 issues, so I better just get it. (I presume Feldstein moved over to MAD after that and Panic was therefore redundant at that point, since this book was Feldstein’s MAD.)

And that’s it for Dark Horse.  Awfully light this month.  They do have a lot of neat relists on pages 65-66, though.  In case you’re not dropping enough scratch on other stuff.

DC:

If you want to find the solicitations, I know where they are!

I think most of this Metal stuff is stupid (they’re not meta humans, they’re metal humans!  HAHAHAHA!), but I’m interested in The Batman Who Laughs on page 69, mostly because it features art from Riley Rossmo.

Yeah, but I don’t completely trust Tynion. You’re right, though – the art will be neat. Also, page 69: Nice.

Is there something beyond it being *huh huh huh* 69?  Or have I tempted you into juvenile sex humor?  Hey, that’s MY thing here!

Nope, just some juvenile sex humor. I can indulge in it, too, you know!

Uh-huh.  You get women writing a comic like Batgirl and the Birds of Prey 15 on page 75, and suddenly they’re writing about an illness where only men get sick.  So sexist!  (Do I need a smiley in here to indicate my sarcasm, or will all y’all get it?)

Occasionally DC intrigues me, if only to find out what horrible thing they’re going to do to old beloved characters, because on page 92, we read of “a pair of long-lost DC characters” in a space station, in Suicide Squad 28.  What old characters are they screwing up this time?

Uh … Blue Devil and Electric Warrior. Yeah, that’s right – motherfucking Electric Warrior!

Hmm, they already fucked up Blue Devil in the nu52.  And I was just flippin’ through (ahem!) the article about Electric Warrior in the latest Back Issue magazine about ’80s DC.  Ah, ’80s DC.  So good!  My guess on the two characters is Zan and Jayna from the Super Friends.

Ha! That’s where I happened to look when I was trying to think of an obscure character! His name is on the cover, so I figured he’d be good to use! I’ve been found out!!!!!

I actually have the Electric Warrior comics, it’s a pretty good run of stuff, from what I remember.

Sean Murphy is writing and drawing Batman: White Knight (page 101), about a reformed Joker who believes that Batman is the greatest villain in Gotham and he (the Joker, that is) needs to stop him. I don’t mind Murphy’s writing, honestly, but this sounds like something I’ll buy in trade simply to stare at the sure-to-be-amazing artwork.

Murphy’s art is great, of course.  I thought Punk Rock Jesus was probably a noble failure – his reach exceeded his grasp, but it wasn’t awful.  Just feels like a Batman/Joker story isn’t the best use of his talents.

I’ve never heard of Enrico Marini (no, not Enrico Palazzo), but I guess he’s a “European comics master,” according to the solicits, and he’s doing a two-part (?) graphic novel called Batman: The Dark Prince Charming on page 102. It looks quite nice from the preview art, but it’s yet another Joker story, so I’m not sure if I’m going to get it or not.

Yeah, it’s like, Batman has the greatest villains ever, but we’re only ever going to use one.  And maybe Catwoman sometimes too.  Oy.

DC House of Horror on page 104 teams prose horror writers with some good artists for a big 80-pager … for 10 dollars, which isn’t terrible for an 80-pager, but is still vexing. Anyway, this might be worth a look. I do like that the solicit reads “And if that isn’t enough to scare you, there’s Keith Giffen, too.” That’s not a bad burn.

I love Giffen, he’s one of my favorite creators ever, but yeah, if they include a picture of the Giff, that’s pretty scary.  Heh.  “Wrath James White”, now there’s a cool name.  I’ve never heard of any of these writers, though.  And man, that Kaluta cover is great.

I’ve never heard of them, either. But then again, I don’t read prose horror.

I read some, and if I get my act together, I have a couple anthologies I can review.

Neal Adams is writing and drawing a Deadman mini-series on page 105. If this is half as insane as Batman: Odyssey, I cannot wait to read it.

If it’s half as insane as Odyssey, it’s still at least twice as insane as anything else out there!  Did you get that Superman series he did recently?  I’m hoping a library gets it, so I can see if that is anywhere near as wacky as Odyssey.

I don’t think Adams’s Superman book has been offered in trade yet, so I haven’t read it. Maybe it has and I missed it, but I didn’t see it in Previews.

Now that you say that, I think it’s just been in HC so far.  And I’m not paying HC money for that!

Gotham City Garage on page 106 has an interesting post-apocalypse setup, with Governor Lex Luthor using The Bat to keep order in a utopian Gotham City, the best place in an otherwise ruined world.  I’ll check out trades, at least.

I don’t have a lot of interest in Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica on page 107 (and I very much doubt DC will allow them to show the real reason why any straight male would want to buy this!), but it will probably be kind of fun, and it lets us know that Riverdale is a suburb of Gotham. That’s handy!

I do hope that Bruce Wayne and … it’s Hiram, right, Veronica’s dad’s first name?  Hiram Lodge vs. Bruce Wayne in the boardroom, man!  Alpha male throwdown!  I like how they get political, kinda, with the impetus of the story being free college tuition.  Will Bernie Sanders show up?

Archie would pull a stunt like that, but I don’t think DC would.

I haven’t read The Wild Storm yet (I think I ordered the trade), and I’m not normally thrilled about spinoff type stuff, but I’m kinda excited about the Wildstorm: Michael Cray book on page 108.  There’s some sort of crossover with the DCU, as he’s going to take out Oliver Queen, but more importantly, the creative team is awesome.  Postal‘s Bryan Hill writing, N. Steven Harris of Aztek on the art, covers by Cowan and Billy the Sink?  Dang!  This should be good.  High hopes!

Yeah, but I don’t like the “crossover” with the DCU. It just makes the main story (which is quite good) seem less interesting, because we know Superman and Batman are just wandering around this weird universe that Ellis is constructing.

What’s odd, though, is that I don’t think it really sounds like the DCU Oliver Queen.  It might just  be an Ellisian mockery of what Oliver is, or the Wildstorm version of the character.

Ray Fawkes and Inaki Miranda are good creators, so Ragman, a reboot of the character on page 110, might be good. I’m just curious if Rory Harper (the new Ragman) is Jewish, because Ragman’s Judaism was always such an interesting part of the character.

Well, it’s implied by the setting of the Israeli Desert, but not, of course, definite.  It’s definitely an important element of the character.  And if they’re going with this mummy look instead of the classic rags/quilt look, they better keep that aspect, or just not call it Ragman, ffs.  (Hey, Giffen’s Ragman mini was awesome, speaking of the Giff!)

Apparently the Suicide Squad: Black Files series on page 115 is being put on hold, as the character on the left on the cover of #3 was intended to be Doctor Endless, based on Sandman and mashing up all the Endless characters into one, but it wasn’t run by Neil Gaiman first.  Oops!

Bwah. Ha. Ha.

Well, DC is definitely willing to experiment with the Hanna-Barbera stuff, as The Ruff and Reddy Show by Howard Chaykin and Mac Rey on page 116 has the duo trying to stage a comeback.  Weird stuff!

I have no idea who those characters are. I figure they’re Hanna-Barbera characters from the late 1960s/1970s, but I can’t be bothered to look them up.

Yeah, I have only a vague notion of who they are, and the artwork of the more “realistic” versions here isn’t helping me at all.  I suspect they’re a little earlier than what you’re saying, though.  Someone will set the record straight with us!

That Doom Patrol 10 cover on page 119 is freaky-deaky.  Those eyes!

After almost 30 years, DC gets around to collecting The Atlantis Chronicles, Peter David’s and Esteban Maroto’s “history” of Aquaman’s lineage. It’s an excellent comic (although it’s 50 bucks, phew!), but it’s strange that they’re collecting it now. I mean, how many times have they changed Aquaman’s history since this came out?

*Cough*Justice League movie*Cough*Momoa abs*cough*  Took ’em long enough to finally collect this, though, huh?

Well, of course, but that’s just dumb. I mean, Aquaman is in this book for, like, a page. Collect David’s Aquaman if they want the connection to Momoa’s abs … I mean, the movie!

Oh, they’ll do that when the Aquaman movie comes out, so we can get mo’ Momoa (how do you like it how do you like it?).

I definitely want the Batman/Shadow: The Murder Geniuses collection on page 127, but I may wish to wait for the trade rather than the HC here.  I assume, based on my searching, that the older story by O’Neil/Novick/Giordano is actually from Batman 259, not Annual 1 as it says here.  Our pal Buttler suggested when this series was first announced that they should include the old Batman and Shadow stories in the trade, and I’m glad they followed through on that!  (Um, not that they necessarily took his particular suggestion…but if they were smart they would!)

Kirby’s Challengers of the Unknown gets collected on page 128. Man, it’s almost like the dude has an anniversary coming up or something.

Even a centennial!  Yeah, this sounds like something I better get.  And dammit, I hated that when Ultivac would get loose all the time!  And lookit them trousers on the Challs!

Maybe they mean Ultivac is a really good dancer. “Man, check out how loose he is with those moves!”

Ironically, he does not “do the robot”.

The Legend of Wonder Woman gets a softcover collection on page 129. It’s a very good comic, and at 20 dollars, it’s ridiculously cheap (Each issue was 4 dollars, so buying all 9 would be 36 bucks, and here it is for 20!). Too bad Renae de Liz and Ray Dillon decided to piss DC off, or we might have gotten a second volume!

Interestingly, though, this is listed as volume 1, so perhaps someone else will be continuing that particular series?  You’d think they would after all the love for the movie!  Hmm, is it that cheap so they won’t have to pay as much out in royalties to those creators?  The cynical mind wonders!

I don’t know why it’s listed as volume 1. I mean, they were going to do a second volume, but that’s been kiboshed for a while now. Beats me.

Maybe I’ll see if Rich at BC heard anything.  I get most of my comics news from BC because it crashes my computer slightly less than the old place crashes it.

I’m interested in the Superman: American Alien trade on page 131.  Great artistic lineup, and I believe back when the old place still did reviews, they gave every issue like 5 stars, like it’s fucking Watchmen or something.  So I probably want to read it!

Yeah, I should probably read this at some point.

I might have to get the Wonder Woman: The Golden Age trade on page 132, just to chuckle at all the bondage!

I too may get this.  However, if I “chuckle at the bondage”, that may be a euphemism.  HAHAHA!

Since I don’t think I’ll be writing it up as a separate post at any point (I don’t have much to say), let me do a quickie review of Wonder Woman: The True Amazon, offered in trade on page 132.  It’s got art by Jill Thompson, so of course it’s beautiful looking, but I’m not sure about the story.  It does make logical story sense that Diana, being raised as the only newly born child in an all-female society, would be doted on to the point of her becoming spoiled, but at least in my headcanon, that goes against the notion of the character’s inherent goodness.  It’s well-told, and as I said, it makes logical story sense, but it doesn’t “work” for me as a Wonder Woman story.  I wonder (ahem) too if certain people read it and thought so too.  The only blurb on the book is from Brian Azzarello, who, yes, did a well-received in some quarters run on Wonder Woman, but who also happens to be Mr. Jill Thompson, so…grain of salt, right?

I still have to read this. Last year was tough, man.

Yeah, I was already backed up, and then I want to tell all y’all about what I read, but too often I feel like I have nothing smart to say.  And then that’s borne out by what I actually say!

Was Trillium worth getting in a dee-loox HC edition, as is offered on page 137?

I am just about to start re-reading it in my trip through my long boxes. I loved it on the first read, so I would say yes, but I’ll have a better answer in a few days (or possibly weeks, if I get hung up with something else), after I re-read it!

I thought you had liked it a lot.  My only concern is that I know at least one issue had something where you had to read into the center from both covers in a flip book, and I don’t know how that will translate in a collection.  I need the proper reading experience!

Yeah, the first issue you read to the center and then flip it over and read from the end. In another, you read the top half of the page first, flip it over, and then read the bottom half. In a few, you need to flip the book every few pages! It’s an effective ploy, though. I imagine the collection will be exactly the same, although perhaps they have given the gymnastics up.

IDW:

Can you find the solicitations here? You bet you can!

On page 146-49, we get the introduction to the “Black Crown” line of comics, shepherded forward by Peter Milligan, it seems. The first title, Kid Lobotomy, is by him and Tess Fowler, which is a good combination. It’s about … a dude running a hotel. Okay, it sounds like it’s a hotel with a lot of crazy shit going on, but that’s a pitch, isn’t it? “It’s like Fawlty Towers but darker!” There’s also a quarterly anthology on page 149. Sounds fun!

Well, it’s an imprint of shared comics edited by longtime Vertigo editor Shelly Bond, so just based on that, the books are worth picking up.  Did you see in the text piece on page 146 that Mike Allred has first dibs on the “record shop”, which will be called “The Atomic Turntable”.  ALLRED!!!  I do like that the “comic store” is called “Canonball Comics” (sic).    Kid Lobotomy sounds interesting, I’d guess it’s somewhat like Milligan’s Greek Street series.  The Black Crown Quarterly sounds fun, too, so I’ll be picking these up.  I wonder how she was able to get Philip Bond to do work on this book?  heh.

Milligan and Bond go way back, so that’s probably it. Are Shelly and Philip related, is that what you’re implying?

They are in fact spouses.  I’d rag on you for not knowing, but it’s something I didn’t know for quite a while.  She is neé Roeberg, I believe.

Ah, I see. I don’t care too much about knowing who’s with whom and such, and it’s not like “Bond” is an uncommon name or anything. But yeah, that might have had something to do with it!

I know you don’t care about TMNT, but on page 159 is a collection of the recent story Inside Out by Kevin Eastman and Billy the Sink, which may be fun.

Dang, I might have to check this out.

Kelly Thompson is writing Ghostbusters: Answer the Call on page 161, with art by Corin Howell (which is not a bad thing at all). It stars the chick Ghostbusters, just to warn those misogynists in the reading audience. Anyway, I’ll probably wait for the trade on this, but good for Kelly! She has sneakily become one of the best writers in comics, and no, I’m not saying that because we’re friends. She’s just that good!

I can agree on that only because we’re pals, because I’m so far behind on reading her comics I can’t actually confirm it, but I will believe you!   Duly noted on the chick Ghostbusters, though, thanks for the warning.  Chicks busting ghosts?  What’s next, chicks in the TARDIS that aren’t there just to jiggle?  Blasphemy!  (Do I need a smiley for the sarcasm?)

Highlander: The American Dream gets a trade on page 162. I have no idea if this was any good, but Andrea Mutti is a fine artist, so I’m thinking about it.

Speaking of Kevin Eastman, as I was before, page 179 has Roninbebop, a collection of stories from the ’90s that he did with Simon Bisley and others.  I may go for this.

Well, that’s cool, the trade of Helena Crash on page 183 is the same price as the single issues, and it sounded like a wacky funtime book, set in a future where coffee is illegal.  I like Warwick Johnson Cadwell’s style as shown here, so I’ll probably get this.  Same page also has a new Atomic Robo book, the Spectre of Tomorrow, btw.

I was going to mock the Atari Centipede tabletop game on page 184, but then I remembered that there was a board game of it when the video game was out, and I believe I had it.  The centipede had neat interlocking parts and you flipped over the individual segment when it got hit or whatever.  I know, cool story bro, but yeah, nostalgia.  There’s a nice picture of the game over at A Board Game A Day, which I’m linking to because I’m too lazy to try to contact them for permission to use their picture, and I don’t want to just take the picture that they took of the game, y’know?

Image:

Can you guess if these are the solicitations?

Justin Jordan (along with Nikki Ryan) writes The Family Trade on page 186, about a family of “spies, thieves, and assassins” that gets upended when one of them starts a war on their weird island city. Jordan is a pretty good writer, so I might get the trade of this.

Yeah, it sounds good, so I’ll probably get the trade.

I have to check my Heavy Metal stuff to see if Atomahawk #0 is in the stuff I have, or if I should get this stuff on page 188.

Matt Hawkins and Bryan Hill write Golgotha, which is about a team of scientists and soldiers that land on Earth’s first off-world colony, only to find that another spaceship from Earth somehow beat them there. Not sure how that happened, but it sounds neat, because of course things aren’t what they seem on the planet! I do wonder, though, why people would name something (in this case, the spaceship) the Golgotha. That just seems like it’s asking for trouble, naming it a creepy name like that.

The scientists were a bunch of emo kids.  I like Hawkins and Hill so I’m considering this one.

The I Hate Image special of I Hate Fairyland was a fun enough FCBD book, but do I want to pay 6 bucks to get a few extra pages and a new cover?  Hmm.  (page 193)

I was waiting for the trade of Plastic, and here it is on page 195, about a serial killer in love with a blow up doll.  Because why not?

I was also waiting for the trade of Redneck, and it’s there on page 196, about southern vampires who run a BBQ joint.  Why not?

Dan Panosian does Slots on page 197, about an ex-boxer trying to go out swinging.  Could be good in trade.

Underwinter by Ray Fawkes returns on page 198 with A Field of Feathers, while Symphony is collected on page 199, supposedly for 10 bucks but I am wary.  From what I saw of it it was creepy and atmospheric.

How did they manage to get Matt Fraction to do a story for Bitch Planet Triple Feature 5 on page 202?  Heh.

I need to read the first volume of The Black Monday Murders, but volume 2 is on page 203.  Same with Cannibal on page 205, v2 there and a v1 I still haven’t read!  And on page 205, new arc of Copperhead starts that I’m behind on!  I’m working on getting organized!  Another v2 is on page 221, with Planetoid: Praxis offered.  I’m behind on Rat Queens too, but here’s volume 4 on page 222.

Black Monday Murders moves like the molasses, but it’s kind of fascinating. The first volume of Planetoid was pretty good, so I’m getting this one!

Marvel:

Hulk out to the full solicits right here!

Jeebus, Marvel, did you ever think that maybe what your readers want is consistent art and lower prices, not new numbering? I think the constant #1s are ridiculous, sure, but randomly renumbering certain titles – issue #789, issue #593, issue #709! – is just idiotic. Come on, Marvel, get your heads out of your asses! Or, to paraphrase our new White House Director of Communications [Edit: now former WH DoC – man, the real world moves fast these days!], stop sucking your own cock!

Well, in theory it’s not “random”, but counting up all the versions of the main titles of each character and putting it all in one.  Although I hear they fucked up some counts (of course!).

Yeah, of course it’s not random, but do we think they really had a handle on every single iteration of, say, Spider-Man, and got issue #789 “legitimately”? Maybe, but I doubt it.

Let me say, though, since this news is breaking as we prep this post, FFS, people, we might disagree with the direction Marvel goes in, we may not be fans of the pricing or the way they do business, we (by which I mean me) may make drooling comments about purty comics lady drawings, but we don’t piss all over the women involved with the books just because they go out for fucking milkshakes!  Jeebus!  Not only is this kerfuffle stupid (why is having more women involved in making comics bad?  Especially when plenty of these dames are easy on the eyes? [Dammit, I can’t even be pro-women creators without being a damn Neanderthal!]), but it’s been making me crave a goddamn milkshake all night!  So tasty! (Um, the milkshake, not…never mind….) (This disjointed commentary brought to you by milkshakes.  Don’t you want one right now?  It’s how comics get made!)

I had no clue what you were talking about, but then I saw something on Facebook about it. Yeah, that’s pretty stupid. The site I read didn’t even say what the negative comments were – I assume they were just about how awful it is that women are working in comics? Whatever, it’s so stupid. Social media sucks sometimes, you know?

I had a feeling you might not have seen it, which makes my ranting all the more loopy sounding.  I like it!  Yeah, I didn’t see what the negative comments were in particular, but that doesn’t mean that, like some assholes do, I’m going to assume they’re made up.  I know we got spoiled at the old place and here because a lot of really negative comments didn’t/don’t show up, but I know that Kelly in particular got a LOT of shit sometimes.  Just for being a chick who reads comics.  Jeebus, I’m LOOKING for that, dammit!  Why would you not want women who read comics?

[Edit: Read about it here!]

Amazing Spider-Man #789 (page 3): Wait, another story in The Daily Bugle about how awful Spider-Man is? That Dan Slott, pushing the fucking envelope!

Everything new is old again!

In case you needed proof that Marvel is committed to bringing back the Nineties (how is Bob Harras working for DC but his icy grip still holds Marvel in its grasp?), on page 9 we get a new Spirits of Vengeance. Good stuff!

My ’90s sense is tingling!  I…I want this, though!  And then, speaking of ’90s sense, on page 21 is Cable 150, with Doop and Blink as part of his team.  Doop and Blink, dammit!

You’re what’s wrong with comics, Pelkie!

I know!  It’s all my fault!

Most of the “olde-skool” variants aren’t great, but the Iron Fist one (page 16) is pretty sweet:

Hey, Garth Ennis is writing Punisher: The Platoon (page 50). That should please some people.

Garth Ennis gots to eat too!

I don’t know if Nick Fury is a good comic or not, but Aco’s art has been stunning, so I’ll be getting the trade on page 105.

Yeah, I’m highly considering it for the art as well.  Speaking of James Robinson, while he’s off Cable again, it seems, there’s a collection of when he did Cable in the ’90s with the Hellfire Hunt trade on page 110, which also includes the Joe Casey run, I guess, with art by Jose Ladronn.  I have a lot of that stuff, though, so I don’t need it, especially for 40 bucks.

Our pal Kelly’s Star Wars mini (miniseries, maxi-title: Star Wars Journey to Star Wars the Last Jedi Captain Phasma oh dear god is there any more to the title?!) has the last 2 issues offered on page 78, and then the trade is offered on page 117.  Because I try to get anything she does, I’ll be getting this trade.  Maybe I’ll even see the new movies at some point!  Also from Kelly, she’s included in the big HC of Generations on page 88 with her Hawkeye one shot, and the regular Hawkeye series continues with issue 11 on page 68.  This has been your Kelly Thompson update for the month, unless I missed something elsewhere!

Yes, it’s time for the back of the book!

The new Cerebus in Hell? collection one shot is Strange Cerebus, from Aardvark-Vanaheim on page 244.  I can’t remember if I saw what the exact issue that this cover is an homage to.

On page 253, AdHouse has Expansion, about a battle between an advanced civilization and a pacifist cult 10,000 years in the past for control of prehistoric humans. Well, that sounds neat.

Yeah, I’m considering this one since it’s by Malachi Ward and Matt Sheean, with Brandon Graham and Simon Roy also showing up.

Eric Powell’s publishing concern, Albatross Funnybooks, brings us the trade of Namwolf on page 264. A werewolf in the Vietnam War could work, I guess. Fabian Rangel and Logan Faerber are interesting creators, so I might pick this up.

I was thinking about getting this one, and I’m hoping that if I do, the variant covers are also included.  I’m also considering the Spookhouse trade on the same page, although I got several of the single issues so I may just get the rest at my shop.  You might want this because Steve Mannion is in it.

I got one issue of Spookhouse, and there wasn’t enough Mannion in it to be worth my time. Dude needs to do more full-length comics!

Alternative Comics has Orchid on page 265, a collection of comics adaptations of Victorian era stories.  Sounds like fun.  Also from them on the same page is The Schiz, which I can’t quite figure out what it’s about from the solicit text, but it is intriguing, and there’s also The Willows, an adaptation of an Algernon Blackwood story.

I didn’t read the mini yet, but Unleash is collected by Amigo on page 266, about a woman taking vengeance on sexual predators.  Will I get those issues read and reviewed before the orders for this book are due?  Well, probably not, but who knows?!

I don’t know why, but this just sounds unpleasant. I’ll probably give it a miss.

Understandable.  Hopefully if I get to reading it soon, I can see if your reservations are justified.

I forget, did you get the Overground comic America?  The 4 issues are reoffered from American Mythology on page 271.  It’s got Jason Pearson art on some of it, so it’s got to be good.

Yeah, I got it, and Pearson’s issues were fun, but Ale Garza’s was just … meh. That fourth issue never reached my store, though, and this doesn’t look like a re-order situation, so I’ll have to look into it. Pearson should also do more work!

Arcana Studios has Flayed on page 278, a graphic novel about a guy wanting to get away from his life in a remote mining town, and ancient rituals and stealing other people’s lives.  SCARY!

Also on page 278, from Archie, is the latest Marvel Digest, featuring Thor.  I’ll be getting this, and I read the Spider-Man one that recently came out.  I may even get around to reviewing that one!

On page 285, Aspen’s “Villians” take center stage.  The vaudeville stage, I presume?  Maybe I can get the zero issue this time, though, as my comic shop guy missed it somehow when it first came out.

Avatar is clearing out their overstock with a sale on pages 286-291. I own the ones I want from this, so I probably won’t indulge, but they have some cool stuff. Of course, this just reminds us that Warren Ellis never got around to finishing Doktor Sleepless and Anna Mercury, so there is that. Ellis, of course, has a habit of doing this – I just re-read Trees, which isn’t finished and doesn’t seem to be coming back. Sigh.

Yeah, this isn’t a good sign for Avatar, they seem to be having cash flow problems (he says, from the outside looking in and with no knowledge of what’s going on).  But their loss shall be my gain, as I have a hankering for a number of things listed here.  Let me point out a couple good ones that I have and have read, though, like Fashion Beast, Antony “Charlize Theron bought the rights to my comic so fuck yeah we’ll call it Atomic Blonde if she wants” Johnston’s adaptation of Alan Moore’s screenplay for Malcolm McLaren.  That one’s on page 286, and on page 288 is David Lapham writing 2 volumes of  Dan the Unharmable, which is essentially an even pervier version of The Dude.

Larry Young of AiT/Planet Lar fame wrote on Facebook that he didn’t know Atomic Blonde was adapted from a comic. I haven’t seen the movie yet and it’s been some time since I read the book, but I mentioned that the movie looks a LOT different from the book, to the extent where I wondered if they bought the rights to the book, thought it was too boring (it’s a good book, but there’s not a ton of action), and then changed it almost wholesale but still have to point out that it started as a comic (because the vaguest of plot details are still in it). I don’t care, because Johnston deserves the money, but it seems like it’s very, very different from the comic.

From what I read in an interview with the director over at NPR, it sounds like they did change a fair amount, starting with taking it from the ’60s to the ’80s.  And I had heard things about the movie and only heard it was based on a comic later (and heck, they didn’t even solicit the reprint of the original as being the basis for the movie, but thank goodness when I bought it they added a Charlize Theron cover picture to it!)  Hey, if I get to keep seeing that picture of Theron in the trenchcoat and garter belts, I’m not going to complain!

No, the one thing they didn’t change was the time period. It was 1989 in the book, as well.

Ah, my mistake!  The way the director phrased it made it sound like they changed the time period, but now I think what he meant was that it had a ’60s feel to the story, so they wanted to make it seem contemporary to the setting.  (re-reads pertinent part of article) Yeah, that’s it.  The GN had a ’60s feel to it even though it was set in the ’80s, and the director thought they should make it more punk rock, if you will.

On page 295, Black Mask has the trade of 4 Kids Walk into a Bank, which I’ve been waiting for. So now it’s here!

I too have been waiting for this.  Looks really neat from the preview.

Man, all of those cool creators doing pinups for Bongo/United Plankton Pictures’s SpongeBob Treasure Chest HC on page 296 are really tempting me to get that book!

Sweet jesus the Rugrats are scary fucking looking!  But here they are on page 302 from Boom! (The Boom! solicits are here, BTW!)

That Kindt cover for Grass Kings 8 is pretty sweet, on page 307.

The Stardust Kid gets a nice hardcover on page 310, also from Boom! That’s nice. This is okay – it’s J.M. DeMatteis going over themes he goes over in better comics, to be honest – but Mike Ploog’s art is really nice. In case you’re keen on that.

I just saw something about a Ploog book that’s coming out that apparently will be his last, as he’s going to retire.  Something about a werewolf, I think.  Ah, yes, something with Simon Bisley painting over Ploog’s pencils and inks.

Dang, that’s cool.

Under that, we get The Complete Okko in softcover, which I’m getting. Years ago, Archaia would send me their hardcovers, and I got … three of these, I think? They’re good comics with stellar art, but I never got the fourth volume, and now there’s a “never-before-released-in-English” fifth volume in this, so it’s definitely worth it (considering I didn’t pay for the volumes I have). It’s a neat samurai comic.

I didn’t remember him being a samurai on He-Man, but it’s been years…oh, that was ORKO.  D’oh!  No, this sounded neat, and I thought you’d written about them before.  Also, I have yet to be put on any comic company’s comp list.  atomicjunkshoptravis at outlook.com, folks!

The FCBD story of Brave Chef Brianna was decent, so I’m considering the trade on page 313.

Caliber has a GN about Burke and Hare on page 321, which won awards, but they were in Scotland, so take that with a mouthful of haggis.  HAHAHA, I so funny!

I read that six or so years ago when it first came out. It’s pretty good.

Ah, cool.

Chapterhouse has a hardcover of the latest Die Kitty Die mini, Hollywood or Bust!, and it includes an exclusive story.  Damn you, Chapterhouse!  Anyway, I need to catch up and read this.  I liked the short story in the FCBD Chapterhouse book.  Also from them on the same page is Fantomah v1, which is just 10 bucks (for, I think, 4 issues).  And the one that made me go OOOOHH! was the Mr. Monster Compendium, a HC collection of the ’40s Canadian superhero that Michael T. Gilbert resurrected in the ’80s for a lot of fun.  I’m in on this, I think!

On page 324, Cosmic Times has a comic book called Sugar Boogarz, which features “Tyrant Tooth”, a tooth…with a Hitler ‘stache.  I can’t even.

So DC just did it, and now Dynamite has their own Shadow/Batman comic on page 326. Steve Orlando, who also wrote the DC one, is writing this, too! (And the solicits for Dynamite are here!)

No real surprise that each side was going to do their own, but it’s a bit surprising they went with the same writer for both.  Orlando is good, though, mind you.  And I like that he seems to be using some of the GMozz characters in this one.  Cool.

I believe, although I don’t know why, that a certain segment of our audience would like to know about the Atari Classics: Atari Force trade on page 334, which also includes the Centipede mini.  I have that one and one issue of Atari Force (from the video games), and they aren’t bad comics.  I’m tempted.

So I turn to page 341 and see the photo cover for the second issue of the Librarians, and now I’m really wondering why I’m not watching that show.  Hello!  And also on that page, issue 5 is the last for Mighty Mouse.

Yeah, Lindy Booth is pretty cute. Her character’s fashion sense, though, is terrible. That’s what really matters!

On page 346 is the trade of the first arc of the new Vampirella series, the one that broke up Paul Cornell and Jimmy Broxton!  It’d be funny if they screw up production and inadvertently include the “bad” version of that one variant cover.

I’m not sure if I’m going to get the trade of Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic Woman, but there it is on page 348!

Yeah, I’m tempted as well.

On page 360, we have Zahhak: the Legend of the Serpent King, from Fantagraphics, a pop up book.  Sounds interesting.  There’s also How to Read Nancy, because nerdy academics love Nancy.  Trina Robbins’s memoir Last Girl Standing is reoffered for some reason.  And the one that’s really going to hurt, the Fantagraphics Studio Edition: Jaime Hernandez, an art book of Xaime’s Love and Rockets art.  So tempting!  So pricey!

And on page 361, they offer Tank Tankuro, a prewar “superhero” manga.  Historical!

First Second offers Cast No Shadow, which is NOT a secret history of the band Oasis, but a story of a newcomer in a weird town who falls in love with a ghost. Sure, why not? Nick Tapalansky is a pretty good writer, so I’ll probably pick this up (page 362).

On the same page from the same publisher, we get Head Games, in which an aging crime novelist gets his hand on the skull of Pancho Villa and tries to sell it, with all the attendant violence it implies. Well, this sounds weird. I love it!

Yeah, that sounds like wacky fun.

Also from them on page 363 is Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani, about a girl whose mother left India years ago, and how she finds a pashmina in her mother’s old suitcase that transports her to an otherworldly India.  Sounds intriguing.

I’m sick of zombie stories, so I don’t think I’ll get Self Storage on page 364 from 451 Media, but I have to admit it’s a good hook – some dude who empties out abandoned storage facilities finds a chick zombie in one of them. What to do with her? Hmmm … am I talking myself into getting this?

I hear you on zombie stories, but this one does sound interesting, so I am definitely considering it.

Flesk Publications has a new printing of the complete Xenozoic by Mark Schultz (aka Cadillacs and Dinosaurs) on page 366.  I’ve always been interested in that one.

Man, you don’t own it? It’s absolutely gorgeous. Pick it up, man!

Also on page 366 is a hardcover of the Special Edition of the Crow, which is of course an excellent comic.  I don’t NEED another version of this, but I think I WANT it.  Gallery 13 offers this as well as Mis(h)adra, a GN about living with epilepsy.

I saw that Crow thing and I’m sorely tempted, although I did resist when it was first offered a few years ago. I own three different versions of the book, and like you, I don’t need this, but dang I want it. I’ll have to think about it!

On page 370, Graphix has The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag, about a boy who lives in a family where the girls become witches and the boys shapeshifters, and he wants to be a witch.  Conflicts arise.

I think GMozz is getting back at Millar.  Heavy Metal (where GMozz edits the main mag, dontchaknow) has a new book called 1985: Black Hole Repo, and of course Millar did the Marvel 1985 book.  Trolling!  Actually, this one sounds good, as I like Moreci’s stuff, and John Bivens is a good artist, and an alternate ’85 where we never slowed the space race.  I may get this in singles, even!

I’m not entirely sure you’re right, but this does sound neat.

Oh, I doubt it’s actually what’s going on, but who knows, maybe this is GMozz’s revenge served cold!

Iron Circus Comics has a couple of interesting ones on page 380.  Letters for Lucardo v1 is about a regular palace scribe who falls in love with a vampire royal, reading between the lines.  As the Crow Flies is about a young teen black girl who’s questioning her belief in God while at an all-white Christian camp.  Eisner nominated!

Man oh man that Akira 35th anniversary box set on page 382 from Kodansha is tempting, but 200 damn dollars.  Tetsuoooooooooooo!

Noble gets a trade on page 391 from Lion Forge. I’m friends with Brandon Thomas on Facebook, so I’ve been hearing about this even before it got published, and then I was waiting for the trade … so it will be keen to finally read it!

Yeah, these Catalyst Prime books sound interesting, but there was a story on Bleeding Cool about how Alex De Campi (writer of Astonisher on page 390) was set to go to a writer’s weekend to plan upcoming books for a company, and when she asked if they’d pay to bring her kid along, since she had nowhere else to take the kid, the company’s response was “well, no other companies that have these retreats have done that before”, which seems to me to be the wrong way to answer that inquiry.  The company wasn’t spelled out in the article (so my apologies to Lion Forge if it’s NOT them), but all signs point to it being Lion Forge.  I think both sides, from the way it was reported, didn’t respond in the best way, but c’mon, Lion Forge, how much extra would it have cost to bring the kid along?  The cost of a plane ticket?  As I said to Rich in an email, didn’t we get Image because Marvel was too cheap to pay for a plane ticket for Jim Lee’s wife?  (Answer: yes.  Yes we did.)

That’s weird. Of course, I take everything from Rich et al. with a grain of salt, but that does seem an odd thing to do. Even odder to me is the idea of a retreat for such a small and new company. That’s bizarre!

Well, I think the retreat was to plan out the future of the Catalyst Prime stuff, like when Marvel or DC have their retreats where they map out how they’re going to do their big crossovers and each time forget to factor in that some artist won’t be able to do 8 giant crossover issue comics in 8 months, but never, oh, plan ahead for that.  Anyway, that was the implication, that they were going to meet for the Catalyst Prime planning and gave the “well, no one else has done that before” answer, which is weak sauce.  (Again, if of course it was Lion Forge.)

El Torres shows up in the Lion Forge section with The Ghost of Gaudí, a graphic novel about a series of murders in Barcelona connected to locations designed by Gaudí. Sounds neat and looks pretty cool.

Yeah, I try to get as much of El Torres’s stuff as possible, as I have been impressed with Rogues and the Westwood Witches.

If you never got around to getting it, Oni has a Whiteout Compendium on page 408, collecting both mini-series for 20 dollars, which is a good deal. Both series are quite good – it was before Rucka’s “strong female lead” thing became a bit clichéd, and Lieber’s art is terrific. Now, if only DC would collect his Hawkman work!!!!!

I did miss that first time around.  In fact, I missed that there were 2 minis, so I will consider this one.  I’ve actually snagged a few Hawkman books in cheapo bins mainly because they have Lieber art!  (Of course, I think they also have Ostrander and Messner-Loebs scripts, so that’s a big draw for me too!)

Hmm, Papercutz has, on page 414, Dracula Marries Frankenstein, which appears to be book 2 in the Anne of Green Bagels series.  That book intrigued me and it’s reoffered here, and the former one is about a movie made by kids, and homophobia.  Heavy stuff for the kids these days!

Also on the same page is High Moon by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis, both cool dudes, and I believe this was originally from DC’s Zuda webcomics line.  Supernatural western, sounds fun!  And I can finally order v4 of their Only Living Boy on page 415, if I want!

I figured you would mention High Moon, so I let you! But yes, I will be getting this.

Rebellion/2000AD has a Scream/Misty Special with a bunch of interesting sounding new horror stories by good British creators.  Cool.

I can’t remember the title it was originally solicited under, but on page 418 Red Giant is resoliciting a book Neal Adams is co-writing, now called The Villain.

Wowie, Scout is doing some neat stuff lately.  On page 422 we’ve got another interesting sounding comic coming from them, Infernoct, a Lovecraftian story where creatures feed on people’s sanity.  Eli Powell on art, and we mentioned him before, didn’t we?

Yeah, Powell drew Yakuza Demon Killers for IDW earlier this year. He’s quite good. You’re right, though – Scout has been doing some interesting stuff. Smoketown (issue #5 is on the same page) has been really (and somewhat surprisingly) good. I’ll still probably wait for the trade on InferNoct (the capital “N” is important, damn it!), though.

There was another book Powell drew too, some licensed thing for Dynamite, because you pointed out then that he’d done Yakuza Demon Killers, too.

From Stranger Comics on page 426, there’s a trade of Niobe: She is Life, which I’ve heard good things about, so I am considering this one.

That art on Titan’s Fighting American is kinda creepy.  But there is also a collection of the original Fighting American comics by Simon and Kirby on page 430 as well, so I will be considering that.

I will consider a trade of the Milligan written Dan Dare on page 432.  I have a soft spot for foreign superhero/adventure characters!

Hmm, that signed art book version of the Book of Ballads by Charles Vess on page 442 is listed at 100 bucks on the online catalog.  Mighty tempting!

TwoMorrows on page 452 has the latest issue of Back Issue (101) with a focus on Rock N Roll comics.  Sounds like fun!  Also, Comic Book Creator 16 focuses on Archie and interviews Dean Haspiel and Dan Parent.  Cool.

Uncivilized Books gives us, on page 453, Futchi Perf, which posits that the future will begin in a basement queer punk show in Cleveland.  Other than the Cleveland part, why not?

Damn, that Eternity 1 art on page 457 from Valiant looks beautiful.  Is it just David Baron on colors, or is Ryan Winn also a colorist (I’m not sure, he may be the inker!).  I’m considering the preorder bundle with the extras on 457.

It seems like he’s the inker. Google is your friend, sir!

I was trying to wrap this up quick!  And with nothing egregious in the back (somehow), it looks like I have done my part!

I guess I’m done, too! I hope everyone has fun trawling through the catalog, finding all the nifty comics within!