Flippin’ through ‘Previews’ – December 2016

It’s time to check out Previews #337, in which we find what might be the greatest Marvel comic ever! Don’t believe me? Read on and find out!

Here we are at our new home for Flippin’ Through Previews! It feels so different! This is Travis Pelkie, and I’m in blue, like I’ve been listening to Morrissey all day, and Greg Burgas is in black … also like he’s been listening to Morrissey all day. Let’s check out the catalog!

Dark Horse:

Dead Inside is a new book on page 47 by John Arcudi and Toni Fejzula, about an investigation into a crime committed inside a prison, and how it affects the woman investigating the crime. Sounds good, but I’ll get it in trade!

Yeah, that does sound good. Arcudi is a decent writer, and the idea sounds neat. I wonder if it’s actually set in the real “Mariposa County,” which is right here.

Tomb Raider Archives HC 1 reprints the first 15 issues of the Top Cow series from ’99, showcasing Lara Croft’s “iconic twin pistols”. She also carries firearms. HIYA! I doubt I’ll get this, but here it is on page 50.

I’m curious because I would like to see the art (including early Francis Manapul, which is probably not great), but yeah, I’m skipping this. Mariko Tamaki writing the new Tomb Raider on the same page is pretty cool, though.

Nostalgia requires that I mention the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Newspaper Comic Strips HC on page 54. I doubt I’ll get it, but I liked that series as a kid. Not sure how it’d hold up if I watched it again.

Man, I hated He-Man. I watched it occasionally, but it was boring. Give me G.I. Motherfucking Joe and Transformers all day, every day.

Huh, they’re already offering the second HC of Angel Catbird on page 55. I didn’t go for v1 yet, but I thought the concept sounded fun, and Johnnie Christmas did some really nice art on Sheltered.

Ah, dammit, I liked the Sabertooth Swordsman book from a few years back, with Aaron Conley’s excellent art, but now they’re offering a new version of that book with a few color stories on page 56. Probably from DHP, which means I probably have them too, but argh, the decisions!

Sweet, a new Trekker GN, Rites of Passage, is offered on page 59. I have the Omnibus that’s offered again, but what a surprise, I haven’t read it yet. Confessions of a Comic Book Hoarder!

If this was the Billy The Sink version of Moby Dick, I’d definitely pick it up, but based on the cover, this looks like a neat version of the story by Christophe Chaboute on page 60.

Yeah, that Sienkiewicz version gets resolicited every so often and then never shows up, so I’m not surprised this isn’t it. Oh well.

Good deal on the first half of Bounty in trade on page 62, with 5 issues for 13 bucks (unless they mousetrap us like Simon always warns us about!). It sounded like a fun book about outer space bounty hunter ladies. I’m in!

It’s a decent comic, but you know they’re going to release a decently-priced version of all ten issues eventually. Don’t be a sucker!

True.  Plus, the online price was 12.99, but the book says 9.99, so they’re already screwy!  Simon says: drop it!

I feel better about the price increase on DHP if they’re going to give us some awesome Francavilla Black Beetle AND Dean Haspiel Red Hook! Hells yeah! (page 62)

Francavilla was supposed to have a second Black Beetle series a few years ago. Maybe this will lead to that!

I may try to read the Groo: Fray of the Gods mini for the folks to read about soon, so they can decide if they want the trade offered on page 64.

Shadows on the Grave is a new series from Richard Corben, so undoubtedly it will look cool, especially in B&W. I’m probably going to wait and get this in trade, though, because that’s how I roll! (page 66)

Yeah, that Corben book looks awesome. But yes, I will also wait for the trade!

Weird Detective is offered in trade on page 69. It doesn’t say if the DHP stories are included — I don’t know why they wouldn’t be! It was a pretty interesting story from what I’d read so far, with a detective dude related to Lovecraftian creatures, so I may go for this trade!

I think it would, because I think that’s what they’ve done with Resident Alien over the years, but it’s not mentioned in the solicit, so who knows?

Huh, the Jesse Marsh Years of Tarzan are collected in a big, $30 book on page 70. I’m interested in Marsh’s work, as I’ve always heard he’s great, so I may go for this work.

Ooh, neato, EC Archives of the series Valor on page 71. Looks like, based on the ’55 date, it was one of the new EC post-Code books that tried to get around the Code as much as possible before just not succeeding. I don’t know that this has ever been collected in a hardcover before, so I may spring for this.

Fifty bucks? I’m totally in for that. Krigstein, Ingels, Wood, Williamson, Orlando, Crandall, and Evans? Hells yes.

DC:

DC Rebirth Holiday Special 1 on page 80 sounds pretty decent. Wait, this new Huntress is Jewish? She used to be very Catholic! But Wonder Woman interrupting a Constantine pagan celebration sounds like it could be good. A Paul Dini Harley Quinn framing story, plus the return of Detective Chimp?! I don’t think I can pass this up!

Yeah, Helena Bertinelli was extremely Catholic in the 1989 series. I have no idea what’s going on with her these days, but I guess she’s Jewish now!

Well wait a friggin’ minute!  We’ve got Batgirl and the Birds of Prey 5 on page 86, and right there on the cover is Huntress in a Catholic church.  WTH?  And such secrets, too.  Babs READS BOOKS, and Dinah GOES TO RECORD SHOPS!  OH NOES!

Bwah-ha-ha-ha. That is funny. Is DC just covering ALL their religious bases? I mean, they could have used Ragman for a Chanukah story, couldn’t they?

In Cyborg #6 (page 89), we get … SHE-BORG!!!!! And that’s her “code name,” so I assume at some point that is actually written in the issue, and it’s not just idiotic solicitation hype. Because … She-Borg? Really, DC?

I assume she’s from She-Borg-an Wisconsin.

Man, I should banish you from the site for that.

But you can’t, man!  HA!

DC, always giving the people what they want (page 100):

I think Shakespeare said it best with ASS: You Like It.

Man, I should definitely ban you from the site for that!

Superman 12 and 13 on page 103 feature Frankenstein and the Bride, so that might be neat.  Probably not, though!

And Trinity 4 on page 107 features the Black Mercy, because there is no little thing from an Alan Moore story that they can’t leave alone.  When does that lady from his 2 part Vigilante story come back?!

On reflection, I think the reason the New Talent Showcase stuff irked me so much last month was that I thought the idea that working for the big 2 was finally “working in comics” was an archaic notion. Like, for example, Joelle Jones — I liked Lady Killer a lot, I’ll be getting the second trade, and I’d get more of that or more of any other creator owned property she might do. But if she gets sucked into the DC mechanism, she won’t be as likely to do creator owned stuff as much. And while I’d still plan on getting that DC stuff, I’d greatly prefer she was doing more of her own stuff. But maybe that’s just me.

Speaking of Jones (I’m so clever!) Supergirl: Being Super 1 of 4 on page 115 sounds a little dumb in theory, but it’s got Mariko Tamaki and Joelle Jones as the creative team, so I’m very interested. But 6 bucks an issue? I’ll wait for the trade!

Oh, definitely. Even with the higher page count, that feels like highway robbery, as my mother always says (she totally does!).

Oh, yeah, that crappy Adam Strange/Hawkman book is now called the Death of Hawkman (page 116). Because that’s such a rare occurrence!

From what I’ve seen, not only have they added a ninth issue to DK3, but the 7th issue offered on page 117 is already cancelled. Good planning ahead, DC!

So the resolicited issue on page 117 is already cancelled and will be (I suppose) resolicited at a later date? Yeah, that makes sense.

I will want the new Direct Currents mag, because I am a sucker for preview mags! (page 127)

I’m intrigued by the Aquaman Rebirth trade on page 128, especially since it’s 8 issues for 17 bucks. I think Hatcher has been digging on it, so maybe he can let us know!

I’m curious as to what Manbat stories are included in the Batman Arkham Manbat trade on page 132. The early Frank Robbins stories are lovely and moody. I wonder if the Delano mini would be included?

Well, it has that Ditko story that people told me to get when I was doing “Year of the Artist,” so there’s that. That Delano series was pretty keen. Beautiful art.

Did you find a listing of the contents somewhere? D’oh, now I realize, it says Ditko is one of the artists in the solicit, and presumably he only did one Man-Bat story.  I’m dumb.

I may go for the Bloodlines trade on page 133, because I’m a bit of a sucker for lame ass characters like that, and the artist, V. Ken Marion, is from my area!

I think Greg Rucka must have negotiated a deal to get his older DC stuff back into print when he returned to Wonder Woman, because first there was that Death and the Maidens book, and now his run on Checkmate is collected, on page 135. I have a good run of this book that I picked up for a quarter an issue, I think, and now I just have to read it …

Checkmate was stupendous when Rucka was writing it. Then Bruce Jones (I think) came on board, and things were … not great. Not terrible, but not that great, either.

Is Emerald Dawn worth a 30 dollar trade?  It kind of turned Hal Jordan into a douche, didn’t it? (page 136)

I don’t really think it’s worth it. They’re not the worst two mini-series in the world, but they’re not great, either. And yes, Hal is kind of a dick in them, but I guess he learns a valuable lesson about not drinking and driving?

Hmm, I keep hearing that the Injustice: Gods Among Us storyline is pretty good, but it’s that sort of grimdark story that I don’t know if I want to support with my dollars. What do I do?!? Oh, yeah, just not get either! (Year Two collection on page 136, Year One reoffered on page 146)

I got all the issues that are collected in the Justice League United v3 trade, except for the Sneak Peek story, which is only appearing in print in the trade. ARGH! (page 137)

The second trade of Starfire is offered here, and there were a number of great artists on this book. You got the first trade, no? How was it? (v2 on page 138, v1 reoffered on page 139)

Yeah, I’m getting the trade just for Lupacchino’s and Charretier’s art. The first trade was fine – not a great story, but dang, it looked great.

Astro City 41 is the 100th issue. Um, the solicit says, “This amazing anniversary issue features two covers: one by regular cover artist Alex Ross, and the other by the great Alex Ross!” Uh-wha?! I think they’re trying to be clever, but it just doesn’t work for me! (page 140)

It’s obvious they’re just funnin’ with us, and I found it humorous. Your soul is dead, I guess.

It’s not obvious already?  I made Morrissey jokes!

I’ll have to get around to reading Unfollow TP 1, to see if I want TP 2 on page 145! It sounded neat, so I better find out if I want more!

Volume 1 was okay, but nothing great. It just didn’t grab me like I hoped it would.

Oh my, that DC Bombshells Raven statue on page 147!  Damn, no wonder it looked familiar, looks like most of these DC figures got resolicited for some reason.  Oops!

Hey, I likes what I likes!

HA! Lookit that skinny Swamp Thing figure on page 152!  His limbs got pruned!

IDW:

I never got into Locke and Key, but there’s a new one shot offered here on page 154 for those who did like it.

I got the first trade, and like you, it didn’t do much for me. But good for them coming back with a little bonus book!

A new Star Trek/Green Lantern team up series on page 157.  Was the first one worth getting, folks?

Huh, the Micronauts first trade is 20 bucks for 6 issues.  The JHW3 covers may persuade me to go for this!

Jeez, how many times have they restarted GI Joe comics just at IDW?   A lot, methinks! (page 160)

Yeah, Giannis Milonogiannis on art is interesting. Not the first artist I’d think of when it comes to G.I. Joe.

Oh, man, they’re tempting me though, because in Revolutionaries 1 on page 159 and in GI Joe 1, there are variant versions with mini comics of Sgt Savage done by Joe motherfuggin’ Kubert!  Damn, I’m intrigued!

Jem spins off another ongoing (?), The Misfits, by our pal Kelly!  Glenn Danzig is going to look so cool in this art style!  Probably getting this in singles, although now that Kelly is writing ALL the comics, my wallet is gonna be hurting! (page 167)

Oh, cool, a collection of Brendan McCarthy’s Judge Dredd work!  I am very tempted!  (page 172)

Yeah, I’m getting that. Very cool.

I was not aware that he was actually a co-writer on the latest Mad Max movie.  Huh.  Thought he just did visual storyboard type stuff.  Cool.

Aleister Arcane is offered in trade on page 176.  I have the first 2 issues from way back, and it was pretty good, from what I remember.  I’ll have to find that and give it a look!

Love is Love, on page 177, an anthology offered to help those injured in the Orlando shooting earlier in the year.  Noble intentions, although there was a post on Bleeding Cool that took issue with a lot of the contributors being straight white people.

That’s also in the DC section, which is nice. I don’t know about that objection – I don’t know (or really care) how many comics creators are gay, but it does seem like they got creators who are fairly well-known, and they would, after all, like to sell copies. That’s the problem with something like this – you want to give a higher profile to gay creators, but what if they’re just not as popular as the straight ones? It’s a conundrum!!!!

Gumballs seems like it might be interesting.  Comics by someone who grew up a triplet and is also gender transitioning.  I’ll probably wait for a collection, though. (page 178)

Ashley Wood’s Popbot is offered here on page 179.  I like his stuff well enough.  Where’s my Automatic Kafka collection, dammit!?!

Damn, that Electric Sublime regular cover on page 180 is damn cool!

John Byrne’s Cold War spy book is collected in a cheap 8 dollar book on page 182, so I may be picking this up.  Sounds like espionage fun!

It’s okay. Nice Byrne art, but he’s a very meat-and-potatoes writer in a lot of ways, so it doesn’t really do anything too surprising. But it’s not bad.

Mmm, meat and potatoes!

I’m tempted by the Jay Disbrow Monster Invasion HC on page 189, because I think I’ve liked what I’ve seen of his stuff in Haunted Horror.  Maybe!

Image:

Motor Crush 1 from the Batgirl team on page 192 — sounds cool and will of course look great, but I may go for this in trade.  Cuz I’m like that.

I’ll probably get this in singles, because I’m a sucker.

Looking again, I see there’s a backup strip, so I may be getting this in singles too.

Rockstars 1 on page 194 has a cool premise, rock n roll intersecting with the weird and mysterious, so I’m definitely in for the trade.  Will it cross over with This Damned Band?!

This sounds neat. You’re right, though – it needs to crossover with This Damned Band.

Also, I believe this book is destined to take the place of the mudshark in your mythology.  To quote a wise man!

What the huh? Shutter 25 on page 204 has a brunch crossover with the early Image heroes and the Shutter cast.  Brunch?

That’s … odd.

Um, Freudian slip there on page 222, calling the Stray Bullets subtitle “Guns and Roses” instead of “Sunshine and Roses”.  Welcome to the Jungle!

That’s awesome. I always think of this arc as “Guns and Roses,” so I’m not surprised someone else made that mistake!

Beowulf on page 225 might be neat, since David Rubin is a good artist.  I prefer Kid Beowulf, though!

I wonder if it will have the entire thing, including his death. Everyone’s always about his fight with Grendel, when that was the easiest of his tasks!

Well, that’s a bit off-putting.  I assumed that Eden’s Fall was a 4 issue story, but looking at the solicit on page 228, it’s 3 issues, and the trade includes the first issue of each of the 3 series that crossover in this book, Think Tank, Postal, and The Tithe.  Good stuff, but now I guess I might just grab the singles of EF when I see them.  Glad my shop had #1 and a couple copies of #2 when I was in there!  I’ll pick them up soon!

I haven’t read issue #2 yet (I’m turning into you, man!), but that’s really weird. The first issue seemed to be setting things up for something a bit longer, like 6-8 issues, so I’m not sure how he’s going to wrap it up in three issues. There’s no issue solicited this month, though, so I guess it really is over! [I have now read issue #2, and yeah, it speeds to a place where it looks like it’s going to end with issue #3. I’m not sure if that was always the plan, but it felt really quick!]

I may pick up the trade of the latest Howard Chaykin thing, Midnight of the Soul, offered on page 229.  Crime and post-WWII are things that Chaykin’s done before, and he’s pretty good at it.  Hmm, says 9.99 in the book, but 14.99 online.  I think the online’s probably right!

To keep my Chynna Clugston Flores collection complete, I will be picking up the color version of Scooter Girl on page 230.  Better read Blue Monday, too!  Um, I can’t tell from what I’m reading, is this a reprint or not?  I think it’s a new color version of an older book.  I think our pal Seth T. Hahne mentioned that.

I’m pretty sure it’s a reprint. I wasn’t too impressed with the first volume of Blue Monday, to be honest. But I do like Clugston Flores, so I’m definitely getting this!

Throwaways TP 1 on page 231 has only 4 issues for 10 bucks, but the story, of a mind control experiment gone wrong, and the two kids who survived it, sounded interesting, so I’m probably in!

I’m way behind on Manifest Destiny, but I liked it enough when I did read it that I’ll probably just keep ordering it in trade, like volume 4 on page 234!

I’m behind on Rumble, but that was outré enough that I want more regardless. Volume 3 is offered on page 236.

And news from Image Plus 6 — Brandon Graham talks about shifting backgrounds by creators, and David Brothers talks about how “left field” comics are the new normal.  Plus, a lot of cool looking comics previews, mostly of stuff I already have or already ordered, though!

Marvel:

Is U.S.Avengers (page 8) going to be pure, gung-ho patriotism (from a British writer, mind you)? It sounds really dumb, but for some reason, I think it would be worse if Ewing tried to make it satire. I’m all for criticizing the U.S., but it seems like low-hanging fruit.

That may be why I basically overlooked this, I just assumed it’d be too easy “commentary”.  Also, isn’t Squirrel Girl Canadian?

I have no problem with Shulkie now being THE Hulk, but I am a bit alarmed that this normally … happy-go-lucky? character is getting grimdark here.  Hey, Mariko Tamaki is doing that Supergirl mini too!  That’s got to be the first time the same woman is writing one of the main female characters for each of the big 2 at the same time! (page 13)

I hate, hate, HATE this idea. I can’t even express how much a I hate it, except by repeating “hate” over and over. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE!!!!!!!! The word has lost all meaning.

It now means love, and up is down, and Big Brother is watching you.

While I believe that Kelly liked everything about Kate Bishop that I hated about the character in the Fraction/Aja run, I will have faith that she will make me like Kate with the new Hawkeye book!  I believe, sir!  I’m just getting this one in trade, though, sorry!  Shouldn’t that be that she takes aim AT danger, not on? And that’s so sexist, calling her the “Adorable Archer” 😉 (page 14)

I noticed the “adorable” immediately, too. You might be joking, what with your little emoticon and all, but I think that’s awful. It’s even kind of inaccurate – Kate in Fraction’s run wasn’t really all that “adorable,” I didn’t think. So this is wrong on so many levels.

I find it amusing that a book that Kelly is writing has a tagline that comes across as sexist like that.  I find it somewhat hard to believe that she wrote the tagline, but I don’t know.  That is a questionable description, even if it’s supposed to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

That arrow is quite phallic.

I’ll wait and see, maybe the Slapstick series on page 16 will sound good and I’ll get the trade.

So Pepper Potts Iron Man is called “Rescue”? Superhero names have become like car names – all the good ones are taken, so they just pick random nouns and verbs. “The latest Marvel sensation: TAKE-OUT FOOD!!!!! Watch as he … takes out the trash after a good meal of ass-kicking!!!!”

Yeah, I think she was first called Rescue several years back.  The Transformers laugh at how lame that name is!

I’m totally juvenile, I know, but that solicit text on page 37 about Champions 3 is funny: “the problem with movements is that not even the Hulk can control them!”  HAHAHAHAHA!

I don’t care if you’re juvenile, that’s pretty funny.

Is Miles Morales’s father really named after the presidency of the Confederacy (page 46)? That seems … strange.

Um, yeah, that is weird.  Also, howcum his last name isn’t Morales (or alternatively, why is Miles’s last name Morales and not Davis)?

OK, who can pass up that Power Man and Iron Fist Sweet Christmas Annual on page 57?  Well, me, actually, but that’s a great title.

That Dr. Strange/Punisher crossover book on page 64 is so weird, it might be good.  Or outright awful.  Who knows?!

Back when I read Original Sin and Strange and Frank teamed up, I said Marvel should do a series starring them. I HAVE SUCH POWER!!!! This will only work if they lean into the “Odd Couple” aspect of it. I fear they won’t, but we’ll see. If they do, this could be that greatest comic in Marvel history I teased at the top!

I usually don’t like the Todd McFarlane Spider-Man #1 cover homages, because they don’t do much with it, but I do like this cover (page 90):

Me likee that Medusa Marvel Gallery PVC Diorama figure.  I think she borrowed her outfit from Black Widow!  (page 102 — also on page 510-511 of the regular book!)

I believe I gathered up all the issues of this run, but haven’t read them all (what?!).  What I did read, I liked a lot, of the X-Men Legacy run starring Legion, so that Omnibus is probably a good one.  I thought the X-Men Legacy 300 issue had a story with Legion in it too, though.  Is that not in there?  Oops. (page 108)

I don’t know about that issue, but the series is pretty self-contained. I hadn’t read issue #300, but I wasn’t lost. It’s a pretty cool series, though. $75 for 24 issues ain’t bad, either.

I’m going to wait for a big trade/Omni of this run of Black Panther.  But V2 is there on page 115.

Yeah, I probably will, too. Marvel trades are becoming terrible values, for the most part.

The second A-Force trade is offered on page 118, with Kelly’s solo writing run.  What I looked at of this looked good!

I liked the first volume of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur well enough (as we know!) that I may go for the second trade on page 119.  It was a cute book and I had hopes that it would get better.

Yeah, I wasn’t impressed with it, so I’ll skip this one!

What happens if we don’t preorder that Nighthawk book on page 126?  It makes us bad comics fans, right?

Was that a Bendis joke, sir?!?!?!?

Are we allowed to make those here?  Then yes, yes it was.

That Ellis Avengers OGN is in SC now on page 127.  Was it any good, people who read it?

Hot damn, that Monsters Unleashed Prelude book on page 129 sounds cool, though!  I dunno about all the newer stuff they’re including, but the old stuff must be good!  That is some weird porn that Greg Land is tracing for the cover of that, though!

That Marvelman book on page 134 is still not the one that anyone wants, Marvel!

I saw that and chuckled. Maybe this means it will be back on the schedule soon? Maybe? Please?

The Bruce Jones/Brent Anderson Ka-Zar series is starting to be collected on page 137.  Hmm.  I’ve heard good things about this, so I might consider it.  But why this, why now?!

I’ll probably get this, but I’m still mulling it over.

I’m nostalgically attracted to that Wolverine: Weapon X Unbound TP on page 138, as it collects stuff from the Hama/Silvestri/Kubert run that I first came in on.  Hoo hah!

I’ve gotten the other trades of the Hama/Kubert run, so I’m picking this up. I actually own Wolverine #50, with the die-cut cover, even though I wasn’t buying Wolverine at the time. I bought it in Australia, in a small grocery store, and the only reason I got it was because it was the only comic I saw there that had replaced the corner box with the American prices with the price in Australian dollars. The comics I bought in Melbourne were imported directly from the U.S. so they had American prices on them and the retailers just adjusted on the fly. But this one had an Australian price, which I thought was neat. Maybe it was a second printing, and that’s why they stuck the Australian price on it. I know, cool story, bro!

Hey, I liked it!  That is neat, because the cover would have been different paper stock, so probably they printed Australian versions since they were printing so many other copies.  I got #51, but that’s a story for another column, dammit!  I’m not using all my A-material here (that’s for sure!). (Do I even have A-material?)

Hmm.  While I didn’t go wild for the Spidey Treasury recently, I am considering the Heroes of Power Treasury on page 139.  Seeing that Ms. Marvel issue bigger might be cool, but the rest of the book doesn’t strike me as overly interesting.  Decisions!

Let’s get to the back of the book, where the true treasures lie!

Aardvark-Vanaheim offers the remastered version of Going Home, the 13th volume of Cerebus, on page 252.  This is where I came in to stay.  It’s got appearances from Bill Tucci (iirc), Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, as well as an interesting “rewriting” of F. Scott Fitzgerald.  Remastering this stuff doesn’t come cheap, so this is a 40 dollar book, but it is SO worth it.  I have all the issues and I’m STILL going to get this!

Adhouse has 2 volumes of Centifolia, apparently a Stuart Immonen sketchbook series, on page 253.  Cool.  That might be worth getting.

Here’s an adaptation of Artful, a novel by PAD, from Action Lab that throws vampires into the story of the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist.  Why not?

The Circle 1, on page 255 is a book where a new kid in town falls in with the “weird” kids, and they get involved with an occult ritual.  He’s got to kill them to live, says his … gypsy neighbor.  Because of course gypsies know all about curses and stuff.  Sigh.  This sounds interesting, though, and judging from the cover art, Alyzia Zherno has a gothy style that would suit this book just right.  I will wait for the trade!

Where are you getting “gypsies”? Some fancy solicitation that I can’t find? It doesn’t say that in the catalog. Where are you getting your information, Pelkie?!?!?!?

Well, it’s right in the online solicit.  I see now that it didn’t make the print version!

Voracious: Feeding Time 1 on page 256 picks up from the first mini.  I got the trade of that, but haven’t gotten to reading it yet.  Maybe before the orders are due!  The variant cover is by Ed Luce and is an homage to the Smiths, so that’s pretty cool.  Even better, it’s the cassette tape cover that’s being homaged!  This might be worth the extra buck!  I loved when Morrissey was on the old Colbert show, and Colbert told him that by equating Meat and Murder, he’d convinced him that murder is delicious.  Ha, gotcha, ya pretentious git!

The first trade of Voracious was quite good, actually. I’m looking forward to the next one!

AfterShock has, on page 258, the first trade of Rough Riders, the LOEG-esque turn of the 20th century team up book.  It sounds neat, and I like Pat Olliffe from Untold Tales of Spider-Man, so I’m interested, despite the fact that Aftershock pulled that bait and switch on their first 2 trades (as our pal Simon made mention of on a post from The Beat that I came across totally coincidentally — suddenly it’s my name in the comments!  Gah!).   20 bucks for 7 issues is a decent deal these days.  If they don’t change it in the meantime …

I don’t have a ton of confidence in Adam Glass, but I’m still getting this. I dig the high concept that much!

Now that Albatross Funnybooks’s Spookhouse on page 264 is going to feature Steve Mannion and Stephanie Gladden each issue, I guess I have to get this book regularly.  Damn you, Eric Powell!  Well, I decided that I’d wait for a trade, though, after my guy said he had trouble getting the third issue of Hillbilly, so there better be a trade, Powell!

Alternative has Dad’s Weekend on page 264, with conspiracy theories and mental illness and family time.  Sounds like my life!

American Gothic Press has Famous Monsters Presents Tales from the Acker-Mansion, to celebrate the 100th birthdate of Forrest J. Ackerman, with comics and prose, on page 270.  Sounds like a neat lineup of creators, but at 50 bucks for a SC, this is quite pricey.

Antarctic Press gives us, on page 272, a trade of Ultracat, which looks like a cute superhero cat story.  I’ll consider it.

Also on page 272, I suspect the Gold Digger Ancient Records book isn’t the best place to start with that series, huh?  I guess people like that book, though, it’s gone 240 issues (and that might not include a volume before that), so it’s approaching Cerebus territory!

My store gets one copy of Gold Digger, and I guess that dude is just really into it. Good for Fred Perry!

Is it wrong to say that the Alexander Hamilton book, also from Antarctic on page 273, seems to be cashing in on something else?  Yes?  Too late, I said it anyway.

Well, I mean, you’re not wrong.

I may spring for that Archie New Riverdale Cover Book.  They only reprinted the covers for the first Archie trade very tiny in the back, and I wanna see them embiggened!  I’m wondering why the Betty and Veronica one is the same price, but only has covers from the first 3 issues, while the Archie one features the first 12.  Weird!

Cheesecake costs more, man!

AH!  Of course!

As you’ll hopefully find out soon, I recently read the first trade of the new Archie book, and while I liked it plenty, no part of me said, “You know what, REGGIE needs his own series!”  But here one is, Reggie and Me, on page 276.  I do like Sandy Jarrell’s art, though.  That said, I may go for the Reggie’s 80 Page Giant comic also offered here on page 277 with classic Archie style art.

Well, there’s the chance for me to catch up with Avatar‘s Über, on pages 284-285, as the trades of the first series are offered in conjunction with the new Invasion series that’s offered here.  I got the first arc and liked it well enough, but just didn’t feel the need or desire to keep getting it in singles.  Maybe the trades!

Cinema Purgatorio 8 on page 286 has solicit text online referring to “deep-seeded dread”.  That makes more sense than what I always thought it was, “deep-seated”.  Am I just deaf, or is “deep-seated” a thing?  (Well, hell, in the book, it’s “deep-seated”.  But I kinda like “deep-seeded”.  I think I’ll use both!)

It’s “deep-seated.” But “deep-seeded” does make sense in a metaphorical way.

Bantam/Spectra‘s Louis L’Amour Law of the Desert Born GN, with Tom Yeates art, on page 288, is custom made for our pal Hatcher, isn’t it?  I’m intrigued enough to consider it, too!

Heck, I might get it!

Just in general, I am fucking sick of seeing coloring books offered for every damn property around.  The bottom has got to drop out on this trend soon, no?  Please?

Big Finish reprints some old UK Avengers Steed and Mrs. Peel comic strips that were more recently adapted to audio, which are also offered as well on page 289.  Sounds *ahem* interesting, anyway.  If I were more familiar with the property, I’d be more interested.

Big Planet/Retrofit has Our Mother, by Luke Howard, a somewhat experimentally done comics autobio work about growing up with a parent with an anxiety disorder, on page 289.  This sounds intriguing.

Black Mask offers a trade of the first two volumes of Godkiller Walk Among Us,on page 290.  I don’t know much about this book, and the solicit isn’t all that clear about what happens, but I might go for it.  Plus, there’s a new book of this, Tomorrow’s Ashes, with a Blu-Ray of the animated feature.  Hmm.  I’d have to, y’know, get a Blu-Ray player, but I am intrigued.

Anna Wieszczyk is a good artist, so this has always intrigued me. Now that’s it’s all collected, I will probably pick it up.

Also, there’s Kim and Kim TP 1, interdimensional cowboy law enforcers that are queer and trans women.  Sounds like it could be fun.  Alert!  Page 292 in the book says it’s a 9.99 book, but the online listing says 12.99.  Proceed with caution!

Boom! has a Klaus and the Witch of Winter one shot on page 297.  Were you getting the Klaus series?  How is it?

Nah, I figured I’d wait for the trade. At some point, they’ll release it in a softcover, so I can wait.

Yeah, they’ll probably include this special in the SC but not the HC.  Take that, suckers who got the HC!

On page 299, the final volume of The Killer is offered. I guess I shouldn’t have written about this for Comics You Should Own back in the day (I don’t write about things unless they’re finished), but I thought it was finished, man! It’s an excellent comic, and I’m looking forward to this.

Below that is the trade for Kong of Skull Island. I don’t think the trailer for the movie looks as awesome as everyone seems to think, but this comic looks pretty good, as Carlos Magno’s art is pretty keen.

Somewhere I have the first issue of John Flood, but (and I know this will shock you) I didn’t read it yet.  Here there’s a trade of the complete series on page 301.

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers issue 10 solicit online says “Special standalone issue featuring guest artist XXXX!”  I love the work of XXXX!  Apparently, it’s Jon Lam, according to page 303.

Because it sounds so much fun, I’m going to mention our pal Kelly’s Mega Princess series again, on page 305.  Issue 2 has a visit to the Tiny Kingdom.

Caliber reprints the Image series The Disciples, which was a story about magic users in Las Vegas and stuff.  It was pretty dang good, as I recall, so I recommend this one!  Laurence Campbell’s art has a Tony Harris look to it. (page 314)

Does it? DOES IT?!?!?!?

It does, DAMMIT!  At least based on the covers.  Shut up!

Sin Eternal: Return to Dante’s Inferno GN has artists like Guy Davis, Vince Locke, Michael Lark, and David Mack, showing that Caliber in the ’90s was the company that had the biggest influence on the ’00s!  I have an issue of this (just called Sin, I believe) with Gary Reed’s phone number written in it, oddly enough.  He must have signed it or used it as a notepad for whomever I got it from!  (It’s mostly crossed out, Gary, even if it was still working anyway!  I won’t be calling you!)

The Velda: Girl Detective GN is an homage to old time noir comics that sounds pretty interesting on page 315.  I may go for this one!

Yeah, I saw that. It seems neat.

Chapterhouse has, on page 316, the fifth and final issue of Spirit Leaves, which was an interesting sounding book, so I hope they offer a nice trade soon.

Comfort and Adam offers the first two volumes of The Uniques, a story of teen superheroes in the ’90s that sounds interesting, on page 317.

I bought Rainbow in the Dark from them at ECCC this year, and because I’m turning into you, I haven’t read it yet. It looks cool, though, and they were really nice people.

Despite being Dio fans?

I’m kind of annoyed by Jon Sable Freelance Omnibus volume 4 on page 318 from ComicMix. Mainly because I have no idea when volume 3 was offered, because I would have picked it up! To the internets to find it!

I … I can’t recall.  I know ComicMix has been re-releasing these (I think IDW did them first), but yeah, I don’t remember if I saw v3.  I have a good chunk of this series, so I haven’t been looking out for the Omnis, because guess who hasn’t read them yet?

A co-publication with Dynamite and DC, there’s a crossover, Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic Woman on page 322-323.  We know Hatcher’s getting that one!  Great idea, and if I knew more about the Bionic Woman I’d be more excited.  As it is, I’m getting this in trade for sure.  With the big talk about WW this week, will this be the kind of crossover men like, if you get my drift?  Chick-a-boom-pow!  (I’m a bad person!)

Dynamite offers Red Sonja #0 for only a quarter on page 325.  How can you pass that up?

Green Hornet: Reign of the Demon on page 326 sounds like a fun 4 issue mini where an imitator of the Hornet comes into play, if I’m understanding this right.  David Liss is a pretty good writer, so I may even get this in singles.  Especially since a 4 issue trade is bound to still be like, 15-20 bucks.

This does sound pretty good. I’m still waiting to see the price of the trade, though.

Kings Quest, a mini teaming up the King Features heroes, is collected here on page 334.  Sounds like fun, and I dig Dan McDaid’s art.

I’m a bit curious about the Miss Fury trade on page 338. Corinna Bechko is a decent writer, and Jonathan Lau is a decent artist. So it might be – dare I say it? – decent.

Fantagraphics has a new EC collection with Will Elder, Al Feldstein, and Ray Bradbury stories, called The Million Year Picnic, a Bradbury story that also gave its name to a really cool comic shop in the Boston area. (page 353)

They also have, on page 352, The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood, which I will happily plunk down 40 bucks for, and the second volume of The Complete Crepax: The Time Eater and Other Stories. That one’s 75 dollars, but I’m still very tempted, because Guido Crepax is quite awesome.

Heavy Metal 284 has a Hitler vs. Jesus cover.  Yes, that IS the one I’ll be ordering, thank you.  Aw, damn, looks like they finally have to raise the cover price a buck for all the talent that GMozz is bringing to the mag, though!

Heavy Metal FINALLY gets the Reincarnate trade out on page 364.  This was solicited back in ’15 sometime, because I’ve had it on order for ages!  I’ll finally get this, even though they originally solicited as a 10 dollar book, and it’s now 13 bucks.

I’ve been waiting for that, too. Good job getting it into Previews! Now … will it come out?!?!?

The Narcopolis Continuum trade is offered here for 10 bucks, also on 364, all about a time travel drug.  Sounds like it could be fun.

Hermes has the book Creators of the Superheroes offered here on page 364, with interviews with the early stars of comics, and includes the original Superman comic strips, as well as the Wonderman strip Eisner did that DC sued over.  A bit pricey, but it might be worth it with that stuff.

Oh, sweet, the deluxe edition of Sophie Campbell’s Shadoweyes is available from Iron Circus on page 367.  I’m in!

Yeah, Spike Trotman, who runs Iron Circus, is a one-woman comics-creating-and-publishing machine, so it’s very cool that she picked this up. I wish her luck, even though I’m not getting this because, you know, I already own it.

Keenspot offers us, on page 372, Marry Me, a story of a pop star that accepts the proposal of a random fan.  What could go wrong?

Little, Brown and Co. have, on page 378, One Hundred Nights of Hero GN, a take on the 1001 Arabian Nights story.  Isabel Greenberg did the Encyclopedia of Early Earth, which was a pretty interesting comic.

Magnetic/Darby Pop offers the trade of Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises on page 380, which was a cool sounding trade where Bruce Lee found he was still alive and had to fight people and stuff.  Not sure how may issues this includes, but it sounds fun!

On page 381, Nobrow gives us SP4RX, a sci-fi tale of a hacker who fights a corporation offering the working class cybernetic implants.  Wren McDonald’s art looks neat from the cover shown.

Oni offers us Another Castle in trade on page 383 (I guess, it’s not entirely clear that this is a collection of the series that came out recently, but I assume it must be!).  I liked the look of the Paulina Ganucheau art, and the story of a princess having to become the hero of the story is neat.  I may be in!

Oni/Limerence offers us Oh Joy Sex Toy Coloring Book on page 385.  OK, maybe I take back some of what I said about coloring books.  Damn!

Papercutz has Disney Great Parodies: Mickey’s Inferno on page 389.  Because of course Mickey Mouse would be in Dante’s Inferno.  Oy, how weird!  I hope he meets up with Cerebus while he’s in hell!  I might get this, though!

The guy looks like a douche on the cover, but Red 5‘s Foster Broussard: Demons of the Gold Rush TP sounds fun, with a conman who has to find gold in the Gold Rush era when all sorts of antagonists face off against him. (page 393)

Hey, it’s a new Chuck Dixon comic book, from Regnery, on page 393.  Oh, it’s an adaptation of a book, that’s interesting.  Clinton Cash, sounds like a new spy dude or military guy … oh … wait … I see what it is now.  Moving on …

You have to remember that Dixon is one of those rare conservatives in comics, so of course he’d be down with a book ripping the Clintons!

Scout Comics has Solarman collected on page 394, which was an old Marvel/Stan Lee thing.  Hey, it’s got art by Aztek’s N. Steven Harris.  Must be good!

Jeezaloo, Once Our Land was a 2 issue story for 8 bucks in singles, and now it’s collected for 13 bucks, also on page 394.  Glad I got the singles.  I’ll have to read this before the order date, to let everyone know if it’s worth getting in trade!

Yeah, that’s a bit spendy. It’s a pretty good comic, though, but it would have been nice if they didn’t price it so high. I think it would have been better with maybe one more issue, though.

Sabretooth Dan is apparently a book done by a pseudonymous animator, and it sounded like a sword and sorcery Calvin and Hobbes, from the solicits.  I’m very interested.  Again, on page 394.

Terminal Protocol is about a doctor whose husband is dying, so she’s trying to find a cure for his illness, and she pushes the limits to cure him.  Sounds really neat, and the art is by Rem Broo, who did the art on the End Times of Bram and Ben, which was a really good mini from a few years back.  Lookit that, it’s on page 394 as well!

Fuck yeah Titan for bringing Hookjaw back in a 5 issue mini!  It’s a fucking shark with a hook in his jaw!!! (page 404)

215 Ink has a book on page 424 called Dr. Crowe, with a dude in a bird/death mask fighting the supernatural in pulpy style.  I’m interested, maybe even enough to get this in singles!

TwoMorrows Publishing has their usual selection of excellent comics mags and books.  The third volume of All Star Companion, with stories about those characters over the years, a book on John Romita, and the latest issue of Back Issue (#94) has indie superheroes.  Hey, Trumbull, do you have an article in there? (page 424 for BI, 425 for the rest)

Valiant has cat cosplay covers.  Oy vey.  I take back what I said about coloring books.

Viz has Tomie in a complete HC, a Junji Ito horror book about an immortal succubus.  They also reoffer Junji Ito’s Gyo and Uzumaki here, too.  I should get some of that some time!  (page 441)

Yen Press has Reindeer Boy on page 450, about a guy with antlers named Cupid that’s a new transfer student to a school.  Weird!

Z2 has a new Cullen Bunn series on page 454, Grave Lilies, where empty stasis tubes are found in a city, but the women inside are wandering around with amnesia and with powers.  This won’t end well, will it?  I’ll probably wait for a trade.

Back of the back of the book!

OOOOOOH Doctor, from Hermes, it seems, on page 463, is a history of “nurse novels”, which are apparently a thing.  I’m just not familiar with it yet!  Probably cool for the art.  If the stories are like the Marvel Night Nurse collection, though, they’re actually pretty neat.  I really liked that collection Marvel put out a couple years ago.

It’s very pricey, but the University of Mississippi Press book on page 463, The 10 Cent War: Comic Books, Propaganda, and WWII sounds interesting about how comics played a role in the war effort.  It’s all intellemectual and stuff!

Also on page 463, from Totalmojo, is a look at the first comic con, The 1964 NY Comicon.  I wonder if that’s the one where someone was an asshole to Ditko and he decided to not go to another one!  They also have a book on page 464, a mystery novel called The Confounding Case of the Comic Collector Killer, where fans of characters die in ironic ways, like a Human Torch fan burning to death!

HarperCollins has a new bio of George Herriman by Michael Tisserand on page 464 called Krazy: The Black and White World of George Herriman.  I don’t always get Krazy Kat, but overall it’s a great strip.

Donald Grant Publishing has 2 Roger Zelazny novels illustrated by Vaughn Bode on page 468.  Cool.

There’s a cute POP! figure of the Batgirl of Burnside on page 527 that’s tempting me!

HA, the Lemmy POP! figure on page 529 even has the warts on his face!  That’s great!

There’s a Deadpool bust statue on page 534 where he’s actually supposed to be like Caesar with the bust sitting on a column.  Clever!

And to conclude, that Daredevil Radar Sense Heat Change mug on page 612 is pretty cool.  Or hot, I guess.

In conclusion this first go round in our new home, I’d just like to give a shoutout to my LCS, Centerfield Cards and Comics in Endicott, NY. Scott’s been letting me borrow a copy of Previews for the last couple years, in enlightened self-interest — I buy so much more than I used to because of it! But I don’t think I ever gave him props before, so thanks, Scott!

That’s all she wrote for this month’s Previews, everyone! I hope everyone digs the new … um, digs, and as always, ask your retailer if you can have Previews for free, because it leads to more money going back to the store!

And come back next Wednesday for my first solo column, Confessions of a Comic Book Hoarder!