Hey hey hey, it’s that time again! The earth turns and we come to Previews #365, and we bring you the latest in upcoming comics and stuff. This is Travis, somehow starting this post again, in black, and Greg is in icy blue, even though he’s in warmer climes than I am! Let’s go!
Image:
I liked the first volume of Descender but didn’t keep up with it, but on page 44 is the first issue of Ascender, a sequel. Eventually I might catch up!
Yeah, it was fine, I guess, but nothing too spectacular.
Little Girls OGN on page 50 sounds interesting as it involves a brain eating monster in Ethiopia. I may hope the library gets this.
This sounds neat, so I’ll get it. I like how qualifying you are: “I may hope …” You don’t even hope the library gets it, you just might, if you get around to it, hope that the library gets it. Way to make a stand, Pelkie!
Occasionally I take a stand on something I feel tepid about!
Sounds sort of like The Fuse, but Fairlady on page 56 is about a female PI in a postwar fantasy world solving cases no one else wants. Each issue is self contained if I understand right and it looks neat. I may even get this in singles!
Brian Schirmer is a good writer and a nice dude, so I might get this too. And this, I hate to tell you, sounds nothing like The Fuse. I mean, like, you could pick about 1000 comics that sound more like this than The Fuse. You’re weird, Travis.
The mystery solving in a secluded locale — or am I misremembering The Fuse? I don’t know, I was working two jobs when I wrote that!
Yeah, The Fuse took place on a space station. But it was in the future, so it was as big as a city. “Secluded” in that it wasn’t on Earth, but not like there’s only a handful of people wandering around.
I heard about this, Kesel and Grummett’s Section Zero is coming out as a mini from Image on page 58 to help finance the next book (1959! Coming to Kickstarter soon!). I probably won’t get this since I got the hc through Kickstarter but I should dig that out and read it and review it. I wonder if I got something with the Simonson art that I can have him sign …
This does sound neat, so I’ll probably get the trade.
I’m not sure they’ll do a trade, given that this is reprinting the chapters from the HC that I got. I don’t know, maybe I’ll interview Karl Kesel about the new Kickstarter and find out!
Cool stuff on 64 and 65. Blackbird features Jen Bartel art so I’ll probably get that. Magic and shit I guess. Also magic and shit with Exorsisters, which sounded fun and has Gisèle Lagacé art. And there’s also The Freeze, where one dude is able to save people by unfreezing them. Sounds neat and probably not about the punk band that sang “Broken Bones”.
As I noted when Blackbird was first solicited, it just doesn’t sound like my thing. Too much of that “magical hidden world living alongside ours!” thing. Exorsisters looks good, though – nice art. I’ll think about it.
Did I get Prism Stalker v1? I can’t remember. There’s a new, more expensive, printing on page 68 tho.
Good to know you’re paying attention!
More SEX on page 69 (nice). Volume 6 is all new and I love that it has a retailer warning!
That’s interesting that they’re going to the straight trade collection route, with no more single issues. I hope it works, because this is a fun series.
I think they announced that a while ago. I’m wary, though, because from what I saw in the cancellations, it didn’t work for Faerber’s Near Death — the new volume of that is cancelled if I read right. It’s probably my fault because I didn’t order it!
Well, that sucks. I ordered it!!!!!!
Dark Horse:
On page 120, we get a re-release of City of Others by Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson. I haven’t read this, but I have read some of their other collaborations, and they’re pretty good. The problem with this, of course, is that it’s a “tenth anniversary” edition, so it’s 30 dollars. Sheesh.
DC:
Robert Venditti, Kevin Maurer, and Andrea Mutti have Six Days: The Incredible True Story of D-Day’s Lost Chapter on page 4. A group of soldiers are dropped far behind enemy lines on D-Day, and they have to survive until reinforcements show up. It’s a true story, which is interesting, and Mutti’s art looks quite good. I might have to pick this up.
The cover for Batman #68 is pretty great:
That does look fun.
DC’s Hulk comes to an end on page 20. So sad. I will point out that in this series, the “goddess of monsters” is called “Echidna.” Did whoever come up with that just think it was a cool word and not bother to find out what an echidna is? Because this is an echidna:
Wonder Woman fought an Echidna before, I believe, because I seem to remember you ranting about this before. Is it the same one, I wonder?
I don’t remember that, but I know I would have ranted. I can’t imagine it’s NOT the same one, though!
No Scooby-Doo Team Up?
Man, it’s too much for me, but the Absolute Art of Adam Hughes on page 59 is bound to be cool.
I guess, but it’s just covers. Why would you pay $75 for a book of covers?
That’s why I’m not getting it! But his art is good to look at!
Hmm, I’ve wondered if the Challengers of the Unknown by Loeb and Sale is any good, and the series is collected on page 61. I might get it even though their other collaborations are overrated.
Well, I like it. I wrote a Comics You Should Own post about it lo these many years ago. I didn’t convince everyone, but that’s the way it is. It’s before Loeb became a hack, and the art is terrific. I could have sworn it was already collected, though. Hmmm. Anyway, it’s quite good.
It probably was collected at some point. I’m wondering now why it’s being released (again?) now.
Page 62 has two of the new Bendis books. Cover appealed to me a little more than Pearl. A supposedly true story of comics creators being recruited by the CIA sounds cooler than a yakuza assassin.
I might get both, but I’m definitely getting Cover. I like how they note that it reunites Bendis and Mack for the first time since their “renowned run on Daredevil.” Mack didn’t do much, if anything, with Bendis on Daredevil, did he? I can’t remember that much, but they both worked on it around the same time, but not together. Unless I’m misremembering.
Hmm. Yeah, Mack did an arc with that Echo character, I think, but it doesn’t appear that they really did much together.
Page 63 has the new version of Ronin that was supposed to be out not long ago. I may get it.
Ooh, is this the entire GL/GA O’Neil/Adams run on page 64? That’s a good deal.
Yeah, that’s been out for a while. I guess it fell out of print, so they need a new edition!
Hmm, do I need the Hitman collection on page 66? I’m not sure.
If you haven’t read it, yes, yes you do. It’s the second-best comic ever published!!!
I’m just trying to remember what I do or don’t have that’s in this book! What I’ve read of it is great!
Also on that page is House of Secrets Bronze Age Omnibus 2, which features an unpublished story. Wonder why it wasn’t published?
Maybe the book got cancelled?
Legends of the Dark Knight: Michael Golden is on page 68. Golden didn’t draw a ton of Batman stuff, but what he did is pretty keen. I don’t have all of these comics, so I might have to pick this sucker up.
I don’t think that’s right on page 70 that Marv Wolfman and Pop Mhan created Jessica Jones …
Yeah, I saw that and have no idea what DC is talking about. I assume it was supposed to be by the solicit for Pearl, but then I thought “Did those guys work on the television show …?” DC makes my head hurt!!!!
Copy and paste is fun!
Man, I have the Showcase volume but I want the Shazam! 70s HC on page 72. Such fun. I’m glad they show the cover that said Captain Marvel on it too. Ha!
If that Lee Bermejo Batman statue on page 80 isn’t swinging bat cock, why bother?
Hey now!!!!!
IDW:
Go-Bots is collected on page 150. Tom Scioli used that term as a derogatory term in his Transformers vs GI Joe series, but I never figured out why. This should be entertaining.
Yeah, I’ll be picking this up. So weird.
Ghost Tree on page 160 sounds neat. A dude returns to his ancestral home in Japan and finds a haunted tree. I don’t know if it’s a one-shot or a mini-series, but Simon Gane is a fine artist, and this sounds keen.
Oeming on Dick Tracy on page 161 seems like a good fit. I may go for the trade of Dick Tracy Forever down the road. Is the Kyle Baker variant cover from the aborted series he was going to do of DT? And if so does that mean we won’t see his version?
I’ll definitely get the trade. Beats me about the Baker cover. It sounds reasonable, but who knows?
Hmm, a trade of Bravo for Adventure by Toth is offered on page 162. I will consider this.
It’s pretty good. Gorgeous art, naturally, and a pretty good story.
Eve Stranger, on page 164, about an amnesiac for hire (doing … something?) should be cool with Philip Bond art. How did Shelley Bond manage to get him on board?
It’s a mystery! But yes, this looks very neat.
Lodger from the Laphams on page 165 is a trade I’ve been waiting for so I will be getting this.
As will I!
Will the last issue of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Tempest on page 166 be the final Moore and/or O’Neill comic? Will I catch up with my reading of this series before the end? No man can say!!! But probably not in both cases!
I know you’re not going to catch up! But I imagine that Moore will follow through on his threat, because why wouldn’t he?
Because he’s made it before? HA!
But this time he REALLY means it!
Penny Nichols on page 167 sounds good, about diy filmmaking and finding your crowd.
Marvel:
Punisher AND Wolverine on the cover for War of the Realms 2?! Is it the 90s again? Are all my flannels back in style?!
It’s drawn by Arthur Adams, too, who’s kind of a Nineties-esque artist (despite his excellence). And my daughter loves flannels, because she’s already trying to bring back the Nineties!
Dammit, why can’t they reprint Thor 338? I think that’s the only issue of the Simonson run I don’t have. Maybe. I should get to meet Walt and Weezie at Ithacon in 6 weeks or so. (Ooh, I should have her sign a copy of the first Swamp Thing …). Anyway, Thor 339 is reprinted as a True Believers issue on page 26. I like that 2 books on page 27 are both the final battle though! And two reprints they won’t reveal yet? Wow.
Holy cow, that’s a stupid marketing trick. Sheesh. And why would they reprint #339 and not the two before it? Weird.
Speaking of the 90s … Liefeld on Major X on page 32. Why god why?
You love Liefeld, admit it!!!!
… I do!!!
I don’t even wanna to know what Greg Land is using for “reference” for Spidey’s webs for Symbiote Spider-Man on page 35.
Really, Travis? REALLY?!?!?!?
Speaking of Land, I don’t even want to know what he used as a reference for the Gibbon on page 37. That’s more disturbing than the webs!!!!
So Marvel Comics Presents (page 60) is going through the decades? Really? I mean, in issue #1 there were two World War II stories, but the third story didn’t seem to have anything to do with WW2, unless you count Captain ‘Murica starring in it. The other solicits didn’t seem to give any indication that they were moving to the 1950s and 1960s, but maybe I just missed them. Anyway, now we’re in the “1970s,” but I don’t know if that just means the Wolverine story is set there, as it sounds like the Spider-Man story definitely is. What the heck is a-going on with MCP? Is it just a mini-series, and once they reach the present day they’re done? Just weird. So par for the course for Marvel!
Yeah, I thought the other solicits were … if not clear, mentioned it, anyway. I assume it’s just 8(?) issues and done, so that’s why I waited for the trade (partly), but I thought I mentioned this when the first issue was solicited!
Maybe you did. I don’t pay attention to what you’re writing!
Fair enough!
I know this isn’t new, but there is nothing good about X-23 having a sister named Honey Badger (page 84). Come ON, Marvel!
Just flippin’ through (haha!!) and I see that apparently Dennis Hopeless is no longer using that last name. Given that Hallum is his last name, Hopeless was the right choice all this time because it’s way cool. (Some Star Wars thing on page 103)
That’s just weird. Why start out with a pseudonym, anyway? And if you do, why not stick with it?
I am so buying that Dazzler figure on page 108. It will look groovy next to my Rogue-in-the-Savage-Land figure. All they have to do now is do a pre-Asian Psylocke and I’ll be a happy dude (I would like it if this Dazzler was more late-1980s Danskins Alison than Disco Dazzler, but it’s still awesome).
Oooooohhhhhhh!!!! Pages 112 and 113 bring the awesome with Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus with the first year of the namesake series and Marvel Masters of Suspense Lee & Ditko Omnibus with the first of two volumes of all their collaborations!!! I’m saving my shekels now!
I’m not sure about the first one (I might get it, but I’m not sure), but I’m definitely down with the Ditko book. I must see Ditko drawing a Western!
Page 114 has Kirby Returns King Size with some good 70s stuff, Cap and Panther and Machine Man And Devil Dinosaur. Sweet collection!
I hope the Marvel Comics #1 80th Anniversary Edition on page 115 gets in at the library. I think I have most of the stuff but in case there’s something interesting in the editorial content I’d like to see it, but I don’t want to pay that.
Is that Marvels collection on page 116 the annotated one? I already own the trade, but I’d get an annotated version, because I love me some annotations. They don’t mention it, though. I mean, I assume it is, but what if it’s not. WHAT IF IT’S NOT!?!?!?!?!
Yeah, you’d think that when they’re putting out the mini in singles annotated they’d mention that this was the full annotated version, but, well …
That would be too helpful!
Man, should I spring for a new printing of the Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus on page 119? I have the stuff in Essential volumes but still, it’s Stan and Steve!
The trade of Killmonger is on page 126 and I know we were interested because Juan Ferreyra is the artist and we like him.
Have you looked at it? It’s gorgeous, of course.
Hmm, I have what I think must be the sequel arc to the Spider-Man Sinister Six Larsen story on page 140 but I don’t think I have this. Plus it’s got the original Stan and Steve story which is of course awesome.
The Larsen story is pretty good. Very David Michelinie, and very Larsen-y, but the former doesn’t have to be bad and the latter is usually very good, so yeah.
Hmmm. I’m vaguely interested in the Star Comics Planet Terry collection on page 142 but I’m guessing I can get the 12 issues for a lot less than 40 bucks.
Hmm, I did kind of like the first issues of Jason Aaron’s Thor run so maybe I will consider the complete collection trade on page 143.
Does three “m”s in “hmmm” mean something different than two? Asking for a friend.
Hmmmm, I think it probably does.
Man, that “Assassin Nation” Epic Collection of Spider-Man on page 145 is the tits. So very McFarlane-y! Included in this is the first Amazing Spider-Man issue I ever bought. So much weird and wacky stuff. Silver Sable AND Paladin!!!!!
Ooh, those cheap trades of more young reader(-ish) comics continues with the first year of the new Champions on page 148. I may get this.
It’s Humberto Ramos, so I have to ask: Do you want your eyes to bleed? DO YOU?!?!?!
I’m not normally a poster guy but that Marvels 80th by Phil Noto on page 150 looks pretty neat. Hmm.
Dynamite:
Hmm, Dynamite selling trades cheap but mostly mysteriously on page 199. Two different sets of lots of trades for 70 bucks. It’s tempting …
Boom!:
I’m interested in Faithless on page 204. I’ll probably just get the trade since it’s a mini but I did like Maria Llovet’s art on There’s Nothing There. And an erotic variant by Tula Lotay sounds great too.
I’ll have to think about it. Brian Azzarello doesn’t automatically make me want to pick it up, although I agree with you about the art. We shall see.
Oh, you noticed the element of the book I didn’t mention? Ahem.
Plate Tectonics on page 206 by Margaux Motin sounds interesting because the newly divorced single mother falls for her best friend romantically. Art looks good too.
It’s interesting because of that? Why would that automatically make it interesting? I’m not disagreeing with you, because it does sound like a decent book, but I’m not sure that plot immediately makes it interesting.
Ok, I meant among other things, ok? I just highlighted one thing instead of the whole solicit! I’m so sorry!!!! Ahem. Heh heh.
I believe you read Hexed, right? Is the Omnibus offered on page 212 worth it?
Yeah, I think so. Really strong art by Rios and Mora, and Michael Alan Nelson is an underrated writer, and this story is pretty cool. So I would say it’s definitely worth it, especially for 30 bucks.
I thought Coda v1 was fantastic so I plan on getting v2 in page 213.
I thought I got volume 1, but I guess I didn’t. Maybe I’ll have to track it down!
Low Road West is a coming-of-age story (blech) set after the apocalypse (double blech), but the issues I’ve seen do look pretty good, and so I might get the trade on page 215. We shall see.
Back of the book!
So the double size Cerebus in Hell? is double price too. Super Cerebus Annual should be fun. I need to catch up on this stuff! Page 232 from Aardvark Vanaheim.
Eventually I’ll probably get the Strangers in Paradise XXV Omnibus from Abstract Studios on page 234, but I’m not salivating for it. The first issue was pretty neat from what I recall.
Do you really salivate for comics? I mean, I’ll buy this, but I’m not salivating for it either. Considering I haven’t read the original series yet, it will be a while before I read this, but now I’m wondering if there’s ever been anything I’ve really “salivated” for (I know you’re being figurative, but so am I!).
I … I don’t know, but it seems like a column idea!
Action Lab has a collection of a strip by Fred Chao, who did Johnny Hiro, which was pretty good, and it’s called Alison and her Rock Awesome Robot. Might be cute.
I wish they reoffered the Spencer and Locke trade on page 236, because I think I passed on it, but the sequel series is offered here.
Yeah, that’s weird that they wouldn’t have it again. It’s a pretty good trade, and I’m glad they’re doing another series, because it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger.
Aftershock has an interesting one called The Replacer on page 240, based in Zac Thompson’s real life, where a young boy thinks his father didn’t have a stroke but was possessed by a demon. It’s 8 bucks for 64 pages so that’s not an awful price. I’ll consider this.
It sounds neat, so I’ll probably get it, but I love that it’s “based on a true story.” I mean, I get that it’s probably just the way Thompson processed the idea of his father (or mother, I suppose) having a stroke, but that seems to be stretching the definition of “true story.” Did his parent really get possessed by a demon? I don’t think so.
Maybe you’re wrong!
That would be an odd true story, then.
Mary Shelley: Monsterhunter on page 242 is just the kind of dumb stuff I want from my comics, so I might have to check this out in trade. Come on, teenager Mary Shelley fighting monsters? That’s gold, Jerry, gold!
Orphan Age on page 244 sounds intriguing, where the adults of the world died 20 years ago and the kids have grown up. I don’t know the definition of “adults” here but really, how could young kids have survived that much without adults? I’m interested enough where I want to find out.
I would be more interested if a “church” wasn’t involved. You’re right about how old the kids were when the adults died, and I have a hard time believing that a repressive church would have grown up in two decades, especially as they needed to survive and probably weren’t thinking all that much about their spiritual wants and needs.
I will probably get both trades AfterShock has on page 248. Patience! Conviction! Revenge! sounds goofy, as a dude takes revenge on a crime syndicate that threw him out by building a robot army to destroy them, while Moth & Whisper is about the daughter of two famous thieves looking for answers about their disappearance. Both sound keen.
Ahoy! has a couple of new comics on page 252 that sound neat. Bronze Age Boogie seems to be a mashup of ’70s genres all together, because why not, and Planet of the Nerds is about 3 jocks from the ’80s frozen and awakened in today’s nerd loving world. I’ll be getting these.
I’m still waiting for trades of the “first wave” of Ahoy books, and I will continue to do so with these!
There was good extra stuff in the singles that I read so far, and I need to catch up!
Apparently Grumble from Albatross Funnybooks on page 252 is not just a 5 issue mini. I’ve been getting this because I like the creative team of Rafer Roberts and Mike Norton, but I haven’t been reading them yet. I’ll have to catch up and see what’s going on here to see if I want to continue with the singles!
American Gothic Press has Nice volume 1 on page 253, which is about a pair of guys doing cleanup jobs for a crime organization and a cop after them. This sounded ok and it’s got a Tula Lotay cover, so I may take a look.
Yeah, this looks neat. I’ll probably get it.
Amigo has Nasty Pills by Massacre on page 258. I own one comic by Massacre, and it’s a hoot-and-a-half – blood, guts, and tits galore. I might have to get this sucker.
Which one did you get? I have a couple, although I only read the one, the name of which eludes me!
Hidden Blood. Strippers fighting Nazis and vampires!
Antarctic Press has a trade of Heroes At Large on page 261, which was about ’40s heroes thawed out in the present day and how they react to that. I was interested in this, it sounded like it could be fun.
That did sound fun, so I’ll be getting the trade, too!
So I want a lot of the Avatar books offered for 6 bucks on pages 272-278, but after the last “sale” where they apparently didn’t charge my shop guy the sale price for the stuff he bought from them, I’m wary to even look at them. I also ordered some of this stuff a couple years back at this price that I never got, so… wtf? Maybe I should email Rich at Bleeding Cool and complain to him about it!
You always fall for it, Travis! Don’t fall for it again!!!!!
I’ll try not to!
Black Mask has the trade of Snap Flash Hustle on page 282, about a model trying to make it and she needs to get into drug dealing to make money. It sounds ok and the art by Emily Pearson looks ok.
I might have to get Pirate Queen: The Legend of Grace O’Malley from Candlewick Press on page 290, because who doesn’t love pirate queens, really? Weirdos, that’s who.
Devil’s Due/First has Drude volume 2: Los Angeles on page 295 (along with the first volume, re-offered). I enjoyed the first volume, and Omaha Perez, who wrote it, sent me a digital copy of the second one, so I need to write about it. I’ll have to get on that!
Ooh, sweet, Fantagraphics has The Complete Life and Times of Uncle Scrooge volume 1 of 2 by Don Rosa on page 303, collecting the whole she bang in chronological order. I dig this stuff, so I may spring for this!
I will never understand the fascination with Scrooge McDuck. I know a lot of comics fans love it, but I have never seen anything in it that interests me in the slightest. It’s very weird.
Yes, it is weird that you don’t like Uncle Scrooge. Weirdo.
Floating World Comics have some good stuff on pages 304-305, with a collection of the All Time Comics stuff that Fantagraphics put out over the last couple years, and a new mini starting as well. Also, there’s a collection of The Secret Voice by Zack Soto, which was pretty good from what I recall of it.
Graphix has Share Your Smile: Raina’s Guide to Telling Your Own Story by Raina Telgemeier on page 309, a making of book for aspiring comics creators. I’ve liked her books so I will take a look at this when it’s in the library.
I can’t believe you didn’t mention Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast, the trade of which is on page 310 from Heavy Metal. A comic based on Iron Maiden’s songs? You’re sure to be all over that, sir!
I actually am not up on much Maiden, surprisingly (apparently …).
Why is it only apparently surprising that you’re not up on Maiden?
According to you I must be a Maiden fan, was how I read your first comment sir!
Iron Circus has Tamamo The Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories on page 316, with a bunch of good creators like Gene Luen Yang, Nick Dragotta, Carla Speed McNeil and more. It’s 15 bucks for it, so that’s a good deal really.
Yeah, this sounds interesting, and Spike is pretty cool, so I like to support her publishing concern when I can.
Koyama Press on page 319 has the new Emily Carroll book, When I Arrived at the Castle, which will probably be creepy!
I’ll be picking this up!
I’m not sure about Godzilla: Aftershock on page 320 from Legendary. Arvid Nelson is a good writer and Drew Johnson is a good artist, but it’s 25 bucks for 112 pages, which is kind of a lot. Sigh.
From what I’ve read on-line, The Nib (page 339) is a pretty cool collection of short strips. I’m not sure if I’ll get the magazine, but I’ll have to think about it.
I don’t know if I should get Shadow Roads volume 1 on page 340 from Oni. I’m pretty sure it’s ten issues, in which case Oni will probably do a big giant trade eventually, but then I worry that it won’t be financially viable for them to do that. I want to read it, so I’ll probably cave and get this trade.
Oxford University Press has Beyond Watchmen and Judge Dredd: The Art of John Higgins, which is probably cool. I like his stuff, but I don’t know that I’ll spring for this.
So snooty!!!
I might get The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt on page 350 from Pantheon, because who doesn’t love Alexander van Humboldt? Weirdos, that’s who. I might need to check on this, though, because it’s 30 dollars but it doesn’t tell us how long it is. Shady …
Renegade Arts has 1st Legion of Utopia on page 355, about the rise of Canadian socialism in the 1930s. I’m kind of intrigued.
It combines everything that ‘Muricans hate: socialism, Canadians, chicks, and gay dudes! How can anyone resist!!!!!
Scout Comics has a collection of Fish Eye on page 358, which was out quite a while back, I think, but it’s about a cop who is unknowingly the star of a reality show that is losing ratings, so the producers send killers after him. Sounds cool, so I probably will get this.
That does sound neat. I’m also interested in Oblivion, in which a 17-year-old vows to lose her virginity no matter what and inadvertently causes the apocalypse? That sounds like a positive message!
I think I remember that from health class …
So this time Scout is saying that they’re doing the BINGE! thing, where they put out a single issue of a book before the whole trade down the road. Metalshark Bro! also on page 358 sounds fun at least. I may get this to see if the trade will be worth it.
SelfMadeHero has Maggy Garrison on page 359. It’s about a secretary whose new boss is beaten to a pulp and she has to return his wallet (to him? to someone else? it’s unclear). But this turns out to be much harder than she thinks!!!!! It’s a mystery by Lewis Trondheim, who’s not a bad writer at all, so this should be interesting.
Smith Street Books has That’s So ’90s!: A Pop-Cultural Guide to the Best Decade, which, whatever, but the author is Jo Stewart, and it amuses me to think that it’s actually Jon Stewart and this is what he decided to do now.
You’re weird.
I know everyone loves it when I get pedantic, but on page 361, we get the solicit to Plague Doktor from Source Point Press. It claims that the Black Death ravaged England in the 13th century, which, as we all know, is incorrect. It was in the 1300s, sure, which is the 14th century. I mean, really. Someone should be dipped in honey and fed to rabid raccoons for such an error!!!!!
Vault has a trade of Fearscape on page 388, which sounded like a really neat look at storytelling through a science fiction lens, with a plagiarist mistaken for the greatest Storyteller and used to fight fear monsters to protect humanity.
It’s way more than I’d spend but that Wonder Woman statue on page M40 does look pretty cool.
On M90 is Dirty Man Transformable figure, which changes from a samurai to … a toilet. Yeah. Ok. And another selling point is that you can pose other figures with it. This is $180, and also why leftists want to destroy the rich.
If Stingrayz isn’t sued for the Starbucks figure on M102, Kieron Dwyer needs to retroactively win his lawsuit. (Did he win?)
The only thing in that sentence that made sense to me is the name “Kieron Dwyer.” Other than that, I’m stymied by your obscure references!!!!
I try! But Dwyer was sued by Starbucks for a parody image in his LCD comic years ago. I don’t know how the suit turned out though.
Well damn, have they all been 5 packs? On M125 is a set of 5 short boxes with art from DC New Frontier (or some Darwyn Cooke art, since Cyborg is on it) and I always thought the price was a lot for these boxes, but if you get 5 …
Well, that’s all the news that’s fit to print for this month! Have a grand time checking out the catalog, and be sure to find the treasures inside!
RE: SECTION ZERO —
The SZ: 1959 Kickstarter either started yesterday or today, can’t remember which.
As for the solicited Image mini, Burgas… It’s not coming out in a trade any time soon (unless the unthinkable happens and the book somehow gets massively ordered by retailers – as in WALKING DEAD level numbers). Karl made that very clear to me back when I ordered the Hardcover through his Panic Button Press site back in November. I’m surprised Image even let them re-release it in singles, given the history of the title (it originally launched via Gorilla Comics / Image back in 2000 but was put on hiatus after 3 issues due to low sales and it took the Kickstarter drive to collect it in HC to finish that story 18 years later). So if you were thinking about trade waiting it, don’t. Either find out if Karl’s got any overprint copies of the Hardcover left over at PBP, or just order the new singles, okay?
DARK HORSE:
Getting the next SHE COULD FLY mini (page 100), and THE GIRL IN THE BAY #3 (page 101) from the Berger Books imprint.
My Mignolaverse collecting seems to be finally concluding with BPRD: THE DEVIL YOU KNOW #15, which is the BPRD series finale after 15 years (page 104). (No, I have no intentions of seeing the new HELLBOY reboot movie. The trailers suck and honestly, they would have been smarter to launch one of his other properties instead of rebooting a successful franchise. They could have done Sir Edward Grey AKA Witchfinder, or Sledgehammer 44, or Lobster Johnson, or Joe Golem. Ah well.)
I guess I’m still getting BLACK HAMMER: AGE OF DOOM with #10 (probably quitting at #12), but have skipped BLACK HAMMER ’45 (page 107), as I’m phasing out of the Lemireverse as well as the Mignolaverse.
LIGHTSTEP #5 (page 113) is the final issue of that mini, which I’ve been getting. I have read the first issue, but it wasn’t that memorable. I’ll wait until I have all the issues and can sit down and read the whole thing.
As for CITY OF OTHERS, I don’t remember if I ordered it or not. It isn’t marked in my catalog, so probably not. The price isn’t bad for a hardcover, but the dimensions are odd. 9 X 12 makes more sense than 8 X 12. I wonder if that’s a typo.
DC:
Only getting ELECTRIC WARRIORS and HOUSE OF WHISPERS.
No IDW , Marvel, Dynamite, or Boom for me.
I started getting OBERON from Aftershock last week, but it doesn’t seem that I ordered #3 (page 247). I’ll have to get that checked with my retailer.
I’m getting EXILIUM from Alterna (page 253), #5 (of 6). I know I’ve glanced through the issues, but like with LIGHTSTEP, I haven’t really read them and probably won’t until I have the entire run.
BIG WOW ART has Dan Brereton’s NIGHT OWLS HC art book (page 280) I almost always get Brereton stuff, so I ordered this.
SOURCE POINT PRESS (page 360-361) has MONSTROUS EUROPEAN GETAWAY and SAVANTS, both of which I just started getting recently so I ordered those.
I think that’s all this month.
“Bat penis?” Gentlemen, please… it’s a “Bat-a-wang”
For what it’s worth, Loeb & Sale’s Challengers was collected previously — I picked up a trade from a second-hand bookstore years and years ago based mainly on how much I enjoyed “Yellow/Gray/Blue” and was very sorely disappointed. It’s a toss-up between this and Gambit for last place on the Loeb-Sale series ranking. You can safely give it a miss.
Don’t just consider Bravo for Adventure .. grab that baby! It’s slightly overpriced for how much (or little) content it actually contains — assuming it’s the same as the HC — but, as I’m sure you know, this type of series was right in Toth’s wheelhouse and he nailed it.
I, for one, can do without the reprints of Kirby’s later Marvel work like Devil Dinosaur, Captain America, Black Panther, Machine Man and the rest but I’d love to see a reissue of Barry Windsor-Smith’s Machine Man (and, while we’re at it, BWS’s Archer & Armstrong)
“It combines everything that ‘Muricans hate: socialism, Canadians, chicks, and gay dudes!”
Wait! What? It wasn’t so long ago all ‘Muricans wanted to move to Canada to escape the guy with the tiny hands, bad hairdo and passion for borscht! And now Canada’s on the hate list?! How’d that happen? And where’s the gratitude for the countless hours of entertainment supplied by the likes of Canuck-born Pamela Anderson, I ask you?!
fit2print: That’s funny, because I think it’s by far the best Loeb/Sale collaboration. The Halloween Batman stuff is pretty good, but by the time they got to Marvel, I thought Loeb was pretty clearly mailing it in. But that’s why opinions are fun!
No, no, that’s just Americans. Real ‘Muricans love the tiny-handed tinpot! 🙂
In case you weren’t aware, BWS’s Machine Man is collected in the Iron Man 2020 trade, which was just recently returned to print! Pretty neat collection. I think they’re doing something with the character next year…
Also, Valiant released an omnibus of all of BWS A+A a while ago…still in print looks like! Cheap! Worth every penny.
Definitely sad that Rune and particularly (for me) Paradoxman from his Storyteller days remain uncollected. Will never forgive Fantagraphics for leaving me hanging after their first two excellent volumes of Storyteller.
Ugh, I feel like I’m just rising to bait here, but the weird little egg-laying mammal is named after the mythical mother of monsters, not vice versa! Razzin’ frazzin’ mythology philistines.
Dynamite is killing me with those bargain sets, particularly as a prospect for preorder. I mean, they SOUND like something I’d like, but not knowing what 7 out of the 10 trades even are? That’s a tough sell.
Honey Badger is such a delightful character that I just kind of shrug off the name. I mean, at least it’s better than “X-23.”
I’ll be picking up that Shazam collection despite already having the Showcade B&W version, but what I’m really itching for DC to collect are those E. Nelson Bridwell/Don Newton Marvel Family stories that started toward the end of that Shazam series, then moved to World’s Finest and finally to those weird digest-sized Adventure Comics.
Sam: Yeah, but if I admitted that, I wouldn’t be able to post a photo of such an adorable spiny anteater. You love it!!!!!
The Showcase volume didn’t collect the reprints of the Fawcett stories, from the 100 Pg issues or the regular issues (and there were several). Technically, DC didn’t own those stories, as the copyright notices stated “Copyright Fawcett…” At the time, i assumed that was why DC skipped them. Is it stated anywhere if they turn up in her or not? My instinct is no.
I like von Humboldt just fine (not quite sure who this *van* Humboldt fella is). Personally, though, I’m still waiting for the definitive Gregor Mendel graphic novel…
Edo: Whoops! Fixed it. And I would so buy a Gregor Mendel book where literally every panel is just pea plants growing and either a spoken word balloon about it or a third person narration box. It would be brilliant!!!!!
That is precisely why it needs to be done, post haste.
I’m calling shenanigans on the Bendis thing being “based on a true story,” unless it’s that exaggeration of Jack Kirby and the Argo thing. Kirby never worked for the CIA; he worked for the producers of the project to develop a film and amusement park, based on Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light. John Chambers, the Hollywood make-up artist was the one who showed copies of Kirby’s designs to the CIA, unlike what the film shows (with Michael Parks as a very not-Jack Kirby). Sounds too much like the Cohen Brother’s Fargo tag, about it be based on fact, which they made up.
Jeff: Cover is based on Bendis and Mack’s own personal interactions with the CIA. Bendis has been a guest speaker at CIA intelligence HQ in Langley in the past, and Mack was some sort of “Cultural attache'” artist for the CIA while doing conventions overseas, but yes, I’m sure they’ll exaggerate it into fantasy.
Like fit2print, I was unimpressed with the Loeb Challengers. And with Kirby’s Bronze Age work post-Fourth World (Kamandi and Eternals excepted). As I hadn’t read much Silver Age Marvel, I spent much of the Bronze Age convinced Kirby’s reputation was completely overblown.
Buttler, that Shazam run was excellent. Bridwell really nailed the Earth-S stuff.
Exorsisters is really good. It’s funny and clever and balances larger mysteries with done in one side stories.
The writer has been saying 6 will be the last if the GN sales aren’t great because they’ve been borderline on the singles numbers, just putting that out there for anyone on the fence!
“I’m starting to believe that ‘selling comics’ is nowhere to be found in the job descriptions of the people running Marvel or DC anymore, period. What they do now is more like the groundskeepers of a cemetery that’s run out of (the other kind of) plots. If anyone stops by for a visit, that’s nice and all, but they’ve honestly nothing left for paying customers or anybody else. But please, stop by anyhow, reminisce, etc. They run a memorial. They caretake over the graves of past accomplishments. Their only responsibility is throwing out the flowers that start to turn, to keep everything as photogenic as possible for mourners.” — Jack Charlemagne, 2016 (+)
> “Previews #365”
Welcome to Diamond’s cemetery, population: you.
> T: “Ascender, a sequel”
After doing sci-fi ala SAGA, Lemire apes fantasy ala MONSTRESS? (And is your DESCENDER collection OCD-ruined without ASCENDER?)
> G: “I’ll get [LITTLE GIRLS]”
You’re getting a “coming-of-age adventure” for teens?
* (5 pages) https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/the-night-has-teeth-preview-little-girls-a-new-graphic-novel-from-image-comics/
* (Q&A) https://imagecomics.com/features/q-a-little-girls-nicholas-aflleje-and-sarah-delaine-unleash-a-mythical-predator
> T: “Cool stuff on 64”
Not EAST OF WEST, VOL. 9? While it only collects 4 issues (turning the final three volumes into four, Geoff Johns style) and sidesteps reviews (as its last issue is withheld until next month), is that reason enough to snub this from a torrent or another library?
> T: “Prism Stalker v1”
Mixed reviews, and as the last volume is likely to be for the omnibus, why not wait for it?
> T: “a new, more expensive, printing”
$17 for the boobshot-cover reprint of the $15 buttshot-cover original?
> “DC”
Welcome to Warner’s boneyard, population: you.
> T: “Lodger”
Advance-listed mousetrap to let you hope for what its unreviewed half may be?
> “Marvel”
Welcome to Disney’s graveyard, population: you.
> T: “Luckily for you ladies, that means he’s single.”
Does his GF know about this ad?
I honestly was just looking at that bit of my bio and realizing I haven’t updated it since I wrote it 2 and a half years ago. I’ll get around to changing it. It’s not like that got any attention from anyone before you, Simon!
Travis: Well, I noticed it recently, too, but didn’t say anything …
Simon: I get a lot of comics that aren’t aimed at me! Why wouldn’t I give this a try? I always hope stuff like this gives me a peek into other cultures, and when was the last time you read a comic set in Ethiopia? 🙂
@Greg: Just wondering, don’t you usually postface coming-of-age comics with, “blech”? As for a peek at other cultures, aren’t you more liable to get that from the great soap/rom-com AYA OF YOP CITY than from a fantasy adventure for teens?
(Comics in Ethiopia? Maybe that rite-of-passage story in TWISTED DARK… some travelogs and graphic journalism… a graphic bio of Rimbaud, though that was Abyssinia… and Corto Maltese’s THE ETHIOPIAN, as well as Pratt’s WW2 series THE SCORPIONS OF THE DESERT, natch.)
Simon: I live in hope, though, especially if it seems to offer something new. Can’t we all live in hope, sir? 🙂
Have you gentlemen read anything from (or about)Tko studios?
Terrible-D: No, I haven’t. I don’t keep up with comics news as much as I used to, so I’m a bit out of the loop on a lot of things.
I just read about them. I guess their original plan was to just sell books through their website, but they do have a link for retailers. Ennis and Epting have a series called Sara, about female Russian snipers in WWII. Lemire and Walata have one upcoming. I think they only do miniseries. But it looks like you can download the first issue of each for free.
There is a bunch of stuff I’m getting this month! I’m getting sucked into some of those cheap of the Avatar Press trades – Freakangels, Ignition City, Disenchanted, and Black Summer.
I’ll also get:
– Mind Mgmt – While I don’t like all of his stuff, I do like a lot of it, and I’ve heard pretty much all good things about Mind Mgmt.
– Disney’s Uncle $crooge, “The Mines of King Solomon” – The latest in the Carl Barks library!
– Suicide Squad TPB #8 – The last in the complete collection of Ostrander’s run from the late-80s through early 90s.
– Strangers in Paradise XXV omnibus – I read Terry Moore’s Rachel Rising in singles format, usually my preference, but man those are short, quick reads. Rachel Rising is probably in my top 5 comics of all time, so I’m not complaining about the content at all – I just think Moore’s work might be best read in a big omnibus format like this. I’ve not read any of Strangers, but I recently picked up the original omnibi, and now this one – I’m looking forward to it!
– Maggy Garrison – I am digging the heck out of Trondheim’s Infinity 8, so this is a no-brainer!
– Bravo for Adventure – I’ve got some of Toth’s Zorro, and many of the commenters above rec’d this, so I’m in.
– Borderline – I don’t know anything about it, but it looks awesome, and Risso is pretty good.
And I already have all the singles, but if you’ve not read Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy’s Six from Sirius you need to. These are great, sci-fi comics! There’s tasteful, gratuitous nudity, too, TRAVIS! It’s funny Dynamite is doing the reprint. Marvel has so many other publishers printing their stuff right now it’s insane.
Oh, and for those of you who have not read Coda, pick up those first two trades (there will be three total). Whoa, that comic is incredible!
BB: Borderline is pretty good. It’s a post-apocalyptic story, and the art is superb, of course. It’s not the greatest comic ever, but it’s beautiful to look at and fairly interesting.