I didn’t quite make my self-imposed deadline of the 10th of July to publish this, but it’s still sooner than we’ve been doing. Next month it will be sooner, I swear!!!!
DC:
Mark Waid and Mahmud Asrar on Batman vs. Robin (page 2) is pretty sweet, but man, demons and magic and shit? Blech. Let’s hope Waid knows what he’s doing!
Well, wasn’t Waid behind the Underworld Unleashed crossover in the late ‘90s? That turned out well. Ahem. Yeah, the creative team is cool, but the storyline seems bleh. I want Waid on Superman, dammit!
Underworld Unleashed isn’t that bad, actually. It’s not great, but it’s not bad.
Yeah, I was mostly teasing, because I did think it was decent.
Oh, here it is, the Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Special is here on page 6. So weird that they solicited trades with stuff from this before they solicited the actual special!
Superman: Warworld Apocalypse is on page 16, and the outfit Superman is wearing on the cover reminds me of those times when fan artists have put the male characters in the costumes of female characters. Nothing bad, but it just looks like it’s bringing the sexy!
That’s a lot of muscles.
Then on the next page, Action 1047’s cover has an AHH! face on Supes! I thought these issues were already solicited, but I guess not.
I don’t know precisely what that means, but I’m sure I don’t want to know.
If DC is going to get Bruce Campbell to write Sgt. Rock vs. the Army of the Dead (which is, I admit, an inspired idea, but who knows if Campbell is any good at writing?), it’s good they’re getting Eduardo Risso to draw it, because it will look very nice (page 22).
Well, not only did he write The Man With The Screaming Brain, which I believe Dark Horse did a comics version of, but he has written at least one autobiography. I don’t know how “good” he is, but I think I read his autobio and it was a fun read. But this should be fun!
Batman: The Audio Adventures. Audio. Adventures. On page 24.
Come on, man, be flexible!!!
Page 34 has a facsimile edition of Action 1. I must have it!
DC Horror Presents: Soul Plumber (wtf is DC Horror?) sounded pretty good, especially with McCrea art. The trade is on page 44.
Since they don’t have Vertigo anymore, they have to come up with oddball designations for things, like “Black Label” and “DC Horror.” It’s not like they had a perfectly good imprint taking care of all that …
Marvel:
On page 3, we get A.X.E.: Avengers #1, “the first of three story-essential Judgment Day one-shots!” Bwah-ha-ha!!!! “Please buy our comics!!! The actual issue might suck, but it’s really important to read it so you understand the greater sucky crossover!!!!” Kieron Gillen, I like to think, is gritting his teeth and thinking about providing for his new baby as he writes this, because, dang.
You know what I’ve always wanted with my random issue of X-Force (page 5)? A MIRACLEMAN VARIANT!!!!! It’s been a long time coming, but I cannot wait until Miracleman fights Wolverine!!!!
I WAS JOKING A BIT WITH THAT LAST ITEM, BUT I SPOKE TOO FUCKING SOON, BECAUSE ON PAGE 5 IS A MIRACLEMAN/WOLVERINE VARIANT!!! Holy shit, it’s happening.
Of course they’re going to crossover Miracleman with everything! You think Marvel paid all that money just to have the rights to reprint some Beardy McGrumpypants and Neil “Scary Trousers” Gaiman stuff?
I enjoy the, if you will, breathless narration of the All-Out Avengers #1 solicitation on page 10, telling us to take a deep breath because we “will not be allowed up for air”. Damn, solicit writer! I’m also amused that the creative team is Landy and Land.
Yeah, I picture the law firm of Landy and Land coming to my house and holding my head down in the sink as I read this.
Gadzooks, I despise these “Fortnite” crossovers, but this Maria Wolf variant is pretty sweet:
I have no such strong feelings about the “Fortnite” crossovers (maybe they’ll bring some of the young people into comic shops), but I did notice this variant and thought it was awesome.
“Hey, let’s revive Midnight Sons.” “Really?” “Sure, why not? But let’s call it ‘Midnight Suns’ – like the big flaming ball in the sky – and add Wolverine.” “Wolverine? Are we that desperate for this to sell?” “Oh, and let’s add Magik in her sluttiest outfit. There’s nothing fanboys like more than leering at a drawn character who, in real life, is probably only 17 or so but because she’s drawn, it’s okay!” [Sigh.] “Yeah, okay.” (Page 15):
Yeah, this comes across as really stupid — this is the video game tie in that I find terrible. And the other weird part about Magik is that she spent like, 10 years in Limbo, so she came out dressed like that and her friends had all known her as a 7 year old just a few days prior, basically.
I like how in the solicit to Edge of the Spider-Verse 4 on page 16 (although the logo drops “the”), it says “you may not remember the Amazing Sun-Spider” — true, but it goes on to add “who debuted in 2020’s Spider-Verse miniseries as a winner of our Spidersona contest” — I won’t remember this character that I may have voted for to get their own story? WTF?
You know, if you’re going to give poor Spider-Man a godawful costume like the one on page 19, you might as well bring back the Web of Spider-Man #100 armor!!!!
Hell yeah! That armor is cool looking. This new thing is just a fucking vest!
On page 39 (instead of page 42), Miles Morales: Spider-Man 42 is extra-sized because the number 42 is significant to the character. Well, it’s currently significant to me, but you don’t see me doing anything about it!
“… instead of 42, [issue] 42 is extra-sized …” Um, what?
I meant that this solicit should have been on page 42, but was unclear, so now I’ve edited it and now you look the fool! Ha ha?
I’ve been waiting for this one for a while. I had finally read the first 6 or 8 trades, which was after I had bought the series up until the Howard the Duck crossover (when I foolishly dropped the book, as our pal Buttler pointed out to me ages ago). But now I can put my shame behind me and get the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Omnibus on page 59, which has the whole series, including the OGN where she Beats Up the Marvel Universe.
You’re using pronouns without antecedents again, young man. What have I told you about that?
I refuse to remember!
With Marvel apparently planning to finally get around to new Miracleman material, they have a trade of The Golden Age on page 66. These are very cool comics about what it might be like to live in a world where God lives on Earth. The Andy Warhol issue is particularly keen, but they’re all good, and Buckingham shifts his style a lot to accommodate the tone of the story, which is pretty keen.
Those golden figures on the cover aren’t nightmare-inducing at all. I can’t remember, did Marvel actually reprint this stuff in single issues? I know it says this stuff was presented like that, but I forget when it was put out. Again, I’m torn on this because of the new coloring and the censored bits of the Beardy run, but it’s material I really want to read. I remember years ago on a class trip to Toronto, we passed through a store that had one of the trades of Miracleman on sale, and I didn’t buy it. Je regrette, je regrette!
Beats me, I wasn’t really paying attention because I already had the single issues. I own the trades of Moore’s stuff, and I love pointing out that for a long time, they were actually worth more than the single issues, which cracked me up. Probably not now that Marvel has reprinted everything, but who knows?
Well, the trades may have had lower print runs because that was before we all got used to buying the trade, and there was that flood at Eclipse’s offices that may have destroyed copies. All I know is that I have a copy of the Eclipse #1, so I’m so cool.
There’s an Avengers: Kree/Skrull War Gallery Edition on page 68. If you don’t have it yet, this is a good format, and it’s well over 200 pages for only 45 bucks. Neal Adams’s art is sweeeeeet.
I probably should get this, as I don’t have it (maybe I have an issue or two). Did Adams recolor it in recent years, though, because his more recent coloring ideas have been… less than good. Also, why is this a “Gallery Edition”? Isn’t that what Marvel has been calling the books they do like the IDW Artist Editions, or am I wrong?
Yes, you’re right, and I imagine it’s a Gallery Edition because Adams’s art in big size is cooler than in small size. It makes perfect sense, sir!
Well, yeah, but the Artist Editions are the original B&W art shot from the original art, but this appears to be more like DC’s Absolute or Deluxe HCs.
Image:
All the solicits are here for you!
Chris Burnham and John McCrea are drawing the stories in the first issue of Creepshow (page 36). It’s not quite Bernie Wrightson, but those are some damned fine artists.
I didn’t realize how “Rick Veitch” Burnham’s art has gotten!
I think Burnham is a much better artist than Veitch, so to me, this is an insult.
The look of the faces is very similar to my eye. I agree that Burnham is better overall but there’s a similarity that I see.
Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman have Vanish on page 40, about a normal suburban dude who was a pre-pubescent hero but now isn’t sure any of it was real and is messed up because of that. Sounds kind of interesting, and Stegman is a good artist. The solicit reads: “Oliver Harrison was a mythical hero who slayed the greatest threat to his realm before even hitting puberty.” “Slayed” doesn’t even get a red underline in this draft anymore, so are we just accepting that as the past tense of “slay” even though it’s not? When I write something and use “slew,” will I now get red-underlined because the world has gone insane?!?!?!?
I forgot it’s “slew”, but I would not have thought it “slayed”. This looks pretty cool, though, and I guess I didn’t realize how much of a neo-Image look Stegman has until he’s there at Image — he could do a run on The Darkness!
“Frasier meets The Punisher” is something I’d never thought I’d see, but Flawed on page 48 goes for it, as a psychiatrist by day becomes a vigilante by night! It could be groovy, I guess.
Sounds and looks cool.
If you haven’t gotten into COPRA yet, Image is offering the COPRA Master Collection Book One on page 62, collecting the first 12 issues. I haven’t read much past these 12 issues (I’ve just fallen behind, people!), but they’re very interesting. Michel Fiffe is riffing hard on Ostrander’s Suicide Squad, but there’s a lot of other weird stuff, too. And his art is weird and wonderful.
I did get the first trade, and liked it enough, but just didn’t get anything more.
Peter Tomasi and Keith Champagne and whoever else owns the rights to The Mighty got them back from DC, it seems, as Image is releasing a fancy trade of the complete run on page 64. This is a decent superhero story – it’s not great, but it’s pretty good – and it has Samnee and Snejbjerg art, so it certainly looks good!
I have the 12-issue run, and I thought Dark Horse did a few stories (probably the short stories referred to in the solicitation) in the last run of Dark Horse Presents, but I think DH was cutting back on stuff right around then. I thought it was quite good from what I remember.
I don’t care too much about a new Pro story in Image! #6 (no Garth Ennis involvement?), but if a new Casanova story means more of that series, then that’s a net good thing! (Page 75)
Boom! Studios:
Briar (page 90) is a “re-imagining” of the Sleeping Beauty story, in which Sleeping Beauty … kicks butt, apparently, because of course she does. It sounds like a bit of a yawner, to be frank, except that Christopher Cantwell, who’s writing this, has a weird sensibility that might make this something more interesting than your typical “grrl-power” revision. We shall see.
I haven’t read any of his comics, but I caught this Tweet of his, which is awesome:
That is pretty keen.
Dark Horse:
Oh, the solicits are here, yes indeed!
Kevin Smith is back in comics, with Maskerade (page 118), a story about a vigilante who happens to be super-famous so she has to change her face to do her vigilante-ing (vigilanting?). I mean, Smith is only co-writing, so maybe he’s just providing the general plot and we won’t get any “Batman peeing” stuff in the actual script?
See, that really requires an editor to stop him, so that even if he writes it over and over again, it doesn’t make it into the final product. I find it hard to believe anyone is going to stop Kevin Smith. Anyway, the artist on this looks decent, with something of an Allred look to his art.
David Duchovny (???) is writing (????) a graphic novel called Kepler in which space gods return to a planet populated by Neanderthals who evolved instead of homo sapiens, which went extinct (?????????). Phew, that’s a lot. It’s on page 123, and, I mean, it doesn’t sound bad.
It’s definitely a strange but intriguing concept!
Did you get the Mignola/Johnson-Cadwell stories that are collected in the Library Edition of Our Encounters With Evil and other stories? They sounded like a lot of fun and this seems like a nice looking collection of the stuff.
I only have Mr. Higgins Comes Home. I’m sure this will be very cool, because the Library Editions are very nice, but I’m not sure I want to drop 40 bucks for it.
Tim Seeley and Fran Galán have The Roadie on page 134, which is about an aging former heavy metal roadie … who’s also an exorcist. Because of course he is. He has to come out of retirement to save his daughter, because of course he does. Sounds fun.
The art looks good too.
Dark Horse is putting out a hardcover of Matt Kindt’s Super Spy for 50 bucks on page 139, and I am sorely tempted even though I already have it. Super Spy is a superb comic – I want to say it’s the best thing Kindt has done, but Kindt has done a lot of very good comics, so I’m not sure – and this looks like a very neat package. Anyway, if you don’t have it yet, you really should get it!
I’m pretty sure I have a version of this somewhere. From what I remember, Revolver was one of my favorite Kindt works, but this is up there too.
I’ll probably get The Panic (page 140), which is about ten strangers trapped in a tunnel underneath the Hudson, but I have one question: Is Sylvester Stallone in this comic?!?!?
The same page also has Salamandre by INJ Culbard, who’s a great artist, and this is a work about an artist sent to live with his grandfather in an oppressive land, but the artist discovers the underground artistic movements and so forth. Sounds good.
Dynamite (Dynamite? Yes, Dynamite!):
Let’s check out the solicits with Rich!
I’m going to have to punch Jeff Parker and Benjamin Dewey in the brains, because they’re doing Vampirella: Mindwarp together on page 157. Usually, Dynamite gets decent writers for these books, but the art leaves something to be desired, so I don’t get them, but if Dewey is drawing it, Parker will probably be on point. Like I need something else to buy!!!!
Yeah, that’s something that should be interesting!
I don’t know how good it is, but Stan Lee’s Alliances: Orphans HC on page 165 has Billy the Sink art on the prologue — some weird looking baby dude art!
I really want to get this solely for Sienkiewicz’s art, but I’ll skip it because it just doesn’t sound that interesting and I will bet the prologue is very short.
Same!
Let’s get to the back of the book!
Why is this month Horror Month? This Previews is for books coming out in September. Or are they acknowledging that stuff is slow and probably this stuff won’t come out until October?
How dare you question Steve Geppi and his wise ways?!?!?
Ablaze has The Nightcrawlers on page 208, which is not, apparently, about bait and how to use it. It’s an all-ages book about kid detectives of the supernatural, and I’m a bit of a sucker for that kind of thing, so I might have to check this out.
On page 214, Abrams Comicarts has Phenomena volume 1: The Golden City of Eyes, a fantasy graphic novel series written by … Brian Michael Bendis? Well, that’s something different. It’s about three people in a strange world (it’s Earth, but after something strange has happened) on a quest to find out what happened. This seems very far outside Bendis’s wheelhouse, but I’m still thinking about getting it to see what’s up.
AfterShock has Last Line on page 222, in which a subway driver kills a man with her train (she swears he was pushed, but can find no evidence of it) and ends up getting involved in an intergalactic conspiracy. Like you do. Sounds interesting.
The Wrong Earth one-shots get collected in a trade on page 234 from Ahoy. These have been fun comics so far, so if you missed them, get them all together!
I’ve fallen well behind on Ahoy’s output, but everything they’ve put out sounds good.
On page 248 Archie has a couple of cool Sabrina books, with the Anniversary Spectacular introducing a new witch, and Archie Showcase Digest 10 with the spotlight on Sabrina’s 60th anniversary.
Frank Forte over at Asylum Press brings us Vampire Macabre: Nosferatu one-shot on page 253, which I wouldn’t bother with normally except that there’s a Tim Vigil story in it. I really want Vigil to do more comics, so this is tempting even if it’s only one story (which might be two pages long, for all I know).
I saw some of his art for a Batman special he was going to do, and it was something.
Forest Hills Bootleg Society on page 254 sounds kind of fun, even though it’s specifically pitched to young readers – it’s published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, after all! Four girls buy a bootleg anime DVD that has some freaky stuff on it, which would piss off everyone at their conservative Christian school. They decide to copy it and sell it, but it becomes a sensation and they need new material. Plus, it strains their friendship. What to do, what to do!!!
It does sound cool.
When’s the last time Avatar has offered anything new? If I trusted them to actually ship stuff for the $5.99 price, I’d want several of these things on pages 256-262, but the last time I tried ordering stuff that was supposed to be this cheap, they shipped regularly priced stuff to my shop.
It’s been a long time. I’m surprised they’re still in business. I used to ignore the stuff in Previews for that very reason and get it at conventions if I saw it, but that’s a dicey proposition these days …
If you ever wished that there was a comic about a tennis star of the 1920s, wish no more, for on page 263, Avery Hill brings us Suzanne: Jazz Age Goddess of Tennis, which is about Suzanne Langlen. You know you want it!!!
AWA Upshot has the trade of Hit Me on page 267, which sounded like a brutal noir story. On page 268, the Lesser Evils imprint(?) has a new book called Ginn, about a genie who falls for a human who works for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Sounds fun.
They released a trade of the first stories from that “Lesser Evils imprint,” and it’s not bad. It’s the same creators writing stories set in a Brooklyn where magic works even though it’s still just Brooklyn, and I’m not sure if they’re going to be linked in any other way. The first issue of Ginn wasn’t bad.
I mean, I’m not saying I’m interested in Sgt. Werewolf (on page 271 from Black Caravan), simply because it’s called Sgt. Werewolf, but I’m not not saying that, either.
I’ll probably get We Don’t Kill Spiders on page 272, simply because of the beginning of the solicit: “In the early Viking Age, a faithless Norseman detective — “
I’m not really that interested in Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master on page 274 from Bold Type Books, because it’s about the origins of video games and I don’t play video games, but it’s written by David Kushner and drawn by Koren Shadmi, who teamed up for the Gary Gygax comic, and that was pretty good, so I’m tempted by this one!
I’m fascinated by this stuff, so I’m really interested in this.
The Center for Cartoon Studies has a Richard Scarry inspired look at the US Healthcare System with Health and Wealth on page 280. Hopefully one of my local shops decides to pick up a bundle of 25 of these.
Cex Publishing has Saga of a Doomed Universe on the same page, with cool homage covers. Not sure how good the story might be though.
Man, that Macbeth adaptation by Stewart Kenneth Moore on page 282 from Clover Press looks hella cool. I might have to get this.
Del Rey has Luda, the first novel from GMozz, on page 286, all about a drag queen and The Glamour, a sort of mystical practice. Sounds like some of Chuck Palahniuk’s stuff.
I’m very wary of comic book writers doing novels, so I’ll have to think about this …
Fantagraphics has some good stuff on pages 294-295, with a new Love and Rockets issue; Maverix and Lunatix: Icons of Underground Comix is a new book of Drew Friedman portraits of underground comix artists; there’s a new Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers collection of 21st Century adventures; and there’s See You at San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, which sounds fun.
There’s a printing of Alvar Mayor on page 298 from Epicenter Books. This is by Carlos Trillo and Enrique Breccia, so I’m pretty sure it’s good.
Humanoids has Young Agatha Christie on page 312, which looks like a fun story. On page 315 they have a new collection of Madwoman of the Sacred Heart, which was serialized in Dark Horse Presents in the ‘90s, and is in color here. It’s a Moebius/Jodorowsky collaboration!
It’s always nice to see a new Rich Koslowski comic, and on page 322, we find F.A.R.M. System from IDW, which is a book about lesser heroes trying to make it to the “big leagues.” I’m sure it will be fun.
Yeah, his stuff is great. On the same page is a new printing of Alex Toth: Bravo for Adventure Artist Edition, which of course is awesome. There’s also Crashing, a book about a doctor who specializes in super powered patients, and it sounds neat. And then there’s Earthdivers, about an apocalyptic world in 2112 (what the Rush?) where some people discover a time portal and decide to go back and kill Columbus. As you do.
IDW also has The Fever in Urbicande and The Invisible Frontier, two more “Obscure Cities” comics, on pages 323 and 324. These somewhat linked comics are very cool – I haven’t read them all, but the ones I have are cool, and I’m glad IDW keeps translating them!
I think I read Fever years ago, but it is very cool that IDW publishes them!
Damn, IDW has done 400 Star Trek issues? (Page 325)
Invader Comics has a neat one on page 330 with Back To Fairtaylia, about a group of childhood friends who found a magical realm and 20 years later have to return as self-absorbed adults. It’s not a new type of story, but it sounds fun. Also there’s going to be a Kickstarter of this soon, if it hasn’t gone live already.
Congrats to Kenzer and Company’s Knights of the Dinner Table for hitting Cerebus territory with issue 300 on page 335!
Lev Gleason Comic House has a new version of Silver Streak on page 336.
And on the same page is Aliengaged from Literati Press, about a dude who is so focused on proposing to his girlfriend that he misses the alien invasion going on. I think this is also on Kickstarter.
Mad Cave Studios has Lower Your Sights, an anthology to support Ukraine.
Henry and Glenn: Forever & Ever — The Completely Ridiculous Edition is a new version of the comic, and I’m kind of tempted to get it. In case you don’t know, this is a comedy about Henry and Glenn, two dudes who bear a striking resemblance to Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig, living together in an ambiguous relationship and having some issues with their Satan-worshipping neighbors, Daryl and John (no clues as to who those dudes are). Rollins apparently loves this comic, while Danzig is not amused. It’s pretty charming and funny, and this complete collection, from Microcosm on page 342, is only 20 bucks, which ain’t bad.
I can’t tell if this a new printing/version of the HC, which I got myself a few years back. I think I read through a good part of it, and it is in fact awesome.
Oni Press is the new home to Pink Lemonade on page 348, which is a cool looking comic and I look forward to the trade.
Opus Comics has Eternal Descent on page 358, a story about a woman who is a struggling musician who is fascinated with the occult influence on music, and it leads her to a battle between Heaven and Hell.
Random House Graphic has My Aunt is a Monster on page 365, about a blind girl who gets into adventures with her aunt.
Rebellion/2000AD has good stuff on pages 366-367. Best of 2000AD volume 1 is finally coming out after being delayed and reworked because of the pandemic, and features Dredd, Halo Jones, Brink, and other stuff. Judge Dredd: Legends of the Law reprints the DC series similar to the Batman Legends of the Dark Knight series. And there’s the Judge Dredd by Mick McMahon Apex Edition with the art by this groovy artist.
I like how you think a Rebellion book “is finally coming out” because it’s in Previews. It might be out in another year!
Are they bad about hitting the on sale dates? I don’t follow the dates enough anymore!
I don’t know the on-sale dates, but if we assume 2-3 months after they’re in Previews, it’s usually more like 6 at least. They come out, but it seems very slowly.
Scout has Knockturn Country on page 372, crime noir mashed up with children’s books, and that could be fun. And on page 373 is New Rat City, where a future NYC has a pest problem where humane laws won’t allow dealing with pests by killing them. I got this through Kickstarter, and I need to read it.
Source Point Press has Heaven’s Angels on page 385, which asks the extremely logical question: What if Charlie’s Angels were actual angels? I mean, hasn’t everyone asked that at one time or another in their lives? I mean, this could be fun – angels who were kicked out of Heaven need to make money, so they hire themselves out to demon gangs to take out other demon gangs, which is, I guess, a net good. We shall see.
Sounds fun. On page 383, Corollary collects the mini where everyone has a twin and if one dies, the other does, but Captain Andromeda’s twin dies but she does not. Oh noes! And Shelter Division is a trade about abnormal beings who have to investigate a mastermind plotting to conquer existence. Cool.
I can’t remember what Sumerian Comics used to be called, but there’s a new Pop Star Assassin series on page 386.
Yeah, but the first volume was a hot mess, so who cares?
Mostly I was hoping you would tell me what Sumerian used to be!
Oh, is that all? It was Behemoth. I guess someone objected, and the ancient Sumerians are all dead, so fuck them, right?
Back Issue #140 on page 405 (from TwoMorrows Publishing, of course) is a dinosaur issue, with an interview with Mark Schultz. Honestly, there’s only one question anyone needs to ask Schultz, and that’s “Why the hell was there never more Xenozoic?!?!?!?” Will Back Issue have the stones to ask him that? We shall see!!!!!
I swear to you, I heard from somewhere that he was teaching art classes at my old high school! I don’t know where I heard this or if it’s true, but I heard it!
TwoMorrows also has The Charlton Companion on page 408, which is a history of the company. Could be keen.
I love Charlton stuff, and TwoMorrows is great, so this should be good.
Uncivilized Books has Prometheite, a lesbian retelling of Frankenstein, on page 409.
Damn, Jon Davis-Hunt does some sweet art on Bloodshot Unleashed from Valiant on page 411.
And here’s where I start wondering if Previews has the same pages as last month in here. Wasn’t the Eternal Warrior Classic Omnibus on page 414 in there last month? And weren’t the Vault trades on 420-421 and 424-425 all in there last month too?
Vault does this a lot, and it’s very annoying. I think the Valiant one was there too, because I did a double take when I saw it. Weird.
Vault also has the return of Nightfall on page 418 with The Nasty, from John Lees and George Kambadais, about video nasties in 1994 Scotland (a story about Scotland from John Lees? No!). And on page 419 is Bonding, about a world where people have parasites and have to connect without dying. I think I got a preview of this book several years ago at Ithacon or somewhere, but it sounds good.
I’m not really interested in Bobby Digital and the Pit of Snakes on page 427 from Z2 Comics, but it’s drawn by Vasilis Lolos. Where the hell has he been?!?!? Good to see him doing some comics!
I remember the name but not what he’s done. Presumably he’s been doing this! The RZA is a harsh mistress!
He did an issue of Northlanders, a few issues of Conan, and some other stuff for the bigger publishers back in the day. He did two volumes of his own comic, Last Call, but I don’t think he ever finished it, which is too bad.
Seven Seas Entertainment has a cute one on page 465, with The Evil Secret Society of Cats, about the “horror of cats”, which I think any of us with a cat in the house is aware of. They also have last minute additions on page 479. Polar Bear Café sounds like a cute book where a polar bear runs a café, and there’s a pretentious penguin as well. My Secret Affection is Alex Jones’s nightmare, as it’s a world where “space made the world gay”! It’s an intriguing set up, where a girl falls for a boy in this new reality.
Flipside!
M-29 has a Jeffrey the Baby Land Shark Qreature plush, and I just hope that the creator of this character, Kelly Thompson, gets one for herself!
I think she’d probably rather take a percentage of the profits, but that’s just me.
Well, hopefully she gets both!
That’s a funny joke, sir.
All right, everyone, that’s it for this month! As always, we hope we can help you find some cool stuff for your comics-consuming needs! Have a nice day!
Distinguished Gentlemen(?):
FBI Special Agent Mulder/Denise writing a comic? Will wonders never cease?
I am keen to reading MIRACLEMAN Book 5 and 6 (or 2 and 3): The Silver Age/Dark Age by Gaiman & Buckingham. Hope it was worth the 2 plus decades of waiting.
Maybe they’ll come out on time? 🙂
“Cates • Stegman – The visionary Venom duo” Ahahaha! Ahahaha! AHAHAHAHA! Sorry, let me catch my breath. Bollix! That goofballs prefer “slayed” to “slew” is bad enough but R. Kellying the word “visionary” is really annoying. I remember people moaning about Barry Windsor-Smith noses (and Paul Smith noses come to that) but Stegman’s faces are hilariously bad; trapdoor mouths, elephantiasis-stricken jaws, and silly putty flesh: Eeps! As for Cates’s retcons: Boy howdy! Venom goes from being a crazy symbiote to the most important symbiote you ever did see and now a “god”. I’m shaking my head even as I write this. Cates contracted Geoff Johns-on-Hal Jordanid-19. Venom was a harbinger of Marvel spiralling down into the uh poo for years. Amazingly later writers were able to do interesting things with Venom and Eddie Brock once they weren’t together. The Scorpion and Flash Thompson Venoms were much better (I wouldn’t count myself a Venom fan but I quite liked the Gargan and Agent Venom eras) but thanks to crappy movies Marvel brought back the original and wouldn’t you just know that the Cates kitty litter became extremely popular with doofuses. O father why hast thou forsaken meeee!
It’s fascinating how many jabronies fancy themselves Alan Moore with their sweeping retcons. The only problem is they ain’t Alan Moore and the idiot retcon is one of the worst comic book tropes. Who would have guessed that Venom’s spider-symbol wasn’t due to the symbiote copying Spider-Man’s costume but in reality the symbol of the symbiote “god”, a twerp who looks like Fabio if he joined 1970s Kiss. That Venom is more popular among certain fanboys than Peter Parker/Spider-Man doesn’t really say much for the world. Bwa-ha-ha! This off-topic rant has been brought to by the letters F-O-R T-H-E L-O-V-E O-F M-I-K-E.
I prefer to think of Magic as being in her early Twenties. Just… because… Which reminds me: Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana. Er, yum. They absolutely blew the opportunity to make a great series of movies based on Chris Claremont-era New Mutants (particularly the Sienkiewicz and Guide/Kyle Baker segments) but Ms Taylor-Joy was good casting at least.
Baby Land Shark? The original NBC’s Saturday Night/SNL Land Shark, now that was funny! Where’s my Land Shark masquerading as telegram boy or John Belushi plushies? Get on it!
You a little grumpy about Venom, Hal? I can’t quite tell … 🙂
I will buy at least the first issue of All Out Avengers, solely because of how much I love Derek Landy’s books (well, his first 9)
Daryl and John are Hall and Oates. Maybe that was sarcasm, but if not, you’re welcome.
I apologize for not making it more obvious that I know who Daryl and John are! 🙂
Grumpy about Venom? Whatever gave you that idea!
It’s just clicked for me where I’ve heard the name Derek Landy, the Skullduggary pleasant books right?
Oh dear, another flavour of the month authors writes comic books, no thanks, I still remember Brad Meltzer.
New Miracleman? Yeah, but still no new Gaiman Miracleman. I will believe that when they physically place it in my hands. It’s been nearly a decade and Marvel has delivered jack-shit. Nobody is THAT busy.
Alvar Mayor is fantastic stuff; read some of the Eclipse reprinting of it.
Fever in Urbicand and Invisible Frontier are tremendous. Urbicand is a really great story of how the discovery of a cube, that starts multiplying exponentially, creates new bridges between segments of a very ordered and structured society and disrupts the social order. NBM published it in a complete volume and Dark Horse serialized it in the earliest issues of Cheval Noir. Invisible Frontier is later and shows how politics can affect even mapmaking. This one is a visual treat. NBM published it in two volumes; but, the second volume was scarce. Anything by Francois Schuiten and Benoit Peeters is worth picking up; intriguing stories and gorgeous art, where the architecture is as much a character as the people.
Jeff: I’d agree with you, but Gaiman had to contend with the lawsuit(s) for over 2 decades, then he had some books written and three tv series based on his books (AMERICAN GODS, GOOD OMENS, THE SANDMAN) that he was more/less involved with.
Buckingham was doing FABLES for most of that time.
I am not too pleased that MARVEL is incorporating Miracleman into the Marvel Universe. I’m afraid of what happened with Angela, and DC’s WATCHMEN will be the same fate for MM.
I’d prefer to read the remainder of the Gaiman/Buckingham series.
Jeff: “It’s been nearly a decade and Marvel has delivered jack-shit*.” Is that a comment on their recent output? Ha! “Nobody is THAT busy.” I find it hard to disagree with that. It seems extremely silly. Altho’ George R. R. Martin’s embarrassing failure to not only finish Song of Ice and Fire but even it’s penultimate volume, The Wind(bag)s of Winter, is pretty impressive. Having said that it was hilarious to see some good on Goodreads stating he wasn’t reading the then-latest Wild Cards “mosaic” novel as he (it is usually a “he”) was boycotting any other writing by Martin until he finishes ASOIAF. Yeah, that’ll work! Said fan seems not to understand that Martin hasn’t *written* for Wild Cards for years, he edits the series and I suspect that Melinda Snodgrass does the actual editorial donkey work. Um, I appear to have again wandered off-topic into areas no one else finds interesting. Hah.
Tomfitz: As you imply Miracleman/Marvelman entering the mainstream Marvel universe seems a terrible, terrible idea. Say what some will about Alan Moore (and he can be incredibly smug and irritating) but he can hardly said to be wrong in his comments on DC and Marvel’s increasing cupidity and creative bankruptcy. Of course, that corporations such as Disney are allowed to enjoy virtual monopolies is repulsive. All those disparaged SF writers were RIGHT, they may not have prophesied the idiocies of social media but many other of their speculations and extrapolations have proven distressingly correct. Yikes.
*Jack Shit, he’s the character find of 2022.
Since IDW reprinted The Tower, I’ve been trying to pick up as much Schuiten/Peeters stuff as I can. But I think I might have to just suck it up and learn French to read some of the earlier volumes I missed – I think it might be worth the $150 difference between the out-of-print editions of The Leaning Girl and editions for the Francophone market…
Marvel’s Gallery Editions are basically DC’s Absolute Editions without the slipcases.
Not to be confused with DC’s Gallery Editions which are basically IDW’s Artists Editions and published through Graphitti Designs.
If you think Veitch is a much worse artist than Burnham, you really need to read Bratpack and Greyshirt… I agree that Burnham is fantastic and is probably slightly better overall but he has been standing on the shoulders of giants like Quitely and Moebius. Veitch has had some rougher art when he was under big deadline pressure (i.e. Miracleman) or inked by someone else (Alfredo Alcala, much as I love him, was not the best inker for Veitch) but Roarin’ Rick can work wonders with an airbrush and when inking himself.
Not a lot of “must buy” stuff for me this month, but a lot of weird crap I might take a punt on. Tempted by that Duchovny book I probably won’t like, that’s for sure! Curious about The Mighty, which I’ve never read, just for the Samnee quotient. Maybe I’ll do Best of 2000AD, maybe not. Maybe I will also fall for the viking detevtive We Don’t Kill Spiders. And I’ve always wanted to check out Henry and Glenn.
Then again, maybe I’ll end up buying none of these. It may go down to coin flips.