Flippin’ through ‘Previews’ – June 2018

It’s time for a new jaunt through the greatest catalog on the planet – not that Victoria’s Secret one, put that down! You know I’m talking about Previews #357, where you can find all sorts of groovy comics!

Let’s get the boilerplate out of the way – I’m in blue, and Travis is in black. Also: I’m typing this on Friday, 1 June, and on Sunday, 3 June, I will be on a plane to London. I’ve told Travis that I won’t be able to do anything to this post until I get back on the 14th (and probably not then, because I’ll be tired), so we shall see if this even gets posted before I return! Let’s go!

It’s a good thing I’m in charge from here on out, because this guy has been busting on me for who knows how long, not without cause, certainly, but now I am in control and mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!  Anyway, everything he’s wrong about will be commented on loudly, and I will laugh.  And talk about a lot of other stuff.  Here we go, yo!

Image:

Check out the solicits here!

On page 34, John Layman and Nick Pitarra have Leviathan, in which a dude goes on a beer run for his party and the people at the party summon a giant hell monster, which is less than optimal. I’ve read the ashcan for this, and it’s darker than I thought it would be (it’s funny, but also dark). The art is really keen, too. Pitarra doesn’t seem like the fastest artist, though, so I wonder about the schedule on this already! I’m not sure if I’ll get this in single issues or trade, but I’m leaning toward the latter, especially because I think it’s only five issues (or maybe that’s just the first arc).

It looks good from the preview pages.  If it is just 5 issues, maybe I’ll go singles.  I don’t know, I can’t judge Pitarra’s speed because he’s worked with Hickman a lot, and Hickman seemed to be the issue with a number of projects (Dying and the Dead, cough!).  I do see Mike Garland at local cons, so if the schedule does slacken I can bust on him!  It’s a good shoutout to Garland in the solicit, too, which I assume was written by Layman.  Also, yadda yadda yadda get me the Chew Smorgasbord volume 1, Image!

The solicit for Cold Spots (page 38) doesn’t really tell us much, but it’s about a dude searching for his missing wife and daughter, whom he abandoned ten years earlier. Maybe you shouldn’t have abandoned them, dude! Anyway, it’s written by Cullen Bunn, which is enough to get me to check it out.

Sounds a bit like the story “The Bees” by Dan Chaon.  I may check out the trade.

Howard Chaykin is writing and drawing Hey Kids! Comics! on page 41, which is apparently a fictionalized history of comics themselves! I’m on the fence, as I am with everything Chaykin!

I was going to chastise you for not reading the solicits closer because I had seen the credit for Don Cameron (who did Cyberella with Chaykin), but then I looked closer and saw he’s just doing the cover.  Damn!  Anyway, I’m amused that this is categorized under romance….

Image is reprinting the first volume of Age of Bronze on page 42, which gives me hope that Shanower is going to continue the series, because it’s pretty great!

Well, yes and no, this is actually a full color version.  From what I understand, the colorist John Dallaire has been posting the pages online and he and Shanower are working towards continuing/concluding this.  So your hope is not misplaced!

Whenever something that hasn’t been around for a while gets a new printing, I live in hope. Why can’t Shanower make money off a comic about a Greek legend? It boggles the mind!!!!

Dry County gets a trade on page 43. I liked the first issue, but that was the only one I’ve read so far, so I can’t be trusted, but Rich Tommaso does good comics, so I imagine this is one of them!

It does sound cool.  I’m pretty much in for any Tommaso in trades.

I’m getting the Prism Stalker trade from Sloane Leong, as I’ve been hearing good stuff about it, and the art looks like freaky psychedelic sci-fi (page 45).

That’s one I have to think about.

Matt Hawkins and Raffaele Ienco are the creative team of Stairway (page 46), which is about … well, the solicit is vague, but it has something to do with a breakthrough in DNA study, and what the heck happens after that. Yes, it’s vague, but it sounds kind of neat.

Twisted Romance on page 47 is one where I would have saved a buck by getting the singles, but this book did intrigue me, as I’m a sucker for romance (obviously!).  Good writers and artists, so why not try it, right?

I don’t know about this. It didn’t look that great, unfortunately. Some of the artists were barely a step up from amateurs, and the stories were really short. Not that you can’t write good very short stories, but it’s harder than it seems. I want to get this because it sounded awesome, but I think I’ll skip it.

Well I’ll be damned, Copperhead wraps up with issue 22 on page 51. I get this in singles, because Faerber and RINGERRRRRRRRR!!!!! But I did lose track of the book when it came back about a year or so ago and haven’t caught up yet.  Maybe soon.

Speaking of series ending, The Gravediggers Union ends with issue 9 on page 61.  I know Burgas just wrote about it but I don’t do more than skim what he writes about books I might like to read, because I’m like that.

And Lemire’s Royal City ends with issue 14 on page 74.  I haven’t gotten to reading that yet either!

That one was strange. Lemire writes in issue #10 that he just felt it came to a good conclusion, but I wonder if sales just weren’t there (I can never figure out how Image works when it comes to sales, as they share the burden with the creators and Lemire doesn’t have to pay an artist). When it started, it felt like it could be a really long family epic, so I’m curious how it will end, because the first arc was so good and the second, while not as good, was still decent.

Dark Horse:

All the solicits are here!

Ann Nocenti is writing and David Aja is drawing The Seeds on page 86, which is about aliens that are collecting the last dregs of humanity and a journalist who stumbles upon a story of a lifetime but has a crisis of conscience about reporting it. Nocenti is perfectly fine, but Aja is terrific, so I’ll get the trade of this.

I get the impression that Aja is the prime mover on this one, and Nocenti is in just to make the word parts more gooder.  But it looks interesting and for just 4 issues, I may get the singles.

Brian Wood is writing Terminator: Sector War (page 98), which is about the second Terminator sent back to 1984 to kill a different person, a rookie cop who works in one of the worst parts of Los Angeles. Why? You’ll have to read it to find out, won’t you? I like Wood, and Jeff Stokeley is a fine artist, so I’ll probably get the trade.

I’m tempted, but not too much so, to get the Black Hammer Library Edition, which collects everything before all the related minis started coming out.  But I do have the first trade and haven’t read it yet, so I’ll probably just wait and get the second some time.

If you missed it, the complete Angel Catbird is offered on page 105.  I think I can get these from the library, so I’m not overly tempted by this, but Johnnie Christmas was quite good on Sheltered, so I did want to see this eventually.

Flutter is collected on page 106, and I was interested when some other company put out the individual volumes.  A teen girl shapeshifts into being a boy and complications ensue.  I thought there was also some sort of government conspiracy a la Firestarter too, but I may be misremembering.

I got the first volume years ago at a con from Jennie Wood, the writer, and it was just okay. Not terrible, but not enough to make me come back for more. It’s an interesting idea, though.

Normally I wouldn’t care about some video game tie in, but The Witcher Library Edition on page 110 might sway me as Paul Tobin is a good writer and Piotr Kowalski does art for it too.

I’ve been getting these trades, and they’re actually quite good. I don’t know if I would have gotten the first one if I knew about the video game thing, but yeah, Tobin is good, so these are good.

There’s also a Harrow County Library Edition on page 116, and if it includes the stuff they said would be in the singles only (which is what made me not buy it, peevishly), I might want to get this.

Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men is a new mini-series on page 117, but Jill Thompson isn’t drawing it. I don’t know why, but Benjamin Dewey is an excellent artist in his own right, so I have faith it will still be a great read. I still wonder what happened to Thompson …

Yeah, I thought she was a co-creator on it, and she’s not even mentioned in the solicits, so I hope there wasn’t a falling out, but just that she’s busy doing something else awesome!

Ugh, they refer to Leah Moore, who’s got a long résumé in comics, merely as Alan’s daughter in the solicit to Conspiracy of Ravens on page 120.  Granted, this story sounds a bit like Nightjar, but still…

Mob Psycho 100 volume 1 is on page 121… so, it’s a manga version of Psych?  Sort of? A fake exorcist exploits the real psychic, who might blow up real good.  Sounds neat, I may go for this, depends on what else I’m getting.

DC:

Yes, the solicits are here!

So does Dan DiDio call up Neil Gaiman every once in a while and say, “Hey, Neil, remember how we promised that we’d never turn Sandman into a superhero or other such nonsense, but only if you did us a favor every so often?” And Gaiman, knowing what’s coming, says in his mellifluous English voice, “Yessssss …” and DiDio says, “Well, we’d like to relaunch The Dreaming, basically, and we’d like you to contribute a story – just one, fret not!” and Gaiman says, “Fiiiinnnnne …” and digs through his giant pirate’s chest (you know he has a giant pirate’s chest!) for a Sandman story he wrote in 1990 that he thought sucked so bad that he buried it beneath all the snippets of hair all those Goth girls sent him over the years and sends it off to DC. Then he calls DiDio and says, “Can I please get back to writing Miracleman now?” And when DiDio says sure, Gaiman laughs and says, “Ha! I’m not writing fucking Miracleman – I’m too busy rolling around naked in my big pile of money!!!!!” Is that what happens?

Oh, by the way, The Sandman Universe, a new anthology of Sandman-related stories, is offered on page 2. Good creators, damn it!

Yeah, they do tend to pour the money on good creators for these obvious cash grabs.  This also means I still need to work on a post I’ve had in my back pocket for nearly a year now.  But I also instantly thought that this was just four new versions of The Dreaming.  Just ugh.

Bendis quickly brings his creator-owned stuff to DC, with a new series, Pearl, on page 4 (with Michael Gaydos), and Scarlet returning on page 5 (with Alex Maleev). Scarlet was terrible back when it first started, but I’ll probably give Pearl a try, just because Bendis can still write stories with single protagonists who aren’t superheroes pretty well.

As to Pearl…so, Bendis watched Orphan Black and reads Lazarus?  Also, it’s weird, on page 84 on the order form, Absolute Scarlet, presumably a collection of the previous issues, is offered, but it’s not in the catalog.  Whoops!

Hey, man, ideas are hard! Actually, I don’t care too much about semi-recycled plots. Ideas are hard, man.

Batman: Kings of Fear on page 7 is a six-issue mini-series in which the Scarecrow starts a riot at Arkham and it’s a big deal for Batman. It sounds neat, but the big news is that it’s drawn by Kelley Jones. Whoo-hoo!!!!!

I knew you’d like that.

That Lex Luthor/Porky Pig Special cover on page 14 is all kinds of nightmare fuel. Jeebus.

That is frightening.  So frightening.

Looks like all the Young Animal stuff is ending, with Cave Carson (page 23), Mother Panic (page 44), and Shade (page 53) all on their last issues.

Yeah, it sounds like it – Way says some titles might return, but who knows. Doom Patrol was quite good, and I loved Cave Carson, but I’m not surprised it didn’t sell too well. C’est la vie.

To the surprise of no one, New Challengers 4 (page 45) is not drawn by a Kubert.  It is by V. Ken Marion, a dude who lives in my area, though.

If that Plastic Man cover (page 47) by Alex Ross is in the Kingdom Come universe, Plas is fuckin’.

Well, that’s weird.

I don’t know why Batman vs. The Red Hood in Red Hood and the Outlaws 25 on page 49 is a fight “25 years in the making”, but sure, DC, whatever you say.

How dare you question the solicits! They’re like Holy Text, man!

It’s weird, some of the credits list artists first, some writers first, but there’s no seeming rhyme or reason as to why.  It’s not alphabetical, it’s not one creator more famous than the other, it’s just…random.

I thought it was just the “New Age of Heroes” books that were listing the artists first. I could be wrong, of course, but when has that ever happened?

Hmm, maybe that was it.  Which is funny, because those books are switching artists left and right!

Man, that’s tempting.  The deluxe edition of Action 1000 is offered in a 20 dollar HC on page 68, and it includes all the covers, a story by Levitz and Neal Adams in the 80 Years of Superman HC, and reprints the first couple of Action Superman stories.  Hmmm…

So there’s DC Modern Classics, which is doing new slipcovered HCs of their old stuff, which of course is just a new way to milk the consumers.  However, Dark Knight Returns (on page 69) (*nice) is one I actually don’t own, even though I’ve read it a number of times.  At least with it being so pricey they didn’t use the shitty Chip Kidd design from 10 years or so back.  Also, DKR is the same price as Watchmen (page 88) in HC?  WTF?

That Jiro Kuwata Batmanga statue on page 94 looks pretty sweet.

IDW:

You may read all the solicits here! 

GI Joe Omnibus on page 137 is the first 12 issues of the Marvel run, and these are actually surprisingly good comics.  I read a bunch of the GI Joe Marvel run a few years ago from the library and the stories are good, mostly done in one tales that are compelling and well told.

Hmmm, that does sound neat.

Since Black Crown Quarterly 4 on page 156 is only 32 pages and 3.99, I’m guessing this will be the last issue.  I haven’t read the others but have flipped through, and it looked good but not great.

I don’t know why longer books with a slightly higher price tag don’t sell. Do people not even consider them because of the price, not realizing that they’re usually a better value than 20-page, $3.99-comics? It’s annoying.

But another Black Crown book on page 157 sounds quite good, House Amok by Christopher Sebela and Shawn McManus, about a family that believes a conspiracy is after them and they have to strike back.  But is the conspiracy real?  I’m intrigued.

Hey, it’s a Shawn McManus sighting! Good for him!

Also from Black Crown is Femme Magnifique on page 158, which has mini bios of cool women throughout history and in the arts.  I’m in.  Hope I won’t have to cut this from my list for budgetary concerns, though.

Haunted Horror 35 is on page 160, so either they missed an issue of Weird Love last month, or that is cancelled, or something.  Hope it comes back, it’s a fun book.

Frankenstein Alive, Alive is collected in full on page 164.  I believe Burgas said it was good, but he’s not around to challenge that assertion, so we’ll never know.

Hey, I’m right here! It is quite good, and the art is stunning, so it wouldn’t be a bad one to get.

I thought I’d finish this before you got back!  I swear I was close!

Marvel:

What do you know? It’s the solicits!

That is an awful Thing on the cover of Fantastic Four #1 (page 3). I like Esad Ribic, but that’s a terrible Thing. Man.

True.  Also.  Ribic.  Ribic.  Ribic….

To me it’s funny that the costume designs on page 4 just show that Mr. Fantastic and Johnny Storm have the same body type, which has some Freudian implications for Sue….

You have some serious issues, man …

This is the odd way my mind works!  It worked for GMozz in FF 1234 (offered again on page 110)!

Wasn’t that Charest FF cover for Captain America 2 the same pose as Mystery Incorporated on 1963 1?

Don’t make me dig that out of my garage, man! But hey, it’s Travis Charest! Good for him!

I was just going to yoink a cover scan from the GCD, man!

I want to support Kelly Thompson, because she’s cool and she’s a really good writer, but I don’t know if I can get behind her West Coast Avengers (page 24). Unless it’s a straight-up comedy, those are not good characters. I’ll have to think about the trade, but man, this will be tough.

It’s a weird collection of people, but I have trust in her that she will pull off an interesting story, at least.  I’m just going for the trade, though.

Web of Venom: Ve’Nam on page 31 is just… ugh.  Ugh.  I hate retcons like this in general, where it appears that a symbiote like Venom was discovered by Nick Fury during Vietnam, but a retcon off of what is … a pun?  A mispronunciation?  Ugh.

Yeah, this is just awful. Cates and Stegman are both good creators, and they deserve better!!!!

I like how on the cover of Avengers 6 on page 35, Cap is in the car with Ghost Rider and is just pointing.  Friggin’ back seat drivers….

He’s making sure he sees the roundabout ahead!

“Yield to those already in it, Ghost Rider!  YIELD!”

So I had seen something about Bachalo on Sandman and totally thought it was a thing for the new Sandman Universe, even though it also said Zdarsky was writing, and no, it’s Spidey’s foe appearing in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man 308 on page 41.  I wonder how many other artists worked on both of those Sandmen?

Oh, good lord, Mike Murdock has been made into a real dude in Daredevil (apparently happening in the Hunt for Wolverine Weapon Lost mini).  This doesn’t sound dumb at all…. (page 49)

Yeah, that’s, dang, that’s something, all right.

Man, that Greg Land cover for Astonishing X-Men #14 (page 73) is great. He’s doing the interiors, too, so I’m sure that will suck, but the cover is excellent!

I’m going to assume you’re being serious here….  The other fun thing about this issue is that, per the solicit, “these Reavers aren’t completely as they seem!” [sic] That’s either missing a word or is just awkwardly phrased, isn’t it?  Should it be “entirely as they seem”?

Yes, I’m serious. Land is terrible, but occasionally he cranks out an awesome cover. And I don’t see anything wrong with that phrase. “Entirely” and “completely” are synonyms, so what’s the problem?

It sounded weird to me, and I’ll admit the more I think about it that it works, but it still seems an awkward or stilted phrase.

I assume the story of Star Wars: Beckett on page 92 is “Waiting for Greedo”.

Oh, well done.

A couple of sweet creator focused Omnibi on pages 102 and 103, with the Marvel Universe by Frank Miller collecting all (?) his non-DD stuff, and MU by John Byrne v2 collecting his runs on Iron Fist, Marvel Two-In-One, and the entire Lost Generation series, which was pretty good stuff.

I’m tempted by both of them!!!!

Another good Omnibus comes on page 111, with the Waid and Wieringo run on FF collected.  I think I have all this but haven’t read it all yet.  It starts out great and I’ve heard it was quite good overall.

Yeah, it starts out really well, but I don’t know how it ends, because it does fizzle a little after the first story and I kind of gave up on it. I suck.

I don’t remember seeing one of the Epic Collections getting a new printing before, but on page 137, one does…and it’s Iron Fist?!  O…K?

I saw that, too. Iron Fist is popular with the ladies!

Dynamite:

If you haven’t gotten The Boys yet, you can get copies of the trades signed by Ennis at cover price on page 178.  I just like to imagine him locked in a room, the head of Dynamite not letting him out until all the different trades are signed.  FYI, the first trade isn’t on the order form for some reason.  I may snag the collections of the related minis, because I think I have most if not all of the rest of the series.

Yeah, but then you’d have to read The Boys, and who wants to do that?

In case you didn’t want to spring for the Swords of the Swashbucklers HC, there’s now a trade available on page 192, alongside the last issue of the new series.  Guess the sales weren’t there.

I’ll probably get the trade of the new series, because Guggenheim is pretty good and Mutti is a fine artist. I actually liked the old version quite a bit, even though it felt like Mantlo rushed things a little, possibly because the sales weren’t there back in the 1980s, either!

Boom!:

Yep, the solicits are here!

Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins are reteaming to bring us Black Badge (page 204), which is about a troop of Boy Scouts who are really top-secret government agents. Because of course they are. I’ll get it!

It’s an ongoing until they decide sales will only support about 15 issues….

Still, Kindt for 15 issues is pretty great!

There’s a trade of Abbott on page 216, and I’ll have to pick this up. It sounds good – a reporter investigates horrible crimes that involve her husband’s disappearance – and Sami Kivela is quite a good artist, and so far, the issues have looked very nice. So sure, I’ll buy the trade!

Cool, it interested me quite a bit, so glad to know it looks worthy.

Kong on the Planet of the Apes is collected in trade on page 217, if you didn’t get the singles.

I may, as Magno’s art on the book is really good.

Hmm, there’s a hardcover of Peanuts Dell Archive on page 227, which claims that the stories are all by Schulz himself, but I don’t know if that’s true, and I don’t know if these would have been in the last Fantagraphics book.

We’re on to the back of the book!

As is per my usual, I’m pointing out that the latest Cerebus in Hell? one shot, Nick Calm, Agent of C.O.D.P.I.E.C.E., is on page 238 from Aardvark-Vanaheim, as well as the first volume of the regular Cerebus series in all its remastered glory.

On page 242 from Action Lab is Double Jumpers: Full Circle Jerks 1 of 4, the sequel series to the original Double Jumpers, which was a pretty good comic about a bunch of gamer programmers getting transported into the world of their game (and switching places with their characters, as I recall).  I will probably get the trade of this one.

Aftershock offers up another bunch of interesting stuff.  The second trade of Jimmy’s Bastards from Ennis and Braun is on page 246, as well as reoffering the first trade.  I don’t know if this is worth it, but it is Ennis.  On 247, we get Beyonders 1, which is about all conspiracy theories being true, but it smells a bit of Final Sacrifice, which allows me to inform anyone who doesn’t know that Zap Rowsdower is no longer with us. On page 248 is Volition, about a virus threatening artificial life and the robots who will save AI.  Might be an ok trade.  On page 249 we get Hot Lunch Special, which intrigues me because it’s about a sandwich distributor owned by a Lebanese family in the upper Midwest which is now having to face the mob coming to collect on an old debt.  Sounds pretty good, I’ll get the trade.

Jeez, that’s a lot of stuff. The first trade of Jimmy’s Bastards was quite good, so I’ll get the second one. Those all do sound intriguing!

On page 261, American Mythology gives us Casper’s Capers, which remasters some of the original Warren Kremer stories, including the first appearances of Wendy, Hot Stuff, and Casper.  Neato.

AMP! Comics for Kids offers, on page 264, the third volume of Alexis Fajardo’s Kid Beowulf, the Rise of El Cid.  I got to see some of his original art “recently” at a local museum, as Fajardo went to the same high school I did.  (I put recently in quotes because I can’t remember when the exhibit was, but it was within the last year. I may still write about it, though.)  You know I’m getting this!

I thought I’d like this series more. It’s fine, I guess, but I’m not loving it. I’ll have to have a think about getting this.

Amulet Books gives us an original novel of Giant Days, the first volume of which was my favorite comic of whatever year it came out.  So I probably have to get this!  Also on page 266 are the reoffered volumes of Frank Cammuso’s Misadventures of Salem Hyde books, a delightful comic that combines Sabrina the Teenage Witch with Barnaby, essentially. It’s good stuff.

Archie‘s latest Marvel Comics Digest is on page 272 and spotlights Spider-Man and Venom.  These digests are good stuff.  Also on page 272 is the second volume of The Fox, by Dean Haspiel and Mark Waid, which I don’t think I got.

The first volume was okay, but nothing special.

Also from Archie on page 274 is a collection of Life With Archie, which is described as wild alternative realities for the gang.  Sounds fun.

Aspen has, on page 279, a collection of Dead Man’s Run, which I believe I heard good things about, is by Greg Pak and is about a prison that is literally hell, and the cartographer trying to free his innocent sister from there.  I’m probably going to snag this.

That’s kind of an old book, isn’t it? Wasn’t it from a different publisher? Maybe that’s why the trade has taken so long. Anyway, yeah, this sounds neat, and Pak is a good writer and Tony Parker is a good artist, so it should work!

It was from whatever publisher did Iron and the Maiden, iirc.  Can’t recall who that was.  No, I stand corrected, this was from Aspen, according to the GCD.  Although I was also correct, because Iron and the Maiden was Aspen as well!

I have post-traumatic stress from Iron and the Maiden. Don’t get me started.

It sounds goofy as hell, but Sugar Boogarz is collected in a trade on page 299 (at least the first 3 issues).  It’s about Gingy Ninjys versus Adolfo Rootless and broccoli fighting — yeah, anthropomorphic candy and vegetables fighting.  Cosmic Times is a visionary publisher!

Drawn & Quarterly has the third volume of Berlin on page 303, in case you’ve been waiting for it, and they also offer the first two volumes. On page 302, though, they have the complete series for 50 dollars, which is a better bargain if you’ve never gotten the series yet. Berlin is a superb comic, and I’m glad Jason Lutes finally finished it. I’m very tempted to get the complete volume even though I already own the first two. Decisions, decisions!

Oddly enough I go the first two issues back around when they came out, because my shop would order some weird stuff here and there, and I think I’ve grabbed a couple other random issues, but I am tempted on the complete series collection, because it is good stuff.

I’m considering The Fang volume 1 from Fantagraphics on page 313, because it’s about a pot smoking vampire assassin, and how can you say no to that?

There’s a new Delilah Dirk book on page 314 from First Second – Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules. These are wonderful comics, so you should pick up all three right now!

I think I read the first one, and it was good.  If I’m remembering right, of course.  The liberry gets these, though.

Golden Apple continues Blastosaurus on page 321, as well as starting Adventure Van, involving aliens and a dude’s destiny.  Kinda blah sounding, but it does have art by Ryan Cody, who drew Doc Unknown, which I just recently read.

Hermes Press has a couple on page 325 that sound neat.  DC Comics Before Superman: Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson’s Pulp Comics features, as it says, the pulp stories that basis of DC, and Nuke ‘Em!: Classic Cold War Comics Celebrating The End of the World reprints old atomic war comics.  Good sounding stuff.

Insight Editions has on page 326 DC Comics: Anatomy of a Metahuman, which sounds neat anyway because it’s anatomical depictions of superheroes, but the really cool thing is that the art is by Ming Doyle, who is very good.

That looks creepy as fuck. So of course I’m intrigued! However, it’s 50 bucks, which is, well, too expensive for me!

It does look creepy, it’s true.

On page 328, Iron Circus Comics has a collection of stories about faster than light travel for really cheap, and how that affects society, called FTL, Y’all!  Sounds neat.

Love Letters to Jane’s World (page 335 from Lion Forge) is a collection of the comic strips, which Paige Braddock has been doing for decades, and I’ll probably pick it up. I own one collection, and it’s a fun, slice-of-life comic, so this should be keen.

Sounds neat, and I’ve liked what I’ve read, but it sounds like it’s kind of an overview book, a best of.  Which isn’t bad, of course, but if you’ve got much of the rest of it, you might not need this.

The second hardcover volume of Jazz Maynard is on page 337, as our hero gets involved in a heist in Iceland, like you do. The first volume (re-offered on the same page) was quite good, so I’ll have to get this one!

Good to hear, I was interested in this.  I might snag these, then!

I guess Dinosaucers was a cartoon, but c’mon, humanoid dinosaurs from outer space?  How could you turn that down?  Also, the art is by Andrew Pepoy, who is pretty good. (page 344)

Oni on page 354 gives us the sixth volume of Bad Machinery in the pocket edition, which I believe means all the volumes will now be available in that format.  I love what I’ve read of this series, so I recommend it!

Kaijumax is collected in a big HC of the first 12 issues on page 356.  I still haven’t read the first volume so I don’t know if this is worth it, but it is by Zander Cannon, who is good.

On page 358, we have a new printing of Banana Sunday by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover, this time in full color. I’ve never read this, but it’s Tobin and Coover, so it’s bound to be good, plus it has monkeys!

Weirdly enough I have the last two issues of the series.  It is good from what I remember, and the monkeys are excellent, so I may get this, but this seems like a big month otherwise so I may have to hold off though!  ARGH, I need to win the lottery!

Papercutz has a new GN on page 362 from Art Baltazar, Gillbert: The Little Merman, about a fish boy prince.  Looks cute.

Rebellion Developments, which are some sort of offshoot of Rebellion/2000AD, has a one shot called The Vigilant on page 368, which is another of those comics taking old, probably public domain characters and throwing them all together in a superhero adventure.  However, I’m a sucker for that, so I’ll probably be getting this.

Red Anvil has a book that ties into the “regular” War of the Independents series (quotes because it’s taken soooo long to come out) on page 372, WOTI: Man Out of Time, featuring the Mighty Titan and Steel Patriot, characters connected to Red Anvil’s Formidables series.  Get back to the other WOTI stuff!

Also on page 372 is a book from Rosarium Publishing, S.P.O.O.K.S.: Question Everything, a GN about various urban legends in the black community that are investigated by this group.  Sounds pretty cool.

On page 373 is a book from Schiffer Publishing called Eric Stanton & the History of the Bizarre Underground, about the fetish artist.  The solicit can calm the fuck down, though, dude drew kinky pictures, he didn’t cure a disease or something.

That is a tad over the top.

Source Point Press has a couple interesting ones on page 375.  Norah might interest the kiddo, just because of the name 🙂 but it is about a woman who has the ability to enter the minds of comatose people to rescue them.  Could be ok.  The Rejected is a one-shot about a bullied kid offered supernatural means to strike back, but of course there’s a price!

I saw that and thought the same thing – “I should buy this for the child!”

“Dad, you’re such a dork!”

The Prague Coup from Titan on page 382 is about Graham Greene and a plot to overthrow the Czech government, and is … the inspiration, I guess? … for the movie The Third Man.  Hey, where is Third Man, the commenter?

There’s another “enter the minds of people” comic on page 388 with Re-Mind, which has art by Andrea Mutti.  Might be ok, as it involves an Iraq vet having to get to the terrorist plot in his son’s head.

The trade of Peter Milligan’s mini-series The Prisoner is on page 390, so I’ll have to check it out.

Hatcher made this sound quite interesting.  I can’t remember if I mentioned it, but I snagged a few of the episodes on DVD at a local book sale recently.  I hope between those and the time I taped most of the rest of the show off BBC America some years ago that I have the whole series!

On the same page is the first volume of a Dan Dare Complete Collection, and as a nerd for this kind of stuff I’m going to be seriously considering this.  I still wonder why they solicited the GMozz version a couple months ago then cancelled it by the time the next catalog.

Ooh, I think they featured an art book version of this before, but I’m not sure if there was a regular collection, but Charles Vess’s Book of Ballads and Sagas is in a nice HC on page 393.  Too much damn cool stuff this month!

They did solicit it before, but for much more money, so I’m not sure what’s different. Was it just a fancy art book? Anyway, this is more in my price range, so I’ll probably get this.

I know the art book was solicited, but I thought the regular book had been as well.  Not sure.

TwoMorrows does their usual coolness.  I believe our pal John is in Back Issue 108, the Aquaman spotlight issue..  Retrofan magazine 2 features TV horror hosts like Elvira, and there’s an Alter Ego Barbarian bundle, with 3 issues of features of barbarian comics, all on page 398.  On page 399 is a book about Mike Grell subtitled Life is Drawing Without an Eraser.  Undoubtedly it’s good stuff, although Grell isn’t someone I’m huge on.

Valiant has a big Compendium of X-O Manowar (the 2012 version) on page 404, and this is pretty good stuff from what I remember.  It’s got the first 29 issues of the series as well as the Unity and Armor Hunters minis for 60 bucks, which isn’t a bad deal.

I’m probably going to get it anyway, but I’m concerned that the Warrant Publishing offering on page 405, The Creeps Spooktacular! 2019 Annual (hedging their bets there) will contain a lot of the stuff I already have in the regular issues (which, of course, I haven’t been reading….).  I dig the Warren aesthetic, though.

I like the kids comic creator interviews on pages 447-451, but some of them are a bit outdated.  It’s good to read John Stanley talk about Little Lulu, though.  (This is a joke, people!)

You know, I got the MST3K Funko Pop figures of Crow and Tom Servo, but I don’t want to be a “Pop figure guy”.  But then they have something like the Death figure on M-61, and I get all, “well, maybe if I just get that one too I won’t become a Pop figure guy exactly…”.  Fortunately the realities of my wallet remind me not to become a Pop figure guy.

Sweet lord, the Paul Pope THB and HR Watson figure set on page M-104 looks sweet, but holy god, it’s 300 friggin’ dollars!  I haven’t read enough of that comic to spend that kind of cash!

I apologize for this post being so late. As I noted at the top, I was gone for 10 days, and Travis had some things going on in his life (yes, he actually is real and not a computer-generated bot!), so we’re later than our usual late selves! I hope we can rectify that next month!