Flippin’ through ‘Previews’ – March 2018

You know it’s time for Previews, so let’s get to it! This month it’s Greg who’s being tardy, as I was in a funk the past few days and just didn’t feel like doing anything. I sat on my ass and read, but other than that, nothing! Travis picked up the slack, so here we go!

As always, Travis is in black, while I’m in blue. It’s very simple!

Dark Horse:

Here are the solicitations, but be warned – it’s CBR!

Did you get the first Ether mini from Matt Kindt and David Rubín? The new mini is offered on page 48.  That is a wordy preview that doesn’t read well, and also needs some editing (claxons?  wait, I guess that’s the Spanish spelling)

Yeah, I got it. It was okay, but nothing great. I might pick up this trade to see where Kindt is going with it. But it was just okay. And why would that be the Spanish spelling of “claxons”? Apparently you can use a “c” or a “k” with impunity!

Because when I looked it up, it said Spanish spelling for the c version!  I always that it was just with a k.

There’s a nice hardcover of the Burlyman Shaolin Cowboy on page 50 – 25 bucks for 200 pages of Geof Darrow action. I know these books are very light reading, as there are almost no words, but I’ll probably get this because I was always interested in getting them collected, but they never got around to it.

I may have gotten some of the single issues, I don’t know, but I’ll consider it.

Evan Dorkin and Veronica Fish are teaming up on Blackwood, a murder mystery set at a sorcery school (page 56). Dorkin can be a fun writer, and Fish is a good artist, so I’ll probably get this trade!

Sounds interesting, and I too will probably get the trade.  I more likely will get the Dork HC on page 55, collecting a bunch of Evan Dorkin’s non-Milk and Cheese stuff.

I’ll think abut that. Dorkin’s a funny dude, so it might be worth a look.

Brian Wood has a new historical drama, Rome West, on page 62. This time it’s about a Roman fleet that get blown to the New World in the fourth century and can’t get back, so they establish a colony there and change history. Sounds neat!

I had the impression from something I read that this had been published in Europe before this, but I’m not sure.  But yes, it sounds cool.

Stupid Europe!

Brooklyn Blood gets a trade on page 63. This was a serial in Dark Horse Presents that was okay and will probably read better in one sitting, as Paul Levitz just isn’t built to make short, punchy chapters work all that well. It’s about a cop who’s a veteran of Afghanistan and the weird murder case he’s working. Nice art by Tim Hamilton, too. It felt like it could have been a bit longer, but DHP inexplicably disappeared (the final two solicited issues never showed up), and I wonder if Levitz changed it a bit to fit it into the space allotted before the cancellation.

I don’t remember, were all 16 chapters published in DHP before it got cancelled?

Yeah, it finished. It just felt a bit abrupt, even with the length of it.

I’m not keeping up with the Mignola/Hellboy stuff, but the new Witchfinder mini on page 69 (nice), The Gates of Heaven, is co-written by Chris Roberson with art by D’Israeli, so that’s pretty cool.

Yeah, I like getting these in trade. One of these days I’ll get every single Hellboy-verse book, because I don’t think I’ve read a bad one yet.

That’s actually really impressive, given how much stuff there is!

DC:

Back to Newsarama for the solicits!

On page 83, we get this fun solicit for DC Nation #0: “Just in time for Free Comic Book Day, this special comic priced at just $0.25 US features three brand-new stories …” Um, does someone want to explain to Danny D what “free” means? I get that this is coming out the Wednesday before Free Comic Book Day, but then why say anything about it? Why link it to FCBD? DC can just release a quarter-priced comic whenever they want, right? People who go into stores for FCBD are usually those who DON’T go in on regular Wednesdays, so they won’t care. And if there are copies lying around on the next Saturday, aren’t they going to think it’s free and get grumpy when it’s not? I mean, we all know that DC is really, really clever when it comes to selling things, so I guess they know what they’re doing?

Well, most stores are going to get a lot of these, and at the price, they can probably afford to give some away on FCBD if they have them left, so I don’t see it as the dumbest thing DC has done.  It’s a way of signaling to comic shop owners that they should be sure to have enough since they’ll get the extra foot traffic on FCBD.  Remember, Previews isn’t just for us the regular customer, but for the real customer, the retailer (which is weird, actually!).  I can’t let this go, though, without mentioning the Superman story with art by José Luis García-López.  Sweet!

Yeah, I know, but it’s still a dumb way to advertise it. DC simply has poor copy writers. And yes, the Superman story might be worth a look.

DC continues to troll Marvel really hard with this Justice League: No Justice event (pages 86-89), in which they say to Marvel, “Hey, you have one Galactus? Well, now we have FOUR!!!!” I’m not reading any of them, but I am totally rooting for DC’s Punisher, DC’s Hulk, DC’s Cloak, and DC’s Fantastic Four to smash sales records, even if they have to continue to be dicks to Alan Moore to do so. That would be awesome.

First, the first Justice League Rebirth arc was about the same kind of stupid ass life force energy beings, and it was lame.  Second, it looks like a way to bring the Teen Titans into the Justice League, which is dumb.  I thought I had a third, but I just don’t give a fuck.  Well, just that Sideways (page 97) kind of reminds me of Joe Casey’s The Bounce character design.  And wait, yeah, The Terrifics 4 on page 99 has a giant space squid, which they mention twice so you know it’s important.  Like the one from Watchmen.

Good call on the Bounce. I hadn’t thought of that.

Unfortunately, New Challengers (page 93) doesn’t seem to have a Marvel analog. Dang. Neither does Brimstone (page 94), it seems.

Well, Challengers were kind of a prelude version of Fantastic Four, and you have already forgotten that I pointed out that Brimstone is basically Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze version).  The online solicit made New Challengers sound like the art was all Klaus Janson, but presumably he’s inking Andy Kubert, which will probably look good for the 3-ish issues they end up doing together …

Sorry about forgetting that about Brimstone. You’re totes right!

ICYMI, Green Lanterns Annual 1 on page 117 is by Andy Diggle with Juan Ferrerya art.  Someday he will be doing the art for a book I care about again!

Yeah, I saw that. I might actually get it, much to my eternal shame.

Looks like the Wildstorm: Michael Cray version of Constantine is the dude from that issue of Planetary (page 127).

I didn’t read that the first time around, but now that I have, I can only say … Wut?

I haven’t read the “Milk Wars” crossover thing between DC and Young Animal yet, but the trade is on page 129. It does look pretty cool, though – they got good artists to work on it!

It did sound cool, and I’ll consider this trade.  Even though I haven’t gotten any of the Young Animal stuff yet.

The fact that DC is advertising the “death” of Freddy in Scooby Apocalypse #25 so much on page 130 makes me think it’s not real. I mean, they might keep him off the pages for a while, or maybe some corporation will turn him into RoboCop or something, but since they’re not concealing it at all, I can’t believe it’s real. We shall see!

Well, it’s not like this is the canon regular version of Scooby-Doo anyway.  (pedantic voice) None of it is real, honey! Heh.

Speaking of the Scooby gang, on page 132 is the Team-Up series #38, with Blue Falcon and Dynomutt in this issue, and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? 93 has the gang go on…a long overdue vacation? From what?

Solving mysteries is stressful work, man!

Hey, you can get Phil Jimenez’s Tempest mini-series on page 133, finally collected years after it was relevant (or is it back to being relevant again?)! This is a stunningly beautiful book that’s a headache to read, as Jimenez really ladles on the exposition and convoluted storytelling. Why did Jimenez never become a bigger name in comics? He’s so freaking good, and I know he still works, but he never seemed to become a superstar.

I suspect that Infinite Crisis broke him.

It broke so many of us …

Just saw that he’s announced as the artist on Kelly Sue Deconnick’s Wonder Woman book from this Black Label shit from DC, so yay?

A Lot of L’il Gotham collects Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen’s series with all the Gotham characters as “kids,” sort of. It’s amazingly good, and this is 25 bucks for 12 issues, which ain’t a bad deal.

Sooooo good.  I’m kind of surprised there wasn’t a complete series trade before this, actually.  I also am proud that you use the L’il spelling, because even though it’s not “right”, it’s right, man! (page 134)

Well, technically that’s how it’s spelled, so even though it’s incorrect, it’s the actual title, so I have to use it!

I’ll probably get the first trade of Gotham City Garage on page 136 – it looks pretty good, and who doesn’t love dystopian futures run by Lex Luthor?

It did sound neat, so I may spring for it too.  As I recall, issue 12 was the last issue, so it should be just two trades all told.

Also on page 136 is a 10th anniversary omnibus of Final Crisis, and holy crap, 10 years?  I remember stuff about it at the old place, and I thought I’d been there for a while at that point, so man oh man, I’ve been annoying about comics online for ages!

Yeah, tempus fugit when you’re annoying people, don’t it?

The trade of Mystik U shows up on page 139, and I’ll probably get it. Zatanna going to magic school? Sure, why not? It looked pretty good, too, as Mike Norton is a good artist.

I love Zatanna, so I’m probably going for this.

IDW:

Check out the solicits here!

I’ll have to try the trade of Ghostbusters: Answer the Call on page 165. It’s by Kelly Thompson, and she’s only let me down once (and I’m not telling what it is!). Plus, Corin Howell is a pretty good artist.

Yeah, I’m getting this, of course.  I need to watch the movie before I read it, though! I’m not saying you’re a bad person, just an awful one, btw. [Edit: I told Travis in private which of Thompson’s comics let me down, and now I’m dead to him.]

I don’t really care about the characters, but I’m tempted to get the Scarlett’s Strike Force trade on page 169 just because IDW truncated it because they didn’t want to back Aubrey Sitterson over some whiny diaper babies online.

I thought about getting this solely because Daniel and Kyriazis are pretty good artists!

I would have just gotten this trade of Jem and The Holograms: Dimensions on page 173, but my shop guy got me the singles, since I’d been getting all the other Jem books.  But it’s here, and it’s got a Sophie Campbell story, so that’s cool.

If you’ve been waiting for the trade of Kid Lobotomy, it’s on page 181. I haven’t read this yet, but Tess Fowler’s art is nice, and it’s the kind of thing Peter Milligan is good at, so I’m looking forward to getting into this!

I have been waiting for this trade, so I should be getting it.  This does sound like primo Milligan.

Did you get the second arc of The Infinite Loop?  It’s collected on page 186.  I still need to read the first, of course!

No, I didn’t get it. Charretier didn’t do the artwork, and the story wasn’t quite good enough for me to get it without her art. The replacement is fine, but not as good as she is.

Atomic Robo and the Spectre of Tomorrow is also in trade on page 188. You guys buy Atomic Robo, right? I mean, you’d be crazy not to!

I’ve gotten the big omnibus type trades that IDW has put out (three so far, I think?), but the couple of series since then I haven’t gotten yet.  What I have read of AR is friggin’ awesome, though!

Oh, man, that Michael Allred’s Madman Artist Select hardcover on page 189 is so, so tempting!  Agh, why must I lust in this way?!?!

On page 195, Nate Powell has a new book, Come Again, which is about hippies with secrets in the late 1970s. Powell is a brilliant creator, so I’m glad he has another book coming out!

Oh, I didn’t read the solicit right, I thought it was about the hard-of-hearing dry cleaner doing Monica Lewinsky’s laundry (thank you Phyllis Diller!).

Man, you’re using Phyllis Diller as a reference. Way to bring in the young demographic, Pelkie!

As the youth of the blog, I do need to appeal to the kids like me!  (In truth, it’s a reference to one of the extras on The Aristocrats documentary DVD, in case you didn’t know.)

Also on 195 is an expanded edition of Lost Girls.  Goddammit, if I’m not getting around to reading it, I should have waited to get this, apparently!

Image:

Hey! it’s the solicits!

Man, Image is really laying it on thick for The Barrier, the new comic from Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin (pages 200-201). There are no plans to collect these (yeah, right), so the only way to get them is to support your local comics shop! Then, issue #3 is “silent” (their quote marks), “the first wordless comic ever from either Brian K. Vaughan or Marcos Martin.” As if a silent comic is an amazing innovation. How weird. Look, the last time these dudes collaborated was Private Eye, I think, and that was pretty good (not great, but pretty good). I’m sure this will be a fine comic. But if Image thinks they’re not going to collect this, they’re insane. These scare tactics are beneath them.

You are harsh, but probably accurate.  What’s worse is that #1 is Image’s FCBD offering, so just a few days later you can shell out the cash for a bigger size version of the issue you just got free!

Death or Glory (page 202) is the newest Rick Remender book, which means the first issue will be amazing, the second one slightly less so, and the quality will drop off quickly after that. It’s the Remender Pattern! It sounds all right, even though it hits so many familiar tropes it’s making my head hurt. We have Glory, who was raised in a convoy of truckers who are the last bastion of people fighting for “true freedom on the American open road” (whatever the hell that means). Shockingly enough, Glory’s father is dying, but because he craves freedom more than financial stability, he has no money to pay for surgery. Sucks to be you, dude! So instead of, you know, getting a job, Glory decides to steal the money, because people who put their money in banks are suckers. This book examines “our dwindling freedoms and the price paid by those who fight for an untethered life.” Yawn. Look, if you want an untethered life, you take the good with the bad, and the bad is that you can’t afford surgery. Doctors gotta eat, too, you know? Anyway, Bengal draws this, and the art is beautiful, but this just sounds like something that wants desperately to be relevant in Trump’s America but will just come off as whiny. But that’s just my opinion.

I don’t know who they’re trying to fool by calling this an ongoing.  There’s no way this concept can drive a series of any real length without major padding.  It definitely comes across as a mishmash of different tropes, but I’ll probably try the first trade. Although the preview pages need some editing, as the jukebox “doesn’t play anything before ’79”, when I assume it means it doesn’t play anything after that, and it says faces are getting “taught” and wrinkled (which, on top of the misspelling doesn’t quite work either).

Maybe it’s not a mistake, and that all these hardened truckers are just listening to everything after disco began, because disco is awesome. Of course, that would require some silliness from Remender, and that ain’t happening. And I tend to believe that everyone involved in this book has no idea that “taught” and “taut” are different words, spelled differently, because I’ve been witness to the eliding of “discreet” and “discrete” over the past several years, so I have a feeling that this is the same thing. Language is malleable, remember, and it usually changes through stupidity. PROGRESS!!!!!

It’s got a great creative roster and is for a good cause, although I suspect some of the stories will be cringe-inducing (as “cause” stories often are), so I’ll probably get the Where We Live: Las Vegas Shooting Benefit Anthology on page 208.

Yeah, I’ll skip this. I’m sure it will be fine, but nothing all that great.

Angelic gets a trade on page 210. Simon Spurrier is usually good for a fine story, and Caspar Wijngaard is a good artist, so I’ll pick this up. Everyone loves sentient, genetically modified animals, right?

It did sound neat from what I saw of it, so I was definitely looking forward to it.

It’s sort of future tech sci-fi looking at the price of fame (so, yawn, right?), but the art looks interesting for No. 1 With a Bullet on page 213, a trade of the not-announced-as-one-but-was-a-miniseries.

On page 214, we get Son of Hitler. Obviously, they had me at the title, but Anthony Del Col, the co-writer, is pretty good, so it might be even better than the title suggests!

Sounds goofy, and Jeff McComsey is involved with FUBAR, which is actually decent zombie historical fiction, so I may get this.

Wow, took long enough, but there’s finally a trade of Stray Bullets: Sunshine and Roses on page 215.  Now I just have to get around to reading it before the trade comes out in early May so that I can lord me getting the singles over the suckers who tradewaited!

I have no idea what took so long with this. Of course, I’m not really sure what Lapham is doing with the series these days. He said he wanted to do shorter arcs with some breaks in between, but this “arc” is currently at 30-some issues and shows no signs of slowing down. It’s still very good, but it’s weird.

Even though I don’t take the drugs that the kids seem to like, I think Void Trip on page 217 sounds like an interesting story, about the last two humans alive in the galaxy trying to get to a space utopia.

Yeah, I might get this. I’ll think about it.

Scott Godlewski returns to Copperhead with issue 19 (page 220), which is cool.  I haven’t read the issues he didn’t do yet, so I need to catch up!

It’s cool because he’s a good artist, but I wonder if it’s that he’s not getting work from the Big Two, which is a shame. Maybe Faerber came into some more Zoo money, so he was able to pay Godlewski more!

I take this opportunity to go RINGGGGGGGERRRRRRR!!!!!

Marvel:

It’s the solicits!

When I heard about the “Fresh Start” from Marvel and new #1 issues of Avengers and Black Panther (with more coming, presumably), I laughed and laughed and laughed. In fact, I’m still laughing, and people I encounter during the day are starting to worry, as it’s been over a week now and they think I might have a problem. This. Is. AMAZING. Marvel: The gift that keeps on giving!

Yeah, I mean, I’m not surprised, but I thought they’d go with the renumbering/old numbering stuff at least a little longer.  Jeebus.

On page 1 of Marvel’s Previews (they’re too cool to be in the regular catalog!), E-I-C C.B. Cebulski, who posed as an Asian person when he was writing comics a little over a decade ago (so weird), tries to pump up the crowd for the “new creative teams, new series, new directions and new beginnings” at Marvel. Um, Akira? Have you spoken to any Marvel fans recently? What they want are creative teams that stay on books for more than five issues, FEWER series, and the return of classic characters. I would love it if Marvel hired an artist who could draw 5 issues in a row and stayed on a series for longer than 25 issues, and I think Marvel would do themselves a huge favor by canceling half of the comics they publish. If they don’t lower the price, I’m still not going to buy them, but the signal-to-noise ratio at Marvel is ridiculous, and how can anyone figure out what’s going on when there are dozens of comics starring a few characters and the artists keep changing? Why do you think Squirrel Girl has been so good? It stays in its lane, you haven’t started publishing six different Squirrel Girl-related titles, and the creative team has stayed intact. It just keeps chugging along, telling good stories. These reboot-not-reboots are ridiculous, and this will give more people a chance to leave Marvel, like so many others have already done. But what do I know, Akira? I’m not a genius who used a pseudonym because everyone knew the work I did under my real name was shit.

(By the way, Marvel is using a Rob Guillory drawing of Cebulski on that page. That’s pretty cool.)

Hey, he gives hope to all of the rest of us mediocre white guys that someday, we too will be in charge of things that other people who work harder and are better than us at probably should be in charge of.

On page 2, we actually get the solicit for Avengers #1, which is by Jason Aaron, who’s popular at Marvel but doesn’t really write good superhero stories, and Ed McGuinness, who will last three issues on the book. It seems like the only reason for this to be a new #1 is because Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Thor are back on the team together, so good for them! It’s still annoying.

Aaron talks about, on page 5, how all the characters are there for a specific reason.  I wonder what reason Black Panther is there?

I’m wracking my brain!!!!!

I want names of the fuckers who demanded the return of Darkhawk (page 20).  You people need help!

I want to write a team-up book with Darkhawk and Sleepwalker. IT WOULD SELL IN THE MILLIONS!!!!!

Fuck, Sleepwalker is way different, man!

Marvel is giving us four (4) four-issue miniseries about the hunt for Wolverine (pages 22-25). Sigh.

Yeah, it’s dumb, but that Nauck Where’s Wolverine cover variants on pages 26-27 is pretty sweet, though.  As is that similar Scott Koblish Deadpool cover on page 33.

According to Marvel, Amazing Spider-Man #800 (page 29) features “the biggest Peter Parker/Norman Osborn story of all time,” which “unfolds over one 80-page story, a scope unmatched in comics!” Um, Marvel? I’m pretty sure you can find many graphic novels longer than 80 pages telling one story, so perhaps you should ease up on the hyperbole, ‘k?

Yep, on page 43, we get the solicitation for a 7-year-old comic, S.H.I.E.L.D. #5 and 6. This terrific mini-series by Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver mysteriously disappeared in 2011, yet there were still hints by Weaver, who posted work on his blog for a while, that it was still going forward. I’m so happy this is back, because it was pretty awesome. Hey, look at me, buying Marvel single issues in 2018!

That was actually the second series they did together, though, right?  I may get the collection of the first four issues on page 42, though, and these singles, because I think I read the first mini.  Or maybe I’ll wait for a big book of the whole dang thing!

Yeah, it was the second series, and I thought they were pushing their luck then, because the first took a while! But it’s so, so good!!!!

Douche Hulk on the cover of Champions 20 on page 47 …

That is a great cover for Doctor Strange 390 on page 65.

Dammit, do I have to get the X-Men Wedding Special on page 77, since our pal Kelly has a story in it?  I know she’s doing two Marvel books upcoming, as well as developing/hoping for a third, so I’m guessing an X book and Jessica Jones?  Oh, yeah, Claremont does a story in this issue too.

No, you don’t have to get it. It has that awful cover and Greg Land draws a story in it. Resist, Travis!!!!

But it’s Kelly!

I’m really tempted to get the Marvel Masterworks: Killraven vol. 1 on page 108, even though it’s $100. Lots of P. Craig Russell art? Yes indeed! I’m thinking about it.

It’s something I’m considering as well.

I know they’re not very good, but I’m also tempted by Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four vol. 20 on page 109, as this is the Doug Moench/Bill Sienkiewicz run. It’s $75, which might mitigate against it, but I’m still thinking about it!!!!

I didn’t even realize Billy the Sink did a run on FF.  I guess this is right before the Byrne run.

Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s Captain America gets collected in a trade on page 115. I’ll pick this up!

I’m considering it, as well as the Tales of Suspense mini with Hawkeye and Winter Soldier on the prior page, which I heard was deec.

I still don’t understand the logic behind the solicit for Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide vol. 8 on page 121. I didn’t get it when it came out, and I don’t now. Okay, so Spider-Man hurls Zodiac a “full year” into the future, which means Zodiac has had “a whole year to prepare for this rematch!” That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Doesn’t that mean Spider-Man has had a whole year to prepare for their rematch, while Zodiac hasn’t had any time at all? If I hurl my foe into the future, to, let’s say, 1 March 2019, then I know I’m going to fight him on 1 March and can prepare for that. Meanwhile, my foe is standing there on 1 March 2018 and then suddenly finds himself (or herself – I make a lot of enemies, people!) on 1 March 2019, and I’m standing there with a giant novelty fist with a spring attached to it, like in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and I hit my foe with it before he can react, because my year of study has indicated that that’s the only way I can defeat him!!!!! So I don’t get that solicit. Like a lot of shit we get from the Big Two, it sounds neat but doesn’t make much sense.

Yeah, I said all this when the issue involved was solicited.  It’s funny that they didn’t even correct it.  No one listens to us, man!

Holy crap, I don’t remember that at all. I’m sorry I stole your very sound logic. I must have known you wrote it and filed it away somewhere, and then it came out and I thought it was my own thought. Very weird. It’s a very good point you had, though!

It sounds even better echoed back to me, though, so no worries, sir!

Complete collection of the original Champions on page 133.  I got the one shot that reprinted the first few issues, but didn’t read it, so I should look at it and see if I want this thing.

A guy at my comic book shoppe just bought Champions #16 because he tries to own every appearance of Doctor Doom, and Doom shows up in that issue. The funniest thing about it is that it ends on a cliffhanger, but issue #17 simply begins with a new story. How does the story in issue #16 end?!?!?!? The world may never know!!!!!

I guess I better tell my Doom loving friend about Champions 16, then, because he too tries to get all the Doom appearances.  I’ve got him buying All-New Wolverine because of it!

The Thor Epic Collection Worldengine on page 135 has me going “it’s so ’90s!” “but it’s Ellis!” “but it’s so ’90s!”.

Yeah, it was okay, but definitely not worth 40 dollars. Ellis only writes the first four issues, I think?

Whoo! On page 136, we get Dakota North: Design for Dying, with a bunch of hodgepodge comics that I must read!!!!

It calls to me as well, my friend!

It’s time for the back of the book!

The latest Aardvark-Vanaheim Cerebus in Hell? one shot is on page 258, and is called The Undateable Cerebus, and it’s got an homage cover to Days of Future Past.

I’m frightened at myself for all the Action Lab stuff on page 262 that I’m considering.  I mean, Jupiter Jet sounds like a fun little take on the Rocketeer, with a teen girl as the star, but the Danger Zone books … Baby Badass is some sort of bizarre parody of post-apocalyptic stuff; Black Betty (ram-a-lam, whoa-oh) is a monster killing mercenary, and need I say more about The Gingerdead Man Meets Evil Bong?

Step away from the Previews, sir. Step away!!!!

Didn’t you read Brigands?  The sequel series, Ruin of Thieves, starts on page 263.

I did not. I might have to, thought. Although I’m already reading Night’s Dominion, so why do I need to read this?

On page 265, Garth Ennis and Goran Sudzuka bring us A Walk Through Hell from AfterShock, which is about two FBI agents who go looking for some missing agents and find something horrific. Sounds like it’s right up Ennis’s alley, and Sudzuka is always good, so I’ll wait for the trade!

Wasn’t Neonomicon the exact same set up?

Beats me. I was too distracted by the rape to know what was going on in that book.

Sound the Chad Nevett alarm, The Art of Jim Starlin HC is available on page 272!

Yeah, I saw that. I’m actually thinking about getting it, but I’m not sure yet.

Shipwreck, by Warren Ellis and Phil Hester, gets a trade on page 273. I’m down for it!

I wish Aftershock was clearer about if these things are miniseries that are done and complete now, or if there will be more to them.  Grr!

Don’t worry about it!

I am a comic book geek, sir, this is the kind of thing that bothers me and gets me writing long rants about!

Archie has the first trade of The Archies on page 289, and given that #7 right next to it is the last issue of the series, it’s volume 1 of 2.  I’m tempted, since I like the concept and like Joe Eisma (I never caught up with Morning Glories after around issue 30 or 35, should I?).

That’s kind of cheesy, though, doing a four-issue trade (for 18 dollars!!!!) when they could easily do a complete package. Oh well. And no, there’s no reason to keep getting Morning Glories after that, as by the 30s it was already going downhill and it never got any better before ending. So sad – for about 15 issues in the early part of the run it was really, really good.

Yeah, and then they stopped stating in the solicits what issues were in what trades, so I don’t even know where to go back to.  It was an awesome series for quite a while, and then yeah, it sputtered.  Too many mysteries piled atop each other over and over without any attempts to even semi-wrap some things up.

Simon Spurrier is writing Coda from Boom!, which sounds interesting. It’s after an apocalypse in a fantasy world, so almost all the magic has been drained out of it. There’s a dude trying to save the soul of his wife, and he of course gets drawn into crazy shit. It sounds neat, and the art looks good. How long it will take Boom! to collect it is another question!

It sounds neat, but it will be 3 fucking trades and the last one will probably print issues that will be digital only, but we’ll see.

Harsh, but true!

I haven’t seen much Adventure Time, and I’m not trying to catch up, really, but I am tempted for the Adventure Time 100 Project, since it benefits the Hero Initiative and it might be interesting to see people like Billy the Sink and Walt Simonson do art for this.  (page 311)

On page 314 is the Six Figure Crowdfunding guide, which I wouldn’t really care about, but I am intrigued if they were able to raise that much with illustrations that shitty.

Meow, sir!

I’m curious about The Many Deaths of Scott Koblish on page 330 from Chronicle Books. Apparently Koblish has been drawing comic strips showing his death for years, and now there’s a collection. This sounds like a trifle, but it might be a lot fun.

It does sound amusing.  Why does he plot his own death?!  What I’m wondering is why the book isn’t available in South Africa?

South Africa has a lot of murderous baboons, and they don’t want them getting any ideas about overrunning the human population!

Weren’t the apartheid heads the murderous baboons?  Boom!  30 year old political commentary is my forte!

I am, of course, considering the Bettie Page trade on page 339 from Dynamite.  It sounds fun!

There’s a trade of the miniseries The Librarians on page 345.  I’m considering this, because I’m considering grabbing a package at the local big box store that has the 3 seasons of the show for 30 bucks.  Is it worth it, and do I need to see the movies that started the series?

I’ve never seen the movies, and I have no trouble following the series – it’s not like it’s rocket science. A recent episode called back to the movies, but did so in a way that was easy to follow. It’s a decent enough show, but it’s not as good as Leverage, which was created by the same dude.

Cool.  I need to find Leverage too.  That one did sound cool.

Last month I mentioned that the re-offering of Silver volumes 1 and 2 from Dark Planet must mean that volume 3 is coming out, and there it is on page 352. You can get all three and enjoy a fun heist story with vampires!

And as the ad on the next page shows, volume 4 is coming in October.  I passed on the first two last time, hoping they’d eventually be reoffered, but didn’t expect it this soon.  I may have to get all three!

Diablo Productions has a goofy sounding one with Hell High GN on page 352, where the lady that’s the principal of a DC area private school is actually the devil, and a dude has to save the world from her while trying to impress the President’s daughter.  Sure, why not?

Drawn and Quarterly collects a bunch (heh) of Aline Kominsky-Crumb’s comics from over the years with Love That Bunch on page 355.  Probably a must have for fans of underground type comix.

HAHAHA!  On page 358 is the Dynamic Forces listings for DC Nation 0, and the one signed by Bendis is 20 bucks less than the one signed by Tom King!  Suck it, baldy!  (I’m never getting into DC Comics now, am I?)

Yes, this is the reason.

Phew, I thought it was my lack of talent or ability to hit a regular deadline!

Ellen Forney follows up Marbles with the new Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life.  I like her comics, and I have a copy of Marbles around somewhere that I haven’t yet read, but I will probably be getting this one.  It’s on page 365 from Fantagraphics.

451 Media Group has done some interesting comics (someday I will write about Humbug!), and on page 369 (triple nice!), we get ExMortis, about a monster crew fighting against Hitler.  Sure, why not?

Humbug was all right. I didn’t understand how Scrooge was still alive, though. And yes, this book sounds decent.

…Magic, I think?  It was fuzzy.

I have to get around to reading the last issues of Immortal from Keenspot, so I can tell you if it’s worth getting in trade, which is offered on page 378.

I saw that and I’m thinking about it, but I’m not the hugest fan of Gieni’s artwork. I know he can draw in different styles, so if he eases up on the “kiddie manga” style I saw from him years ago, I could deal with it. What’s the art look like?

From what I recall (it’s been a while since I read the first 2 issues), it was more in the vein of ’90s Image founder wannabe art.

Knockabout has, on page 379, Bloke’s Progress, where a dude who wins the lottery loses everything and is visited by the spirit of John Ruskin, which is totally what happens.  It’s drawn by Hunt Emerson, who is dang good. However, I hope they edit the book better than they did the solicit text!

Yeah, that solicit text is a mess.

Kodansha has Golosseum on page 382, which is a “sci-fi wrestling political parody action manga”, because why not?  I may get this.

Koyama Press has some interesting ones on page 383, but I’ll point out the XTC69 (nice) GN by Jessica Campbell, wherein the author is the last human on Earth, cryogenically frozen and found by space explorers from an all-women planet.  I’ve seen movies like this before!

That sounds really weird.

Lion Forge has an interesting looking one on page 386, The Big Empty Life of Alphonse Tabouret, which looks neat from the preview pages (if a bit sparse in the story).  The Enchanted Chest on page 388 has a real Klimt feel to it, too.  I thought the Oothar the Blue one on page 392 was by a dude who’s work I’ve seen online, but it seems that I’ve seen Branson Reese’s work, not Brandon Reese.  Oops.

How dare you make that mistake!!!!!

I DARE!

I can’t tell if the book from Nobrow on page 402, Mean Girls Club: Pink Dawn, is the one I got before or if it’s a different book by the same author with the same gang of characters.  I liked the one I got pretty well, so if this is different, I’ll probably get it.

It’s definitely different – the first one was much shorter. I liked the first one fine, so I might get this, too, but I’ll think about it.

Well, now I’m wondering if it includes the first one and just expands on it.  Dammit …

Omnimorphic, a new publisher, I guess, debuts with Alien Toilet Monsters (page 402), which is about multiverses and toilet humor, I suppose.  I might try it.

Of course I’ll wait for the trade!

Oni has the trade of Made Men on page 404, which I was considering.  It’s apropos that as I write about this, some stupid tabloid is raising a ruckus because some college readers of the original Frankenstein think the monster should be sympathized with, which is a message of the book.  People are weird.

Yeah, I’m definitely getting this trade. And I don’t get that story at all. The paper is angry because the kids are sympathizing with the monster? How is that even a news story? Does the paper just roam college campuses looking for hawt taeks? “How dare kids root for the whale!” “How dare kids think ‘A Modest Proposal’ is satire!” “How dare kids think Mrs. Rochester was treated poorly!” We need more information about this story, Pelkie!

Basically, they quote a professor who says students are sympathizing with the monster because he’s human despite the method of creation, and the crazy paper is up in arms because the monster kills people, and apparently you can’t sympathize with someone and still think they’re a bad person for killing.  And ‘A Modest Proposal’ isn’t satire but damn good eating….

Pizzasaurus Rex is a trade starring Poochie, it appears…. (page 406)

I haven’t read volume 1 yet, but the second volume of Heartthrob is available on page 409 (and v1 is again too, if you missed it!).

OK, I need to look into this further sometime when I feel like it, but on page 416 is Warlock 5 from Ragnarok Publications, which appears to be a rebooting of the ’80s indie series.  I read the first issue of the original, and it was pretty good.  Maybe they’ll reprint that too, but it appears that Cullen Bunn is writing this.

That sounds really bizarre, but I might pick it up.

It’s about heroes brought together from different universes, I believe, but yeah, the first issue of the ’80s version was quite good.  Maybe if this does ok they’ll reprint the original, which would be nice.  I loves me some ’80s obscure indie comics!

Rebellion/2000AD is bringing back The Ballad of Halo Jones in 3 newly colored trades on page 418.  I think I have bits and pieces of this, but not the whole thing, so I may get these, although it would have been nice to just get it all in one book.

I love this comic. You should definitely get it, but yeah, it would have been nice for it to be all one volume. I might wait to see if I want the inevitable collected edition, especially because the coloring might be neat to see.

Scout has Mindbender in trade on page 421, where a dude in an accident as a kid develops new powers from being in a virtual coma for 16 years.  Sounded neat.

SelfMadeHero has an odd sounding one with Tumult on page 421, where a dude gets involved with a woman with multiple personalities, and the killings that ensue.

That does sound very neat. I’ll have to check it out.

I like the premise of the Seven Seas Entertainment book on page 424, Satan’s Secretary, which posits that the reason Satan gets shit done is because he’s got a great secretary.  Why not?

Everyone needs a great secretary!

Silver Sprocket has a couple of interesting ones on page 426, with Pinky & Pepper Forever, where a couple of puppygirls die, and the one who went first turns out to be thriving in Hell.  Then Tom Neely of Henry and Glenn Forever has 3 Poems in Unfinished… about his friend Dylan Williams.

Also on page 426 is Source Point Press, with The Rot, a 3 issue series about a hitman experimented on by the military when he has terminal cancer, which sounds strange.  There’s also Fallstreak, about a “cloud-emptying” event that causes a teenage boy to encounter elements from a conspiracy when he sees a dead monster removed from his neighbor’s house.

Titan collects the recent Tank Girl mini-series on page 431. I’ve been checking these out as they come out, and Brett Parson’s art is terrific and they look like hella fun. It’s 50 dollars, but it’s a decent chunk of comics.

I thought you didn’t get the Two Girls One Tank one because of the name? 😉

Ugh, don’t get me started. I’ll just try to ignore it.

Hey, Titan is also printing Violent Cases again on page 436, which makes at least 3 publishers (DC/Vertigo and Dark Horse, and possibly a British printing originally) that have done this book.  Maybe I should get it this time.

My original printing is a bit beat up, but still fine and dandy!

Sweet, not only is that James Stokoe cover on 2021: Lost Children 1 of 2 neat looking, a la Akira, but you can actually order the B&W version as well, which may be even sweeter!  (page 437)

There’s another Philippe Druillet book on page 438, Yragaël / Urm the Madman, which I will be getting because there’s never a good time to pass up Druillet’s artwork!

Ten Speed Press has the Comic Book Story of Baseball on page 456, which appeals to me because I did used to love all sorts of weird baseball stuff like this book seems to be covering.  Then I discovered comics and baseball fell by the wayside, since I am unathletic.  Plus, the art is by Tomm Coker, and motherfuckin’ Xenobrood rocks, man!

XENOBROOOOOOOOODDDD!!!!!! Yeah, this does sound neat. Connie Mack as a revolutionary catcher, Old Hoss Radbourn dominating, Jack Chesbro’s wild pitch – what’s not to love about oldey-tyme baseball?!?!?!?

That one owner who did crazy promos like having the little person as a pinch hitter …

Bill Veeck (“as in ‘wreck'”). One of the great owners in baseball history. But he was in the 1940s and 1950s, so who knows if this book gets that far in history, unless it covers … EVERYTHING!!!!!

TwoMorrows is always good, we know, and now they’re putting out a cool looking new magazine called Retro Fan, starting with TV Hulk stuff and the Phantom in movies.  I see Elvira, Ben Cooper costumes, Richard Donner, Irwin Allen, and more is coming up.  Waitaminnit, they’re horning in on our territory!  Also on page 456 is the latest Alter Ego.  153 spotlights Flo Steinberg and her successor Robin Green, who apparently wrote for the Sopranos, as well!  The latest Back Issue, 105, spotlights the Deadly Hands crowd, including Hong Kong Phooey!  Sounds cool!

I’m not sure this Valiant High on page 469 (from Valiant, natch) is going to be all that great, but it’s taking all their characters and putting them into an Archie-like setting.  I’ll probably snag the trade, though.

Hmm, I’m tempted on the Harbinger Wars Compendium trade on page 471, which is over 700 pages of stuff of the earliest of the new Valiant stuff, including the first 14 issues of Harbinger and the first 13 of Bloodshot, as well as the 4 issue title crossover.  I can’t remember how much of Harbinger I got, but I really liked the first issues of that, as it became almost a different type of comic with each issue, and it was quite good.  I’m not sure if I got any of Bloodshot, so if I check, I may shell out for this.

Hmm, I’ve heard about Fullmetal Alchemist, and Viz offers a deluxe edition on page 473.  Looks kind of steampunk-y.  I may try it.

Vault has a few trades on page 480 that sound good.  Maxwell’s Demons is about a genius kid who adventures through his closet door/multiversal portal.  Powerless is about a dude living in a world where everyone is infected with superpowers.  Karma Police is Radiohead’s best song about a woman trained as a compassionate assassin, and if you don’t want to get this just to find out what the hell that means, I don’t know about you.

Powerless does sound neat, and I am filled with shame because I still haven’t read Karma Police. I am seriously Pelkieing it, unfortunately.

I’m torn that my name has become a verb denoting how far behind one is on reading comics, but glad I’ve gotten some recognition.  It’s a weird ego thing!

I haven’t read the first one yet (of course!) but Malika Warrior Queen v2 is available on page 481 from Youneek Studios.

How is Marvel not doing manga of Star Wars?  Why is Yen doing it on page 484?  I don’t get it!?!

Beats me. They’re not doing those all-ages adventures, either, as those are from IDW. We shouldn’t question the publishing decisions!

I meant to mention that.  I assume they make more money subcontracting them out rather than doing them in-house.

None of the Zenescope books on page 488 or 489 list interior artists.

Yeah, but Howard Mackie is writing on them. Nothing says quality like Howard Mackie!

I don’t know art, but I know what I like, and I suspect that Rockabilly Psychobilly: An Art Anthology on page 495 is something I’d like.

Cool, not only is the Peter Kuper Conversations book on page 496 full of interviews with the great “silent” artist, but it also includes interviews he conducted with people like Kirby and Vaughn Bodé in the ’70s.  Man, that makes the book really tempting!

Illustrators Magazine 22 on page 504 features the Bardon Art Agency, which is apparently a British firm where people like Dave Gibbons, Mick McMahon, and Brian Bolland got their starts.  Cool.

I guess other than considering the Crow and Tom Servo MST3K pins on page 587, I’m done.  That went better than I expected!

Thanks for reading, everyone. We hope you find some cool stuff within Previews, because FSM forbid we come up with a better way to get cool comics!