Flippin’ through ‘Previews’ – November 2020

Hey-o! It’s time for the next catalog of Previews, #386, with a Zenescope comic on the cover (okay, it’s the flip cover, but still!)! Let’s check things out, shall we? As always, Travis will take time away from dipping his fingers into Nutella and licking them, which he does for approximately 19 hours a day (he bought a lot of Nutella in March, everyone), to offer his thoughts in darkest black, whilst I will offer my thoughts in joyous blue as I push away all the supermodels who haven’t gotten laid in months and just can’t keep away from me any longer!

I had to wipe my fingers off.  It took a long time.  Also, I’m working off the website instead of the actual book because I haven’t gotten a chance to get to the comics shop.

Let’s check out DC first. The solicits are here!

What the fuck is this “Future State” anyway? Oh, wait, I don’t care that much.

It’s stories of the future that all seem to be depressing and grimdark and boring af.  I don’t see any of them being all that interesting.  And they weirdly aren’t all taking place at the same time.  The Black Adam story in one of the books apparently takes place in the DC 1,000,000 time period, for instance.  And the stuff in the near future just sounds like the same old shit from recent DC books — which makes sense because I think this is a reworking of what DiDio was going to do with Generation 5 or 5G or whatever tf it was supposed to be.  Hopefully DC will realize this stuff is lame and use the two months “off” to suck less, but that’s unlikely, I know.

So, blech.

Dustin Weaver is doing a story in Batman Black and White #2. That will be very keen, I reckon.

That issue has a great lineup of creators, and a few DC debuts as well as Sophie Campbell back after a decade (since the Minx book she did?).  I will want this trade.

Wow, they dug up Travis Charest for a variant cover for Batman/Catwoman 2 on page 35 (of DC Connect 6).

To be fair, Charest has been working, but not in American comics. It’s sad, but true!

Damn, MAD 18 on page 43 has the last Spy Vs. Spy by Peter Kuper.  He’s being doing that since ‘97, I think.  End of an era, man.

Amy Reeder’s Amethyst is out in trade. I will get this.

It should look pretty, at least.

Image:

The solicits are sort-of here!

On page 30, W. Maxwell Prince, who’s an interesting writer, has HaHa #1, which is a series of single-issue stories by different artists, all about clowns. I mean, it will probably be good and creepy, but clowns, I hate to tell you people, aren’t scary. Suck it up, people!

Clowns can be creepy.  Those stories a few years back about clowns creeping around in people’s backyards were pretty scary.  And let’s not forget the last four years, sir!

Man, it’s amazing you can even go outside with your belief in creepy clowns. Oh, wait a minute, none of us can go outside. Carry on, sir!

I think it’s context, sir.  In the circus, sure, clowns are a-ok, but you wake up some morning and a clown is leering at you over the end of your bed?  Scary af!

Brandon Graham takes some time off from wrecking offensive lines and saving the Eagles’ season with Rain Like Hammers, a five-issue mini-series on page 34. Some of Graham’s work is brilliant and some is not. Which will this be?!?!?!?

Since I don’t follow football, I didn’t really get your joke at first.  My mind went somewhere completely different re: Brandon Graham and offensive!

Yeah, I figured it would, but the non-creepy Brandon Graham is a terrific football player!

Hey, I can’t say anything bad about Philly now!  Between the way the vote shook out and the denizens of Paddy’s Pub, Philly is rockin’!

Chu volume 1 is on page 38, for the low low cost of $9.99, just like Earl Scheib likes it! So far, this has been a pretty good comic. We shall see if it ever comes close to the greatness of Chew, but it’s a good book.

I’ll probably get this trade.  I’m still holding out hope of ever finding a relatively cheap copy of the first Smorgasbord volume of Chew!

Ales Kot’s latest, Lost Soldiers, is in trade on page 39. I run hot and cold on Kot, but he’s always interesting, at least.

Yeah, I haven’t kept up with his stuff lately, but Change was amazing, and Zero was pretty damn interesting stuff.  I might get this.

Dark Horse:

Check out the solicits here!

Crimson Flower is a new Matt Kindt one on page 62 about weaponizing folk tales to create assassin children, which sounds about right.  Hee hee.  Apparently DC is putting Revolver back in print soon, and that was pretty awesome, as I remember.

Dang, you jumped on in and started writing about stuff! I’ve been slacking off too much!

And yes, this looks neat. Kindt needs to do more writer/artist stuff, though!

Mike Mignola’s Quarantine Sketchbook on page 66 probably has some good art and it’s for a good cause, so if you’ve got the cash, it’s probably a good buy.

Some fun trades on pages 75-76. Bill & Ted Are Doomed is offered on page 75 – I’ve only read the first issue, but it’s kind of fun. Spy Island is on page 76, and the first issue of that was quite good, too. I didn’t get Breaklands in single issues, but Justin Jordan is usually an interesting writer, so that should probably be pretty good, too.

I’ll probably get the Bill & Ted.  Haven’t seen the new movie yet but our pal Le Messor reviewed it and while it doesn’t sound as cool as the first two, it should still be fun.

IDW:

All the solicits are here!

I’m not positive if I’ll get G.I. Joe: World on Fire (which is on page 97), but it sounds interesting and Paul Allor is a pretty good writer. I’ll have to ponder it …

Was this a series that was just coming out or something they’re collecting from awhile ago?  I don’t remember the solicits for this one in singles.

I don’t know. I tend to glaze over at the licensed IDW stuff until I see trades, and then I pay a bit of attention.

On page 107 is the trade of My Little Pony/ Transformers: Friendship in Disguise, which sounded like a fun crossover.

On page 113, IDW reprints the Roy Thomas/Esteban Maroto Dracula: Vlad the Impaler graphic novel. I will probably get this – yes, I’m a bit tired of vampires, but Thomas is a good writer, and Maroto’s art in black and white is sure to be superb.

Page 116 has all 3 of the Star Trek The Next Generation Mirror Universe minis in one trade.  I was always more into TNG, but the Mirror Universe is awesome.  I hope all the evil dudes have goatees.

I hope all the evil women have goatees, too!

I think they usually have shorter skirts and maybe even boob windows, but I’m not sure.  Y’know, to show things are EEEEEVIL!

Marvel:

Go to Rich for your solicits!

Nothing about the whole King in Black thing? Not even, on page 2, where Marvel has the audacity to call something King in Black: Gwenom vs. Carnage, and you want to nut-punch the person who came up with “Gwenom”? Come on, Travis!

I get you, man, but this whole King in Black sounded so dumb and it’s taking so long, it seems, and on the heels of Empyre, which sounded at least as stupid … I guess it’s no real surprise that Marvel publisher John Nee got fired!

Dang, that’s harsh. You’re just angry, sir!

Larry Hama is writing Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon on page 22. That should be fun. I haven’t seen a ton of David Wachter’s stuff, but he’s pretty good, although I wonder how he’s now working for Marvel when he’s really not that high-profile an artist. Was it just that the right editor saw his work?

Well, Kevin Eastman has done a few things for Marvel lately, so maybe he recommended that someone at Marvel take a look at his TMNT cohort?  It was hard finding the dude online, but I think he goes by Dave rather than David.  Or else he’s trying to sound serious.

Declan Shalvey is writing and drawing what I assume is a Hulk one-shot on page 44. That should be nifty.

I don’t know what model Alex Ross used for Captain America for the cover of Captain America #27 on page 49, but the dude looks a bit puffy in the face. I do like his “I don’t have time for this shit” expression, though.

It looks like if Patrick Warburton gained some weight!

Dang, I want that Ka-Zar the Savage Omnibus on page 78. I will probably get it, too. I’m weak!

On page 79 is the omnibus of Kull the Savage.  I think IDW had the Kull license last.  Is Marvel trying to get all of the REH stuff, and if so, when are they going to recapture Red Sonja, I wonder?

Two savage blokes facing each other in the catalog! Who will win?!?!?!

Untold Tales of Spider-Man Omnibus is reprinted on page 81, and that series is highly recommended.  I still need to find a couple issues of that version of Amazing Fantasy, but otherwise I believe I have all the issues in this book.  Including the Minus 1 issue, signed by Fred Hembeck and Roger Stern!

Man, I don’t know. I dig me some Busiek, but that late ’90s art is … something. I’ll think about it.

Page 83 has the Complete Kirby War and Romance omnibus (interesting combination), which should be awesomeness.  On the Previews order form, it’s got KIDS next to these listings, which amuses me to think that old war and romance comics are suitable for kids.

I mean, of course they are – how are you going to teach kids about the manly duties of killing Nazis and Commies and picking up the ladies? Second, when I get this (because of course I’m getting this), I really want the “romance” cover. That thing cracks me up.

Oh, that’s definitely the better cover.

On page 84, the Marvel Masterworks reprints the complete Brother Voodoo stories.  It’s a bit too spendy for me, but I’d love to see those stories.

I’m sure I will get this, because I’m foolish.

Page 87 has Marvels: Snapshots in HC, the stories curated by Kurt Busiek as a celebration of the Marvels anniversary.  I thought they sounded cool, so I’m going to consider this book.

Even though it’s a hardcover, it’s still cheaper than buying each issue, so yeah, I’m getting this.

There’s a Luke Cage Epic Collection on page 102. I mean, it has the issue where he gets money from Doctor Doom, so of course I’m getting this!

Sweet Christmas!  I’m surprised this hasn’t been published before, and if it has, I’m surprised it doesn’t indicate it’s a new printing.

Dynamite:

On page 142 is The Boys: Dear Becky trade.  I know you don’t think much of the series, but I found it somewhat interesting, from what I’ve read of it, and I have most of the series.  Eventually I’ll read it and watch the TV show.

I’ll watch the show soon enough. I refuse to read any of the comics, though!

Why would you watch the show if you won’t read the comics?  And you say I’m weird, man!

The source material isn’t always better, you know – I think Fight Club the movie is superior to Fight Club the book – and I’ve heard good things about the show, so I’ll give it a look. I didn’t say I’d watch the whole thing, just that I want to check it out and see if it is, in fact, better than the comic. Leave me alone, man, you’re not my dad!

OK, fine.  Agree on Fight Club, btw.

Boom! Studios:

Read the solicits … if you dare!

I’m looking forward to Abbott: 1973, on page 158, as the first trade was pretty damn good, about a Black woman reporter who has a connection to the supernatural.  I’ll have to get the trade of this down the line.

I did enjoy the first trade, so I’ll check this one out, too.

Onward to the back of the book!

Aardvark-Vanaheim has a few things on page 188.  The Batvark: XXXXX cover is going into a second printing (the X’s stand for penis!), while the Cerebus in Hell? 2021 preview book will do what it says and preview the next year of comics.  And I didn’t get around to posting about it before the end of the Kickstarter, but there’s a new edition of Spawn 10 that Dave did on Kickstarter, with some new art and a bunch of new covers.  I was able to get at least the regular editions!

Also on page 188 is the new series Serial from Abstract Studios and Terry Moore, a spinoff/continuation of the series he’s been doing over the past several years.  I need to catch up on that stuff eventually.

AfterShock has I Breathed a Body on page 190 by Zac Thompson and Andy McDonald, which is a horror comic about social media. So it’s just someone looking at their phone all day? Both Thompson and McDonald are very good creators, so I’m sure this will be groovy.

The horror happens when you can’t upload content!  Oh noes!

David Pepose, who wrote Spencer & Locke, has Scout’s Honor (page 192), which is a post-apocalyptic story in which the new society that has risen up bases their lives on a Boy Scout manual (well, not the Boy Scouts, because that would get them in trouble copyright-wise, but close enough). That’s sure to be fun!

It’s an intriguing idea, although I guess my first question is “why does the new society continue to be able to read English?”

Never question languages in fiction. It’s not a good rabbit hole down which to go.

I know the Crossed + 100 arc that Alan Moore did, where he imagined Avatar’s Crossed stuff 100 years later, involved him thinking about how the language might evolve in 100 years, but otherwise, yeah, I get you.

AfterShock also has some trades on page 199 that might be keen. Join the Future is about rural inhabitants of a world in which cities dominate, and what happens when a young country girl has to fight against those evil urban dwellers. We also find Artemis and the Assassin, which is about a time traveling killer and a World War II spy trying to kill each other. It’s for the whole family!

They did sound interesting.

The new Wrong Earth series, Night and Day, is offered from Ahoy Comics on page 202.  I still haven’t read all of the first series yet.  But I’ve read plenty of other Ahoy stuff and liked it, and I’ve been getting all the singles along the way.  They’re semi-local, and I got to speak with the different members of the company last year, back when conventions were still a thing.

Wait a sec … you haven’t read some comics you’ve bought? What? This is unprecedented information!!!!!

It’s shocking, I know.

On page 228 Atria Books has a new printing of the classic How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema.  It’s fun stuff.  I distinctly remember the page showing how to make a phone call look dynamic with JJJ.

Behemoth has The Strange Disappearance of Barnabas Jones on page 229, which sounds kind of neat. A superhero has vanished, and other heroes are looking for him. Sure, why not?

I like the premise, and the cover looks cool, and the artist’s name is Kundo Krunch, so what’s not to like?

On page 233, Candlewick Press has a comic book adaptation of The Great Gatsby … which is the second one coming out in less than a year. Is there something in the water? Very strange.

That’s right, there was another one, wasn’t there?  I guess people are looking back on the Jazz Age because it’s about a century ago and it’s been so romanticized?

Also possibly because the decadence of the time makes us consider our own times. Oh, the self-reflection!

On page 235 Cinebook has an interesting sounding premise with HSE: Human Stock Exchange volume 1 (of 3), where in the near future individuals are listed on the stock exchange and a man tries to take advantage of an opportunity he finds with this.

I’m torn about the Whisper Omnibus volume 2 on page 237 from ComicMix. On the one hand, it’s a good series and so I want to read it. On the other hand, it’s 60 (!) dollars. On the other, other hand, it’s 468 pages. Hmmm …

18 issues for 60 bucks isn’t a bad deal, especially for a series that is hard to find.  I mean, you can probably find the First issues for about that or even less, so I guess it depends on how good the ComicMix collections look, and if you want it all in one book or want it in singles.

Also on page 237 from David Zwirner Books is Crumb’s World, all about R. Crumb, but what really struck me about it is that the University Press of Mississippi book on page 313, R. Crumb: Literature, Autobiography, and the Quest for Self uses the exact same Crumb drawing for the cover.  So weird!

Disney – Hyperion has a YA graphic novel on page 237 that sounds interesting. Be More Chill is about a nerd who swallows a pill-sized supercomputer that helps him be cool, but of course it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Nick Bertozzi draws it, so it will look very good, but the premise sounds weird but fun.

That’s funny that Bertozzi is working for the Mouse, when however many years back there was a bit of a kerfuffle over a preview of his book The Salon appearing in a Free Comic Book Day book and featuring Picasso in the nude.

Fantagraphics has Monsters by Barry Windsor-Smith on page 248, and dang, I really hope this comes out in January when it’s supposed to. Windsor-Smith has been working on this for 35 (!) years, since it was a Hulk story for Marvel, and I recently saw some pages from it, and they are, not surprisingly, achingly beautiful. I’ve been looking forward to this for some years, so I’m glad it’s (almost) here!

That cover art almost looks like a Frank Miller drawing from Sin City, more than any BWS art I’ve seen.  It’s a weird thing for me to see.  I’ve heard about this for ages, and I may spring for this.

Also from Fanta on the same page is Beto’s Hypnotwist/Scarlet by Starlight, collecting and expanding on stories from Love and Rockets New Stories (of course this is after I finally have all of the volumes, after missing a couple back in the day but having my lovely girlfriend getting the ones I missed for presents over the past year or so).  Apparently Fanta is too cool to use the term “flip book” for this, probably being pedantic that that term should refer to crude animation from flipping the corner of a book and making drawings “move”.  /weird rant

Page 258 has Space Bastards from Humanoids, about a group of postal couriers in the future, where Earth has expanded out into the universe.  The couriers have to get the packages to their destinations or else they don’t get the money, so hijinx ensue.  Apparently there’s a lot of stuff planned for this concept, with artists like Bisley and some 2000AD guys involved, and for the first book here, Darick Robertson does the art.  I hope a Space Beaver crossover happens!

I was curious about this, because it does sound fun, and if they’re doing an anthology-esque series, that would be neat.

Yeah, from what I’ve read, they’re going to do separate arcs and each one will be tailored to the artist drawing it.  I figure since this is a one shot intro to the concept, it’s probably a good way to try it.

On page 264 It’s Alive has Breathers 5 and Kona 1 and 2, which all sound neat, particularly Kona, sort of a savage dude who protects Monster Isle.  I keep getting emails that It’s Alive is in a shaky financial situation, so if you’re interested in this stuff, make sure to pre-order, folks!

Wow, a comics publisher in shaky financial straits? That’s a surprise. I do hope they figure it out – it’s a cool little publisher.

On page 266 there’s an interesting one from New Friday and the Michaud Brothers, Home volume 1, where the brothers are telling separate stories in a shared sci-fi universe.  It was a finalist for an award, so it’s probably decent!

On page 284, Oni offers the trade of Rogue Planet by Cullen Bunn and Andy McDonald. I don’t know if this is the only volume, but the story sounded neat: the crew of a spaceship land on a planet that isn’t in a solar system and find horrors. You know, like you do. Should be nifty.

It’s listed as if it’s a self-contained volume online, but that doesn’t mean much.  This does sound cool, and I like these creators.

On page 282, to go back a page, there’s The Hazards of Love, which made me wonder if it was an adaptation of the Decemberists album of the same name (I … don’t think so?), but I must highlight the fact that the creator is Stan Stanley, and the book features “a no-nonsense medium from the lesbian mafia”, which is quite the intriguing description!

I might actually get this, because it does sound interesting, but dear God, that “author letter” on page 283 makes me want to vomit. It’s like it was run through a random 2020 buzzword generator. Ye gods.

2000AD/Rebellion has the usual slate of goodness on page 293.  Highlights include the 2000AD Regened trade, collecting stories of the 2000AD characters as younger people; Essential Judge Dredd Apocalypse War, about … well, what it says; and The Fictional Man, a novel by Al Ewing, one of the most interesting writers out there writing about technology that has made fictional characters real, and how those characters are dealing with life.  Sounds cool.

I’ll have to get the trade of It Eat What Feeds It on page 295 from Scout. A dim-witted teenager gets a job in a creepy mansion in the Louisiana bayou, and his middle-aged employer is up to something. Sounds fun.

That sounded really interesting, and the trade is only 10 bucks (of course, I think it may have only been 3 issues, but still, that’s cheaper than singles!).  They also have other cool stuff on this page and the next, with Ninja Nuns: Bad Habits Die Hard, a spinoff of Metalshark Bro (which was pretty fun from what I’ve read) and a Jason Copland cover; Sweet Downfall, which seems to riff on Scud the Disposable Assassin a bit with a crash test dummy repurposed as an assassin, but who falls in love with a mermaid that he’s supposed to kill — this is one of those preview books that Scout doesn’t call a preview book, so I’ll wait for the trade; and the Scoot books for kids, which are all 2 bucks but could be fun, with Loot, about a Lara Croft-ish young woman who treasure hunts being the most interesting sounding one.

Sweet Downfall is by Stefano Cardoselli, who is bonkers, so that should be fun.

On page 311 is Hero Hourly, a one shot from 21 Pulp, about the more mundane side of superheroing.  It’s been done by others, but the cover art looks quite good (of course, that’s not the same artist as the interior …).

On 312 we have the usual goodness from TwoMorrows, with Comic Book Creator 25 discussing the new BWS book we talked about up above, and Old Gods and New, the 80th issue of Jack Kirby Collector, discussing the Fourth World saga.  Should be sweet stuff!

Up above I mentioned the Crumb book from University Press of Mississippi, and here I’ll mention that page 313 also features a book on Ditko called Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity, which posits that Ditko’s ideology is “mystic liberalism”, whatever tf that means.  (It also says that Ditko solely created Doctor Strange — is that the new consensus?).

I guess the pendulum is swinging the other way now that Lee’s dead – HE MADE NO CONTRIBUTION WHATSOEVER TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE!!!!!

I try to always snag the Hero Initiative books that feature a bunch of creators doing sketches on blank cover comics for a “significant” issue, and Valiant has Bloodshot 50 Project on page 318, so I’ll be getting that.  While I’m talking about Bloodshot, that cover for #10 on page 315 by Bisley has got to be THE most restrained Bisley art I’ve ever seen.  What’s up with that?

I mean, it’s Bloodshot, so maybe he just wasn’t feeling it. “Give me my cheque,” he muttered, as he got done with the cover as quickly as possible so he could return to watching Britain’s Got Talent.

I’m not sure if I’m going to get Ascencia (which is on page 328 from Wake Entertainment), but the first issue, at least, is drawn by Tony Parker, who’s a very good artist and a heck of a nice guy, so I’ll think on it when and if we see a trade.

It sounds interesting, about immortals and what someone will do to become one/gain power.  For some reason it’s not listed on the catalog page online under Wake, but it’s under Diamond for some reason.  I think Wake is a new company, so that’s probably the reason?  But at the end of the solicit online, it says “leave space for a 2-column spotlight”.  Oops.

On page 338 Digital Manga Distribution has a couple of oddly titled ones with The Day I Was Forced to Marry God and The Day I Divorced God (typo on the cover there!), which would be cool weird fantasy things, but it’s actually autobio about a woman who was raised a Jehovah’s Witness and how she attempted to extract herself from the religion years later.  I was thinking about how some media outlets are talking about the people sad about Trump’s loss and particularly the QAnon believers who are lost at sea (since the whole thing was total bullshit), and how it sounds to me not unlike doomsday cults and apocalyptic sects of religions, where some charismatic leader predicts a day of reckoning coming, sometimes predicting the end of the world on a specific date, and then how the cult or sect has to shift their beliefs to encompass the fact that the world actually didn’t end that particular day.  These people are going to adjust and spin new stories to make reality make sense to them again.  I’m not sure I have a point here, but it was on my mind.

What’s on my mind is whether you actually get any of these manga or if you just trawl through the manga sections to find weird-ass titles. The world deserves an answer, Pelkie!

I think the last manga I actually bought was the first 3 volumes of Gleipnir, which I think I just spelled right, but of course I have not read it yet.

On the flip side is M51 and the Funko Pops from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, specifically from “The Nightman Cometh” episode, where Charlie writes a musical.  Such a great show, and such cool looking figures.  Since m’lady and I enjoy the show so much and we already have a bunch of Funkos around, I’ll probably be getting these.

We watched the first season, I think, and did not enjoy it at all. It’s great that it’s apparently going to run until the end of time, but man, we did not think it was even remotely funny.

I do feel the need to point out that if you only watched the first season, you didn’t get to the episodes where Danny DeVito joined the show.  I think the show improved at that point, but iirc the first season’s humor is similar to the rest of the show, so if you didn’t like those episodes, you probably won’t change your mind that much watching more.  Season 13, the one before the more recent season, was absolutely fantastic, though.  I was actually thinking about doing a run-through of the series and ranking episodes, but you know me, thinking I’m going to write more than I do.

I’ve heard DeVito makes it better, but I’ve also heard that the first season is a good barometer of the show, so yeah, there are too many other things I want to watch.

On M107 is a batch of rubber duckies that are dressed like the Friends characters.  I will probably show these to my girlfriend, and she will probably want them!

Well, that’s it for this month. There’s still time to check out what’s in the offing for January and beyond, so take a look. Thanks for reading, everyone!