Flippin’ Through ‘Previews’ — October 2020

Hey folks, it’s Travis sneaking in the day before the new Previews (#385, for those of you keeping track at home) arrives in stores and offers us things coming out at the end of this hell of a year… and beyond!  I’m in dreary black while Greg Burgas is in cheery blue.

As we’ve been doing since they took their ball and went home, we’re looking at DC first, specifically DC Connect 5.

The solicits are here.

I suppose I would be excited about Batman/Catwoman on page 2 if I thought that anything Tom King had done during his Batman run had made me feel like they were in love for any reason other than “some fans want to see them together”.  But Phantasm is finally coming to comics, so that whirling ball thing will … wait, that’s not the same Phantasm, is it?

Wow, that sounds godawful. I don’t like anything about that solicit, including the punctuation.

On the other hand, page 6 does give me something to be excited about with Batman Black and White returning.  Each iteration of these has been pretty good to amazing, so I’m looking forward to this.  Especially the Sophie Campbell story!

There is literally nothing about Campbell in the solicit. Stop smoking that wacky weed, man! But yeah, I love these anthologies, and they always expand the pool of my thesis, “If you’ve ever drawn mainstream American comics, you’ve drawn a Batman story.” It’s true!!!!

Page 8 lists Campbell AND shows some art!

Look at you, with your fancy edition! The Newsarama link doesn’t have anything like that!

DC Connect is downloadable over at the DC site.

Wow, the buildup to Endless Winter sure doesn’t live up to the storyline.  Interesting that a team of heroes similar to ones in the present are working together in the past, not unlike with the current Avengers storyline.  And gee, why on Earth would there be a storyline with Black Adam at the forefront?  There’s no particular reason I can think of, but let me Rock wrack my brains.

Yeah, that sounds dull. But so do most events from the Big Two these days.

That’s true.  Just wait until we get to Marvel …

Future State?  Ah shit, DC gonna shake things up!!!  (This is me being sarcastic.)

The solicit to Generations Shattered bugs me. The story began in Detective #1027 (the famed 1001th issue since Batman’s debut!), and I’m sure it will be fine and stupid. But the solicit says “the original Batman.” DC knows there’s only been one Batman, right? I mean, yes, Azrael and Dick Grayson had their moments being Batman, but Bruce Wayne is the same Bruce Wayne as in 1939, right? Or has DC done that multiverse thing where there’s a dozen Batmans? God, I hate DC and Marvel sometimes.

I do believe the multiverse is in full effect again.  I don’t think they’ve ever nixed GMozz’s Multiversity, and that feeds into this whole Dark Nights: Death Metal stuff.  So I guess it’s the “original” Batman.

Huh, Bendis is wrapping up his Superman run.  Wonder what he’s doing next, since it appears that the Wonder Comics stuff is all ending as well.  The only book I see him still on looks to be Legion.  His Superman actually was decent, from what I’ve read of it.

I was just wondering what J.G. Jones has been up to, and I see that he’s done a variant cover for The Green Lantern season 2 #10 on page 60, and I also saw on another site that he’s been battling a rare blood cancer for over the last 10 years (since even before I met him in Boston in 2011).  It’s some sort of chronic illness.  Best wishes to him and let’s hope he stays healthy enough to be a productive artist, because he’s really damn good.

I remember reading about Batman: The Chalice, a GN by Chuck Dixon and John Van Fleet, but I never got it.  It’s paired with a two issue series, The Ankh, presumably by the same creative team, in a GN on page 71.  Looks cool.  On that same page is one of the first comics covers I remember noticing as a kid looking at spinner racks, Detective 610, but based on the cover date, it was out about a year before I leapt full on into comics collecting.  Huh.  Anyway, that’s on the fourth Dark Knight Detective trade, reprinting the Grant/Breyfogle run, and I have several of these issues, like the Mud Pack and Anarky issues (bought after years of collecting), and it’s good stuff.

I’m digging the DC’s Greatest Detective Stories Ever Told trade on page 75.  It’s got a good selection spanning DC’s entire existence, and includes the Batman/Sherlock Holmes comic.  I wondered what sort of detective story was in the first two issues of Lois Lane until I realized it was the recent Rucka title, not the old Superman’s Girlfriend book.  Heh.

That’s a weird collection. I’ll probably skip it, but it looks fine. Still, a weird collection.

Justice League International Book Two gets to Justice League Europe. Is this the first time that’s been collected? ‘Cause it certainly deserves to be collected.

Hmm, I’m not sure.  I thought there might have been a bigger HC that included a lot more of JLofA and JLE, but I could be misremembering. But JLE 1 was one of the first comics I got as an early collector, and it’s great stuff.  I’ve picked up most of the Giff/DeMatteis JLA/JLE/JLI run over the years, so I’ll get to it sometime to read the whole shebang.

I had forgotten there was a Hitman/Lobo comic until I saw the listing for the Legends of the DCU: Doug Mahnke book on page 81.  I already have a lot of this stuff, since I like his work, or else I’d be considering this one more.  But I’ll have to hunt down that Hitman/Lobo one on its own….

I already have at least 2 versions of Manhunter, the classic Goodwin/Simonson serial, but I’m not sure if the versions I have include the silent epilogue.  So I may still need this deluxe HC on page 81!

I have a pretty crappy collection, so I’ll get this one. It’s keen.

Well that’s cool that DC is publishing the fourth volume of Lucifer, considering that they apparently cancelled it with issue… 19, I’m guessing, since the story in the book on page 83 contains what was supposed to be issues 20-24.  This should be a model to follow in the future — even if singles sales are low, the trade sales might be higher, because of us dirty stinkin’ trade waiters!

Man, I just read about Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter recently, and his stories sounded cool, so I’m considering this collection on page 85. Man, between this and the Superman Kryptonite Nevermore book on page 88, they sure are putting out Denny O’Neil stuff now that he’s dead. It’s always interesting to see that, and it makes me wonder if the royalty deals are only with the creative person and don’t pass on to their heirs, so that a company doesn’t have to pay as much when reprinting stuff like this, and they still look like they’re honoring the deceased. I’m cynical.

I’m sure that’s it. I mean, we could see it as a tribute to him, but I suspect it’s more economic. Because DC and Marvel suck.

Page 86 has an omnibus of the Byrne Superman/Batman Generations stuff, and it’s a good thing my shop owner isn’t ordering from DC, because I would be sorely tempted to drop the $75 on this.  Somebody dissuade me so I don’t order this on Amazon!

If you don’t already own them, they’re quite fun comics. I’m not totally sure they’re worth $75, but that’s not a bad chunk of comics for the price.

I’m liking that Wonder Woman in the Fifties book on page 91 also.  That’s bound (haha) to have some good stuff in it.

I’d heard about that Sandman audio adaptation on Audible, but I haven’t gotten around to looking into it.  I think we have Audible as part of Amazon Prime, but I’m not sure.  I’ll have to listen to this sometime, but if you want to buy a copy of whatever the heck them things are (I think they’re boxes that play that particular mp3 and nothing else?), they’re on page 94.  I can see Michael Sheen as Lucifer.  He’s loads of fun on Prodigal Son.

Image:

The solicits are here.

Before we dive into this book, let me correct the record.  I said in a recent comment on your post about what you read in August, I think, that I thought the trade of The Clock had been cancelled, but apparently just the 3rd and 4th issues were cancelled.  The trade is coming out this week (9/30) according to the Previews list for the week.  So I’ll have to get my guy to order a copy, since the first two issues were quite good.

Well, I hope you’ve learned your lesson, young man.

I am suitably chagrined.  Actually, as I recall, the first issue was out the same time that the trade got solicited, which was before covid and before the last 2 issues got cancelled.  So I had no reason to believe they would not be printed.  I just sent an email to my guy about ordering me a copy of this trade.

I like the idea of Reckless, by the Brubillips team, on page 32, which is a paperback pulp hero in comics form (so, something pretty much custom made for Hatcher), but I might balk at keeping this on my list because of the price.  Still, it’s going to be good.

I buy anything those dudes do, so yeah, I’ll get this. It’s a bit expensive, but it is 144 pages, so it’s longer than what they usually do.

Post Americana by Steve Skroce is on page 36 sounds interesting, where in a post-apocalyptic US, the elite survivors in a bunker are going to retake the country but are facing off against a wasteland survivor.  It looks pretty, at least.

I don’t buy Steve Skroce comics for the scintillating story, sir!

Home Sick Pilots on page 40 is by the Limbo team of Watters and Wijngaard, and is described as Power Rangers meets the Shining, whatever that means.  Anyway, it’s an ongoing series about a haunted house walking across California with the missing singer of a high school punk band inside, set in 1994.  Sounds weird but fun.

I love how specific some of these things are – like, why 1994? Is there going to be a timely O.J. reference? But yeah, this will be keen-o.

Post-Kurt, man!

I won’t buy the Postal one-shot on page 45, because I’ve never read Postal, but I like the cover: “Also in this issue: Molly!” Oh, shit, Molly is in this issue? Well, of course I’m getting it!

I did buy the first few trades of Postal, and it was quite good, but damn, Molly?!  Hells yeah!  (Actually, I can’t remember Molly.)

On page 49 is That Texas Blood volume 1, which of course I dig because it’s a $10 trade for 6 issues, and it’s about an aging lawman in Texas and a confrontation that he’s got to deal with.  It’s got art by Jacob Phillips, who’s been coloring his dad’s art for awhile.

Of course I’m getting this!

Dark Horse:

The solicits are sort of here?

I haven’t seen any Babs Tarr work for awhile, but she’s on Overwatch: Tracer — London Calling on page 74.  I know nothing about this video game, but I’ll consider this trade since I like Tarr’s art.

Yeah … no. I have less than zero interest in this, even though I do like Tarr’s art.

I’m interested in Post York on page 83, about NYC after polar ice caps have melted, and James Romberger is pretty good.

It will probably be pretty good, because it’s “experimentally told and unequivocally told” (I don’t argue with solicits!), so I’ll have to think about it.

Yeah, one of those “told”s should be a “bold”, no?

Afterlift is about a ride-share driver who picks up passengers who are being pursued by supernatural types, and it sounds fun.  Chip Zdarsky wrote it and Jason Loo of the Pitiful Human Lizard drew it.  I’ll probably get this.

Marvel:

The solicits are here.

Speaking of crappy events from the big 2, King in Black is on page 8 after a several page preview.  I can’t tell the difference between what’s going on with this and what happened with Absolute Carnage.  Knull is a boring big bad, and it’s too bad all this stuff has been an ongoing thing, because the first couple Venom trades were ok to pretty good, with really kewl Stegman art, but this is just dragging on.

I’m all for long-simmering plots, but two years? Sheesh, this sounds terrible. But then again, Marvel and DC have a universe-level threat to deal with every year or two, so why are they so worried about the latest one?

Cuz this one is REALLY bad.

There just was a Black Cat series, and now we’ve got a new #1 on page 13.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about how the big two does this shit, though.

This time it will sell, damn it!

Kurt Busiek and Benjamin Dewey are working on a Namor mini-series on page 17. Hey, remember when they actually worked on a terrific creator-owned series that nobody bought and they had to abandon and now they have to work on a soul-sucking fucking Namor series just to pay some bills? Comics suck sometimes.

OMG, that first volume of The Autumnlands was amazing, but of course I didn’t get around to reading the second volume yet.

I’m liking the idea of a MODOK animated series that Patton Oswalt is involved with, and the mini he’s co-writing on page 27 might be fun.

Technically, I should have written that as M.O.D.O.K., and then on page 28 we have S.W.O.R.D.  When I looked at the online catalog when it first came out, this was listed as a classified X title.  I certainly enjoyed the original mini of this, and I’ll reserve judgment on this one, but I doubt it will be as good.

I mean, Ewing is a good writer, and Schiti can be a good artist, so this might be good. But the Great Stupid Idea of Krakoa has infested this, too, so it will probably be residually stupid.

Page 30 has Heroes at Home, a collection of gag cartoons about how the Marvel heroes handled things during quarantine by Zeb Wells and Gurihiru, so it should be decent anyway.

Yeah, that looks fun.

I’m not interested in Wolverine #8/#350 on page 35, but that Art Adams Age of Apocalypse variant cover is sweeeeeeet!

There’s a Chris Claremont Anniversary Special on page 40, with a new story with characters he created or defined, which should be cool, but then I look at the characters on this cover and I’m not sure I will like this.  Hmm.  But I’ll probably get it anyway.  So did Claremont start in 1970 and this is the 50th anniversary, or did he just start in ‘75 with X-Men and showed off right away?

I’m not sure. That’s ancient history, man! And yes, this will suck. One: the name “Brett Booth” is in the credits. Two: Gambit. Suckiness is guaranteed!

Harsh, but probably accurate.

I don’t know who those Warhammer 40K characters are on page 47, but they’re drawn by James Stokoe, so they look awesome!

I love the Thing’s Hanukkah sweater on page 61!

King-Size Conan is on page 76, and celebrates 50 years of Conan in comics.  I’ll probably get this, if only for the Kevin Eastman story, his first for Marvel.  It sounds fun overall.  I may try to get that Jen Bartel variant cover, because it looks nicely trippy!

I’ll probably pick this up, and yes, the Bartel cover would be nice. My shoppe usually gets all the covers, but some of them they mark up immediately, and that seems like one they would. Which would suck.

If it’s one you can order directly without having to meet a certain number of copies, my guy will order specific covers for me.  I got the Allred cover for the Marvel Comics 1000 about a year ago, f’r instance.

Page 89 has the first Omnibus of the Dark Horse Aliens comics, now that Marvel has the license.  I wonder if DH is going to get those last issues of the original screenplay out before the end of the year! [move to DH section? Well, they’re still soliciting it! This was an editorial note to myself, but I’m keeping this in.  I thought they were more delayed than they apparently are over at DH!] Some great artists and writers worked on this stuff, too.  Also, I’m now looking forward to the undoubtedly upcoming Aliens/Conan and Predator/Conan series that Marvel will put out before long.

Oh, shit, those are going to be amazing. Amazing in their suckiness, of course, but I must see them within the year!!!!!!

There’s a new printing of the Spider-Man by Stern omnibus on page 90.  I’ve had a copy of this for awhile, but I haven’t unwrapped it still.

Come on, man, those are good comics!

Page 91 has the All-New Wolverine by Tom Taylor Omnibus, and I happened to get the last few issues for my Doom-loving friend (um, spoilers?).  It was quite good stuff, so if this Omni is greatly reduced at some point, I might grab it.

The Defenders Omnibus volume 1 is on page 92, and it’s a new book, I guess.  I would have thought this was in Omni form before, but maybe it just doesn’t list it like the Spidey/Stern one.  Anyway, I don’t have the majority of this, but I have the Essential volumes 2 and 3 (and maybe more?), and the end of this book is collected in the beginning of Essential volume 2.  It appears to be everything before the Gerber run, so it probably doesn’t get quite as wacky yet.

I’m still really tempted by this.

Page 93 has an Omnibus of Thunderbolts by Busiek.  I would have thought he was on the book longer than the first 33 issues, but I suppose that’s about right.  That first issue’s end was quite the shocker!  Anyway, that was a pretty good series for the first year or so, from what I’ve read of it, but I haven’t read much beyond that.

Pretty much all the Eternals stories are available on pages 99-104.  I wonder why?

Because they’re always available!!!!! (Get it, because they’re the … yeah, I’ll see myself out.)

Nice one.

Is it me, or are the Marvel Masterworks: The Black Panther on page 95 and the Black Panther Epic Collection: Panther’s Prey on page 118 the exact same book? Yet the first is $75 and the second is $40. Am I taking crazy pills?

I did a double take on that, but I believe that the 4 issue mini in the Masterworks is from ’88, while the 4 issue one in the Epic is from ’91.  Plus there’s more stuff in the Epic collection.  Both do have the 25 part storyline from Marvel Comics Presents, though.

Page 106 has Immortal Hulk by Alex Ross Poster Book, and he’s been doing some really awesome covers for that book.  If I had more walls I might want this!

Wolverine by Frank Cho: Savage Land is in trade on page 121, and this certainly looked pretty from what I saw of it.  She has no head on that cover, though!

Despite Cho being, it seems, a douchebag, I still might get this, because it’s so nice-looking. I bought the first issue so many years ago, and I wonder what the hold-up was with the trade. Was Cho too douchey for a while, but now he hasn’t been aggressively douchey for a while, so we’re all good?

Yeah, there was a HC ages ago, but maybe he’s going to do work for Marvel again?  He’s been doing variant covers for DC for awhile, I think.

Page 123 has the James Robinson run of Scarlet Witch, which had a lot of cool artists, including what was probably one of Steve Dillon’s last jobs.  I ended up picking up a number of these issues but of course haven’t read them yet.  I hope it’s good James Robinson!

Well, I really dug it.

Cool.

Well, it appears that Strange Academy is only lasting the 6 issues, as it’s in a trade on page 125 with no volume number.  It was an interesting concept, but they didn’t seem to promote it very much.  Also, it would have been cooler if Skottie Young had drawn it as well as written it.

Dynamite:

I kind of figure that Vampirella is sort of a superhero anyway?  But on page 144 with the Dark Powers series, she’s becoming a hero with The Project, some sort of offshoot of Project Superpowers.  And then next month there’ll be a Red Sonja series tied into it too.  Sounds sort of interesting.

Paul Davidson is a good artist, too, so it will probably look good … for as long as he draws it, which might not be long.

Boom! Studios:

Lumberjanes ends on page 174. The first 18-24 issues of this series were so good, but I didn’t miss it when I dropped it. Still, it’s very cool it’s gone on as long as it did.

I read the first trade and it was quite good, and I got a few more of the trades, but ended up dropping it.  I got annoyed that the first trade took a long time to come out, then I believe an HC with the first two volumes worth came out like, a month after the second trade was solicited.  That was annoying.  But yeah, it’s cool it’s lasted so long.

Faithless II is on page 198, and I can’t remember now if I ordered the first volume.  But I do want this for the Maria Llovet art.

Just buy Loud!

I did!  I need to read it now though!

Back of the book!

Aardvark-Vanaheim has the latest Cerebus in Hell? one shot on page 205, with Hermann, parodying the first issue cover of Rorschach.  I assume Hermann is the first name of the psychologist with the ink blots (just checked, it is!).

Action Lab has Baby Badass in trade on page 211, with a super-soldier’s clone mistaken for a baby in a dystopian near-future America. Hijinks ensue.

Aftershock has a cool sounding one in Knock ‘Em Dead on page 212, where a sucky stand-up comedian has an accident that changes everything, and it’s supernatural horror.  Could be fun.

Piecemeal on page 214 sounds cool, where kids go into the local haunted house and find a brain in a jar of liquid that turns out to be a killer trying to rebuild itself.

I’m interested in the Cullen Bunn omnibus All My Little Demons on page 216, with a number of his works for Aftershock.  I wonder if the Dark Ark: After the Flood will be offered separately, though, or if this will be the only place to get this collected.  I like Bunn but it’s a bit spendy.

I might consider the Bad Reception trade on page 218, because it’s Juan Doe doing a story about a celebrity wedding ruined by a killer.

I’m looking at the two on page 221, and I definitely am getting The Man Who Fucked Up Time trade, because Layman is always good, and I do love me a good time travel story.  War on Terror: Godkillers has a special forces unit that fights the mythological for the war on terror.  I might get this one, because it sounds pretty good.

Ahoy has another miniseries of Second Coming on page 224, and I’m going to try to read the first series before the order deadline and review it here.  No, really.

Same page has a new Fearless Dawn issue, The Return of Old Number Seven, from the fine folks at Albatross Funnybooks.  I haven’t read the Hellboy crossover issue just yet, but I’ll have to soon.

American Mythology has a new Starring Sonya Devereaux issue on page 229, Violet Vixen, where she’s playing a superhero.  There’s also a Zorro Classic Reprints Reader Pack, and I believe I have all 3 of these, so I’ll have to review them, but long story short, Toth art!

Damn that Horror Comics Black and White 1 cover on page 231 (from Antarctic Press) is sweet looking.

AWA/Upshot has E-Ratic on page 246, with a superhero story by Kaare Andrews that has a 15 year old hero who can only use his powers for 15 minutes at a time, and he’s got a pretty cool looking costume.

The next page has Byte-Sized, where the toy robots that a couple of kids get for Christmas are self-aware and going bad.  And Covid Chronicles is available in trade, and our pal Edo featured this comic here recently.  It sounds interesting to hear on the ground stories of the pandemic as it was happening.

I’ve been getting the single issues of Cardinal Dagon from Behemoth Comics on page 251, so I’ll try to read and review them before the order deadline to let you know how it is!

They also have The Purple Oblivion on the same page, which is about … a cult? Doing weird shit? I dunno, but it sounds keen.

I saw that, and looking again it sounds weird, but it’s so vague, I’m not sure enough about it.

Chapterhouse Publishing has Canuck Beyond on page 254, a series where Captain Canuck is stranded somewhere in the universe and has to fight to get back and stuff.  On the next page is Captain Canuck: A Celebration of 45 Years trade, which is a celebration of the character, and I’ll probably snag this, because I have a fascination with Canadiania, if that’s a real thing.

Drawn & Quarterly has King-Cat Classix on page 260, and I like the stuff I’ve seen from John Porcellino before, so I might get this, although I think it’s probably been offered before, as most of the D&Q stuff seems to be.

Floating World has Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus on page 274, a GN about an evil dude who seems to be kidnapping homeless dudes and doing weird surgeries on them.  It could be interesting.

Not that I believe Heavy Metal will ever get things out in a timely manner, but they are offering Maiden #1 on page 276, which is Bart Sears drawing and co-writing with, I assume, his wife (could be his daughter, of course). That might be keen.

I assume that these stories are also being serialized in the magazine first, based on the solicit for the mag.  I got so far behind on the magazine that I dropped it after 300, but possibly if I get some of it read by the time 301 is in stores, maybe I’ll decide I do want this new stuff, but overall I didn’t feel like it was going in a direction I wanted to follow.

On page 278 Humanoids has a starter pack of 4 books for $25, including Luisa, Urban Legendz, The Big Country, and Robert Silverberg’s Colonies.  Luisa and The Big Country sounded good enough that it might be worth getting the other two for this cheap price.

Iron Circus has Crossroads at Midnight on page 279, which is apparently a bunch of short stories about creeping horror. I’ll have to think about it, but it’s a big chunk of comics for only $18, so it might be worth taking a look.

That is something Iron Circus seems to have going for it, being able to give a big chunk of comics for a fairly decent price.

Northwest Press has Dash in trade on page 287, which is a noir mystery set in 1940 LA, and I believe it’s got an LGBTQ angle as well.  I’ve been waiting for this trade for a long time, as it’s been quite a while since the individual issues of this were coming out.  It sounded pretty good.

Oni has the tenth anniversary edition of One Soul by Ray Fawkes on page 294.  I have a copy of the original that I need to read and review for here before the order deadline.  No, I mean it, I’ll get to at least one of these reviews!

PS Artbooks has cool sounding stuff on page 304, but I still haven’t gotten any of the ones I’ve been ordering come in at my local shop, so I’m wary of ordering more.  I will probably get the two magazines of H. Rider Haggard’s She and of Joe Kubert’s Tor.  I wonder if the Tor one will be in 3-D?  Also, not cool from PS Artbooks to be offering Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle when Drew Ford and It’s Alive have been offering it in singles recently.

Well, I mean, what’s the harm in ordering them? Do you have to pay up front? If not, you can order all you want!

I want to know if the books are well-produced and look good.  If the reproduction looks bad or the binding is shoddy, I don’t want to keep ordering these.  And while I don’t pay up front, I’m still promising to buy the things!

Rebellion/2000AD has a bunch of cool stuff on pages 304-305, as usual.  Judge Dredd: Control has art from Chris Weston.  The Best of Sugar Jones is about a beloved TV star who’s really a schemer who’s older than she claims, and the art I’ve seen looks pretty.  The second volume of The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire is offered, and it sounds like cool sci-fi that has influences from the Roman Empire.  And the Misty Winter Special has spooky scary stories.  I’m on the 2000AD mailing list, so hopefully I can get some of these reviewed by the order deadline!

Scout Comics has cool stuff on pages 307-308.  Metalshark Bro! is in trade, and he’s a shark who gets anthropomorphic qualities from Satan’s nephew and is supposed to collect souls sworn to Satan.  I got the one shot so I need to read that and see if it’s as cool as it sounds.  Red Winter is in a new version of the trade — I guess it’s got a new cover?  I think you read this, so briefly, was it good?  Red Xmas is about Santa trying to avenge his wife’s death by making kids pay, but he comes across the wrong lady, so vengeance is not his.  Sam and His Talking Gun seems straightforward enough.  Shitshow is about a superhero team that lost and tours like a sideshow in the post-apocalyptic world, but has to get it together to fight against the force that created the apocalypse coming back to finish the job.  The Source is a trade about how magic is real, and the powerful sect that tries to hide its power.  And there’s also a Star Bastard/Loggerhead one shot, so I’ll have to read the Star Bastard 6 issue series and review it.

I reviewed Red Winter in this post, and yes, it’s pretty good.

Source Point Press has cool stuff on page 309.  Roarin’ 20s: World’s Fair has dinosaurs in the Jazz Age due to a malfunctioning time machine. Sham Comics 80 page Giant has more Sham comics, so I need to read the trade before the deadline.  On page 312 is the trade of Apocalypse Girl, who gets into the middle of a conflict between a brothel owner and preacher and against a warlord as well.  Cool stuff.

Adler, about Sherlock Holmes’s female “nemesis” in a LOEG-type adventure, is in trade on page 318 from Titan Comics.  I’ll consider this.

TwoMorrows has a great new Back Issue, with #125 featuring ’80s indie comics like Grendel and Mage, A Distant Soil, Usagi Yojimbo, Sam & Max, Boris the Bear, and Cherry Poptart.  Yes of course I’m getting this.

Uncivilized Books has Desperate Pleasures on page 323, an autobiographical work by MS Harkness about a young woman who dealt with years of trauma and abuse.  Certainly not fun but it might be interesting.

University Press of Mississippi has, on the same page, Medievalist Comics and the American Century.  It sounds like it could be interesting, comparing medievalist comics to American comics in the 20th century and drawing conclusions from that, but the solicit text doesn’t really fill me with hope that it’s done well.  I actually took a course like this in college, and got to see some medieval Books of Hours at a museum on a field trip, but it was better done than this seems to be.

What’s wrong with the solicit text? I mean, it’s not super-exciting, but there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly wrong with it.

It doesn’t make it very clear how the medieval comics tie in to American history.  Obviously you can’t lay out your entire thesis, but it seems like it could have been a little clearer.

Vault has The Picture of Everything Else on page 330, about the painter of the picture of Dorian Gray at the dawn of the 20th century, planning dark things.  Sounds cool.  Also, I like Paul Tobin and he writes Heist, or How to Steal a Planet, in trade on page 333, about a conman plotting to … steal a planet.

Warrant Publishing on page 336 has Vampiress Carmilla Magazine 1, apparently a takeoff on Vampirella.  I get their Creeps mag, but I need to catch up on my reading of it.

Z2 has Beethoven: The Final Symphony on the same page, and it’s got a number of artists musing on his life and works.  This’ll make me feel highbrow!

Denpa Books has Baby Bear’s Bakery on page 378, about a baby bear who runs a bakery, natch.  Sounds cute.

The flippity side!

On M13 is a pretty sweet looking Crow diorama, and that’s not an awful price.  I need to rewatch that movie, it’s been ages.

M16 has a cool looking Doom bust, so I really need to get in touch with my pal who likes Doom a lot and let him know about it.

M23 has a couple of neat looking Spider-Verse versions, with Spider-Punk and Spider-Man Noir.  I don’t know if these characters are any good, but they look kewl.

I never quite knew I needed a rubber duckie until I saw page M89 and the Batman rubber duckie, along with Robin and Joker and Harley Quinn.  Neato!

Thanks for reading, everyone. I apologize I didn’t comment more – Travis tends to suck up all the oxygen in the room when he gets to these first, as he must mention every single thing in the catalog! But that’s why we love him … well, that and his amazing beard. So I hope you find something in Previews that makes you happy, like BATMAN-THEMED RUBBER DUCKIES!!!!!! Have a nice day!

But I want it all!