Were Money No Object – The March Previews Edition

Columns, Top Story

Do you ever get the feeling that reading about which comics are going to be coming out can be more exciting than reading the actual comics when you get them?  Let’s see how May is stacking up…

Dark Horse

A new Mister X mini-series is starting in May.  I’ve always enjoyed Dean Motter’s series, which gives a lot of space to the psychic possibilities of architecture, so I’ll be picking this up, despite the $4 price tag.

The new mini-series Akaneiro has caught my eye, because of artist Vasilis Lolos, but knowing that this is based on a video game, I think I’ll probably pass.  I will take a long look at it when it comes out though.

DC

I really am not too clear on what DC is trying to do with their new New 52 launches, The Green Team and The Movement.  The first sounds a little like a teenage version of The Nowhere Men, about ‘teen trillionaires’ who are willing to fund projects of a comic-book nature.  It’s written by Art Baltazar (with someone named Franco), who is well liked for his kids comics, and I think I’m going to pass.  The Movement, on the other hand, is written by Gail Simone, who is someone I’m always willing to give a chance to.  It looks like it’s a response to the Occupy movement, only a few years later, and set in a superhero-filled shared universe.  Simone gets an arc on just about any title, in the hopes that this could be the next Secret Six.

After last week’s issue of Batman Incorporated, I don’t see the need to keep reading Batman and Robin, so I’m done with that title.  Surely you saw this coming, right DC?

I was going to add Talon to my pull-file list this month, but then I see that this latest issue, #8, leads into an issue of Birds of Prey, a comic I don’t want to read.  The result?  I’m not buying this issue of Talon.

I’m a little curious to see what Batwing will be like with Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray writing the title, but the cover, which shows off his new armor, rather turns me off the whole thing.  It looks like Bat-generic 90s armor.  The only thing lacking are some leg-pouches.

Ales Kot is being given Suicide Squad starting with issue #20.  This is intriguing, as the only Kot book I’ve read so far, Change, is almost impenetrably weird.  I used to love Suicide Squad, and if I thought that DC would give Kot free reign on the title, I’d be all over this.  As it stands, I’m going to remain cautious and wait until I’ve read some reviews before I figure out what to do with this book.

The new graphic novel Harlan Ellison’s 7 Against Chaos is pretty intriguing.  The art is by Paul Chadwick, so even if the story is dull, the book will be gorgeous.

I was going to make a couple of cracks about the new Adventures of Superman comic, but I just read the news that Chris Sprouse pulled out of the first issue, and that malignant homophobe Orson Scott Card’s story has been shelved for now, so now it’s just a book that, despite the inclusion of comics by Jeff Parker and Chris Samnee, I don’t really want to read.  Like any other Superman comic, really…

I’m definitely down for the new Vertigo series The Wake.  It’s written by Scott Snyder, which is becoming a diminishing endorsement for me, but it’s also drawn by Sean Murphy, who fresh off of Punk Rock Jesus, is a creator to keep an eye on.

I am preordering exactly as many DC books as I am Dark Horse this month.  That is something that has never happened before.

Image

J. Michael Straczynski and Ben Templesmith have a new series coming from Image called Ten Grand.  It’s about a hitman who is working for the forces of heaven, just so he can spend some time with his beloved each time he dies.  It’s an intriguing concept (although, wasn’t that the idea behind the Punisher for a while there), and I like Templesmith’s art, but I don’t trust JMS to keep this book on anything at all like a regular schedule.  As well, JMS may be one of those people whose public personas actually turns me away from their work.  I may trade-wait it, because, you know, Templesmith…

Equally concerning is The Bounce, a new series written by Joe Casey.  I always like Casey’s stuff, but he seems to have trouble keeping his creator-owned books on the rails, as seen by the rarity of new issues of Godland and the brutal slow-down of Butcher Baker.  Still, I’ll give this a shot.

I’m interested in The Dream Merchant, simply because Nathan Edmondson’s name is attached.  Konstantin Novosadov’s art in the preview looks interesting too.

Marvel

So apparently part of Age of Ultron involves a new Marvel Universe, created by some of the heroes involved in the series.  Isn’t that the kind of thing that led to Marvel Reborn?  I didn’t think I could become any less interested in this book than I already was, but there you go.

A good artist (Dale Eaglesham) is coming on to Iron Man for issues 9 and 10.  I wonder if that is going to make me start buying the book again.  Anyone know how long Greg Land will be gone for?

I think it kind of hilarious that Marvel is advertising for Deadpool #s 9 and 10 with a cover quote stating that “[Tony] Moore’s artwork is great,” considering that Mike Hawthorne is drawing these two issues.

I can’t get around how terrible John Romita Jr.’s cover to Captain America #7 is.  It’s like he’s taking lessons on anatomy and perspective from Rob Liefeld.

Adrian Alphona is drawing Uncanny X-Force #5!  That should be nice.

Dynamite Entertainment

I just this week finished rewatching all of the recent Battlestar Galactica series for the first time since it aired, and so I’m inclined to be excited about a new Battlestar series, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning to boot!  The thing is, this is the classic series, which takes some of the lustre off for sure.  I’ll wait and see how this looks, because as is always the case with Dynamite’s higher-profile books, we only get to see a lovely Alex Ross cover, and have no indication what the interiors are going to look like.

First Second

Matt Kindt has been very busy lately, with some writing chores at DC, and putting out the incredible Mind MGMT at Dark Horse.  Where he got time to complete the almost 300 page graphic novel Red Handed: The Fine Art of Strange Crimes, I have no idea.  This sounds like a very literary detective/spy story, and I know I want to read it.

So, what would you buy, Were Money No Object?

Get in touch and share your thoughts on what I've written: jfulton@insidepulse.com