James Fulton
Gloriously small week this week, which is a relief for the wallet and the amount of time I have in my day.
- The Pitiful Human-Lizard #1 – I really want to beat the drum for this book, which is made by the very talented Jason Loo, and set in my home town of Toronto. This is a modern take on a Peter Parker style character, via Kick-Ass. It’s a lot of fun, and this is a very hefty first issue, giving you a lot of value for your dollar. The book was first self-published, but is now being published by Chapter House, and is only $4. If you see it at your store, buy it and let us know what you think. If you don’t see it at your store, ask for it!
- Book of Death #3 – The latest Valiant event has been pretty enjoyable. I don’t like event comics, but I need to stop doubting them where Valiant is concerned. They do this stuff better than the Big Two.
- Grayson #12 – This issue will mark the first time that Dick has returned to Gotham since he ‘died’ or something. One thing that has made this book work for me has been its separation from Bat-continuity, so I’m a little apprehensive, especially since I don’t follow the main Bat-titles, but if anyone can make continuity-driven stories work for this character, it’s Tim Seeley and Tom King, who have yet to make a mistake in their execution of this book.
- Invisible Republic #6 – This is my favourite political science fiction book. It’s by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman (who co-writes and draws), and it’s been fantastic. I’m looking forward to the start of the second story arc here.
- Manhattan Projects: The Sun Beyond the Stars #3 – I love Hickman’s Manhattan Projects, and have really enjoyed this arc that features Yuri Gagarin and his dog Laika, in their adventures in deep space. Fun stuff.
Phil Allen
This is a pretty small week for me, only a handful of books!
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Vol. 10: Smoke and Shadow, Part One – I hadn’t read any of the Avatar comics until a couple months ago and I couldn’t wait to get more! They’re just as good as the show, but they seem a bit longer than standard episodes run. They’re also continuity-based, so if you haven’t read the previous books, this is not a good jump-on point. But check out the rest then pick this up, it’s definitely worth it.
- Batman ’66 #27 – More later-Batman-universe tied into the ’66-universe! Gotta love it.
- Gotham by Midnight #9 – I’m bummed this series is ending, but I think it had a good run. I recently finished rereading Gotham Central, and I remembered how much I like these “behind-the-scenes” type Batman stories. Hey DC, more please!
- Peanuts: Where Beagles Dare! – Who doesn’t love the World War I flying ace? Now starring in his own OGN, we get a new tale of Snoopy and his time in The Great War!
- The Hellboy 100 Project – 100 artists come together to celebrate Hellboy with this collection of one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn or painted covers, from artists like Rafael Albuquerque, Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, Art Baltazar, Dave Bullock, Walter Flanagan, Jenny Frison, Agnes Garbowska, James Harren, Jeff Lemire, Emi Lenox, Francis Manapul, Bill Sienkiewicz, Ben Templesmith, Jim Zub, Mike Mignola (of course), & many many more!. According to the Dark Horse website, “This book will NEVER be reprinted, and all proceeds go to Hero Initiative and comic book creators in medical and financial need!” Get yours soon! Availble in HC or TPB.
- Wild’s End: The Enemy Within #1 – The first series was pretty good, and I’m interested to see the follow-up. It looks like you may need to read the original if you haven’t already, but it’s only six issues and the TPB is out in a couple weeks!
- Other issues I’m looking forward to:
- Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #4
- Harley Quinn & Power Girl #4
- Rumble #7
- We Are Robin #4
- Wolf #3
Mike Maillaro
A really small week for me.
- SECRET WARS – Last week, I realized we had passed over 200 individual issues to come out for SECRET WARS. It seems like we’re finally starting to wind down…THANKFULLY! There are only six SECRET WARS comics coming out this week. Of those, my favorites are WEIRDWORLD, 1872, and INHUMANS: ATTILAN RISING. And yes, I am surprised to have an Inhumans book anywhere on this list. Never liked the characters, but ATTILAN RISING has been very good.
- TITHE #5 – The first four issues of this series were excellent. TITHE started out about the FBI investigating a group of Robin Hood like thieves who were robbing Megachurches. Now, the leader of the gang is going to be working with the FBI. Seems like the series is going to take a dramatic shift in direction moving forward, but I think that opens up the door for some huge payoffs, storywise.
- BOOK OF DEATH #3 – I can’t believe this series is already almost over. Kind of depressing that we got 200 issues of SECRET WARS, but BOOK OF DEATH, which is a huge story in its own right (in terms of impact on the Valiant universe) is going to be less than 15 comics total. Master Darque has always been one of my favorite characters, and I hope this leads to him having a much bigger role in months to come.
- KANAN #6 – I have liked STAR WARS: REBELS quite a bit, and this series has been a great way to fill in Kanan’s backstory. Kanan went through some dark times, and the fact he came out with any semblance of humor or sanity says a lot for who he is.
- SINESTRO #15 – I don’t like the new Lobo at all, but I like that Cullen Bunn seems to be including more DC characters in the upcoming issues of SINESTRO. If anyone can make me care about this Lobo, it is probably Bunn. But I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do with Black Adam over the next few issues.
- ASTRO CITY #27 – AMERICAN CHIBI FEATURE STORY! I love that ASTRO CITY tells stories about all kinds of comic book characters, not just thinly veiled homages to Marvel and DC superheroes. When American Chibi first showed up in the current run of Astro City, I immediately wanted to know more about here, and we finally get there. Just a quick aside, I had no idea what the word chibi meant until several years ago. I had did a review of SPYBOY, and Peter David had used the word. I commented I had no idea what that meant, and artist Pop Mahn reached out to me to explain it. I will admit, part of the reason I mention this is that I really, really miss SPYBOY…
- GRAYSON #12 – Stealing from DC’s solicitation for this issue “For the first time since he faked his own death, Dick Grayson returns home to Gotham City.” About damn time. I like GRAYSON a lot, but the whole “faked his death” thing just hasn’t made a lot of sense. It will be interesting to see Dick dealing with the major changes in Gotham (Robo-Batman, Bruce Wayne having no memories of being Batman).
- GI JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO #218 – This book has kind of been spinning it’s wheels a bit since Snake Eyes died a few months back. Cobra Rising will hopefully shoot some fresh energy into this title. It really needs it. I love Larry Hama and GI JOE, but even I have felt my patience being tested the last few months on this one.
- FLASH #44 – The solicit for this issues suggests that Zoom and his gang will be targeting Wally West in this issue. I am hoping that leads to Wally getting powers in New 52. Wally West was “my Flash” for so long. I have enjoyed this FLASH run, but I can’t help but want to see Wally West back as the Flash at some point. And yes, yes, I know this version of Wally is dramatically different from the one I like so much, but at least it would be a start.
I don’t usually do this, but I wanted to talk a little about a series (technically a bunch of series) that came out last week. Last week, Double Take Comics, under the leadership of former Marvel editor Bill Jemas, launched ten new series set in the Night of the Living Dead universe. These books are unlicensed and don’t have any involvement with George Romero. Apparently, Night of the Living Dead has gone into public domain, which is what allowed this.
At this point, I have read six of them and they are actually really good. Some compelling stories here, with a lot of crossover potential. My biggest gripe is that the titles are so generic I genuinely can’t remember which ones I really liked, which is going to make it a real pain to continue buying them next month. But, if the quality continues to be this good, Double Take might have something cool here. Definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Paul Miranda: I’m doing the DECLASSIFIED weekly columns for the past 19 weeks. They’ve been enjoyable. However, I’m eagerly anticipating the end at this point.
Mike Maillaro: Same here with my Front Lines column! 290 comics so far. Dear god.
Yey for cheap plugs!
John Babos:
Five or six books this week.
- Book of Death #3 – A great mini-series that pulls the Valiant Universe heroes together. Not as expansive as previous ones so it’s easy on the wallet and still solid on art and story.
- Book of Death: Legends of the Geomancer #3 – This is the special retailor exclusive mini-series. Your shoppe only gets it, in specified quantities, based on I believe main Book of Death mini-series orders. I picked issue #1 and #2 at the recent Fan Expo Canada 2015 and hope to pick up #3 this week and #4 next month.
- Deathstroke #10 – Still loving this series. I think Tony Daniel is only writing now as he’s part of the art crew on the Batman and Robin Eternal weekly series. However, his run has been great when he’s been a writer-artist and I expect the next few issues to still be solid. Fro interviews it seems Tony Daniel wants to focus on art for the next year. So, I don’t know if that means a new writer for Deathstroke coming up or the book will be cancelled. Fingers crossed that it’s the former.
- Batman Endgame Special Edition #1 – No idea what this is. Thought Endgame, um, ended some time ago. This is a placeholder until I learn more.
- Flash #44 – A fun comic book romp with great art. Plus Zoom! What’s not to like as CW’s The Flash starts it’s second TV season soon?
- Sinestro #15 – This is best Green Lantern family book on stands from the wacky mind of writer Cullen Bunn and artist Brad Walker. A must read.
Mike: It’s for Batman Day. Reprint of Batman 35 and a 8 page lead in to Batman and Robin Eternal.
Babos: Ah, thanks Mike. Is the 8 page lead in new content?
Paul: To answer your question: indeed!!
Paul Miranda
- PITIFUL HUMAN-LIZARD #1
Toronto writer-artist on the rise!! I support this young man 1000%. His indie creation has gone from self-publishing to new company Chapter House, home of Captain Canuck!! Woo-hoo, Jason Loo!
- BATGIRL #44
- BATMAN: ENDGAME special edition
- DEATHSTROKE #10
- FLASH #44
- GOTHAM by MIDNIGHT #9
- GRAYSON #12
- SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP #12
Harley & Ivy out to cause trouble for the Mystery, Inc. gang. This book is sure to soar in value!!
- VERTIGO 2015 PREVIEW
Free today, $30 on EBay. Snatch up these copies quickly!! Especially with upcoming TV series and movie options.
- WE ARE ROBIN #4
- 1872 #3
- CAPTAIN MARVEL and the CAROL CORPS #4
- INHUMANS: ATILLAN RISING #5
- RUNAWAYS #4
- WEIRDWORLD #4
- X-TINCTION AGENDA #4
- YEARS of FUTURE PAST #5
- DEADPOOL vs. THANOS #2 (of 4)
- FURY: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50TH ANNIVERSARY
- TRUE BELIEVERS: PRINCESS LEIA #1
- TRUE BELIEVERS: SILK #1
Keep those low prices coming!! Enjoyable for all audiences!
- BOOK of DEATH #3 (of 4)
