James Fulton
- Daredevil #1 – I’ve been happy with everything I’ve read from Charles Soule, and think that he might be a good fit for DD, being a lawyer himself. I’m not a huge Ron Garney fan, but the preview pages for this comic look great.
- Humans #10 – This series has been a lot of fun, and this issue is wrapping up the first volume. After the last issue, I’m not sure there are going to be many characters left alive, in this anthropomorphic series about a motorcycle gang of apes.
- Sheriff of Babylon #1 – Out of all the new Vertigo series that have been launched, this one, set in the Green Zone during the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, really caught my eye. I’ve liked Tom King’s writing on Grayson and Omega Men, and am willing to try anything he writes now. Mitch Gerads is a great war comic artist too.
- Space Riders Vol. 1 Vengeful Universe TP – I flipped through a few issues of this Black Mask comic in the shop, but they didn’t have the first two, so I decided to trade wait. It looks like a cosmic book in the vein of Gødland, only crazier. Should be interesting…
- Totally Awesome Hulk #1 – I really liked Amadeus Cho when he was introduced as a character, and am prepared to support a book starring him. I don’t know if I care where Bruce Banner is after Secret Wars, but I’m sure this is going to tell us. At least it looks like that weird Doc Green nonsense is done with.
John Babos
- Batman and Robin Eternal #9 – The weekly series continues. What was Batman up to all those years ago?
- Batman Beyond #7 – Awesome book by an awesome creative team. Highly recommended!
- Robin War #1 – The Court of Owls is back and all of DC’s Robins are in the mix of the action.
- Teen Titans #14 – The team is going to undergo big changes. I’m curious where that will leave the team.
- X-O Manowar Commander Trill #0 – All of Valiant’s 0 issues have been great, even for the titles I don’t read regularly. I’m intrigued by this one too.
Mike Maillaro
- SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT #1 – As soon as I saw the title of this book, I knew I would be a customer. Seduction of the Innocent was a book that came out in the 60’s that basically devastated the comic industry. So it was pretty cool of Dynamite to try and take it back with their new “gritty and sometimes depraved” crime drama.
- ROBIN WAR #1 – For the most part, I’ve been kind of down on how the Robins fared in New-52. But We Are Robin has been entertaining, and I still like Damien. So I am definitely curious about this crossover.
- DAREDEVIL #1 – Bunch of new Marvel books coming out this week, but Daredevil is the one that stands out for me. Charles Soule is a great writer, and Daredevil has been fortunate to have a lot of great runs over the years. I have high expectations for this one.
- ALL-NEW X-MEN #1 – While I am a little surprised that the “time lost original X-Men” are still around, I am really excited to see what Dennis Hopeless and Mark Bagley can do with them.
- PREZ #6 – Kind of bummed out that they cut this series down into two 6 issues series (assuming the second one ever happens). It has been some funny and disturbing political satire. I like seeing new and unique comics getting more attention, and Prez is about as new and unique as you can get.
- CITIZEN JACK #2 – A great companion piece to Prez. Citizen Jack is also political satire, but with a dark supernatural spin to it. It’s appropriate that these two books are coming out in the same week as when I read one, I can’t help but think of the other.
- ALIENS/VAMPIRELLA #4 – I actually think they probably should have made this series only 4 issues. I’ve enjoyed it so far, but it is definitely starting to drag. And we still have 2 more issues after this one to go. I miss short, punchy 4 issue mini-series. 6 issues is just about too long.
- DOCTOR STRANGE #3 – Doctor Strange has been one of the best surprises of All-New, All-Different Marvel. Jason Aaron has managed to keep in line with classic Doctor Strange stories while still making this a fun and entertaining book. Chris Bachalo’s art is the perfect fit for this series.
- ALL-NEW ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS #2 – On the opposite end of the spectrum, ANAD Avengers is off to a dreadfully slow start. I expect Waid will be great on this book with this roster, but it really needs to pick up and quick. I hate first issues in a team book where we still haven’t even seen the whole team. Extraordinary X-Men had the same issue, though the second issue was a huge improvement there.
- PAPER GIRLS #3/PLUTONA #3 – Like Prez and Citizen Jack, I can’t help but think of these books as a matched set. Both came out around the same time, the issues often come out at the same time, and both feature a group of kids as protagonists. They are also both terrific books by Image. You should check them out.
- SURVIVORS’ CLUB #3 – The last book I want to talk about this week is SURVIVOR’S CLUB. I am a huge fan of Lauren Beukes’ writing, so seeing her on a horror based comic was exciting news. SURVIVORS’ CLUB is about a group of characters who suffered from “horror-movie like” situations when they were younger. They have all been forced to join together to deal with another major evil. It’s a clever book that really plays with horror movie conventions in a unique way.
Paul Miranda
- KODAJA #1 (of 5)
This is my premiere plunge into 215 Ink. The title is already afire!! Low print run has made it sold out before hitting the shelves.
- REPLICA #1
Aftershock is one of two brand new publishing companies to debut this month, and in the same week!! The industry’s biggest stars focusing on independent work. First up, Paul Jenkins, Andy Clarke, and Dan Brown. Cloning gone wrong but with hilarity.
- INK BRICK #1
Poetry in motion. Literally!! Well, in panels at least. Alternative Comics offers eight creators’ talent with words and exquisite art.
- GOLD DIGGER ANNUAL #19
Antarctic Press’ longest-running series has its annual anthology. Once again, this is new to me.
- X’ED #1
Black Mask has been getting options for films and TV shows left, right, and centre!! The transgressive publisher keeps the hits coming. This long-delayed title is finally released. Too much suspense can cause cardiac arrest!!
- OXYMORON: LOVELIEST NIGHTMARE #4 (of 4)
Comix Tribe’s breakout and most popular character closes out his second mini-series. It can’t be any good in terms of crime but it is wicked awesome for fans.
- ALL-STAR SECTION #6 (of 6)
- BATMAN and ROBIN ETERNAL #9 (of 26)
- CYBORG #5
- GOTHAM ACADEMY #12
- MIDNIGHTER #7
- SENSATION COMICS feat. WONDER WOMAN #17
- HARLEY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK #1
Supply and demand go hand-in-hand! I’ve always enjoyed team-up books. It’s a given that with the main star there will be chaos, hijinks, and mayhem.
- ROBIN WAR #1 (of 2)
A bonanza of guest-stars and bodacious outrageousness!! It’s an octagonal attack with Batman, Damien, the Court of Owls, the GCPD, Grayson, Red Hood, Red Robin, and other Robins confronting those sporting the ‘R’. This tightly contained crossover is to honour the original sidekick’s 75th anniversary.
- SHERRIF of BABYLON #1 (of 8)
Vertigo launches its ninth of twelve new number ones. The line has been revitalized after being in danger of extinction. I was remiss to name the other eight simply because my interest didn’t really materialize until last week.
- HIP HOP FAMILY TREE #4
- 18 DAYS #6
- TET #4 (of 4)
- IMAGE FIRSTS: BIRTHRIGHT #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS: BITCH PLANET #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS: COPPERHEAD #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS: DESCENDER #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS: the HUMANS #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS: NOWHERE MEN #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS: ODY-C #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS: SUNSTONE #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS: WAYWARD #1
More affordable ways to purchase hard-to-find semi-expensive ultra-popular initial issues. One buck each.
- ALL-NEW ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS #2
- DR. STRANGE #3
- INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #4
- VISION #2
- ALL-NEW INHUMANS #1
- ALL-NEW X-MEN #1
- DAREDEVIL {4th Series} #1
- GUARDIANS of INFINITY #1
- RED WOLF {2nd Series} #1
- SPIDEY #1
- TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #1
Seventh heaven!! The only one that really has me going is Matt Murdock’s exploits chronicled by a real-life lawyer: Mr. Charles Soule. Plus, having brand-new character Blindspot is an apprentice is definitely a different take!
- STAR WARS #13
Vader Down, pt. 3 of 6. Watch out!
- AUTEUR: SISTER BAMBI #5 (of 5)
I reviewed number two of the second mini for another series. The unabashed violence and mature subject matter has my eyes popping out as well as in stitches.
- ABSENT CAPTAIN #1 (of 12)
- The GRADUATE #1 (of 6)
Overground Comics – another company brought to light. You get a two-fer this month and the same week. More spending before Christmas!! LOL. What was a Kickstarter campaign has grown to a full-blown enterprise.
Overall, sixteen #1’s this week. That’s ridonkulous!!!
Joe Smith
- The Woods #18 – I have to pick up issues 16-18 this week because I haven’t been to my shop for a bit. I’m really looking forward to doing some binge reading on this title. This is still my favorite title.
- Daredevil #1 – This title is still on my pull-list (has been since issue 3 of the Waid run), but it’s on a very short leash now with the change in creative teams. The Waid run was my favorite DD run ever and I liked the overall direction of the character. If there’s even a hint of things going dark and gritty again I’m out immediately. I haven’t read any previews on the upcoming run and I’m hoping for the best here.
Phil Allen
I’m still playing catch-up, so I can’t comment on all books out this week but there are a few I’m looking forward to…
- All-Star Section 8 #6 – I’ve only read the first couple of issues so far and I’m finding it’s definitely… different. Not what I expected and it differs from many other things I usually read from DC, but 1) that was kind of the point of the whole DCYou thing and 2) there aren’t any other writers like Garth Ennis at DC right now.
- Daredevil #1 – I’ll admit that I’m getting this mostly because I liked the show so much. Someday I plan on going back to read Mark Waid’s recently finished run as I’ve heard it’s some of the best Daredevil stories in recent years. Charles Soule has been doing some great work at both DC and Marvel recently (Superman/Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, She-Hulk, and Lando respectively) so this should be pretty cool.
- East of West #22 – I must catch up faster. Despite delays (let’s all admit, Hickman’s been a bit busy) I’m still a few issues behind on one of my favorite series. Every issue I’m reminded of why I like it so much as it keeps getting better and better.
- Harley’s Little Black Book #1 – I haven’t been the biggest fan of New52 Harley, but this still sounds like a fun idea. HQ goes around the DC Universe meeting all the big heroes, how could I pass on this?
- Robin War #1 – Like I’ve said, I’m a bit behind so I have no idea what the Robin’s are going to war about now but I do love me a good Robin fight!
- Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman #17 – The final issue! I’m bummed this series is ending, not just for the title but for the kind of series it was. Just like Legends of The Dark Knight (2012) and Adventures of Superman (2013), Sensation was a series of individual, stand-alone, and not-necessarily canonical stories featuring Wonder Woman. Unlike regular titles, all three series had the ability to show characteristics of our heroes not otherwise shown, as other series tend to focus on how to carry a story through five or so issues. Hopefully another series like this will return soon.
- The Private Eye – I’m a huge Brian K. Vaughan fan, and despite all the rave from fans and critics I haven’t read a panel of this series yet. No real reason, just haven’t gotten around to it yet. So thank goodness this oversized hardcover is here! Now I can catch up.
Other issues I’m looking forward to:
- Batman Beyond #7
- Batman: Arkham Knight #11
- Bob’s Burgers #6
- Gotham Academy #12
- Gotham by Midnight #11
- Howard the Duck #2
- James Bond #2
- John Flood #5
- Paper Girls #3
- Plutona #3
- Star Wars #13
- The October Faction #11
- The Woods #18
- They’re Not Like Us #10
- Zombies vs. Robots #10
