PREVIEWS Roundtable – July 2016 Solicitations Featuring DC Comics’ Rebirth, Millarworld Annual 2016, Dark Horse’s Black Hammer #1 & More! What About Civil War II?

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PREVIEWS Roundtable July 2016 comic book solicitations

Phil Allen

Surprisingly, not to much new for me this month!

DC:
So much Rebirth though. I’m glad for the $2.99 price drop, even with the bi-weekly schedule for many books. In addition to the regular books starting in June, I’ll be getting Justice League and all the Bat-related books, especially Batgirl. Also, Hellblazer and New Super-Man. I’m glad to see Doctor Fate and Batman Beyond are continuing, Beyond started getting better in the second arc. Batman ‘66 Meets Steed & Mrs. Peel looks fun, I enjoyed The Man from U.N.C.L.E. series.

Marvel:
No new series this month, but I’m always looking forward to the Star Wars books and many of the solo series like Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Howard the Duck, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and a few others.

Image:
There are several #1’s this month, but I’m super excited for any of them yet. Millarworld Annual 2016 looks pretty cool and The Fuse begins a new arc. Otherwise, it’s business as usual.

Dark Horse:
Avatar: The Last Airbender – North and South Part One TP should be great like all the others, as does Bounty #1 from Kurtis Wiebe. Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens is unexpected but I might just have to get it.

James Fulton

Dark Horse:
Black Hammer #1 – I’m pleased to see this new series by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston back on the schedule. It was supposed to be out before, but got delayed due to medical reasons. It looks interesting, and I will always give anything creator-owned by Lemire a shot.

DC:
As Rebirth continues to roll out, I am refusing to preorder almost anything. I have learned not to trust DC at all, especially when it comes to actually publishing books by the creators they’ve solicited. The book I’m most interested in is Wonder Woman, but I seriously doubt that Greg Rucka is going to be around for long before he leaves; if he’s still being solicited as the writer when #1 comes out, I’ll pick it up off the stands. Knowing that these books are all going to be returnable for the first three months makes me feel confident that the ones I’m curious about are going to be on the stands for me when I want to skim through them. I’m not committing to anything.

That is, with the exception of New Super-Man. I am a big fan of Gene Luen Yang’s writing, and I know that the smaller, more diverse books are the ones that need customer support to last. This book about a new Chinese hero sounds like it could be a big sleeper hit, and I want to signal to DC that there is a market for books like this.

IDW:
I have every issue of Marvel’s Rom, so I’m down to try out the new relaunch of the classic character, especially since it’s being co-written by Christos Gage, who is always good.

I’ve never bought any of IDW’s Artist’s Editions, but the fact that they are making one that focuses on Bill Sienkiewicz’s run on New Mutants really has my attention. I may have to grab this.

Image:
This week’s Image+ piqued my interest in Snotgirl, the new series about fashion bloggers by Bryan Lee O’Malley and Leslie Hung, even though it’s not my typical kind of thing.

Marvel:
I want to say once again that I have absolutely no interest in Civil War II. In fact, it has me wanting to drop books that I read that look like they are going to be tying into it for the whole event. That said, Marco Rudy is drawing a story in Civil War II: Choosing Sides #2, and that has me torn… I am dropping Captain Marvel, since the co-writers of the book have left (at least for the duration of the event).

I like that Star Wars is giving us a Stormtrooper focused story starting in #21, with an amazing David Aja cover.

Matt Graham

Dark Horse: Cullen Bunn on Conan the Slayer is a sure shot. Happy to see Black Hammer releasing.

DC: Wonder Woman and Supergirl are my guaranteed picks for Rebirth. The rest will be impulse purchases. I won’t allow the comic budget to go wild on new titles and I don’t have the patience to deal with yet another soft relaunch. Word of mouth will go a long way here.

IDW: I have already ordered my Bill Sienkiewicz New Mutants Artist Edition. My shop appreciates this, as I’ve bugged them weekly about it since it was announced until it appeared in May’s Previews catalog.

Image: Business as usual. Millarworld Annual is a sure bet. I bought Cry Havoc as it released but a trade would be nice for my shelf. Paper Girls is back in swing.

Marvel: Civil War II’s Minority Report concept is weak. Marvel has so many precogs the premise falls flat before it begins. Now, if it resulted in Blindfold, Kang, Madame Web, and all the others who have tapped that power grouping up, things could get interesting. I feel we’re in for a ten year anniversary nostalgia wank.

I’ll be caught up in Civil War’s main series out of habit, but the X-Men Civil War series is the mini I want most. First I’ve heard of Tara Butters and Michelle Fazekas leaving Captain Marvel, which is a major bummer – hopefully it’s to write Agent Carter S3.

Phil started reading comics in 2008, and it has been his passion since. Enjoying titles ranging from Batman to Sex Criminals, Y: The Last Man to Samurai Jack, and The Wicked + The Divine to 100 Bullets, Phil will read just about anything. Have a recommendation? Looking for one? You can reach him on Twitter @4ColorPhil