Pull List Roundtable 6/15/2016 – Civil War II, DC Rebirth, The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade #1, Vote Loki #1 & More (Spoilers)

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John Babos

10 books this week.

  • A&A: The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong #4 – A quirky, fun book.
  • Batman #1 & Superman #1 – Wasn’t Planning on reading more than Action Comics (twice monthly) and Trinity (monthly), but Detective Comics #1 was so good, and the creative team on Superman #1 is top notch, I’ll try these 2 books.
  • Civil War II #2 – Not touching this; cost is too much and it’s raison d’etre is not clear. Plus with a big death so far and another teased for issue #3, this book appears too dark for me.
  • Green Arrow #1 – Am a huge fan of Oliver Queen, particularly his 1970’s “Hard Travelling Heroes” take as well as Mike Grell’s 1980’s hooded justice take. Glad Black Canary is back in the fold. Not sure if I dig the supernatural villain element of this opening arc, but it seems fresh. As long as Ollie is Ollie, this should be good.
  • Green Lanterns #1 – I’m a big fan of the Green Lantern era of the 1980’s that had Dave Gibbons and Joe Staton on art. Great stories too by, I think, Steve Englehart; I stand to be corrected on that. What made it a great era in part was the fact it was a very down-to-Earth type of storytelling despite the super weapon on the ring of our GLs at the time; we had John Stewart and Guy Gardner both assume active roles as GL alongside Hal Jordan. I like that Green Lanterns will feature 2 new GLs in Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. The world they inhabit is familiar to me; its Earth and they have 2 powerful weapons on their fingers. A lot of promise for this series.
  • Justice League #51 – Darkseid War fallout with, seemingly, Lex Luthor as armored Superman as a big part. This book won’t have Geoff Johns on story, but it will have Dan Jurgens writing so this book seems like a prequel to his ACtion Comics Rebirth ongoing twice monthly series.
  • New Suicide Squad #21 – My fave team since John Ostrander re-introduced them during Legends. So, I’m here.
  • Squadron Supreme #8 – The only Avengers book I’m reading by a top flight creative team with James Robinson writing and Leonard Kirk on art. While the Squadron Supreme started as Marvel’s JLA, this current run shows that they are more than archetypes.
  • Titans Rebirth #1 – Wally West and the old gang are back. SO EXCITED!
  • Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #8 – Immortal badassery. A great series.

James Fulton

  • Batman #1 – Tom King has become my new favourite comics writer – just look at what he did last week with Vision and Sheriff of Babylon. I’m worried that he won’t be given a lot of freedom with a book like Batman, but still have very high hopes for this title. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a Batman comic (Batman Inc. before the New 52 wrecked it was great), and I’m really ready to dig into this one. I’m hoping I can hold on until Mikel Janin takes over the art, since I’m not the biggest fan of David Finch…
  • Descender #12 – It’s the return of Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s excellent science fiction series. The last issue ended on quite a cliffhanger, so I’m ready for this!
  • Han Solo #1 – To me, the two no-brainer Star Wars miniseries for Marvel to publish are Han Solo and Boba Fett. I’m not sure what they have planned for Han, but with Mark Brooks on the art, it should look amazing.
  • Lazarus #22 – Lazarus returns as well this week. Everyone’s been talking about Greg Rucka returning to Wonder Woman; I’m more happy to see him return to Forever for this new arc, which looks like it’s going to be pretty bloody.
  • The Sixth Gun #50 – It’s been years in the making, and now Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt are bringing us a huge, overpriced conclusion to their epic Western fantasy series. Anyone who has been enjoying Bunn’s work at the Big Two owe it to themselves to see what he’s done with this wonderful comic.

Babos:  James, what is Cullen Bunn up to now? I loved his DC work, particularly Sinestro, and hoped to see him with a Rebirth title. I don’t think he has one, but I stand to be corrected.

Fulton: Uncanny X-Men at Marvel (and the Civil War mini), which I would read if it weren’t for Greg Land. Also he has Hellbreak at Oni, which has been great. Just did Blood Feud at Oni which was fun. I think I’m forgetting something else too. None of this stuff is as good as Sixth Gun, if you haven’t been reading it.

Babos: I haven’t read his non-DC stuff beyond sensing a trend; that he likes to write villains or anti-heroes.

Fulton: Sixth Gun is set after the Civil War. There are six pistols that, when brought together, can destroy and remake the world. They belong to an evil General whose mother is an ancient witch, but the hero and his friends manage to gather many of the guns. There’s a lot of back and forth, Native legends, voodoo, mystical crossroads, and ancient religious societies. Everyone (except maybe Becky) is kind of dark and conflicted. There are some real surprises along the way. Great, great comic, with some spin-off miniseries of varying quality.

Babos: Thx for the details. :) Don’t know why his work at DC didn’t catch fire. Sinestro was amazing.

Fulton: I only checked out the first couple of issues of Lobo and it didn’t work for me. I figured I’ll get a trade of Sinestro some day, based on your love for it. I’m always afraid to sample any GL-related books, because I don’t want to read the inevitable crossovers.

Babos: I hear ya about GL x-overs. I only read Sinestro, but did pick up the New God’s x-over b/c I’m a fan of New God’s. Other than that, stayed away from the x-overs. In fairness on Sinestro, the art was amazing too.


Matt Graham

  • Batman #1 – Like James, I haven’t enjoyed a Batman comic in a long time. Scott Snyder’s run just wasn’t for me, even though I checked in and out to stay current. Sheriff of Babylon is fantastic crime drama, Vision is obscene in a clever way, and Batman thrives when the two are combined. I like David Finch on titles like Moon Knight, so Batman is a great fit.
  • Dark Knight Returns The Last Crusade #1 – DKR is always best left alone, and yet I read every sequel. This prequel could be interesting. $6.99 interesting? I’ll decide at the shop.
  • Black Widow #4 – This book moves at a breakneck speed, but the action and story beats are tuned to keep up. Waid succeeds at establishing the title in the spy genre along with the Modesty Blaise and 007 comics of yesteryear, whereas Agents of SHIELD and Mockingbird never quite land it, sticking to the harbor of Marvel Superheroing.
  • Civil War X-Men #1 – This is the only aspect of Civil War I’m interested in. Cullen Bunn helms the showdown between the Uncanny and Extraordinary X-Men teams. Haven’t had X-Men on X-Men hostility since yesterday! Will he show bias to his own Uncanny lineup?
  • Han Solo #1 – Mark Brooks on interiors of anything will capture my attention. I’m a diehard EU fan and I’m stubborn about all the changes, but a Han Solo title seems overdue. I’m publicly declaring my hope this issue works in some “Hail Hydra” level drama, because Star Wars fans are volatile as is.
  • Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat #7 – Last issue was a filler waste of time, to be frank. It’s high time the story delved into this Patsy vs Hedy legal battle.

Phil Allen

  • 52 Book 1 – The original DC weekly series! I haven’t read this yet and only started reading comics a few years before the New 52 so I’ve always been interested in reading more older DC. Thank goodness they’ve started reprinting older works, I hope that continues.
  • Batman #1 – I feel weird that I’m not really looking forward to this one too much, and it’s because I’m nervous for the creative team. I haven’t read a lot of Tom King (and I hear Sheriff of Babylon is good) but I really didn’t like Grayson. We’ll see how it goes.
  • Dark Night: A True Batman Story – I am, however, and huge Paul Dini and Ed Risso fan, so this is going to be a real treat. This is a story about the night Dini was attacked almost to death but reimagined as a Batman tale.
  • Descender #12 – The next arc begins! The last arc left off with a big twist and things are starting to heat up elsewhere.
  • Star Wars: Han Solo #1 – The next mini-series from Star Wars begins, featuring everyone’s favorite Nerf-herding scoundrel!
  • Superman #1 – Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason made big waves as a team on Batman and Robin, now they’re moving on to Superman! Also a father/son story, Supes is conflicted over whether to help his son with his powers or help keep them hidden.
  • The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade #1 – For the first time, find out what happened in the years leading up to The Dark Knight Returns! Featuring several favorite characters, including the last Robin (before Carrie Kelly of course).
  • Other issues I’m looking forward to:
  • I Hate Fairyland #6
  • Injustice: Gods Among Us, Year Five #12
  • Jughead #7
  • Lazarus #22
  • Star Wars #20
  • Swamp Thing #6
  • The Twilight Zone: The Shadow #3
  • Vote Loki #1

Mike Maillaro

  • DC REBIRTH – After seven Rebirth titles coming out in the last two weeks, DC slows it down a bit, and this week we only get Titans. It seems like Titans Rebirth will be tied into the bigger story about Pre-Flashpoint Wally West finally making his way into the New-52. I am really excited about this one. Wally West has been one of my favorite characters for a long time, and it seems like this series will also pick up from Titans Hunt which was a terrific surprise. We also get the first issue of Green Lanterns, Green Arrow, Superman, and Batman spinning out of their Rebirth books from two weeks ago.
  • SCOOBY APOCALYPSE #2 – The first issue of Scooby Apocalypse was pretty much exactly what I expected. A real well done story updating Scooby Doo for a modern audience. Strong characters and a compelling storyline. I definitely in for the long haul on this one.
  • CIVIL WAR II X-MEN #1 – I can basically steal Matt’s comments here. Civil War II seems to have a lot of potential, but so far the execution hasn’t done much for me. Marvel’s mutant line has quietly been putting out some of the best superhero comics out today, so I am curious to see how this all plays out as the various X-Mens start to fall apart.
  • CIVIL WAR – Also coming out this week is Civil War II #2 and Deadpool #14. So far Civil War II hasn’t grabbed me all that much, but I am still hopeful.
  • STAR WARS HAN SOLO #1 – I was born in 1979, so Han Solo was the ultimate cool hero to me. Marvel has done a terrific job with the Star Wars license, and I’m looking forward to see what Majorie Liu and Mark Brooks will do with this mini series.
  • VOTE LOKI #1 – File this one under “why not?” This election season has been such an absolute train wreck. We did get some great political satire with DC’s Prez and Image’s Citizen Jack, and I am expecting more of the same here.
  • AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #14 – I hate when Marvel does a crossover tie-in series featuring a character while they still have their main title going. Civil War Amazing Spider-Man was actually pretty good last week, but it annoys me that I am buying double the Spider-Man for the next few months. Granted, it’s not as bad as when Spider-Man had four or five monthly titles, but still bruising on the wallet.
Mike Maillaro is a lifelong Jersey Boy and geek. Mike has been a comic fan for about 30 years from when his mom used to buy him Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Adventures at our local newsstand. Thanks, Mom!! Mike's goal is to bring more positivity to the discussion of comics and pop culture.