Pull List Roundtable 7/20/2016 – DC Rebirth, Faith #1, Black Hammer #1, Snotgirl #1 & More

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John Babos

10 new comics this week.

  • A&A The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong #5 – What’s not to like about this quirky fun book?
  • Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Rebirth #1 – If you missed it, check out Nightwing Rebirth #1 for the first post-Flashpoint appearance of the Helena Bertinelli Huntress. Will check this new one-shot out as I’m curious about new Oracle; I hope this book captures the vibe of the original launch of the BOP back in the day by, I think, writer Chuck Dixon and artist Gary Frank.
  • Green Arrow #3 – Really digging the vibe of this new series; it captures O’Neill/Adams Green Lantern / Green Arrow social commentary mixed with heroics with the grit of Grell’s run, but very much a 2016 planted book. The best take on Green Arrow in years, maybe decades.
  • Green Lanterns #3 – Jury’s still out on this book for me, but I like see the rookies with the universe’s most powerful weapons, their rings, come to grips with their responsibilities and respective learning curves.
  • Hellblazer Rebirth #1 – Curious about DC Rebirth take on Constantine.
  • Justice League #1 – Torn about picking this up. Not sold on Hitch as writer, but love Daniels on art.
  • New Suicide Squad #22 – More interested in Suicide Squad Rebirth #1, but as a long-time fan of the concept, will pick this up.
  • Squadron Supreme #9 – The path to Namor Reassembled continues?
  • Superman #3 – Eradicator vs Super Son?
  • Thunderbolts #3 – Curious how many bandwagon jumpers this serious gets due to the Hail Hydra revelations from Captain America: Steve Rogers #2?

Mike Maillaro

  • BETTY AND VERONICA #1 – 25 alternate covers?? Is that really necessary? I am looking forward to Adam Hughes take on Betty and Veronica, but I get annoyed when you see these kinds of over the top publicity stunts. It takes away from the quality of the book, to a certain extent, suggesting that Archie might not have a lot of faith in this book standing on it’s own merits.
  • GROO FRAY OF THE GODS #1 – Happy to see Groo back so soon. I have been a fan of Groo for a long time, and last year’s Groo: Friends and Foes was great. Hopefully we will continue to see a lot of new Groo in months and years to come.
  • DC REBIRTH – I have picked up all of DC’s Rebirth specials so far, and pretty much enjoyed them all. This week we got BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY and HELLBLAZER. I don’t typically read Batgirl, Birds of Prey, or Constantine/Hellblazer. But I am willing to give them a fair shot. If I enjoy the Rebirth specials, I will definitely give the series a try.
  • FAITH #1 – I was pleasantly surprised to see Valiant giving Faith her own ongoing series. The mini-series was a lot of fun, and the more diversity in comics, the better.
  • PATSY WALKER AKA HELLCAT #8 – I am not sure that Hellcat’s tone fits with Civil War II, but it has been one of my favorite Marvel series, so I curious to see what Kate Leth can do with this one. Marvel does have a history of tie-in’s being far better than their events, so this should still be a really good comic.
  • VELVET #15 – Brubaker’s spy thriller from Image is a terrific book, though it tends to come out late. Doesn’t take away from my joy of seeing issues pop up on the new release list. Though I have to admit, I tend to forget what happens by the time the newest issue comes out.
  • BATMAN #3 – Tom King’s Batman run has been off to a great start. Gotham and Gotham Girl are interesting characters, though I really expect they are up to no good. I like that King hasn’t felt the need to try and shove all of Batman’s rogues gallery into the story, which seems like what too many writers do the first chance they get to write Batman. King seems to have a long term vision here, and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.
  • THUNDERBOLTS #3 – CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS #2 gave us some insight into Kobik, and I am really curious if that will play out in Thunderbolts. It definitely puts the character and this team into a very new light. That said, Marvel tends to play fast and loose with continuity, so it is fairly likely they won’t deal with it in Thunderbolts, which would be a huge missed opportunity.
  • JOYRIDE #4 – Joyride has been a real nice surprise. I love a good space story, and Joyride (like Marvel’s Empress) is scratching a need I didn’t even know I had. This is the end of the mini-series, but I would really like to see more of these characters soon.
  • NIGHTHAWK #3 – I think that it’s real important to have a wide variety of creative voices on comics. Nighthawk and Captain America: Sam Wilson both seem to be dealing with similar ideas, but I really think David Walker’s work on Nighthawk has a little more truth to it. I am not saying that only black writers should deal with racial issues, but it certainly gives it more credibility to me as a reader.
  • ASTRO CITY #37 – I love that we continue to get Astro City on a regular basis. It’s a slight exaggeration, but we’ve gotten almost as much Astro City in the last three years as we did in the series first 17 years. That said, the Broken Man stuff has been my least favorite part of the current series, so another issue featuring him does tamper my excitement a bit. Hopefully we will start to get the point of this character in this one.

Matt Graham

  • Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #5 – I have enjoyed this lost years approach to the classic TV series while amping the teen melodrama upwards. Really it’s a fun superhero book that gets to the meat of what I want without all the decompression and rebooting the usual sources force on me.
  • Dept. H #4 – I never read Mind MGMT as it happened, so Dept. H is me apologizing to Matt Kindt for that. This is a solid mystery wrapped in sci-fi that’s just a good character drama.
  • Snotgirl #1 – I am a Bryan Lee O’Malley fan, so this title gets a shot on rep alone. I would read a series about a fashion blogger (I enjoyed New York Four), so this title is two things I would like.
  • All-New Wolverine #10 – Best X-Men book if Uncanny didn’t exist.
  • Black Widow #5 – Best book Marvel isn’t advertising.
  • Patsy Walker aka Hellcat #8 – Best fresh voice and eyes at Marvel.
  • Uncanny X-Men #10 – Best X-Men book.

James Fulton

  • Black Hammer #1 – I usually enjoy Jeff Lemire’s creator-owned work, and while this is more of a superhero book than what he usually does, I think it’s still going to be pretty unique, the way he played with superhero themes in Plutona. Plus, Dean Ormston is drawing it, and he’s terrific.
  • Island #9 & Prophet Earth War #5 – I’m never not going to get excited to see books written or curated by Brandon Graham coming out. He really is one of the best.
  • Snotgirl #1 – I’m not really one to care about a series about a fashion blogger, but since this is being written by Bryan Lee O’Malley (of Scott Pilgrim fame), I do have high expectations that I’m going to fall in love with at least one character in this comic, and want to read it forever.
  • Star Wars #21 – The newest arc of this series looks like it’s going to be focusing on a unit of Stormtroopers. David Aja’s cover alone is a reason to get excited for this.

Phil Allen

  • Batgirl and The Birds of Prey: Rebirth #1 – I’ve been excited for this one since the announcement, especially to find out who Oracle will be. With the recent return of both Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain I was wondering if one of them would end up becoming Batgirl again but it looks like Barbara is here to stay.
  • Batman #3 – The New52 run started so strong but a few of the following arcs were hit and miss for me. So far, this Rebirth run is off to a great start so we’ll see where it goes.
  • Betty & Veronica #1 – The next series in the “relaunching” of the Archie-verse, this time written and drawn by Adam Hughes. I’m a big fan of Hughes’ art but I can’t remember the last writing of his I read.
  • Hellblazer: Rebirth #1 – I really enjoyed the last Constantine series from Ming Doyle and James Tynion, this next series looks pretty good too.
  • The October Faction #18 – The epic conclusion to one of my favorite series in recent years. Steve Niles is one of the recent masters of monsters and I’m certainly looking forward to his next projects.
  • Other issues I’m looking forward to:
  • A-Force #7
  • Casanova: Acedia #6
  • Darth Vader #23
  • I Hate Fairyland #7
  • Injustice: Gods Among Us, Year Five #14
  • Lazarus #23
  • Rumble #12
  • Star Wars #21
  • Velvet #15
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.