Pull List Roundtable 6/14/2017 – Rai: The History of the Valiant Universe, Dark Days: The Forge #1, DC/Looney Tunes, & More

Columns, Features, Roundtables, Top Story

John Babos

10 new books this week.

  • Action Comics #981
  • Bug the Adventures of the Forager #2
  • Dark Days: The Forge #1
  • Detective Comics #958
  • Flash #24
  • Rai: The History of the Valiant Universe #1
  • Red Hood and the Outlaws #11
  • Suicide Squad #19
  • Superwoman #11
  • Titans #12

Phil Allen

  • Betty & Veronica #3 – #TEAMBETTY
  • Bitch Planet Triple Feature #1 – A new team of creators take over for short stories taking place in the BP world, also essays, letters, and more! I’ve read a preview of the full issue, it’s great for new readers as well as old fans.
  • Copperhead #14 – End of arc. No solicits for #15 yet, so hopefully there won’t be too long of a wait for the next arc.
  • Dark Days: The Forge #1 – The first chapter of DC’s summer event, and first event since Rebirth began! Snyder and Tynion are a great writing team (see Batman: Eternal) and with this group of artists, I think we can expect some pretty cool things.
  • Detective Comics #958 – New arc featuring Azrael. I can go either way on Azrael, it just depends who is writing. But as I said above, I like Tynion and he’s been doing well with him so far. Now Azrael is back in Gotham while his past tries to catch up with him.
  • Legion of Superheroes/Bugs Bunny #1 – The first of the new DC/Looney Tunes crossovers!
  • Martian Manhunter/Marvin The Martian #1 – The other DC/Looney Tunes book this week, and I think one of the coolest-sounding of the bunch.
  • Winnebago Graveyard #1 – A family goes road-tripping and finds themselves stranded in a creepy middle-of-nowhere town. The previews of this book look pretty great, I’m interested to see where the story goes.
  • Other issues I’m looking forward to:
  • Action Comics #981
  • American Gods #4
  • Black Cloud #3
  • The Flash #23
  • Godshaper #3
  • Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps #22
  • Jimmy’s Bastards #1
  • Kill The Minotaur #1
  • Planet of The Apes/Green Lantern #5
  • Star Wars #32
  • Wonder Woman #24
  • World Reader #3

James Fulton

  • Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #1 – I’d rather read the regular BP series, but since it hardly ever comes out, I’ll gladly take a look at some other creators’ take on this peculiar world.
  • Briggs Land: Lone Wolves #1 – I wish Dark Horse hadn’t felt the need to relaunch this title so soon after it debuted, but I hope it gets more people to check it out. Brian Wood is writing a very sharp book about a secessionist community that has just been taken over by its matriarch.
  • Grass Kings #4 – Speaking of secessionist communities, Grass Kings is terrific!
  • Space Rides: Galaxy of Brutality #2 – I have no real idea what’s going on in this comic, but it’s very cool looking.

Mike Maillaro

Even though it’s June 2017, let’s kick off this week’s commentary by going back to two books that are coming out this week that were both originally scheduled for October 2016….

  • BETTY AND VERONICA #3 – While I enjoy quite a bit of what Archie puts out, I am constantly annoyed by how many of their big books end up with considerable delays. I honestly couldn’t even tell you what happened in the first two issues of BETTY AND VERONICA. For such a big tentpole book, you’d think they would have learned from the problems with AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE, SABRINA, and the Dark Circle line. Shameful.
  • PREDATOR VS JUDGE DREAD VS ALIENS #4 – But Archie isn’t the only culprit here! Dark Horse also gets in on the action with the final issue of PREDATOR VS JUDGE DREAD VS ALIENS, which is also 8 months after the originally announced release date. I was really enjoying this series, but like I said abut BETTY AND VERONICA, it’s been so long, I have no idea where this story left off. I will never understand the mindset of not FINISHING a 4 issue mini-series before releasing it. Delays in ongoing series make a lot more sense than delays in mini-series.
  • DARK DAYS THE FORGE #1 – I have been avoiding spoilers on DC’s DARK DAYS and METAL events. I have really enjoyed the slow build of the “big picture” we’ve seen throughout DC Rebirth. This is pretty much the book I am most excited about this week.
  • LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES/BUGS BUNNY SPECIAL – As a huge Legion fan, I am actually kind of annoyed that this is the only LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES book announced anywhere on the horizon at DC. We’ve had a few Legion teases through DC Rebirth, but it’s just not the same. That said, I am really looking forward to these DC/LOONEY TUNES crossover books. The Hanna Barbera crossover books from two months ago were all great. If nothing else, DC is making comics that are very fun to read. We also get MARTIAN MANHUNTER/MARVIN THE MARTIAN this week.
  • DEFENDERS #1 – I love Marvel’s Netflix shows, but we are big fans of the real DEFENDERS in my house. When I sold my statue collection, but wife insisted I had to keep Dr Strange, Hulk, Namor, and Silver Surfer. And while I like Bendis’s work on solo books like SPIDER-MAN and JESSICA JONES, his team books often leave me flat. All that said, I will still likely be checking out this one and hoping for the best.
  • JIMMY’S BASTARDS #1 – This series could only have been written by Garth Ennis. Imagine a spy on the level of James Bond. Now imagine all the bastard children he’s left behind through his life. That is the premise for Aftershock’s new series. For mature readers. If you like PREACHER and THE BOYS, you have to check this one out.
  • JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #8 – This book needs a huge creative team overhaul. The characters here are great, but the stories have been unbearably dull. I really am still buying this book because I have always read at least one JUSTICE LEAGUE book, but DC’s current offerings in that department are doing nothing for me.
  • DEADPOOL #32 – The last issue of this series was one of the best comics I have read this year. Seeing DEADPOOL’s loyalty to Captain America certainly puts SECRET EMPIRE in some perspective. Sometimes DEADPOOL’s comics can get a little annoying, but if they manage to be half as engaging as the last issue, it is worth picking up this book during SECRET EMPIRE.
  • RAI HISTORY OF THE VALIANT UNIVERSE – I will admit that the RAI relaunch was one of my least favorite Valiant books, but I was a huge fan of the original RAI and Valiant’s version of the future, so I am hoping that this book will be a huge improvement. Really curious to see how all the pieces come together here if nothing else.
  • World Reader #3
  • Action Comics #981
  • Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #11
  • Bug The Adventures Of Forager #2 (Of 6)
  • Detective Comics #958
  • Flash #24
  • Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #22
  • Justice League Of America #8
  • New Super-Man #12
  • Red Hood And The Outlaws #11
  • Scooby Apocalypse #14
  • Suicide Squad #19
  • Supergirl #10
  • Titans #12
  • Wonder Woman #24
  • Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files Dog Men #1
  • Back To The Future #20
  • Donald Duck #21
  • Revolutionaries #5
  • All-New Wolverine #21
  • Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows #8
  • Ben Reilly The Scarlet Spider #3
  • Captain America Sam Wilson #23
  • Generation X #3
  • Gwenpool The Unbelievable #17
  • Hulk #7
  • Ms. Marvel #19
  • Old Man Logan #25
  • Secret Empire #4 (Of 10)
  • Secret Empire Uprising
  • Secret Warriors #3
  • Star Wars #32
  • Uncanny Avengers #24
  • Weapon X #4
  • X-Men Blue #5
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.