John Babos
Possibly 11 books this week. Sadly no Valiant, AfterShock, Dynamite, IDW or Marvel this week; a heavy DC week.
- Action Comics #985
- Detective Comics #962
- Flash #28
- Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #26
- Justice League of America #12
- Mister Miracle #1
- Red Hood and the Outlaws #13
- Suicide Squad #23
- Supergirl #12
- Superwoman #13
- Titans #14
James Fulton
- Grass Kings #6 – I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: Grass Kings is really, really good. Really.
- Inhumans: Once and Future Kings #1 – I don’t care all that much about the Inhumans and Marvel’s endless need to throw them at us. I also really don’t care for a retelling of their origin story, because that sounds boring. Why is this on my list then? Christopher Priest is writing it, and he’s a buy on sight author for me ever since his Black Panther run. I’m excited to see him back at Marvel, even if he got a weird assignment.
- Mister Miracle #1 – I have to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, but my favourite character from that world has always been Scott Free. I loved when he was in the JLI, and bought his spin-off title back in the day. So, I would have tried out a new series featuring him no matter what, but this new title is by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, and is therefore one of the books I’ve looked forward to the most this year. King is a fantastic writer (don’t judge him based on his Batman, check out Vision or Omega Men instead), Gerads is an exciting artist (I loved the Activity), and when they work together, like on the incredible Sheriff of Babylon, they are even better. This is going to be good.
- Secret Empire #8 – Finally, the conclusion to the biggest… What? Still two issues and an Omega one-shot to go? Never mind.
Mike Maillaro
- FIRST STRIKE #1 – I have been playing catch up on IDW’s Hasbro line. I actually only read REVOLUTION a few months ago. I don’t love all the series, but ROM, MICRONAUTS, REVOLUTIONARIES, and ACTION MAN (which needs to come back) have all been excellent, so I will likely give this a shot.
- JUSTICE LEAGUE/POWER RANGERS #5 – About damn time this issue is coming out! I’ve been really enjoying this series, but it’s a long gripe of mine that mini-series should probably be finished BEFORE the comic company starts soliciting them. It really kills the momentum of a good mini-series for me.
- MISTER MIRACLE #1 – I have to admit, I don’t really like most of DC’s New Gods stuff…but I have long been a fan of Mister Miracle. Hoping Big Barda shows up at some point, and I would be very happy. Put Tom King writing this book, and there is no way I could possibly pass this one up.
- STAR WARS ROGUE ONE CASSIAN AND K2SO SPECIAL – My one “gripe” with ROGUE ONE was that we didn’t get enough of a chance to get to know all the characters. Still loved the movie though. DISNEY has done a nice job expanding on the cast though the tie-in novels, and I’m glad to see Cassian and K2S0 getting their own comic special. Hopefully Marvel/Disney will continue to expand the Star Wars universe this way. The new Expanded Universe has been surprisingly cohesive.
- SECRET EMPIRE #8 – Was not expecting Black Widow to die in the last issue. It’s very possible that they will end up using the cosmic cube to reverse that, but I am actually thinking it’s just as likely that Wasp’s friend Ying could end up becoming a new Black Widow. For the most part, I’ve been enjoying SECRET EMPIRE but I still think extending it to 10 issues was a bit much.
- GENERATIONS PHOENIX AND JEAN GREY – Having read the Hulk one from last week, I am still not quite sure what they are going for with GENERATIONS. How did the modern day incarnations end up getting tossed back in time to interact with their classic versions? That said, I really did enjoy the Hulk issue, and I’m curious to see where the rest of these specials go.
- Babyteeth #3
- Unsound #3 (Of 4)
- WWE Summer Slam 2017 Special #1
- Groo Play Of The Gods #2 (Of 4)
- Action Comics #985
- Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #13
- Detective Comics #962
- Flash #28
- Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #26
- Justice League Of America #12
- New Super-Man #14
- Red Hood And The Outlaws #13
- Scooby Apocalypse #16
- Suicide Squad #23
- Supergirl #12
- Titans #14
- Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files Dog Men #3
- Mighty Mouse #3
- Back To The Future #22
- Powerpuff Girls The Time Tie #3 (Of 3)
- Youngblood #4
- All-New Wolverine #23
- Amazing Spider-Man #31
- Captain America #25
- Defenders #4
- Jean Grey #5
- Ms. Marvel #21
- Old Man Logan #27
- Rocket #4
- Secret Warriors #5
- Star Wars Doctor Aphra #11
- Harbinger Renegade #6
Matt Graham
- Red Sonja #7 -Last year Dynamite’s Red Sonja adventure ended at a trade friendly six issues. I was surprised but delighted to see Amy Chu and Carlos Gomez’s run continue onward. Sonja’s sojourn into our modern world continues with a new arc, and I’ve found it to be a very satisfying sword and sorcery tale that works because the modern world is just another foreign land for Sonja to adventure through, without playing up the fish out of water antics and misunderstandings that can weigh these types of stories down. It continues the balance of action, drama, and humour that Red Sonja has forged these past few years, and I am glad to see the title return to a longform run.
- Sheena #0 – Like other Dynamite previews, this book is 25 cents, so buy it.
I’ve been a big fan of Dynamite’s strides with Vampirella and Red Sonja, so I’m excited to see Sheena (Queen of the Jungle) get a shot. Sheena is not a character like Red Sonja that I have a familiarity with, but when I saw Marguerite Bennett attached, I knew I’d be buying it. Her six issue stint on Red Sonja last year was one of my favourite comics I’d read, and Animosity and Josie and the Pussycats have entertained me more than the Marvel and DC events I float through.
It’s a relaunch where Sheena comes across a forbidden temple in the Amazon, with Marguerite Bennett scripting and Moritat (The Spirit, All-Star Western) crafting the visuals. Sold through on my end.
- Redlands #1 – Jordie Bellaire (who writes and colors this) and artist Vanesa Del Rey (who writes and draws this) serve up some Southern gothic horror. One of my favourite kinds. A coven of witches descend upon the idyllic town of Redlands, Florida and proceed to bleed it dry. If Del Rey’s art hadn’t won me over, and the idea of the industry’s best colorist Jordie Bellaire teaming up with Del Rey on art and script wasn’t enough of a hook, Tom King, Scott Snyder, and Warren Ellis have already praised the book with some dramatic pull quotes.
I’m already in just to see some of my favorite artists tag-team a comic with true auteur authority.
- Generations: Phoenix and Jean Grey – Jean Grey is one of my all-time favourite X-Men characters. While I was happy to get her back with the time traveled teen X-Men, and I enjoyed her taking a different development arc that still showed the Jean I love, I’ve been mixed on her with ResurreXion. Her solo title by Dennis Hopeless is a great deconstruction of Jean, The Phoenix, and the classic hero’s journey, but I’ve been disappointed in X-Men Blue. Cullen Bunn makes her a bit too bad ass and bossy and she seems to dominate the book over the rest of the cast. I wouldn’t mind that if her attitude didn’t dominate the other aspects of her we’ve seen in prior X-Men books with Teen Jean. This is doubly distracting to me because Cullen Bunn’s prior X-Men work has gifted some of my favorite X-Men stories, bar none.
I say all this because I enjoyed Hulk’s Generations book last week. It gave me a better understanding of Amadeus Cho and the whole mentoring thing with Banner was a good hook that knocked some inevitable flaws into a character I’ve long considered an uninteresting perfect bore. That’s what Marvel has always been about to me, flawed people handling outlandish situations, and I feel like they’ve lost that in recent relaunches.
I am interested to see Young Jean, who is doing whatever it takes to avoid becoming the Phoenix, come across Phoenix’s first manifestation of Jean (remember, it got convoluted), and I am all the more interested since Cullen Bunn has the reins on this, not Dennis Hopeless. I’m hoping the book does what Hulk does, and we start to see Jean tone down a little in Blue.
- Edge of Venomverse #4 – The lead singer of Yellowcard, Ryan Key, wrote this issue. You know Yellowcard. Ocean Avenue, early 2000s. I do, they were always on compilation CDs I’d get. That threw me for a loop. And that’s on top of Wolvenom and Angel set in the Old Man Logan universe. Edge of Venomverse has been so fun. I can’t wait for the proper event. It’s nice when I look forward to and enjoy events like Venomverse and Generations. Secret Empire #8 also comes out, but you should buy Edge of Venomverse 1-4 instead. It is fun and ridiculous in all the ways Marvel made its old empire.
- Babyteeth #3
- All-New Wolverine #23
- Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe Again #3
- Jean Grey #5
