It’s always fun to look through Previews, and imagine that the future will bring us many shiny new things!
Dark Horse
I think it’s really interesting that Dark Horse are printing Bloodhound, a series that originally ran at DC, by Dan Jolley and Leonard Kirk. I guess it was creator-owned in some way, although the only issue of it that I bought tied in with Firestorm (the first series featuring Jason). I wonder if those issues would be included in this…
I’m excited about the Adventures of Dr. McNinja Omnibus. I can’t handle reading webcomics on the web, but I really liked what I’ve read so far of Christopher Hastings’s series; this looks the perfect way to get caught up to the first Dark Horse trade.
DC
I’m very curious to hear what people think of DC’s decision to brand their covers as ‘WTF’ moments, with fold-out covers that are supposed to reveal great surprises to the reader. I have a few thoughts on this matter. First, how do they expect that these surprises are going to stay surprises? I’ve already seen at least two (Red Hood and Stormwatch) spoiled on the net, and the event is still months away. Secondly, I’ve heard that many of the covers were editorially-mandated, causing writers to have to readjust their plans. For myself as a reader, none of these are giving me reason to pick up a book I’m not already reading. At the same time, I was going to drop both Nightwing and All-Star Western this month, but have decided to give both titles a brief reprieve, in the hopes that the WTF moment may cause me to like the books more…
As Grant Morrison keeps extending his run on Action Comics, thereby delaying the start of Andy Diggle’s, I have to wonder if that means he has to re-write his story to move up the WTF moment, or are DC just going to have a cover that spoils an issue somewhere down the line? Because we all know there’s no plan for this stuff…
I do have to give DC some credit. When they launched the New 52, I was certain that by the time month nineteen rolled around, we’d be knee-deep in some kind of Crisis that brought back the previous or original DC continuity, just so they’d be able to publish Detective Comics #900. Well, this is the 900th issue of that title, and aside from having Batman fight “The 900″, the numbering is staying unchanged. Of course, we all know that the important issue would be #927, so I guess we’ll have to see what happens in another 46 months…
I see that’s the end for Saucer Country. That’s a real shame, as Paul Cornell and Ryan Kelly’s work on this series about alien abductions and American politics has been excellent. And now, the only Vertigo title I’m buying is The Unwritten. I really do miss this imprint.
Image
Any bets on how long it takes Jupiter’s Legacy to run? It’s written by Mark Millar (so the story could be anywhere from ridiculously bad to awesome), and drawn by Frank Quitely (so it will be very, very pretty), and the big question is which of the two will make the book later than the other? I’m going to predict two issues a year, but I will buy whatever does come out quite eagerly.
I’m torn about Chin Music. On the one hand, I only rarely enjoy Steve Niles’s writing, but on the other, I always like Tony Harris’s. I’ll probably buy the first issue, and decide from there.
Ted McKeever has a new five-part series, Miniature Jesus, coming out in April. I didn’t love Mondo, his last series, and I really didn’t understand Meta 4, the one that came out before that, but I’m still going to end up buying this, because there’s something about McKeever’s art that I can’t resist. His best work seems to come from his exploration of religious themes, such as in Metropol, so hopefully this will connect with me.
I see that as Morning Glories starts it’s ‘second season’, it’s soliciting a one dollar issue #26. Morning Glories is one of the denser, and often longer reads on the stands at $3, so this is going to feel like an insane bargain. If you’ve never read Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma’s series yet, you should plan on picking this up.
Marvel
I have to say, my lack of interest in the Age of Ultron continues to shock me. Also, I’m still convinced that this series is going to be set before the Marvel NOW! continuity, for the simple fact that none of the characters are wearing their current costumes in any of the cover or promo art I’m seeing. Makes you wonder how big the promised ‘shocking’ ending is really going to be.
How can we have a solicitation for a book like Ultron #1A which doesn’t have a writer attached? I get it that sometimes Marvel hasn’t tied down the art for a book yet, but this thing is going to come out in two months, the cover is obviously drawn, the artist is announced, but there’s not story yet? I bet this is going to be a great book…
I’m not really enjoying Uncanny Avengers, but I’m willing to give it a little more rope before I drop it. I’m hoping with Daniel Acuña coming on-board, the title will catch up to its publishing schedule, and maybe that will make it feel a little tighter than it is.
I have no interest in Thanos Rising, despite liking Jason Aaron, Simone Bianchi, and at times, Thanos. It just feels too written for the movie to me.
I am, however, looking forward to X-Men, Brian Wood’s new series with Olivier Coipel. Some mention has been made of this book having an all-female cast, but I think the thing that has me most excited is that it’s an X-Men book without Wolverine. I kind of miss the X-Men, since I’m not reading any of the titles that Bendis is writing, so I’m going to pretend that this is the flagship title. I only hope that Coipel gets to redesign Rachel Summers’s ridiculous costume.
It’s cool that Francesco Francavilla is getting to draw an issue of Hawkeye. I really love his style, and I wonder how it will look on a book like this. Hawkeye is great, if you’re not reading it.
Avatar
I’m very tempted to pick up Über, a new series written by Kieron Gillen, because he’s one of my favourite writers these days, but I’m really kind of sick of Avatar’s art and price point. I guess I’ll trade-wait it.
Valiant
Here’s the dilemma: I really like Harbinger, but have next to no interest in Bloodshot. So, what to do about the Harbinger Wars? Both the solicitations for Harbinger #11 and Bloodshot #10 make reference to the story arc being a ‘standalone’, so my hope is that I can read the first title without needing to read the latter. For that reason, I won’t preorder either the Harbinger Wars title, or the Bloodshot issues, and then flip through them at the comics store. Of course, had that word ‘standalone’ not been in the Harbinger solicit, I was prepared to drop the title for the course of this story, and pick it up afterwards. I can’t stand crossovers at the Big Two; I really don’t want to have to deal with them at smaller companies, unless they only involve books I’m already reading.
Well, that’s what caught my eye in this Previews catalogue. What would you buy Were Money No Object?
