John Babos
9 books this week. I didn’t expect those annuals.
- Batman #40 – More Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo goodness as Endgame, um, ends.
- Batman and Robin Annual #3 – Hopefully more super-Robin goodness!
- Batman: Eternal #52 – Curious how this “season” ends.
- Earth 2: World’s End #26 & New 52 Futures End #48 – The road to Convergence ends here!
- Convergence #0 – It begins!
- Kanan: The Last Padawan #1 – Am loving the Star Wars: Rebels animated series. That last episode was a game changer. Looking forward to learning more about Kanan’s past.
- Sinestro Annual #1 – This is the little series that could. Awesome.
- Teen Titans Annual #1 – What’s going on with Superboy and Kid Flash?
Mike Maillaro
It’s a huge week for DC with the three weekly series ending (Batman Eternal, World’s End, Future’s End) and Convergence starting. I have said a few times that it felt like these series were dragging a little to get to the end, but for the most part I’ve really enjoyed them. I hope they all come to satisfying ends!
- Kanan – The Last Padawan #1 – Star Wars Rebels has been a terrific way to bring Star Wars back, and Kanan’s character has really intrigued me. I hope that they show how he survived the slaughter of the Jedi, and why he seems so hesitant to try and bring the Jedi back. It will also be nice to get a Star Wars series from Marvel that is not squeezed in between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.
- Teen Titans Annual #1 – To be honest, I really hate New 52 Superboy. I was a huge fan of the original, and this new version has just done nothing for me. But I have really enjoyed Titans since the series rebooted, so I’m hoping Will Pfeifer can work some of that magic and save Superboy too.
- Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues #3 – This has been a nice surprise. A real well done follow up comic. It definitely maintains the spirit of the original movie while still adding enough new things to keep me interested. Avengers Ultron Forever #1 – This seems like such a blatent cash grab for the movies, but I will probably still pick it up anyway. I’ve read a lot of great Ultron stories, so while I might regret it, I still am willing to give it a shot.
- Batman (2011-) #40 – Endgame comes to an end…what is the Joker’s story and where does this story leave us moving forward? This has been one of the best Joker stories I’ve ever read and I can’t wait to see what Snyder has in store for us to wrap it up.
Alexander Lucard
- Convergence # 0 – I HATE events. I don’t think there has actually been a good event for the big two since before Avengers Assembled brought us the “darker and gritter than the 90s” era (and this is coming from someone who gets horror and Vertigo comics), but this one actually looks fun. Why? Because unlike all the other events that promises to be a canon-shaking affair where EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE (but actually don’t), this is simply two weeks of weird filler. It gives us a lot of nostlagia mixed in with Warlord and the Infinite Crisis video game format. Granted, I’m buying a lot of the two shots because of the creative team, stories and versions of DC characters I actually LIKED but I don’t need to follow Convergence proper for those to make sense. I am however getting the core mini because ugh…The Warlord, Travis Morgan is supposed to have a supporting/major role and I have to support THAT. Damn you DC.
- G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #212 – Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve had comics pushed back, but I have two in this list. This starts the “Death of Snake Eyes” storyline which should be good, but I can’t see it sticking, even if it is Hama. He’s already brought back Sneak Peak (whose death was major in the original run) and Dr. Mindbender, so here death is no longer permanent.
- Gotham Academy Endgame #1 – Another pushback and I doubt it will actually come out this week either. Hopefully not at all, because Gotham Academy is such a different beast from other Batman series that it doesn’t make sense to include it. They didn’t include Gotham by Midnight in Endgame, I’ve noticed? Why? Because Joker + Spectre = five second battle where Joker dies messily.
- X-O Manowar #35 – Dead Hand! This title is always fantastic. Not much more can be said. Go Valiant.
Oh my aching wallet the next three months…
Chris Weidow
Just two this week:
- Amazing Spider-Man #17. I’m enjoying this short story in between Marvel’s mega events. Spider-Man doing Spider-Man things is always cool, and there was plenty of that in Spider-Verse, but it’s also just as interesting to read about Peter Parker. I like that he’s motivated to do a greater good even when he’s not in costume, which is what we’re seeing with the current story arch. Also, I love when his B-List foes make appearances—last issue we had Iguana and Molten Man. I assume Molten Man will be back this time around, along with one of my all time favorites, The Ghost. On top of that, there’s the nostalgia of getting to see a rare Liz Allen cameo. Props to Dan Slott for mixing in elements of Spidey’s long history, while keeping things fresh, and making this a strong run of Amazing Spider-Man comics.
- Spider-Gwen #3. The first two issues have been decent, and I’ll stick around for at least a little bit longer. Can’t say that I’m all that interested in the drama surrounding Gwen and her girlfriends, but I am digging her world’s version of Frank Castle.
James Fulton
- No Mercy #1 – I’m not sure what this is about, but it’s written by Alex Di Campi, and drawn by Carla Speed McNeil, so I’m excited. Di Campi’s Smoke was excellent, and her Grindhouse books are a lot of fun. McNeil’s Finder is one of the absolute best series I’ve ever read, so anything with her name on it is a guaranteed buy.
- The Dying & The Dead #2 – I enjoyed the first issue of this new Image series by Jonathan Hickman and Ryan Bodenheim, and was disappointed to see it fall behind schedule already, but that’s also just built more anticipation for this issue.
- Cluster #3 – Cluster is a very good science fiction series written by Ed Brisson, who is becoming a favourite writer of mine. Boom! is really stepping up its game this year.
- The Woods #12 – To further my point about Boom!, this title is incredible, and has really been building up in terms of tension and excitement over the last couple of issues. This is a good title for people to check out if they want to read something original.
- Avengers #44 – I can’t escape the fear that Secret Wars is going to diminish all the great work that Jonathan Hickman has been doing with this title and its companion book, but that doesn’t stop me from getting a lot of enjoyment out of the huge sprawling story that is Time Runs Out.
Paul Miranda
- AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #17
- ARKHAM MANOR: ENDGAME
- AVENGERS #43 – How do I love Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? Let Marvel count the ways by offering four books in one week. WOOT! WOOT!! I’ll never let my admiration for the Avengers ebb but I’m extremely anxious to see Hickman end his seventy-seven issue saga. Way too long. I miss the beatdowns and soap opera elements. I’m all for heady stuff but the Incursion can’t come soon enough!! One more ish after this. I’m now ga-ga over the FCBD ALL-NEW ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS primer @_@
- AVENGERS: MILLENNIUM #1 (of 4) – My fix is definitely being addressed. Another of the quartet this week but the bonus is that this is a weekly mini. Hydra is a rising force in the MU. Although there’s an element of time travel to this story, this has a more militaristic feel and I’ll eat it up
- AVENGERS: RAGE of ULTRON – An obvious promo/ad/vehicle for the upcoming cinematic sequel. Remender has been hit-or-miss with UNCANNY AVENGERS in my humble opinion. Given that this is an oversized one-shot in prestigious hardcover, I’m sure it’ll rock. My only beef now is that anything involving Ultron implies time travel. Ugh.
- AVENGERS: ULTRON FOREVER – The first of three one-shots that cross over. Alan Davis takes the helm. I’ve always been appreciate of his art. The disparate line-up is reminiscent of Kurt Busiek’s AVENGERS FOREVER (hence the variation of the title). The female Thor and an adult Danielle Cage as Captain America most definitely put a new spin on things!
- BATMAN & ROBIN ANNUAL #3 – This is the true send-off, the big goodbye, the farewell forever of the current creative team. There’s no doubt whatsoever this grand issue will pack emotion punch coupled with the obligatory action scenes. I’m glad Damian is riding solo but us rabid fans need to see Bruce interact with his prodigy on a regular basis.
- BATMAN ETERNAL #52 (of 52) – See the reveal from last week? Anything is possible in this double-sized offering. Since this happens before “Endgame”, we know Bruce comes out intact as does Gotham and the main cast. The thought-provoking question is: what fate awaits his baby brother??
- CONVERGENCE #0 – Worlds collide, literally!! Timelines are askew. Battles are plentiful. I’m only buying this ‘prologue’ and the first volley. I will be reading at least ten of the forty minis.
- FLASH: SEASON ZERO #7
- GOTHAM ACADEMY: ENDGAME
- KANAN – the LAST PADAWAN #1
- ONCE UPON a TIME: OUT of the PAST
- RETURN of the LIVING DEADPOOL #3 (of 4)
- SPIDER-GWEN #3
- TRUE BELIEVERS: AGE of APOCALYPSE #1
- TRUE BELIEVERS: MARVEL ZOMBIES #1 – An extremely affordable way to familiarize newer readers with modern classics. I certainly fall into that category. These are two series I never ever picked up. At least the initial issues will enlighten me and satisfy my curiosity.
- UNCANNY AVENGERS #3
- UNCANNY INHUMANS #0
- WONDER WOMAN #40 – The penultimate chapter in the reinterpretation of Donna Troy. So far, Donna has been behind the scenes creating an uprising against Diana. I’m looking forward to a more meaty conflict this issue. It’s a shame the annual won’t ship this week as originally planned. I have to wait two whole months before I see the final outcome. *sigh*
