Welcome to What To Look Forward To!
Here is a quick look at some highlights on the shelves this week. Marvel’s Secret Wars continues with a bunch of tie-ins, and I’ve included a list of TPBs I recommend. It’s an Annual month at DC, so let’s take a look at what’s coming out…
Gotham by Midnight Annual 
#1 – Written by Ray Fawkes; Art by Christian Duce; Cover by Juan Ferreyra
- This should be a fine jump-on point for new readers! And when you’re done with this, I recommend you check out the rest of the series. Imagine Gotham Central meets Justice League Dark. Cops fighting Supernatural powers, few things can be better.
Batgirl Annual #3 – Written by Cameron Stewart & Brenden Fletcher; Art and Cover by Bengal
- Batgirl vs. Spyral’s Helena Bertinelli & Dick Grayson! Plus, Batgirl visits Gotham Academy!
Annuals can often be a good place for new readers to get on board, so if you’ve been interested in these other DC titles, I’d recommend checking them out:
- The Flash Annual #4
- Lobo Annual #1
- Deathstroke Annual #1
Sex Criminals 
#11 – Written by Matt Fraction; Art and Regular Cover by Chip Zdarsky; Variant Cover by Bryan Lee O’Malley
- The award winning, critically-acclaimed sex romp returns! Well, not so rompy lately. Last we saw of John and Suzie, they were attempting to share The Quiet with a “coworker” and…something unexpected happened. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, go buy Vol. 1 One Weird Trick and Vol. 2 Two Worlds One Cop right now. Then buy issue #11. Maybe you’ll get one of these fantastic surprises! You’ll thank me. Or don’t, either way…
JLA: Gods And Monsters – Superman #1 – Written by J.M. DeMatteis & Bruce Timm; Art by Moritat; Regular Cover by Gabriel Hardman, Variant Cover by Darwyn Cooke
- Another prequel to the film by the same name, we now see Superman in an entirely new light. This is an Elseworld-type story, with Superman having grown on a farm of poor immigrants, suffering through abuse and injustice. I haven’t seen the film yet, but I’m very much looking forward to it, these prequels, and the 3-issue mini-series starting next month!
Casanova Acedia 
#3 – Written by Matt Fraction; Art and Cover by Fabio Moon; Backup Story Written by Michael Chabon, Art by Gabriel Ba
- I’ve been a fan of Casanova since it moved to Icon Comics in 2011. At that point I had never read anything like it, and this newest series has made me feel the same way. This series serves as a fine jumping-on point for new readers, but I’d recommend picking up issues #1-2 before reading #3. If you enjoy it, I would encourage you to track down the rest of the series, and some pieces of the puzzle that is Quentin Cassaday’s history will fall into place.
Star Wars #7 – Written by Jason Aaron; Art by Simone Bianchi; Regular Cover by John Cassaday, Variant Covers by various
- Guest artist Simone Bianchi joins Jason aaron in this stand-alone issue featuring everyone’s favorite Jedi mentor! If you haven’t been reading Star Wars yet, this would be a good point to jump on, then check out the rest of the series. I’d also recommend Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larocca’s Darth Vader and Mark Waid & Terry & Rachel Dodson’s Princess Leia, whether you’re reading Star Wars or not. But why not get all three? And Lando.
If you’re having a 
dry week trying to find new stories, check out these TPBs soon…
Zero Vols 1-3
Zero Vol 4 Who By Fire (new this week)
Hawkeye Vols 1-3 by Matt Fraction, David Aja, & Annie Wu
Hawkeye Vol 4 Rio Bravo (new this week)
Gotham Central Book One: In The Line Of Duty
Sex Criminals Vol 1 One Weird Trick
Sex Criminals Vol 2 Two Worlds One Cop
100 Bullets Vol 5 The Counterfifth Detective
100 Bullets Vol 6 Six Feet Under The Gun
(see my review of these 100 Bullets issues here)
I recently finished reading the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics, and they are fantastic! They are every bit as good as episodes of the TV show, and they take place directly after the series finale. If you’re a fan of the show and haven’t read these yet, go get them this week. Volume Ten: Smoke And Shadow – Part One is out in September, and it looks to be as epic as the rest. These stories are best read in order, so here’s the checklist…
- Volumes 1-3: The Promise
- Volumes 4-6: The Search
- Volumes 7-9: The Rift
(For more recommendations, see previous “What To Look Forward To” TPB sections, starting from 06/10/15)
SECRET WARS
While I won’t be keeping up with Secret Wars
myself, check out Paul Miranda’s Secret Wars Declassified for all the details and what’s been going on. Here’s a checklist of all the tie-ins coming out this week:
1602 Witch Hunter Angela #2
Age of Apocalypse #2
Age of Ultron vs Marvel Zombies #2
Black Widow #20
Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #3
M.O.D.O.K. Assassin #3
Thors #2
X-Men ’92 #2
What else are you getting? Want more recommendations? Find me on Twitter @4ColorPhil
That’s it for now, happy reading everyone! See you next week.
