John Babos
13 new books this week.
- Action Comics #972
- Bloodshot USA #4
- Deathstroke #11
- Detective Comics #949
- Doom Patrol #4
- Justice League of America Killer Frost Rebirth #1
- Justice League vs Suicide Squad #6
- Odyssey of the Amazons #1
- Prowler #4
- Suicide Squad #10
- Teen Titans #4
- Thunderbolts #9
- Wonder Woman ’77 meets the Bionic Woman #2
Matt Graham
- Animosity – The Rise #1 – Animosity is one of my favourite titles of 2016, so this one shot is an auto-include. The series follows a world where every animal on the planet suddenly gained human-level intelligence and the ability to speak in an event known as The Wake. And that includes all the stupidity and downsides of society, so this isn’t some holier-than-human tale. Marguerite Bennett teams up with artist Juan Doe to showcase how The Wake went down in San Francisco, featuring a veterinarian we glimpsed in the first issue.
The series has been the best sort of near future sci-fi with excellent pacing and snappy dialogue that carries a human story while hitting topical societal beats, and I hope to see more one shots to showcase Bennett’s world without breaking the flow of the main series.
- The Dregs #1 – I’ll leave you the pitch from Black Mask : A gentrified city. Its homeless population restricted to six square blocks called The Dregs. When people start disappearing, a drug-addled homeless man obsessed with detective fiction becomes addicted to solving the mystery. Equal parts Raymond Chandler and Don Quixote set in a thriving metropolis that literally cannibalizes the homeless, The Dregs is the first homeless meta noir ever made.
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink #6 – This is the final issue of Kimberly’s mini-series by Brenden Fletcher and Kelly Thompson (art by Daniele di Nicuolo). What I liked about this series from the start was that it jumped ahead to when Kim had already given up her life as a Ranger, as seen in later seasons of the show. This was a little jarring at first since the new MMPR comic used an earlier season as a springboard with some changes and retcons, so I’m curious if this will be canon down the line. Way too many variant covers to want, though.
- Doom Patrol #4 – I was teetering on the edge of dropping this, but it managed to hook me for a bit longer when the last issue finally had things happen. I enjoy Gerard Way’s comics, but the pacing on this one has been rough, so I’m torn between waiting for trade or supporting it monthly. It’s just so dense and chaotic without the depth of other DP runs.
- Surgeon X #5 – A dystopian medical political drama about nationalism and social classes wrapped up in a family murder mystery. It’s like it’s made for me.
- Spider-Woman #15 – Dennis Hopeless is one of my favourite writers at Marvel, as he always touches the characters I like and gives them stories worth reading. Spider-Woman is one of my top 5 books at Marvel any week, but this latest arc with Hobgoblin and art by Veronica Fish? Whew.
Mike Maillaro
Pretty indy heavy this week, which is a good thing.
- DIVINITY III: STALINVERSE #2 – Really been enjoying this alternate reality take on the Valiant universe. Russia has taken over the world, and history has been changed. This new Valiant universe has been awesome, and I actually would have loved to see a lot more crossovers and issues to explore this idea a bit more. But what we’ve gotten has been excellent.
- D4VECRACY #1 – D4VE was a fun digital mini-series a few years back from Monkeybrain about a world where robots have inherited the Earth…and end up trying to recreate human society. IDW released it in a print and did a sequel last year. Glad to see they are still putting out D4VE stories, though I am not sure the story needed to be continued. I will still check it out anyway.
- GI JOE #2 – Wasn’t sure if I was going to read this new GI Joe series, especially since it seemed a little too heavily tied into IDW’s REVOLUTION shared universe. And even after reading the first issue, I still felt it was a little too heavily tied into a bigger line of comics, but I did enjoy the issue enough to give the second issue a chance to win me over.
- CIVIL WAR II: THE OATH #1 – Bought the rest of this dull event, so I will get the epilogue too. Not expecting much, though if the oath is “Marvel will never ever do this kind of overblown pointless event again” I would be very happy. Spoilers, that would never happen.
- SPIDER-WOMAN #15 – Issue 14 was a terrific comic with a powerful cliffhanger. Is Porcupine dead or has he turned back to his criminal ways? Either way, it’s going to have a huge impact on Jessica’s life. Always one of Marvel’s stronger series, especially when not dragged into the latest crossover of the week.
- INHUMANS VS X-MEN #3 – This has been a bit one-sided so far with the X-Men outwitting the Inhumans at every turn. Personally, for me, if the X-Men wiped the Inhumans out for good, I would be pretty happy, but that just isn’t going to happen. Expecting the Inhumans to get in some offense this week, or else this will be a real short mini-series…
- Animosity The Rise #1
- Joyride #9
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Pink #6 (Of 6)
- Skybourne #3 (Of 5)
- Spell On Wheels #4 (Of 5)
- Action Comics #972
- Batgirl #7
- Batman Beyond #4
- Blue Beetle #5
- Detective Comics #949
- Doom Patrol #4
- Flash #15
- Future Quest #9
- Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #13
- Justice League Of America Killer Frost Rebirth #1
- Justice League Vs Suicide Squad #6 (Of 6)
- Suicide Squad #10
- Teen Titans #4
- Wonder Woman #15
- Back To The Future Biff To The Future #1
- G.I. JOE A Real American Hero #236
- Star Trek Green Lantern Volume 2 Stranger Worlds #2 (Of 6)
- Reborn #4
- Saga #42
- Disney Darkwing Duck #7
- Avengers #1.MU
- Captain America Steve Rogers #10
- Carnage #16
- Daredevil #16
- Doctor Strange #16
- Extraordinary X-Men #18
- Hulk #2
- Infamous Iron Man #4
- Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur #15
- Prowler #4
- Punisher #8
- Spider-Man Deadpool #1.MU
- Star Wars #27
- Thunderbolts #9
- Totally Awesome Hulk #15
- Letter 44 #29
- Bloodshot U.S.A. #4 (Of 4)
- Savage #3
James Fulton
- Briggs Land #6 – Because, one week after the inauguration, this and The Dregs seem like the most accurate books out there.
- Letter 44 #29 – Charles Soule’s best comic continues, despite the fact that Letter 45 would be a more accurate title now. Two issues ago we were left with a huge cliffhanger, and then the last issue was a flashback issue, so I’ve been waiting for this one for a while now.
- No Mercy #13 – Alex DeCampi’s writing and Carla Speed McNeil’s art has made this one of my favourite comics out there. The plot is all over the place, but each individual page in brilliant.
- Savage #3 – Divinity III has been getting all the attention, but Savage, a mashup of Turok and Ka-Zar has been fantastic.
- Spider-Woman #15 – I cosign my colleagues above; Hopeless’s run on this book has steadily moved from amusing diversion to must-read title.
Phil Allen
- Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77 #1 – It’s about time! It will be interesting to see how they pull off the timeline difference for this one.
- The Comic Book History of Comics #3 – This has been a surprise hit for me, especially the last issue.
- D4VEocracy #1 – I have to admit, I completely forgot this was coming out until a few days ago. I really got into the first two series, so this is a must-get for me.
- Detective Comics #949 – Really looking forward to the Batwoman solo series coming next month, this feels like a bit of a prequel to that.
- Hellboy Winter Special 2017 – I’m always a fan of holiday/season specials, and I’m always looking for new Hellboy!
- Reborn #4 – Another hit from Millar, one of my recent favorites of his. I hadn’t read any Capullo before Batman, so it’s good to see his art again as well.
- Saga #42 – Final issue of the arc!
- Superman / Batman: Saga of the Super Sons – The recent “Super Sons” arc on Superman (World’s Smallest) has me interested in this, plus it fills in more DC history in my collection.
- Other issues I’m looking forward to:
- Action Comics #972
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Vol. 14: North and South, Part 2
- Batgirl #7
- Batman / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #3
- Batman Beyond #4
- Hellblazer #6
- Loose Ends #1
- Odyssey of the Amazons #1
- Shutter #26
- Star Wars #27
- The Flash #15
- Wayward #20
- Wonder Woman #15
