Matt Graham
- X-Men Blue #11 – I have to admit that this book started as my favourite of the X-Men relaunch and slides down a rank every issue since Secret Empire. I’m not sure if the problem was Secret Empire’s tie-in issues, but even since last issue brought us back into the series, the pacing of the story is off.
I understand that Jean and Scott bonded as they inevitably would, I get that Hank is manipulated by dark magical forces he chose to remain ignorant of, and the addition of Jimmy as Wolverine is growing on me. It’s just that things seem to happen so sudden, with no narrative weight or emphasis on them until the book chooses to cash them out. I’m still not clear on if I missed an issue elsewhere or if last issue was the “reveal” of the Goblin Queen. It fell flat. Scott being jealous of Jean finding young Wolverine attractive works, but I only recall one scene where she initiated with him and he fell to the wayside after.
This book likes to call attention for things it hasn’t earned, and that is very unlike the Cullen Bunn penned Uncanny X-Men that fueled my interest in this series.
- Retcon #1 – Might be the way Marvel has its remaining hooks in me, but a reboot of a comic book miniseries that has never existed with an all-new, all-different issue sounds alluring. I’m also a fan of fictions that play with “every conspiracy theory you’d heard is true”, and this is billed as the ultimate conspiracy story. Image themselves have thrown around names like David Lynch, Jim Steranko, and Steve Ditko into the press mix, but let’s see how the book stands on its own.
- All-New Wolverine #24
- Generations Captain Marvel and Captain Mar-Vell
- Gwenpool #20
- Hulk #10
- Venomverse #2
- Weapon X #8
- Babyteeth #4
- Wonder Woman #30
- Sheena #1
- Redlands #2
John Babos
14 books and 1 collected edition this week
- Action Comics #987
- Batman the Dark Night The Master Race aka DKR III HC
- Dark Nights: Metal #2
- Detective Comics #964
- Hal Jordan & The GLC #28
- JLA #14
- Mister Miracle #2
- New Super-Man #15
- Ninjak #0
- Red Hood & The Outlaws #14
- Suicide Squad #25
- Supergirl #13
- Superwoman #14
- Teen Titans #12
- Titans #15
James Fulton
Nice-sized week this week.
- Grass Kings #7 – Have I mentioned recently how good this book is? It really is a nice surprise, and having seen some of the original watercolours at Fan Expo, I am now viewing this book as a marvel of technology and artistic reproduction, as well as a great story.
- Mister Miracle #2 – Was I right to be so impressed with the first issue of this series? I expect I was, and so I’m pretty ready to see what Tom King and Mitch Gerads do with their second issue. I believe that this is going to be a major series.
- The Realm #1 – I’m really trying to trade-wait more series, but this new Image title by Seth Peck and Jeremy Haun looks pretty interesting. I’m going to give it a good going-over at the store…
- Secret Empire Omega #1 – Is it actually finally over? The truth is, I’m going to miss Nick Spencer writing Sam Wilson.
Phil Allen
- Action Comics #987 – Finally, the mystery of Mr. Oz begins to unveil. I’ve avoided developing or reading any theories so far, so I really have no idea who it could be.
- Babyteeth #4 – I didn’t really know what to expect from this series, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised how good it is. I only started reading Donny Cates recently, between the Star Trek Next Gen One-Shot and Redneck, so I’m definitely going to start reading more.
- Detective Comics #964 – This has been some of James Tynion IV’s best work.
- Ghost Station Zero #2 – I’m glad this series is back, and the last issue was off to a great start
- Harley Quinn 25th Anniversary Special #1 – I stopped reading the regular series a long time ago, I just couldn’t get behind any of the stories or the creator’s characterization of Harley. But when I saw Paul Dini, Chip Zdarsky, and Joe Quinones were contributing, with a cover by Bruce Timm? I couldn’t pass that up.
- Hellboy and The B.P.R.D. 1955: Occult Intelligence #1 – These ‘50s series have been some of my favorite Hellboy stories lately, so I’m glad they just keep on coming.
- Other issues I’m looking forward to:
- Batgirl & The Birds of Prey #14
- Clue #4
- Curse Words #8
- Dark Nights: Metal #2
- Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corps #28
- Kill or Be Killed #12
- New Super-Man #15
- Star Wars #36
- The Black Monday Murders #7
- The Spirit: The Corpse Masters #4
- Wonder Woman #30
Mike Maillaro
Lots of comics coming out and quite a few I want to talk about.
- RUNAWAYS #1 – So happy to see RUNAWAYS back, especially since it seems to be the original roster. They even seem to be bringing back Gert. I know I complain all the time about death being a revolving door in comics, but I thought Gert was an important piece in making the Runaways successful. I am real curious about what Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka can do with these characters.
- MISTER MIRACLE #2 – I absolutely loved the first issue of Tom King’s MISTER MIRACLE. It definitely kept the reader off balance and not knowing what was coming next. A lot like Tom King’s awesome VISION run.
- DARK NIGHTS METAL #2 – Still not really feeling this event, BUT I was very happy to see Dream in the end of issue 1. Definitely ups the ante as far as I am concerned as a reader. Far more interested in seeing what part he will play than anything else going on here.
- SECRET EMPIRE OMEGA #1 – I am really hoping that Marvel doesn’t just forget about everything that happened in SECRET EMPIRE. Too often Marvel events don’t really deal with the ramifications of the big stories they try to tell. I’m hoping SECRET EMPIRE leaves some bruises on the Marvel universe.
- GENERATIONS CAPTAIN MARVEL AND CAPTAIN MAR-VELL #1 – Most people don’t know this, but I am actually a huge fan of Mar-Vell. I own every issue of his series, including his first appearances in MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #12 and #13. So of the GENERATIONS books, this is probably the one I am most looking forward too.
- NINJAK #0 – I don’t particularly like Valiant’s constant relaunching, but I am curious about NINJA-K which starts soon. It’s in the same vein as DC’s meta/metal ret-con, but I love Ninjak, so I’m willing to see where this goes.
- VENOMVERSE #2 – This event has been far better than I expected it would be. I am curious if it ties into SPIDER-VERSE at all, but the war between the symbiotes and the Poison makes a strong backdrop for this mini-series. Never thought I could be this engaged by a Venom event, but I said the same thing about GwenPool. Marvel is good at surprising me that way.
- Babyteeth #4
- Pestilence #4
- Groo Play Of The Gods #3 (Of 4)
- Action Comics #987
- Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #14
- Detective Comics #964
- Flash #30
- Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #28
- Justice League Of America #14
- New Super-Man #15
- Red Hood And The Outlaws #14
- Scooby Apocalypse #17
- Suicide Squad #25
- Teen Titans #12
- Titans #15
- Wonder Woman #30
- Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files Dog Men #4 (Of 6)
- Will Eisner’s The Spirit The Corpse-Makers #4 (Of 5)
- First Strike #3
- Uncle Scrooge #30
- Curse Words #8
- Mage The Hero Denied #2 (Of 15)
- Youngblood #5
- All-New Wolverine #24
- Amazing Spider-Man #32
- Ben Reilly Scarlet Spider #7
- Deadpool #36
- Defenders #5
- Gwenpool #20
- Hulk #10
- Ms. Marvel #22
- Old Man Logan #28
- Rocket #5
- Secret Warriors #6
- Star Wars #36
- Star Wars Doctor Aphra #12
- Uncanny Avengers #27
- Weapon X #8
