Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Thief of Thieves #1

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d start with Thief of Thieves #1 (Image/Skybound, $2.99). The gang at Skybound gave me an advance PDF of this issue, and I like it so much I want to hold the physical thing in my hands. Shawn Martinbrough really nails this first issue, and Nick Spencer really puts his Marvel work to shame with this story. Next up I’d get my favorite DC Book – Batwoman #6 (DC, $2.99) – and favorite Marvel book – Wolverine and The X-Men #5 ($3.99). I’d finish it all up with Northlanders #48 ($2.99). I’m not the biggest fan of Danijel Zezelj’s work, but I can’t let up now to see my long-running commitment to Northlanders falter at this point.

If I had $30, I’d dig into Richard Corben’s Murky World one-shot (Dark Horse, $3.50). Corben’s one of those “will-buy-no-matter-what” artists for me that Tom Spurgeon recently focused on, and this looks right up my alley. Next up I’d get Secret Avengers #22 (Marvel, $3.99) because Remender’s idea of robot descendents intrigues me, and then Wolverine and The X-Men: Alpha and Omega (Marvel, $3.99). I didn’t know what to expect from the first issue, and after reading it I still don’t know where this series is heading – but I like it so far. Finally, I’d get Haunt #21 (Image, $2.99). The combination of Joe Casey & Nathan Fox is like a secret code to open my wallet.

If I could splurge, I’d take the graphic novel Jinchalo (D+Q, $17.95) by Matthew Forsythe. I loved his previous book Ojingogo, and this looks to continue in that hit parade.

Berlin #18

JK Parkin

There’s a brand new issue of Jason Lutes’ Berlin ($4.95) hitting comic shops this week, which seems like a good way to spend the first third of my $15. According to Drawn & Quarterly, there are only about four issues of this excellent series left, which will give me a great reason to go back and read all the issues again in one sitting. Next on my list would be Thief of Thieves #1 ($2.99), the new Nick Spencer/Shawn Martinbrough/Robert Kirkman joint from Skybound. I’d also grab the new Conan series ($3.50), featuring the work of two of my favs, Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan. How cool is it to see the Demo team reuniting on something like Conan? Their Northlanders story rocked, so I’m looking forward to this. And speaking of which, Northlanders is coming to a close soon, so this is one of the last times I’ll be able to put it on my list here … so I’d spend my last few dollars on issue #48 ($2.99).

Based on the review Brigid gave it a few weeks ago, I’d spend all of my next $15 on Dotter of her Father’s Eyes by Mary and Bryan Talbot ($14.99)

For my splurge item this week, I dunno … The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde ($14.99) looks interesting, and there’s also the Fantastic Four Season One graphic novel that looks nice, but do I really need to spend $25 to yet again see how the FF become the FF? Probably not. No, instead I’d probably go with One Model Nation, by Dandy Warhols lead singer Courtney Taylor and artist Jim Rugg. Although I’m really hesitant to spend $25 on a graphic novel by a singer–Gerard Way notwithstanding, singers trying to write comics doesn’t always end well–the fact that Jim Rugg did the art is a great selling point for me. I missed it the first time it was published by Image, but I’d be willing to check out the new edition by Titan if, indeed, I had some splurge money to spend.

Memorial #3

Graeme McMillan

If I had $15 this week, I’d start with a book I’ve been curious about since its announcement: Conan The Barbarian #1 (Dark Horse, $3.50). I’ve never really been the biggest fan of Robert E. Howard’s fantasy hero, but the idea of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan handling the character gets me very interested indeed. I’d also grab the first issue of the Robert Kirkman/Nick Spencer collaboration Thief of Thieves #1 (Image, $2.99), about which I’ve heard a lot of good things, and Memorial #3 (IDW, $3.99), the latest of this apparently-underrated book that I am completely in love with currently.

If I had $30, I’d also grab Kevin Keller #1 (Archie, $2.99), Batman and Robin #6 (DC, $2.99 and the best of the Batbooks from my point of view; sorry, Scott Snyder and everyone else) and Wolverine and The X-Men #5 (Marvel, $3.99), easily the best X-Book that’s been around since the first Chris Claremont run. It’s all about the creature comforts, sometimes.

When it comes to splurging, though, it’s all about the new takes on old stories: I’d go for Fantastic Four: Season One Premiere HC (Marvel, $24.99), to see how Marvel’s new line pans out; I’m unconvinced by the core concept of “retelling the origins all over again,” but the creative line-ups and OGN format makes me want this to work out for the House of Ideas.

Dotter of Her Fathers Eyes

Brigid Alverson

If I had $15, I’d spend it all on floppies, and I’m skewing young this week. Kevin Keller #1 ($2.99) from Archie is a must, of course. Up till now Kevin has been a bit too good to be true, and I’m hoping Dan Parent will at least get him into some scrapes now that he has his own series. Then I’ll take Princeless #4 ($3.99); I caught up with this series on Graphicly over the weekend because it was getting good buzz, and I like it a lot. The feisty-princess thing isn’t exactly new these days, but the creators get in some clever digs. Adventure Time #1 ($3.99) is another must-have, with the creative combo of Ryan North and artists Braden Lamb and Shelli Paroline. It’s based on some Nick show–yeah, whatever. This team can do no wrong in my book. That leaves just enough for the first issue of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s Conan the Barbarian ($3.50) from Dark Horse, with change left over for some penny candy to munch on while I read.

If I had $30, I would add in Mary and Bryan Talbot’s Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, from Dark Horse. The price looks like a typo: $14.99 for the hardcover? It’s a great story (I have already read it), layering Mary Talbot’s childhood as the daughter of an eminent Joyce scholar with the story of Joyce’s daughters and her own struggles against her family and the mores of the time. Mary’s voice is pitch-perfect, and Talbot’s illustrations really capture the era. I know it’s only February, but I’m already putting this on my top ten list for 2012.

Splurge: There’s no huge $50 collection of vintage comics calling out to me this week, but the regular comics are so good I want more. I would like to see IDW’s Archie Treasury: The Best of Dan DeCarlo ($9.99), and the first volume of Vertical’s GTO: 14 Days in Shonan ($10.95) (the prequel to the classic manga series GTO) are both calling to me. And for some stylish girls’ comics, I’ll take issue 4 of PC Cast’s House of Night ($2.99) just for Joelle Jones’s illustrations, and vol. 6 of The Story of Saiunkoku ($9.99) because it’s an elegantly drawn, charmingly written shoujo manga, and I’m really enjoying reading it.

Jinchalo

Chris Mautner

If I had $15, the new volume of Bakuman is calling out to me. I just finished Vol. 8 and am eager for more breathless treatises on how the manga industry operates. On top of that I’d also grab the latest issue of Berlin, Jason Lutes’ ongoing historical saga. Part of me feels a bit foolish for not trade-waiting on these — I tend to think the story reads better in solid chunks than piecemeal — but I’m such an impatient soul.

If I had $30; I’ll read just about anything Bryan Talbot does, so I’m definitely interested in picking up Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes. I might put it all back, however, and pick up Jinchalo, the latest wordless comic from Matthew Forsythe, a sequel of sorts to his rather charming Ojingogo.

Splurge: Casual Robert Crumb fans might be interested in The Life and death of Fritz the Cat. Jack Kirby fans will definitely be interested in Young Romance, a collection of heartthrob tales from Simon and Kirby (see my review). Myself, I might well go for the fourth volume of Torpedo, Jordi Bernet’s grim and gritty (and blackly humorous) gangster series.

Batwoman #6

Michael May

If I had $15, I’d start with the two, female Bat-heroes, Batgirl #6 ($2.99) and Batwoman #6 ($3.99) and the tangential Bat-heroine, Huntress #5 ($2.99). Rounding out my must-reads is Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #6 ($2.99), but I’d also pick up Demon Knights #6 ($2.99), a comic that stays good enough to keep me interested if not overwhelmingly excited. The pin’s awfully close to the bubble on that one for me, but I’m still on board for now.

If I had $30, I’d add some more expensive comics starting with Conan the Barbarian #1 ($3.50). I switched to trade-waiting Dark Horse’s Conan comics a long time ago, but I’m as curious as everyone else about the Wood/Cloonan team on this. I’m also fascinated enough by Richard Corben’s work to want to try out his fantasy one-shot, Murky World ($3.50). I also have it on good authority (Diamond shipping list be damned) that the delayed Atomic Robo and the Ghost of Station X #5 ($3.50) is also coming out this week, so that’s good news. And finally, I’ve enjoyed the few episodes of Adventure Time I’ve seen, so I’d also like to pick up Adventure Time #1 ($3.99) from Boom!.

My splurge this week is another item that hasn’t been verified by Diamond, but it’s shown up on my LCS’ invoice, so I expect Jason’s Athos in America ($24.99) to be on the shelf tomorrow. Jason’s stuff is always awesome and this sort-of prequel to The Last Musketeer should be no exception.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

John Romita's The Amazing Spider-man: Artist's Edition

Graeme McMillan

Congratulations, Dark Horse: You pretty much own my first $15 for the week, with Dark Horse Presents #8 ($7.99) and Star Wars: Dawn of The Jedi #0 ($3.50) both being my go-to new releases for the week. DHP has the new Brian Wood/Kristian Donaldson series The Massive launching, as well as more Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson and new Skeleton Key by Andi Watson, which is a pretty spectacular line-up, and the new Star Wars book coincides with the latest flare up of my irregular longing to check up on that whole universe’s goings-on. Apparently, I’m keeping it local this week, who knew?

If I had $30, I’d add Action Comics #6 (DC Comics, $3.99) and OMAC #6 (DC Comics, $2.99) to that pile — I’m particularly treasuring the latter before it goes away, although I have to admit that the time-jumping nature of these Action fill-ins has gotten me more excited than I should ‘fess up to — as well as a couple of Ed Brubaker books, Winter Soldier #1 (Marvel, $2.99) and Fatale #2 (Image Comics, $3.50). I wasn’t bowled over by Fatale‘s debut, but it intrigued me enough to want to give it another go, while the noir + super spy sales pitch for the new Marvel series pretty much guarantees my checking the first issue out at the very least.

When it comes to splurging, there is nothing I would buy – were I rich enough — more quickly than IDW’s John Romita Sr. Amazing Spider-Man Artist Edition HC ($100), because … well, it’s classic Romita as the pages originally looked on his drawing board. How anyone can resist that (other than the price point), I don’t know.

Action! Mystery! Thrills!

Chris Mautner

There’s not much I’m interested in at the $15 level this week, so I’ll likely keep it to the issue #63 of The Boys.

If I had $30, I’d put that issue of The Boys back on the shelf and pick up Action! Mystery! Thrills!, a colorful collection of comic book covers from the Golden Age edited by Greg Sadowski. It’s not as insightful as some of Sadowski’s other books like Supermen!, but it’s still a clever pop-candy tour through comics’ yesteryear.

Almost defining the term splurge this week is the Madman 20th Anniversary Monster, a $100 tribute to Mike Allred’s creation featuring new work by folks like Kyle Baker, Peter Milligan, Peter Bagge, Dave Cooper, Dean Haspiel, Paul Pope, Craig Thompson and many more. And a new Madman story from Allred. I doubt in reality I have the cash to justify this sort of purchase, but hey, I’m splurging, right?

Cross Game, Volume 6

Brigid Alverson

If I had $15, all but a penny of it would go to one book, vol. 6 of Cross Game ($14.99). Viz is releasing this baseball/drama series in delicious, double-sized volumes and the sweet story and easy-to-digest artwork make it one of my favorites.

If I had $30, I’d mix it up a bit with a stack of floppies: Ice Age: Iced In ($3.99), a lighthearted, all-ages comic from KaBoom; Sergio Aragones Funnies #7 ($3.50), because someone was just commenting on how funny Aragones is; Terry Moore’s Rachel Rising #5 ($3.99); and with what I have left, I’ll try out Dynamite’s Lone Ranger #2 ($3.99), which looks kind of cool. That’s a little over budget, but maybe I’ll get a deal on one of these.

Usually the splurge category is where I go for thick, colorful books of classic comics, and while that fourth volume of Dark Horse’s Archie Archives is calling out to me, this looks like a Fantagraphics week, with two compilations that span opposite ends of the love spectrum: Young Romance: The Best of Simon & Kirby’s Romance Comics ($29.99), and The Life and Death of Fritz the Cat ($19.99). That’s a whole lotta reading for $50.

Magic: The Gathering #1

Michael May

If I had $15, I’d start with a series I’m following that has a new issue this week, Fear Itself: The Fearless #8 ($2.99) and then I’d add some new things I want to try. I’ve said before that Winter Soldier #1 ($2.99) is the closest thing we’re going to get to a Black Widow series for a while, so — while that’s sad — I’ll take it. I’m also cautiously curious about Image’s nasty-sounding Alpha Girl #1 ($2.99) and Zenescope’s Jurassic Strike Force 5 #1 ($2.99). I don’t have a lot of confidence in Zenescope’s brand, but dino-soldiers from space need looking into.

If I had $30, I’d add some more expensive comics to that pile, starting with Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #4 ($3.99). I’m also looking forward to seeing if IDW can do the same thing with Magic: The Gathering #1 ($3.99) that they did with their Dungeons & Dragons comics (ie make it really good). Then I’d circle back to the Boom rack for Ice Age: Iced In ($3.99) – because my son loves those movies and will love that comic – and check out Dynamite’s John Carter/Gullivar Jones mash-up, Warriors of Mars #1 ($3.99).

If I’m able to splurge, I’m always interested in the new Dark Horse Presents ($7.99), but especially when it has new BPRD and Beasts of Burden stories. And since that’s not a huge splurge, I’d also grab the Xombi collection ($14.99), which coincidentally comes out the same day as Static Shock #6.

The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes and first issues so that we don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Batwoman is still awesome!” every month. And we’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

One cool change this month and for the foreseeable future: I’m joined by Graeme McMillan who’ll also be pointing out his favorites.

Finally, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell us what we missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Abrams Comicarts

The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist – I admit, I tend to run hot and cold on Clowes’ output, but I’m a sucker for coffee-table career retrospectives, so the idea of taking 224 pages to look back at his career to date (with, of course, the traditional little-seen artwork and commentary) seems like a must-look at the very least. [Graeme]

Abstract Studios

Rachel Rising, Volume 1: The Shadow of Death – Terry Moore’s latest series gets its first collection and I love the premise of a woman’s waking up in a shallow grave with no memory of how she got there and needing to figure out who tried to kill to her. [Michael]

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom

Arcana

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom – I don’t know enough about Lovecraft, but man I love me some undersea kingdoms. [Michael]

Archaia

Cow Boy – As much as I don’t want to stick writer Nate Cosby in an all-ages box, I’m eager to read his and Chris Eliopoulos’ story of a kid bounty hunter trying to bring in his family of outlaws. [Michael]

If nothing else, Nate Cosby’s Twitter feed made me curious about checking out his western collaboration with Eliopoulos, but finding out that Roger Langridge and Colleen Coover were also contributing pushed me over the edge. [Graeme]

I’m Not A Plastic Bag – Color me skeptical but hopeful about Rachel Hope Allison’s ecological debut, even if that title makes me a little nervous. [Graeme]

Archie

Archie #631 – Picks up on that story where Archie and Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats hook up. Look, Archie’s going nowhere with either Betty or Veronica, so I’m rooting for the furry. [Michael]

Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 #1 – At first, finding out that this comic was actually by Tony Blake and Alex Saviuk without Lee was a letdown; until I found out that the comic is actually about Stan Lee, which pushes it into the “This will either be horrendous or bizarrely enjoyable” category. [Graeme]

I’m not sure that I’ve ever unreservedly enjoyed a comic that Stan Lee wrote, much less just came up with the idea for, but I love his persona and putting him in the comic with some superheroes is so crazy it just might work. [Michael]

Crossed: Badlands #1

Avatar Press

Crossed: Badlands #1 and 2 – I’m definitely not a horror fan, but the idea of Garth Ennis’ writing an ongoing biweekly series feels like it’s as good a lure to get me to pick this up as anything else. (I think the plan is to have creators alternate on arcs, with Si Spurrier and David Lapham as part of the alternate writers on the book. That’s a pretty impressive line-up.) [Graeme]

Boom!

Exile on the Planet of the Apes #1 – I’m all for another Planet of the Apes comic from Boom!. [Michael]

More Apes by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman (art by Marc Laming)? This can only be a good thing. [Graeme]

Supurbia #1 – I feel like we’ve seen a few of these “what if superheroes and reality shows were mashed together?” series, but here’s the first of four issues of another one written by former Marvel staffer Grace Randolph. [Graeme]

Kitchen Sink Press: The First 25 Years – Remember what I said about being a sucker for coffee table retrospectives above? That goes double for this one, which has the added benefits of being both cheap (only $15!) and having contributions from Alan Moore and other creators from Denis Kitchen’s vast address book. [Graeme]

Dark Horse

BPRD: Hell on Earth – The Pickens County Horror #1 – I’m all for new BPRD comics, but it’s getting more and more difficult to keep track of everything. Still, I’ll buy a Scott Allie Mignolaverse story any day. [Michael]

Abe Sapien, Volume 2: The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories

Abe Sapien, Volume 2: The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories - Abe’s my favorite BPRD character, so I feel like this the way I do the previous item: grateful, but also a little saturated. [Michael]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, Volume 1 – The first ten issues – or two trades, if that’s how your brain works – of the Joss Whedon-led series get an oversized hardcover edition. [Graeme]

Channel Zero – Brian Wood’s breakthrough book comes back into print with this collection of the original series, the Becky Cloonan-illustrated follow-up and material from the awesome Public Domain design book. Jonathan Hickman fans, you should really pick this up. [Graeme]

Manara Erotica, Vol. 1: Click! and Other Stories – Yes, it’s comic porn. But unlike Lost Girls, this is actually sexy comic porn. [Graeme]

Ragemoor #1 – If they hadn’t got me with Richard Corben, they certainly would have with “living castle nurtured on pagan blood.” [Michael]

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Volume 2 – The Promise, Part 2 – Yikes, what a title. I’m still missing Avatar: The Last Airbender though, so this is welcome. [Michael]

Empowered, Volume 7 – Why haven’t I started reading this critical darling yet? I do not know. [Michael]

DC

Batman: Death by Design - Chip Kidd’s writing a Batman book and it’s a real-live, honest-to-goodness superhero adventure. What’s more awesome is that the concept of design plays a large role in the story in the form of a massive reconstruction project in Gotham City. [Michael]

Saucer Country #1

Saucer Country #1 – Paul Cornell + Ryan Kelly + saucer aliens = SOLD. [Michael]

Fairest #1 – Bill Willingham launches a new series about the women of Fables and makes me even less interested in everyone else’s modern updates of fairy tales. [Michael]

New Deadwardians #1 – The solicit opens, “Another vampire/zombie comic? Really, Vertigo?” My sentiments exactly and yet, this one’s illustrated by INJ Culbard whose work I’ve loved on the Sherlock Holmes adaptations he’s done with Ian Edginton. [Michael]

Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child #1 – It would be redundant to mention that the cover to this is both “striking” and “by Rafael Grampá,” so I’ll just mention the concept, which is also eye-catching. It’s the story of a grad student who also happens to be heir to the Voodoo Queenship of the most haunted city in America, and someone is killing off the royal family. Vertigo was created for stuff like this. [Michael]

Dynamite

Bionic Woman #1 – I had the deepest crush on Jaime Sommers as an 11-year-old. My current crush on Paul Tobin’s writing is slightly less deep, but still significant enough to make me want to read this. [Michael]

I’ve been following Dynamite’s Bionic Man series and surprising myself by digging the hell out’ve it; seeing that this spin-off is being written by the insanely-underrated Paul Tobin was all I needed to convince me to read this. [Graeme]

George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1 – For the fantasy fan (or HBO subscriber) in your life, here’s the first quarter of Dynamite’s adaptation of the not-so-cult-anymore novel. [Graeme]

Vampirella: The Red Room #1

Vampirella: The Red Room #1: On the one hand, it’s “monster vs. human cage matches.” On the other, it’s written by Dan Brereton, so it’s probably going to be good fun… [Graeme]

Fantagraphics

Angelman – I’ve not read much by Austrian cartoonist Nicolas Mahler, but I think I’m won over just by the idea of his new book, which satirizes not just superheroes, but the business behind them. [Graeme]

Interiorae – Lovely, lovely art by Gabriella Giandelli in this collection of his Ignatz series. (It’s also in full-color, unlike the original serialization, which is another win.) [Graeme]

I don’t know why it’s taken this long for Fantagraphics to collect the comics that got their cool Ignatz format a few years ago, but I’ll shut up and be grateful. I greatly enjoyed Giandelli’s creepy tale of an apartment building, its residents, the large rabbit who roams its halls, and the creature the rabbit seems to serve. What’s also exciting though is that this means Richard Sala’s Delphine will get a collection too. [Michael]

Humanoids

Monsieur Jean: The Singles Theory – So, so excited for this new book by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian, making its English language debut in this edition. [Graeme]

IDW

Berkeley Breathed’s Outland: The Complete Collection Sunday Comics, 1989-1995 – The star of this collection of Breathed’s Bloom County follow-up isn’t the title strip, but the reprints of his early, college-era work that’ll accompany them. [Graeme]

Funny Stuff

Funny Stuff By Frank Frazetta – It makes me a bad nerd to admit that I don’t think I’ve ever seen Frazetta’s legendary early comics work, so I’m pretty excited for this oversized hardcover collection, especially to see just how much he… homaged other, more famous strips. [Graeme]

Rocketeer Adventures 2 #1 – Featuring work by Stan Sakai, Bill Sienkiewicz, Marc Guggenheim, Peter David, and Sandy Plunkett. Plus covers and pin-ups by Dave Stevens, Darwyn Cooke, and Art Adams. [Michael]

The first series of anthology tributes to Dave Stevens and his retro creation worked so much more than I’d expected, so I’m definitely up for a second go-’round. [Graeme]

Smoke And Mirrors #1: Mike Costa’s been winning me over every month with his Cobra series, so I’m looking forward to this creator-owned book he’s co-writing about a stage magician who gets trapped in a world where magic has taken the place of science. [Graeme]

Star Trek, Volume 1 – Dear all fellow Trekkies/Trekkers/whatever you want to call yourselves: If you liked the original TV show and also the JJ Abrams movie reboot, you owe it to yourself to check out this monthly series, so grab this collection of the first issues and dig in. [Graeme]

Will Eisner’s The Spirit: Artist’s Edition – Of all the IDW “Artists Edition” books to date, this is the one that just feels like a must-have. Eisner’s Spirit pages as they appeared on his drafting table? I cannot wait to see these. [Graeme]

IDW probably explained the “Artist’s Edition” concept before and I just wasn’t paying attention, but I am now and I finally get why it’s cool to have COLOR scans of original-size black-and-white art so you can see blue pencils, art corrections, editorial notes, and stuff like that. Especially for someone as legendary as Will Eisner.  [Michael]

Saga

Image

Saga #1 – New Brian K. Vaughan. Does anything else need to be said? Oh, alright: FIona Staples on art. Seriously, you guys. [Graeme]

I’d buy a Fiona Staple fantasy epic anyway. That Brian K Vaughan is writing it makes me sigh like a Belieber. [Michael]

Hell Yeah #1: There’s something weirdly fitting about reading a series about the generation who’s grown up with super-heroes that’s created by someone like Joe Keatinge, who’s been around in comics for a long time, and Andre Szymanowicz’ art looks good as well… [Graeme]

The Manhattan Projects #1 – Jonathan Hickman returns to indie roots with the true story behind the atomic bomb. Turns out, Oppenheimer created this rocket ship, but forgot to shield it against cosmic rays… [Graeme]

Mad scientists! By Jonathan Hickman! [Michael]

’68, Volume 1: Better Run Through the Jungle – Mark Kidwell, Nat Jones, and Jay Fotos’ Vietnam War/zombie series is collected. [Michael]

The Walking Dead: Cutting Room Floor – I’m very, very curious about this collection of Robert Kirkman’s handwritten notes about the creation of his hit series. It sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? But it could very well be awesome… [Graeme]

Marvel

Avengers Academy #27 – Guest-starring the Runaways, ya’ll! And Bruiser’s totally punching Mettle cross-eyed on the cover. [Michael]

Savage Beauty

Moonstone

Savage Beauty Limited Edition Hardcover – I’m really curious to see how Mike Bullock’s contemporary, political jungle-girl story turns out. [Michael]

Oni

The Coldest City - If Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy taught me anything, it’s that I’m really not done with Cold War spy stories just yet. This one’s set in Berlin, which is even cooler. [Michael]

I’ve already read this one in galley format, and it is really, really good for those who like the spy stuff (Queen and Country fans, it’s written by Antony Johnston, so you know that it’s great; the art by Sam Hart follows Steve Yeowell’s lead from his early Zenith days, and for those who know my love for that series, there are few higher compliments I can offer). [Graeme]

The Secret History of DB Cooper #1 – Beyond “colorful weirdness and conspiracy-laden Americana,” I have no idea what to expect from Brian Churilla’s new series, and that just makes me look forward to it all the more. [Graeme]

I can’t wait to find out once and for all if Mr James is Doobie Keebler. [Michael]

Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures

Red 5

Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures #1 – Eep! An Atomic Robo anthology! Great news for a series whose back-up stories have always been just as entertaining as its lead feature. [Michael]

Atomic Robo returns with an all-new ongoing series?!? Surely this means that Christmas is either not over, or coming early or… well, you know what I mean. Good stuff. [Graeme]

Top Shelf

Blue – I’ve never heard of Pat Grant, the creator of this OGN, but Craig Thompson calls him “the Australian Mark Twain,” which is good enough for me. [Graeme]

Zenescope

The Jungle Book #1: Zenescope get around to “updating” the classic and well-loved story, which is more than likely going to mean adding more cleavage than you would’ve thought appropriate. Welcome to the year 20BOOB, everyone. [Graeme]

And the fact that so many newspapers continue to re-run old strips of Schulz’s so long after his death instead of filling that valuable (to cartoonists) space with something—anything—else is about as eloquent expression of the regard Schulz is held in as anything I could pound out in a few sentences here.

Do note that, when Schulz passed away, no descendant of his or hand-picked assistant/apprentice took over the strip for him—Peanuts not produced by Schulz was apparently judged so wrong it wouldn’t even be attempted, better to just have folks re-read older strips than attempt new ones by someone else.

That was a big part of the reason I was so shocked when Boom Studios announced a new ongoing Peanuts comic book series on their Kaboom kids imprint. They had previously produced an original graphic novel based on a new animated special which itself was pieced together from Schulz strips—last spring’s Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown—but this seemed like something pretty different. It wasn’t a media tie-in or a one-off lark project, it was going to be something rather sustained.

Now, when I say “shocked,” I must admit that I didn’t drop my coffee cup on the kitchen floor, upon which it shattered with a crash. My jaw may have dropped—but only slightly. I did not scream a strangled cry, although I’m pretty sure I thought, “Why?”

As I said, there didn’t seem to be much appetite for a new Peanuts in the newspaper comic strip market, and Fantagraphics has already devoted itself to a remarkable curation and collection process with their Complete Peanuts program, making every Schulz strip ever available in beautifully designed and printed hard covers that look handsome on a shelf and are widely available at libraries. Why make a comic book, featuring new material? Who would have the audacity to publish it, and to tell those stories? And who would it be for? What demand would it meet?

Getting answers to these questions proved remarkably simple: All I had to do was read the first issue.

It’s definitely worth noting that the series is hardly Schulz-free. In addition to bearing his full name above the logo and a drawing of his on the covers, the first issue reprints a few classic Peanuts strips. These are three in number, and each fill-up a whole page, so they are presumably Sunday strips.

The rest of the book is filled with two new stories, one written and penciled by Vicki Scott and the other written by Shane Houghton and drawn by Matt Whitlock. Neither attempts to ape the comic strip format at all, and are in the same style and format of the previous Boom graphic novel.

The panels are big—there are even a few splashes—and the colors are bright. The lay-outs are inventive, and seem to be almost flagrant in their resistance to confining grids, with inset panels of various shapes (square, circle, explosion, light bulb) and implied panels separating action into distinct moments, as in a scene where Charlie Brown sings a song, eleven Charlie Browns all drawn in sequence, standing before bars of music drawn in waves behind him. They are also rather action-packed for Peanuts stories, with a lot of running, yelling, screaming and some chasing—as with Warm Blanket, the comic book reads a lot like a comic book based on a cartoon instead of a comic book based on a comic strip.

This is a distinction that might not mean a whole lot to that many people, but reading it I got the feeling that I was reading a new comic book series based on the Peanuts animated cartoons, not the Peanuts comic strips. Sure, the former is ultimately based on Schulz’s work, but the fact that the comic book had more aesthetically in common with the animation than the strip was comforting. Those were always works of collaboration, after all, whereas the strip was always just Schulz, from increasingly scribbly line to dialogue balloon tail.

Therefore, whereas a new comic strip by anyone other than Schulz would feel wrong, a new comic book in the spirit of the animation? I’m fine with that. Heck, I kind of welcome it.

Those of us who care about such things can quibble over the quality of the endeavor. It’s very much an old-school gag comic, of the sort DC’s Tiny Titans and some of the Archie Comics are the only real practitioners of left. Some of the gags are very short, as in the Schulz reprints, and some are longer, short stories, but they’re gag-oriented ones.

Are they funny, or relevant? They didn’t crack me up or anything, but I thought they were well done, and I could definitely see them appealing to kids. And that, I think, answers the most pressing of my original questions about the comic, the question of why do it at all, and who is it to be for.

It’s probably not for  comic book or strip critics or aficionados—although it’s definitely worth checking out just to see how Boom approached a difficult task—nor is it for people like me who tend to think, think and over-think such things.

It is, however, definitely for those who like Charlie Brown and Snoopy, who are familiar with them from cartoons as much as from the funny pages, and can read.

It is, in short, Peanuts for peanuts. And that’s an audience that can always use more high-quality comics addressed to them.

Prophet #21

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Graeme McMillan

If I had $15 this week, I’d avoid Marvel and DC altogether and go for some more independent offerings. Top of the pile would definitely be Prophet #21 (Image, $2.99), Brandon Graham’s much-anticipated revamp of the Rob Liefeld book from the mid-90s, recreated (with artist Simon Roy) as some kind of Heavy Metal fever dream; I’m a massive fan of Graham’s, and excited to see what he can come up with when he tries to play it (relatively) straight. I’d also grab Dynamite’s Kirby Genesis: Dragonbane #1 ($3.99), another spin-off from the Busiek/Ross/Herbert series this time focusing on the almost Thor-analog warrior, and IDW’s Memorial #2 ($3.99), continuing the urban fantasy series that I enjoyed so much last month. Lastly, I’d grab the cheap relaunch for Antony Johnston’s Wasteland (#33, Oni, $1.00); I’ve really enjoyed this post-apocalyptic world building book for awhile, but this relaunch – which will return the book to a monthly schedule as well as debut new artist Justin Greenwood – looks set to be a good jumping-on point for those who’ve never sampled its charms before.

If I had $30, I’d be likely to put Dragonbane back on the shelf and try out Marvel’s Fear Itself: Journey Into Mystery Premiere HC collection ($19.99) instead. Not having been a fan of Matt Fraction’s Thor, I skipped the first few issues of this and then, by the time I kept hearing great things and realized I actually really enjoy Kieron Gillen’s writing, it was far enough into the run that I knew I’d end up waiting for the collection. Color me cautiously optimistic.

When it comes to splurging, my love of comics from around when I was born rears its ugly head again, and I find myself drawn to Marvel Firsts: 1970s Vol. 1 TP (Marvel, $29.99). This is possibly my favorite era from the House of Ideas, so the idea of an anthology of some of its weirdest hits sounds right up my alley.

Kramers Ergot 8

Chris Mautner

If I had $15, I’d join the crowd and put $3 for that new, Brandon-Graham version of Prophet. I’ve yet to read King City (I know, I know) and I know nothing about the Prophet character, but I like the little bit of Graham’s work I’ve been exposed to so far and I’m curious to see how he handles this type of sci-fi/superhero tale.

If I had $30, I’d put back Prophet, snatch an extra $3 and change from my wife’s piggy bank (shhh, don’t tell her) and nab the eighth volume of Kramers Ergot, the latest edition of the mind- and genre-bending, cutting edge anthology from editor Sammy Harkham (this time published by Picturebox). This one runs a bit counter to past Kramers. It mainly features longer, more direct stories in a smaller, more standard book-size format. Contributors include CF, Gabrielle Bell, Dash Shaw, Frank Santoro, Gary Panter, Chris Cilla and others. Oh and there’s a generous helping of “Oh Wicked Wanda,” Penthouse’s answer to Little Annie Fanny for those who care to remember it.

My splurge this week would probably be Bill Griffith: Lost and Found, an “odds and sodds” collection of work by the Zippy creator, mostly done prior to that strip’s creation. I’m not actually certain what’s included in this book, but a good deal of Griffith’s non-Zippy material is pretty great, even better than the strip in some cases.

Batman #5

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d lead off this week’s haul with my most anticipated book in some time: Prophet #21 (Image, $2.99). I am an immense fan of Brandon Graham’s work, so seeing him segue into writing is interesting… but I also admit to being a fan of Prophet. I remember trying to draw like Dan Panosian did in an early issue of this title. Next up would be Uncanny X-Force #20 (Marvel, $3.99), for Remender, for incoming artist Greg Tocchini, for X-Force, and for the entrance of Captain Britain. Rounding my Marvel haul would be Daredevil #8 (Marvel, $2.99); excited to see guest artist Kano on this. Last up for my $15 haul would be Batman #5 (DC, $2.99); on paper I like Wonder Woman more, but when it comes down to it I’m more enjoying Snyder and Capullo’s story in this. Oh wait, I have some money laying around… Wasteland #33 (Oni, $1) is it for a dollar.

For $30, I’d double back and get Wonder Woman #5 (DC, $2.99); for me, Azzarello’s story seems like a slow burn and I’m hooked in. I’m interested to see how Tony Akins handles filling in given Cliff’s one-of-a-kind art. Next up I’d get a Marvel 3-pack: Avengers #21 (Marvel, $3.99), Avenging Spider-Man #3 (Marvel, $3.99) and Uncanny X-Men #5 ($3.99). Then finally, I’d get my second $1 book of the week, Lord of the Jungle #1 (Dynamite, $1.00). More books should consider going their first issues at $1, especially ones that are lesser known and less likely to be tried.

For my splurge, I’d happy fork over the bills for Steve Canyon HC Vol. 1: 1947-1948 (IDW, $49.99). Milton Caniff is a titan, and being able to read the previous Terry & The Pirates collections and then lead into this, in the original order they were published, is amazing; it’s like being there to see how Caniff developed.

Planet of the Apes #10

Michael May

If I had $15, I’d make it unanimous by also grabbing Prophet #21 ($2.99). Brandon Graham is always interesting, but I’m in it as much for Simon Roy’s art as Graham’s story. I had the pleasure of working with Roy on an extremely short story for Panels for Primates and he’s an awesome artist. Then I’d grab a bunch of superheroine comics that I’m enjoying: Wonder Woman #5 ($2.99), Supergirl #5 ($2.99), Birds of Prey #5 (2.99), and Fear Itself: The Fearless #7 ($2.99) featuring Valkyrie.

If I had $30, I’d quickly add Planet of the Apes #10 ($3.99) to that pile and try to think of new adjectives to convince more people to read it. Speaking of primates, I’d also check out Dynamite’s Tarzan of the Apes adaptation, Lord of the Jungle #1 ($1.00). After that, I want to see what’s up with Danger Girl: Revolver #1 ($3.99). I’ve never read a Danger Girl comic, but it sounds like the kind of thing I’d enjoy. Jumping into IDW’s new mini-series is a cheaper way to try it out than getting one of the collections and catching up. Finally, I’m curious about the reprint of Grant Morrison’s Steed and Mrs. Peel #1 ($3.99) from Boom!. I don’t know much about the TV Avengers, but I dig groovy, ’60s spy adventures.

If I only had a little to splurge with I’d check out Danger Girl: Danger-Sized Treasury Edition ($9.99), but I’m hoping for a nice windfall so I can join Chris A in Steve Canyon, Volume 1: 1947-1948 ($49.99). I’ve read some of those stories from when Checker reprinted them and they’re cool enough that I want them in the nice hardcover.

Ivan Salazar

Ivan Salazar probably isn’t someone a lot of comic fans would know, but those of us on the press side have likely had some sort of interaction with him or gotten some assistance from him over the past few years. I first met him a couple of years ago while he was working for BOOM! Studios, where he worked with Chip Mosher, their former marketing and sales director. Ivan, Chip and the other members of the team worked together on several big initiatives, like press conferences with Stan Lee at the San Diego Comic Con and the BOOM! RV at ComicsPro.

Salazar left BOOM! not long ago and recently got back in touch with me to let me know he was now public relations and marketing manager for Studio 407. I wasn’t very familiar with them, so I asked him a few questions about both his old job and his new one.

JK Parkin: What did you do during your tenure at BOOM!

Ivan Salazar: Oh man what didn’t I do! Well first of all I worked directly with one of the comic book industry’s greatest marketing minds Chip Mosher, formerly the BOOM! Marketing and Sales Director, now head marketing hot shot at ComiXology. Working with Chip meant we got to do a lot of crazy things like hold a press conference with Stan Lee at SDCC 2010. Start up the lit-comix imprint BOOM! Town as well as spearheaded BOOM!’s digital initiative across nearly all digital comic vendors. We made video tours of southern California comic shops, and created a living legacy at the ComicsPRO annual conference with the “BOOM! RV”.

Basically, whenever Chip had a crazy idea I was there to make sure it would get done.

Hybrid

Parkin: What were some of the biggest wins you were involved with at BOOM!, and what were some of the biggest challenges you guys faced?

Salazar: One of the biggest wins would definitely be the Eisner win for Shannon Wheeler’s I Thought You Would Be Funnier. It was the first book out the gate for our lit-comix imprint and Chip and I poured over that book to make sure everything from the art to the editing and design was golden. So when it took the Eisner for Best Humor Publication it was great to see all those long nights in the office pay off.

In all honesty the biggest challenges came from working conventions. In two years I ended up working at least 30 shows across the U.S. and Canada, and that made for a monster of a schedule. Not only did we work the show on a sales end we also made sure we had all our promotions in line; telling people we were at the show, scheduling interviews to promote books and even hanging out after the show to build relationships and just spend time with industry friends that you don’t see otherwise.

This in itself also brought one of the biggest wins. When I first started going to shows and someone came up to the booth I’d spark up the conversation asking if they had heard of any BOOM! titles. This was met more often than not with a “No, not really…” By the time that SDCC 2011 rolled around all the shows I’d go to people would run up to me and tell me how many series from BOOM! they enjoyed. I’d like to think that Marketing played a nice role in hooking that many more fans.

Parkin: What made you decide to leave?

Salazar: That was a pretty hard decision. Working at BOOM! equipped me with so many skills that I didn’t have when I came in. The knowledge and experience that goes into creating comics, not necessarily in a writer/artist sense, but the nuts and bolts of it. What it takes to put a book together, to make sure it’s the best it can be and how to get other people excited about it to make sure it’s a hit. BOOM! taught me a lot about what it means to love comics and how to use that to really connect with others who share that love.

With the knowledge and experience I gained I wanted to take on new challenges and really spread my wings in the comic industry.

Parkin: Why did you decide to join Studio 407?

Night & Fog

Salazar: After talking with the Alex Leung, the managing director of Studio 407 it became clear that Studio 407 was a company to watch. They’re ramping up to launch a library of great titles and all they were missing was someone to steer the marketing. So we were a perfect fit. I’m excited for what’s coming down the pipeline and I can’t wait for what I’ll be able to do to market those books. It’s going to be a helluva great 2012!

Parkin: I didn’t know about Studio 407 before your email about your new position, so maybe you can share some of the company’s background. What are some of the titles they’ve produced?

Salazar: Studio 407 prides itself as being an east meets west comic publisher that doesn’t fear venturing into every kind of genre fiction. In the time that the company’s been around they’ve produced such really excellent titles like: Night & Fog the story a small band of soldiers fighting to survive against their former comrades who have been turned into the ultimate killers by a mysterious virus. As well as Hybrid, a chilling creature-feature about a rescue mission at-sea that that leads to the discovery of a blood-thirsty mutant from the watery deep. And Smuggling Spirits a uniquely illustrated noir/horror epic about a prohibition-era bootlegger turned monster-hunter.

Parkin: What are your goals in the short-term and long-term for your new position?

Salazar: Short term is really just to get people excited about the great new books we have coming out. I wish I could tell you more about about it but we’ll be unveiling them soon enough, and trust me when I say they’re pretty cool!

The long term goal is a bit trickier. In the same way that I’d go to shows and have people want to tell me how much they liked BOOM!, I want to be able to be anywhere and overhear people talk about Studio 407 with that same passion. And I’m excited to make that happen!

Exile on the Planet of the Apes

BOOM! Studios’ March solicitations include several new projects, including a new Planet of the Apes miniseries called Exile on the Planet of the Apes.

Exile is a sequel to the miniseries Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes and will feature the return of the writing team, Corinna Sara Bechko and Gabriel Hardman. Hardman won’t be drawing the second mini, as he is currently busy with Secret Avengers, so the duo will be joined this time by artist Marc Laming.

“We’re thrilled that BOOM! and Fox are giving us this opportunity,” Hardman said on his blog. “The story is a direct sequel featuring Dr. Zaius and characters we introduced in Betrayal. Well, the ones who survive, anyway.”

Other projects due from BOOM! in March include a Hellraiser annual written solely by Clive Barker, an Ice Age one-shot from their kids line, a new superheroes-meets-Real Housewives comics called Supurbia and a retrospective of now-defunct independent publishing house Kitchen Sink Press.

Judge Bao and the Jade Phoenix

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “ Wonder Woman is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Archaia

Judge Bao and the Jade Phoenix - A detective story set in ancient China. Plus: cool name.

Avatar

Dicks #1 – Garth Ennis and John McCrea’s humor makes my top hat explode and my monocle fly off my face, but I remember this being pretty popular back in the day and I imagine that it’s new presentation in color and leading into a new storyline could make it popular again.

Bongo

Ralph Wiggum Comics #1 – This, on the other hand, is exactly my kind of funny. Kind of like 30 Days of Night, I’m astonished no one’s thought of it before. Too bad it’s just a one-shot, but hearing that Sergio Aragones is one of the contributors makes me want to poke myself with my Viking helmet to see if I’m dreaming.

Terror on the Planet of the Apes #1

Boom!

Terror on the Planet of the Apes #1 – Boom continues its domination of the Planet of the Apes by reprinting classic stories from Marvel’s time with the concept. Between Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Boom’s other PotA comics, I’ve been itching to read these stories.

Adventure Time #1 – As much a welcome no-brainer as Ralph Wiggums Comics. Oh, man. Now I want a crossover!

Dark Horse

Conan the Barbarian #1 – Not only does this have Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan; it also features one of my favorite Conan characters, Bêlit the pirate queen.

BPRD Hell on Earth: The Long Death #1 – The Mignola-verse is managing to come out with some kind of first issue or collected volume just about every month now. That’s amazing. In this mini-series, the team returns to the spooky woods from New World.

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #1 – If this had come out fifteen years ago when I was still voraciously devouring all the Star Wars EU history I could get my hands on, I would’ve been dancing like a Twi’lek slave girl over finally getting the story of how the Jedi came to be. It’s one of the few events in Star Wars history that haven’t yet been explored.

Dark Horse Presents #9 – Featuring Tarzan, Lobster Johnson, and the world’s largest pirate ship. Not in the same story, unfortunately, but still pretty cool.

DC Universe Presents #6

DC

DC Universe Presents #6 – The Challengers of the Unknown take over the title with a beautiful, fantastic cover by Ryan Sook.

Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo - This isn’t even out yet and I’m already impatient for Volume 2.

Northlanders, Volume 6: Thor’s Daughter - I’ve been looking forward to finally trying out Northlanders with this volume. Telling the story of the Siege of Paris through the eyes of a Viking woman is a great hook.

Dynamite

Warriors of Mars #1 – Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter stories couldn’t be more different in tone from Edwin Lester Arnold’s goofy Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation, but the similarities in concepts (Southern soldiers transported to Mars where they fall in love with princesses) has had fans and writers making connections between them for decades, including Alan Moore in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Now Dynamite’s taking a turn with Carter’s princess (or her people, anyway) kidnapping Gullivar’s.

First Second

Friends With Boys - I’m all for three things: First Second publications, Faith Erin Hicks comics, and stories about people learning to communicate with people unlike themselves. No, wait: four things. Ghost stories.

The Big Town

Fantagraphics

The Big Town - Charles Schulz’ son wrote this novel (the last in his jazz-age trilogy) about the end of the Roaring Twenties and “the role of business, crime, morality, and love in our lives.” It’s not comics, but it sounds ambitious and transporting.

Humanoids

Celestial Bibendum – New York is now on the Seine and there’s a lonely seal named Diego living in it. That’s weird enough that I’d like to know more.

IDW

Road Rage #1 – You might think that the short story “Trucks” was Stephen King’s ultimate homage to the Richard Matheson novella Duel. After all, “Trucks” was collected in Night Shift and King himself directed the movie adaptation of it, Maximum Overdrive featuring Emilio Estevez, AC/DC, and a giant Green Goblin mask. What you might not know is that King also collaborated with his son Joe Hill on a biker-gang novella called Throttle that’s more directly inspired by Duel (which you probably remember was also adapted to film as Stephen Spielberg’s first feature-length project). IDW is now adapting both Duel and Throttle to comics with this four-issue mini-series.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume 1: Change is Constant – The first issues of the new, ongoing series are collected.

Jack Avarice is the Courier - I love the way IDW released this mini-series: weekly over the course of a single month, then the entire collection the month after that. I’d love to know how it sold for them, but for me as a consumer, that’s a perfect system.

Thief of Thieves

Image

Thief of Thieves #1 – Some new guys named Robert Kirkman and Nick Spencer team up to write one of those crime comics the kids love these days.

Glory #23 – Rob Liefeld’s Extreme relaunch continues to impress me with the talent it’s choosing. In this case, Joe Keatinge (Popgun) and Ross Campbell (Shadoweyes) offer a very different take on the Wonder Woman archetype.

King City - Brandon Graham’s masterwork is finally collected.

Marvel

Winter Soldier #1 – The closest thing we’re going to get to a Black Widow comic right now.

Ka-Zar by Mark Waid and Andy Kubert, Volume 2 - Ka-Zar vs. Thanos. ‘Nuff said.

Metropolitan

Journalism - A collection of short comics by cartoonist/war-reporter Joe Sacco.

Moonstone

The Lone Ranger: Vendetta - The concealed cowpoke and Tonto investigate a serial killer with possible connections to the Ranger’s dead nemesis, Butch Cavendish.

Rohan at the Louvre (French edition)

NBM

Rohan at the Louvre - A newly famous mangaka meddles with a cursed painting deep in the bowels of the famous museum. This will not end well.

Oni

Sixth Gun, Volume 3 – Trade-waiters have reason to whoop it up now that the next installment of the awesome Weird Western is on its way.

Courtney Crumrin, Volume 1: The Night Things Special Edition – The comic that put Ted Naifeh on so many radars gets color and a hardcover.

SLG

Malleus Maleficarum: A Guide to Catching Witches - Everyone’s favorite Inquisitorial treatise on How to Hunt and Torture Pagans, the Homeless, and Other People You Don’t Like is adapted to comics.

Top Shelf

Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland – One of the last projects Pekar worked on before his death is also – according to Alan Moore’s intro – “one of [his] very greatest works.”

That’s it for me. What are you looking forward to?

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Action Comics #4

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d start with Image’s new anthology Thought Bubble Anthology #1 (Image, $2.99). That Becky Cloonan cover is great, and seeing that the book holds new shorts from Andy Diggle, Duncan Fegredo and others is enticing. Next up would be a DC three-pack: Swamp Thing #4 (DC, $2.99), Animal Man #4 (DC, $2.99), Action Comics #4 (DC, $3.99). DC really wins this week when it comes to my wallet, and these three books are becoming the key titles in the New 52.

If I had $30, I’d try out Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson’s Defenders #1 (Marvel, $3.99). While I was nonplussed by their previous collaboration in Uncanny X-Men, I remain high on other segments of their work and hope this one lives up to that potential. Next up would be X-Club #1 (Marvel, $2.99), based solely on this eclectic line-up. The X-Club was one of the few parts of the previously mentioned Fraction run on Uncanny X-Men I enjoyed, and I hope this mini makes them a more viable part of the universe long-term. Next up I’d get iZombie #20 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) for the ongoing adventures of Roberson and Allred and Irredeemable #32. I’m really enjoying what Diego Barreto brings to the book, and Mark Waid continues to deliver.

If I could splurge, I’d get IDW’s collection of Mike Grell’s Shaman’s Tears maxi-series. This was one of the early Image titles, and gave me my first glimpse of Grell’s work and the potential for Image outside the original 7. As the series went on I ended up going back to track down Grell’s earlier work, but Shaman’s Tears holds a special place and I’m anxious to relive it without dusting off my longboxes.

The Eyes of the Cat

Chris Mautner

If I had $15:

A lot of my regular monthly buys are out this week, so my first $15 would be split in some manner between Boys #61 (gross-out humor!), Glamorpuss #22 (Misogyny! Jeff Jones tribute!) and Vol. 8 of Bakuman (paper-thin leads sweat profusely over making manga – but in exciting ways!).

If I had $30:

I’m way behind in the series (I only just got Vol. 9), but Vol. 17 of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack is out this week, so I might get that, but hold off on reading it for awhile.

Splurge:

My splurge pick for the week would likely be one of three books. Firstly there’s Grant Morrison: Combining the World of Contemporary Comics, a new lengthy analysis of the noted writer by Marc Singer, who’s no slouch himself with words. Secondly there’s Vol. 3 of the Art of Herge, a collection of hardcover books featuring stuff George Remi (his real name) did outside of his most famous creation. I have the first volume, and it’s a lot of fun to pour over. Finally there’s Eyes of the Cat, which collects the first collaboration of Moebius and Jodorowsky. Humanoids apparently is only doing a limited run of this $70 book — 750 copies — so get ‘em while they’re hot.

The Defenders #1

Graeme McMillan

It’s been a long time since I’ve bought a single issue of DC’s Hellblazer – I’ve been reading it in trades for awhile – but this week’s Hellblazer Annual #1 (DC, $4.99) seems particular enticing for many reasons, not least of which is the creative team of Peter Milligan and Simon Bisley, 2000AD veterans both and a pairing that’s proven surprisingly well-suited to the title on issues of the regular book. For the remaining amount of my $15 starter, I’ll add the still-great Action Comics #4 (DC, $3.99), including the much-teased Steel solo story back-up strip, and the debut of Marvel’s latest attempt to revive The Defenders (#1, $3.99). For this week’s episode of Wait, Wait, Jeff Lester and I re-read the entire Steve Gerber run on the original incarnation of this title, and it reminded me just how much I really love the idea of the Defenders as a “non-team,” and the characters involved. I’m really hopeful about this book, and really, really praying that it doesn’t break my comic-loving heart.

If I had $30, I’d pick up Image’s Thought Bubble Anthology #1 ($2.99) to see what Andy Diggle, Duncan Fegredo and the like are up to these days, as well as my guilty pleasure from the New 52, OMAC #4 (DC, $2.99); I’m very worried about the future of this title if Keith Giffen really is off the title as artist with #6, but we’ll see what lunacy happens between now and then nonetheless.

In terms of splurging, Vertigo’s Bad Doings, Big Ideas hardcover collection of Bill Willingham’s non-Fables material (DC, $49.99) looks very, very tempting indeed, but if I had suddenly discovered a large amount of disposible income, Marvel’s X-Statix Omnibus ($125.00) would be coming home with me, thankyouverymuch.

Jurassic Strike Force #0

Michael May

If I had $15, I’d start with a couple of $1 comics: Jurassic Strike Force 5 #0 ($0.99) from Zenescope and Boom’s Valen the Outcsast #1 ($1.00). Zenescope doesn’t usually publish my kind of comics, but they’ve got me figured out with a bunch of lightsaber-wielding, mutated dinosaurs who fight an army of other mutated dinosaurs and the alien warlord who created them. The pitch for Valen is Undead Conan, so as long as his eyes aren’t falling out of their sockets and I can’t see his intestines, I’m interested. Next, I’d grab a trio of comics featuring some cool, female heroes. I’m not thrilled by the mediocre story being told in Huntress, but I do like a globe-trotting adventuress and I’m not frustrated enough yet to give up on it. I’ll give #3 ($2.99) a shot. Fear Itself: The Fearless #4 ($2.99) features another international adventure with a butt-kicking woman, but has a much more fun plot. Then there’s Bonnie Lass #4 ($2.99), which is still a funny, unique pirate comic set in an interesting, not-always-that-piratey world. Finally, I’m getting Action Comics #4 ($3.99). I’m still enjoying it, but I’m beginning to question whether I’m enjoying it an extra dollar’s worth over my other comics. This issue and it’s back-up story (as opposed to lame Making Of featurettes) will help determine that.

If I had $30, I’d add X-Club #1 ($2.99). Since Alpha Flight‘s going away, I’ll be back to making due with former AF members like Madison Jeffries appearing in other people’s series. Plus, a mutant science team is just a cool concept. Then I’d get Betrayal on the Planet of the Apes #2 ($3.99) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #1: Raphael ($3.99), two books that would have made the $15 cut if they were priced lower. I’d top off the stack with Voltron #1 ($3.99). I know nothing about Voltron, but it’s about a giant robot, so I’m willing to learn.

My splurge item this week is Girls: The Complete Collection ($49.99). I read some of the last issues in that creepily sexy series and was hooked enough to want to go back and start at the beginning.

Following the announcement of the creators for their new Peanuts ongoing series, BOOM! Studios has announced variant covers for the first four issues available to comics retailers as order incentives. The covers feature Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Snoopy as they first appeared in the comic strip reproduced directly from Charles Schulz’ original panel art.

The first Peanuts miniseries, which BOOM! confirmed will be published as a series of miniseries a la Hellboy, will hit stores in January. Check out the other covers after the jump.

*****

Peanuts #1

BOOM! Studios has announced the creators for their upcoming Peanuts comic book, which will feature both new stories and reprints of strips by creator Charles Schulz.

The ongoing series, which was announced last summer as a part of their KABOOM! kids line, will feature new stories by Vicki Scott (Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown), Paige Braddock (Creative Director at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, Jane’s World, Martian Confederacy), Shane Houghton (Reed Gunther) and Matt Whitlock. Scott and Braddock worked together on a story that appeared in #0 preview issue that was released earlier this month.

This isn’t the first time Charlie Brown and the gang have appeared in comic book form, and it isn’t even the first time they’ve appeared in comics done by someone besides creator Charles Schulz. As detailed on Comicartville.com, the Peanuts characters appeared in numerous comics in the 1950s and 1960s, some of which were reprints of newspaper strips, some new stories by Schulz and some by artists who worked for him.

“I’ve always been under the impression that Charles M. Schulz always drew and directly supervised all aspects of his strip and characters, so this was something of a surprise,” wrote Dr. Michael J. Vassallo on Comicartville.com. “From a variety of sources, I learned that these DELL issues were produced by a crew of artists working for Schulz and who did advertising artwork for him. The main artist was Dale Hale. This information has been confirmed for me by the late comic strip art collector/historian/agent Mark J. Cohen, who was gracious enough to ask Charles M. Schulz over dinner about his contribution to those Dell issues. Mr. Schulz enumerated that he did the very first one himself with Jim Sasseville doing the next few and Dale Hale doing all the rest.”

This first issue of Peanuts ships in January.

Explorer: The Mystery Boxes

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “ Mouse Guard is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Amulet

Explorer: The Mystery Boxes - With the Flight anthologies done, the all-ages version, Flight Explorer has morphed into this. I expect it to be as lovely as its predecessors and especially like the Mystery Box theme.

Archie

Jinx – J Torres and Rick Burchett’s graphic novel aimed at tween girls.

Kevin Keller, Volume 1 and Kevin Keller #1 – Archie collects the first appearances and mini-series of their major, gay character and also launches his ongoing series.

Ardden

Flash Gordon: Vengeance of Ming – The third volume in Ardden’s Flash Gordon series.

Ferals

Avatar

Ferals #1 – David Lapham writes werewolves.

Atmospherics, Color Edition – Warren Ellis and Ken Meyer’s re-mastered and newly painted story about a woman who’s either a disturbed witness to a UFO attack or a heroin-using serial killer.

Bongo

Simpsons Illustrated #1 – Bongo launches a Best Of series collecting material from various Simpsons titles.

Boom!

Steed and Mrs. Peel #1 – Reprinting Grant Morrison and Ian Gibson’s 1990 Eclipse Comics story of the other Avengers.

Peanuts #1 – Kicking off the regular, monthly series with new stories as well as reprints of Schulz’s Sunday strips.

Campfire

Jungle Book - Campfire’s artwork can often be perfunctory, but I like the whimsy of Amit Tayal’s cover for this one.

Cartoon Books

Bone: Quest for the Spark, Book 2 – The second installment in Tom Sniegoski’s series of novels set in Jeff Smith’s world (with illustrations by Smith himself).

Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand

Dark Horse

Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand #1 – Mike Mignola’s pulp hero returns for a five-issue mini-series.

The Monstermen and Other Scary Stories - I love Gary Gianni’s linework anyway, but I especially dug his Corpus Monstrum/Monstermen stories that appeared for a while as back-up features in Hellboy comics. This volume features Gianni’s tuxedo-wearing, medieval knight fighting zombie cowboys, squid pirates, abominable snowmen, and mustachioed skulls.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – War #1 – I’m pretty much done with the Star Wars Expanded Universe, but if you’re not or are curious about it, Dark Horse is billing this as a major jump-on point to the part that covers the ancient period of the Star Wars galaxy.

Compleat Terminal City - All fourteen issues of Dean Motter and Michael Lark’s retro-scifi/noir series.

Mighty Samson: Judgment - Probably as close as we’re going to get to a Thundarr the Barbarian comic.

King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword #1 – This four-issue mini-series adapts Robert E Howard’s first Conan story.

Dark Horse Presents #8 – Features a BPRD eulogy for Hellboy and a new Tarzan story.

DC

Justice League #5 – Looks like the team’s finally together.

Frankenstein vs. OMAC

Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #5 and OMAC #5 – As a faithful reader of Jeff Lemire’s Frankenstein, I”m actually kind of excited that this will give me some motivation to check out OMAC, which I’m hearing good things about.

Xombi - The biggest casualty (for me, anyway) of the New 52 gets its collection.

Drawn and Quarterly

Goliath - The David and Goliath story told from Goliath’s viewpoint through the filter of corporate bureaucracy and presented in a lovely, minimalist style.

Dynamite

The Lone Ranger #1 – I tried Dynamite’s first Lone Ranger series, was disappointed that it wanted to stretch the familiar origin story into a multi-issue arc, and immediately dropped it. Assuming that won’t be the case this time – and noticing that it’s written by Ande Parks, whose writing I’ve enjoyed very much on other things – I’m up for another try.

First Second

Olympians, Volume 4: Hades, Lord of the Dead – The latest in George O’Connor’s wonderfully exciting and insightful review of the the most important characters from Greek mythology. Hades has always been a favorite of mine, so I’m especially looking forward to this one.

Silence of Our Friends - “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Edmund Burke is supposed to have originated that quote, but it was driven home for me by Vicente Amorim’s 2008 film, Good about good Germans who were too afraid of the Nazis to assist their Jewish neighbors in WWII. But even that gave me some comfortable, historical and geographical distance from the people and events it was talking about. I expect that Silence of Our Friends, about the civil rights movement in the ’60s, will hit even closer to home.

The Sincerest Form of Parody

Fantagraphics

The Sincerest Form of Parody: The Best 1950s MAD-Inspired Satirical Comics - I can’t decided if I’m more interested in the historical context of what folks were parodying in the ’50s or just looking at some cool Jack Davis and Kirby art that I’ve never seen before.

Hermes

The Phantom: The Complete Sundays, Volume 1: 1939-1943 – I like daily strips too, but Sunday comics are the best.

Humanoids

Whispers in the Walls – Guillermo del Toro’s co-writer from The Devil’s Backbone goes solo on this tale of horror at a Czechoslovakian children’s hospital in the late ’40s.

IDW

Infestation 2 #1 – Since I’m not a zombie fan, I passed up the first Infestation even while I was loving the idea of connecting all those weird, incongruous universes. This time around it’s Lovecraftian demons, which is not only a more appealing concept to me personally; it also makes a lot of sense from a dimension-crossing standpoint. That something exists tying 30 Days of Night and Dungeons and Dragons together with Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gives me all the joy I’ll ever need.

Danger Girl: The Danger-Sized Treasury Edition - I’ve been wanting to check out Danger Girl for a while now. This collects the first three stories to get me started.

Danger Girl: Revolver

Danger Girl: Revolver #1 – And here’s the new story.

Womanthology: Heroic - The controversial Kickstarter sensation comes to life.

Doctor Who #13 – Occasionally I have to break my rule about only mentioning new series. Josh Fialkov’s taking over Doctor Who for four issues to put the Doctor in 1941 Casablanca is one of those occasions. It starts here.

Steve Canyon, Volume 1: 1947-1948 - I read these stories when Checker published them and was eager for more. Unfortunately, Checker quit, but now Milton Caniff’s globe-trotting pilot is at IDW in a great-looking hardcover.

Image

Fatale #1 – Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ supernatural noir comic has everyone’s mouths watering, including mine. I’d buy it for the “Beauty” cover alone, though the “Beast” one looks cool too.

Prophet #21 – Two of my favorite artists, Brandon Graham and Simon Roy are collaborating on this, with a cover by Marian Churchland. That’s the exact opposite team of whatever I expected from a continuation of a Rob Liefeld book. Seriously: good on Liefeld. I’m also impressed that he’s not just starting the numbering over again with #1. Seems like that would be the obvious thing, especially with the book going in such a new direction, creatively, but it’s because it’s surprising and counter-intuitive that I like it. And it’s not even like he’s cashing in on a milestone issue-number. If my calculations are correct, he’s counting two mini-series (one, ten-issues; the other, nine), a one-shot, and an annual to get to 21. If this is what we can expect from the new Extreme, and apparently it is, my interest is piqued.

Whispers #1 – I find the Luna Brothers interesting enough that a new, supernatural thriller by one of them gets a check-out.

The Intrepids

The Intrepids, Volume 1 - Teens vs mad scientists (and a cyborg bear).

Marvel

Scarlet Spider #1 – The latest spin-off for the Spider-Man franchise.

Amazing Spider-Man #677 and Daredevil #8 – I like a couple of things about this crossover. First, like DC’s Frankenstein/OMAC one, it’s pretty unobtrusive. Second, Mark Waid’s writing both parts of it.

Alpha Flight #8 – SOB! I’ll miss you, Alpha Flight!

Wolverine and X-Men Alpha and Omega #1 – I’d usually feel ungenerous towards a mini-series spin-off of a comic that’s only four issues old, but Brian Wood is writing it and that bears looking into.

X-Men Legacy #260.1 – Christos Gage takes over from Mike Carey. I’m sad to see Carey go, but intrigued to see what Gage has planned. I hear good things about his Avengers Academy.

Daredevil by Mark Waid, Volume 1 - Waid and Paolo Rivera’s critically acclaimed run for trade-waiters.

Moonstone

The Big Book of Kolchak: The Night Stalker – Collects the first seven, long-out-of-print Moonstone Kolchak stories.

Oni

Possessions, Volume 3: Better House Trap - Sadly, it’s only recently that Ray Fawkes’ name has been on my radar. Now that it is, I want to check out his slapstick series about a possessed little girl trying to escape the loving, nurturing environment of the haunted house that traps her.

Wasteland

Wasteland #33 – Oni is celebrating Antony Johnston’s post-apocalyptic series’ going monthly with a $1 kick-off issue. I’ve fallen extremely behind in reading it, but it was one of my favorite comics at the time I decided to trade-wait it.

The Avalon Chronicles, Volume 1: Once in a Blue Moon – I’m a sucker for stories about young people who get transported to magical worlds where they discover things about themselves. Especially ones as nicely drawn as this one.

Papercutz

Monster Mess - Lewis Trondheim’s story of two kids who discover their ability to bring monsters to life (and have them fight each other) just by drawing them.

Putnam

Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian, Volumes 1 and 2 - It’s a cute enough concept, but Michael Rex’s art and Fangbone’s deadly serious expression on the covers are what sells it.

Russ Cochran

Sunday Funnies #1 – This is kind of brilliant. I’ll just let the publisher describe it:  ” A monthly, 32-page, full-size comic section containing historic Sunday pages from as far back as 1895, and including favorites such as Gasoline Alley, Little Nemo, Krazy Kat, and many other classic Sunday pages that you’ve probably never seen before. Each issue … will be a full-size 22″x16″ comic section, containing full page Sunday comics in full color. These pages are coming from the archives of Ohio State University, which, thanks to Bill Blackbeard, has the largest and most comprehensive collection of Sunday comics in existence. The retail price will be $10 and I will be selling subscriptions, 12 monthly issues for $100.” Should go well next to Wednesday Comics collections.

Bettie Page in Danger

SHH

Bettie Page in Danger #1 – Even more brilliant. A fumetti using real Bettie Page photos to tell a story about the pin-up queen’s career fighting zombies, mad scientists, and other naked ladies.

SLG

Sparko – This sounds a little like Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere with the Thames replacing London’s Underground. I don’t mean to make that sound like a bad thing. Coming from SLG and including a murder mystery, goth goblins, and a pickpocket named Belle, I trust that it’s not.

Tor

Girl Genius Omnibus, Volume 1: Agatha Awakens – The Hugo-winning, steampunk webcomic gets the deluxe hardcover treatment.

And that’s it for me. What did I miss?

“Measuring this against the promotions we did for the Stan books with incentive covers, we estimate that at most there will be 40 copies of this book on the market,” Richie said. That’s a very low print run from a company of BOOM!’s size, and, as Richie points out, “It would certainly be the lowest print run item and hardest to find comic for Joe Jusko in a 30 year career that he’s had.”

Now I’m not one who buys comics in the hopes that they’ll be worth something or to seal them in plastic, but I could see that if you were a hardcore Jusko fan this might be something you’d be interested in. It’s also worth noting that the regular comic itself costs a buck, meaning a retailer would have to spend $200 retail (i.e. before their discount with Diamond) to get a copy.

The first issue arrives in December from writer Michael Alan Nelson and artist Matteo Scalera, with regular covers by Liam Sharp, Cary Nord, Alé Garza and Trevor Hairsine. It’s a fantasy book about a warrior king who is killed in battle and resurrected as one of the walking dead — “an outcast with only one purpose: to restore his lost soul!”

Dracula: The Company of Monsters

This past summer BOOM! Studios promoted two of its new ongoing series, Elric and Planet of the Apes, with dedicated websites that included, among other things, brand new content in the form of webcomics. The Elric site had a new 10-page story, while Planet of the Apes had a “prequel” story for the big blockbuster movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

And now BOOM! is launching another microsite that, appropriately enough, brings Dracula: The Company of Monsters back from the dead. BOOM! put a stake in the series with issue #12, but just like the title character it seems you can’t keep it down. In a press release BOOM! said they plan to serialize the print comic first and eventually will post new material. They also plan to include commentary from the series’ creators, which include writers Kurt Busiek and Daryl Gregory, and artists Scott Godlewski and Damian Couceiro. And they have a web store set up so you can go from reading to buying with a click.

It’s an interesting approach for the company, taking a print comic that didn’t work out for them and posting it for free on the web. It’s a model that worked well for Phil and Kaja Foglio’s Girl Genius, which started out in print, then moved to the web and does well in trade collections. And it’s a good test case scenario for the company, as they’ve already got two Dracula trades in print that they can drive people to buy right away after sampling the free webcomic. Added to that, it’s a great series by some talented folks, so I’ll be interested to see how it does.

The Dare Detectives: The Snow Pea Plot

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes, and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “ Life with Archie is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Ape

Richie Rich Gems Winter Special - In addition to their modern-look Richie Rich, Ape has also re-introducied the classic version in both new and reprinted adventures. I missed the solicit for Richie Rich Gems #44 last month (which picked up where the Harvey series left off in 1982), but the series continues with not only the Winter Special, but #45 as well.

Arcana

Dragons vs Dinosaurs - I haven’t had great luck with Arcana’s books in the past, but c’mon. The title alone…

Hero Happy Hour: On the Rocks - This, on the other hand, is no risk at all. I’m a big fan of Dan Taylor and Chris Fason’s superhero bar stories and this is an all-new, 80-page adventure. Not reprints; not even a printed version of the webcomic. It’s all-new and I need it.

Archaia

The Dare Detectives: The Snow Pea Plot Collected Edition – Archaia prepares for their publishing Ben Caldwell’s Dare Detectives: The Kula Kola Caper by re-publishing the first story that was originally put out by Dark Horse.

Andie and the Alien

Archie

Archie #637 – The first installment of the “Archie Meets Kiss” story. Not quite as odd as Archie’s meeting the Punisher, but gettin’ close.

Bliss On Tap

Andie and the Alien - An alternate-history story in which an alien prevented Europeans from colonizing North America and how that affected WWII. That’s a harrowing premise and I’m eager to see how Philip and Brian Phillipson and Alex Niño (the team behind God the Dyslexic Dog) tackle it.

Boom!

Outcast #1 – Undead (but not Zombie) Conan. I can get behind that.

Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas - And my nine-year-old can get behind this. Just realized it’s written by Caleb Monroe too and that bodes well. I really liked his stuff on Hunter’s Fortune.

Dark Horse

The Strain #1 – Pandemic stories are too scary for me and zombies make me yawn, but this might just hit the sweet spot between the two.

Hellboy, Volume 12: The Storm and the Fury – The Death of Hellboy for trade-waiters.

Star Wars: Agent of the Empire – Iron Eclipse #1 – I don’t remember the last time I was interested in a Star Wars comic, but I’ve always supported the notion of using big, popular settings like that and Star Trek for other genres. James Bond in the Star Wars galaxy sounds kind of awesome just so long as it doesn’t turn into the same Empire vs. Rebels story I’ve already seen too many times.

Ningen's Nightmares

Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago, Volume 5 - Wrapping up the reprints of Marvel’s 107-issue Star Wars series. I have fond memories of a lot of those comics and have been waiting to read them all back-to-back.

Dark Horse Presents #7 – Another excellent lineup of talent from Neal Adams and Howard Chaykin to Mike Mignola and Eduardo Barreto.

Empowered: Deluxe Edition - Collecting the first three volumes (and some extra material) of the critically-acclaimed superhero spoof.

Ningen’s Nightmares - A warrior-monk fights bounty hunters, a witch, and her demon-samurai with art that reminds me a little of Mike Oeming’s.

DC

Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes #1 – Grant Morrison continues his popular, pre-New 52 Batman Incorporated story in this one-shot.

Ray #1 – Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Jamal Igle bring out the New 52′s Ray and make him fight giant monsters.

Catwoman, Volume 1 - Collecting the first issues of Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke’s much-loved time with the character.

Resurrection Man, Volume 1 - This was a fantastic series and deserving of a collection. It raises the question though: why isn’t there a New 52 Aztek comic?

Dynamite

Lord of the Jungle #1 – It’s been too damn long since we had a Tarzan comic. I just wish they didn’t feel the need to retell the origin story again.

Romeo and Juliet: The War

Voltron #1 – On the other hand, since I know nothing about Voltron (except that it’s about a giant robot, which is really all I need to know), I can do with a re-telling of the origin story on this one. So, yes, I’m a hypocrite.

1821

Romeo and Juliet: The War - Stan Lee turns my least-favorite Shakespeare play into a sci-fi fantasy with cyborgs and genetically enhanced humans. So torn.

Fantagraphics

Young Romance: The Best of Simon and Kirby’s 1940s – 1950s Romance Comics – Not only am I extremely curious from an historical standpoint, but damn it, sometimes you just wanna read about kissing.

Flannery O’Connor Cartoons - Growing up in the South like I did, Flannery O’Connor’s short stories were required reading. I had no idea she made comics too.

First Second

Mush! Sled Dogs with Issues - Sled dog soap opera! That’s so crazy it just might work.

Hermes

The Phantom: The Complete Series – The King Years – I really can’t seem to get enough Phantom.

The Hero Initiative

Justice League of America 100 Project - Great artists drawing great characters for an even greater cause.

Madman: 20th Anniversary Monster!

Humanoids

Before the Incal: Classic Collection – One of these days I’m going to get around to finally reading Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius’ The Incal and when I do, I’m going to include this prequel.

Muse – Terry Dodson draws the story of a beautiful (it’s Dodson; how could she not be?) governess to a mysterious family.

IDW

Memorial #1 – Magic shops are great settings for stories, but I rarely read one that lives up to my hopes for it. Maybe this one about an amnesiac girl (another favorite concept of mine, Starfire notwithstanding) will do the trick.

Magic: The Gathering #1 – I still get a little angry over the concept of a game where the advantage goes to the person most willing to spend a bunch of money on it (yeah, I’m looking at you too, baseball), but the art on the Magic cards did a great job of suggesting a cohesive world, even if I didn’t understand anything about it as I was playing. I’m hoping that this series can flesh out that suggestion while also telling a good story.

Curious Cases of Sherlock Holmes – I’m a big fan of Gary Reed and Guy Davis’ alternate universe Holmes in Honour Among Punks, so I’m pretty excited by the prospect of Reed’s doing a comics anthology of the “real” Holmes teaming up with and/or fighting Dr. Jekyll, the Phantom of the Opera, Oscar Wilde, and Toulouse Lautrec.

Image

Madman: 20th Anniversary Monster! - Madman’s already cool. He doesn’t need Peter Bagge, Kyle Baker, Peter Milligan, Darwyn  Cooke, Dean Haspiel, Los Bros Hernandez, Erik Larsen, David Mack, Mike Oeming, Paul Pope, Eric Powell, Frank Quitely, Steven T Seagle, Jeff Smith, Craig Thompson, Matt Wagner, and others to make him cooler. But he’s got them anyway.

Polly and the Pirates, Volume 2: Mystery of the Dragonfish

Last Battle - Dan Brereton does the art on this Rome vs barbarians one-shot.

Marvel

Defenders #1 – I wish this had Green She-Hulk in it instead of Red (and also that it had Valkyrie and maybe Hellcat), but it’s still a revival that’s past due.

X-Club #1 – The X-Men’s Science Team was always a cool idea and deserves a shot at its own series, but I’m kind of scratching my head over why Beast isn’t in this. Apparently it’s Second-Guess Marvel Team Lineups day.

Moonstone

Captain Action: The Complete Adventures – Including both Fabian Nicieza and Steven Grant’s runs on the series. Over 400 pages for less than $30. I’ll take that Action. (Sorry.)

NBM

Inner Sanctum – I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a single episode of Inner Sanctum, but I always get a thrill of recognition when I hear the title thanks to Bill Cosby’s name-dropping it in his “Chicken Heart” story. Anyway, if you’re going to do a horror anthology, you could do much, much worse than have it inspired by Inner Sanctum and completely created by Ernie Colón.

Oni

Polly and the Pirates, Volume 2: Mystery of the Dragonfish – Have I only been waiting six years for this? Feels like sixty. Volume 1 was wonderful and I can’t fault Ted Naifeh for only writing this one when he got someone as awesome as Robbi Rodriguez to take his place on the art. The preview pages look amazing.

Spontaneous – The mini-series that combines Spontaneous Human Combustion with conspiracy theory gets its collection.

Th3rd World

The Intrepid Escapegoat – Guys, it’s a paranormal-investigating escape artist who’s a goat. You’re welcome.

Titan

The Complete Flash Gordon Library, Volume 1: On the Planet Mongo – I’m still not sure I understand the difference between this volume and IDW’s (except that IDW’s also includes Alex Raymond’s Jungle Jim comics), but I’m mentioning it just in case there is a difference that I don’t figure out until later. Seriously though: if someone knows, please explain it to me.

That’s it for me. What did I miss?

The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes, and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “ Dark Horse Presents is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Ape

Puss in Boots Movie Prequel – I don’t care for movie prequel comics as a rule, but swashbuckling cats are awesome in any incarnation. As long as these are fresh gags and not just ones warmed up from Shrek, I expect to enjoy this.

Archaia

Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths, Book 1 - I just introduced my son to The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth a couple of weeks ago, so this is great timing. He had the same questions about The Dark Crystal‘s world that I always do, so I’m looking forward to seeing Archaia’s take on answering those. Totally feel like the world’s in good hands with this publisher and these creators.

The Sigh - If Archaia’s snagging Marjane Satrapi’s (Persepolis, Chicken With Plums) new book has been reported already, I missed it. I’m surprised that wasn’t bigger news.

Siegfried, Volume 1 – I’ve been meaning to read P Craig Russell’s Ring of the Nibelung adaptation for years, so I think this might be what pushes me to finally do it. It would be fun to read Russell’s and compare it to this version by Alex Alice.

Bone: One-Volume Color Edition

Boom!

Seven Warriors #1 – Francis Manapul draws this story of seven warrior-women who fight to save the king of 6th-century Libya from the armies of the Persian and Byzantine empires.

Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #1 – I’m absolutely loving Boom’s ongoing Planet of the Apes series, so I expect to also like this mini-series set during the events of the ’68 film and featuring Dr Zaius.

Operation: Iron Cross #1 – Boom’s already got my attention this month, so this WWII spy thriller also stands out.

The first volumes of Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero, Stan Lee’s Starborn, and Stan Lee’s The Traveler - After Graeme’s warm recommendation of Boom’s Stan Lee line, I want to check them out. And at $10 each, these are made for checking.

Peanuts #0 – I’m still curious to know who the creators on this are, but the idea of new Peanuts material is exciting and Boom has a good record for getting this kind of thing right.

Cartoon Books

Bone: The One-Volume 20th Anniversary Slipcased Color Edition - The affordable version I’ve been waiting for. It’s still $150, but that’s money well spent on a book this good-looking.

Dark Horse

House of Night #1 – Ordinarily I wouldn’t be excited by yet another vampire story set at yet another school for supernatural teens. And indeed, I haven’t paid any attention to the series of YA novellas this is based on. It’s Joëlle Jones and Karl Kerschl on the art that sells it.

Uncharted

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Volume 1 – The Promise, Part 1 – Aang’s adventures continue as written by Gene Yang (American Born Chinese).

Brothers of the Spear Archives, Volume 1 - Collecting the back-up stories to Dell’s Tarzan series featuring art by Jesse Marsh and Russ Manning. I haven’t read this stuff, but it’s ’50s jungle adventure, so I imagine that the standard warnings about racist characterizations apply.

Disney Comics and Stories Classic Characters #5: The Phantom Blot – We usually stick to comics in this column, but a Phantom Blot statue warrants an exception.

DC

Uncharted #1 – The treasure-hunting game that most makes me want to buy a PS3 becomes a comic with a Hollow Earth story.

Dynamite

Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1 – Dynamite puts their spin on the universe’s greatest space pulp hero.

EC

EC Archives - I know that EC’s been reprinting archive editions of Weird Science and Two-Fisted Tales for a little while now, but this is the first time I’ve noticed their getting a whole Previews page to themselves to advertise it.  Very eye-catching.

Mr Twee Deedle

Fantagraphics

Mr. Twee Diddle: Raggedy Ann’s Sprightly Cousin – The Forgotten Fantasy Masterpieces of Johnny Gruelle – I almost drowned in the amount of praise Fantagraphics poured on Gruelle’s work in the ad, but simply looking at the cover, it appears to be justified.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 2: The Mad Scientist/Mummies on Parade – Even if I wasn’t already turned on to the awesomeness of Jacques Tardi’s Belle-Époquian heroine, “Mummies on Parade” would be enough to necessitate this purchase.

Athos in America – Jason returns to The Last Musketeer and includes other Jasony stories like “The Brain That Wouldn’t Virginia Woolf.”

Gumby Comics

Gumby’s Spring Specials Collection – I haven’t read these, but if they’re anything like the Gumby Summer Specials by the same creative team (Bob Burden, Steve Purcell, and Art Adams), they’ll be worth having.

IDW

Jack Avarice is The Courier #1-5 – I like the idea of a mini-series told in weekly installments over a month. That sounds cool and exciting, especially when it’s a spy/voodoo action-adventure thriller thingy.

Rocketeer Adventures, Volume 1 - The anthology about everyone’s favorite jetpack-wearing hero by everyone’s favorite creators is finally collected. I say “finally” like it’s been a huge wait only because it’s felt that way.

Hawken

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Micro-Series #1: Raphael - IDW’s determined to get me back into TMNT again. It’s working.

Godzilla: Goliaths and Gangsters – The Monster Island crime story is collected.

Godzilla: Legends #1 – TMNT isn’t the only IDW license getting a series of spotlight issues. In this one: Anguirus vs Destoroyah.

30 Days of Night: Night Again - The Joe Lansdale/Sam Kieth mini-series gets a collection.

Hawken #1 – IDW’s not going to let Oni and Image have all the Western weirdness with The Sixth Gun and Deadlands. And I can’t think of many artists I’d rather see do this kind of story than Tim Truman.

Shaman’s Tears - It’s been more than a decade since I read this story by Mike Grell, but my memory is that it was one of my favorite of Image’s second wave of creator-owned series. The other being Jerry Ordway’s WildStar, in case anyone wants to reprint that.

Image

Guns and Dinos #1 – I’m rooting for the dinos.

Mudman #1 – Paul Grist has a new superhero comic. That’s all fans of Jack Staff need to know.

Giant-Size Elephantmen #1 – I’ve got some catching up to do on Elephantmen and this inexpensive collection (three issues for $6) looks like a good place to jump back in.

Super Dinosaur

Girls: The Complete Collection – I got into the Luna Brothers’ creepy series late and always meant to go back and read the earlier issues, because it was really very good. It was underrated (the title and the abundance of naked women understandably leading many readers to think it was just about gratuitous nudity), but it’s a serious horror story with an unsettling vibe similar to something by Charles Burns.

Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors, Volume 1 – This collection was difficult to wait for, so I’m glad it’s here.

Reed Gunther, Volume 1 – Same with this one.

Super Dinosaur, Volume 1 – And this one too. Especially this one, ’cause I read the first issue and was immediately anxious to read the next. Fantastic, all-ages fun. Image is going to kill my wallet in November, but I’ll be smiling as I bury its poor, leather corpse.

Marvel

Northanger Abby #1 – Jane Austen’s parody of a gothic romance novel is as sensational as any actual gothic romance novel. I love Janet Lee’s work and am looking forward to this adaptation, but there’s a part of me that wishes Marvel had gone for a Haunted Love/House of Secrets vibe with it.

Six Guns #1 and 2 – It’s too soon to say that Western comics have made a comeback, but I’m really excited that we’re seeing so many of them lately. Even modern ones like this. Andy Diggle seems perfect for it too.

Victor Von Doom #1 – Doom’s early days as illustrated by Becky Cloonan. Thank you, Marvel.

Skaar: King of the Savage Land

Skaar: King of the Savage Land – Ka-Zar vs Son of Hulk, dinosaurs, and some giant robots.

Oni

Salt Water Taffy, Volume 5: Caldera’s Revenge, Part 2 – Jack and Benny continue trying to survive ghost ships and evil whale hunters.

Papercutz

The Smurfs, Volume 9: Gargamel and the Smurfs – I recently read one of Papercutz’ Smurf volumes to see what the fuss is about. I never really enjoyed the cartoon as a kid and I stayed far, far away from the movie, but Peyo’s comics are so well-liked that I got curious. And they’re really good. They remind me of what I loved about Casper when I was a kid: fantastic creatures having adventures in a forest fantasy world and occasionally learning some nice lessons about how to get along with other people. I’m looking forward to reading more.

That’s it for me. What are you looking forward to?

Peanuts #0

Their Disney comics may be all but gone — and they will be gone after October — but BOOM! Studios’ kids line, kaboom!, isn’t going away. Joining Snarked!, Wordgirl and the other post-Disney era of kid’s comics from the company will be an ongoing Peanuts series.

The book follows BOOM!’s Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, a graphic novel adaptation of the TV special by the same name. They’ll kick it off with a $1 “zero” issue this November, and the regular series will kick off in January.

“It’s a daunting task to follow in the footsteps of a master,” BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon said in a press release. “But with the team we have assembled and the guidance of the folks at Peanuts Worldwide and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, we’re confident that we’ll be delivering to fans the best Peanuts monthly comic book series anyone could imagine.”

Unfortunately the press release makes no mention of the “team” they have assembled to work on the comic. It does note that these will be new, original stories, rather than reprints of any previous Peanuts material. You can find the release after the jump.

****

August 24th, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA – Happiness is a monthly comic book series, Charlie Brown! PEANUTS debuted at BOOM! Studios’ all-ages imprint KABOOM! this past spring with the first PEANUTS graphic novel HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN. Now, thanks to a recently signed partnership with Peanuts Worldwide, Snoopy and the gang are back in a monthly comic book series kicking off this November with a special #0 — for only a buck —featuring a new original story and supplementary material that will provide a sneak peek at the series launching in January!

“We were honored to publish the first PEANUTS graphic novel HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN this past spring and now we are doubly honored to publish a new PEANUTS monthly comic series,” BOOM! Studios Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ross Richie said. “The team at PEANUTS have entrusted us with these characters and we aim to do everything we can to honor the memory and the characters of Charles Schulz.”

“It’s a daunting task to follow in the footsteps of a master,” BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon said. “But with the team we have assembled and the guidance of the folks at Peanuts Worldwide and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, we’re confident that we’ll be delivering to fans the best PEANUTS monthly comic book series anyone could imagine.”

Launched this past spring, KABOOM! is the brand new name for BOOM! Studios’ three year old all-ages imprint previously known as BOOM Kids! This year has seen KABOOM! launch with the premiere of the PEANUTS graphic novel, followed closely by an all new original series by fan-favorite Roger Langridge entitled SNARKED, and this month will see the release of Scholastic’s WORDGIRL.

Iowa may have their straw poll, but BOOM! Studios is going nationwide with an opportunity to let comics readers make their own choices—by buying comics from BOOM! in their Decision 2012 promotion. It’s a neat little stunt—they have 10 bio-comics about different candidates available for pre-order, and whoever gets the most orders wins the straw poll! The fact that voters will be enriching the coffers of BOOM! Studios is, of course, a small price to pay for democracy.

Being the intrepid reporter that I am, I found the press release raised more questions than it answered, so I fired off some questions to BOOM! marketing director Chip Mosher. Here’s what I found out:

Robot 6: Where did these comics come from? Are they Boom originals or were they published elsewhere? Who are the creators?

Chip: BOOM!’s a pretty collaborative environment. With this, the blame is on me. I’m a big political junkie and have been since I was a kid. I don’t know, I guess it’s a sickness. But anyway, I was reading an article one night and saw all the candidates lined up shoulder-to-shoulder and the idea just popped into my head. I brought the idea to the team, they looked at me like I was joking, then I said, “no, seriously!” And we were off to the races! So yes, these are totally new and original comics! Right now all that we are showing off are the awesome covers Jeffrey Spokes, but we’ll show more stuff down the road.

Robot 6: Did you have a Tim Pawlenty comic that you had to quickly kill?

Chip: (Laughs!) Yes, we did. And if he would have waited a week, I am sure he would have reconsidered dropping out, given that a TIM PAWLENTY #1 comic book was in the offing!

Robot 6: Do you have other comics ready to go if new people jump into the race? Do you know something the rest of us don’t?

Chip: Sarah Palin hasn’t officially put her hat in the ring, but no straw poll is really complete without her. If some serious candidates join, we’re ready and willing to put some more candidates out there. With the Republicans, we limited this to those that made it into the last couple of debates. I would have loved to do other folks like Buddy Roemer, Fred Karger, Gary Johnson and cult favorite Jimmy McMillan — who are all running currently for the Republican nomination — but we had to draw the line somewhere.

Robot 6: Who is keeping track of all this? Did you hire an outside accounting firm?

Chip: (Laughs!) We’ll be keeping track of this internally. It’s all on the shoulders of Phil Barbaro, our Director of Finance!

Robot 6: Why did you decide to go head-to-head with Bluewater in the bio-comics space? How will your comics be different?

Chip: The Decision 2012 line hits a bunch of points of interest for us here at BOOM! Education. Civic duty. Getting new comic readers. We’ve always wanted to do more topical/current events/bio comics, and this just seemed like the right idea at the right time for us. Voting is important. Being educated on the issues and the candidates is important. Using comics as an educational tool is something that doesn’t happen enough. People really take voting in this country for granted. There is a ton of cynicism in this country about voting. You know, I went to Cuba in the mid-90s and I can’t tell you how much you appreciate what you have at home once you go somewhere where people don’t have the right to vote for their leaders, or the freedom to do and say what they want. That was a real eye-opener for me. So if this series gets one person involved in the political process and voting, or gets a child interested in civic discourse, that’s a win for us.

We also see this as a way to get new readers to visit their local comic shops. Now this is a multi-tiered approach, because quote unquote, “New readers don’t have any background in comics” — we’ve found generally “new readers” have absolutely no idea how periodical comics work. By that, I mean that they don’t know there is new product in the stores every week, they don’t understand that most comics serialize stories month-to-month, etc. So by doing the straw poll within the pre-order period, the by-product is that we are also educating customers that they can pre-order their comics. So hopefully some industrious retailers will take that opportunity to get these folks interested in comics in general and get them coming back for more. But that’s pretty insider baseball direct market-y sorta stuff …

We’re totally stoked about the straw poll. No one’s done anything like this. You know, no one company has a monopoly on bio comics. They’ve been around for decades! Every company riffs on each other in the space. IDW did well in 2008 with the Obama/McCain comics, and then Bluewater took that model and went to town. My hat is off to both companies! I think you’ll see with ours that they will have the same BOOM! quality that you get from all our other comics. The spin of doing comic book’s first straw poll makes this something pretty special.

Amazing Spider-Man #666

Publishing | Sales of comic books and graphic novels in July fell 6.17 percent versus July 2010, with dollar sales of comic books sold through Diamond Comic Distributors falling 4.27 percent and graphic novels falling 10.10 percent year-over-year. Unit sales for comics were only down slightly, at .52 percent, which ICv2 points out “indicates that comic book cover prices have in fact declined. The problem is that circulation numbers have not risen enough to make up for the decline in revenue from lower cover prices.” Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man #666, which kicked off the “Spider-Island” event, was the best-selling comic of the month, while League of Extraordinary Gentlemen III Century #2 from Top Shelf topped the graphic novel chart. John Jackson Miller has commentary.

Marvel saw a slight increase in its dollar market share for July when compared to June, while DC’s jumped from 28.03 percent in June to 30.55 percent in July. IDW, the No. 5 publisher in terms of dollar share in June, moved to the No. 3 position in July. The top seven publishers were rounded out by Image, Dark Horse, Dynamite and BOOM! [ICv2]

Darkwing Duck #18

Publishing | BOOM!’s Disney comics officially end in October with the publication of DuckTales #6 and Darkwing Duck #18, for which the solicitation says, “This is it fans, the last Disney single issue from KABOOM! has arrived. It’s the end of an era as we say goodbye to Disney at KABOOM!” [Comics Continuum, via]

Conventions | The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York will hold the 10th annual MoCCA Fest on April 28-29, the same weekend the Stumptown Festival will occur in Portland, Ore. Heidi MacDonald has commentary. [Convention Scene]

Creators | Brian Heater talks to artist Joseph Remnant about illustrating Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland after Pekar passed away last year. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Comics | Robert Stanley Martin has posted the results of the Hooded Utilitarian’s International Best Comics Poll, which were voted on by 211 editors, journalists, academics and retailers (including Robot 6 contributors Sean T. Collins, Chris Mautner and Matt Seneca). Topping the list is Peanuts, followed by Krazy Kat, Calvin and Hobbes, Watchmen and Maus. [The Hooded Utilitarian]

Organizations | Derek McCaw interviews Dr. Mauricio Heilbron, the Hero Initiative’s medical consultant. [Fanboy Planet]

FreakAngels

Webcomics | Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield’s long-running FreakAngels webcomic has reached its conclusion. [Warren Ellis]

Webcomics | Doug TenNapel has brought his webcomic Ratfist to an end after 150 episodes, and he reveals that a print version is in the works. [Ratfist]

Retailers | San Francisco-based toy and comics retailer Neon Monster will close down its brick-and-mortar shop on Aug. 7 and its online store on Aug. 14. [Neon Monster, via Twitter]

Reviews | Cartoon Brew rounds up commentary on BOOM!’s third DuckTales comic book in a post titled “Is This the Worst Disney Comic of All-Time?” Per CB poster Amid: “Panels are flipped and repeated, characters speak to other characters that aren’t even drawn into the comic, backgrounds appear to be drawn by a twelve-year-old in MS Paint, and even the cover is an uninspired swipe of an earlier Daan Jippes cover.” The comic even inspired one fan to write a song about it. [Cartoon Brew]

Manga | The four-woman manga supergroup CLAMP is resuming work on Legal Drug after an eight-year hiatus. The series was published in the U.S. by Tokyopop, and there is no word yet on whether the new volumes will be published here. [Anime News Network]

Comics | Sean Kleefeld shows off some new pieces of original comics art he just picked up. [Kleefeld on Comics]

Fandom | Chad Rouch remembers the day his brother tossed Captain America’s shield out of a moving car. [Orlando Sentinel]

In case you missed it last week — just like they did for their new Elric series, BOOM! Studios has launched a mini-site and webcomic to promote their Planet of the Apes comic book. And in this case, the story also serves as a prequel to the upcoming big blockbuster movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes, due in theaters Aug. 5.

The comic is written by Daryl Gregory, who writes the PotA comic, with art by Damian Couceiro and Tony Parker. Two more installments will be posted each Wednesday over the next two weeks.