Justice League #1

Publishing | Four months in, the DC Comics relaunch seems to be a success. The most recent sales figures show Justice League #1 selling more than 360,000 copies since August, and Batman #1 and Action Comics #1 selling more than 250,000. By contrast, Marvel’s strongest seller was Ultimate Spider-Man #160, which was in the 160,000-copy neighborhood. These figures seem to reflect sales in the direct market only; it would be interesting to see how many digital copies have been sold. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Awards | Nominations are open for this year’s Eagle Awards. [Eagle Awards]

Retailing | San Francisco retailer Brian Hibbs shares the top-selling graphic novels in his store for 2011, by units and by dollars. [Savage Critics]

Retailing | Christopher Butcher looks back on the events of the past year in the comics store he manages, Toronto’s The Beguiling. [The Beguiling blog]

Commentary | Mike Gold explains why the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a terrible idea. [ComicMix]

Comics | Enough with the best-of lists: Ron Richards presents his lovingly compiled list of the worst things in comics in 2011. His No. 1 point stands in stark contrast to The Hollywood Reporter piece: Overall, sales are dropping. [iFanboy]

Gingerbread Girl

Comics | Tom Spurgeon continues his holiday interview series, talking to Rina Piccolo, Steve Bissette, Colleen Coover, Todd DePastino and Robot 6′s own Chris Mautner. [The Comics Reporter]

Comics | The Houston Chronicle covers the arrival of its own local superhero, the Scarlet Spider. [Houston Chronicle]

Publishing | Jim Shooter recounts his time at Broadway Comics, as well as dealings he had with the World Wrestling Federation when Valiant had the rights to produce wrestling comics: “VALIANT, as you may know, was forced into a license to do WWF comics by my corrupt partner Steve Massarsky, who represented both Leisure Concepts International (the WWF’s licensing agency) and VALIANT. Can you say ‘conflict of interest?’ Massarsky made a ton of money personally by making a deal with himself with utter disregard for what made sense for VALIANT, and I was stuck with actually producing WWF comics.” [Jim Shooter]

Creators | Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner profile Legion of Super-Heroes writer and former DC Comics president and publisher Paul Levitz. [Graphic NYC]

Brilliant #1

Creators | This profile of Mark Bagley covers his entry into comics and his collaborations with Brian Michael Bendis on Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble and their own Brilliant. [Creative Loafing]

Creators | Ron Marz reports he raised $500 last month for Toys for Tots by selling signed comics to fans. [Messages from Marz]

Creators | Guest-blogging for Whitney Matheson, Grace Bello interviews Tony Millionaire. [Pop Candy]

Creators | Kurtis Wiebe discusses Green Wake, The Intrepids and his new series Peter Panzerfaust. [The Outhouse]

Craft | Colorist Matt Wilson explains how he went about coloring a page of Wonder Woman #4 that presented some challenges. [SeeEmWhyKay, via Blog@Newsarama]

Commentary | Filmmaker and blogger Becki Burrows interviews Paul Gravett, author of many books on comics and graphic novels, most recently, 1001 Comics to Read Before You Die. [Paul Gravett]

Commentary | David Uzumeri makes the case for why The Flash is “the most visually inventive book of the [DC Comics] relaunch”: “The first hint of this came when DC began promoting the first issue’s title page the promotional rounds, an absolutely gorgeous piece of work that integrated the design sense of the logo into not only the artwork but the actual storytelling. Manapul drew Barry Allen disarming an army of mysterious sci-fi marines in a breathtaking clockwise sequence that was immediately readable despite its complexity, guiding the eye in a circle across a sequence where the Flash basically hands all of these dudes their butts in a series of small panels within the letters of his own name. Then it kept getting better.” [ComicsAlliance]

Commentary | Sean Kleefeld examines the world view of One Piece and wonders if some of the folks at the Occupy protests were there because of Luffy and the Straw Hats. [Kleefeld on Comics]

Review | Rob Clough reads Seth’s The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists. [The Comics Journal]

Justice League America #61

Don’t ask me how I remember this, but it was just about twenty years ago that the first previews of Dan Jurgens’ Justice League began appearing. After five years, the “bwah-ha-ha” era was winding down, and Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis were leaving Justice League America. Giffen was also stepping away from plots and breakdowns for Justice League Europe, with JLE’s scripter Gerard Jones taking over as the book’s only writer; and Brian Augustyn replaced Andy Helfer as both books’ editor.

With a number of the New 52 titles changing creative teams before they’re even a year old, it’s too early to start talking about any long-lived, let alone definitive, runs on a particular book. Still, DC clearly hopes these books will be around for a while, even without the folks who launched ‘em. It got me thinking about past changes of the guard, and how they have followed some well-established interpretations.

* * *

Let’s begin with the Jurgens League, which was a big part of a wider effort to establish the Justice League as a mini-franchise. In the spring of 1992, the League family included JLA and JLE, as well as the oversized anthology Justice League Quarterly. “Breakdowns,” an epic crossover between the two monthly books, left the two teams pretty much disbanded, only to reunite (with some newer, higher-profile members) in the one-shot Justice League Spectacular. Although the overall effect made JLA and JLE less wacky, the changes also tried to give the books more of a high-adventure feel, deliberately trying to evoke the Silver Age team. The covers of JLA #61 and JLE #37 each paid homage to early Justice League of America moments, with JLA’s copying Justice League of America #1 and JLE’s parodying the original team’s origin (from JLofA #9).

Justice League Europe #37

In hindsight, it was part of a cycle which should be familiar to longtime Justice League fans. As a response to the “Detroit League’s” lineup of lesser-knowns, Giffen, DeMatteis, and penciller Kevin Maguire had built Justice League International around veterans from the original team (Batman, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter), familiar characters with no previous League affiliation (Mr. Miracle, Dr. Fate, Captain Marvel), and those newer to the spotlight (Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Guy Gardner, Dr. Light). For years the JLI was successful without the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, or Hal Jordan, mostly because it poked fun at the kind of omnipotent super-team to which they would belong. However, when Jurgens and Jones (and JLE’s new artist Ron Randall) took over, the two Leagues expanded to accommodate exactly those characters. Superman joined Beetle, Booster, Guy, Fire, and Ice in Justice League America, while Power Girl, Flash, Crimson Fox, and Elongated Man welcomed Hal, Aquaman, (eventually) Wonder Woman, and (for the first arc) Batman into Justice League Europe.

Strange as it may sound, this was a big deal at the time. After a few years of post-Crisis On Infinite Earths creative renovations, DC was starting to rediscover the Silver Age. Jurgens’ first villain was Xotar the Weapons Master, not seen since 1960′s Brave and the Bold #29, and his last big storyline involved Doctor Destiny and a twisted version of the Satellite League. Intervening was 1992′s “Death Of Superman” storyline, and since Superman was part of the League, Doomsday got to sideline Booster and put Beetle in a coma. There’s some metatextual hay to be made out of a Silver Age pastiche featuring self-referential post-Crisis characters being decimated by an early-‘90s stunt-plot built around killing one of the world’s most recognizable pop-culture figures, but in the end it was just a big mess. Jurgens’ JLA ended up with Wonder Woman, Guy Gardner, Maxima, the Ray, Black Condor, Agent Liberty, and Bloodwynd, and Jurgens left soon thereafter. When the JL books were reshuffled a year or so later, Gerard Jones was the new writer, and the cycle began anew.

Teen Titans vol. 2 #1

As it happened, Jurgens also ended up taking over the Teen Titans from longtime writer Marv Wolfman. Of course, Wolfman’s association with the Titans went back to the late ‘60s, but he’d really made his mark in 1980, in collaboration with artist George Pérez. Wolfman stayed on New (Teen) Titans for some fifteen years, and by the time Nightwing put the book to bed with issue #130, there didn’t seem to be much more to do with those characters. Accordingly, Jurgens started fresh in Teen Titans #1 (October 1996), with a group of super-powered youngsters sharing a common origin. Leading the group was the Atom, stuck in the body of a 16-year-old following a temporal accident, and helping to mentor them was Mr. Jupiter, a figure from one of the original Titans’ other relaunches. Jurgens’ Titans lasted two years, although issue #12 featured the originals in the start of a four-part storyline and Captain Marvel Jr. joined around issue #17. The book ended with issue #24, but the original Titans reunited in 1998′s JLA/Titans miniseries, and one of Jurgens’ characters (Argent) joined the subsequent Titans title. Argent even appeared in the seminal JLA storyline “Rock Of Ages,” albeit as one of the last superheroes standing after Darkseid’s global conquest. With the Titans’ New-52 history uncertain, who knows when they might pop up; but for the most part, they made it through the past few crossovers relatively unscathed. However, DC hasn’t tried a completely-new Titans book since then (not counting the recent all-villains Titans, that is), and I would say the feature is subject to the same ebb and flow of big-name characters as Justice League is.

Speaking of ex-Titans, The Flash vol. 2 was lucky enough to have only a handful of writers during its twenty-year run. Mark Waid spent some six-and-a-half years writing (or co-writing with Brian Augustyn) Wally West’s adventures, most notably letting Wally come to grips with his place in the Flash legacy. Waid also gave Wally a distinctive, matter-of-fact voice appropriate to a character who’d spent most of his life with super-speed. Accordingly, when Geoff Johns took over Flash, he inherited a well-adjusted protagonist and didn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken. Instead, Johns focused on Wally’s surroundings: breathing life into the blue-collar, hockey-loving Keystone City; offering new perspectives via detectives Chyre and Morillo; and famously focusing on the Flash’s Rogues’ Gallery. Johns stayed on Flash for five years, effectively wrapping it up in time for an Infinite Crisis-related relaunch.

So, can we draw some conclusions from these three disparate examples? I doubt there are any hard-and-fast rules, but I do have some observations. First, despite writing and drawing both, Dan Jurgens was asked to do two different things on Justice League America and Teen Titans. Essentially, JLA picked up where Giffen and DeMatteis left it, except that a) Jurgens tried to fold it into the Superman titles and b) Jurgens wasn’t nearly as funny. (His recent Booster Gold work was a lot better by comparison.) Conversely, Teen Titans was supposed to be something new (if grounded in the familiar DC universe) and turned into something pretty familiar when the new stuff failed to catch on. By contrast, the new stuff in Johns’ Flash was mostly new perspectives on familiar elements, like Keystone City and the Rogues.

We tend to forget it because Gail Simone was associated with the characters for so long, but Chuck Dixon was the original Birds Of Prey writer, guiding Black Canary and Oracle through various one-shots and miniseries before writing the first forty-six issues of the original ongoing series. (Terry Moore and Gilbert Hernandez each wrote a few issues in between Dixon and Simone.) Dixon’s BOP was a distaff version of his other DC work, which at the time included Nightwing, Robin, and Green Arrow. It was hard-nosed, no-nonsense storytelling; and although there were some relationship issues, the series was more action-oriented. Today, naturally, we remember Simone’s BOP for its characters: Babs, Dinah, Helena, Zinda, Charlie, et al. Again, like Johns, Simone took what Dixon left and gave it her own perspective. (I try not to sound like Paula Abdul, but there it is.) Simone ended up writing more issues of Birds Of Prey than Dixon did, and now she surely comes to mind more readily than he does. Still, the fundamentals of the feature didn’t change all that much.

Doctor Fate #25

Of course, other titles underwent more radical changes. When J.M. DeMatteis and Shawn McManus left Dr. Fate after two years, writer William Messner-Loebs and artists Vince Giaranno and Peter Gross changed casts almost completely. Stay with me, because this can get complicated: Dr. Fate was originally Kent Nelson, bearer of a mystic helmet which housed Nabu, an omnipotent Lord of Order. By the time DeMatteis and McManus launched their series, Nelson had died and Nabu was inhabiting his body, and Fate was a guy named Eric Strauss (magically aged to adulthood) and occasionally also Eric’s stepmother Linda. However, thanks to a series of events much too complicated to be summarized, the protagonists for Moore and Gross’s run were Inza Nelson (Kent’s wife) and Kent himself, back from limbo (or someplace effectively similar), with Kent’s original body now the home to a Lord of Chaos named Shat-Ru. Thus, different faces on comparable roles. Both DeMatteis and Messner-Loebs used Dr. Fate to explore broad philosophical questions, although each writer went in a different direction. Where DeMatteis was more concerned with larger issues of creation, destruction, and significance, Messner-Loebs had Inza transform her neighborhood for the better, literally removing evil impulses from her neighbors and behaving like a benevolent deity. It was an engaging run, although it only lasted a little over a year before the book was cancelled.

J.M. DeMatteis got another crack at a nigh-omnipotent superhero when he wrote Hal Jordan as The Spectre. Previous writer John Ostrander cast the Spectre as the embodiment of God’s wrath, but DeMatteis gave him a mission of redemption. DeMatteis’ Spectre series (drawn first by Ryan Sook and then by Norm Breyfogle) lasted a little over two years, and with Hal’s subsequent return as Green Lantern, may end up merely as a forgotten footnote to his backstory.

And speaking of footnotes, I felt compelled to hunt down every issue of Who’s Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes just to understand the references in early issues of the “Five-Years Later” version. Following Paul Levitz’s departure, writers Tom and Mary Bierbaum and artist/plotter Keith Giffen relaunched Legion of Super-Heroes in the fall of 1989, but set it in a universe five years removed from the glittering utopia Legion readers had come to love. (Not being a regular Legion reader, I thought this would be a good jumping-on point, but I ended up jumping into a fast-moving stream without a float.) Ironically, while this version of the Legion was grounded firmly in existing continuity, a big chunk of that continuity had been rewritten to accommodate post-Crisis changes to Superman. Even so, the 5YL Legion survived for five years (appropriately enough), until Zero Hour provided the opportunity for a more complete housecleaning.

Firestorm #56, John Ostrander's first issue

Finally, there’s Firestorm, co-created by Gerry Conway in the mid-‘70s and guided largely by Conway for the next ten years. Firestorm, the fusion of student Ronnie Raymond and scientist Martin Stein, first had his own book, which lasted five issues before being cancelled. Because Conway also wrote Justice League of America, he soon brought Firestorm into the League and wrote the character’s contemporaneous backup series in Flash. Not surprisingly, when the ongoing Fury Of Firestorm debuted in 1982, Conway wrote its first fifty-three issues. Essentially, Firestorm was Conway’s baby until John Ostrander came along — and one of the first things Ostrander did was give Martin Stein cancer. That kicked off a whole slew of twists and turns and brought in a raft of new characters. It took both Ronnie and the Professor out of the picture for long stretches, leaving behind an affectless Firestorm who struggled to find his proper function. In fact, the Ostrander run delved deep into the mechanics of the character, laying the groundwork for how he’s perceived today. Ostrander’s Firestorm (drawn by Joe Brozowski, then Tom Grindberg, then Tom Mandrake) was a sweeping saga of hope, survival, and ultimately, transcendence, which took the character from relatively-mundane superheroics to Swamp Thing-style levels of cosmic responsibility. Firestorm was cancelled with issue #100, so Ostrander was on the book a little less than four years, but that was more than enough time to alter the character irrevocably. (It also made the character somewhat unrecognizable, but subsequent appearances got around that.) The Jason Rusch Firestorm revamp built on many of these ideas, and the current Fury Of Firestorms seems to be playing with them as well.

* * *

Naturally, all of these examples would be more appropriate if we were still playing by all the old rules. (It feels more than a little strange to talk about “the old days” and mean “August,” but that’s about where the New-52 has left us.) There aren’t too many New-52 books with long-established creative teams. Geoff Johns has been writing Green Lantern for about seven years now, Paul Levitz has been back with the Legion for a while, and despite the book’s considerable hiatus I guess you could say there’s only been one set of writers on Resurrection Man. For all intents and purposes, we’re probably in the post-Grant Morrison era of Bat-books as well.

Otherwise, though, I don’t feel comfortable pointing to any given New-52 book and predicting a lengthy tenure for its current creative team. That said, I don’t think any of the Bat-writers are going anywhere, Morrison probably has a good bit to say about Superman in Action Comics, and Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire seem settled-in for the long haul on Swamp Thing and Animal Man. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the New-52 titles got a good couple of years out of their current creative teams — but I wouldn’t be surprised either if the superhero line looked significantly different two years from now. Maybe it’s because we’re only on the first week of Month 4, but the whole thing has a weird sense of impermanence, like it’s just a more normal version of Flashpoint’s altered reality.

Maybe that’s by design: for good or ill, these folks are telling the stories they want to tell, and when they’re done, they’re done — whether that takes six months, one year, or five years. That’s not a bad way to go. It’s basically what happened with Sandman, Hitman, and Starman, each of which is remembered for its singular vision.

However, not every book has that luxury. I wouldn’t want to be the writer following Geoff Johns on Green Lantern. I suppose the examples above are meant for that person, and I guess one of the big takeaways has to do with a book’s fundamentals. If those fundamentals are maintained, and you can offer readers some new insights into familiar elements, you’re probably set for a decent run. That sounds pretty basic, but these days, there’s more freedom to redefine those fundamentals and/or play with readers’ expectations — and that’s assuming the reader has some expectations. In that respect, Dan Jurgens had it easy on JLA: just add Superman to Giffen and DeMatteis’ comedic cast, and let the reactions write themselves.

Today, though, DC is presenting the New 52 largely on its own merits. Readers may have expectations about Justice League, Superman, or Batman, but they’re not necessarily comparing Duane Swierczynski’s work on Birds Of Prey to Gail Simone’s. Indeed, the New-52 isn’t old enough to encourage such comparisons. Rather, if I’m being charitable, the superhero line is still finding itself in these early months, and DC is figuring out what kinds of readers its New-52 books are attracting. We’ll see in a few years whether they’ve settled down with particular creative teams, and then we can apply these examples more accurately.

Because a Crisis On Infinite Earths homage would have been too predictable

At first I wasn’t especially excited about too much in DC’s February solicitations. However, the more I looked around, the more optimistic I became. Six months into the New 52, some connections are starting to gel, and their interactions (well, as far as what you can glean from the ad copy) seem more organic. As always, there were a few pleasant surprises in the collected editions, and some details from which to spin hopeful speculation.

But enough with the purple prose — let’s hit the books!

TO UNLIMITED AND BEYOND

The gee-whizziest news of the February solicitations has to be the digital-first format of Batman Beyond Unlimited. I have not been the quickest to adapt to digitally-conveyed comics, mostly because my personal technology level hasn’t caught up. However, I do read a number of webcomics, as well as newspaper strips online, and if the price were right, I’d gladly sample BBU’s features on my computer before picking up the print version. Having Dustin Nguyen and (yay!) Norm Breyfogle involved doesn’t hurt either.

FAMILY AFFAIRS

I like the Legion pretty well, but surely I am not the only one who gets hives reading about the “suspiciously different versions” coming soon to Action Comics. Weren’t we past that…?

Nevertheless, there is a nice sense of connectivity in February’s Super-family titles. Although I am not tired of Springsteen Supes by any means, the thought of Krypto-Armor Superman trying to save his younger self from the Anti-Superman Army (again, with the Legions’ help) is a pleasingly retro idea, even if it does echo that one issue of All Star Superman. Likewise, Supergirl showing up in Superman and Superboy, and the Maid of Might having to cope with the effects of blue-sun radiation, all help bring our favorite Kryptonians together. In particular, I thought this week’s Supergirl used Superman effectively to explain not only his mission, but her relationship to it.

Similarly, February’s issues of Voodoo, Stormwatch, and Grifter will try to (re-)establish a little WildStorm corner of DC’s superhero line — which then, I presume, can reach out to more recognizably-DC books like Suicide Squad. I’m actually reading Stormwatch and Grifter, and I liked Sami Basri’s work on Voodoo, but I’m still not sure this will get me to pick up the latter regularly. The first issue didn’t do much for me, and subsequent solicits haven’t changed that.

THE DEEP BENCH

Bleeding Cool had a good rundown of creative-team changes in the February solicitations, so I will note only a few of them. I’ll miss Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan on Justice League International, but I’m eager to see Nicola Scott and Trevor Scott finishing George Pérez’s Superman breakdowns, and Chris Sprouse and Karl Story should be good as always on Legion of Super-Heroes. Also, it’s not really a creative-team shift, but February’s Batwoman #6 marks the debut of Amy Reeder and Richard Friend in the rotation as regular art team; and Sam Kieth draws a sequence in THUNDER Agents #4.

CALLBACKS

Under different circumstances, I’d hope that the invitation to “[l]earn the origins of Central and Keystone City” in The Flash #6 would be a reference to “Flash Of Two Worlds.” However, with (apparently) no superheroic Golden Age in the New-52′s history, there would be no Golden Age Flash to reintroduce. Otherwise, I’m not sure the Flash especially needs a “character-in-its-own-right” setting like Gotham or Metropolis. Central City is nice, I’m sure, but as long as its topography is conducive to super-speed action, it doesn’t have to do much more.

Almost a year ago, posting about The Atlantis Chronicles, I wondered if Geoff Johns’ Aquaman work would compel DC to reprint Peter David and Esteban Maroto’s excellent 1990 miniseries. Since the solicit for Aquaman #6 now links the continent’s sinking to Mera’s past, I am less confident about such a reprint.

The mention of Pozhar, in the solicit for Firestorm #6, gives me hope that DC will reprint much of John Ostrander’s late-‘80s run on the book’s predecessor. Ostrander introduced Pozhar (and other assorted Soviet-era characters), but they then faded into deep obscurity. It’d be nice to have a Showcase Presents John Ostrander’s Russian Firestorm to get re-acquainted.

I’m not so sure the giant bat of All-Star Western #6 is the same giant bat which figured so prominently in Bruce Wayne’s return to the Bat-books last year. Jonah Hex isn’t a pushover, but I doubt he could permanently put down a nigh-immortal critter created by Darkseid. Still, I suppose this is why we have All-Star Western and not a relaunched Jonah Hex — to give Jonah the flexibility to wrassle with fantastic monsters.

CHECKING IN

While I have not read any issues of Captain Atom past the first, I remain a bit curious about its place in the New 52. Accordingly, I’m guessing — based on nothing concrete beyond the solicitation — that the “strangely similar” threat and the “ending you’ll never see coming” have something to do with his counterpart(s) across DC’s Multiverse.

I have also not returned to Deathstroke after issue #1, but it looks like the solicit for #6 will touch on Slade’s ex-wife and late son, whose stories were told in the pages of the Wolfman/Pérez Teen Titans. Adeline should be pretty much the same: an Army officer assigned to shepherd young Slade through his training, the two fell in love, even without watching the Captain America movie. However, it’ll be instructive to see how the inevitable revisions to Grant’s Ravager origin affect Slade’s motivations. Grant first appeared in November 1980′s New Teen Titans #1, as a selfish creep whose life was ruined (collaterally, of course) by the embryonic team’s fight with Gordanian slavers. Accordingly, in #2, when Deathstroke turned down The HIVE’s contract to kill the Titans, the HIVE turned to Grant. They made him a super-soldier, but at the cost of his remaining youth: he literally burned himself out trying to kill the Titans. Raven gave him a final moment of peace by showing him the illusion that he’d succeeded, but Deathstroke swore vengeance upon the Titans for his son’s death, and accepted the contract the Ravager didn’t complete. Thus, without a Teen Titans to destroy, I’m wondering how the new origin will play out.

POTPOURRI

Did I miss something a year ago? Wasn’t DC Universe Online Legends just an extra-long miniseries? The solicits for February’s issues make it sound like things are about to wrap up, but there’s no indication the series is about to end. I haven’t been reading it, so I have no feelings one way or the other. Still, if it’s an ongoing, it’s kind of nice to think that DC has another “classic-style” title. Ironic, too, that the classic style may be limited to tie-in books like DCUOL, Batman: B&B, and Young Justice.

Not to be unreasonably pedantic about the solicit for Green Arrow #6, but if the touch of “monstrous half-man” Midas “can melt anything,” wouldn’t that necessarily include Green Arrow?

Last month I had a chance to get a little ahead on my posting, so I speculated about the possible fates of Krypto and Wally West before realizing I had to write about the January solicits. That post got bumped back a week, but just about the time it went live there were big stories about both. And that might have been okay, but two weeks ago I mused about a Challengers of the Unknown revival, and here they are in February’s DC Universe Presents #6. Time to buy a lottery ticket, I guess — although I feel more like Gardner Fox dreaming of Earth-Two….

READ ‘EM UNDER A BLUE MOON

I almost forgot to mention the handful of DC titles shipping on one of the rarest direct-market events, the February Fifth Week.  This quirk of the retail calendar can only happen on February 29, and with the New-52′s strict four-week schedule it won’t spill over into week 5.  Thus, 2/29/12 will offer a more eclectic lineup:  DC Universe Online Legends #24, Batman:  Odyssey vol. 2 #5, Batman Beyond Unlimited #1, The Shade #5, THUNDER Agents #4, Legion:  Secret Origin #5, Tiny Titans #49, Looney Tunes #205, Gears Of War #22, Uncharted #4, Spaceman #4, Scalped #56, and Unwritten #34.5.

COLLECTIONS

Probably a lot more people have read Batman: Son of the Demon since it was reissued recently, but I think this is the first time in a long time that its follow-ups have been reprinted. I liked SOTD well enough, although it wears its ‘80s influences proudly. Bride of the Demon doesn’t stand out as much, probably because it doesn’t have the hook of Batman and Talia’s child, and otherwise it’s another Bond-influenced Rā’s al Ghūl story. However, Birth of the Demon focuses squarely on the Demon’s Head, telling his origin in detail. Plus, the present-day framing sequence is pretty rough on Batman, and it’s all depicted in spectacular fashion by Norm Breyfogle. Therefore, I endorse the Bride of the Demon omnibus collection. Like a wise man once said, two out of three ain’t bad.

Speaking of spectacular depictions, the Legends of the Dark Knight hardcover series is turning into something routinely recommendable. April’s Jim Aparo volume seems like an especially good value, reprinting twenty-two issues of early-‘70s The Brave and the Bold in full color for $50.00. If DC sticks with the Aparo series and finishes out B&B (which ended with #200), it’d probably only take another couple of volumes, and you’d be left with a very nice run of team-ups.

I have to admit, I was surprised that the second New Teen Titans Omnibus got as far as “The Judas Contract.” (I thought that would come in Volume 3.)  However, as I keep saying, it’s best to read the Wolfman/Pérez run as a cohesive whole, not a series of discrete arcs. You can’t really appreciate the four issues of “Judas Contract” without the rest as context, blah blah blah, you’ve heard this before. Anyway, for just $75.00 retail, here’s your chance. I do hope DC has a Volume 3 waiting, because that would take us through Wonder Girl’s wedding in #50 and Raven’s transfiguration in the second series’ #5.

Glad to see another Flash Archives on the horizon, mostly because it helps justify my buying the previous five. However, it also includes “Doorway to the Unknown” from issue #148 (November 1968), a spooky little tale (atypical for the series) reprinted a couple of times, which I remember fondly from one of the big 1970s “Best of DC” tabloids.

Finally, this month’s surprise reprint is Black Orchid, a 3-issue Prestige Format miniseries from (as the solicit says) the pre-Sandman Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. According to his contemporaneous Amazing Heroes interview, at the time Black Orchid was a character so obscure that when he pitched the miniseries to editor Karen Berger, she thought he was saying “Blackhawk Kid.” Batman and Lex Luthor appear briefly, but McKean’s art is the real draw (as it were), taking readers from gloomy, monochromatic streets to the lush, colorful rainforest. This miniseries led to an ongoing series, and (I think) to the character even appearing in Ostrander’s Suicide Squad. She’s popped up here and there recently, so it’s not like there has been a great clamor for her return, and this may just be DC’s latest attempt to squeeze more money from Neil Gaiman fans. Regardless, it’s not a bad try.

* * *

Well, that’s what jumped out at me this month. What looks good to you?

Bill of Rights

Creators | Writer Peter David shares a “Fan/Pro Bill of Rights” related to proper behavior at conventions, starting with a “Prime Directive”: “Fans and Pros have the right to be treated by each other with the same courtesy that they themselves would expect to be treated. Fans and Pros who act like jerks abrogate the right to complain when they themselves are treated like jerks.” [Peter David]

Crime | A Denver judge sentenced Aaron Castro to 45 years in prison after Castro pleaded guilty to drug and extortion charges. Prosecutors say he ran a major methamphetamine distribution ring and laundered the profits by buying and selling valuable comics in the collector’s market. [KMGH Denver]

Digital | Robot 6 contributor Graeme McMillan catches an error in Marvel’s press release from last week: Marvel was not the first comics publisher to release an entire line of comics simultaneously in print and digital—Archie Comics was. [Blog@Newsarama]

Creators | Cartoonist Chester Brown, whose Louis Riel is among the semifinalists for Canada Reads 2012, answers 10 questions on the awards website. [CBC Books]

WWE Heroes

Comics | Joey Esposito looks at the surprising parallels between mainstream comics and the WWE. [IGN]

Creators | CTV profiles Hark! A Vagrant creator and “web com artist” Kate Beaton. [CTV]

Creators | Forbidden Planet post two short videos, one old, one recent, of the late Family Circus cartoonist Bil Keane discussing his work. [The Forbidden Planet Blog Log]

Creators | The local news station profiles Rhymes With Orange cartoonist Hilary Price, whose daily strip is one of the fresher offerings on the comics page these days. [Masslive.com]

Comics | John Porcellino’s deeply personal comics and the emotional connection forged during a comics reading helped one reader realize he was not alone. [Weekend]

Retailers | Newly opened Florida comics shop EPIC Comics aims to be the opposite of the dingy basement comics shop; its owners deliberately created an art gallery-like space embellished with superhero murals done with Sharpie markers. [East Orlando Sun]

Retailers | Several Nashua, New Hampshire-area retailers discuss sales of DC’s New 52 titles in their stores. [Nashua Telegraph]

Commentary | Johanna Draper Carlson reviews the first volume of the wine-tasting manga The Drops of God, which was so popular it actually affected the wine market in Japan and Korea. She finds the story strongly reminiscent of the foodie manga Oishinbo, but with a few twists of its own. [Comics Worth Reading]

Legion of Super-Heroes

Commentary | Colin Smith starts a series looking back at the Legion of Super-Heroes reboot circa 1989, when Keith Giffen, along with Tom and Mary Bierbaum, took the team five years into the future: “In many ways, Giffen’s Legion remains a bold and innovative comic book, and one tellingly marked by a deliberate attempt to apply something of the form of Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore’s storytelling techniques from Watchman to DC’s consistently under-performing future-heroes franchise. But through a debilitating brew of opaque craftsmanship, DC editorial fiat, and a misdiagnosis of the Legion’s commercial weaknesses, this bold new start for the Legion of Superheroes ended up contradicting many of the key reasons for the artistic and commercial achievements of Watchman and The Dark Knight Returns.” [Too Busy Thinking About My Comics]

Comics | Christopher Gondrom posts a brief meditation on the beginning and the ending of the Flight anthology, along with an excerpt from the eighth and final volume. [Suvudu]

Culture | JL Bell presents a fascinating history of Guy Fawkes in America, starting with Boston revelers (who were only vaguely aware of who Fawkes was and what he had done) and exploring Alan Moore’s use of the Fawkes mask in V for Vendetta and its subsequent adoption by 4Chan users and Occupy protestors. [Boston 1775]

Point One

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.

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d first get the third issue of my favorite New 52 title, Batwoman #3 (DC, $2.99). Seriously, J.H. Williams III is hitting a home run on every outing here when it comes to my tastes. Although the writing isn’t up to the level of Greg Rucka’s time on the book, it’s close and only bound to get better. Next up I’d get Point One #1 (Marvel, $5.99). I think this format–an extra-size preview book for what’s coming next–is an interesting experiment, and I’m intrigued most by the Nova story, but also interested to see what the others do. Third would be Uncanny X-Force #17 (Marvel, $3.99), to get the one-two punch of Rick Remender and Jerome Opena. Iceman as a bad guy? I dig this.

If I had $30, I’d get Wolverine #18 (Marvel, $3.99) because I love Jason Aaron and Ron Garney teaming up, and seeing them bring in Fat Cobra from Immortal Iron Fist is oddly perfect for the book. Next up would be my comics weak-spot, Top Cow’s Pilot Season book–Pilot Season: Anonymous #1 (Image/Top Cow, $3.99). After that I’d pick up Fear Itself #7.2 (Marvel, $3.99) despite the fact I wish Coipel was drawing this. Lastly would be Kirby Genesis: Silver Star #1 (Dynamite, $3.99) because I love this lesser-known Kirby creation and the artist on this, succinctly named Johnny D., looks worth watching.

If I had the time (and money) to splurge, I’d get the Simon & Kirby Library: Crime hardcover (Titan, $49.95). Lately I’ve had a keen interest on Jack Kirby’s lesser-known work during the 1950s and this seems to fill in a lot of the gaps for me. I’m excited to hold this in my hands and see what surprises it has in store for me.

Graeme McMillan

Silver Star

If I had $15 this week, I’d throw a bunch of it Marvel’s way, with the first issue of Battle Scars ($2.99) and the massive Point One ($5.99) filling up the majority of my budget quite nicely. Well done, House of Ideas. I’d also grab Dynamite’s Kirby Genesis: Silver Star #1 ($3.99), the first (of many, apparently) spin-offs from the enjoyable Busiek/Ross/Herbert series.

If I had $30, then I’d redress the balance a little by grabbing the third issues of some DC books: Demon Knights, Legion Lost, Green Lantern and Batwoman (All $2.99) would make my cut this week, with IDW’s Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #2 ($3.99) rounding out the haul.

For splurging, there’s really only one choice from my nostalgia’s point of view: Marvel’s Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1 oversized hardcover ($125) is kind of a must-have, what with it being my third-favorite FF run ever (Behind Lee/Kirby and Simonson). If only they’d offered it for $44.44 …

Chris Mautner

Princess Knight

If I had $15: No question, the first volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight would be the first and only must-buy item on my list. This is one of those “Man, they’re never going to translate this series, are they?” books and I’m kind of awestruck that Vertical is taking a chance on it, even given the fact that they’ve become the Tezuka publisher of choice these days. It’s not that it’s such a controversial book as that it’s early Tezuka, which is sunnier, sweeter and less bizarre than the late period stuff they’ve been printing lately. At any rate, I’m excited to get this.

If I had $30: I’d find an extra $5 and pick up a copy of De Profundis by James Jarvis, an intriguing enigmatic comic about a pointy-nosed artist that wanders through an abandoned city before encountering a mysterious priest who gives him a commission job. I flipped through this at SPX, and while I didn’t have the extra cash to pick it up then, it did look like a worthwhile purchase.

Splurge: Again, an easy choice for me — the second volume of Jacques Tardi’s Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec from Fantagraphics. I’m on a big Tardi kick right now, having just recently read the first Adele collection, and am eager to experience more.

Michael May

Frankenstein

If I had $15, I’d spend most of it on my usual series: Demon Knights #3 ($2.99), Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #3 ($2.99), and X-Men Legacy #258 ($2.99). I was lukewarm about the first issue of Huntress, but I liked it enough to check out the second one ($2.99). And though I’m not familiar with PC and Kristin Cast’s Harry Potter/Twilight mash-up House of Night, I like the art previews I’ve seen from Dark Horse’s adaptation ($1) and certainly wouldn’t mind paying a buck to learn more.

If I had $30, I’d add Reed Gunther, Volume 1 ($14.99) to read about my favorite bear-riding cowboy.

There are a few splurge items that caught my interest this week, but near the top of the list are The Zombies That Ate the World, Volume 1: Bring Me Back My Head! ($24.95) for the Guy Davis art and The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 2 ($24.99). If I had to pick one thing though, I’d get the Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus, Volume 1 ($125.00) because I’ve been wanting to read those stories for decades.

Wolverine and the X-Men #1

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.

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d be a judicious comics buyer and pick the top four out of over 20 titles I’d want this week. DC/Vertigo makes it slightly easier by making the new Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso joint Spaceman #1 only $1. This dollar price point for first issues combined with the $9.99 price point they sometimes do for the first volume of comic trade paperbacks surely gets a lot of traction. Next up I’d get Jason Aaron’s new era of the X-Men in Wolverine & X-Men #1 (Marvel, $3.99) with Chris Bachalo. I’d also get my regular pulls of DMZ #70 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) and The Walking Dead #90 (Image, $2.99) and last–but first in my stack to read-–would be Secret Avengers #18 (Marvel, $3.99). I hear some Ellis guy is writing it, but the big draw for me is artist David Aja. His Iron Fist run is one of my top favs in comics in the past ten years, and he’s a titan in my book.

If I had $30, I’d first grab this week’s Pilot Season: The Beauty (Image/Top Cow, $3.99) despite not knowing what it’s about because I love the Pilot Season concept. Next up would be the finale of Red Wing #4 (Image, $3.50), Butcher Baker, Righteous Maker #7 (Image, $2.99) and Daredevil #5 (Marvel, $2.99). Looking back at my picks so far, it’s an art-heavy week for me with lots of favorites from Risso to Bachalo, Aja, Burchelli, Huddleston and Martin. That means extra-long reading, as I normally do a second and third read just to soak up the artwork page by page, panel by panel.

If I were to splurge, I would gladly plunk down money for The Manara Library Vol. 1 (Dark Horse, $59.99). I applaud Dark Horse for doing the massive undertaking of collecting all of Manara’s work in seven volume. This first volume collects The Paper Man as well as Indian Summer with Hugo Pratt. It’s going to be a good weekend for me, work be damned.

Graeme McMillan

Kirby: Genesis

For a Kirby fan like myself, this is a pretty great week to have $15: More than half of it would immediately go toward the lengthily titled DC Comics Presents: The Jack Kirby Omnibus Sampler #1 (DC, $7.99), which collects 96 pages of 1950s Kirby from the pages of Adventure Comics, House of Secrets, House of Mystery and other anthology titles. Then I’d throw some coin in the direction of Kirby: Genesis #4 (Dynamite, $3.99), the continuation of Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross and the unsung Jack Herbert’s evocation of Kirbyesque scale and imagination, using some of his lesser-known creations. I’ve really been digging this series, and even if I hadn’t already been planning to pick up this issue, that lovely Ross cover probably would’ve convinced me. Look at the Captain Victory pose! Look at the giant egg-headed character at the back! Not-so-Kirby-esque, but a definite must: The Flash #2 (DC, $2.99), which had a surprisingly lovely first issue last month and earned back all the goodwill lost with the previous series.

If I had $30, there’d be even more Kirby-influence going on, because I’d pick up the first issue of two relaunches of Kirby properties: Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri’s The Incredible Hulk and Aaron (again!) and Chris Bachalo’s Wolverine and the X-Men (Both Marvel, $3.99). The prelude to the Hulk book at the end of Fear Itself #7 was the very definition of underwhelming, and I didn’t think much of Schism, but I’m holding out hope for these two books nonetheless. Also on the to-buy list: DC’s Legion: Secret Origin (The second retelling of the team’s roots in the last two years, both of them written by Paul Levitz; DC, $2.99) and the second issue of Justice League Dark (DC, $2.99), which was fun if not essential in its debut.

Like Chris, if I had the possibility of splurging this week, it’s be The Manara Library Vol. 1 (Dark Hourse, $59.99). The man’s art is just stunning, and I can’t wait to see it in this deluxe presentation.

Brigid Alverson

The Drops of God

If I had $15, I would have just enough for the first volume of Drops of God, the manga about wine tasting that features two willowy men competing for an inheritance based on how well they can identify 12 different wines. It’s a winning manga formula that has not only won the book several awards but also boosted the popularity of the wines involved, and I can’t wait to read it.

If I had $30, I would add Power Lunch, a new all-ages graphic novel from Oni Press. I like the wacky premise‹a kid gains superpowers from the different foods he eats‹and the creative team of Dean Trippe and J. Torres closes the sale for me.

Splurge: The second volume of A Bride’s Story, Kaoru Mori’s beautifully drawn tale of life on the Silk Road in the 19th century. The first volume didn’t have a lot of story–it was more a series of beautifully drawn moments with occasional bursts of action–which puts it in the splurge rather than must-buy category as far as I’m concerned. And since that only sets me back $16.99, expensive for a weekly buy but cheap for a splurge, I’ll toss in Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #6, which I believe wraps up a story arc, and The Sixth Gun #16, and call it a very good week indeed.

Chris Mautner

Milo Manara Library

If I had $15:It would be a toss-up between The Smurf Apprentice, the eighth (that many already) volume in Papercutz’s ongoing reprint project, because you can never have too many Smurf comics, or the latest volume (that’s No. 10 if you’re counting) of Yotsuba! the cheery little manga about a effervescent green-haried girl. I’d probably end up going with Yotsuba, only because it’s one of my daughter’s favorite comics, and she’d kill me if I didn’t buy it.

If I had $30:I’d probably take a chance on Drops of God, that manga series about wine that seems to be insanely popular in its home country, if only to see what all the fuss was about.

Splurge:A couple people have mentioned the first volume of the Manara Library, and that’s definitely on my Amazon Wish List, but before that I think I’d pick up the second volume of Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse. The first volume was a real treat, not just in terms of reintroducing myself to Gottfredson’s stellar work, but also in the sheer amount of incisive historical information about the strip, Gottfredson and his various Disney helpers. I’m sure Vol. 2 will be more of the same.

Michael May

From All-Star Western #2

If I had $15, I’d continue picking up some New 52 series I’m enjoying along with some talking apes. It hurts–oh it hurts–to pay four bucks for All-Star Western #2 ($3.99), but I’ll do it. I loved the detective story in the first issue with Arkham’s trying to figure out Hex in the voice over, and the art was even better. I don’t think I can keep buying it at that price, but I seem to be hooked for the first story anyway. More affordable are Justice League Dark #2 ($2.99) and Superman #2 ($2.99). JLD is starting with a slow build, but I’m attracted by the concept enough to keep checking it out. I was especially pleased by the attention the first issue of Superman gave to Lois Lane, so I’m hoping there’s more of that as the series continues. Finally, I’d grab Planet of the Apes #7 ($3.99), because that’s a fantastic series that I’ve run out of ways to say I love.

If I had $30, I’d get Aquaman #2 ($2.99). I enjoyed the stronger, tougher Aquaman in the first issue; I just hope the tone becomes less defensive, and quickly. I’m a big fan of the character, but (or maybe because of that) I’m already tired of his constantly explaining how cool he is. Next, I’d add some more expensive comics to the stack, like John Martz’ Heaven All Day ($4) about a lonely man who’s building a mysterious contraption and the abandoned robot he encounters in the process. Then there’s Ape’s Western/Kung Fu/Monster mash-up, Helldorado #1 ($3.99) and Warren Ellis’ Secret Avengers #18 ($3.99).

My splurge item would be Flesh: The Dino Files ($25.99) from Rebellion/2000 AD, because it’s a badass version of Terra Nova. Instead of going back in time to live, the future citizens of our depleted planet go back in time to capture dinosaurs for food. That’s a horribly irresponsible plan, but I’m curious to see if that’s addressed too. I hope it is, but even if not, I’m okay with shutting off the environmentalist part of my brain long enough to enjoy some dino-roping cowboys.

JK Parkin

If you buy one comic this week, it’s gotta be Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #19.

"I throw him a growl I've brought all the way from Africa"

I was going to open with some snotty Wow, the holidays went by super-quickly! comment, but then I read the first issue of Justice League in seven weeks. Sometimes DC gets ahead of itself; sometimes it’s a little behind.  Happens to the best of us — sometimes you do two solicitation roundups in three weeks….

Anyway, with the January solicitations, the New-52 books each turn five issues old. Series wrapping up their first arcs this month include Blackhawks, Batwoman, Animal Man, and the Deadman feature in DC Universe Presents.  (Not to worry about the latter, because there is a lot of Deadman in these solicits.)  I’m not sure why five issues is such a wonky number for story arcs — there are five-issue miniseries all the time and they collect just fine. Still, I expected most of the New-52 books to take six issues for their introductory stories, and most of them may yet do that. Only a few books look to finish their first arcs after December’s issue #4s (Hawkman and Frankenstein, probably OMAC, maybe Batgirl), and those plus this month’s are barely an eighth of the relaunched line. It makes next month’s solicits more intriguing, I suppose.

Regardless, we live in the now (as it were…) so — onward to January!

JUSTICE LEAGUES

When I saw the solicit for Justice League #5, I thought it was another indication that Geoff Johns and Jim Lee were telling a more decompressed story, as issue #1 threatened. Accordingly, I imagined that Cyborg would be ready to go at the end of the issue, with the big Darkseid battle taking up an oversized issue #6. However, I was pleasantly surprised that issue #2 was such an improvement over #1. It moved more quickly, it brought together more of the future Leaguers, it kicked off Cyborg’s origin in earnest, and it teased another big Parademon fight. Plus it worked in a Gorilla Grodd reference, which I wouldn’t have expected so soon in the New-52 DCU. So now my mood has swung more to the manic side, and I am expecting the big fight to start in #5.

When a solicitation threatens that “[o]ne of these heroes will not make it out alive,” as Justice League Dark #5′s does, normally you think it’d be Mindwarp, the least familiar of the group. However, I then realized it could be a trick question, since that group includes Deadman — who’s not going into whatever-it-is alive….

CREATIVE TEAM SHUFFLING

I know that Tony Akins’ two-issue fill-in on Wonder Woman was planned, in order to give Cliff Chiang some flexibility, but the solicitation copy makes it sound like the issues come at least at the end (if not in the middle) of WW’s first arc. Maybe there’s some shift in the story’s tone which a different artist might help reinforce. By the same token, I can’t wait to see Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone’s guest-shot on The Shade #4.

Part of me is ready to give Green Arrow another shot, what with the three issues from Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens and the upcoming Ann Nocenti Era, but part of me just thinks that this version of Ollie is almost too boring to fix. If anyone needed to lose his fortune, stop shaving, and go all #OccupyStarCity, it’s him.

Static Shock #5 is the first written entirely by Scott McDaniel, following the mysterious (but apparently amicable) departure of John Rozum. Walt Simonson pencils Legion of Super-Heroes #5, and contributes to THUNDER Agents #3.

THIS AND THAT

“Aquaman stranded in the desert” was actually a cliffhanger from 1985′s DC Challenge miniseries, and I want to say Aquaman killed a bird and drank its blood in order to get the liquid he needed to stay alive. Or maybe that was Watchmen; I always get those two confused. (They were both twelve issues….) Still, I bet the All-New, All-Hardcore Aquaman would totally rip out a bird’s throat with his teeth.

Considering he’s not part of the Doom Patrol, and his assistant is apparently a New-52 reworking of an old DP enemy, Robotman’s New-52 origin (as revealed in My Greatest Adventure #4) probably won’t feature the classic team. In fact, from what I saw of the New-52 Robotman in MGA #1, it looks like the Doom Patrol has gone the way of the original Teen Titans. Maybe the MGA feature is testing the waters for yet another Doom Patrol revival?

The “seduction of Damian” subplot described in the solicit for Batman And Robin #5 sounds good, although it seems like Grant Morrison covered similar ground when Damian faced his mother and the rest of the League of Assassins back around issue #12 of the previous series. Likewise, I look forward to Gail Simone’s Batgirl take on the old “female hero fights female villain who controls men’s minds” story, but I kinda want her to drop in a reference to Marsha, Queen of Diamonds.

SYNERGY

There have been plenty of guest appearances so far, but is the OMAC/Frankenstein intertitle crossover the first for the New 52? It may depend on how you categorize the connections between Superman and Stormwatch and/or Stormwatch and Demon Knights.

Speaking of which, only Hawkman can see “horrifying visions of the dead,” and so he “question[s] his own sanity?” Maybe he should talk to Grifter about that.

The solicitation for I, Vampire #5 — featuring a Batman appearance — makes me think I was right about the series’ vampires-vs.-superheroes aspect. That’s not a bad thing (apparently the original character met Batman in the pages of Brave and the Bold, as discussed below) but I wonder how much the series will go to that well.

I was surprised (synergy again!) to see Deadman figuring prominently into Hawk & Dove #5.  While they all were introduced in the late 1960s, I always associated Deadman and Hawk & Dove with different generations.  See, I keep forgetting that Hawk and the late Dove were teenagers back then, and adjunct members of the Teen Titans as well. And not to digress, but I have been thinking about the ways in which that generation of characters has been taken out of the New 52.  While I never put Hawk in that group (or the new Dove either, but I’m not sure how old she’s supposed to be), he should be there. Thus, DC hasn’t completely eliminated the Original-Titans generation from the New 52, because there’s Nightwing, Hawk, and Red Arrow. I should be satisfied with that, right?

(Again, not to digress.)

COLLECTIONS

Prior to the new I, Vampire series, the only exposure I had to this character was in the good-natured mockery of Tales of the Unexpected’s “Architecture & Mortality.” However, I have to say, I am totally ready for the omnibus I, Vampire paperback, reprinting the serial from House Of Mystery and Brave and the Bold vol. 1 #195. Ironically, while I am most interested in it as a rare example of main-line ‘80s DC doing a non-superhero story, I’m very curious to see the Batman team-up….

Hardly surprising considering the artist’s role in the New-52 relaunch, DC collects the original Karl & Barbara Kesel/Rob Liefeld Hawk & Dove miniseries (5 issues!). I didn’t read the miniseries when it came out (and still haven’t), but now I am curious to see what a strong inker like Karl Kesel did with a relatively-new penciller like Liefeld. I do remember thinking that regular-series penciller Greg Guler meshed with Kesel better.

For those who might have missed it the first time around, the Batman: Year One hardcover is well worth getting. Even if you have the original issues or an earlier collection, the hardcover (and maybe a 2007 paperback, but I’m not sure) features new coloring by Richmond Lewis which really makes David Mazzucchelli’s work pop even more. Plus, the hardcover is more durable, and you will want to look at this book a lot.

The Batman Vs. Bane paperback is a curious thing to me. The Bane of the Demon miniseries was better as a Bane story than as a Bruce-vs.-Bane rematch, mostly because it introduced Bane to Rā’s and Talia al-Ghūl, and (shall we say) gave them some non-Batman options. I don’t remember much about the Batman/Bane special except that it was a tie-in to the infamous Batman And Robin movie, and as such probably confused the heck out of anyone who might have known the character only from that. I understand that (as it happens) this paperback is meant to tie into The Dark Knight Rises, so DC is interested in the more villainous side of Bane, but it might also consider collecting “Tabula Rasa,” a nice little arc from Batman: Gotham Knights #s 33-36. Written by Scott Beatty and drawn by Mike Collins & Bill Sienkiewicz and Roger Robinson & John Floyd, it features Bane’s uneasy alliance with, and unexpected connection to, the Darknight Detective.

This month’s pleasant reprint surprise is Showcase Presents Young Love Volume 1 — more to come, I presume! — which I feel somewhat obligated to buy considering I have dinged DC previously for not reprinting its romance books. Still, I would probably have bought it anyway, just to see some non-superhero work from artists more closely identified with the caped crowd. No doubt some of the stories will be “so bad they’re good,” but on the whole it should be a fun read.

Here’s hoping that sales of the Xombi paperback — a bargain at $14.99, cheaper than the individual issues’ retail prices — are enough to make DC want more elegantly-crafted goodness from John Rozum and Frazer Irving. Xombi was just getting started when the New-52 came along, and I don’t want Rozum to have left Static Shock in vain.

AND FINALLY…

The “Batman: Black & White” line of statues has been pretty appealing so far, even if most of them are outside my price range. However, it’s going to be hard to turn down the Sergio Aragones one. What a great expression!

* * *

Well, that’s what jumped out at me this month. What looks good to you?

Batman #2

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.

Michael May

If I had $15, I’d mostly grab the second issues of some DC stuff I enjoyed last month: Batman ($2.99), Birds of Prey ($2.99), and especially Wonder Woman ($2.99). No Justice League for me though. Unlike Action Comics, I didn’t enjoy the first issue enough that I can rationalize paying $4 for it. Instead, I’ll grab Avengers 1959 #2 ($2.99) and Red 5′s Bonnie Lass #2 ($2.95), both of which had strong first issues.

If I had $30, I’d have to put back Bonnie Lass and wait for the collection in order to afford Jonathan Case’s atomic-sea-monster-love-story Dear Creature ($15.99).

If I had some splurge money, I’d likely grab the first issues of the 30 Days of Night ongoing ($3.99) and John Byrne’s Cold War ($3.99) as well as Dark Horse Presents #5 ($7.99). And if I had lots of extra money, I’d take First Second’s Nursery Rhyme Comics ($18.99) and Orcs, Volume 1: Forged for War ($17.99) too. I’ve already read Nursery Rhyme Comics and it’s wonderful; I’m curious to see if Orcs can redeem those creatures from the ennui I feel about them from growing up with Tolkien and D&D. If it was anybody but First Second publishing it, I don’t think I’d give it a chance.

Graeme McMillan

Star Trek/Legion of Superheroes #1

If I had $15 this week, the first thing I’d make a run for in the store would be Star Trek/Legion of Superheroes #1 (IDW, $3.99), Chris Roberson and Jeffrey Moy’s mash-up of two of my favorite SF series and something I have been embarrassingly looking forward to since its original announcement. I’m also finding myself obsessed with Fear Itself #7 (Marvel, $4.99), for slightly different reasons; after a year in which the climaxes of both Flashpoint and Schism underwhelmed, I just want Fear Itself to go out with a bang. Talking of underwhelming, I wasn’t completely on board with the first issue of DC’s new Justice League, but I’ll be picking up #2 (DC, $3.99) to see what happens next nonetheless, and seeing if things improve.

If I had $30, I’d continue my Legion of Super-Heroes love with DC Comics Presents Superboy’s Legion #1 (DC, $7.99), the latter a collection of an Alan Davis/Mark Farmer Elseworlds series that I’ve never read. I’d round out my purchases with another DC $7.99 reprint book – I have money left from the original $15, honest – and grab Vertigo Resurrected: The Eaters (DC, $7.99), which brings a Peter Milligan horror story from the early ’90s back into print for the first time in far, far too long.

If I were going to splurge this week, I could be persuaded to grab Marvel’s 15-Love TP ($14.99), based upon surprisingly good reviews of the mini. I admit, “tennis manga done by American and European creators” doesn’t sound like a great idea to me, but some of those reviews really sold it to me.

Chris Mautner

If I had $15: Butcher Baker, Candlestickmaker #4, the latest issue of the last of The Boys spin-off mini-series would be my first grab. I might also pick up the fourth issue of the newspaper anthology Pood, which, with this issue, features the work of Joe Staton.

If I had $30: Well, I’ve been long intrigued to read Alan Moore’s Neonomicon, especially since it generated such controversy and outright hatred. Now that it’s been collected in trade paperback it seems like I have a golden opportunity.

Nursery Rhyme Comics

On the complete other end of the spectrum I feel obliged to point out that First Second’s Nursery Rhyme Comics anthology, which we highlighted via a series of interviews with contributors on the blog last week, is also out in stores. Even if you don’t have young children at home, it’s a pretty boss book.

Splurge: Let’s see, there’s Vol. 16 of Tezuka’s Black Jack (and it’s always nice to see that’s continuing along) as well as MetaMaus, the “DVD features” companion to Art Spiegelman’s Maus that comes with an actual DVD and (I think) is thicker than the work it references.

But if you really want to splurge, you gotta go for The Metabarons Ultimate Collectors Slipcase edition. $130 gets you all of Alexandro Jodorowsky and Juan Gimenez’s trippy, multi-generational sci-fi epic. Get it for the Eurocomic nerd in your life.

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, my first purchase would be Jason Aaron’s Wolverine #17 (Marvel, $3.99). Re-teaming with his original Wolverine collaborator Ron Garney, this one is billed as a post-Schism tale but the shadows of the last story arc of the title itself cast longer on the series to me. Next up would be Wonder Woman #2 (DC, $2.99), because I’m really interested to see Azzarello explore the mythological worldview that Diana inhabits. Lastly would be the de facto anthology of record in comics currently, Dark Horse Presents #5 (Dark Horse, $7.99). This issue promises a short by Eric Powell about a suicidal space robot, so what’s not to love.

Fear Itself #7

If I had $30, I’d double-back and get the finale of Fear Itself #7 (Marvel, $4.99). Although the writing hasn’t lived up to my expectations compared to previous events or previous work by Matt Fraction, I still enjoy Stuart Immonen’s work here and am interested to see what he pulls out for the final issue. After that I’d get the under-the-radar OGN by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Juan Santacruz – Book Smart (Kickstart, $8.99). This is out of the poorly publicized line of titles that the film company Kickstart is doing in comics, but the stories are strong as is the creators involved.

If I could splurge, I’d splurge all over the Metabarons Ultimate Collection Slip Case (Humanoids, $129.95). Sure I have most of these in earlier editions, but by adding this to my bookshelf I can give away those older ones and spread the love. That’s validation, right? You’ll back me up with my wife when I spent $130 on comics I already have, right? Right?

The new Blue Beetle #1

Whether by accident or design, this week was dominated by female leads (four, not including Starfire in Red Hood) and Bat-titles (four including RH; five if you count Birds Of Prey). It is tempting to say the woman-led titles ran the gamut of experiences from A to D, but thankfully it is a little more complicated than that.  As you might expect, the week produced issues of varying quality, although I found something to like about each one. Sometimes it was harder to find that one thing, though….

Naturally, SPOILERS FOLLOW.

* * *

In theory, the DC Universe Presents anthology has a longer lease on life because its sales can’t be judged fairly on the basis of only one arc. I suppose that, given Deadman’s relationship with one of Hawk & Dove’s headliners, that book’s readers might be interested in this one. By and large, though, the audience for this title is made up either of DC stalwarts waiting for a good Obscure Character X story, or (less likely, I’d say) impulse buyers. Such an approach might have been a great way to introduce a totally new character within the context of the New 52, and piggyback that feature on the rest of the relaunch’s popularity — but I’m not surprised DC chose Deadman, fresh off Brightest Day.

It was a good choice. Paul Jenkins’ and Bernard Chang’s first issue is a sweeping, emotional journey across several of the lives Boston “Deadman” Brand has inhabited in his post-corporeal state. There’s a succinct summary of Deadman’s origin and a good sample of his adventures. (It does make me wonder where his White Lantern career fits in, but that’s probably beyond the scope of this arc.) Boston’s also got the end of his spiritual mission on his mind, a subplot which culminates in the issue’s cliffhanger. Regardless, getting to that point is quite engaging, especially a sequence where Deadman jumps into a dozen or so people in the course of “chasing” an old acquaintance. Chang’s work is clean and effective, portraying an appropriately wide range of everyday people. This is a story where the fantastic elements facilitate the character’s journey, and aren’t an end unto themselves. I really liked this issue, and I’ll be back next month.

Both Nightwing #1 and writer Kyle Higgins’ other New-52 title, Deathstroke, open with similarly-paced action sequences (including a double-page spread on pages 2 and 3) punctuated by expository internal monologues. I did not take this as a good sign, and ultimately I found Nightwing to be fairly unremarkable, even for a Nightwing comic. New readers may disagree, but I have seen too many “Dick re-establishes himself outside of Bruce’s shadow” stories, complete with a new apartment and a return to his acrobat roots, to be wowed automatically by yet another one. Moreover, while penciller Eddy Barrows choreographs Dick/Nightwing fairly well, his designs for the character are just a little too beefy and gruff. I was afraid that returning to the Nightwing role would bring back all the frustrations readers (and probably writers too) have felt with the character, and so far I was right.

Somewhat more remarkable, although in a much weirder way, is Catwoman #1 (written by Judd Winick, drawn by Guillem March). We’re introduced to Catwoman in a few quick panels, as she grabs a few personal items (along with a few pets) on her way out of her apartment, a few steps ahead of some masked goons. It provides a good segue into the issue’s plot, which requires Catwoman to go undercover at a nightclub in order to steal from Russian mobsters (speaking of last week’s Deathstroke…). The recon goes south when Selina recognizes someone from her past who she needs to pummel, and Catwoman ends up escaping to her “borrowed” penthose — where Batman is waiting, and where, somewhat improbably, they get it on. This being a main-line superhero book, and not something claiming “maturity,” there’s no nudity, although the characters’ actions and eventual positions leave little doubt as to the creative team’s intent. I have mixed feelings about the sequence, not so much for its own sake as for its place in the context of the issue, and especially in the context of the first issue. It tries to establish Catwoman’s independence within the Bat-clan, by showing definitely that she has a certain power over him — but by the same token it feels too easy to trot out the old sex-is-a-weapon trait, especially since Selina had already pulled a Jennifer Garner-style fake-out to beat up a bad guy just a few pages earlier. So yes, we get it, Catwoman is her own person and she is not afraid to be sexxay. That said, I did like this issue for its relatively-fast pace, its efficient storytelling, and March’s fine work.

An almost-too-cute flashback structure didn’t bother me that much, but generally Birds Of Prey #1 (written by Duane Swiercynski, drawn by Jesus Saiz) is kind of a mess, marred by stilted dialogue and unengaging characters. Chief among the latter is Starling, Black Canary’s new partner, who is supposed to be plucky and sassy but who ends up grating. In fact, the whole issue is like that, since it centers around the Birds basically destroying an old cathedral in the course of protecting a too-nosy reporter from shadowy ninja types. There are a couple of nods to the pre-relaunch BOP — Barbara Gordon appears briefly and Canary’s problems with the law (from the first arc of the last volume) inform the current setup — but those only remind the reader of the style this issue lacks. On a positive note, Saiz’ work was nice and uncomplicated. However, as with Nightwing, there’s just not enough to get me to come back.

Few will consider Wonder Woman #1 uncomplicated, but writer Brian Azzarello and artist Cliff Chiang establish a distinctive tone immediately, and deliver a bloody, propulsive first issue. This is certainly not a Wonder Woman (or a Wonder Woman-style story) familiar to the casual reader. Instead, it’s an apocalyptic mystery involving strikingly-rendered versions of characters from Greek mythology, most of whom are out to kill a scantily-clad young woman named Zola. For now, that focus distances Wonder Woman from the reader somewhat, which is a little odd for an introduction. Still, it works, even for an issue where characterization takes a back seat to violence. Much of this is due to Chiang’s expressive designs (Zola especially carries herself well for someone in underwear and flip-flops), which really sell the collision of dark mythological forces and the everyday world. Azzarello’s script includes some clever touches, particularly a brief-but-good scene for the god Hermes, and while we don’t get much insight into Diana or her adversaries this issue, I expect it won’t be long. In its way, this book is as much a reinvention of Wonder Woman as Action Comics is of Superman, and it looks very promising.

By contrast, Supergirl #1 (written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson, pencilled by Mahmoud Asrar, inked by Dan Green) is almost all setup, as the Girl of Steel arrives on Earth to a predictably violent reception. Accordingly, it’s an issue full of Supergirl-vs.-battlesuits, taking them out one by one while discovering her powers along the way. There’s not much characterization, and really no plot beyond a rote misunderstanding, but the art is pretty (especially Dave McCaig’s colors) and the issue is paced well. About the nicest thing I can say is that at least the preliminaries are over, I like the creative team well enough, and next issue should be better.

The nicest thing I can say about Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 (written by Scott Lobdell) is that Kenneth Rocafort draws Jason “Red Hood” Todd who actually looks like he could be a slightly-older ex-Robin. After Superboy exceeded my minimal expectations last week, I was a little more open to RH&TO. Unfortunately, it is front-loaded with attitude, and that has proven too much for me. Specifically, the opening sequence is a barrage of captions, cluttered panels, and confused storytelling. The issue does get better once things settle down and the characters have a chance to relax, but neither Roy Harper nor Koriand’r demonstrate much nuance — he’s a mimbo and she’s a thinly-disguised adolescent fantasy. Exposition from a fourth character, Essence, then teases a larger plot which brings the issue to a cliffhanger. As with Supergirl, there is the hint of a decent series in all of this. These characters are damaged outcasts who either deny, or have forgotten, their old lives. However, Lobdell assumes that the reader is familiar with those old lives, and cares enough to stay with these three beyond their sketchy (re)introduction. Ironically, if this were a pre-relaunch title, that might be enough to keep me around. As it is, though, there’s just too much to infer, and too little reason to care.

Like its Sinestro-starring sibling, Green Lantern Corps #1 (written by Peter J. Tomasi, pencilled by Fernando Pasarin, inked by Scott Hanna) feels like the next issue in the pre-relaunch series. The difference is that GLC hasn’t had as drastic a change to its status quo. Tomasi educates new readers on the book’s headliners by showing Guy Gardner and John Stewart trying to fit into a regular workplace, with Guy even giving a little primer on the Corps for anyone who might have needed it. The larger plot isn’t anything special at this point — a mysterious brute shows the Corps it can commit genocide — and once again Tomasi seems uncomfortable with too few words. Overall, though, it’s a fine start to a new arc. I’m just not sure who, beyond existing GLC readers, will find this essential.

After last week’s helter-skelter Legion Lost #1, I was hoping Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (written by Paul Levitz, drawn by Francis Portela) would be more accessible. Certainly it’s more subdued, dividing its attention between an undercover mission, various character subplots back at headquarters, and Colossal Boy off the team. Portela does a good job keeping everything straight, and Levitz’s script is a welcome throwback to the days when exposition was expected. In other words, everyone still wants to talk about what just happened, to just enough of a degree to make new readers curious. Perhaps as a nod to those new readers, the issue focuses on two rookie Legionnaries, each a bit too confident in his or her abilities. It’s not a bad way to ease into what must be a fast-moving stream of continuity. Even so, there’s just too much going on, at least on first reading. Maybe a later look will give me more insight into the characters, and thus more of an incentive to find out what happens next; but for now, it’s a bit overwhelming.

Captain Atom #1 (written by J.T. Krul, drawn by Freddie Williams II) was a frustrating read. It’s not a particularly bad book, but it doesn’t feel that original either. Essentially, Cap has a pretty broad power set — flight, energy blasts, energy absorption, Firestorm-style transmutation — but when he uses them, he risks tearing apart his own atomic structure. At the beginning of the issue he fights a guy in a giant battlesuit, and at the end he must stop a volcano from destroying a New York nuclear plant. This is all fine, except that no one in the book feels like a real person. Thus, what’s frustrating is the fact that pre-relaunch, DC’s Cap (himself relaunched pretty much from scratch almost 25 years ago) was built around a terrifically twisted man-out-of-time concept. He had all kinds of power, but all he wanted was his old life back. By contrast, the current Cap is a generic superhero with a wispy design and an illusory death sentence. Freddie Williams’ new style is nice, in a Chris Samnee/Michael Lark sort of way; but again, it’s not quite enough.

As for another ex-Charlton title, Blue Beetle #1 (written by Tony Bedard, pencilled by Ig Guara, inked by Ruy José) was a lot of fun. It’s probably not fair to lump this Beetle with Captain Atom’s old colleague Ted Kord, because Jaime Reyes only goes back about five years, all of them with DC. This first issue basically compresses various elements of Jaime’s pre-relaunch series into a tighter plot, centered around pal Brenda’s mysterious aunt Doña Cardenas. Of course, she’s really a high-powered criminal, using a group of supervillains to steal a certain powerful blue scarab; and of course Jaime gets said scarab fused to his back at a key point in the issue. Leading up to that is a great set of scenes spanning the galaxy, from a distant planet attacked by another scarab-owner to Jaime’s own high-school hijinks. It’s all rendered with style and quirk by Guara and José, and scripted deftly by Bedard. Here’s hoping this one’s around for a while.

Finally, Batman #1 (written by Scott Snyder, pencilled by Greg Capullo, inked by Jonathan Glapion) was really something. Snyder’s script is a close examination of a more well-adjusted Bruce Wayne/Batman, seeking literally to build a better Gotham while mysteries swirl within mysteries all around him. Even the obligatory Bat-moments — fights at Arkham Asylum, a double-page Batcave spread, multiple Robins — are woven seamlessly into the story. Capullo and Glapion make an excellent team, quirky and sharp, instantly giving the book a signature style which complements Snyder’s portrayal. Everything about this issue says “new beginning,” and it’s about as accessible as one could want. I can’t ask for much more out of a superhero comic.

Recommended: Batman, Blue Beetle, DC Universe Presents, Wonder Woman

Could get better: Catwoman, Supergirl

Could go either way: Captain Atom, Legion of Super-Heroes

Sticking regardless: Green Lantern Corps

No thanks: Birds Of Prey, Nightwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws

* * *

Next week: the thrilling conclusion, with All-Star Western, Aquaman, Batman: The Dark Knight, Blackhawks, The Flash, The Fury Of Firestorm, Green Lantern: New Guardians, I, Vampire, Justice League Dark, The Savage Hawkman, Superman, Teen Titans, and Voodoo!

Wonder Woman

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 continue to support the DC relaunch by picking up Wonder Woman #1, Legion of Super-Heroes #1 and Green Lantern Corps #1 (All DC, $2.99). I’d also grab the first issue of IDW’s new ongoing Star Trek book ($3.99), which adapts episodes of the original TV show into the new movie continuity, because I’m nerdy like that.

If I had $30, I’d add another couple of DC books to my pile (Batman and Birds of Prey, both $2.99), as well as Jay Faerber’s new crime book, Near Death #1 (Image, $2.99) and the first issue of Dynamite’s adaptation of George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones ($3.99) – I have to admit that, not only have I never read any of the original books, I’ve also not seen any episodes of the HBO series, either, so I’m coming to this entirely fresh. We’ll see if it makes any impact on me.

For splurge purposes this week, I’m torn between two collected editions of things I’ve already read: DC has the collection of Brian Wood’s New York Five ($14.99) coming out, and Marvel has the collected edition of Mark Waid’s recent Ruse revival (Also $14.99). Both are well worth reading, and if I’m really splurging, surely I should be able to pick up both, right…?

Chris Mautner

Monster Christmas

If I had $15:

I’m rather excited to see the arrival of Monster Christmas ($9.99) from Papercutz, a Lewis Trondheim book I had heard nothing about or knew was even coming out. I’m pretty much a Trondheim completest, so I’ll likely pick this up, even if it is a little early to be thinking about Christmas.

If I had $30:

I’m torn between two books from Fantagraphics. On the one hand there’s The Armed Garden by David B. ($19.99) which collects all the short stories that previously ran in early issues of the Mome anthology. I have all of those issues, however, so I’ll likely instead go with The Man Who Grew His Beard ($19.99) a collection of short stories by Olivier Schrauwen, most of which also appeared in Mome. Schrauwen’s work has appeared in English before, but in some ways this is his big American debut. His stuff is really sharp and witty and daring and deserves to be seen by a wider audience.

Splurge:

I’d probably pick up some of the other Fantagraphics books out this week, including the Mark Twain Autobiography by Michael Kupperman (note: it’s not really Mark Twain’s autobiography), Prison Pit Vol. 3 and the coffee-table-sized Art of Joe Kubert.

Michael May

If I only had $15, I’d spend it all on DC. There’s a lot of stuff for fans of DC’s female characters this week. I’m most excited to see Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s work on Wonder Woman #1 ($2.99), but thanks largely to Kelly Sue DeConnick’s leaving me with a good feeling about her after the last three months, I’m also eager to see the new Supergirl in Supergirl #1 ($2.99). And I’m a Black Canary fan, so I’m also looking forward to seeing how she fares in Birds of Prey #1 ($2.99). I feel like I can’t adequately sample the new DCU without reading some Batman and everyone tells me that Scott Snyder is the writer to read, so I’d also give Batman #1 ($2.99) a try. And though what I really want is to read Planet of the Apes #6, it’s a dollar out of my price range, so I’d try Legion of Super Heroes #1 ($2.99) instead. I’m not terribly excited to see that concept rebooted again, but I do like some of the characters.

If I had $30, I’d quickly add Planet of the Apes #6 ($3.99) because “wow, that series.” And I’d pick up Dark Horse Presents #4 ($7.99), leaving me enough money for a snack or something.

There are three things I’d like to splurge on this week. Hellboy, Volume 11 ($19.99) comes out, encouraging me to catch up on that series. I’m also very interested in returning to Mark Waid and Butch Guice’s Ruse with the collection of the Marvel reboot ($14.99) and finally, the collected Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters ($17.99). Godzilla wins because it’s something I’ll read with my son (though he is developing an appreciation for Sherlock Holmes) and I’ll get twice the entertainment that way. Also: Phil Hester.

Chris Arrant

If I (only) had $15 for this week’s comics, it would be a massacre given the number of titles I’m interested in. Making the tough call, I’d put my money first behind Wonder Woman #1 (DC, $2.99); it’s easily in my top five most anticipated titles out of the New 52, and the release this week makes it the de facto winner of the week for me – sight unseen. Editors at DC are still just beginning to catch on to how good Cliff Chiang is, and I’m glad he’s finally gotten a plum assignment close to his full potential. Next up would be Dark Horse Presents #4 (Dark Horse, $7.99) with the Geof Darrow cover if you’re curious. My passion for anthology titles is one of the few passions I wear on my sleeve, and DH seems to be aiming for my sweet spot with new stories like Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder and a new Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson. Plus I’m interested to read the rare Geof Darrow interview – I’ve been trying to talk to him for years! Last up would be Avengers: Children’s Crusade #7 (Marvel, $3.99); Allen Heinberg and Jim Cheung haven’t disappointed me so far, and they’re creatively mixed the needs of this (prolonged) event book with continuing the Young Avengers narrative from their original series.

If I had $30 it’d be a little bit easier on me, as I’d be able to get the Brian Wood two-pack – DMZ #69 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) and Northlanders #44 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99). After that, I’d check out Batman #1 (DC, $2.99), as I’m a big fan of Greg Capullo going back to Quasar and Scott Snyder has been great so far with his previous Bat comics. Last up would be the penultimate issue of X-Men: Schism, #4 (Marvel, $3.99). Although it’s more talking heads than I would have hoped, there’s some big wheels turning here and I’m interested to see how they get to X-Men: Regenesis.

If I could splurge, I’d dust off some 80s-era currency and finally buy New Teen Titans: Games (DC, $24.99). I’ve tried to styme my increased expectations of this, but to see this project finally come out is definitely getting the better of me.

And before I pass it off to the next person, I have to relent: there’s a lot of good titles out this week that because of the Food or Comics budget I wouldn’t be able to get. Chalk it up to “too much of a good thing” or “comics are too damn high”, but at these cut-offs I’d be missing out on Red Wing #3, Avengers #17, Captain America #, Daredevil #4, Invincible Iron Man #508, Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger #2, Uncanny X-Men #543 and by most missed book, Detroit Metal City Vol. 10. *sigh*

Demon Knights #4

DC editor Chris Conroy took over DC’s Twitter feed today, and he’s been sharing concept art, pages and tidbits about some of his books all day. Conroy edits Superboy, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, Legion of Super-Heroes and Demon Knights, and here are a few of the tidbits he’s shared:

–Mike Choi will draw Demon Knights #4 (that’s his cover at the top of the post).
–Walt Simonson will draw Legion of Super-Heroes #5.
–The red-head in Superboy #1 is who most people seem to think it is.
–Cliff Chiang’s original artwork from Wonder Woman will be on display at Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn beginning Sept. 24.
–Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder have “big plans” for when Animal Man and Swamp Thing meet up.

And after the jump you’ll find a whole bunch of art, which I’ll update if he posts more.

*****

Wonder Woman will fight centaurs in the first issue; here’s a concept sketch:

And here’s the design for “a certain Sun god,” which I assume would be Apollo (edit: esp. since his name is right there):

Here’s a page from Swamp Thing #2 by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette:

From Demon Knights #2, by Diogenes Neves:

Superboy #2 splash page by RB Silva:

from Superboy #2

Francis Portela art from Legion:

And here’s a Swamp Thing teaser … who is this kid?

Frankenstein, Agent Of SHADE #1

This week, I count at least five New-52 books picking up pretty much where they left off. Chief among these are Green Lantern and Red Lanterns; followed by Batwoman, which was supposed to come out months ago. Batman and Robin keeps its previously-announced regular creative team, and Legion Lost spins out of the pre-existing Legion of Super-Heroes. Overall I thought this week was pretty strong, but there were a few clunkers, including at least one book which really disappointed.

Just think — after this week, we’re more than halfway done…!

SPOILERS FOLLOW, but not too many.

* * *

In the better-late-than-never department, once I realized I could download Batwing #1 without having to make a special trip to the comics shop — and once I figured the extra $2.99 for the download was basically gas money — I did in fact read the issue online. That’s right, online, with my old wooden eyes. What’s more, I liked it: issue #1 (written by Judd Winick, drawn by Ben Oliver) lays out the real and reasonable differences between David Zavimbe and his American patron, establishing the “Batman of Africa” not just as part of Batman, Incorporated, but of this part of the world’s own superheroic tradition. True, if “superheroes” as DC-Earth understands them are only five years old, maybe it’s not quite the Justice Society. Still, like the Batwoman stories in Detective Comics, this book balances effectively between standing on its own and trading on the larger Bat-mystique.

I hope the theme of Green Lantern’s latest arc (written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Doug Mahnke, inked by Christian Alamy) can be summed up by the statement “your life doesn’t have to be about a job.” It’s not a bad way to approach being a Green Lantern, and it could prove insightful into both Sinestro (as a returning GL) and Hal Jordan (as an ex-GL, once again). That it’s uttered by Carol Ferris, who for decades anchored Hal to Earth (and, by implication, away from every other planet in Sector 2814), may also pay off in a re-examination of their relationship. On its own, this is an efficient (re)introduction to the Johns/Mahnke GL, and while it may not be the most new-reader-friendly, I like where it’s going.

Sticking with the power of concentrated emotions, Red Lanterns #1 (written by Peter Milligan, pencilled by Ed Benes, inked by Rob Hunter) starts off with an almost-absurd sequence featuring sadistic extraterrestrials and a certain fan-favorite RL. If Green Lantern argues there’s more to life than one’s job, Red Lanterns similarly explores the ennui which accompanies too much of the same job. Of course, it does so with over-the-top violence, improbable female choreography — seriously, Benes is probably making excuses for butt-shots at this point, just to see how the Internet reacts — and a certain amount of pathos which borders on emotional manipulation. I liked it more than I thought, but I expected it to be more baldly operatic than it was. Still, any comic which casts Atrocitus as a manager frustrated with himself and his employees has got me for at least a few issues.

In fact, Batman And Robin #1 (written by Peter J. Tomasi, pencilled by Patrick Gleason, inked by Mick Gray) seems more interested in the satirical value of ultra-violence, here personified by Damian “Robin” Wayne. B&R’s big change finds Bruce and his son visiting the site where Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered, one last time, so that Bruce can move on before Crime Alley is finally turned into something other than a grim reminder. There’s more than a little metatext in the Dynamic Duo’s dialogue: as Batman describes the familiar slow rain of pearls, Robin interrupts impatiently — like many readers, he’s heard it all before. Meanwhile, there’s a new villain out to get Batman, Incorporated operatives, and Batman and Robin must stop a trio of outclassed spies from stealing Gotham University’s radioactive widgets. Tomasi’s dialogue tends to be overwritten, but not so much here; and Gleason and Gray continue to do good work.

“Continued good work” is something of an understatement when it comes to Batwoman #1 (written by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman, drawn by Williams), a book which largely lives up to lofty expectations. Williams’ art is lush and expressive, educating the reader on the character’s history through mural-style streams of expository panels. While Greg Rucka’s distinctive, no-nonsense patter is noticeably absent, Williams’ and Blackman’s dialogue makes up for it with a new dynamic: Kate pushing away her dad and putting her once-and-future sidekick (Bette “Flamebird” Kane) through more intense training. It’s a lot to take in, and Williams’ layouts especially reward multiple readings, but new readers should seek out the Batwoman: Elegy collection just on general principles. For the rest of us, who’d been waiting since the spring, Batwoman #1 is well worth it.

I was prepared to like Frankenstein: Agent Of SHADE #1 just on the basis of Jeff Lemire’s Flashpoint-facilitated miniseries. However, when I saw it would be drawn by Alberto Ponticelli, who’d done such earthy, dynamic work on the most recent Unknown Soldier series, it only increased my anticipation. Considering that Unknown Soldier was an all-too-realistic look at the horrors of violence in Africa, it’s crass to say it this way — but Ponticelli brings the same sort of energy to secret headquarters and invading monsters. Although Frankenstein (yes, I know he’s properly “the Monster,” but he’s long since taken his creator’s name) and the Creature Commandos return from the miniseries, Lemire’s script introduces their boss, Father Time, and disapproving scientist Ray Palmer (whose Atom adventures Lemire wrote, pre-relaunch). It feels a lot like Hellboy, but that’s not necessarily bad; and this uncomplicated issue is endearing on its own merits.

The week’s other monsters-as-superheroes book is Demon Knights #1 (written by Paul Cornell, pencilled by Diógenes Neves, inked by Oclair Albert), which also refuses to take itself too seriously. Since last week’s Stormwatch #1 connected itself to this super-team of centuries past, it’s tempting to call this “Justice League Medieval,” but truthfully, it’s a decent tale about the few survivors of Camelot’s fall. We’re introduced initially to Etrigan the Demon, his unwilling host Jason Blood, and Madame Xanadu. By the last page we’ve seen them brought together with the loutish immortal Vandal Savage and the self-styled “Shining Knight,” Sir Ystin, to fight the forces of the wizard Mordru and “the Queen,” who I take to be Morgan Le Fay. All are quite familiar to longtime DC readers, but each has been tweaked at least slightly, so us oldsters will probably have to get acquainted all over again. Etrigan seems particularly unlike his conventional rhyming self, and is a little more chummy to boot, but (without looking at the hardcover on the other bookshelf) this doesn’t exactly fly in the face of Jack Kirby’s original stories. Cornell’s script is more accessible here than Stormwatch’s was; and while I know I’ve seen Neves’ and Albert’s stuff before, I don’t remember it being this crisp. Like Frankenstein, this is a relatively straightforward first issue which has me ready for more.

That brings us to the HardCore! XXTreeme! run of books, and we begin with Deathstroke #1 (written by Kyle Higgins, pencilled by Joe Bennett, inked by Art Thibert). I was not looking forward to reading this, mostly because the character seems pretty far removed from his ‘80s and early-‘90s heyday, and besides the book looked like it would be long on attitude and violence and short on anything appealing. Reading the issue, though, I think that’s only half right. There is a lot of attitude, much of it from Deathstroke but a good bit of it from the cool-kid team of teenaged wannabes with whom he’s paired. It’s their job to be obnoxious, so Deathstroke looks cool by comparison. As for the violence, it’s there right from the decapitations on pages 2 and 3. The story’s self-contained, with a grim twist at the end and a dangling plot thread intended to entice the reader to come back. Although I am curious about the latter, the former didn’t work for me. Like the last page of last week’s Detective Comics, I understand it’s intended to make a point about the character. However, the point it made told me this book is not for me. Deathstroke #1 is not a poorly-constructed issue — Bennett and Thibert are fine storytellers, and Higgins’ script does what it needs to — but I wasn’t sold on this anti-hero.

Neither was I too fond of Suicide Squad #1 (written by Adam Glass, pencilled by Federico Dallocchio, inked by Ransom Getty), whose climactic twist is nothing new. Essentially it introduces the new-and-improved versions of Deadshot, King Shark, Harley Quinn, El Diablo (a somewhat pleasant surprise, I’ll admit), Savant, and Black Spider. However, none of them have particularly redeeming qualities, and since we see them either being tortured, or doing unsavory things in flashbacks, there’s not much pleasant about the book. Just as Deathstroke was originally a villain with understandable, relatable motives, so the ‘80s Squad was run by people who wanted to do right, albeit with hardened supercriminals. This isn’t that. It’s like someone decided the best thing about Secret Six was the gore and the anything-goes amorality, and got rid of everything else.

There’s gore in Grifter #1 too (written by Nathan Edmonson, pencilled by Cafu, inked by Jason Gorder) — an injury-to-the-eye, as the price guides say, right in the first sequence — but at least the main character is reluctant about it. That kind of surprised me, since I am pretty much only familiar with Grifter through his appearance in 1997′s JLA/WildCATS crossover, and he didn’t seem like the “oh God I just killed someone” type there. This issue feels like the first part of an origin story, although when Cole Cash (ha ha, I get it) puts on the mask at the end, it doesn’t look homemade. (I guess he picked it up in that costume shop earlier.) Anyway, the issue has our pal Cole apparently murdering random innocents, although we know (because he knows) that they’re really killer extraterrestrials who tried to assimilate him too. That’s all fine — Edmonson, Cafu, and Gorder do a good job with that part of it. However, the part at the end, where it’s revealed that Cole’s brother is the military guy assigned to bring him in, is where the book’s credibility got stretched a little too far. Yes, I know I am accepting killer body-snatching extraterrestrials, and not brotherly feuds, but the latter was just too coincidental. Still, a minor complaint, and I’ll be back next issue.

The last group of books is more traditional superheroes, starting with the all-new-all-over-again Superboy #1 (written by Scott Lobdell, pencilled by R.B. Silva, inked by Rob Lean). Fans have complained that this is not the same old wisecracking, hunky Kon-El/Conner Kent they came to love, and he isn’t. However, while this Superboy is a pretty standard “detached observer of human behavior,” he’s got a nice self-aware relationship with his surroundings. As part of those surroundings, Superboy revamps two very familiar characters (one from the, shall we say, greater DC family) as the ostensible Boy of Steel’s handlers. Silva’s work is as good as it was on the “Jimmy Olsen” backups in Action Comics, and Lean finishes it well. Although that by itself makes a strong case for sticking with this book, I was very pleasantly surprised that Lobdell’s approach grounded Superboy’s character so well. I didn’t expect to look forward to Superboy #2, but there you go.

It pains me to say that Mister Terrific #1 (written by Eric Wallace, pencilled by Gianluca Gugliotta, inked by Wayne Faucher) tries too hard, but boy does it ever. Page 3 contains the phrase “stepped up their mercenary efforts to weaponize the world,” and it doesn’t get much better from there. This is a book which, yes, tries very hard to be full of nifty ideas and heroically tragic people, but it ends up feeling forced. Plus Mister Terrific is kind of an egotistical jerk, and not even the twist I saw coming midway through the book makes up for that.

Happily, Resurrection Man #1 (written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, drawn by Fernando Dagnino) delivers a tight standalone pilot-episode story. Mitch Shelly gains a new superpower (and reason for using it) every time he dies, which apparently happens pretty frequently. This time it’s magnetism, combined with a cross-country plane trip. Mitch thwarts the villain du jour, but at the cost of you-know-what, and by the time he’s revived, we see a few different agencies — human and otherwise — out to get him. Like I said, pretty tight, and a good introduction to another character I barely got to know the first time.

Finally, we have Legion Lost #1 (written by Fabian Nicieza, drawn by Pete Woods), a title which seems oddly scheduled, since you’d think DC would publish the main Legion book first. I’m a lot more familiar with the Legion than I am with, say, Grifter or Mitch Shelly, but this book dropped me into a fast-moving stream of plot and characters and didn’t let up much. Basically a team of Legionnaires from the 31st Century travel through time chasing a guy who blames all of humanity — fairly or not, we don’t know yet — for the catastrophes in his life, and who’s brought some dread future disease back to our present. Beyond the Legion’s specific appeal, there’s not much to distinguish this title from any other super-team book. Indeed, its premise has been tried a couple of times before, both by sending half the team across the universe and by sending a different set back to our era, and both times it depended on a certain contrast with the regular Legion setup. Thus, without knowing just what the regular Legion setup is, readers themselves might feel a bit lost, as it were. Still, Nicieza and Woods do a good job creating tension with the general ticking-clock setup, and if this were, say, Legion of Super-Heroes #564, I’d feel better about it. Accordingly, Legion Lost suffers primarily because it’s a number-1 issue, and it does nothing to get around the Legion’s stigma of impenetrability (whether or not said stigma is deserved). In other words, as nice-looking as it is, this is a Legion book which is about as accessible as the average person expects a Legion book to be.

Next week: Legion of Super-Heroes (cough), plus Batman, Birds of Prey, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Catwoman, DC Universe Presents, Green Lantern Corps, Legion of Super-Heroes, Nightwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman!

David Macho rolls out his fourth trailer this week for DC Comics’ New 52, this time spotlighting Legion of Super-Heroes #1, by Paul Levitz and Francis Portela, one of two relaunch titles starring the teenagers from the future (the other is Legion Lost by Facian Nicieza and Pete Woods).

The Legion of Super-Heroes has been decimated by the worst disaster in its history. Now, the students of the Legion Academy must rise to the challenge of helping the team rebuild – but a threat of almost unstoppable power is rising at the edge of Dominator space, and if the new recruits fail, the Legion Espionage Squad may be the first casualties in a war that could split worlds in half!

Legion of Super-Heroes #1, which boasts a cover by Karl Kerschl, arrives on Sept. 21.

Supergirl by Mahmud Asrar

And again, the #52splash hash tag on Twitter remains active, as more artists post more art from DC’s relaunched September titles (and beyond, in some cases). I’ll start with some that came in last night, and add more throughout the day when I get a chance.

*****

Legion of Super-Heroes

Aquaman

Red Hood and the Outlaws

from Teen Titans #2

Batman's Gotham City

Legion Lost by Pete Woods

New Guardians by Tyler Kirkham

from Nightwing #2 by Eddy Barrows and Paulo Siqueira

Swamp Thing

Supergirl

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

As we’re heading towards the middle of August, it’s no surprise that curiosity is getting me to pick up more than a few DC books just see how particular series “end;” I’d be getting Justice League of America #60 and Legion of Super-Heroes #16 (both DC, $2.99) anyway, because I’ve been following those series for awhile, but I’m likely to add Batman #713 (DC, $2.99) to the pile as well, if only to see the explanation as to why Dick quits being Batman before the big relaunch. But it’s not all endings for me with my $15 this week; I’d also make a point of grabbing Daredevil #2 (Marvel, $2.99), because the first issue was just breathtakingly good, and the series became a must-read before I’d even reached the last page.

If I had $30 this week, I’d add to my list of DC final issues with Supergirl #67 (DC, $2.99), which Kelly Sue DeConnick has talked up in interviews as being the highpoint of her short run to date and a great capper to the series as a whole. I’d also check in with the third issue of David Hahn’s All Nighter (Image, $2.99), as well as see if Nick Spencer’s Iron Man 2.0 is worth a look with the mini-collection of the first three issues, Iron Man 2.0: Modern Warfare (Marvel, $4.99).

Splurging this week is tough. On the one hand, there’s the hardcover Secret Society of Super-Villains (DC, $39.99), but there’s also the We3 Deluxe Edition with brand new story pages (DC, $24.99) and also a rescheduled release for the Alex Toth book Setting The Standard (Fantagraphics, $39.99). Any one would be good comics, but I’m probably going to plump for the SSoSV. What can I say? Read something as an impressionable pre-teen and it stays with you…

Brigid Alverson

Elephantmen, Book 2: Fatal Diseases

If I had $15, I’d borrow a dollar (or, more precisely, 98 cents) so I can afford my top two picks: vol. 16 of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys ($12.99), possibly the most awesome manga ever, and Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #4 ($2.99), continuing the charming and action-packed saga of a school for super villains.

If I had $30, well, call me fickle but I think I’d hold off on 20th Century Boys until next week and pick up the Elephantmen, Book 2: Fatal Diseases ($24.99) instead. I’m still reading the first volume, but I’m intrigued by this quirky comic.

Splurge: The Smurfs book from Abrams looks tempting (I can’t believe I just said that!), but my love of all things retro is going to lead me to Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising ($29.99) from Fantagraphics instead. And if my splurge could extend to one more book, it would be the seventh volume of the Library of American Comics collection of Little Orphan Annie, a steal at $49.99.

Chris Arrant

Daredevil #2

If I had $15, I’d carve off half of it to get the awesome line-up inside DC Comics Presents Teen Titans #1 (DC, $7.99). Seriously, Bob Haney, Mike Allred and Jay Stephens? They seem ideal candidates for DC’s Retroactive titles; hell, I’d love to see them mastermind more. Next up I would get my two long-term serials, DMZ #68 (DC, $2.99) and Walking Dead #88 (Image, $2.99); both are bleak as hell, but they offer some redeeming qualities in their humanity.

If I had $30, I’d double-back and get a trio of Marvel titles: Avengers #16 (Marvel, $3.99), Daredevil #2 (Marvel, $2.99) and X-Men Schism #3 (Marvel, $3.99). I’m particularly interested in Daredevil #2 to see what Waid, Rivera and Martin continue to do on this; can they keep being as good as #1? Last up I’d get the Image one-shot Deadlands: Death Was Silent (Image, $2.99). I have some serious admiration for Bart Sears, and this is the latest in an all-too-rare fix for that.

If I had a chance to splurge, I’d get the long-delayed 99 Days (DC/Vertigo Crime, $19.99). Writer Mateo Casali and artist Kristian Donaldson are two up-and-comers, and I’m anxious to see more of them. I’ve read the story solicitation but couldn’t tell you what it’s about; I’m buying this strictly for the creators involved.

Michael May

Mr. Murder is Dead

If I had $15, I’d start with Supergirl #67 ($2.99) to finish the fun story Kelly Sue DeConnick’s been telling there. I’d also grab the latest Deadlands one-shot, Death Was Silent ($2.99) by Ron Marz and Bart Sears, as well as Heap #1 ($3.99), because if there’s anything cooler than comics about swamp creatures, it’s comics about Nazi-fighting swamp creatures. To round off the ticket, I’d grab Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero ($3.99) based on Graeme’s recommendation.

If I had $30, I’d put back Soldier Zero for another day and use that money toward Mr. Murder is Dead ($19.95). Artist Brent Schoonover is a friend of mine, but don’t hold that against him. He’s a fantastic artist and the perfect one for this whodunit homage to Golden Age comic strips. And since it’s from Archaia, you know the package is going to be beautiful too.

I have way too many splurge items this week, from the latest volume of B.P.R.D. ($19.99) to the special editions of We3 ($24.99) and Elephantmen Vol. 2 ($24.99). But if I had to pick one thing it would be Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan ($39.99) for the same reason that Graeme’s getting The Secret Society of Super-Villains: ten-year-old me couldn’t get enough of that stuff.

JK Parkin

X-Men Schism #3

I guess I’m the opposite of Graeme in that, with the exception of the titles I was already reading, I find myself less intrigued by what DC is doing this month as storylines are wrapped up in preparation for the relaunch in September. So this week I find myself DCU-less, though there are a couple of Vertigo books I’m considering. In any event, I do know four books I am eagerly awaiting for Wednesday — Captain America #2 ($3.99), Butcher Baker Candlestickmaker #2 ($3.99), Daredevil #2 ($2.99) and X-Men Schism #3 ($3.99). As a longtime fan of Ed Brubaker’s run on Cap, as well as The Boys, those first two were easy. And like Chris and Graeme noted, Daredevil #1 was pretty great, so I’m looking forward to the next issue. Schism actually kinda surprised me; over the last few years I’ve bought the big X-events as trades, usually well after they were over and at a decent discount. I’m an old-school X-Men fan, but in recent years my interest has waned. I ended up downloading the first issue of Schism via Marvel’s iPad app (as it was available on the same day it hit shops) and was really impressed with it.

That eats up my first $15, so if I had $30, I’d also get the weirdest Fear Itself tie-in and possibly one of the weirdest Marvel titles I’ve read in awhile, Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #3 ($2.99). It features Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Nighthawk, She-Hulk, Frankenstein and like 10 different artists doing the art. Well, not really, but so far it’s featured artwork by Ryan Bodenheim (more or less the regular artist, or at least the guy who has drawn most of it so far), Michael Kaluta (he’s also doing the covers), friggin’ Simon Bisley, and this issue will feature Flint Henry. But wait! There’s more — it’ll also include the New Fantastic Four (Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hulk and Ghost Rider) plus the Psycho-Man! It’s been part crazy throw-in-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink fun, part train wreck, but I’m reluctant to look away at this point.

Wow, I kind of went long there, so I’ll be quick and say I’d round out my week with Fables #108 ($2.99), Walking Dead #88 ($2.99) and Avengers #16 ($3.99). And finally, for my splurge, I would probably also go with 99 Days ($19.99).

Spera, Volume 1

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, “Jeff Lemire’s Frankenstein 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

The Grave Doug Freshley – A lot of publishers are doing Weird Western comics lately and that’s just fine with me.

Spera, Volume 1 – I like the sound of this fairy tale in which a couple of princesses combine efforts to save their kingdoms. It’s not that I’m anti-prince, but that’s a cool, new way to do that story.

Avatar

Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates of Cindery Island – Warren Ellis doing Steampunk sounds thrilling, but really all they had to say was “pirates.” I bet this is still really good though, even if you’re pickier than I am.

Boom!

Roger Langridge’s Snarked #1 – After a well-loved zero-issue, Langridge’s version of Wonderland gets its real, official start.

The Huntress #1

Dark Horse

Turok, Son of Stone, Volume 1: Aztlan – I never read any of the Valiant stuff, nor the original comics they were based on, but having rediscovered my interest in dinosaurs in the last few years, I gave the first issue of this a shot and enjoyed it.

DC

The Huntress #1 – How’s Levitz doing with his new Legion stuff? Can he still write? DC finally rebooted the Legion enough times to pound the fandom right out of me, so I haven’t been keeping up. I’m always curious about the Huntress though, because she seems like a character with a ton of potential. I’m drowning in the hype in this solicit (“Hot new miniseries!” “Largest price on her head in DC Universe history!” “Jaw-dropping events!” “Defines her life!” “Tie-in to upcoming Birds of Prey!”), but I’d like to read a good Huntress story and am hoping this qualifies.

The Shade #1 – This is probably as close as we’re going to get to a new James Robinson Starman series, but you know what? It’s really damn close. And it’s got some amazing artists scheduled for it like Darwyn Cooke, Javier Pulido, Jill Thompson, Frazer Irving, and Gene Ha.

Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus, Volume 1 tpb – Hey! Cheapskate edition! I hadn’t even dared to hope.

Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 5 – I was getting all excited about the Tales of the Batman: Don Newton collection also coming out this month and was about to write something about how much I love Bronze Age Batman. Then I realized that that’s what this collects too, only cheaper and it’s slightly earlier stuff. Still, that Newton volume is in color, so I’ll probably want both books.

The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12 – Do you know what I like better than a Batman/Zatanna team-up? I don’t either.

Hark! A Vagrant

The Annotated Sandman, Volume 1 - Dammit, DC. You’re going to make me buy this again, aren’t you?

Drawn and Quarterly

Hark! A Vagrant – If I could only buy one thing this month, Kate Beaton’s collection would be it. I cannot wait to start loaning this out and sharing her stuff with my friends and family who don’t read webcomics.

Dynamite

Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris, Volume 1 – Colossus of Mars – Unlike the glut of Green Hornet comics, there seem to be solid reasons for each of Dynamite’s John Carter series to exist side-by-side. I’m eager to hear what Burroughs fans think of this one.

Sherlock Holmes: Year One – Ditto this and Holmes fans. Is it closer in tone to A Study in Scarlet or Young Sherlock Holmes?

First Second

Orcs, Volume 1: Forged for War - Orcs are my least-favorite Tolkien/D&D mythical race, but I trust First Second to change my mind about that. Dwarves better watch their backs if they don’t want to get bumped to the bottom of the list.

Humanoids

The Zombies That Ate the World, Volume 1: Bring Me Back My Head! – My Guy Davis collection is one step closer to being complete.

IDW

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #1 – In spite of what I said about my Legion fandom earlier, this really does sound cool. Then again, I’m the guy who liked the Star Trek/X-Men crossovers.

Legion of Monsters #1

30 Days of Night #1 – Very excited about a 30 Days of Night ongoing. This means I probably need to catch up on the last couple of mini-series though.

Cold War #1 – Yes, I do believe I could get into a John Byrne spy series.

Bloom County: The Complete Library, Volume 5 – Eep! I’m falling behind!

Kill Shakespeare, Volume 2: The Blast of War - The massive Fables-meets-the-Bard mini-series is all collected finally. Which means I get to read it now.

Marvel

Avengers 1959 #1 and 2 – See what I said about John Byrne’s Cold War, substitute Howard Chaykin for Byrne; add Namora and Kraven the Hunter.

Legion of Monsters #1 – Someone started a meme a while ago about what titles you’d want in a Marvel version of DC’s New 52. I’ve been giving that some thought and a couple of my wishes were a  comic about all of Marvel’s monster characters and another about Elsa Bloodstone. Marvel’s apparently reading my mind.

Moonstone

Return of the Monsters – I’m already pretty interested in Moonstone’s pulp characters: Black Bat, Phantom Detective, Domino Lady, and the Spider. But I’m hooked right through the cheek when they meet Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, a mummy, and a werewolf in a series of four, separate comics.

Airboy Presents The Airfighters - I’m a little confused about whether this has already been solicited before, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I haven’t read it yet and I want to.

Nordguard

NBM

Salvatore, Volume 2: An Eventful Crossfire – I do love a good anthropomorphic animal story. Blame Blacksad.

Scar

Madame Samurai, Volume 2 – The first volume of this was quiet and beautiful. Glad there’s a second.

Sofawolf

Nordguard – The blurb for this reads like a standard Northern adventure story about a team of sled dogs who have to brave a variety of dangers to save some miners. I dig Jack London and all, but I’ve seen that story before, usually on Disney. Then I looked at the cover and realized that the sled dogs are wearing parkas and carrying revolvers.

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

from Flashpoint #4

Publishing | Popular comic-book guest star President Barack Obama will make a brief appearance in this week’s Flashpoint #4. DC Comics Executive Editor Eddie Berganza told USA Today that the inclusion of the actual President, rather than a fictional counterpart, signals that the danger is real — something that will get pushed as the publisher prepares for the September relaunch. [USA Today]

Publishing | Fantagraphics announced the lineup for the first volume of its EC archives series, which will collect Harvey Kurtzman’s war stories. [Fantagraphics blog]

Conventions | More than 31,000 anime and manga enthusiasts flocked to Baltimore over the weekend for Otakon, one of the biggest fan-oriented anime conventions. There were a few anime and manga licenses announced, but mainly it was a meet-and-greet for fans and publishers. [Anime News Network]

Creators | io9 chatted with Walt Simonson at the Comic-Con International about his legendary Thor run, from Frog Thor to designing Beta Ray Bill’s head: “Before I ever talked about Bill’s design, nobody ever said, ‘Bill’s a horse.’ Back in the day, nobody knew. I did this for two reasons. One, the monster quality –- in many cultures, skulls are an emblem of death. At the same time, Bill’s head is very roughly based on a horse’s skull. I was a geology student when I was younger, and I was familiar with skulls. Skulls have this quality of horror, but at the same time, horses are beautiful animals. The skull is the structure under the skin that gives the horse its look. In a way, the skull was representative of Bill’s true nature.” [io9]

Word War Hulk #1

Creators | Incredible Hulk writer Greg Pak reflects on his 10 favorite moments from his five-year run on the title. [MTV Geek]

Creators | The Apocalipstix writer Ray Fawkes discusses his latest Oni graphic novel One Soul. [The Star]

Creators | Creator Brian Ralph talks about the collected edition of Daybreak. [Giant Robot]

Creators | Chris Roberson talks about the upcoming Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes crossover he’s writing for IDW: “When I was nine years old, there was nothing that commanded my attention more than Star Trek and the LSH, and the years since haven’t dampened my enthusiasm. This project is SO much in my wheelhouse that, when Chris Ryall first approached me about it a few months ago, I simply assumed that it was a prank that one of my friends was playing on me. It wasn’t until I was in a meeting with IDW CEO Ted Adams about another project, and asked him point blank, ‘This Star Trek/Legion thing is a prank, right?’ that I was finally convinced that it was really happening.” [ComicsAlliance]

Creators | Blankets creator Craig Thompson shares some youthful scribblings from a 70-foot-long scroll comic he did as a kid. [Doot Doot Garden Blog]

• Announcements at the Marvel panel included Jeff Parker and Patrick Zircher’s Hulk of Arabia arc, a new Deadpool arc, an Avengers Academy recruitment drive and Villains for Hire, a new spin on the Heroes for Hire concept. Also in the works: A series of Avengers Origins one-shots.

• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is coming back in November; the new comics will be written by Nick Spencer and drawn by Wes Craig.

• At the Marvel Digital panel, Marvel senior vice president of publishing David Gabriel announced that Marvel will begin simultaneous print and digital release of its Spider-Man and X-Men comics, starting next week with Amazing Spider-Man #666 and Spider Island line.

• DC released art for several of their New 52 comics. They also revealed Lois Lane’s new boyfriend.

• At the Vertigo panel, Executive Editor Karen Berger announced a new graphic novel called Marzi that would ba marketed to both young and old readers. She also said that Vertigo will launch a new Halloween anthology in October and a totally new series later this year.

• Writer Tim Seely (Hack/Slash) and artist Victor Drujiniu will collaborate on a four-issue The Occultist miniseries for Dark Horse.

• Following up on yesterday’s announcement of a Wally Wood collection, IDW announced John Romita, Sr.’s Amazing Spider-Man: Artist’s Edition. Also, IDW also announced that it is teaming up with DC to create the crossover Star Trek/Legion of Superheroes. Chris Roberson will write the comic, which will be published by IDW.

• In one of Riverdale’s unlikelier pairings, the Archie gang will meet KISS. Archie Comics and IDW share the KISS license now; IDW’s KISS series will launch next year.

• Drawn & Quarterly announced Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City, the latest in cartoonist Guy Delisle’s graphic memoirs-slash-travelogues.

• Van Jensen and Dusty Higgins announced a third volume of Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer.

• Anime Diet liveblogged the Stan Lee/Yoshiki and “Manga: Lost in Translation” panels.

• The Japanese publisher Square Enix is offering a free first volume of any of its 15 online manga, including Fullmetal Alchemist and Black Butler, for con-goers and Facebook fans, through August 10.

• Director Robert Rodriguez said he is still working with Frank Miller on the script for a Sin City 2 movie, but he plans to make it this year.

• Hugh Jackman confirmed that he will fight the Silver Samurai in Fox’s The Wolverine.

Green Lantern #1, by Dave Johnson

Although it seems like DC’s big relaunch announcement came out an eternity ago, it actually took the publisher less than two weeks to roll out the 52 titles and their creative teams for the big relaunch/reboot/overhaul coming in September. Now that the cats are out of their respective bags, I thought I’d see where various creators and characters will land after the reboot.

So I went back through DC’s August solicitations to see who was writing or drawing what, and tried to map everyone to their post-relaunch project — if they had one. However, looking at DC’s August solicitations, there seem to be several fill-in issues, so where appropriate I tried to map the most recent ongoing creative teams to their new projects (for instance, I consider Gail Simone and Jesus Saiz the regular creative team for Birds of Prey, even if they aren’t doing the last two issues before September hits). Keep in mind that I just went through the ongoing series and skipped over all the miniseries … of which there are a lot, what with Flashpoint winding up in August.

It’s also worth noting that although several creators didn’t appear in the “big 52″ announcements, that doesn’t mean their tenure with DC is necessarily over — some, like Frazer Irving, have said they have future projects that haven’t been announced. So I tried to note where creators have talked publicly about their post-relaunch plans with DC (or lack thereof, as the case may be). The same could probably be said for some of DC’s characters as well. Or, as Gail Simone said on Twitter: “Again, September is NOT THE END. There’s still plans for characters that we haven’t seen yet.”

So let’s get to it ….

Green Lantern titles: There is no Green Lantern title in August. July’s issue, #67, wraps up “War of the Green Lanterns” and is by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke and Christiam Almy — the same guys working on Green Lantern #1. Green Lantern Corps #63 is by Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham, while Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #13 is by Peter J. Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin. The latter creative team takes over Green Lantern Corps in September, while the former moves to Green Lantern: New Guardians. As Sean Collins pointed out last week, not a lot of change here in terms of creative teams, although the GL books do have a new sister book in the previously announced Red Lanterns title by Peter Milligan and Ed Benes.

Booster Gold: Looks like issue #47 is the last one, which ties into Flashpoint. Dan Jurgens is writing Justice League International #1, starring Booster Gold, with artist Aaron Lopresti. And Jurgens is drawing the J.T. Krul-written Green Arrow.

Justice League of America: The book will drop “of America” from the title in September, as Geoff Johns and Jim Lee take over the series from James Robinson and … I guess the last regular artist was Brett Booth? Booth moves to Teen Titans, while James Robinson doesn’t appear anywhere on the big list of 52 titles. Which is … odd.

Between this, GL and Aquaman (with artist Ivan Reis), DC Chief Creative Officer Johns is tied with Teen Titans/Red Hood and the Outlaws/Superboy scribe Scott Lobdell for writing the most titles for DC come September.

Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #1

Superman titles: Lots of changes here … Paul Cornell and Kenneth Rocafort wrap up the “Reign of the Doomsdays” storyline in Action Comics in September. Cornell moves on to Stormwatch and Demon Knights, while Rocafort moves to Red Hood and the Outlaws. The book’s previous artist, Pete Woods, is on Legion Lost. Meanwhile, Grant Morrison and Rags Morales take over Action Comics.

The “Grounded” storyline in Superman ends with August’s issue #714, by J. Michael Straczynski, Chris Roberson, Allan Goldman and Eber Ferreira. Straczynski’s not tapped to write any of the September titles, which isn’t surprising, based on the fact that he stepped away from monthly comics to work on the sequel to Superman: Earth One — another question entirely. In any event, the man they brought on to finish up “Grounded,” Roberson, isn’t on the list either. Roberson tweeted last week, “I’ve laid off alcohol & nicotine after Heroes, but I’m treating myself to a cigarette and beer, marking the end of my brief stay in the DCU.” He’s still writing iZombie for Vertigo. Goldman also isn’t on the list, while the book’s regular artist, Eddy Barrows, moves to Nightwing. George Pérez and Jesus Merino relaunch the the book in September as Superman: The Man of Tomorrow.

Two issues of Superboy arrive in August, by Jeff Lemire and a trio of artists. Lemire moves on from the title and will be writing Frankenstein and Animal Man in September, while Lobdell takes over writing Superboy with artist R.B. Silva. Artist Pier Gallo doesn’t appear to be doing anything for DC in September.

Supergirl‘s final creative team before the reboot, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Chriscross, aren’t working on any of the September books, although DeConnick did note that she was approached to pitch to them.

Most recently Superman/Batman has featured the work of Cullen Bunn and Chriscross, neither of whom appears on the big list o’ 52, with Joshua Hale Fialkov’s three-parter appearing in the final issues this summer. Fialkov will be writing I, Vampire in September.

The Bat-titles: Batman Incorporated goes on hiatus after August, but DC has announced that it will be back as a maxi-series next year. Morrison, as noted above, goes to Action Comics. The Bat titles themselves stay fairly consistent — Tony Daniel will continue to write and draw one of them as he moves from Batman to Detective Comics; writer Scott Snyder moves from Detective Comics to work with former Spawn artist Greg Capullo on Batman; and David Finch will continue to write Batman: The Dark Knight (a series he once drew as well) for artist Jay Fabok, who is slated to take over art chores with July’s pre-relaunch-resolicited issue #4. The only creators from those books pre-relaunch who don’t appear on the big list of 52 books are Jock and Francesco Francavilla, although Jock is apparently still doing Batman-related covers, while Francavilla will do “special fill-ins” for Snyder’s other writing project, Swamp Thing. Daniel has another project as well — The Savage Hawkman, with artist Phillip Tan.

Batman & Robin

Tomasi is also listed as the writer for Batman & Robin, a book he was announced as the regular writer for after Morrison left. However, since then the book has actually been written by several folks, including Judd Winick, David Hine and Cornell. Hine’s name doesn’t appear on the relaunch list. Winick and artist Guillem March, who worked together on B&R, will team up on Catwoman in September. Winick is also writing Batwing with Ben Oliver on art.

The last few issues of Batgirl have been by Bryan Q. Miller and Dustin Nguyen, while Pere Pérez is the artist for the last three issues before the relaunch. None of them are listed as creators on the 52 titles in September. In responding to a question on Twitter, Bryan Q. Miller said: “RT Anything new on the horizon for you at DC? @TreyKrimsin Maybe – but nothing in any way immediate.” The new Batgirl creative team is Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes, with Barbara Gordon stepping back into the costume.

Red Robin ends in August with an issue that has Tim going after his dad’s killer, Captain Boomerang, since CB is back from the dead. Writer Fabian Niceiza is working on Legion Lost in September. The artist for the last arc, Marcus To, isn’t doing anything in September, while the book’s previous artist, Freddie Williams, is working on Captain Atom with Krul. Red Robin will appear in Teen Titans come September.

The characters from Gotham City Sirens — Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn — seem to have scattered into the wind; Catwoman has her own book in September, while Poison Ivy appears to be in Birds of Prey and Harley Quinn is heading to the Suicide Squad. Creators Peter Calloway and Andres Guinaldo aren’t on any books in September.

Birds of Prey #1

And speaking of Birds of Prey, Simone’s last issue is #13, as the July and August installments are by writer Marc Andreyko and Billy Tucci — neither of whom is working on September’s books. Simone will move on to Batgirl, as noted above, as well as Firestorm, which she’s co-writing with Ethan Van Sciver. Jesus Saiz, who took a break from the book after issue #13, returns to BoP for the relaunch in September.

So what happens to Batman Beyond? Honestly, I’m not sure. It isn’t listed as one of the 52 titles, but CBR’s interview with Adam Beechen last week seemed to indicate the book isn’t going away:

I do know what our next arc is going to be, but I can’t talk about it yet. I’m in the process of plotting it out, and I even know what the next arc after that will be as well as our next “Legends of the Dark Knight” issue. We’re in a pretty good place about what’s ahead of us, and if all goes according to plan, we’re pretty well set for the next bit of time. And we’re going to keep the team intact as long as we can and keep trying to crank out good stuff.

It’s worth noting that there’s also a Superman Beyond #0 in August; it’s listed as a one-shot, but c’mon, a zero issue in August? How can there not be a first issue in its future?

Wonder Woman: The somewhat-controversial “Odyssey” arc, which put Wonder Woman in pants, wraps up in August by Straczynski, Phil Hester, Don Kramer and Wayne Faucher. None of these four is listed as a creator on any of September’s books. Wonder Woman #1 will be by Doctor 13: Architecture & Morality collaborators Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang.

Hester was brought onto the book at the same time Roberson came onto Superman, when Straczynski decided to step away from monthly comics. And while neither of them appears to be doing anything in September, Hester said on Twitter that “there are a lot of moving parts here,” and “So much in motion right now, but it is appreciated” when fans asked about his involvement, or lack thereof.

Adventure Comics and Legion of Super-Heroes: Paul Levitz will continue to chronicle the tales of the Legion, while Fabian Nicieza will write a Legion Lost series. Adventure appears to be gone. As for Adventure artist Phil Jimenez, a DC-exclusive creator, he tweeted, “Hey, comic readers — thanks for all the inquiries! I’m not a part of the big DCU relaunch, but I’ve got a few cool tricks up my sleeve!” followed by “Fun stuff! Hopefully announced by SDCC!” And artist Yildiray Cinar is working on the previously mentioned Firestorm book, as Francis Portela takes over Legion of Super-Heroes.

All-Star Western

Jonah Hex: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey will continue to tell the tales of the ugliest bounty hunter in the west in All-Star Western. They’re joined by artist Moritat.

Green Arrow: J.T. Krul will continue to write Green Arrow, joined by artist Dan Jurgens. Artist Diogenes Neves moves to Demon Knights, written by Cornell.

Secret Six: Simone has confirmed that issue #36 is indeed the last, as the characters Deadshot and King Shark move on to the new Suicide Squad book. Artist J. Calafiore is not listed as working on any of the 52 titles.

Zatanna: According to Paul Dini on his LiveJournal: “A few folks have asked me about the future of the Zatanna book at DC. I don’t know what plans DC has for it after this August, though I can confirm my last issue is the current one, #13.” Issue #13 came out in May. Solicitations for issues #14 and #15 list Dini as the writer, while Beechen is listed as the writer for August’s issue #16. So … I’m not sure what that means.

Responding to a question about the relaunch, Zatanna artist Jamal Igle tweeted, “I wasn’t invited to participate.” The character will appear in Justice League Dark.

Justice Society and Power Girl: I guess this explains why the description for the new Mister Terrific title didn’t reference the Justice Society. Apparently issue #54, by Marc Guggenheim and Jerry Ordway, will be the last. Neither Guggenheim nor Ordway was listed as working on any of the 52 titles, although artist Tom Derenick, who drew the recent issues #51-53, will team with Ivan Brandon on Sgt. Rock and the Men of War.

Power Girl, meanwhile, ends with August’s #27 by Matthew Sturges and Hendry Prasetya, neither of whom is listed as working on any of the 52 titles. The series’ previous writer, Winick, is working on Batwing and Catwoman, as noted above, while artist Sami Basri is working on Voodoo with Ron Marz.

Honestly, I was half-expecting a round of Justice Society titles to be announced at some point — Justice Society, Power Girl, maybe Star Girl or Starman. Maybe they’ll be tapped as mid-season replacements? On the other hand, the description of the Morrison/Morales Action Comics relaunch offered by DC’s The Source blog — “This momentous first issue will set in motion the history of the DC Universe as Superman defends a world that doesn’t trust their first Super Hero” — would appear to preclude the existence of a team full of World War II-era heroes that predates Superman’s generation.

Teen Titans

Teen Titans and Titans: Teen Titans writer J.T. Krul is penning two books come September, Captain Atom and Green Arrow. But I’m not seeing Nicola Scott or Doug Hazlewood on anything, though. That can’t be right; someone at DC get on that, stat.

Titans writer Eric Wallace is working on Mister Terrific; Fabrizio Fiorentino isn’t on anything. Deathstroke gets his own title in September, while Arsenal will join Red Hood and Starfire in Red Hood and the Outlaws.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: I was kind of wondering about the long-term future of this one even before the reboot. Which is too bad, as it’s also one I really enjoyed. Writer Nick Spencer is exclusive to Marvel now, so his name wouldn’t be on any other DC book, while the regular art team of Cafu and BIT will work on Grifter. Recent issues have featured art by Mike Grell and Nick Dragotta, who aren’t listed on any of September’s books.

Xombi: With John Rozum working on the new Static Shock series, I would have assumed that was it for Xombi. But someone asked about it on his blog, and he responded: “… I still can’t comment one way or another. Check back periodically, but in the meantime, please take a few minutes to write a letter to the powers that be at DC about what you think about Xombi and send it to them via snail mail. It has an impact. It’s what led to the current run of Xombi in the first place.”

At the very least, maybe they’d let Rozum and artist Frazer Irving wrap up the series in the new anthology title. Speaking of Irving, he tweeted: “For all interested parties, I do have a post-relaunch DC gig but it’s a secret at the mo And Gutsville still needs finishing…” More Gutsville is a plus for sure.

Flash: Flash‘s current run ended in May with issue #12 by Johns and Francis Manapul. The title will return in September sans Johns and with Manapul and Brian Buccellato sharing art and writing duties.

So there you have it, DC’s September books through the filter of their previous line-ups … and I still didn’t hit every single book that’ll come out in September. And based on some of the comments from various creators about additional projects beyond the 52, now I’d just really like to see what DC’s October looks like …

In the meantime, what September books are you going to get? Head over to CBR and take the survey!

Any Empire

Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading? This week our special guest is Robert Stanley Martin.

Robert writes for his blog Pol Culture, and is a contributing writer to The Hooded Utilitarian. He is a past contributor to The Comics Journal, and his essays on R. Crumb’s The Book of Genesis Illustrated and Eddie Campbell’s Alec: The Years Have Pants are featured in the soon-to-be-released The Comics Journal #301.

To see what Robert and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click on through …

*****

Great Darkness Saga

Tom Bondurant

This week, some unplanned, unexpected free time gave me the opportunity to read the new edition of Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga. Now, I have been an on-again, off-again Legion fan throughout the years, reading the book sporadically in the ’70s and ’80s, and pretty steadily in the ’90s, and am slowly catching up with the original stories via Showcase Presents. I read “GDS” originally in its 1989 paperback edition, which reprinted only the particular issues themselves (#s 290-94) and the epilogue revealing Darkseid’s subtle revenge. I thought it was a good adventure story, and certainly a good blend of the Legion with the Fourth World. The new hardcover reprints a lot more material — issues #284-96, plus Annual #1 — but that pushes “GDS” itself into the last half of the book, with not a lot of buildup in the first half. Thus, as I was reading, I kept wondering what Chameleon Boy’s mission to Khundia, Princess Projectra’s political intrigue, or the new Invisible Kid, had to do with the fireworks to come. The answer, I think, is “not a lot,” at least in story terms. Those plots and subplots are, at most, background for where we find those characters in “GDS.” Perhaps more importantly, though, the non-”GDS” issues seem like a pretty good sample of early-’80s Legion comics: multiple interweaving plots, the needs of a huge cast (and some significant supporting characters), and of course healthy doses of superhero space opera. Overall I think the collection works pretty well, as long as you don’t expect to see the Fourth Worlders too early on.

Since it was the first week of the Flashpoint onslaught, naturally I picked up FP #2, plus the first issues of Batman: Knight of Vengeance and Secret Seven. Honestly, I could see B:KOV working just as well as a garden-variety Elseworlds, at least at this point. It’s as moody as you’d expect from Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, although the Thomas Wayne here is a lot more beefy (and Miller/Janson-esque) than the one in FP Proper. It’s also about what you’d expect from a Batman Elseworlds: familiar faces in unfamiliar roles, including the Penguin working for Wayne Casinos and Gordon as the Alfred-esque confidant. It’s pretty violent, too: there’s some cannibalism, and an injury-to-the-eye scene just for good measure. Otherwise, it’s a pretty noirish, entertaining Batman story.

Secret Seven

Secret Seven I am less enthused about, which is too bad, because I am a fan of both Peter Milligan and George Perez. To put it bluntly, I don’t think Perez is entirely right for this material — which, again, is too bad, because if he had channeled some of the old post-psychedelia ’70s mojo, he could really have done something special with it. The story doesn’t help much, though: Rac Shade, disgraced leader of “the Seven,” gets called home to an alternate dimension where he’s alternately tortured and debriefed. This is where all the psychedelia comes in (or, more accurately, could have been amplified.) Meanwhile, June Moone, the Enchantress, is out in the real world looking for him. Fernando Blanco takes over the art for the book’s last few pages, and inker Scott Koblish ties together his work with Perez’s to make everything flow together, but it’s a lot of setup without much payoff. I’ll probably end up getting the whole thing, and I think there’s some potential here; but it doesn’t thrill me like I thought it would.

On the other hand, Secret Six was the start of what may be Gail Simone’s farewell tour/victory lap on this book. It’s an extended epilogue to the team’s adventures in Hell, starting with the fate of Scandal’s exotic-dancer girlfriend (and the creep who abducted her) and ending with Bane going on a very weird (but apparently very fulfilling) first date. Ultimately, everyone affirms everyone else, and the team generally; and it’s about as feel-good as this book gets. I know Simone’s not going to be on Birds Of Prey past August, and I hadn’t heard anything about this title — but if these are her last few issues, I’m going to miss her a lot.

Oh, and Flashpoint #2 was decent — perhaps not as good on its own as issue #1, because it spent a lot of time with Wonder Woman, Deathstroke, and Aquaman, sailing the death-choked seas of the commingled Mediterranean/North Atlantic. Each of those characters gets his or her own character moment, with Deathstroke perhaps being
the most sympathetic. Wonder Woman and Aquaman are basically introduced to show how hardcore they are, which I suppose serves to put a couple of scowly faces on the carnage described in issue #1 (and, here, in a stark two-page spread of the wrecked Eiffel Tower). Back with Batman and Barry, the discussion centers around restoring Barry’s speed, and — SPOILER ALERT — that turns out to be the cliffhanger for this issue. I hope this miniseries picks up the pace with subsequent issues, or issue #5 is going to feel pretty cramped.

Finally, I thought the Dwayne McDuffie tribute issue of Static Shock was quite good, and obviously very heartfelt. There’s a story about Static dealing with loss, but there’s also a more pointed commentary on McDuffie himself, saying point-blank that the people who held him back in life now get to eulogize him. Not to worry, though, Static and Rocket tell McDuffie — now he’s a legend, like them.

Brigid Alverson

It’s hard to imagine a book that could make me happier than Craig Yoe’s Archie: A Celebration of America’s Favorite Teenagers, not just because I love Archie comics but also because Yoe is a genius for finding odd little tidbits and bits of ephemera that relate to whatever comic he is writing about. So not only do we get the history of the company, biographies of the three principals, character overviews, and a generous selection of full-length comics, both old and new, we also get to see unpublished work by Bob Montana and Dan DeCarlo, a photo of Elvis reading an Archie comic, and even a photo-comic from a girlie magazine (published by an affiliated company, MLJ Magazines) in which a model visits a comics studio‹starring real members of the Archie staff. It’s like he went rummaging around in Archie’s attic and put all the cool stuff he found on display.

Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #1

This week, I read the first two issues of Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors, which is an all-ages comic about a school for super villains. I felt it was pretty well done, with the all the usual aspects of school‹tough teachers, gym class, crushes, bullying‹nicely handled in the budding-super villain context. I also thought it was interesting that the creators make it clear from the start that the school is a hothouse where students are sheltered from the realities of the actual superhero/super villain world, and in issue #2 (which comes out on June 15) those realities are threatening to impinge on it. It’s nicely drawn and parts are quite funny (especially the origin story of the school itself), and I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops in future issues.

I picked up vol. 13 of Black Jack to relax with after a tough day this week, and I’m glad I did. This is one manga I can read for pure enjoyment. Osamu Tezuka was amazingly consistent in these stories, each of which is complete in about 20 pages and includes a dilemma, some sort of moral angle, and a really outlandish medical procedure. It’s highly entertaining and manages to be a bit literary without making the reader work too hard. With summer coming on, I’m looking forward to diving into my stack and pulling out a few more for hammock reading.

Chris Mautner

Strange Adventures — The only decent story in here is by Ross Campbell, who provides a nice bit of body horror that would make David Cronenberg proud. Everything else here is awful. Worse, it’s largely by talented people that really should know better.

Sidekicks

Sidekicks by Dan Santat — This is an all-ages comic about a superhero that has pets that, in turn, gain superpowers and attempt to fight crime. It’s cute, though a little short in the storytelling department — I felt like some of the cast could have used a bit more exposition, or at least screen time. Still, kids, especially kids who are into pets and superheroes, will likely dig it.

American Vampire Vol. 2 by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Mateus Santolouco — Stephen King isn’t around this time, but that’s OK by me, as I really didn’t care much for King’s contributions in the first volume. Having said that, I had two big problems with this collection: 1) It’s not even the least, littlest bit scary. or even thrilling really; b) the cultural anachronisms really seemed to slap me out of the book time and again. Considering the story takes place eighty years ago, it has a modern gloss and feel that doesn’t really seem to fit. My goodwill from the first volume is enough to make me hopeful about the next collection, but I sadly found this entry to be rather lackluster.

Robert Stanley Martin

A major focus of my time right now is the International Best Comics Poll for The Hooded Utilitarian website. The poll, which is modeled after the one Sight and Sound magazine conducts on film every ten years, is being voted on right now by comics creators, reviewers, and others in the field. We’ve received over 100 top-ten lists so far, and I’m having a blast logging them. The best part is seeing the votes for work with which I’m not familiar. I’m having enormous fun finding out about these comics online; it’s just extraordinary stuff. Before this, I considered myself pretty erudite about comics and cartooning. It turns out I didn’t know the half of it when it comes to the field and what it has to offer. I have no idea what the response will be when the poll results are published in August, but I hope people will use the voting lists as a starting point for expanding their horizons. Comics is a wonderfully rich and diverse field, and if the poll gives people new opportunities to fall in love with the form all over again, I couldn’t ask for more from it.

The New Dinosaurs

My reading is generally a pretext for writing, and my big writing project at the moment is a critical appreciation of the wildlife art of William Stout. Stout is one of the most diversified artists around, and his work in comics, illustration, and film production design is nothing less than outstanding. However, the glory of his career is his wildlife art, particularly his Antarctica and dinosaur paintings. His depictions of the animals and their environments are stunningly realized—thoroughly researched and absolutely gorgeous in terms of picture composition and color design. At their best, they have a metaphorical richness that ensures one will never look at the subjects in quite the same way again. My sources include Stout’s book The New Dinosaurs, John Arcudi’s copiously illustrated interview with him in The Comics Journal’s Winter 2003 Special Edition, and the websites for such places as the San Diego Natural History Museum, where one can see even more of his breathtaking murals and other paintings. I’m having so much fun looking at this material that it’s a major act of discipline to write about it.

On the novel front, I just wrapped up Jaimy Gordon’s Lord of Misrule, which won the National Book Award for Fiction this past year. I was really rooting for this book going in—Gordon is a fellow Michigander, and it’s always nice to see a small-press effort win a top literary prize over such heavily promoted major-house offerings like Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. (I haven’t read either the Franzen or Egan books in their entirety yet, but they’ve gotten their fair share of applause elsewhere.) Unfortunately, I didn’t care much for Gordon’s novel. It’s set in the lower rungs of the horse racing world, and she displays a fine eye for the milieu along with an extremely conscientious approach to characterization. However, the book ultimately seems more a work of effort and will than one of passion. The fiction-writing skill on display is astonishing, but the material never really takes flight.

Speaking of Jennifer Egan, I recently finished her short story “Safari,” which is one of the linked tales that makes up A Visit from the Goon Squad, this past year’s most honored work of fiction. (“Safari” was first published in the in January of last year; I read it as one of the selections in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s The Best American Short Stories 2010.) The story is about the vacation in Africa a father takes his two children and his grad-student girlfriend on. Egan is a breezy prose stylist, and she does a hilarious job of rendering the tensions between the four principal characters. I especially liked her use of the grad student’s theoretical frameworks—the character is researching the links between social structure and emotional response—as a commentary on the characters’ behavior. The story is marred a bit by the use of flash-forwards in its penultimate section—the telling of how the characters turn out years down the road seems rather heavy-handed—but all is forgiven with the delightful note of irony on which the story ends. A Visit from the Goon Squad is going to have to be extraordinary in order to live up to the hype surrounding it, but if the rest of the book is as good as this preview, it just may pull it off.

I always read a short story alongside a contemporary poem—the pairings are completely random—and the companion read to “Safari” turned out to be Laura Hope-Gill’s “Jonah.” (Click here to read.) Laura was a classmate of mine while we were growing up in Florida. She’s now based in North Carolina, and has published two books of poetry in collaboration with local photographers. “Jonah” is my favorite of the poems by her I’ve read. Its retelling of the Old Testament story of the reluctant prophet seems informed by the famous bit from Isaiah 11:6: “a little child shall lead them.” Laura portrays Jonah as a young boy rather than a grown man, and he spends much of his time after being swallowed by the fish reliving his trepidation over having to grow up too soon. What makes the poem such a beautiful piece is the concluding epiphany: God’s interest in Jonah is precisely that he is not an adult; his innocent love of life, as embodied by his singing, is what delights God, and will presumably bring others to follow when God frees him. Laura’s name doesn’t tend to come up when people talk about the better contemporary poets; she’s never had a piece featured in Best American Poetry annuals, or been nominated for one of the major U.S. poetry prizes. However, poems like “Jonah” leave one thinking that her relative obscurity is something of an injustice.

I haven’t forgotten that this is a comics site, so I’ll close by discussing the last full-length comic I’ve read: Nate Powell’s Any Empire. The book isn’t scheduled to be released until July, but the folks at Top Shelf were nice enough to give me an advance look at it. I was very impressed by Powell’s last book, the Eisner-winning Swallow Me Whole, and Any Empire is another terrific effort. His cartooning is gorgeous; no one else working has his talent for capturing the rhythms and atmosphere of a story’s setting, and few can match his command of character nuance. The first half of Any Empire, which depicts the lives of three elementary-school kids in the late 1980s, is note-perfect. Powell expertly dramatizes the childhood interests that can either fall away or grow into adult preoccupations, as well as the unlikely rivalries and bonds that develop. My feelings about the book’s second half are unresolved. After a brief stop in adolescence, we follow the same characters into early adulthood, and my initial impression is that it’s a bit too abruptly developed. However, the problem may just be that I was a little thrown by the stark shift in the pacing. The individual scenes are well executed, and the problem with their not quite adding up for me may be that I found the rapid-fire tempo disorienting. I’m certainly going to read the book again, because even if the second half still doesn’t come together for me, Powell is such a brilliant talent that the initial pleasures can be counted on to retain their luster, and new ones will certainly be found. He’s the sort of artist that makes comics perhaps the most exciting art form there is today.