previews
Preview: Archie’s Weird Mysteries
Let’s take a break from the mid-July Comic-Con madness and get into a Halloween mood! Archie’s Weird Mysteries is an Archie trade paperback that compiles stories from the comic of the same name, which was based on the animated Archie’s Weird Mysteries series—writer Paul Castiglia explains the relationship between the comic and the cartoon on his blog, and in a 2009 interview he discusses the challenges of writing Archie horror comics. Of course, this is Riverdale, so the horror is pretty lite. Really, they are just having fun with the conventions of the genre.
Anyway, enjoy a couple of pages of Betty being mildly terrorized after the jump. The book arrives in comics shops next week.
- July 15, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
Previews: What looks good for September
Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes
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, “Planet of the Apes is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.
Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.
Ape
White Picket Fences: Red Scare and ongoing series - One of my favorite Ape comics is getting collected and then relaunched as an ongoing. I’m a big fan of Micah Farritor’s art in Red Scare, so it’s sad that he won’t be back for the ongoing, but the little kids vs. UFOs concept is ripe enough to keep me interested, particularly in the wake of Super 8.
Archaia
Man, Archaia lays low for a couple of months and then BAM!
Jim Henson’s A Tale of Sand - I saw the presentation on this at C2E2 at it looks amazing. No Muppets, but Henson’s fingerprints are all over it in the surreal, subversive craziness that he’s known for.
Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes - This is an illustrated novel, not a comic, so I debated about including it, but it’s being Planet of the Apes and published by Archaia won out. It’s set during the original movie and covers stuff that we know happened, but didn’t see (the fate of Landon, for instance) as well as working in characters from other movies (like Dr. Milo from Escape from the Planet of the Apes). And when they say it’s illustrated, they’re talking about folks like Jim Steranko, Joe Jusko, and Dave Dorman. This is a must-have.
- July 13, 2011 @ 05:00 PM by Michael May
This year’s Treehouse of Horror comic features Woodring, Wiedlin, Cannon, Ha
Simpsons Treehouse of Horror
Although I stopped watching the show on a regular basis a few seasons back, I try not to miss the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode every year that for some reason is typically shown the Sunday after Halloween. I also try not to miss Bongo’s Treehouse of Horror comic special, which seems to go out of its way every year to recruit an interesting array of contributors. The last couple of years have featured everyone from cat and transforming robot cartoonist Jeffrey Brown to Lemmy of Motorhead.
This year is no different, as it features stories by Go-Go/Lady Robotika‘s Jane Wiedlin, Zander Cannon and Gene Ha of Top Ten fame and indie artist Jim Woodring. I’ll be sure to add this to my buy list when it comes out Sept. 28.
- June 20, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Previews announces San Diego Comic Con exclusives
Diamond Comics Distributors announced this week the exclusive comics and merchandise they’ll offer to retailers through their Previews catalog to sell on the floor of the San Diego Comic Con, which is a little more than a month away. Check them out:
DOLLHOUSE EPITAPHS #1 2011 SDCC VERSION
Exclusive original cover! Retailer Bonus: 1 in every 5 copy that is picked up at the SDCC will be signed by the creators Jed Whedon, Andrew Chambliss, & Maurissa Tancharoen! Overwhelmed by multiple personalities after mind-altering technology, Alpha must save mankind from itself as the viral technology turns everyone into murderous automatons. The fate of the world rests in the hands of Psychotic Alpha.
LIMITED TO 2,500 COPIES
Comic SRP: $3.50
- June 11, 2011 @ 08:07 AM by JK Parkin
Previews | What looks good for August
Gunnerkrigg Court, Volume 3
The talk this week’s been focused on September, but let’s not forget that there’s some great stuff coming in August too. It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes, and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Dark Horse Presents is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.
Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.
Archaia
Gunnerkrigg Court, Volume 3 - I’ve only read Archaia’s first volume of Tom Siddell’s webcomic about a young girl at a strange school, but I’m eager for more. As much as publishers like to shove series at me telling me they’re going to scratch my Harry Potter itch, this is the only one that’s actually done it.
Boom!
Planet of the Apes, Volume 1 - If the rest of the story is as strong as the first issue, this collection will be well worth having. Likely even better than re-watching some of the PotA movies themselves.
- June 10, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by Michael May
Previews: What Looks Good for July
Sergio Aragonés Funnies #1
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, “Alpha Flight 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.
Abstract Studios
Terry Moore’s Echo Complete Edition – Collecting all 30 issues of the Strangers in Paradise creator’s sci-fi epic.
Rachel Rising #1 – And kicking of Moore’s new series, featuring a girl who rises up out of her shallow grave and tries to figure out how she got there.
Bongo
Sergio Aragonés Funnies #1 – I can’t think of a better publisher for a book like this and it’s nice to see Bongo’s growing beyond its Simpsons and Futurama books a little.
Boom!
The Amory Wars: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth, Volume 3 – I haven’t read these myself, but I know at least one Coheed and Cambria fan who doesn’t read a lot of comics, but snatches these up as soon as they come out. Because of that, they’re worth not only mentioning, but being happy about.
- May 5, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by Michael May
Preview: Planet of the Apes #1
Planet of the Apes #1
I covered BOOM!’s panel at last weekend’s WonderCon, and during their presentation they showed off some pages from their upcoming Planet of the Apes comic book. The book is written by Daryl Gregory, who writes Dracula: The Company of Monsters with Kurt Busiek, and is drawn by Carlos Magno, who has done work on IDW’s Transformers comics.
Editor in Chief Matt Gagnon called it “an authentic continuation of the Planet of the apes saga. There are characters in first issue you will recognize, a lot of new characters in the first issue you won’t recognize that are brand new characters we’re creating for the mythology. It really is an epic in the true sense of the word; it’s a big sprawling story that’s about politics and love and war.”
Check out additional covers (including one that’s exclusive to Larry’s Comics) as well as preview pages after the jump …
- April 8, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
A look at Brecht Evens’ Night Animals
Do you like comics with gorgeous colors, hot sex scenes, and all-too-relatable scenes in which twenty-something urbanites go to crazy nightclubs and lousy parties? Then Belgian cartoonist Brecht Evens’ The Wrong Place may be right book for you. The Drawn & Quarterly release took a lot of readers and critics by storm at the tail end of 2010 with both its incisive writing and innovative use of color as a storytelling mechanism. (You can read my interview with Evens about the book by clicking this link.)
In just a couple months, Evens will be back with a book about a very different kind of night life. Slated for a March release from Top Shelf, Night Animals — an earlier work than The Wrong Place — was described to me by Evens as a walk on the Where the Wild Things Are side. It contains two wordless tales about seemingly normal people who get caught up in a world of wild wonder (and, perhaps, danger) among the creatures beyond the city limits. While the drawing style is more traditional than The Wrong Place‘s all-watercolors approach, it’s just as lush and inviting, and the color washes are just as vibrant and emotionally freighted. Meanwhile, the stories themselves show that Evens is just as adept at fairy tales and fables as he is at lousy parties and awesome one-night stands. Good stuff.
And courtesy of Leigh Walton and the fine folks at Top Shelf, here’s an eight-page preview of the book. Unleash the animal within, folks!
- January 17, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Exclusive Preview | Irredeemable #21
Irredeemable #21
Courtesy of our pals over at BOOM! Studios, we’ve got one more thing from them to show you in honor of our big birthday bash — an extended 13-page preview of Irredeemable #21, which comes out later this week. With the Plutonian getting a new line of work (whether he likes it or not) thanks to the Vespa, it looks like Earth can breath easy. Looks like, anyway …
Check out the preview after the jump.
- January 2, 2011 @ 04:29 PM by JK Parkin
Exclusive Preview | Wolverine and Jubilee #1
Wolverine and Jubilee #1
If you saw the preview of Wolverine and Jubilee #1 that Comic Book Resources ran last month, you know that Kathryn Immonen and Phil Noto look to be hitting it out of the park with a mini-series that reteams Wolverine with his old sidekick, the newly vamped out Jubilee.
Courtesy of our friends at Marvel Comics, we’re pleased to bring you even more pages from the January-shipping title as a part of our birthday bash. Check it out after the jump
- January 2, 2011 @ 03:55 PM by JK Parkin
Exclusive Preview | Buffy the Vampire Slayer #40
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #40
Although the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series went out with a bang in 2003, Ms. Summers and the Scooby gang had a very busy 2010. Not only did we get the big reveal of who the villain Twilight really was — a character whose comic series will return to Dark Horse next year — but we’ve also made it to the end of “season eight” with a huge story with huge consequences. And we found out that the crew will be back sometime next year for season nine.
But before that one begins, you gotta have an ending. On Jan. 19, Buffy the Vampire Slayer #40 drives a stake through the ambitious season eight, where “betrayal comes in the shape of the closest, most unexpected individual of all.” Jan. 19 is the birthday of Buffy Summers, and Dark Horse has six events planned around the country to celebrate it.
And right here for our birthday, we’re very pleased to present an exclusive preview of Buffy the Vampire Slayer #40, courtesy of the kind folks at Dark Horse Comics. Check out the preview, solicitation info and details on the Buffy birthdays after the jump.
- January 2, 2011 @ 11:59 AM by JK Parkin
Thor goes out swinging in final issue of Thor: The Mighty Avenger
Thor the Mighty Avenger #8
I gotta admit that showing you this preview is kind of bittersweet. Courtesy of our friends at Marvel Comics, we’re pleased to present a preview of Thor: The Mighty Avenger #8, the final issue of the series by writer Roger Langridge and artist Chris Samnee (although it won’t be the last time we see the duo work on Thor, as they’ll be back for the Thor/Captain America team-up on Free Comic Book Day).
Also, as long as we’re talking about Thor: The Mighty Avenger, let me take a moment to point you to Marvel’s upcoming comics for March 2011. Marvel has a lot going on in March — the new Venom series starts up, there’s a prologue for the big Fear Itself event, the 5 Ronin miniseries with its awesome covers, CrossGen — but I wanted to call attention to the second Thor: The Mighty Avenger trade paperback, which collects issues #5-8. If you haven’t tried this book, I’d recommend buying the first trade, as it should be available from finer comic shops and online retailers now, which should give you plenty of time to enjoy it before the second trade hits in March.
This is a book that made it into CBR’s top ten comics of 2010; in fact, here’s what our own Tim O’Shea had to say about it:
“We pundits have a damn good time opining on what’s wrong with mainstream publishers, direct market infrastructure and everything in between. But with this series, I am left asking, ‘What the hell is wrong with us consumers?’ How could a series so good (with great guest stars almost every issue) sell so poorly? I don’t know what lessons we can all take away from only getting to enjoy the sweetest, most engaging Marvel comic in years for only eight issues, but I sure hope that if these two creators work together again, we appreciate it properly and make it a long-term bestseller,” he wrote.
Needless to say, we’re big fans of this book. Thor: The Mighty Avenger #8 comes out Jan. 12. Check out the preview after the jump.
- January 2, 2011 @ 09:50 AM by JK Parkin
Exclusive Preview | Possessions Vol. 2 by Ray Fawkes
Possessions, Book Two
Let’s get started with the first of many exclusive previews we’ll have for you today. Courtesy of our friends at Oni Press, we’re pleased to bring you a 15-page preview of the second volume of Possessions by Ray Fawkes. You might know Fawkes from such works as Spookshow, The Apocalipstix, Mnemovore and, of course, the first volume of Possessions.
The second Possessions features the return of Gurgazon the Unclean, a pit demon who looks like a five-year-old girl and is trapped in the Llewellyn-Vane House for Captured Spirits and Ghostly Curiosities. In this second volume, subtitled “The Ghost Table,” Ms. Llewellyn-Vane hosts a rival spirit collector and her collection of ghosts for dinner, and Gurgazon’s the main attraction.
You can find the preview and more information on the book after the jump; please note that the preview is an uncorrected proof. It’s scheduled to come out in March.
- January 2, 2011 @ 06:26 AM by JK Parkin
Exclusive preview: Usagi Yojimbo #134
Usagi Yojimbo #134
Courtesy of our friends at Dark Horse Comics, we’re pleased to bring you a preview of Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo #134, which arrives in stores Dec. 22. This standalone issue features the con artist Kitsune, who is selling snake, er, toad oil, claiming it has magical healing abilities. Unfortunately Usagi gets caught up in the con.
Usagi is consistently one of the most entertaining comics on the stands, so if you haven’t read it before, here’s a single-issue story to try out. You can find the preview and more info on issue #134 after the jump.
- December 2, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by JK Parkin
Exclusive preview: Avengers Academy #7
Bring on your wrecking ball!
Avengers Academy #7 brings the return of Hank Pym’s Giant-Man alter ego, as he and the rest of the AA crew take on the Absorbing Man. The issue is written by Christos Gage and drawn by Tom Raney. Marvel released some preview pages for it already, but they were kind enough to send over three more for us to share with you.
Our own Tim O’Shea has an interview with Gage coming up in a couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for it!
- December 1, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by JK Parkin