The Dare Detectives: The Snow Pea Plot

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

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

Ape

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

Arcana

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

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

Archaia

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

Andie and the Alien

Archie

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

Bliss On Tap

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

Boom!

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

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

Dark Horse

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

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

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

Ningen's Nightmares

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

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

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

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

DC

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

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

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

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

Dynamite

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

Romeo and Juliet: The War

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

1821

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

Fantagraphics

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

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

First Second

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

Hermes

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

The Hero Initiative

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

Madman: 20th Anniversary Monster!

Humanoids

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

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

IDW

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

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

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

Image

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

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

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

Marvel

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

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

Moonstone

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

NBM

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

Oni

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

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

Th3rd World

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

Titan

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

That’s it for me. What did I miss?

Demon Knights

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 start with Demon Knights #1 ($2.99) and Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #1 ($2.99). I’m excited about a lot of the DC Dark corner of the New 52; especially these two. Frankenstein is a continuation of the only Flashpoint series I stuck with and features one of my two favorite characters from Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory. I wasn’t that interested in Demon Knights at first, but I was impressed by Paul Cornell’s chasing down a female fan after a panel at San Diego to pitch the series to her as something that people who are looking for great, female characters will enjoy. And I’ve been wanting to dig deeper into Cornell’s work anyway. On the Marvel side, I’m still thrilled about how well Alpha Flight is doing (creatively, I mean, but I guess it must be doing okay in sales too), so #4 ($2.99) is a must-buy for me. And I can’t wait to see how Mystery Men ends with #5 ($2.99). That’s been one of the high points of my summer, comics-wise. Finally, I’d grab X-Men Legacy #255 ($2.99) to dip my toe a little deeper into the X-Men world after being away from it for a while.

If I had $30, I’d add All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #11 ($2.99) for the Batman/Jonah Hex team-up and Korgi, Volume 3: A Hollow Beginning ($9.95). I’m a volume behind on Korgi, but the first one was wonderful (I love wordless comics and the art’s amazing) and I’d like to catch up. If I could borrow a dollar from someone (I’ll buy you a pop later), I’d also add Bonnie Lass #1 ($2.99). I’ve already read it online and will buy the eventual collection, but it would be nice to have a copy to pass around to friends.

I’ve got two splurge items this week. I’m very into Sherlock Holmes lately, so I’ve been eager to read Moriarty ($14.99). I’ve already read Kody Chamberlain’s Sweets ($14.99) in single issues and loved it (though it drove me crazy with how much Kody’s color palette made my mouth water for warm, chewy pralines). I don’t want to choose between these two, but if forced, I’d go with Sweets partly because I’m a big fan of Kody’s work and partly because I’m a little parched.

Graeme McMillan

Daredevil #3

It may be week three of DC’s New 52, but the book I’m most looking forward to this week is Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9: Freefall #1 (Dark Horse, $2.99); the last series ended with enough of an uptick after a run of dull issues that I find myself optimistic about its return, and if I had $15 this week, I’d start with that. Then I’d probably go for Optic Nerve #12 (Drawn & Quarterly, $5.99), because it’s apparently Adrian Tomine’s return to the multiple short humor story format after his extended stories of recent years, and I always preferred his earlier stuff (I think my Portland Hipster cred might’ve accidentally been boosted by that statement. Sorry). To round out the haul, I’d grab Batwoman #1 (DC, $2.99) and Daredevil #3 (Marvel, $2.99), two near-sure things based on previous installments of the characters by these particular creators.

If I had $30, I’d stock up on some New 52 books after all, grabbing Demon Knights #1, Green Lantern #1, Grifter #1, Legion Lost #1 and Mister Terrific #1 (All DC, $2.99). I’ve got various levels of hopes for all of these, although I’ll admit that last week’s Stormwatch debut harshed my Paul Cornell love a little bit, and the Mister Terrific optimism is based as much on the character’s potential as the creators. But we’ll see how the books end up…

When it comes to splurging, I’m going to plump for the potentially surprising choice of Archie: The Married Life Vol. 1 (Archie, $19.99). I had a chance to read the first episode of one of the “Married Life” stories this weekend, and enjoyed it much more than I would’ve expected, and knowing that there’s a trade coming out justa few days later… Well, it almost seems like bad manners to pass that up.

Brigid Alverson

If all I have is $15, life is very simple: I pick up the ninth volume of Twin Spica ($10.95), the wonderfully drawn drama about Japanese teenagers at astronaut school, and the latest issue of Life with Archie ($3.99) so I can follow this engrossing soap opera, and I put up my feet for a couple of hours and read.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9: Freefall #1

If I had $30, I’d pile on more floppies. I haven’t been following Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but the first issue of Season Nine ($2.99) seems a good place to jump on. I’m taking a bit more of a chance diving in with issue 2 of Baltimore: The Curse Bells ($3.50), but I have always liked Mike Mignola’s storytelling. For some all-ages fun, I’ll add Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #5 ($2.99) and Super Dinosaur #4 ($2.99), both from Image. That’s a good size stack, and I’m still under $30, which is just as well.

Because this is a great splurge week. The first volume of DC’s Sugar and Spike Archives ($59.99) is my first choice; the Sugar and Spike comics I read in Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly’s Toon Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics got me hooked on this classic little-rascals comic by Sheldon Mayer years ago, and I’m happy to see more. I’d love to see the second volume of Dark Horse’s Archie Archives ($49.99) as well. With those two tucked under my arm, I won’t feel so bad about leaving the slipcased edition of the Mad Fold-In Collection 1964-2010 ($125) on the shelf; it’s a great idea, but after paying over a hundred bucks for a book, I’d be reluctant to deface it by actually folding the pages.

JK Parkin

Pigs

Man, $15 just isn’t going to go a long way this week. I’d probably start with Pigs #1 ($2.99), the new Image title from Ben McCool, Nate Cosby, Breno Tamura, Chris Sotomayor and Rus Wooton, which is about a second-generation KGB Cuban sleeper cell that’s activated and assigned to overthrow the U.S. government. And I agree with Michael on Frankenstein, which was one of maybe two or three Flashpoint mini’s that was ultimately satisfying. So I’m on board for Frankenstein, Agents of SHADE #1 ($2.99). I’d also mirror Graeme and Brigid in getting the new Buffy series ($2.99), then I’d round it out with the latest issue of Fear Itself ($3.99).

If I had $30, I’d also grab Daredevil #3 ($2.99) and Alpha Flight #4, two of my favorite new titles. I’d round it out with four new #1′s for $2.99 each — Resurrection Man #1 (Abnett and Lanning! Wohoo!), John Carter: A Princess of Mars (Roger Langridge? Sold) and Batwoman #1 (It’s been a long time comin’).

For my splurge, again, there’s a lot to choose from, but ultimately I’d grab either The Complete Major Bummer Super Slacktacular ($29.99) or the new release of God Somewhere, as I’ve heard both are worth checking out and I haven’t read either of them.

While this isn’t the first time that multiple pulp icons have been under one comic publisher’s roof, it’s by far the most concentrated in some time. Although most weren’t created in comics, pulp characters have  a long history bouncing around from numerous publishers over the years. The Shadow, for instance has been published by Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Archie and even a newspaper strip that’s run off and on through the years — and his pulp brethren can claim similar paths over time.

The notable absences to Dynamite’s de facto pulp line are tied up — or have been until recently — by other publishers. DC’s rights to Doc Savage, the Avenger and Rima The Jungle Girl are currently unknown, while Tarzan resides at Dark Horse, and Moonstone, another pulp-inspired comics publisher, publishes stories about the Spider and the Domino Lady.

But with the potency of Dynamite’s line-up so far, it casts a potentially long shadow (no pun intended) on the comics industry and what’s possible.  Imagine a pulp line firing on all cylinders, perhaps even a crossover at some point or even a Justice Society-style team-up.

Update: And today Dynamite announced they’ll be making comics starring another pulp hero, The Spider.

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?

“Our end-of-the-year project takes the form of an anthology book featuring adventures of the 21st Century descendants of Sherlock and Watson, under the title Holmes Incorporated, and the work this year is shockingly good for a group of rookies trying to get their foot in the door—they deserve a little love and attention. And to sweeten the deal we wrapped our issue up in a cover by X-Men/JSA/Supergirl artist and nice guy, Leonard Kirk — who is also an instructor at our school, so it was a matter of cornering Len in the lunch room,” Templeton said. “This year we’re making the new issue (and last year’s) available as a FREE download for anyone’s e-reader, computer, phone, iPad, etc. Between the two issues it’s 140 FREE pages of the remarkably skilled comics work of some eager and talented newcomers looking to prove themselves, and all they ask is the time it takes to look at the pages.”

After the jump you can take a look at an embedded preview, courtesy of Graphicly.

*****

Pulp 2.0 initiated a graphic novel line late last year, launching it with the 1980s series The Miracle Squad and The Twilight Avenger, both by writer John Wooley and artist Terry Tidwell. It looks like they will be released as graphic novels, both digital and in print, with cleaned-up graphics and bonus features.

Powell talks a bit about his comics work at Jazma Online, focusing on more recent works like his resurrection of The Spider for Moonstone.

(Via Comics 411)

Steel #1

Welcome to the first Food or Comics? for 2011. Every week we talk about what comics we’d buy on Wednesday 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 what we call our “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list for this week if you’d like to play along in our comments section.

Graeme McMillan

Hey, it’s the first week of 2011, and time to get some awesome comics, right? Right? So for my $15, I’ll pick up… Oh. Kind of a slow week, then, huh? Well, there’s always Steel #1 (DC, $2.99), the sure-to-be-controversial one-shot that launches the retro “Reign of Doomsday” crossover, and my love of James Robinson’s Justice League will ensure I pick up the Starman/Congorilla one-shot (DC, $2.99), if only to find out what all those interludes in the middle of the current “Omega” storyline are all about. Curiosity compels me to pick up Image’s Walking Dead Weekly #1 ($2.99), if only to see if it’s pretty much an exact reprint of the original first issue with a different cover, but that remaining $6 may just end up burning a hole in my pocket. Maybe I’ll put it toward my $30 haul…

If I had $30, I’d take that $9′s worth of singles, and add the Fraction TP (DC, $18.99). I barely remember this 2004 series from DC’s short-lived “Focus” line about a group of men who steal an Iron Man-esque suit and split it between them, but what I do remember, I enjoyed. Plus, it’s got art from Tim Green II, so if nothing else, it’ll look nice.

Splurging, it’s a much easier choice: Marvel’s Mighty Thor Omnibus has a lot of early Kirby and Lee, over-sized? That’s well worth $99.99 to me. Hell, ANY over-sized Kirby is worth that much, if you ask me…

Michael May

If I had $15:

Megamind #1

I’d get Steel #1 ($2.99), partly because I’ve always liked Steel, partly because of Sean T. Collins. I’m still kind of fascinated with how much I liked Megamind, so I’d pick up Ape’s Megamind #1 (3.95) to see if it’s able to capture any of what I liked about the movie. Finally, I’d add to my On the Case with Holmes and Watson collection by getting the sixth volume, The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire ($6.95).

If I had $30:

I’d add issues of some ongoings and mini-series: Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of London #4 ($3.99), Doc Macabre #2 ($3.99), Edge of Doom #3 ($3.99) and John Byrne’s Next Men #2 ($3.99).

Splurge:

I’ve already got Masterworks volumes with many of those Thor stories, so I’d spend my mad money on the other Marvel Omnibus coming out this week, Women of Marvel: Seven Decades ($125) featuring early stories about Hellcat, Tigra, Shanna the She-Devil, Black Widow, She-Hulk and a whole bunch of other favorites.

Chris Mautner

World War III Illustrated

Wow, Graeme wasn’t kidding when he said it was a slow week, was he? I guess for my $15 purchase, I’ll have to go with maybe the 41st issue of the Tea Party’s favorite comic, World War III Illustrated ($7), which features folks like Peter Kuper and Seth Tobocman looking at the food industry and food/health issues.

At the $30 mark, I’ll also pick up the first volume of Salvatore ($14.99), a charming funny animal comic by French author Nicolas de Crecy (Glacial Period) about a little dog mechanic who steals parts from the cars he fixes in order to build the ultimate hot rod that will get him to his true love in South America. The story also involves a lost baby piglet, his nearsighted mother, a divorcee cow who dabbles in avant-garde art and a little, shy bald man who never speaks a word. Yes, it’s a bit rambling and convoluted, but it all adheres together remarkably well and de Crecy’s art is lovely to behold.

For my splurge item, I guess I’ll go with IDW’s sixth volume of Little Orphan Annie, even though I’m about five volumes behind. Still, it’s not like I’m not going to buy the whole shebang some day.

Brigid Alverson

Twin Spica

If I had $15…

Unlike some people here, I’d have no problem spending it. I’ll start with the fifth volume of Twin Spica ($10.95), Kou Yaginuma’s wonderful story of a girl who wants to be an astronaut in the Japanese space program. Then I’d buy the fourth and final issue of Scratch 9 ($3.95) Rob Worley and Jason Kruse’s high-spirited comic about a cat who gets to meet his previous incarnations (taking that nine-lives thing literally).

If I had $30…

I like Graphic Universe’s Holmes and Watson adaptations, and my nephew will love them even more, so I’ll get the latest one, On the Case with Holmes and Watson: The Sussex Vampire ($6.95) to read with him. Then the first issue of Who Is Jake Ellis ($2.99); I liked Nathan Edmondson‘s The Light, and this series, with its psychic/spy match-up, looks like a good bet. And finally, I’ll grab the Betty & Veronica Digest #187 ($3.99), because while it isn’t too cerebral, it guarantees me an hour or so of solid enjoyment.

Splurge…

Put me down for the Complete Little Orphan Annie as well ($49.95). IDW’s Library of American Comics volumes are hard to beat. The quality is great and the background materials are interesting and well researched (at least the ones I have seen), so I really can’t go wrong with this.

JK Parkin

Thanos Imperative: Devastation

Yeah, somehow I don’t think I’ll have any trouble spending my limit either. I’d start by spending my $15 on the Thanos Imperative: Devastation one-shot ($4.99), which bridges the gap between the Thanos Imperative and the upcoming Annihilators miniseries. I’d also grab the first issue of DC’s new miniseries, Weird Worlds ($3.99), mostly because of the Kevin Maguire story but the others look like they could be fun, too. Irredeemable #21 ($3.99), as we showed you on Sunday, looks good, and I’d round it out with the third issue of Superboy ($2.99).

If I had $30, I’d get all those titles and add in Walking Dead #80, iZombie #9 and Who Is Jake Ellis #1, all of which are $2.99. I’d also like to get Generation Hope #3. I wasn’t sold on the first couple issues, but as I just read the latest Uncanny X-Men trade over the holidays, which introduces several of the new mutant characters, I’m a lot more interested and plan to reread the first two issues. That leaves me with $3, and both the books I’m looking at for my last purchase, Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of London #4 and Avengers Children’s Crusade #4, are $3.99 … but maybe one of my fellow bloggers will lend me a buck from their leftover cash?

For my splurge item, it’s easy — the Madame Xanadu trade ($17.99) which is how I’ve been buying this series anyway.

Emitown

Graeme McMillan

It’s a weird week for new releases, with everyone but Marvel taking it easy and pulling back on massive hauls in order to give our wallets a nice holiday break (unless you’re a Marvel completest, in which case, yowza. Look out). That said, if I had $15, I’d put it towards the special 200th issue of What If? ($4.99), the first issue of event tie-in Chaos War: X-Men ($3.99) because I’m curious how Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson handle Marvel’s version of Blackest Night, and the second issue of Scott Snyder and Jock’s Detective Comics run (#872, $3.99), because I was really happily surprised by how much I enjoyed the first.

If I had $30, I’d put Chaos War and What If? back on the shelf, and get Emitown ($24.99) instead. I’ve heard really great things about this print collection of Emi Lenox’s autobio webcomic, and I like the idea of seeing 2011 in by discovering a new cartoonist to love.

Splurging, I’d go back to Marvel, with the brand new Ka-Zar collection by Mark Waid and Andy Kubert ($19.99). I missed out on this series back in the 1990s, but as a fan of both fish-out-of-water stories and Mark Waid stories, something tells me that this might be right up my street.

Crickets

Chris Mautner

If I had $15:

I picked up a copy of this at the Brooklyn show but if you weren’t there, then the third issue of Sammy Harkham’s Crickets ($8) is easily the pick of the week, at least as far as I’m concerned. Harkham has seemingly abandoned, at least for now, his tale of wandering golems and invulnerable men for two self-contained pieces, each with a decided literary bent (the first one is rather cheekily titled “The New Yorker.”). Both tales show a slight movement towards more introspective, character building work, with the second tale “Blood of the Virgin,” offering a nice homage of sorts to the late 1960s and early ’70s era of Roger Corman-style cheapie b-films, or at least how they were produced. Definitely one of the nicer surprises at the Brooklyn show this month and highly recommended.

If I had $30:

I’m extremely curious to check out Bigfoot ($20), Pascal Girard’s graphic novel about a sensitive teen who becomes an unwanted celebrity thanks to an embarrassing YouTube video. I really liked Pascal’s last book, Nicolas, a memoir about his younger brother who died at an early age, and am anxious to see what he’ll do with more fictional material.

Splurge:

There’s not much that’s splurge-worthy this week, but I’ll at least check out Drew Friedman’s Sideshow Freaks ($19.95), a collection of color caricatures of human oddities, courtesy of Blast Books.

Echoes

Michael May

If I had $15:

Like Graeme and Chris said, there’s not a whole lot going on this week, but I’d spend my money on the new Hellboy (The Sleeping and the Dead #1; $3.50) and Josh Fialkov’s new book, Echoes #1 ($2.99). Fialkov describes his story as “a dark horror book that asks whether you can inherit murder” and “about the darkest, scariest thing I’ve ever done.” Bold words coming from the writer of Elk’s Run.

If I had $30:

I’d add Dark Horse’s John Carter of Mars: Weird Worlds collection ($14.99), their reprinting of DC’s John Carter stories from the ’70s featuring the work of guys like Marv Wolfman, Howard Chaykin, Gray Morrow, and Joe Orlando.

Splurge:

Sometimes I regret having to pick based on a budget. Like this week when two of the books I want most count as splurge items. There’s no way I’m missing the new Atlas collection though, The Return of the Three Dimensional Man ($16.99) or Marvel’s reprint of Mark Waid and Andy Kubert’s Ka-Zar ($19.99). I was a fool in the ’90s for not picking up that series. I’m also cautiously curious about Markosia’s The Young Sherlock Holmes Adventures ($15.95). That one’s going to require a flip-through before buying though.

Sherlock Holmes and a Scandal in Bohemia

We’ve been talking about comics for kids a lot lately in this column. I want to continue that conversation this week, but from a different angle. Let’s face it, we’ll never all agree about whether Marvel and DC superhero comics should be focused primarily on children or grown ups or if both, in what ratio. A lot of things complicate that discussion, including the origin of superheroes as children’s literature and the varying levels of nostalgia that grown-up fans attach to that.

But what if we flip that coin over? What if we take something with origins in grown-up literature and make it for kids? Does that change the arguments? Do characters created for one demographic always have to be written with that demographic in mind? I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s true for superheroes and I don’t think it’s true for Sherlock Holmes who’s the focus of Graphic Universe’s new series On the Case with Holmes and Watson.

To be sure, Sherlock Holmes isn’t the most dramatic example of a “mature audiences” character being used for a kids’ series. He’s not exactly Ripley from Alien or Ash from Evil Dead. But he’s also not standard reading for 4th to 6th graders, the target audience for the On the Case series. And if Holmes can be rewritten for 9-year-olds, why can’t Superman be rewritten for 39-year-olds? The question shouldn’t be whether or not it can be done though. I predict that we’ll read few if any comments advocating that Holmes is a grown-up character and that he shouldn’t be adapted for children. What we need to be figuring out is how to tell the story so well that neither group feels unwanted.

The Woman

The ideal superhero comic is neither so dark as to put off parents nor so tame that it’s unattractive to discerning readers. (I still maintain that there’s room for especially dark and especially tame versions, but those should be published only in imprints; not the main line.) The ideal Sherlock Holmes adaptation for kids has to be faithful enough to the original story that parents will feel like they’re sharing the real thing with their children, but simplified enough that kids can follow the story. Which is exactly what the On the Case volumes do.

In each book, Murray Shaw and MJ Cosson adapt an Arthur Conan Doyle short story with European-looking art by Sophie Rohrbach. Her drawings are fun and interesting for kids, but also attractive to adults. Holmes often looks friendly and even comical, but he’s got an intensity that fans will recognize and he can become quite serious when he’s closing in on a criminal. Watson is always helpful and jolly, just as he should be.

The writing keeps a nice balance too. Shaw and Cosson let Rohrbach do most of the descriptive work through the art, so there’s not a lot of nineteenth-century narrative to work through. What’s left is the dialogue, which is Victorian enough to sound authentic, but substitutes modern terms for older expressions. (That applies to the story titles too, so that “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” becomes “The Adventure of the Blue Gem” in Volume Three.)

The game is afoot!

Also pleasing to varying ages is all the supplemental material that goes into each book. Volumes begin with a labeled map of the locations in the story and an illustrated list of characters. Immediately following the stories are sections on “How Did Holmes Solve It?” and a bibliography for further reading.

The “How Did Holmes Solve It?” page is what puts readers “On the Case” with the detectives. Before I read the books I’d hoped for a more interactive experience in which readers got to try to solve the case alongside Holmes and Watson, but sadly that’s not it. Putting aside those expectations though, the How’d He Do It page is a good idea. Readers may not get to figure clues out as they pop up in the story, but this feature lists all the key points in the investigation and allows the reader to experience it again from Holmes’ perspective.

The Further Reading section lists both books and websites on a variety of topics: from Holmes himself to story-specific subjects like weird monarchs for “A Scandal in Bohemia,” tall ships in “The Adventure at the Abbey Grange,” and holiday stories (and geese and gemstones) for “The Adventure of the Blue Gem.”

On the case

Besides the lack of in-story interactivity, the only other thing I scratched my head over was some of the stories chosen for early volumes. Volume One is “A Scandal in Bohemia,” which is a favorite of fans, but not the best introduction to Holmes. The crime’s not very juicy and worse than that, Holmes – though very clever – doesn’t even succeed in solving it. The second volume, “The Adventure of the Abbey Grange,” does involve a murder, but there’s a twist to it that – while making it exciting for fans who are familiar with the Holmes formula – makes it another non-typical story. It’s not until Volume Three and the “Blue Gem” that new readers finally get a feel for what a real Holmes adventure is like.

Not that any of this was off-putting to my 8-year-old when I read these to him. We shrugged our shoulders at Holmes’ inability to solve the “Scandal” and had a nice conversation about Holmes’ actions at the end of “Abbey Grange.” And he’s now interested enough in Holmes that we’ve started into Ian Edginton and INJ Culbard’s adaptation of the considerably darker and more complicated A Study in Scarlet. We’ll also be going back for future volumes in the Graphic Universe series as they come out.

Which really, as a parent, is what this whole “comics for kids” discussion is about for me. On the Case is an excellent introduction to Holmes for young people and – at least in my son’s case – a gateway to other comics like it. Wouldn’t it be cool if we had something like that for Marvel and DC’s superheroes too?

I’m also curious: What other classic characters or stories could use a good all-ages comic to introduce them to a new generation of readers? Or, which all-ages adaptations of classic stories have you already read that are especially good? I’ll throw Sterling’s All-Action Dracula out as the first example.

Elementary, my dear Ganges! Wildly acclaimed, prodigiously talented cartoonist Kevin Huizenga has taken a break from chronicling the vagaries of our daily existence in his series Ganges and (the late, lamented) Or Else to take on the greatest detective in literary history and his arch-nemesis. (No, not Batman and the Joker, but I like the way you think.)

At his blog, Huizenga has posted a two-page comic featuring the first and final face-to-face confrontations between none other than Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty. The strip is part of the Famous Fictional Villains show at St. Louis’s Mad Art Gallery, curated by Huizenga’s friend, fellow cartoonist, and occasional collaborator Dan Zettwoch. The opening reception for the show — which features baddies ranging from Macbeth‘s witches to Alien‘s facehugger, interpreted by Zettwoch, Huizenga and over a dozen other artists — takes place tonight from 7pm to 11pm.