The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist

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

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

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

Abrams Comicarts

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

Abstract Studios

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

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom

Arcana

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

Archaia

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

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

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

Archie

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

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

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

Crossed: Badlands #1

Avatar Press

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

Boom!

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

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

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

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

Dark Horse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DC

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

Saucer Country #1

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

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

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

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

Dynamite

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

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

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

Vampirella: The Red Room #1

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

Fantagraphics

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

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

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

Humanoids

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

IDW

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

Funny Stuff

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saga

Image

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

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

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

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

Mad scientists! By Jonathan Hickman! [Michael]

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

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

Marvel

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

Savage Beauty

Moonstone

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

Oni

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

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

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

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

Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures

Red 5

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

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

Top Shelf

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

Zenescope

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

I will not caption this cover "Pistol Packin' Mama"

The big news from April’s solicitations was revealed last week, as DC announced the cancellation of six of the original New-52 books (to be replaced with five new series plus the returning Batman Incorporated). While there’s more to say about this on its merits, I do like DC keeping a fixed number of ongoing series. Nerds love structure, right? (Besides, it’s kind of like programming a television schedule.)

Of course, just two weeks ago I predicted that all of the original New-52 books would get to their twelfth issues, in part so that DC could claim they each “told their stories.” That doesn’t seem to be the case here, at least not from the solicitation texts. Instead, the solicits for each final issue mostly advertise how the series are all going down swinging. We know now, too, that in some ways this isn’t really the end: Mister Terrific’s Karen Starr looks like the Power Girl of the upcoming Worlds’ Finest; Men Of War’s superhero/military mashup should transition smoothly to G.I. Combat; and I don’t think DC will kill off Hawk and Dove again.

Actually, if I were Captain Atom, I’d be a little nervous. According to ICV2′s December sales estimates, Hawk & Dove was the highest-selling New-52 book to be cancelled (18,014 copies at #114), but CA was right behind (17,917; #115).

Anyway, on to the solicits themselves….

* * *

LO, THERE SHALL BE … OH, YOU KNOW

Lots of finality in the April solicits, even beyond the obvious. Mister Terrific signs off with the Blackhawks and (more than likely) the return of Power Girl; and Men Of War guest-stars Frankenstein. Blackhawks and Hawk and Dove tease doom and gloom. Action Comics, Batman, Batwing, and Batman and Robin all wrap up their inaugural arcs (as does OMAC, but its first arc turned out to be its last), and the Justice League Dark/I, Vampire crossover concludes. Batman: Odyssey and THUNDER Agents finish their limited runs, and over at Vertigo, Northlanders ends with #50. Finally, Static Shock’s last issue looks more like an epilogue, hopefully indicating a decent role for the character beyond the end of his latest series.

CROSSOVER MADNESS

Possible groundwork for the next Pandora appearance: dark visions of the future show up in Captain Atom #8 and Teen Titans #8, while the Flash visits the Speed Force in Flash #8. If I wanted to connect it to the Daemonite plots over in Grifter, Voodoo, and Superman, I’d say that the Daemonites realize (somehow) that the former WildStorm Earth was probably a lot easier to conquer without the Justice League in the way, so they’re going after Superman to eliminate the biggest threat first. It’s all very “countdown to Infinite Crisis”-esque, you see.

Since I dropped Teen Titans after issue #1, it’s been surprisingly easy for me to ignore it and still read Superboy. However, I’m worried that might not continue as Superboy becomes more involved with both Titans and the upcoming Ravagers series. Then there’s Superboy’s crossover with Teen Titans and Legion Lost, which I should have seen coming back in September. Ordinarily, that would all be okay, but I have a bad feeling that Ravagers will get dragged into the whole thing, and the Gen13 kids will be there, and it’ll just turn into a whole big mulligan stew of teenaged super-people. Wow, now I really do feel old.

By contrast, the upcoming Resurrection Man/Suicide Squad crossover should be easier to take, just because it looks more isolated. Oh, and who else thinks the Squad’s traitor is involved with Skinny Amanda Waller? She’s got to be a fake, and the real deal will be about twice her size…. Regardless, the old Amanda shows up in Batman Beyond Unlimited #3, so that’ll be good.

ONE LEAGUE UNDER THE SEA

I am probably more excited than is necessary at the prospect of Green Arrow in Justice League. To be sure, I don’t know this version of Ollie that well, having dropped the current Green Arrow after issue #1 for being too bland. Maybe Ann Nocenti will light the proper fire under him, and maybe that will be reflected in his JL #8 characterization? After all, cross-promotion is one of the Justice League’s oldest and most subtle missions.

Meanwhile, it seems eminently appropriate for Batwing to join Justice League International — I’m guessing he’s not the “surprise team member” if he’s on the cover of #8 — but I kind of want him to take a page from his patron, and claim that he’s too busy with his own crusade.

And as long as we’re talking Leagues here, I agree with Scipio that Aquaman’s old team should turn out to have been the Sea Devils.

THIS AND THAT

There is a sort of backhanded precedent for Wonder Woman packing heat (issue #8′s“Pistols of Eros,” snicker). It comes from the end of Greg Rucka’s run, when the Amazons reverse the polarity of their Purple Healing Ray, build an industrial-sized version, and call it the Purple Death Ray. I trusted Rucka to do that, and I trust Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang to make the P’s. of E. work too.

I’ll never turn down George Pérez artwork, so it’s good to see his guest pencils on April’s Supergirl #8. It may also be a nice way to warm up for his work on another Girl of Steel in Worlds’ Finest.

COLLECTIONS

The Infinite Crisis Omnibus mentions “villains uniting,” but it doesn’t seem to collect Villains United. However, the miniseries and specials listed in the solicits only add up to about half of the Omnibus’ page count, so there seems to be room for VU and the Return of Donna Troy miniseries as well.

I have a feeling that the Batman: Prey paperback is meant to capitalize on Catwoman’s role in The Dark Knight Rises, even though “Prey” was primarily a Hugo Strange story. In fact, for my money, “Prey” is the second-most-influential Hugo Strange story, behind the seminal Engelhart/Rogers Detective Comics arc. “Prey” takes one iconic scene from Englehart/Rogers — Hugo as Batman, with a Bruce Wayne mask under the cowl — and extrapolates from that an entire psychosexual obsession with the Darknight Detective, also involving a second Batman impersonator in Hugo’s scheme to destroy our hero. All that and the post-“Year One” origin of the Batmobile too! It’s a good story, is what I’m saying.

I’m not sure about the causal relationship between the various reprint lines. The Archives came before the Showcase Presents books, so there were Challengers of the Unknown Archives and Sgt. Rock Archives before there were SP reprints. However, I bet the sales of the SP volumes supported the upcoming Challengers Omnibus and the latest Sgt. Rock Archives.  In any event, the hardcover market may be more eclectic than I thought.

The character — or at least this phase of his development — doesn’t seem to be remembered that fondly, but I’m looking forward to revisiting the “AzBats” Batman in the new Knightfall Volume 2. What’s funny is that two Batman artists from that period, Graham Nolan and Mike Manley, are now drawing the soap-opera strips Rex Morgan M.D. and Judge Parker. I wonder if their newspaper fans will want to see their superhero work.

I’ve already mentioned the Sea Devils, but I believe their Showcase Presents solicitation helps clarify certain recent events. Reading between the lines, it seems that DC has been working on a hush-hush follow-up to this series called Flame-Headed Watchman 2….

* * *

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

OMAC #7

Since the March solicitations kick off the back half of the New 52′s first year, it’s probably worth noting that the whole line remains unchanged: no “midseason replacements” like Justice Society, but no cancellations either. If I hear relieved sighs from OMAC and Men of War, certainly Dan DiDio and Jim Lee have to be pleased generally that they’ve gotten this far with the 52 intact.

Well, pleased or stubborn, I suppose. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.

Ahem.  Away we go…!

HISTORY LESSONS

One of my pet peeves about the New-52 is the sense that it lacks a meaningful “history.” For at least the last few decades, a reader might not have known exactly what had happened or when, but s/he could tell that these characters hadn’t just fallen off the turnip truck. I say this because the solicits for Justice League #7 and Flash #7 both allude to their books’ untold backstories. With Justice League, we’ll learn about membership turnover and other details of the five years between the League’s debut and today. (To be sure, some of that has already been alluded to in the League’s previous present-day appearances, like JL Dark #1.)

Similarly, Flash features the return of Captain Cold and probably some other members of the Rogues’ Gallery, so I presume we’ll hear about their various dealings with the Scarlet Speedster. Now, I don’t expect either of these books to make explicit references to particular Silver Age stories, because I think DC still wants to avoid alienating new readers with (what may be to them) arcane Easter eggs. Regardless, it’s comforting to know that these characters are getting at least some of their history back. (I would like to see an organizational chart explaining the jurisdictions of the main League, the JLI, and JL Dark, though….)

THIS AND THAT

Between OMAC and the Challengers of the Unknown’s Ace turning into a giant monster, I hope Dan DiDio isn’t thinking that’s his new sweet spot. (That and Jack Kirby references, of course — OMAC #7 gives us the new Evil Factory.)

It may be the longtime fan in me, but it’s hard not to think DC has some line-wide crossover planned for the New-52′s first anniversary. (The cynic in me thinks that’s why nothing has been cancelled yet.) While I’m on the fence about such a move’s artistic merits, I applaud the crossovers between I, Vampire and Justice League Dark. Given the former’s setup, it makes perfect sense that the latter would be involved. It’d also be nice to see more acknowledgment that various insidious events are threatening the larger DC universe — the vampire war, the stealthy alien invasions of Grifter and Voodoo, and the hinted connections among Frankenstein and OMAC and Superboy, Teen Titans, and Legion Lost.

I’ve liked Chip Kidd’s design work, including his showcases of Batman memorabilia, so I’m curious to see how that translates into writing Batman: Death By Design. With his clean, uncomplicated approach, Dave Taylor is a good match for this project, because he’s versatile enough to handle what I expect will be a wide range of styles. He also did one of the World’s Finest miniseries about ten years ago, and he drew a pretty good Batman in that.

COMINGS AND GOINGS

New creative teams abound: Joe Harris comes in for Gail Simone as Firestorm’s co-writer, while co-writer Ethan Van Sciver draws issue #7 in place of Yildray Cinar. Ann Nocenti and Harvey Tolibao are your new Green Arrow writer and artist.  James Bonny joins Tony Daniel as Hawkman’s co-writer. Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens write, and Jurgens pencils, Superman. After Sterling Gates’ departure, Rob Liefeld flies solo on Hawk & Dove. Paul Jenkins takes over writing Stormwatch from Paul Cornell (who then becomes free to write his own Saucer Country series, which looks quite good); Marc Bernardin takes over writing Static Shock; and Tom DeFalco is the new Legion Lost writer.

Also, Gene Ha fills in for Jim Lee on Justice League #7.  Fine by me!

MINISERIES

DC Universe Online Legends wraps up in March with issue #26, and as late as it may be for me, I am somewhat tempted to check it out. Essentially it’s an alternate take on the pre-New-52 status quo, which makes me feel oddly nostalgic. (Also concluding in March are October’s trio of 6-issue miniseries, Huntress, My Greatest Adventure, and Legion: Secret Origin.)

A couple of weeks back I wondered if there weren’t a new Night Force in the works, and what do you know? March brings another Night Force miniseries, courtesy of co-creator Marv Wolfman and appropriately-moody artist Tom Mandrake. I’m a little surprised that the solicitation just assumes everyone knows about Wolfman and the late Gene Colan’s team of supernaturally-oriented investigators.

Okay, I like THUNDER Agents pretty well, and I’m planning on getting all of the new miniseries — but why start a two-part backup story featuring one of the more obscure Agents in the next-to-last issue of what may be your final miniseries?

COLLECTIONS

The first four New-52 collections are solicited here, although they come out in May. While I know it’s not unusual to have a small gap between the last issue collected and the current issue on the stands, I like that readers who want to jump aboard with the monthly issues need only find (at most) three single issues to get caught up.

Alternatively, it’s entirely possible to see the New-52 collections as cousins to the superhero line’s original graphic novels (e.g., Luthor, Joker, and the “Earth One” books), with these first four kicking off an every-six-months schedule. If I were completely new to the superhero line, or otherwise didn’t want to commit to the weekly grind, that could be a fairly reasonable schedule.

Having “lived through” the “No Man’s Land” storyline back in 1999, I’ve not been that eager to revisit it. Therefore, the timing of these new paperback editions must be right. “NML” may even read better in big collections; because as effective as it was to watch Gotham abandoned and rebuilt in real time over the course of a calendar year, the experience surely becomes more attractive if it goes by more quickly.

I’m also glad that DC will be reprinting all of the “Knightfall/KnightQuest/KnightsEnd” saga in hefty paperback form. Like “NML” (which obviously took its format from the earlier events), these stories were serialized a week or two at a time, and played out over about eighteen months. In light of Bane’s upcoming star turn, it’s much easier to understand why DC is reprinting “Knightfall” again, but these remain some pretty entertaining comics regardless. Similarly, the “Venom” arc from Legends of the Dark Knight laid the groundwork for Batman’s eventual nemesis, but it stood on its own for at least a couple of years as well.

Although I seem to be saying this a lot more than I expected to, thanks DC for continuing the Archives line, this time with a new Green Lantern Archives volume. I was glad to get the first six, and I’ll be glad to see no. 7. Similarly, I’m glad to see the second volume of Secret Society Of Super-Villains solicited. The uneven tale of miscreants (and Captain Comet) operating on the margins of the Multiverse remains, with all its flaws, a fine example of DC’s superhero books in the 1970s. Plus, if my chronology is correct, it wraps up with the JLA arc which helped inspire Identity Crisis.

Speaking of the Multiverse, don’t get me wrong — it’s great that DC is collecting All-Star Squadron, the ‘80s series featuring Earth-Two’s Golden Agers fighting the Axis and other wartime bad guys. However, I do wish it was coming out in color, like those ‘70s Justice Society paperbacks from a few years back. Regardless, if the solicitation is accurate as to the issues collected, SPASS vol. 1 should include the five-part JLA/JSA crossover which bounces from the ‘80s to World War II to the Cuban Missile Crisis and involves three parallel Earths. Never could keep that one straight….

Finally, my stat-nerd heart is warmed by the thought of a Secrets of the Fortress of Solitude collection, and I bet yours is too.

* * *

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

Judge Bao and the Jade Phoenix

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

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

Archaia

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

Avatar

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

Bongo

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

Terror on the Planet of the Apes #1

Boom!

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

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

Dark Horse

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

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

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

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

DC Universe Presents #6

DC

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

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

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

Dynamite

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

First Second

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

The Big Town

Fantagraphics

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

Humanoids

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

IDW

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

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

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

Thief of Thieves

Image

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

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

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

Marvel

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

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

Metropolitan

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

Moonstone

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

Rohan at the Louvre (French edition)

NBM

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

Oni

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

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

SLG

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

Top Shelf

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

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

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?

Explorer: The Mystery Boxes

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

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

Amulet

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

Archie

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

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

Ardden

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

Ferals

Avatar

Ferals #1 – David Lapham writes werewolves.

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

Bongo

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

Boom!

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

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

Campfire

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

Cartoon Books

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

Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand

Dark Horse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DC

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

Frankenstein vs. OMAC

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

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

Drawn and Quarterly

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

Dynamite

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

First Second

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

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

The Sincerest Form of Parody

Fantagraphics

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

Hermes

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

Humanoids

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

IDW

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

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

Danger Girl: Revolver

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

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

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

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

Image

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

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

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

The Intrepids

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

Marvel

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

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

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

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

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

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

Moonstone

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

Oni

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

Wasteland

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

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

Papercutz

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

Putnam

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

Russ Cochran

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

Bettie Page in Danger

SHH

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

SLG

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

Tor

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

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

"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?

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?

Showcase Presents The SPOOOOKY

In many ways, for longtime DC superhero readers, this is the first week of the rest of our lives. This is the week the first batch of New-52 second issues come out, and as such, this week the New 52 stops being a September-specific gimmick. We all know the second issue is where the rubber meets the road. Accordingly, in conjunction with a look at December’s titles, here’s where I am after a month of first issues.

Back when the September solicitations came out, I listed 37 books that I was planning at least to try:

Action Comics, All-Star Western, Aquaman, Batgirl, Batman, Batman And Robin, Batwing, Batwoman, Blackhawks, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Catwoman, DC Universe Presents, Demon Knights, Detective Comics, The Flash, Frankenstein: Agent Of SHADE, The Fury Of Firestorm, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern: New Guardians, Grifter, Justice League, Justice League Dark, Justice League International, Men Of War, Mister Terrific, Nightwing, Red Lanterns, Resurrection Man, Static Shock, Stormwatch, Supergirl, Superman, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman

In the weeks that followed (and because Comics And Collectibles offered a good discount), I decided to read all 52. Based on that, I revised my original list slightly, to 36 books:

Action Comics, All-Star Western, Animal Man, Aquaman, Batgirl, Batman, Batwing, Batman And Robin, Batwoman, Blackhawks, Blue Beetle, Catwoman, DC Universe Presents, Demon Knights, Detective Comics, Flash, Frankenstein, Fury Of Firestorm, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Grifter, I, Vampire, Justice League, Justice League Dark, Justice League International, Men Of War, OMAC, Red Lanterns, Resurrection Man, Static Shock, Stormwatch, Superboy, Supergirl, Superman, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman

So yeah, not much has changed, mostly because a big chunk of the New 52 are books I would read anyway. Still, making the field are Animal Man, I, Vampire, and OMAC, while the bubble has burst for Captain Atom, GL:  New Guardians, Mister Terrific, and Nightwing. However, as I said back in June, some of these series might be dropped before the end of their first arcs — so you’re on notice, Blackhawks, Catwoman, and Red Lanterns.

Now on to December….

TAB A, MEET SLOT B

December’s books look full of clues to the New-52 backstory. Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes ostensibly bridges the gap between the relaunch and Grant Morrison’s voluminous work. Because it features Cyborg’s New-52 origin, Justice League #4 appears to be a make-or-break issue for those of us wondering if those old New Teen Titans stories still fit Vic’s revised history. Similarly, Action Comics #4 may answer the same question about John Henry Irons’ role in “Reign of the Supermen.” More origin-story clues are advertised for Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, and Batwing, while Batgirl and Deathstroke’s solicits tease answers to mysteries from their first issues.

Otherwise, a few series — Hawkman and Frankenstein; maybe Animal Man, Batgirl, and Blackhawks — seem to be wrapping up their first arcs with issue #4. I would have expected each initial arc to cover six issues, but it’s not like that’s a hard-and-fast rule.

Since I am mentioning Batgirl a lot, I’ll note that she’s guest-starring in the December issues of Birds Of Prey and Nightwing. Likewise, Green Arrow shows up in Grifter, Deathstroke involves the Blackhawks, John Constantine visits I, Vampire, and Demon Knights connects explicitly to Stormwatch.

ODDS AND ENDS

The Ray may turn out to be another fine-to-good series from the writing duo of Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and the very talented penciller Jamal Igle. I’ve always enjoyed Igle’s work, and I have a renewed appreciation for Gray & Palmiotti after reading their Power Girl and last week’s All Star Western. However, The Ray just looks horribly generic, and appears to lack the legacy connections which made previous versions more distinctive. Plus the line “light powers are less than handy in keeping his girlfriend happy” is just cringeworthy.

I know it’s already on Vol. 2, issue #3, but the solicitations reminded me that Batman: Odyssey is coming back, just in time to make the rest of the superhero line look sober and sensible.

My old friend Sam Greenwell worked on the first batch of Just-Us Leaguers, which I thought included a Superman and maybe a Green Arrow, but these look new (or at least updated) and I don’t see any sculptor’s name in the solicits. Seems like the first wave, from several years ago, included Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. Anyway, I like the Aquaman and Green Arrow.

COLLECTIONS

The DC Comics Presents Batman: The Secret City collection includes a couple of late-period Legends of the Dark Knight stories which I remember as being pretty decent. At the time, the Oracle story aimed for poignance because it let Barbara return to being Batgirl, sort of. I suppose it would have something of the same effect today, even with her back in the Batsuit for the foreseeable future. I’m not sure what’s noteworthy about the Mr. Freeze story, except its timing. It came out in the two issues before “Snow,” the excellent five-parter featuring the late Seth Fisher drawing a script by J.H. Williams III and D. Curtis Johnson. Freeze was the villain in that one too, if you hadn’t guessed already; but “Snow” was more about Batman’s early efforts to put together a team of Shadow-style operatives. Anyway, I mention all of that because seven issues in a row of Mr. Freeze was pretty unusual (and probably still is).

DC Comics Presents Captain Atom reprints the Action Comics backup series, but I wonder if that won’t be too confusing for readers who might only know Cap in his New-52 incarnation. Personally, I’d rather have a collection of the very fine ‘80s revamp, not least because the distinctions would be more clear. (Contrapositive proves the rule: DC is reprinting Resurrection Man, which apparently hasn’t changed a whole lot for the New 52.)

Speaking of clear distinctions, a new edition of Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke’s Catwoman issues is very welcome news. I heard Cooke describe the development of these issues at last year’s WonderCon, and I’ve been hoping they’d come back into print. Same goes for the Flex Mentallo hardcover, which has been on my Amazon wishlist for a while now. Like a dope I missed it originally, and I’ve only seen random pages here and there over the years.

The new Secret Origins hardcover should be fun, since it includes the Silver Age origins of Aquaman and Wonder Woman, classics like “Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt” and the Justice League’s origin story, a relatively-comprehensive Silver Age Superman origin from 1961, Jack Kirby drawing the Challengers of the Unknown, and the Enchantress’ and Animal Man’s 1960s roots. Of course, most of these characters have been revised and/or updated incalculably over the past 40-50 years, but by and large the stories themselves still hold up.

I’m eager to see the THUNDER Agents Chronicles, but I’m a little surprised that the title is getting the Chronicles treatment ahead of, say, Teen Titans, Legion of Super-Heroes, or the Justice Society stories from All Star Comics.

Wasn’t there a new edition of DC Universe By Alan Moore not too long ago? Well, for those who missed it, here it is again, newly augmented with some of Moore’s WildStorm work in keeping with those characters’ DCU integration. Strictly speaking, I would say the WildStorm stories exceed the parameters of the book’s title, but I give DC credit for not just putting out the same old collection. While we’re on the subject, it looks like the new Seven Soldiers Of Victory paperback reworks the old four-volume collection into a two-volume one — which is nice, I guess, but it doesn’t supersede the four books I already have.

I’ll probably end up getting Showcase Presents The Spectre, just to see how consistent the character is from his Silver Age relaunch through the ironic-punishment ‘70s and into a more metaphysical phase. The story in DC Comics Presents #29, where Superman tries to bring Supergirl literally back from the brink of death and ends up in the Spectre’s jurisdiction, is a good example of the latter.  Shame this book is coming out in January, because it would be a great Halloween read.

* * *

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

I’ve written before about my frustration with Previews, the monthly catalog that’s roughly the size of what we used to call “a phone book” — just think, one day phone books won’t exist, and yet we’ll still say that things are “like a phone book,” because that’s how language works — but this weekend, I realized: Previews is still better than the Internet.

What prompted my realization was looking at ComicList.com’s selection of future solicitations, and realizing that there were so few solicitations for publishers under the size of, say, Dynamite Entertainment. There’d be the occasional solicits listing for NBM, and Archie — a company I am slowly becoming convinced is secretly the most important publisher in the industry that isn’t Marvel or DC, seriously — but that would be it. No Fantagraphics, or Oni, or Top Shelf, or Drawn & Quarterly, never mind even smaller publishers. But it’s not that ComicList was maliciously ignoring them, or holding some kind of boycott of particular publishers’ information. It seems to be surprisingly difficult to get at this information online; you have to really look for it, and even then, in some cases, you still won’t find it.

To say that this seems weirdly counterintuitive is an understatement; with Diamond rules being what they are, you’d think that solicitation information would be something that all publishers would push as much as possible, and to as many places as possible. Considering that comics news sites (a) already have mechanisms set up to deal with publisher solicitations and (b) always have a need for more content, I genuinely don’t understand why there isn’t at least a recurring monthly feature on most sites summarizing the new releases and/or big projects that the “smaller” publishers are soliciting that month, if only because they’re very often some of the most interesting material that’s being solicited by any publisher.

As horrible as I find Previews at times, at least it makes the information available, if not in the greatest format. There’s something depressing about the amount of great material that not enough people are aware of, because they rely on the internet for solicit information, and it’s just not really out there for them to find easily. There’s so many comics that people just don’t know about. Short of just putting all of Previews online, what’s the solution?

That's a strange amount of whimsy from Matt Murdock...

Now, I will admit that the Distinguished Competition has given this month an air of finality.  So many No. 1 issues, what could possibly come next? Tonight there will be drinks raised high and hands shaken to a job well done as their Wrap Party ends this publishing month at Golden Apple Comics.  And it does seem a little final, doesn’t it?

It’s the perfect mood for looking ahead to December, where the last of the Marvel books published this year will leave 2011 not with a bang or a whimper, but with a dawn of things to come.  I’m not saying it’s a very big dawn or a brilliant one either; right now, I will full admit things look kind of so-so for December at Marvel …

… then again, I have been wrong before, so let’s take a look at December’s books, shall we?

The twice-a-month rally continues as December will see 11 comics give us two issues in 31 days; they’re mostly X-Men titles (Uncanny X-Force, X-Factor, X-23 and technically Deadpool) with a few Spider-Man books (The Amazing Spider-Man, Venom, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man) and random guys (Hulk, Black Panther: The Most Dangerous Man Alive, Kick-Ass 2) in the mix for good measure. I’m still not sure how I feel about this because The Amazing Spider-Man has been twice (even three times!) a month before now and it really hasn’t slowed the momentum or been complained about where I work (Metro Entertainment, Santa Barbara’s best in comics, toys, games and more! /end cheap plug).  If anything it’s welcome as the “Spider-Island” story is moving briskly enough to start a few readers thinking about a pull list or special orders of the entire storyline. But that might just be the quality of the work rather than the gratification of having two issues a month, so the debate continues.  If you have a preference, go ahead and leave it in the comments below, but I am thrilled to get two issues of Uncanny X-Force a month.

The other twice-a-month book I didn’t mention was Fear Itself: The Fearless, which will be just shy of the middle of its miniseries, cleaning up the long-term weaponry hauled out in Fear Itself.  This and Battle Scars are specifically set in a post-Fear Itself universe, and handling the fallout of the big event. So, instead of throwing a banner on some books and anchoring the writers and artists into a “Heroic Age” or “Aftersmash,” Marvel has continued the party over in the next room and left the rest of the hotel of comics to sleep peacefully into the night.  Not a bad idea, but I can’t trust on them selling well, especially not twice-a-month for The Fearless. Hrm.

Your Defending May Vary.

Speaking of extra titles I’m not sure will sell well, we have two oversized issues coming out to tell young and old alike all about the Defenders, from a rockin’ recollection of their first adventures to a rollicking roll call of past members and enemies. Oh, and then there’s the new book Defenders #1, which will probably have very little to do with any of the above. I can see how publishing some history and cast lists might psych up a reader for, say, the Avengers, where their main motivation hasn’t changed much over the years, but the Defenders are crazy-unique in their place in the Marvel Universe. Funny, intellectual, a secret love letter to the Blue Oyster Cult, the Defenders are a pretty awesome book and have their highs and lows just like any well loved published entertainment.  I would think again — this is surely why I don’t work for Marvel — that one would want to let a new book stand alone and show off whatever new take Matt Fraction and friends are doing with it. Maybe the history and cast lists can come after it’s a hit as people start to look for more things that say “Defenders” on them.  Maybe it can all show up the month before, giving the curious and the well-read time to digest the fact that there’s a new team due to debut.  It just seems like a foot bullet to have two oversized books at $5.99 and $4.99 show up in the same month as your big debut. Then again, that’s why they publish the books and I just sell ‘em.

This, of course, would not be the end of Marvel’s 2011 if we didn’t get to see just a taste of the exciting new future that is The Avengers: X-Sanction #1 (of 4)! Cable is back, guns are huge, and apparently he has to “wipe the Avengers from the pages of history!” And we quote: “How has Cable been reborn? Where has he been since Second Coming? And what dark event has driven him to destroy the Avengers? The answers are just the tip of an iceberg that threatens to smash the Marvel Universe to smithereens!” Man, some guys really bring their A-game to these solicitations, don’t they? I’ve read that like five times and I’m still super-excited when I get to “smithereens”! Those aforementioned smithereens are the start of the next big change in the Marvel Universe, plus Joe Quesada will be whipping up some variant covers to the book, ensuring it as a must-read this December. It does make me wonder, though:  Norman Osborn seems to have a new team of “Avengers,” Wonder Man’s “Revengers” wanted to disband everyone and now Cable is back to wipe the Avengers from history itself? This is not a good time to be an Avenger.

Marvel Holiday Special 2011

The holiday season rolls along with Deadpool MAX X-Mas Special #1 takes over the Punisher niche of highly violent yuletide stories that are deliciously offensive.  The Marvel Holiday Special 2011 will collect a variety of digital stories that debuted this year just in time for a stocking stuffer, and the Art of Marvel Studios hardcover slipcase is the big ticket item that you can delight True Believers and Movie Fans with at the same time.  Well, maybe not all of them, as the $150 price tag is crazy steep for the younger set. So what do you get the kids this Christmas?  Why, The Muppets Presents: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson, the previously-at-BOOM!-now-at-Marvel reprint! Yay!

Me? Why, I’ll just be settling for a new X-Club series with Simon Spurrier and the Avengers: West Coast Avengers — Lost in Space-Time premiere hardcover. One has done nothing but delight me at every one-shot and limited series during major events and Mr. Spurrier does a great job at making science adventurous and funny in the midst of a lot of mutant angst and greater drama.  The other is a book where Hank Pym attempts suicide and is stopped by a Catholic superheroine, and where Mockingbird threatens her marriage by letting a man fall to his death when … oh, just read it.

And read the rest of the December solicitations here and let us all know what you’re looking forward to.  Merry future Christmas to all!

The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths

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

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

Ape

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

Archaia

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

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

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

Bone: One-Volume Color Edition

Boom!

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

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

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

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

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

Cartoon Books

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

Dark Horse

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

Uncharted

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

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

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

DC

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

Dynamite

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

EC

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

Mr Twee Deedle

Fantagraphics

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

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

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

Gumby Comics

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

IDW

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

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

Hawken

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image

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

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

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

Super Dinosaur

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

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

Reed Gunther, Volume 1 – Same with this one.

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

Marvel

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

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

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

Skaar: King of the Savage Land

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

Oni

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

Papercutz

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

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

Despite fan apathy, despite the louder bolder act from the Distinguished Competitor, Fear Itself is a mighty fine event book. It has a very easy premise that people unfamiliar with comics can get into (hey, you know Thor? It’s like all the bad guys are that strong now), it’s got that “Versus” style atmosphere where people can debate all day long on who should have really been the first down or defeated in the Worthy vs. Heroes, it’s got a super-powered upgrade coming up for us by Iron Man, there’s been some tragedy and some triumph, and coming up in October, we’ll have closure with an ending that multiple comics can build up or down from.

Fear Itself #7.1

Fear Itself #7.2

Fear Itself #7.3

Or maybe not.

Remember in the last Lord of the Rings movie when they just kept having to tie up so many loose ends or add so much finality to the main story that it just felt like the audience just didn’t know where to applaud in a well-made film? Or even worse, you drank a really big soda during a three-hour+ movie and really wanted it to have a firm sense of a finish so you could escape? Yeah.

So, thanks to some New Math numbering by Marvel, it looks like #7 of Fear Itself really doesn’t end so much for our heroes because come November, we’re getting a Captain America ending, an Iron Man ending and a Thor ending (Depending on how well you do playing through the game, does this unlock any achievements?) If your mini-series is seven issues long, you should be able to tell me a complete story between issues #1 and #7. Afterwards, if there is a banner theme running around the books as they’ve done historically since Avengers: Disassembled and even further with some of the old annual arcs, so be it. I think, as comic readers, we’re more familiar with picking up what looks good coming out of a major event and deciding for ourselves that hey, let’s see the prologue with a certain character after the book is finished. Even a Fear Itself: Thor #1 one-shot would be more preferable, because at least with some distance from the main series, it feels like we’re moving on and not buying a very sneaky issues #8, 9 and 10.

Yeah, it’s probably too much of a sour note to play against the backdrop of a very solid set of storytelling, but man. What a way to start November.

Let’s see what else is coming from the House of Ideas in November 2011, shall we?

pointedly Point One

Oh hey look, everybody! Another Point One book! Only it’s called POINT ONE point blankly and it seems to be an… anthology one-shot? From the solicitation: “Here are SEVEN all -new stories that set the stage for everything coming your way in 2012 from the biggest names in the comics industry. You CANNOT miss this. Catch a tease of the biggest change to the Marvel Universe in over 35 years!” Is this like a preview of upcoming books coming out next year, written by prospective creators and sold as a Whitman’s Sampler? Wow. Brevoort is even calling this “our Rosetta Stone to the future” for Marvel Comics at large. “It will harken back to what I think the Annuals used to be when everybody remembers them as being so great – the big special issue that would come out and blow your mind with all the craziness in it. That’s our goal with Point One. It is literally the first point in the next year or 18 months of Marvel publishing.”

All at 64 pages at $5.99. Oh. That’s… actually not a bad idea. Maybe the idea of an ongoing anthology series is not as sustainable as an annual look across the board at what everyone else is doing that will tell both old and new readers just what the heck is going on and maybe, just maybe, lure them into a book or an idea they might not have gone for when the Prelude to Such and Such starts. Huh. I am honestly pleased by this and am kind of excited to see how it goes. Sure, the price point is a little high, but considering the content, it’s (hopefully) going to be worth the money.

Can we just get rid of this “Point One” nonsense though? Decimals are not that much marketing gold, I’m just saying…

New Dark Avengers #18 (with more nougat)

Anyhoo, back to now … or maybe then. Either way, despite compartmentalized, “buzzword” numbering, there’s a whole big wide universe to talk about that’s still ever present and ever changing. Over in Avengers-ville, we have three all-new teams to sort out, with AVENGERS #19 debuting a roster of Captain America, Vision (I’m 98% sure he’s from the Young Avengers series), Spider-Man, the Protector, Black Panther, Spider-Woman, Wolverine, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel and Iron Man. A little of column A and B from both ‘Adjectiveless’ and ‘New’ books. Over in NEW AVENGERS #18, Norman Osborn is back and in charge with his new probably evil team, looking to include himself, Skaar, the Swordsman …. gosh, a woman with long hair? A guy in a half mask tied in the back, Iron Fist style? Is that Tarantula, maybe?

Over at THE INCREDIBLE HULK #2, it looks like Jason Aaron is taking the John Byrne approach and splitting Bruce and the Hulk for a time, only instead of Bruce Banner forming the Hulkbusters and setting out to contain/destroy his former alter ego, we’ll be doing the reverse this time and the Hulk will be trying to take down Banner. Hey, why not? Aaron’s been pretty genius in a wide variety of books about terrible people and maybe now, sans family and kingships, we’ll return to more books about the monster. Also, this makes the Defenders pretty useful as a way for Banner to ‘defend’ himself against old Jade Jaws so… yeah. Another pretty solid and intriguing little storyline to follow!  I am truly excited to a see a Hulk book for the first time in a while so hooray Team Marvel! As long is it’s not issue #2.1 next month, we are OK!

Anyone else notice a small proliferation of semimonthly titles this month? There’s 12 of them in November and I don’t seem to recall when it got to be so many. This wasn’t a sudden thing, Marvel has put out plenty of books like Amazing Spider-Man with a couple more issues a month, but 12 just seems like a new style that no one’s mentioned yet. Or I simply didn’t catch on to…

Avengers Academy, Fear Itself: the Fearless, Ghost Rider, the new Six Guns western book by Andy Diggle, not to mention the Thunderbolts and Amazing Spider-Man, are all two issues a month for your comic fan. This is a topic in and of itself, weighing the merits of extra books on the shelves and meeting a demand for a popular book with simply more like it than a piñata of mini-series and tie-in books, but here’s the real kicker: the other half of semi-monthly titles are just X-Books.

All these silhouettes are so slimming...

Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, X-Men: Legacy, New Mutants, Wolverine and X-23 are all serving up two issues a month realness in November and, unless Wolverine and the X-Men get top billing due to the fact that they have Wolverine right in the name, that means the Uncanny X-Men, traditional herald of the Mutant titles, is now twice a month with new numbering. Make of this what you will.

Of course, looking over the X-Books it’s kind of hard to see what exactly we should be considering the main story of Marvel’s merry mutants and what title simply gets Miss Congeniality. We have the Regenesis angle, where the X-Men have split into two camps with two respective guys in charge of said groups. Wolverine’s crew of ‘We hate Broccoli’ are heading back to Westchester to face off against more Hellfire Club guys and “the villain of the most important X-Story ever” going at them as well. Uncanny X-Men starts with XXXXX and Scott Summers (who may make it out of this intact) on the “We Think You Need More Vegetables in Your Diet” side figuring out what’s to becoming of them and oh yes, “the resurrected Mister Sinister” is also back as well. Either way, while nebulous as what this is all going to be about is, it make some sense that there will be a change of philosophies or betrayals, etc that will give you two camps of X-Men to follow each month.

And then there's these guys...

And oh yeah, X-MEN #20 & #21. The Adjectiveless book that will guest star Iron Man 2.0 to fight Sentinels with him. See, I just don’t get how this book fits into all that plot mentioned above. Is this an out of continuity book? Kind of Marvel Adventures style where you like the X-Men, you just don’t want to devote a collection to them? I’d buy that but then Iron Man 2.0 is there, telling me that now, this has to be all in continuity or that means everything else happening in the two main X-titles has nothing to do with the regular Marvel universe! Who are these X-Men anyway? What team is this? THIS IS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL HOUSE!

I suppose it doesn’t matter, or maybe it shouldn’t? Not to geek reference even harder than I have thus far, maybe I should think to myself it’s just a comic book, I should really just relax. At the end of the day, we’re all just reading stories and the amount of “importance” a book has or how much you should read in order to understand anything should really just come from the 28 pages of story contained behind the cover.

And on that philosophical note, I leave you to peruse for yourself the rest of Marvel’s Solicitations for November 2011. What are you looking forward to? What sort of numbering do you want to see?   Tell all below and hey, let’s give a hand to everyone who had a hand in the KAPOW! GUINNESS WORLD RECORD SPECIAL #1, a pretty special feat on its own.    ”In April 2011, Mark Millar, Frank Quitely, Dave Gibbons, John Romita Jr, Leinil Yu, Paul Cornell, Andy Diggle, Jock, Duncan Fegrado, Sean Phillips and over fifty other comic-book creators joined forces with Kapow to break not one but TWO Guinness World Records – the fastest comic-book ever produced and the biggest number of creators working on a single comic. The Kapow Special stars Superior and was written, penciled, inked and lettered in less than 12 hours.”  Hey, I may not dig Superior but I love Guinness World Records and the Yorkhill Sick Children’s Hospital, where all the proceeds for the book will be going to.  Great work, guys.

Excelsior!

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?

Fear Itself #7

You guys.

We did it.

This is, quite possibly, the best it’s ever going to get. Two opening weekends of more than $65 million from Marvel Studios movies this summer, Thor and Captain America, combined with the $55 million from X-Men: First Class … I feel like I want to go buy a jet ski! We really did own the box office this year, and I am so proud to see the House of Ideas forge their own path in Hollywood and come out on top for staying close to the stories we adore and yet still forging entirely new ones for a new generation.

Then there’s print media. I know, it’s a weird time to be looking ahead to October, because events tend to end around this time of year, if not simply reveal their catastrophically shocking twists. So the solicitations have shed a lot of words like trees shedding leaves, both leaving us with the bare branches of what will later flower in the spring with … well, whatever next big story will dazzle the public.

I will be honest with you, gentle reader; this one will be a little bare as a snapshot of Marvel’s titles in October. Add to this that I wasn’t at Comic-Con this year, so I can’t exactly report or add info I heard at the show. The good news is that CBR is the most dashing and handsome news site out there, so you can catch all the coverage here.

Thanks to the seasonal shift that event books create, there’s a lot of stuff we just can’t say or know about until we hold those issues in our hot little hands. On the other hand, you can’t keep everything a mystery without the public going to town on speculation, so let’s delve int the unknown of October and see what Marvel has around this corner.

First up is the last issue of Fear Itself. Marvel tells us stuff that’s been established from ads and Comic-Con (I hear that was nice): that Iron Man’s made some cool new armor for his pals and that Thor’s Day is the day that everything ends, plus the hint that there will be a “a little something extra for the keen eye.” Speaking of keen eyes, can I ask a general question about the front cover layouts? I’m kind of digging this middle title placement, the color-coded release months and the covers that, for all intents and purposes, show you directly what’s going to happen in this book. Considering past reformatting of the comic book cover, I think Fear Itself is a very well-designed package that was easy to sell customers and organize in the back-issue bins. Good job, guys!

Fear Itself: The Home Front #7

In other Fear Itself news, we’ll be wrapping up all sorts of bits and ends, from major battles (New Mutants #32), to character pieces set with in the main storyline getting their time in the sun (Invincible Iron Man #509), to old history being put to rest within the new history being created (Fear Itself: The Home Front #7, The Mighty Thor #7) and then, of course, good old-fashioned team formation/destruction. To be destroyed are the guys from Youth in Revolt, the “New Initiative” characters as they’re called, and what exactly we’re going to do with all of these people we stood up and brushed off for Civil War, then sort of forgot about when the bigger shinier toys came along. Don’t get me wrong, I grew to really like Fear Itself: Youth In Revolt after the first issue or so, but I don’t see this continuing. On the other hand, Fear Itself: The Home Front #7 is hinting that ” X-23, Power Man, Amadeus Cho, Thunderstrike & Spider-Girl” might “form an all-new team of young heroes” which is totally a book I see making it out alive. That’s nearly a Junior New Avengers league right there, with a lot of faces who have been breakout stars of other books, so there might be something young and hip rising out of the ashes of Fear Itself.

Journey Into Mystery #629 & #630 give both an idea of conclusion to the adventures of Lil’ Loki in Fear Itself and the start of maybe a Voltagg-centric run on the title. Sure, a one-off story on Volstagg could also be the case, but it would be neat to not only get an anthology book started for the ancient adventure that the Warriors Three, Valkyrie and other Asgardian characters bring, but have a permanent place for story ideas to germinate outside of major books. Want to write a Volstagg story, but it would get in the way of major title story flow? Put it in Journey to Mystery and see how much interest you can get. If it’s super popular, give him a mini-series and see how that goes. Want to write a Doctor Strange story but don’t want to take up all of the New Avengers’ time? Put him in Journey into Mystery and then later take that story back with you to the title he’s hanging out in. Maybe put a little yellow box on the panel it’s mentioned with a note from, say, an editor about what issue that mentioned story came from- nah, they’d never do that! Madness!

The Fearless #1 is going to be twice a month (yikes!) and $2.99 (not so yikes) where Matt Fraction, Cullen Bunn and Chris Yost will be giving us our post-Fear Itself wrap up of the Marvel Universe, as “CLASSIFIED.” I told you it would be a short one this week.

Incredible Hulk #1 will have the absolutely bone-chilling Jason Aaron teamed with the incredible art of Marc Silvestri to “CLASSIFIED.” Might be time to break out the Mad Libs.

Amazing Spider-Man #671

Oh hey! Over in Ultimate town, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #3 might tell us who is behind the new Spider-Man mask? Taking a step away from “CLASSIFIED,” the Ultimate universe does look to be shaping up from what it once was and what it eventually became. Aside from ol’ Webhead’s identity, the concepts seem to be boiling back down to something movie-styled (Hawkeye’s new look, the X-Men thought terrorists, etc.) and will certainly return to being a great stop for film fans looking to read a comic fresh off the stands. I have hope, gentle reader.

Spider-Island will wrap up in Amazing Spider-Man #671 & #672 (with a little Mary Jane gets spider-powers thrown into the mix), leaving two orphaned books of its own: Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger #3 and Spider-Island: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #3. These tie-ins are 50/50; on one hand, they could be ultimately superfluous and simple character pieces that will delight fans of these characters and/or might lure a few new ones in to the fold. On the other hand, they could be key issues later as to when these guys are showcased to their next book. Clock & Dagger always comes up as a title people want to see and Spider-Island could be the springboard they need to try out some solo stuff. Shang-Chi is even in the new Secret Avengers, so he might take some story with him out of his Spider-Island stuff. It’s tricky.

on the right, it's NIGHTCRAWLER!

Personally, I’m pretty sure the big news from Marvel in October is going to be the fallout and restructuring from X-Men: Schism. Most interestingly enough, X-Men: Regenesis has billed a choice I did not expect: “When the dust settles from the X-Men’s Schism, a line has been drawn, and every mutant must choose. Who will they follow — XXXXXX or Wolverine?” Bwaaaah? XXXXXX? Have we lulled ourselves into a false sense of security, thinking this fight was between Cyclops and Wolverine when really it was XXXXXX all along? If so, nice curve ball, guys, now my mind is a flutter for all the possibilities this new choice might bring! Magneto? Emma Frost? Xavier fits the amount of letters, but if he has to step in, what does Wolverine do to cause so deep a rift that the big guy has to get up and order him out? What about Utopia? See, this is a great solicitation because my mind is racing to keep up with what it’s delivering and I can generate interest in that back at the local comic shop.

Even better: Wolverine & The X-Men #1 as awesome silhouettes on its cover! OH HOLY CATS, NIGHTCRAWLER!? No one say a thing about ‘oh death is stupid didn’t he just die lol’ because this is exactly what death is for in comics. To change the game up, to give characters some recuperation time from their own continuity and for some fine dramatic revelation. Nice job, X-Guys.

What did you enjoy? Are you super-excited for the John Carter of Mars comics Marvel with publish along side Disney’s new film? Has the new Ghost Rider jazzed you enough that a confrontation between her and Johnny Blaze has you marking a date on your calender? Has the upcoming Avengers roster change started an office betting pool? Which reprint is more amazing, the Marvel Firsts: The 1960s trade paperback or the X-Men #1: 20th Anniversary Edition all the way from that ancient time they call 1991? Take a look at the solicitations for Marvel Comics in October and tell us what you think in the comments below. Excelsior!

Don Newton and Dick Giordano provide a classic Batman cover

Sometimes it’s been hard for me to process the New 52 as anything but an amorphous mass of, well, Newness. In this respect, DC’s October solicitations are helping to define that mass, with details like the five-year timeframe and Superman’s work boots.

Still, despite the promise of widespread change — and the somewhat-irrational implication that those who aren’t curious now will be left behind later — it’s been fairly easy for me almost to ignore the solicits, and just buy the books when they come out. After all, presumably DC is after new (or returning) readers who don’t follow the solicits and aren’t attuned to the spoilers.

Besides, the October solicits also include some attractive reprints; so let’s get right to it, shall we?

* * *

WHEN TRINITARIANS CLASH; or WORLD’S FIGHTIN’-EST

Here’s the thing about Justice League #2: by now, 25 years after Dark Knight Book Four, a Superman/Batman fight is nothing new. However, the relationship between these two characters is one of DC’s most primal. Each taps into a different set of reader-identification impulses: Superman represents wish-fulfillment, and Batman stands for a more practical approach. In a very real sense, Batman’s enduring popularity is bound up with readers having chosen his brand of practicality over Superman’s embrace of fantasy.

The fact that this fight will play out as part of the Justice League’s new origin adds another layer of meaning, because Batman’s mere participation in the League has occasionally been deemed incompatible with his characterization. In fact, while the Justice League itself facilitates the interaction of genres (fantasy, mythology, space opera, etc.), its members tend to be more similar to Superman than to Batman; and so Batman’s pulp-style tendencies are often downplayed in fights with the likes of Despero and the Lord of Time. Therefore, this is not just another Superman/Batman throwdown. Instead, it has the potential to define Batman’s role in the Justice League, and by extension across the reintroduced superhero landscape.

Or, you know, Batman could have even more of an advantage, since Superman’s powers are still developing.  Plus he’s probably got a lot of prep time.

WHO’S WHO

Classic DC names showing up in unexpected places: the Signalmen (plural of an old Batman villain) in Justice League International #2; Brainstorm (old JLA villain) in Mr. Terrific #2; N.O.W.H.E.R.E. (an acronym from Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol) in the second issues of Superboy and Teen Titans; and Amazing Man (onetime member of the All-Star Squadron; successor joined the Justice League) in OMAC #2.

MINISERIES MAKING A COMEBACK

Count me among those excited for the return of Batman: Odyssey – not necessarily because I enjoy the series on its merits, but because it’s another chance to speculate about what Neal Adams wants to accomplish with it. I mean, even All Star Batman & Robin had its own place in Frank Miller’s Batman stories. Odyssey apparently exists apart from anything Adams has ever done with Batman, except maybe some demented version of those Power Records comics.

Speaking of standing apart, the new Shade miniseries – the second one, remember, since James Robinson and a handful of fine artists did four issues with the character in 1997 — sure seems like it’s not for the uninitiated. Rather, it feels like the next best thing to Robinson actually restarting his Starman series after a ten-year absence. And why stop with Starman? Maybe The Shade will refer to Robinson’s current Justice League work, which in October will only be out-of-date by a month. I’m trying not to be sarcastic here, because Robinson has a history of ignoring editorial mandates about continuity. Much of his Elseworlds miniseries The Golden Age (drawn by Paul Smith) laid the groundwork for Starman, so in a sense Robinson has always been playing in his own little corner of DC’s superhero line.

COLLECTIONS

The reprints and collections in this crop of solicits are really quite good. Among the $7.99 issues, Mark Farmer and Alan Davis’ Superboy’s Legion stands out almost on eye-candy value alone. It’s lighter than the team’s original Nail miniseries, but it doesn’t go nuts with the cameos like Another Nail did.

Somewhat more serious is JLA: Age Of Wonder, which essentially puts Superman, Starman, Green Lantern, et al., at the dawn of the 20th Century. In scope and tone it reminded me of Superman: Red Son, because both deal with good intentions gone awry on a global scale. However, AOW doesn’t try to be as satirical as Red Son, so in that respect I liked AOW more. Worth the $7.99, definitely.

Can’t quite say the same for the two-issue reprint of Superman: Secret Identity. On one hand I’m glad it’s being reprinted, because it’s a gorgeous, affecting take on a “real-world” Man of Steel. The only caveat I have about recommending this edition is that DC should have just reissued the 2004 paperback collection. Sure, the two new $7.99 issues will be cheaper (the paperback was $19.95 seven years ago), but they won’t be as durable; and this is a story you’ll want to read many times.

It should surprise none of you that I am a big fan of literary annotations. Besides annotated versions of The Hobbit and A Christmas Carol, and Jess Nevins’ League of Extraordinary Gentlemen annotations, I have Leslie Klinger’s three-volume New Annotated Sherlock Holmes — so of course I’m signing up for Klinger’s Annotated Sandman. (It’s cheaper than the Absolute editions, too!) Now maybe I will finally feel smart while reading Sandman….

Volume 2 of the Steve Ditko Omnibus reprints a lot of odds and ends from the late ‘60s through the early ‘00s. If you’ve always wanted to read Ditko’s Hawk & Dove, or an arc from the Prince Gavyn “Starman” feature (written by Paul Levitz), and you don’t mind a collection with two issues of Man-Bat, a handful of “Odd Man” shorts, and some random Legion of Super-Heroes issues, then this is the book for you.

Last month DC solicited a new Justice League Archives, but I still didn’t expect to see a new Legion Archives in these solicits. We’re well into the ‘70s at this point, and well past the point that a casual Legion fan could just jump into this hardcover series. (Previous Archives have been discounted on eBay, but Volume 8 is out of print and pretty hard to find.) Maybe a combination of the Showcase Presents books and the later Archives will do. Besides, if this keeps up, the Archives might just catch up with that Great Darkness Saga collection I have already.

I’m also glad to see — finally! — a second Wonder Woman Chronicles. Many, if not all, of these stories have already been reprinted in Archive form, so it’s nice for someone like me (who, again, didn’t have the resources to devote to every Archive series) to catch up on the Amazing Amazon’s most imaginative era.

BATMAN COLLECTIONS

One thing about reading early-‘70s Batman comics is that the collections tend to focus on particular topics — all the Neal Adams issues, all the Ra’s Al Ghul issues, the Manhunter saga, etc. — and you lose sight of the larger month-to-month context in which these issues first appeared. That’s why I’ll be getting Showcase Presents Batman Vol. 5. I want to read stories like “The Demon Of Gothos Mansion” (from Batman #227) alongside more familiar classics like “Secret of the Waiting Graves” and “One Bullet Too Many!”

“The Demon Laughs” (now collected in the $7.99 format) came out in 2001, some time after the wholesale creative-team shuffle which followed “No Man’s Land,” but it’s still a good example of ‘90s Batman. It’s from Chuck Dixon and Jim Aparo, two of the period’s signature creators, and the story’s a good marriage of creators and characters. (Probably similar is the Catwoman: Guardian Of Gotham miniseries, which I haven’t read.) By contrast, Dwayne McDuffie and Val Semeiks’ “Blink” (which came out a year after “Demon Laughs,” and which also gets the $7.99 treatment) offered readers a respite from constant Bat-crossovers.  More importantly, t’s a neat story in its own right, earning a Legends of the Dark Knight sequel not too long afterwards.

Of course, if you want the last hurrah of the ‘90s Batman creative teams, step right up to the new edition of “No Man’s Land” collections. After “Knightfall” and its sequels expanded the Bat-line pretty much irrevocably, the books crossed over constantly for the rest of the ‘90s, culminating in a post-apocalyptic storyline which took a year to tell and covered a year in the life of post-quake Gotham. It reduced the Batman mythology to very basic elements: one man (and his small group of associates) trying to bring justice to a hellish city broken by corruption and crime.

Finally, back when DC announced a Gene Colan Batman collection, I mentioned how great it would be to have a similar book for Don Newton — so thanks, DC, for following up on that. Between the Colan book, the upcoming Marshall Rogers collection, and this one, my shelf will soon be full of stellar Bronze Age Bat-art.

POTPOURRI

Although I’m willing to give Peter Tomasi a chance as Batman And Robin’s regular writer, issue #2′s mention of a more violent Robin suggests that some of the nuance which Grant Morrison gave Damian is being eroded. To be fair, Tomasi knows his Bat-history well enough that I expect him to distinguish this storyline from 1988′s “did Jason Todd just kill that guy?” arc. By the same token, though, you’d think this would hit a lot of the same beats.

Glad to see Seven Soldiers’ Shining Knight on the cover of Demon Knights #2.

My position against buying the new Teen Titans hasn’t changed, but I will say that the cover of issue #2 is an improvement. Probably because Red Robin’s glider wings are covered up.

I’m sorry to see House Of Mystery go, because I read it for the first year-and-a-half. At its worst it was still pretty diverting, and occasionally it was inspired. Its unique format tried to combine continuing characters with an anthology, and I thought it was worth supporting just for that. However, I never got into the continuing characters, and eventually I dropped it. Naturally, now that it’s being cancelled, I’m inclined to revisit it to see what I missed.

The fact that the THUNDER Agents paperback reprints all ten issues of the lame-duck series, and is still called “Volume 1,” gives me hope for future THUNDER stories.

Will I buy the 1,216-page DC Comics: The New 52? No. Does DC need me to buy it? No. If DC thinks there is a market for that $200.00 Taschen retrospective, surely it has calculated that neither set of prospective buyers includes me. Anyone who does get it, let me know what you think.

* * *

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

They're breaking up Superman and Lois Lane?!?

What’s the point?

This is like hosting the best block party for three months straight, and then suddenly the guy next door rents an outdoor projector and starts playing “Best of the Web” YouTube videos on the side of his house. People just can’t help but turn their heads. Is it a wise idea? Aren’t these just constant clips of low-rent YouTube versions of Jackass? Why can’t I look away?

So here we are, minding our own business, when the Distinguished Competition comes out with a hefty announcement for their September line-up. It’s bright and shiny and controversial and loud, and maybe this is what the other half feels like every time Marvel announces that they are going to create a studio to make their own movies, make a push for trade paperbacks, support digital comics or kick off a whole new universe where characters are younger and more movie-savvy for the modern comic reader.

Yeah! So let’s look at September, people! Let’s face front to the future and remind ourselves that no matter the number on the cover, it’s the content that counts. What’s Marvel bringing to the fore in September?

The major events we’re looking at in September are Fear Itself (reaching #6 of 7 this month), Spider-Island (a more general “part three” and “part four”) and X-Men: Schism (which will be at #4 of 5, bringing us to the announcements made this week).

Fear Itself: the Monkey King #1

Fear Itself is bringing in a new title late in the game with FEAR ITSELF: THE MONKEY KING #1. Based on the character in Iron Man 2.0, he is very much in line with the Immortal Weapons and probably is one himself. To be perfectly honest, I’m surprised he debuted in Iron Man 2.0 rather than, say, an Iron Fist book, so I haven’t caught up with the character just yet. So while the rather well-received, modern-day Iron Fist languishes in New Avengers, the new Immortal Weapons hang out with Rhodey and the newest one gets his own one-shot. It still seems a shame not to get a new Iron Fist series out of this opportunity.

A taken opportunity is getting an Alpha Flight series in with the great Fear Itself machine. Sadly, September’s issue is ALPHA FLIGHT #4 (of , so Marvel still doesn’t have the confidence to run a regular Alpha Flight series. All in all, we’re looking at 21 titles by now for Fear Itself, most of them just regular books with a “fear” theme or one of the Worthy trashing their stuff inside. The train is winding down, we’ll be pulling into the final station next month with the last Fear Itself issue and all the aftermath we can handle.

Amazing Spider-Man #670: you know you're reading it

Spider-Island seems entirely opposed to the above framework; normally for an event, there’s a main book, some sub-books, a few minis but most importantly, an end. We know when Fear Itself is over because there will be an issue that says so. Other books that went along for the ride will go back to their own lives and all the minis that did the dirty support work will fade off, like Brigadoon if Man-Thing, Silver Surfer and two different She-Hulks were cast in the production. Spider-Island, on the other hand, seems to be starting off with a concept rather than a main series (What if everyone in NYC had spider-powers?), then a majority of concept minis rather than regular books to help pull it off. Obviously, Amazing Spider-Man is the main book if you want to find out what’s going on, but if you’re just interested in playing “_____ with Spider-Powers!” you’re probably better off just grabbing the mini-series of your choice. There will be books like SPIDER-ISLAND: AVENGERS #1 to tell you what the Avengers would be like with Spider-Powers, and SPIDER-ISLAND: I LOVE NEW YORK CITY #1 to tell what the average Joe is doing with Spider-Powers (also: the Punisher). I guess logistically it doesn’t look like an event book because I don’t see that clear and defined point where nothing will ever be the same AGAIN! Instead, it’s a concept that will meander through the books until they’ve done enough and then slowly exit the stage. Kind of weird for a “banner” storyline, but hey. They’re trying to get Cloak & Dagger and Shang-Chi: Master of Kung-Fu ushered in through the hype, so good luck.

Stranger things have happened: is that Miguel O'Hara?

Speaking of taking an idea as far as it can go and then quietly exiting stage right, there are two new Ultimate Comics titles out this month: ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #1 (and #2) which is both listed as polybagged and classified, so let’s never talk of that again, and ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #1 with Nick Spenser and Paco Medina. FINALLY. No offense to Jeph Loeb or Art Adams, but Oh MY Stars and Garters that book was a wreck. Ultimate Comics X was pretty interesting in parts, completely maddening in others, mostly because when it wasn’t on the shelves, you forgot it ever came out and then only got a snippet of story and a hint at something to come. I’m not saying that Ultimatum was a HUGE mistake for the Ultimate Universe and the very idea they gave Jeph Loeb anything to do with it afterwards was an affront to everyone who had made that line a success to begin with, but … you know.

Still, two new titles, one could be the Ultimate inclusion of Miguel O’Hara from the 2099 universe, the other an interesting use of all the mess Ultimatum left behind, written by the guy who does the critically acclaimed Morning Glories series. Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic are taking readers for a ride in the shiny new ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #2, so I think things are looking good for the Ultimate universe.

X-Men: Schism is last on our list, and while Fear Itself and Spider Island follow an idea if not a formula, then the X-event is looking like an afterthought. Not only is there just one book tie-in (serious, it’s just X-MEN: SCHISM #4 (of 5) and GENERATION HOPE #11), but the solicitation for X-Men: Schism says that the events of this event “have launched the world into turmoil.” Did Schism start all the other events that are still wrapping up somehow? Because even the other X-books are busy getting involved with them, not to mention their own storylines and plot points. While everything seems on the brink of danger over here, there’s entirely other dangers that don’t even want to get involved with the first. I love the idea that Colossus is threatening to make a deal with the Cytorrak in UNCANNY X-MEN #543 for Fear Itself and it’s awesome that UNCANNY X-FORCE #15 is really running with the Dark Angel Saga and even X-MEN #17 & #18 have the X-Men fighting dinosaurs in the Bermuda Triangle with the FF, it’s just that if Schism is really going to be this big serious thing, then maybe make the transition from everything it’s going to be to everything as it WILL NEVER BE AGAIN!! a little easier?

But that’s my opinion. Every week, I’m lucky enough to have you share yours in the comments. So open up a window, look through the Marvel Comics solicitations for September 2011 and tell me what you think! How do you feel about big event plotlines? Looking forward to a fresh start with the Ultimate universe? Amazed and excited to see Roger Langridge John Carter of FREAKIN’ Mars? Curious as to what Wonder Man’s Revengers team is going to bring to the mix in NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #1? Or did you just catch that the solicitation for DAREDEVIL #4 promises the “THE DEATH DEFYING DEBUT OF MARCOS MARTIN!” Let me know! Excelsior!

Sexy Black Flash. Sexy. Black. Flash. SEXY ... BLACK ... FLASH.

Even after all the news, and all the reactions thereto, I thought there was still a little to be revealed in September’s DC solicitations. Would the First Wave books or Batman Beyond be there, moved “outside” the scope of the superhero-dominated main line? (Apparently not.) Would there be obscure reprints to pore over? (Oh my yes.) How weird could the Ame-Comi line get? (Three words: Sexy Black Flash.)

Nevertheless, this week I’m looking at the New 52′s impact on my personal bottom line, and — although I am far from the first blogger to do so — offering my take on what looks good for the foreseeable future.

* * *

First, though, a word on the collections included in the September solicits. They’re more business-as-usual than I would have expected, including paperback editions of a couple of “New Krypton” storylines, hardcovers for Batman Incorporated and Batman: The Black Mirror, and Omnibii for the Silver Age Green Lantern, War of the Green Lanterns, and the Geoff Johns runs on Flash and Teen Titans.

I was, however, pleasantly surprised to see a new Justice League of America Archives (#10, in fact), whose early-‘70s reprints will fill some holes in my collection. The one-volume All Star Superman paperback will be more convenient than either my single issues or the two previous paperbacks, and the second Suicide Squad collection is (of course) long overdue. Showcase Presents digs a little deeper for the ‘70s horror series Ghosts, a book which is familiar to me only from house ads of that time. The real rarity, though, is the hardcover reprint of The Bible, adapted by Sheldon Mayer, Joe Kubert, and Nestor Redondo. It’ll go nicely on my shelf next to the Basil Wolverton and R. Crumb adaptations.

Speaking of adaptations, I’m not sure yet about Batman: Noel. It’s too easy to screw up A Christmas Carol, especially by mixing wildly different genres (not to mention incorporating action sequences). Batman and Christmas can go together pretty well, but you have to get it just right.

* * *

On to the main event, and we begin with some numbers. For August, DC has solicited a total of 76 issues in its main line of comics. (The complete list appears at the bottom of this post.) These break down to

– 37 issues of ongoing series (including War of the Green Lanterns, which I figure takes the place of Green Lantern; plus two issues each of Teen Titans and Superboy);
– 24 issues of miniseries (including two issues each of Batman: Gates of Gotham, DC Universe Online Legends, and Flashpoint); and
– 15 one-shots and/or special issues, ten of which are the Retro-Active specials.

For September, of course, there is just one number: 52 issues of ongoing series in the main line, with no miniseries or special issues.

Now, to be sure, the New 52 includes one anthology (DC Comics Presents), whose inaugural five-issue Deadman arc could just as easily have been a miniseries. Likewise, October’s My Greatest Adventure #1 continues two features from the just-concluded Weird Worlds miniseries. It may only last a month, but it’s a significant departure from the superhero line’s usual mix of formats. As I’ve said, an ongoing series implicitly demands a commitment both from the reader and the publisher — and while the publisher might look a bit greedy, the readers won’t be embarrassed if a good chunk of these titles fail.

The big overhaul also forces “jumping-off points” for several of the books I was reading, namely Birds Of Prey, Booster Gold, Secret Six, THUNDER Agents, Xombi, and Zatanna. Those six books represent one-third of the 19 DCU ongoing series I’m planning to buy in August. Two more,Batman Beyond and Batman Incorporated, are going on hiatus, and the rest (Action Comics, Batman, Batman And Robin, Detective Comics, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Justice League Of America, Supergirl, Superman, and Wonder Woman) are part of the overhaul.

Specifically, here’s my DCU list for August:

Ongoings (18): Action Comics #904, Batman #713, Batman And Robin #26, Batman Beyond #8, Batman Inc. #10, Birds Of Prey #15, Booster Gold #47, Detective Comics #881, Green Lantern Corps #63, Justice League Of America #60, Secret Six #36, Supergirl #67, Superman #714, THUNDER Agents #10, War Of The Green Lanterns: Aftermath #2, Wonder Woman #614, Xombi #6, and Zatanna #16.

Miniseries (8+): Batman: Gates Of Gotham #4, Batman: Gates Of Gotham #5, Flashpoint #4, Flashpoint #5, Flashpoint: Batman — Knight Of Vengeance #3, Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #3, Flashpoint: Frankenstein And The Creatures Of The Unknown #3, Flashpoint: Secret Seven #3 (and probably some TBD Flashpoint tie-ins).

Specials (12): Batman 80-Page Giant 2011 #1, the ten Retro-Active ‘80s and ‘90s books, and Superman Beyond #0.

That’s a total of at least 38 issues. Many of those wouldn’t have been around in September anyway — Gates of Gotham #5 would have been pushed into September, and maybe Flashpoint #5 and the‘90s Retro-Active Specials would have too. Thus, I’d have gone from an adjusted total of 31 DCU issues in August to about 25 in September — not a big drop, because the schedule would’ve been more balanced.

As it is, though, I’m faced with a dramatically different DCU in September, and am choosing to read

Action Comics, All-Star Western, Aquaman, Batgirl, Batman, Batman And Robin, Batwing, Batwoman, Blackhawks, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Catwoman, DC Universe Presents, Demon Knights, Detective Comics, Flash, Frankenstein: Agent Of SHADE, Fury Of Firestorm, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern: New Guardians, Grifter, Justice League, Justice League Dark, Justice League International, Men Of War, Mister Terrific, Nightwing, Red Lanterns, Resurrection Man, Static Shock, StormWatch, Supergirl, Superman, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman.

That’s 37 DCU ongoing series, almost as many issues as August’s oddly-loaded lineup. Again, I don’t expect all of these to make it past their first year — and I wouldn’t be surprised if DC cancelled many of them at that point (or even earlier) in order to make room on the schedule for another revival like Doom Patrol or even Justice Society. I don’t expect to fall in love instantly with all of these, and will probably drop at least a few of them after the first couple of issues.

However, there are books I’ve read consistently for decades, and despite thoughts of inertia will not drop anytime soon. These are most of the familiar “foundational” titles: Detective, Action, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Justice League. For the most part I’m looking forward to the new teams, especially Grant Morrison and Rags Morales on Action, George Pérez and Jésus Merino on Superman, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo on Batman, and Geoff Johns and Jim Lee (for as long as that lasts) on Justice League.

Sadly, inertia will be a big factor in my reading Detective Comics during the Tony Daniel run. To me, Detective has always been the more cerebral of the two main Bat-books, and while Daniel’s writing on Batman has tried hard, it’s never really held my attention. The same may be true for the new Flash team of Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul, because I am unfamiliar with their writing chops; but Manapul’s art may make up for any shortcomings there. Otherwise, the foundational books have pretty strong creative teams. None of these is in any danger of cancellation, so the challenge will be to see how well they sell.

The next category includes titles I don’t necessarily read out of love for the character (although there are some), but where the combination of creative team and character has convinced me to give these a try: Aquaman, Batgirl, Batwoman, Demon Knights, Frankenstein: Agent Of SHADE, Firestorm, JL Dark, JLI, Red Lanterns, Resurrection Man, Static Shock, Supergirl, and Swamp Thing. This category’s books on the bubble include the Peter Milligan-written Red Lanterns and JL Dark and the Dan Jurgens-written Justice League International. The first two sound just crazy enough to work, and the new JLI does have Aaron Lopresti’s art potentially outweighing Dan Jurgens’ occasionally-clunky writing. I’m also a little unsure of Ethan Van Sciver co-writing Firestorm, but Gail Simone and Yildiray Cinar are enough to get me on board. Likewise, I’m hoping the new Supergirl creative team brings a different perspective to the character, beyond “innocent teen.”

Beyond that is the “probably” category, where I like either the character or the creative team, but am unsure about the combination. I liked Judd Winick on Justice League: Generation Lost (and wish he were writing the new JLI — why not, DC?), and I am prepared to like Batwing, so that gets on the list. On the other hand, I’ve never gotten into any of the Catwoman series, although I’ve liked the character in the larger Bat-context. I do like Guillem March, though, and he and Winick should do a decent job on Catwoman. Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason didn’t wow me with their previous Batman And Robin arc, but if it’s the only place to see Bruce and Damian in action together, so be it. Same goes for Tomasi writing Guy and John in GL Corps (and I like Fernando Pasarin as well). Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang are enough to get me on board for DC Comics Presents’ Deadman arc, as are Tony Bedard and Ig Guara on Blue Beetle. Rounding out this category, I’m inclined to support DC’s attempts at genre diversity by sampling All Star Western, Blackhawks, and Men Of War.

The rest of my picks fall into a “like the character, not sure about the execution” category. Unfortunately, the poster boy for faulty execution is back to being Nightwing, who (ironically enough) always seems a little lost without another hero (or group) to play against. I’m willing to give Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows a chance, but after giving Marv Wolfman and Peter Tomasi their shots a few years back, I’m not expecting much. Because I liked Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham on GL Corps, the cast is the problem with Green Lantern: New Guardians: I’m just not that thrilled with the Rainbow Corps. Again, it gets a reasonable shot at convincing me otherwise, as does Mister Terrific (because I am unfamiliar with Eric Wallace’s work). The good things I’ve heard about Nathan Edmondson are enough to get me to sample Grifter, and Paul Cornell, Miguel Sepulveda, and J’Onn J’Onzz will likewise get me to pick up StormWatch.

I’m still on the fence about the two Legion titles and I … Vampire!, but there’s not much to get me interested in the rest of the 52. Although Superboy, Teen Titans, Green Arrow, and Dark Knight will probably get along fine without me, I’m not betting on Red Hood, Savage Hawkman, OMAC, Voodoo, Hawk & Dove, Deathstroke, or Suicide Squad to make it to issue #13. The Hawkman, Hawk & Dove, and Green Arrow books seem especially kneecapped by the overhaul, since whatever momentum they had coming out of Brightest Day has been pretty much drained by the overhaul’s square-one atmosphere. At least Swamp Thing got a bridge-the-gap miniseries.

* * *

That’s a lot of analysis based largely on superficial impressions of the books and their creative teams. Indeed, much has been said (most of it by people smarter than I) about the general shape of September’s overhaul, its strengths, and its weaknesses. Regardless, the bottom line is … well, the bottom line — what will you buy (and how), and for how long will you buy it? By recasting the DCU line as fifty-two ongoing series, to the exclusion of just about every other format, DC is betting that it will bring readers along (and new readers in) on a more-or-less permanent basis. I don’t think that all-or-nothing stance will last, and I don’t think DC does either.

For me personally, August-to-September is a change which makes little difference to me financially. Again, I expect to drop at least a few of these books pretty quickly, and I think DC will end up cancelling at least a few of the ones I actually start to like. That sentiment seems more practical than cynical to me, because that’s been my experience lo, these many years. I usually buy about two dozen DCU ongoing series at a time, and eventually I think my “overhauled” Wednesday habits will shake out to that level.

Really, though, now I’m more curious about October — but you know what the music means … our time is up.

++++++++++++++++++++++

August’s DCU titles, grouped by type

Ongoings: Action Comics #904, Adventure Comics #529, Batgirl #24, Batman #713, Batman and Robin #26, Batman Beyond #8, Batman Incorporated #10, Batman: The Dark Knight #5, Birds of Prey #15, Booster Gold #47, Detective Comics #881, Doc Savage #17, Gotham City Sirens #26, Green Arrow #15, Green Lantern Corps #63, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #13, Jonah Hex #70, Justice League of America #60, Justice Society of America #54, Legion of Super-Heroes #16, Power Girl #27, Red Robin #26, Secret Six #36, Superboy #10, Superboy #11, Supergirl #67, Superman #714, Superman/Batman #87, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #10, Teen Titans #99, Teen Titans #100, The Spirit #17, Titans #38, War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath #2, Wonder Woman #614, Xombi #6, and Zatanna #16.

Miniseries: Batman: Arkham City #5, Batman: Gates of Gotham #4, Batman: Gates of Gotham #5, Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing #3, DC Universe Online Legends #13, DC Universe Online Legends #14, Flashpoint #4, Flashpoint #5, Flashpoint: Abin Sur – The Green Lantern #3, Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance #3, Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #3, Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons #3, Flashpoint: Deathstroke and the Curse of the Ravager #3, Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #3, Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #3, Flashpoint: Hal Jordan #3, Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #3, Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #3, Flashpoint: Lois Lane and the Resistance #3, Flashpoint: Project Superman #3, Flashpoint: Secret Seven #3, Flashpoint: The Outsider #3, Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #3, and Flashpoint: World of Flashpoint #3.

Specials: Batman 80-page Giant 2011, DC Retroactive: Batman – The ‘80s, DC Retroactive: Batman – The ‘90s, DC Retroactive: Green Lantern – The ‘80s, DC Retroactive: Green Lantern – The ‘90s, DC Retroactive: Justice League of America – The ‘80s, DC Retroactive: Justice League of America – The ‘90s, DC Retroactive: Superman – The ‘80s, DC Retroactive: Superman – The ‘90s, DC Retroactive: The Flash – The ‘80s, DC Retroactive: The Flash – The ‘90s, DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman – The ‘80s, DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman – The ‘90s, Green Lantern Super Spectacular #2, and Superman Beyond #0.

August is going to look a lot like this

So here we are, looking ahead to August. The confetti and streamers from what will probably be the most successful year of Marvel films to date (three summer movies released consecutively helps!) will be quietly swept up, the San Diego Comic Con will have probably released tantalizing footage of the next year’s main event, the Avengers movie and oh, yeah. Something something comics something.

Looking to my extensive notes, I have dusted off the leather tomes of yesteryear and found that 2010 wasn’t half as lively as this year is shaping up to be. Sure, it was a month of endings and beginnings, plus vampires were everywhere and Shadowland was just kicking out the jams in all its mini-series glory but … looking back now, maybe it’s the nostalgia that keeps me from thinking better of the books that came out in August last year. Maybe it’s because I already know what became of each ending or beginning, how important vampires turned out to be and that yes, the Cable & the New Mutants: X-Force HC was a clue that Nate Summers was going to bow out at the end of Second Coming (man, Second Coming was last year? It feels like it’s been longer than that…).

With that in mind, can I tell you how excited I am for Fear Itself #5? Come look ahead at August and see what Marvel has in store after their banner year in film.

Iron Man! Making a Sword!

I’m not joking by the way. I have not an ounce of sarcasm in my soul when I tell you that FEAR ITSELF #5 (of 7) sounds awesome. From the solicitation: The blockbuster Marvel event of the year continues! Thor. Hulk. Thing. The fight to end all fights. And while it rages, the Serpent’s forces deal Captain America a blow not even he can withstand.

I fully admit my mark status but doesn’t that just sound rad right off the bat? Thor. Hulk. Thing. I know all of these people and I know they are all going to do something cool. Just like the beautiful simplicity that was World War Hulk, we know there’s going to be a fight and that it is going to be against the strongest people on the planet (we also know the fight’ll probably be in New York City, but that’s another story). There are consequences for these actions, but for now, sit back and enjoy Stuart Immonen drawing the ever loving bejezus out of this fight.

Meanwhile, 23 other books will be vying for that Event book dollar; one may be of these is a sourcebook, another is a poster book of just art from the event thus far, but a lot of these are actual titles that have joined in the fight, going so far as to take two issues this month from their run to talk Fear Itself. Thunderbolts and Avengers Academy are really hanging in there for the long haul and, in a way, this makes sense. Thunderbolts has a major team member on opposing side and the book has been so clear in bolstering each and every one of these dangerous teammate. I am totally excited to get to see how the Thunderbolts react to the Juggernaut’s new form, if not calculate ways for them to take advantage of the situation. The solicitation for THUNDERBOLTS #161 & #162 uses this brilliant line: “the worst threats of a lost age will face the worst threats of today” and if that doesn’t pique some interest, I need to go back to the dictionary and find out what ‘pique’ and ‘interest’ mean.

Overwhelming Odds!

The only thing I have to say about the Avengers Academy daring-do of jumping two issues in this month would be that it is simply an amazing series. Back when it was Avengers: the Imitative, they always had a solid tie-in to events like these and from World War Hulk and Secret Invasion and Siege, the new characters and young heroes always found themselves working harder than they ever had before in the face of threats that Iron Man and Thor were having problems with. From the solicit for AVENGERS ACADEMY #17 & #18: “Trapped in the Infinite Mansion with murderous demigods, the heroes-in-training of Avengers Academy must do the unthinkable…or die!” Now past experience with the writer, the characters and the title as whole tell me this is a threat I can believe in.

As for the other tie-in books with Fear Itself, it’s a hodgepodge. You could probably take or leave half of them if not more, just depending on what characters you’re interested in and how far the writers want to take this idea. AVENGERS #16 promises romance between Spider-Woman and Hawkeye and NEW AVENGERS #15 promises Die Hard with Squirrel Girl as she protects the baby under her care. Nitpicky, sure, but with this issue and the Avengers, it seems almost like Bendis is taking a break from following the action of Fear Itself to just take a breather on the couch. And that’s cool and all, but other issues seem to be going that extra mile to include the event at hand.

Take HERC #6, where “Depowered, abandoned by those closest to him and cast away in a twisted, nightmarish version of his new home of Brooklyn, Hercules prepares for to make his stand against Kyknos, son of his immortal enemy Ares, and Hecate, the villainous goddess of witchcraft. Will strength and heart alone be enough to overcome his seemingly insurmountable obstacles, or will this be the final, fatal trial of Hercules?” The general idea and danger at hand seem not only like a great Hercules story, but a great reflection of Fear Itself. Yeah, it doesn’t have the Serpent’s followers or any of the Hammer threats in here, but it has a man at his worst facing a great fear. That’s kind of what I expected, some sort of big summer trails where all the heroes would have to face some crazy fear and be tested to see how they do.

Some books succeed on this threat, others just kind of take the moment to catch a little spotlight. Remember, while 23 books may seem like a lot, it’s just your regular pull titles that you’ll have to worry about. Hang in there, True Believers and at lest we’re not reading Flashpoint (cheap shot!).

Let Loose My Wardrobe!

Anyway, while the world turns on the crashing doom of fear, you’ll be marking off yet another major event happening this month! Hoorah? AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #667 is the official kick-off to the Spider-Island Super Bowl event that has everyone in New York City getting a crack at Peter Parker’s super-powers. Personally, I know why I can’t muster up any interest in this: it’s timing (shouldn’t Spider-Man be over a barrel in Fear Itself and dead in the Ultimates? What Spider-Crisis am I facing now?). If this had just been put out in some time when Spider-Man isn’t already getting a great deal of attention from some other thing, I would have enjoyed the idea of a city of Spider-Persons, but right now it’s almost like he’s the on the X-Men’s modus operandi, living in his own little world that no one gets to react to but him. Still, new issues of Cloak and Dagger, Spider-Girl and Shang-Chi are always a huge bonus. For those of you playing at home, August will have 9 books for you to collect and trade coming in at 7 titles and 2 reprints of older material with new framing sequences.

The Ultimate Universe is getting yet another refreshed reboot restarted into something more manageable for readers and writers alike, I’m sure. The interesting thing is that not only do I see the ULTIMATE COMICS HAWKEYE #1 (of 4) generating some huge buzz based on tantalizing movie moments, but that ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #1 is written by Jonathan Hickman. Hickman, in my mind, writes some of the best organization framework int he Marvel U right now. He is a man of many mysteries who can show you the inner workings of societies and groups that get the mind churning over how it al fits together. The Ultimate universe has been our unofficial/official movie comics, so seeing Hickman here just shows me that the Avengers movie is going to have a lot of intrigue. I know everyone’s read a lof of Ultimate Comics Ultimates 2 and 3 and Ultimate Comics New Ultimates and Ultimate Comics Ultimate Ultimates Ultimatuum but let Jonthan Hickman Esad Ribic sweep all that cynicism under the rug and keep an eye out for this #1.

Hulk #635 - Granov Variant

Man, looking at the solicitation for INCREDIBLE HULKS #635, all I can say is Greg Pak has had that book for a long time. He’s taken the Hulk on a wide variety of adventures and battles, less interpersonal and more cosmically scaled, fighting things that the Hulk simply can’t smash and must grow and adapt into or against. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the man has moved mountains and to see his full run end will be one of those books you might pick up even if you haven’t been following the series. After all, he’s going to have to put all the toys back in some sort of order for the next writer to pick up and play with, so it’ll be neat to see the way the story falls out. My hats off to you, Mr. Pak.

And I put my hate right back on for THE PUNISHER #1 & 2 by Greg Rucka and ‘neo-superstar artist Marco Checchetto’ (can he see the Matrix?), not to mention SECRET AVENGERS #16 with Warren FREAKIN’ Ellis and Jamie McKelvie. See? As the good EiC taketh away, he giveth too and I am very excited to see these books hit the stands in August. Awesome line from The Punisher’s solicitation? “…but can he survive the darkness stored in his own arsenal?” Oooh, gives me chills.

Oh, hey, down here by the X-Books, here’s something that illustrates my point a little better about Spider-Man: X-MEN #15.1 guest stars the ‘new Ghost Rider’, which might be a little odd for a band of mutants also fighting it out amongst themselves on a island off the other coast. From the solicit: “When a medicine woman is at death’s door, the demons she has been containing for decades are looking forward to their freedom. Good news… the X-Men are on the scene. Bad news…these demons are out of our mutant super heroes’ league. It would be nice to have help from Ghost Rider, but is this new Spirit of Vengeance friend or foe?” Sure, it’s a Point One so it’s supposed to be self-contained, but it tells me little if I want to be reading about the actual X-Men and seemingly more about the new Ghost Rider. Suspension if disbelief is one thing, working out your own personal character continuity is another, but the X-Men have been working on thier own set of problems for so long, to see them show up for more than just a day trip into New York after they worked SO HARD to get them in NYC, it’s awkward.

The rest is cake, my friends. Here is a full list of August 2011 Solicitations from Marvel Comics, so tell me what you’re looking forward to. Me, I’ll be saving my pennies now for that glorious X-STATIX OMNIBUS HC. $125? Totally worth it for this ahead of its time series. There’s an upcoming article for you all! Excelsior!

Featuring the classic Blizzard vs. Polar Bear battle!

One tagline for the big alien-invasion movie Independence Day cautioned, “Don’t make plans for August.” Well, perhaps the biggest news coming out of DC’s August solicitations is the pervasive sense of foreboding they have about September. Rich Johnston maintains that a whole crop of new No. 1 issues is on tap for the fall, but there are no “FINAL ISSUE!” blurbs to be found on any of the current ongoing series.

While that doesn’t rule out a line-wide relaunch, the solicits also seem to say that readers won’t have to worry about a line-wide reboot. As noted in this space a couple of weeks back, the degree of change will probably be different for different titles. Nevertheless, now that we have a better idea of how August will look, let’s see what it says about September….

* * *

MY HEART WILL GO ON

Exhibit A for the “pick up where you left off” theory is War of the Green Lanterns #2, which promises that its ending “will fuel the next year’s worth of GL tales!” Presumably that includes the return of Green Lantern, perhaps with a new No. 1 issue for Sector 2814′s new GL. (Although each of the four Earthling GLs has held the title at some point, I’m guessing it’ll be John, because Kyle and Guy are firmly ensconced in GL Corps and Emerald Warriors. I don’t think DC will go outside the box on this one — but movie-star Sinestro would sure make for an interesting year.)

Exhibit B is Gates Of Gotham #s 4-5, “set[ting] the stage for a bold new direction in the Bat books!” Here, I suspect “bold new direction” excludes Batman Incorporated, Grant Morrison’s bold, still-fairly-new direction, as well as whatever David Finch intends to do with the late-again Batman: The Dark Knight. That leaves the venerable Batman and Detective Comics, and the barely-two-years-old Red Robin, Batgirl, Batman And Robin, and Gotham City Sirens, none of which seem like good candidates either for relaunching or renumbering. (Why renumber a title in the very high triple digits when you know you’re just going to go back in a year? For that matter, why give a new No. 1 to a book whose first issue wasn’t that long ago?) Perhaps a consolidation is coming: Batgirl and Red Robin, Batgirl and Gotham City Sirens, Red Robin and Batman and Robin, and/or an expanded Detective Comics with room for multiple short features. There is a tease that Dick Grayson might not be Batman for much longer, but I think readers have gotten used to him in the cape and cowl. Oh, and Batwoman is supposed to relaunch in the fall too (almost forgot!).

A handful of titles seem content to spend August telling their own stories, uncompromised by handed-down deadlines or big-event changes. These include Xombi, Zatanna, and Power Girl – although the latter two sport guest creative teams. While THUNDER Agents #10 advertises the end of a particular arc, it even comes right out and says this isn’t the end of the book.

Otherwise, I don’t see much in August’s solicits which would change my earlier thoughts. Given their prominence in Flashpoint, we’ll probably see renewed efforts to push Wonder Woman and Aquaman into bigger sales.  I suspect the same holds true for other characters Flashpoint will emphasize, like Kid Flash and perhaps even Lois Lane in a solo series.

WELCOME BACK …

Chief among these may be the Marvel Family. Not only does Flashpoint recast them as more of a group effort, but August also promises a second DC Comics Presents collection from the ‘90s Power Of Shazam! title. Ever since the end of 52 revealed a new Earth-5 as the successor to the old Earth-S, I’ve been wondering whether DC would give the Marvels their own Earth again, where they didn’t have to worry about the shifting social mores of main-line Earth-DC. Supposedly that’s part of Grant Morrison’s Multiversity project, and if Flashpoint does anything with the Multiverse, it could easily help set up Multiversity. (Of course, I’m sure Flashpoint will be setting up any number of DC projects, but I just have a feeling about the Multiverse.) Anyway, the bottom line is, there’s a lot of Captain Marvel stuff coming down the pike, and I have to think it’s in preparation for a new Marvel Family book.

Another almost-certain Flashpoint spinoff is Secret Seven, the magic super-team featuring Shade the Changing Man, the Enchantress, Raven, a few players to be named later, and someone called “Princess” who (when we consider Rip Hunter’s chalkboard, seen most recently in this week’s Booster Gold) is most likely Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. I don’t pretend to have any influence over what DC does, but I’ve used Amethyst in this space as a good example of a DC character who’s pretty easily marketable to a wider audience. Like Captain Marvel (as it happens), she’s a teenager who assumes an adult personality when she travels to the otherdimensional Gemworld for sword-and-sorcery adventures. To put it bluntly, she’s the kind of character who might do well away from the particular tastes of the Direct Market … so it’s a little quixotic to say DC should publish more Amethyst comics. Still, we’ll see how she performs in Flashpoint, and whether that leads to reprints and/or something new.

Then there’s Frankenstein, whose Seven Soldiers miniseries was very well-received. His Flashpoint miniseries looks to build on its predecessor’s tone of no-nonsense mayhem. Frankenstein doesn’t share anything like the contacts Captain Marvel and most of the Secret Seven all have with the regular DC Universe, so for him to get a post-Flashpoint spotlight would be a pretty big deal.

… TO THAT SAME OLD PLACE THAT WE LAUGHED ABOUT

DC doubles up on the Retro-Active books in August, so much so that I made a chart to keep track:

8/3: Batman ‘80s, Wonder Woman ‘80s, Flash ‘80s
8/10: JLA ‘80s, Superman ‘80s, Green Lantern ‘80s
8/17: Batman ‘90s, Wonder Woman ‘90s, Flash ‘90s
8/24: JLA ‘90s, Superman ‘90s, Green Lantern ‘90s

That’s three per week for four weeks — almost in Flashpoint territory! I’ll get ‘em all, though. It’s probably just the nostalgia talking, but I don’t see a clunker in the bunch. While I’m always glad for more Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire wackiness, most gratifying are the reunions of creative teams who haven’t done much DC work in recent years: Bill Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque on Flash; Messner-Loebs and Paris Cullins on Wonder Woman; Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove on Superman; Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler on the other WW; on Green Lantern, Len Wein and Joe Staton, and Ron Marz and Darryl Banks; and on Batman, Mike Barr and Jerry Bingham, and Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle. Good to see them back in familiar saddles.

However, I did wonder if this is DC’s way of reminding readers that the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Justice League weren’t always faithful to the classic Silver Age setups. The cynic in me says this is just a way to appease us lifers who were kinda fond of Wally, Kyle, and the JLI. (The cynic also thinks this is a good way to gauge interest in future reprints — for example, the Messner-Loebs/Cullins “space-pirate” storyline from Wonder Woman, or the Grant/Breyfogle Detective Comics.)

On the other hand, though, part of me thinks this is DC preparing its readers for another round of guard-changing: in addition to Sector 2814′s new Green Lantern, there could well be a new (or back-to-headlining) Flash, and/or a new Justice League lineup. If the “rebirths” of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen bookended a period when DC rolled back many of the big changes from the ‘80s and ‘90s, maybe 2011 will close out with even more upheaval.

ODDS AND ENDS

Although I never got into their Spider-Girl — but I did buy all five or so issues of Fantastic Five — it’s fitting that Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz take a crack at one of DC’s alternate futures in Superman Beyond #0.

Once again, The Spirit and Doc Savage keep the First Wave line alive for another month. Spirit #17’s lineup of guest creative teams looks especially intriguing — Brian Bolland, P. Craig Russell, and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez should make Central City look extra-good. Likewise, guest artists Ryan Sook and Mick Gray should turn in a nice and spooky Jonah Hex.

August wraps up Green Arrow’s two-part story by James Patrick and Agustin Padilla. Last month I wasn’t sure they were just a guest creative team, what with the series’ inaugural year-long arc apparently over after Brightest Day. Now, considering September’s potential deck-clearing, Patrick and Padilla look like placeholders, with the book’s next long-term team put off for another month.

Congratulations to Teen Titans for reaching issue #100! Too bad September might return the book to single digits.

REPRINTS AND COLLECTIONS

“Tygers,” the Alan Moore/Kevin O’Neill short story which informs so much of Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern, is reprinted yet again in Green Lantern Corps Super Spectacular #2. Ironically, the book’s other reprints work pretty well as a standalone story, although they too lay the groundwork for future GL epics.

Originally printed as a squarebound, tabloid-sized graphic novel, JLA: Heaven’s Ladder was quite literally a big deal.  The precise timing escapes me — it wasn’t Waid’s first work as regular JLA writer (following Grant Morrison), but I think it was supposed to introduce the new team of Waid and Bryan Hitch. The story was appropriately outsized to fit the format, so I will be curious to see how it translates into a regular-sized comic.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mike Allred’s Teen Titans/Doom Patrol story from Solo #7 will be reprinted in DC Presents Teen Titans #1. It’s not the most subversive part of Allred’s Solo issue — that would be the “grim ‘n’ gritty Adam West” story — but it’s pretty good nonetheless. In fact, it’s too bad that not a lot from Solo gets reprinted, because even a selection of the superhero stories would make a pretty good hardcover.

Looking at the solicit for the new-edition Death In The Family paperback, it hit me — Jason Todd has been back from the dead for over five years. What’s more, Tim Drake has been Red Robin for almost two years. With that in mind, “A Death In The Family” and “A Lonely Place Of Dying” seem like ancient history. Hard, therefore, for an old fogey like me to picture them as formative Batman classics, arguably as important to the Bat-legend as O’Neil/Adams or Englehart/Rogers. For what it’s worth, I thought Marv Wolfman’s Batman was a marked improvement over Jim Starlin’s, so I may end up getting this just to compare and contrast.

And speaking of the late, great Marshall Rogers, his Legends Of The Dark Knight tribute looks like a must-have for any Bat-fan. You lose the beginning of Englehart’s epic Detective run (drawn by Walt Simonson and Al Milgrom), but you get the rest of it, plus Len Wein’s two-part Clayface III story, a Golden Age origin story written by Roy Thomas, Denny O’Neil’s illustrated prose work “Death Strikes at Midnight and Three,” a pretty good Legends of the Dark Knight arc written by James Robinson from an Archie Goodwin plot, and the Englehart/Rogers swan-song sequel Dark Detective. I think the only thing missing is his brief stint on the short-lived “Batman” newspaper strip of the early ‘90s (written by Max Collins). My heart aches a little just looking at his Bat-work, because he did relatively little and he died way too soon. Regardless, Marshall Rogers is one of my favorite Bat-artists, and he deserves to be one of yours too. Can’t wait for this one — just in time for my birthday!

If Flashpoint will bring back supernatural superheroes like Frankenstein and the Secret Seven, why not reprint Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s Night Force? From what I know about it (mostly from a preview in New Teen Titans), it looked like a decent attempt to recapture Wolfman and Colan’s Tomb Of Dracula mojo, and it should be a pretty good read.

Glad to see Sinestro Corps War getting the single-paperback treatment. I’ll probably get this one just for convenience’s sake. Same goes for the new JLA paperback.

Finally, although I won’t be getting this because I have both of the color paperbacks, Showcase Presents All-Star Comics Vol. 1 is a good introduction to the “Super Squad” era of the Justice Society. Set on Earth-2, back when the JSA was an annual guest in Justice League, these stories laid the foundation both for Infinity, Inc., and for the team’s multigenerational future. In fact, with that Infinity reprint solicited a few months ago, one might even think Earth-2 was making a comeback….

* * *

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