John Babos
9 books this week.
Batman Annual #1
Direct Currents #1
IVX #0 – Kenneth Rocafort art opus.
New Talent Showcase #1
Savage #1
Six Million Dollar Man: Fall of Man #5
Suicide Squad #7
Superman Annual #1
Thunderbolts #7
James Fulton
I’m thankful for such a tiny week of comics, as things have been hectic lately.
Black Widow #8 – Why aren’t more people talking about how good Black Widow under Mark Waid and Chris Samnee is? Criminally under-loved.
Deadly Class #24 – Recently the focus of this title has shifted onto a bunch of new characters, but the quality is as good as it’s ever been.
Generation Zero #4 – I feel like the Valiant line has been weakening of late, and I’m not bothering to buy A&A, Faith, or Harbinger Renegade. This title, however, is an absolute delight.
Savage #1 – This looks like Valiant is doing something along the lines of Turok. I’m mostly interested because it’s written by B. Clay Moore, who does not write enough comics.
Matt Graham
No Angel #1 – The book may have fan draw with Adrianne Palicki (actress of John Wick, Agents of SHIELD fame) and Eric Palicki (writes Guardians of Infinity for Marvel), but I’ll be up front and say I don’t know if their writing is any good. I only saw John Wick, don’t watch AoS, and don’t read Infinity. What I do know is the pitch involves religious texts, heavenly monsters, cults, and an Iraq War veteran lead in Hannah Gregory. Black Mask says it’s a “cosmological and conspiratorial modern western in the style of…” (Get ready!)
“…Preacher…” (Sometimes thrown around a lot, but I’ll go with it.) “…meets Justified…” (Curious.) “…by way of Jodorowsky.” (Attention. Pardon. What. Jodorowsky? Tell me more.)
On the other hand, as a Black Mask fan, I know their books are slow, delayed, and like to ghost me on Wednesdays (rather, my shop doesn’t even order some when I pull it half the time). I’ve heard that’s all in the past and Black Mask has their financial or legal woes sorted and it’s ready to return to blasting out titles like 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank and We Can Never Go Home, so I’m in for this launch.
MMPR #9 – This book is my favourite superhero book right now. It has the cheesy 90s charm with a modern sort of serious delivery that just works. Best of all, it’s straightforward and executed well. Marvel should take a look at this book and study how it packs the page turning, cliff hanging event energy into a monthly series. They used to know how. Anyway, enough Marvel jadedness, check this book out.
Paper Girls Volume 2 Trade – I already own the single issues, so I’m just throwing this out there. Maybe I should get the trades, the single issues have collectible tear out posters, an amazing letters column that’s sort of 80s role playing that no one has ever directly addressed, and contests and mailaways that require removing pages. That’s your incentive to check out PG in single issue form. My incentive to get the trades so I can get in on this instead of hoarding my copies in a longbox.
Surgeon X #3 – Dystopian post-medical apocalypse in a far right fascist England produced by the legendary editor of classic Vertigo, a writer as surgical as her lead, and some of the best art of the year. What’s not to be enthralled by?
Phil Allen
Batman Annual #1 – I’m a big fan of collaboration books, and for any Bat-fan this is top of the pops! Batman takes on Gotham in winter with the help of Scott Snyder, Paul Dini, Neal Adams, Riley Rossmo, and many more!
Deadly Class #24 – I’m on the fence about getting many more issues, I’m not enjoying the new arc very much. We’ll see how this one goes.
Injustice Gods Among Us Year Five Annual #1 – Well, the last issue certainly wasn’t the ending I was expecting! I was thinking it was going to be more like…an ending! But don’t get me wrong, I’m glad! This has been one of my favorite series since its debut, and I’m happy to see it continuing. Now, time for a flashback!
Jughead #11 – Jughead and Sabrina’s date continues. Nothing else could go wrong, yeah?
New Talent Showcase #1 – Some of today’s newest and greatest writers and artists come together between two covers to bring us one-of-a-kind stories! As I said, I’m always in for collab’ books so this is a must-have for the week.
Star Wars Annual #2 – I’ve been enjoying just about every Star Wars comic since Marvel got it back, especially ones focusing on Luke, Han, and/or Leia. They make want to go back and reread (and many for the first time) the Dark Horse books.
Superman Annual #1 – Superman vs. Swamp Thing! Say no more, I’m in.
Other issues I’m looking forward to:
Justice League of America #10
Ms. Marvel #13
Saga #40
Serenity: No Power In The ‘Verse #2
Shutter #24
Mike Maillaro
Fifth weeks are always pretty light, and I am running real late this week, so just time for a few quick comments…
IvX #0 – After the awfulness that was Death of X (if anyone can explain to me Scott’s great crime that caused everyone to hate him, and yet Black Bolt gets away with cold blooded murder, I would appreciate it), I have literally no faith on this one. I do like a lot of what’s been announced for ResurrXion…but if we have to wade through crappy event after crappy event to get there, I just can’t bring myself to care.
SAVAGE #1 – While Valiant has been great since the relaunch, it has been without some of the staple characters of the earlier Valiant universes like Turok, Magus Robot Fighter, and Solar. SAVAGE seems like a bit of an attempt to reclaim some of Turok in the Valiant Universe. Personally, I am not sure it’s necessary, but SAVAGE does sound like a very good book on its own merits. David Beckham meets Ka-Zar… “Fifteen years ago, the world’s most famous soccer star and his former supermodel wife – pregnant with their unborn child – disappeared without a trace. The world believes they are dead… But, in reality, their private jet crash-landed on a mysterious, unknown island ruled by prehistoric creatures from another time…”
JUGHEAD #11 – The comeback story of the year award goes to Jughead. I thought the series had a hard time finding it’s legs, but since the new creative team took over with issue 9, this has quickly become my favorite book of Archie’s relaunch (and that is saying quite a bit as I enjoy all of them). It really manages to capture the energy of a classic Archie story with some modern twists and turns. Definitely worth checking out.
MS MARVEL #13 – Kamala has found herself a bit alienated from her friends after CIVIL WAR II, and I am curious to see where they will be going moving forward. Last issue took Kamala back to her family’s home in Pakistan, giving her some new perspective on the world. Loved the issue, and this continues to be one of my favorite comics every month.
Previews #339
Revisionist #6
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #9
Batman Annual #1
Suicide Squad #7
Superman Annual #1
Wacky Raceland #6 (Of 6)
X-Files #8
Saga #40
Black Widow #8
Extraordinary X-Men #16
Great Lakes Avengers #2
Old Man Logan #14
Star Wars Annual #2
Thunderbolts #7
Totally Awesome Hulk #12
Generation Zero #4