Pre-reviews: The Week of January 17, 2007
there's no delay in what Diamond is shipping
this week, so be there on Wednesday.
Here's what jumps out on this week's
list, at least to my myopic view of the
medium. (And it is a medium,
Betsy, not a freakin genre.
Yeesh.)
DC Comics
OCT060164 BATMAN YEAR ONE HUNDRED TP $19.99This visceral, beautiful Elseworlds is the most fun I've seen anyone have with the character in the past few years besides Morrison. Yes, it takes place in that dark future that we've seen about a million times now, but there's a spark and wit to Pope's Batman that makes it into a truly interesting setting.
NOV060234 SPIRIT #2 $2.99Let's see if this book has a sophomore slump. I doubt that it will, but one never knows.
OCT060174 SUPERMAN EMPEROR JOKER TP $14.99OK, who was asking for this? Is it the same person that really wanted to read an Our Worlds At War omnibus? (God, that story had entire chapters that made no sense, even when collected in one place with plenty of contextual moments. Also, it failed to have the Harley Quinn special, which is an appalling error because it featured she and Jimmy Olsen on the run from bad guys. That was more than a bit decent and quite funny, I thought.)
Yes, that's very good value-for-page-count, but still...it'd help if it were any good.
Image Comics
NOV061861 SILENCERS TP $14.99Van Lente! You've loved Action Philosphers and never caught up with his other material, but now's your chance!
No, it's not the series written by Fred Van Lente, but the Image site sure didn't help me find it out. That's a poorly-designed wreck that ain't helping them at all.
That Van Lente book is good, mind.
Marvel Comics
OCT062210 MARVEL VISIONARIES JOHN BUSCEMA HC $34.99Like the man's work? This is nigh-essential: The Incredible Hulk, the devastating Dragon Man, the epic end of the gods themselves... none of it was too much for Big John! One of comicdom's most acclaimed creators takes center stage in this genre-spanning gathering of greats! Nick Fury vs. Hydra! Thor vs. the Silver Surfer! The origins of Wolverine and Dracula! The twilight of the Masters of Evil! Includes crime, horror, romance and western work from the pre-Marvel era! Plus: rare Silver Surfer stories unseen for decades! Collects Crime Fighters #4; Western Outlaws & Sheriffs #60; Strange Tales #22 & #150; Tales To Astonish #85-87; Avengers #41-42, #75-76, #277 & Annual #2; Silver Surfer #4; My Love #2; Fantastic Four #111-112; Thor #200; Dracula Lives #3; Marvel Spotlight #30; Epic Illustrated #1; Wolverine #10 and Marvel Shadows & Light #3
That's a lot of comics (over 360 pages) for cheap-ish. Amazon has it for a substantial discount if you felt like saving a few more shekels - $23 and change.
Other Companies
SEP063256 GI JOE SNAKE-EYES DECLASSIFIED HC $29.99Sure, you could get a ton of vintage John Buscema-drawn comics, but why, when you can read GI Joe adventures in hardcover?
Sheesh. I like GI Joe as much as the rest of the 28-35 demographic, but this is an example of the "prestige" hardcover format being used. It's like having a Hershey's kiss wrapped in gold foil with a silk ribbon extending from the top.
FEB063205 LOVE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE #6 (MR) $5.95This is a bit late, innit? Still, of the current Oni romance comics that are coming out, this is certainly a superior choice.
NOV063394 SIMPSONS COMICS #126 $2.99This is your thrice-yearly reminder that the Simpsons comics are, in general, better than the series has been of late.
NOV063713 SQUARECAT COMICS VOL 1 GN (O/A) (MR) $9.95I got Volume 2 last week and it's the perfect "read a few strips before turning out the light" comic. I don't want to read these en masse, but I think that Jennifer Omand does a decent enough job in the short autobiocomic format, much like Julia Wertz's Fart Party. As is probably expected, you can read the strip online at the Squarecat Comics website.
OCT063736 VILLAINS VOL 1 THICK AS THIEVES TP $12.95I've mentioned this series just once before, where I described it thusly: ...a very well-done thing that takes place in the same sort of world as Powers without having uselessly elliptical dialogue and it manages to make a point pretty consistently. In other words, it's not selling anywhere near as much and the target audience is probably going to miss it entirely.
Now you don't have an excuse. A fine, fine comic. Make sure you order it if your shop doesn't have it.
Now to pay tribute to my corporate masters...
BOOM! Studios
OCT063250 CTHULHU TALES 2ND PTG #1 $6.99Reprinted for good reason - before I even had anything to do with the company, I gave this high marks. I love the Tales format and wish more stores would get behind this sort of effort.
NOV063404 WHAT WERE THEY THINKING MONSTER MASH UP ONE SHOT (O/A) $3.99If your shop didn't order this remix comic featuring some work from me the first time around, now they can get it and you can take me with you to the bathroom! Isn't that the point? Anyway, I did four stories in the darned thing, but both Joe Casey and Johanna Stokes bested me, the latter in particular - I still grin when recalling a few of the lines from her story "Hats Off."
NOV063403 WHAT WERE THEY THINKING SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEARN ONE SHOT (O/ $3.99This WWTT book features a delirious John Rogers-written story that can't be described. Hilarity in a handbasket, with a nice red on the side.
SEP063170 STARDUST KID #5 (OF 5) $3.50This title started at Image, and moved over to BOOM! for the last two issues. Now that it's wrapped up, I think that they'd have to put together a decent trade for it, especially with Abadazad being a bit of a hit in the bookstore market.
I think next week sees the new What Were They Thinking?!? book, with my first "complete" comics story being contained in the Cthulhu Tales: The Rising one-shot coming on on January 31st. So there you go.
