DARK HORSE COMICS
CONAN THE AVENGER #23
Writer: FRED VAN LENTE
Art: BRIAN CHING
Colors: MICHAEL ATIYEH
Cover: PAUL RENAUD
FC, 32 pages, $3.50, Ongoing
A depraved witch rules Khauran in place of her twin sister, plunging the city into debauchery and committing unspeakable atrocities—including blasphemous rites to the malevolent entity Thaug! Can Conan rally an army and prove that the queen is an impostor before it’s too late?
“If you’re a Conan fan and you’re not reading this, you should.”—Fandom Post
This is one of REH's least popular Conan stories, and I can see why: The whole story is telegraphed from the start. At the start of every scene any savvy Conan reader can guess how it's going to end, and Howard explains more than he shows. Except for the crucifixion scene, it's pretty pro forma Conan.
FOUNDING FATHERS FUNNIES (HC)
Writer/Art/Cover: PETER BAGGE
Cover: JOANNE BAGGE
FC/b&w, 80 pages, $14.99, HC, 6" x 9"
America’s Founding Fathers were brilliant, brave, forward thinking ... and ridiculous, at least in the eyes of cartoonist and history buff Peter Bagge!
“I find myself laughing out loud whenever I read of their foibles, especially when their oversized egos clashed,” says Bagge, a multiple Harvey Award winner and Inkpot Award recipient.
This collection of short vignettes features some of our country’s best-known historical figures (along with several lesser-known players) and includes all Founding Fathers Funnies cartoons from Apocalypse Nerd and Dark Horse Presents. This Dark Horse Books hardcover also features several brand-new stories and additional biographical information on the colorful revolutionaries Bagge respectfully skewers!
Praise for Peter Bagge:
“I can count on one hand the number of comic artists whose work is as strong. ... Maybe on two or three fingers.”—Robert Crumb
“Peter Bagge is one of the best comic storytellers ever.”—Vice
“Peter Bagge remains one of those premiere old-school 80s/90s alt-cartoonists who built their careers one corrosively funny page at a time.”—The A.V. Club
• Hilarious history lessons from Peter Bagge!
• A multiple Eisner and Harvey Award winner’s take on American history!
• Great for fans of Action Philosophers and Hark! A Vagrant.
As much as I love history-based stories (and humor), I really, honestly, genuinely cannot stand Peter Bagge's art. But if you can, this might be funny.
THE ZONE CONTINUUM (TPB)
Writer/Art/Cover: BRUCE ZICK
B&W, 128 pages, $15.99, TPB, 7" x 10"
Comics veteran Bruce Zick revisits his dystopian opus!
The Zone Continuum was first printed in 1992 by Caliber Comics and then rebooted in 2006 as a web series of over one hundred episodes for Komikwerks. Now, Bruce Zick and Dark Horse Comics will deliver all-new stories and expand on the mythos in The Zone Continuum Volume 1.
“It took me over twenty years, but I’m back in the Zone, thanks to Dark Horse Comics. Everyone from Mike Richardson to my editor Ian Tucker and the art department has been wonderful in helping to create a graphic novel that not only has a four-chapter, epic story, but a Zone glossary and a Zone sketchbook as well,” said Bruce Zick.
High atop the New York City skyline, an invisible war has raged for generations. As two nigh-immortal champions brawl for dominance of the ever-shrinking extradimensional Zone 27, the populace below remain oblivious of the cataclysm that could cause their annihilation from the rooftops above!
“The urgency of the concepts is still valid today—even more so, as you will see—and the old readers as well as new ones will be excited to see where the stories are going,” added Zick. “I’ve added a much richer, deeper mythology of ideas and characters, with clearer and more immediate plots and crises, more humor, and more pathos. At least I think I have. You tell me. I’ll be in the Zone, waiting for you to join me.”
“Zick’s art is a big draw for the series. The artist provides some psychedelic art with a small dash of Kirby and Mike Mignola’s Hellboy.”—Comic Book Therapy
I meant to have this read by now so I could review it, but the Double Take comics took up all my time this week (see below). You're on your own, Legionnaires!
DC COMICS
NEAL ADAMS VARIANT COVERS
This week's Neal Adams variants include Aquaman #49, Cyborg #8, Deathstroke #15, Flash #49, Grayson #17, Superman #49, Superman: Lois & Clark #5, Superman/Wonder Woman #26, Teen Titans #17 and We Are Robin #9. They are homages to (respectively) Batman #251, Flash #249, Strange Adventures #207, Superman #317, Batman #237, Limited Collector's Edition #C-25 (Treasury edition), Detective Comics #407, World's Finest Comics #180, House of Mystery #191 and Detective Comics #408.
DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #3
Written by FRANK MILLER and BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art by ANDY KUBERT and KLAUS JANSON
Minicomic art by GEOF DARROW
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
1:10 variant cover by SCOTT McDANIEL
1:25 variant cover by KLAUS JANSON
1:50 variant cover by GEOF DARROW
1:100 variant cover by FRANK MILLER
1:500 variant cover by JIM LEE
On sale JANUARY 20
32 pg comic: 6.375” x 10.1875”
16 page minicomic: 5.5” x 8.5”
FC, 3 of 8, $5.99 US • RATED T+
The hardest thing for Batman is to admit his greatest strength: He’s just one man, and sometimes he needs help. With so much at stake, will he turn to help of the Super variety?
Book 3 of the upcoming issue of DARK KNIGHT III introduces Quar, the renegade fanatic priest of Kandor. Unwittingly freed and restored to normal size by Ray Palmer, Quar and his acolytes stake their claim to the planet Earth and demand nothing less than absolute obedience from the human race!
All that stands in the way is a (seriously) hobbled Bruce Wayne and Carrie Kelley, and they’ll need serious help, so they’re heading to a certain Fortress of Solitude to get it…
In addition to Andy Kubert’s awesome cover, several fan-favorite artists have lined up to contribute their talents for several unique variant covers for Book 3 (see your local comics retailer for details):
This third chapter is co-written by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello, with pencils by Andy Kubert and inks by Klaus Janson. In addition to the Book 3 periodical on sale in February, the Collector’s Edition hardcover which publishes both the main story and the mini-comic (DARK KNIGHT UNIVERSE PRESENTS: GREEN LANTERN) in a same-size “prestige” format goes on sale March 9.
Good lord, that Wonder Woman cover is hideous. Is she supposed to look like a gay male teenage hooker?
KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND/VIMANARAMA DELUXE EDITION (HC)
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art by PHILIP BOND and D’ISRAELI
Cover by PHILIP BOND
200 pg, FC, 7.0625” x 10.875” $19.99 US MATURE READERS
Two tales by Grant Morrison are collected in hardcover for the first time. First, a bored schoolgirl joins up with a young rebel intent on tearing down middle-class England. Then, in VINAMARAMA, Ali and his witty, vivacious arranged bride, Sofia, must stop ancient Indian demons from using Britain as a battleground.
I read both of these stories back when they were first published as monthly comics, and found them enjoyable but sort of pointless.
MARTIAN MANHUNTER VOL. 1: THE EPIPHANY (TPB)
Written by ROB WILLIAMS
Art by EDDY BARROWS and EBER FERREIRA
Cover by DAN PANOSIAN
144 pg, FC, $14.99 US
THE FIRST COLLECTION OF THE NEW DC SERIES IS HERE!
Trust no one as the Martian Manhunter tries to stop ruthless alien terrorists from destroying our world! But to stop the Martian invasion of Earth, J’onn J’onzz must make the ultimate sacrifice. And when the Martian moon Phobos falls into Earth’s orbit, the invasion kicks into high gear! Guest-starring Superman—who demands to know what J’onn J’onnz knew about the Martians’ terrible plans for Earth. Collects the first six issues of the new series, plus the Sneak Peek story from CONVERGENCE: ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #2.
I thought this had already come out, and I had failed to review it. I get a second chance!
This book essentially revamps the Martian Manhunter (again). Instead of being just the last Green Martian, he is instead a weapon developed by the White Martians to conquer other planets (perhaps explaining his cornucopia of super-powers). He had forgotten this, but the appearance of a White Martian opens the floodgates of his memory. However, he has a conscience now, so instead of fulfilling his "programming" he opposes the White Martian invasion.
That's not a bad idea, but I had a problem with the execution.
For one thing, the first thing MM tries to do is commit suicide. Not very heroic, and naturally, it doesn't work (surely his programmers would have anticipated that anyway). The Justice League tries to stop him, and beg for an explanation. Since this book is called Martian Manhunter and not Justice League, he refuses their help and refuses to explain. Since no in-story reason for this is given -- boy, could he use their help! -- it's poor plotting.
Also, Martian Manhunter's psyche is somehow split up and anthropomorphized, so you have various parts of MM trying to link up, notably the amnesiac Mr. Biscuits, who looks like some sort of exaggerated grasshopper and loves cookies ("biscuits" in England English).
I actually found that a bit annoying. The other aspects of MM's personality get short shrift, and all the focus is on Mr. Biscuits, whom we're obviously supposed to find clever and charming. I found it neither, as it seemed a transparent attempt to ape Neil Gaiman's propensity for mixing whimsy with serious drama, underscored by the over-emphasis on a character with a funny speech pattern and a little girl in tow. Really, even Gaiman wouldn't get that schmaltzy without giving us a solid story reason to explain this aberration, and Williams does not. Like Robert Kirkman and Negan, we apparently have this character because the writer really likes him, not because the story needs him.
And, of course, I have to point out that a cookie-loving character set in the U.S. (Baltimore, IIRC) should be called Mr. Cookies. This is just one of the British-isms that popped up in the dialogue of American characters, which either the writer or the editor really should have changed. It kept undercutting my suspension of disbelief, already weakened by the existence and prominence of Mr. Biscuits.
Anyway, this all comes together when ... oh, wait. It doesn't. We have to wait for volume two for that. Another mistake, because as things stand if Williams manages to pull this all together in a way I would find satisfying, I'm unlikely to read it, because -- for the reasons enumerated above -- I'm unlikely to continue reading this series.
SUPERMAN: THE COMING OF THE SUPERMEN #1 (of 6)
Written by NEAL ADAMS
Art and cover by NEAL ADAMS
1:25 B&W Variant cover by NEAL ADAMS
32 pg, FC, 1 of 6, $3.99 US • RATED T
From legendary writer/artist Neal Adams comes a threat so epic it will take more than one Man of Steel to handle it in this new 6-issue miniseries!
As Darkseid and the hordes of Apokolips lay waste to the world, even Superman is overwhelmed—but not for long, as three heroes from the miniaturized city of Kandor emerge at full size, armed with all the vast powers of Kal-El, ready to become the new Supermen!
This battle of titans also features the machinations of Lex Luthor, plus fan favorites Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane aiding in the fight for Truth, Justice and the American Way.
This looks a lot like Adams doing to Superman what he did to Batman a year or so back. If you enjoyed the Batman story, you'll probably like this one.
IDW PUBLISHING
BOY-1
Writer: H.S. TAK
Art/Cover: AMANCAY NAHUELPAN
TPB • FC • $19.99 • 116 pages
In the fast-approaching future, when the drug-addled heir of a genetic-engineering company begins to investigate his company’s murky past, he discovers he is the catalyst in a terrifying global event that will transform him and forever alter the course of human evolution.
“Tackles complex ethical questions. … If you’re a sci-fi thriller fan, you’d be remiss not to pick this up.” –AdventuresInPoorTaste.com
I don't often say this, but this story was a bit too compressed and could have a little room to breathe -- six issues instead of four, I'd say. As it is it reads almost like a plot summary instead of a story, as the writer crushes everything in to finish up before the end of the fourth issue.
Which is a shame, since there are some nice SF elements that would be fun to explore, involving cloning, bioweapons and the nature of identity. Boy-1 was left fairly open, though, so maybe we'll get a sequel.
DONALD AND MICKEY: THE WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES 75TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION
Writers/Art: CARL BARKS, DAAN JIPPES, PAUL MURRY, FRED MILTON, WILLIAM VAN HORN, GIL TURNER, WALT KELLY
Cover: DAAN JIPPES
TPB • FC • $12.99 • 120 pages • 6” x 9”
75 years ago, Disney’s flagship funnybook–Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories–first landed in the shops. Now dive into its history and heritage with this thrilling collection of tales. Donald Duck, Mickey, Goofy, and even Big Bad Wolf, Scamp and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit make appearances in this landmark collection! Reprints segments of IDW issues #721–726 plus IDW's WDCS 75th Anniversary Special.
“Every reader should find a story that's perfect for them—from diehard Disney fans to newcomers meeting these beloved characters for the first time.” –KidsComics.com
The Euro-stuff is really good on the Mice, not so much on the Ducks. But it's all better than the majority of U.S. comics!
HAUNTED LOVE #1
Writer/Art: Various
Cover: BERNARD BAILY (C)
FC • 32 pages • $4.99
From the titanic terror team that brings you Haunted Horror and Weird Love comes a macabre mash-up of both hit series! Haunted Love features rotting tales of supernatural Pre-code romance from putrid horror comics from the vile horror comics of the 1950s. Lurid lust! Vicious violence! Creepy kisses! The zombie-fied Haunted Love #1 is just the first of 3 throbbing issues that will set your horrid hearts afire. Haunted Love will make your Valentines Day massacre and gory gift giving to your vile Valentine unforgettable and unforgivable.
Haunted Horror and Weird Love present … Haunted Love!!
I've been enjoying Yoe's other series in collected form, Haunted Horror and Weird Love. But this looks like it might be going to the well a bit too much. Couldn't everything in this book find a home in the other two?
STAR TREK: NEW VISIONS VOL 3
Writer/Art/Cover: JOHN BYRNE
TPB • FC • $19.99 • 136 pages
John Byrne presents all-new, feature-length tales set in the Star Trek: The Original Series universe, done in a unique, one-of-a-kind photomontage style. Collects the stories “Resistance,” featuring The Borg; “1971” where Captain Kirk is sent 200 years into the past to meet Gary Seven; and “The Survival Equation” as killer androids start showing up by the dozen! Collects issues #6–8.
“A unique and interesting way of following up on classic episodes. Highly recommended.” –UnleashTheFanboy.com
Good stuff!
STREET FIGHTER X G.I. JOE #1 (of 6)
Writer: AUBREY SITTERSON
Art: EMILIO LAISO
Cover: MIKE CHOI
Subscription Variant: PAOLO VILLANELLI
8-Bit Variant: MATT WAITE
Toy Variant: ADAM RICHES
Variant: COREY LEWIS
Blank Sketch Variant
FC • 40 pages • $4.99
On a hidden island in international waters, 16 combatants enter a secret tournament… one that pits Street Fighter vs. G.I. JOE! M. Bison and Destro have joined forces, and taking them down will require the world’s finest warriors: Ryu, Snake Eyes, Guile, Scarlett, Chun-Li and Duke. New challengers Aubrey Sitterson (Hulk, Superman, Tech Jacket, Worth) and Emilio Laiso (Hack/Slash: Son of Samhain) bring the visceral combat of the world’s most popular fighting game series and the real world military action of America’s fighting elite together for the first time!
• A titanic tussle between the World Warriors and the Real American Heroes!
• Your favorite Street Fighter characters face off against G.I. JOE for the first time ever!
Street Fighter X G.I. JOE #1 Complete Box Set
FC • 40 pages x 5 • $24.99
Want to collect all the covers, but don’t have the time to chase them down? Buy the entire set, which comes in a collectible box! Includes all five covers from Mike Choi, Paolo Villanelli, Matt Waite, Adam Riches, and a blank sketch cover, to boot!
First issue alert! I'm not interested in either of these concepts, so naturally the team-up doesn't do anything for me either. But if you're a fan of either -- and I know some of you are -- the mix and match of mostly incompatible concepts could be fun.
THE LAST FALL
Writer: TOM WALTZ
Art/Cover: CASEY MALONEY
TPB • FC • $19.99 • 132 pages
Marcus Fall is a battle-hardened soldier in a long-running inter-planetary war. After multiple combat tours, Fall is finally able to leave the military and return to his beloved wife and son. But his happy homecoming comes to a tragic end when a suicide bomber murders his family. Devastated, Fall returns to the war with one bloody mission in mind: revenge against the enemy … every last one of them.
Waltz and Maloney take real-life issues and put them into a fictional story to show everyone the truth. Also, explosions.” –ComicWow.com
We all enjoy a good revenge fantasy, don't we? And there's SF, too!
WYNONNA EARP #1
Writer: BEAU SMITH
Art/Cover: LORA INNES
Photo Variant
Valentine’s Day Card Variant: CHRIS EVENHUIS
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
The U.S. Marshals Black Badge division has been fighting back against supernatural threats for decades. But even the toughest werewolf, most bloodthirsty vampire, or grisliest zombie knows there’s one agent to avoid at all cost: Wynonna Earp. Descended from the legendary Wyatt Earp, Wynonna is dead set on bringing the unnatural to justice! Beau Smith returns with artist Lora Innes (The Dreamer) to bring readers a chilling, new Wynonna Earp adventure!
• Look for the all-new television show premiering in Spring 2016!
• Part of IDW’s big Valentine’s Day promotion!
First issue alert!
I could swear I've read a book with this name before, but don't remember a thing about it. Maybe it was some other feminized Western character -- Buffalo Billie, maybe, or Bat Lashina. Anyway, I like the concept, and apparently there's a TV show on the way, so I'll sample this one.
IMAGE COMICS
BLACK MAGICK #5
Writer: GREG RUCKA
Art/Cover A: NICOLA SCOTT
Cover B: STEPHANIE HANS
32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.99
END OF STORY ARC
Book One: “Awakening” Conclusion
In BLACK MAGICK #5, the first chapter comes to a conclusion, and it’s a trial by divination.
New York Times bestselling and Eisner Award-winning writer Greg Rucka (LAZARUS, Stumptown, Gotham Central) and superstar artist Nicola Scott (Birds of Prey, Secret Six, Earth 2) will conclude the first story arc in their ongoing gothic noir series BLACK MAGICK this February.
Previously in BLACK MAGICK, Detective Rowan Black found herself tangled up in a decidedly occult investigation—despite her efforts to keep her work and private lives separate—that quickly became quite personal.
“This issue concludes the first half of the first ‘act’—and it upends the table,” said Rucka. “We start to see more of what not only what Rowan can do, but what Alex is capable of, as well; but more crucially, we get the first real reveal of what it is they’re up against. And it isn’t pretty. Literally and figuratively.”
“Rowan, Alex, pretty much everyone, has way more to fear than they thought,” said Scott. “Something's creeping through the cracks and the manipulation has just started.”
I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but if you've seen Scott's art elsewhere -- Teen Titans or Earth 2, maybe -- you haven't seen it. She uses some sort of wash to really make it pop here, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I'm especially pleased by how she draws women -- attractive but healthy and natural, not the exaggerated, pneumatic blow-up dolls you see elsewhere. This is a world so pretty that I not only enjoy reading about it, I want to live in it.
I actually have a little trouble finding an solid entry into the story, as Dixon has established a coven that keeps its cards very close to the chest -- from the reader, too, unfortunately. Here's a society of women who keep their mouths shut, so how can I, a mere male, have any idea what's going on in their heads? The lead character is tough and likable, but I'm still not sure what her motivations are. That's a kink that should work itself out over time, but I hope Dixon gets on with it soon.
IMAGE GIANT-SIZED ARTIST’S PROOF EDITION: TOKYO GHOST #1 & 2
Writer: RICK REMENDER
Art/Cover: SEAN MURPHY
56 PAGES / BW / M / $19.99
Presenting issues #1 and #2 of the hit TOKYO GHOST by RICK REMENDER and SEAN MURPHY in the ultimate artist’s treatment, as MURPHY’s groundbreaking pages are presented in their original inks at glorious 11x17.
Collects TOKYO GHOST #1-2.
This book is already up to issue #4, and I meant to read the first two issues to give you some sort of review -- but alas, those Double Take books, y'know?
Anyway, I'm encouraged by the creative team. I'm not much of a Remender fan, but I will admit he's good at boisterous (if sometimes nonsensical) science fiction. And I've always loved Sean Murphy's art, which gets better every time I see it.
SUNSTONE VOL. 4 (OGN)
Writer/Art/Cover: STJEPAN SEJIC
200 PAGES / FC / M / $14.99
Meet a girl online: check!
Befriend and flirt for two months online: check!
Know her in person for two weeks: check!
Move in together!
Well ... this can only end well!
This is the big one, people! In fact, it's so big we had to up the page count!
I overcame my reluctance to be a walking cliche -- look, a fanboy who likes nekkid ladeez -- to read volume 3, and was mildly, but plesantly, surprised. Here's a lesbian/BDSM love story that emphasizes emotions instead of tittilation. (But, hey, don't worry -- there's still plenty of nekkid ladeez.)
VALHALLA MAD (TPB)
Writer:: JOE CASEY
Art/Cover: PAUL MAYBURY
120 PAGES / FC / T+ / $12.99
Their names are legend: the Glorious Knox! Greghorn the Battlebjörn! Jhago the Irritator! Three warrior gods vacationing on Earth, just looking to get their drink on and have a good time! Join the drunken festivities with toastmasters Joe Casey (SEX) and Paul Maybury (SOVEREIGN). The new mythology begins now!
Collects VALHALLA MAD #1-4.
I haven't read this, but I'm assuming these characters are loose parodies of recognizable mythological archetypes. Which could be a lot of fun. Anybody been reading it?
MARVEL COMICS
ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS #6
Writer: MARK WAID
Art: MAHMUD ASRAR
Cover by ALEX ROSS
32 PGS / Rated T+ / $3.99
The villain pulling the Avengers’ strings stands revealed – someone who’s been a part of Avengers history for almost all of the team’s existence, in a way you’ve never seen them before! The All-New, All-Different Avengers’ first story arc ends here – and you won’t guess who’s left standing on the last page.
I can't believe it. The preview shows the hoariest cliche in Avengers history: Once again, hidden programming turns The Vision against his teammates. How many times has this happened? The only saving grace is that this is written by Mark Waid, who certainly knows his comics history and must -- MUST -- have a trick up his sleeve. (Please?)
Needless to say, the cover is an homage to Avengers (first series) #57, the first Vision story.
DEADPOOL CLASSIC VOL. 15: ALL THE REST (TPB)
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI, JOHN LAYMAN, STUART MOORE, CHRIS HASTINGS & MORE
Penciled by PACO MEDINA, LEANDRO FERNANDEZ, LEE GARBETT, JUAN DOE, AL BARRIONUEVO,
SHAWN CRYSTAL, BONG DAZO & MORE
Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
360 PGS / Parental Advisory / $34.99
It’s the latest and greatest volume in the increasingly flexibly named Deadpool Classic series! The ever-sociable Wade Wilson is back — rubbing shoulders with his bro Cable, laughing it up with his other bro Wolverine and forging an all-new bromance during FEAR ITSELF with…the Walrus? The “Identity Wars” take Deadpool, Spider-Man and the Hulk on a long strange cross-dimensional trip, but what twisted reflections of themselves will they see? And in the wake of Steve Rogers’ return, will Wade Wilson become the new Captain America? (Spoiler: no.) Learn all there is to know about Deadpool and friends, right here! Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA: WHO WON’T WIELD THE SHIELD #1, CABLE (2008) #25, DEADPOOL & CABLE #26, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #38, DEADPOOL ANNUAL (2011) #1, INCREDIBLE HULKS ANNUAL #1, WOLVERINE/DEADPOOL: THE DECOY #1, FEAR ITSELF: DEADPOOL #1-3 and DEADPOOL CORPS: RANK AND FOUL #1.
Using the words "Deadpool" and "Classic" in the same sentence is a misnomer. But I will allow that the stories found herein are some of the ones that changed my mind about the Merc with a Mouth. I had always disliked him, but somewhere in here I started to get the humor.
KARNAK #2
Writer: WARREN ELLIS
Art: GERARDO ZAFFINO
Cover: DAVID AJA
Variant: KEVIN NOWLAN
32 PGS. / Rated T+ / $3.99
• Karnak versus a warehouse full of enemy agents! The agents don’t stand a chance.
• But the Zen Gunner can turn the air itself into a deadly weapon? Karnak’s in trouble.
According to a Newsaram article:"There were some unforeseen complications in Gerardo's life," Alonso told CBR. "But we're committed to continuing the book and everyone is working hard to get the next issue out for fans as quickly as possible. Our creators have lives outside of comics, and sometimes those lives have difficulties that can get in the way of writing or drawing. Right now, issue #2 should ship in February and will hopefully come out more regularly beyond that."
Three months late, but I still remember enjoying the first issue. So it must have been pretty good.
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE CHAMPIONS VOL. 1 (HC)
Written by TONY ISABELLA & BILL MANTLO with CHRIS CLAREMONT & JIM SHOOTER
Penciled by GEORGE TUSKA & JOHN BYRNE with BOB HALL, DON HECK & SAL BUSCEMA
Cover by GIL KANE
VARIANT EDITION VOL. 229 (DM ONLY)
432 PGS / Rated T / $100.00
Join the Black Widow, Hercules, Ghost Rider, Iceman and Angel as they form an all-new super-team: the Champions! This massive Masterworks collects the Champions’ complete adventures in a single volume! Every issue, every highlight, every page as the lives of these Marvel icons play out together. Their struggles will reveal the origin of the man who created the Black Widow, pit them against the combined might of Magneto and Doctor Doom; unleash the Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man on Los Angeles; team them with the Stranger in the fight for an Infinity Gem; and bring fan-favorite artist John Byrne aboard for some of his greatest early work, including stories featuring the Sentinels and Brotherhood of Evil Mutants! Collecting CHAMPIONS #1-17, IRON MAN ANNUAL #4, AVENGERS (1963) #163, SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #14 and SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (1976) #17-18.
I remember when Champions launched, and the cynical Captain thought, "They've just created a team for second-tier characters who aren't already in a team. It has no reason to exist, and it won't last long." Turns out I was right, but I have to say I was a little sad when it got canceled with issue#17 -- it had a quirky charm, even if it didn't have any reason to exist.
SIEGE: BATTLEWORLD (TPB)
Written by KIERON GILLEN
Penciled by FILIPE ANDRADE, CARLOS PACHECO & MORE
Cover by W. SCOTT FORBES
136 PGS / Rated T+ / $16.99
They can’t ever win. They can’t afford to lose. Together they stand on the Shield — the wall that stretches around Battleworld, protecting the more civilized domains from the dead lands filled with zombies, Ultrons and the Annihilation Wave. Anyone who crosses Lord Doom gets sent to the Shield, where Commander Abigail Brand and her unlikely allies — including Ms. America, the bowslinger Lady Katherine, Kang, Leah, the Endless Summers and Leonardo da Vinci — will fight to the death to keep their planet safe. And they’ll have to do exactly that, because the Shield is about to come under siege like never before. And if the Shield falls, so too will Battleworld. Plus: Abigail Brand, the X-Men and Avengers face the uncanny threat of Unit, the galactic genocidal fugitive! Collecting SIEGE (2015) #1-4 and UNCANNY X-MEN (2011) #9-10.
Did anybody read this one? Is it worth getting the collection?
X-MEN: WORST X-MAN EVER #1 (OF 5)
Writer: MAX BEMIS
Art/Cover: MICHAEL WALSH
32 PGS / Rated T+ / $3.99
Bailey Hoskins has just discovered he’s a mutant. For someone who’s never been special, never stood out, discovering he’s “gifted” is truly a gift—entry into the halls of Xavier’s School for Gifted Children and into the ranks of the world-famous X-Men! Unfortunately...Bailey might just be the worst X-Man ever. Max Bemis, frontman of the band Say Anything, kicks off his first Marvel miniseries by teaming with stellar artist Michael Walsh (SECRET AVENGERS, HANK JOHNSON) to bring us the story of a misfit among misfits.
Haven't we already had a bunch of misfit mutants? (Goldball leaps to mind.) Maybe it's an inventory story, because it appears to take place before Wolverine died, before Cyclops became a bad guy and before Jubilee became a vampire.
Replies
OTHER PUBLISHERS
ARK (HC)
Writer/Art/Cover: STEPHANE LEVALLOIS
Mature / $24.95
A nearly silent allegorical fable of man vs. nature that explores the medium's potential in a stunning, cinematic fashion. A lone figure in a diving suit drags an enormous wooden ark through the desert, scarring the earth with its deep furrow. A plane crashes. A zeppelin prowls the azure skies, its crew seduced by caged women, while Bedouins and soldiers clash under the blazing sun. This poetic tale entrances as it pulls all these elements and characters together into a haunting yet mesmerizing canvas.
I only found one review online, and that guy loved Ark. It sounds like the sort of book designed to be assigned in English Lit classes, with obscure or baffling symbolism -- which was apparently right up this guy's alley. I don't know if I'll like it or not, so I probably won't get it -- I've got a wall of unread books as it is -- but maybe you're the sort who likes to puzzle out metaphor. In which case, this is for you.
One weird thing: I could swear I've seen this image before, of a guy in a diving suit dragging a ship through the desert. But apparently this has never been published before. Either I'm psychic, or he's used this image in some other work, or lifted it from something else.
BART SIMPSON COMICS #100
Writer: IAN BOOTHBY, NATHAN KANE
Art: NINA MATSUMOTO
Cover: JASON HO & VARIOUS
All Ages / $4.99
"Bart's Odyssey": Bart Simpson turns 100! When Homer is put in charge of security for Mr. Burns' secret R&D division, he inadvertently unleashes a series of events that threaten Springfield's very existence! If that's not bad enough, an all-too-familiar evil from Springfield's distant future arrives amid the chaos to stake his claim! But wait! Yet another mysterious figure from the future travels back to a current-day Springfield with the town on the brink of destruction! Will this stranger aid the embattled citizens in their darkest hour or make them eat his shorts? Join Bart Simpson's centennial celebration, capping off its illustrious and illustrated run with a final issue (for now)! It's a 48-page senses-shattering sendoff that will shake Springfield and Simpsons fans to the core!
I could pretend I posted this as a testament to Bart's 100th issue, but you all know the truth: I just couldn't resist the Silver Age Annual cover homage.
BELUSHI: ON A MISSION FROM GOD
Writer: ALBERTO SCHIAVONE
Art/Cover: MATTEO MANERA
$18.95
Animal House. Blues Brothers. Saturday Night Live. A gift for comedy practically unmatched in the history of cinema -- John Belushi is one of America's greatest icons. Belushi died of an overdose at the age of 33, defined by fame, success and an insatiable hunger for life. This graphic novel offers readers a new perspective on one of the most prominent figures in American comedy, chronicling Belushi's rise and fall and showing how wild success can turn into sudden tragedy. Through a story rich in tenderness and passion, it brings to life the irreverent, excessive, crazy, profane, unpredictable spirit of an actor considered to be the ultimate testament to free thought and non-conformity.
I post this to alert Belushi fans, even though the utter lack of online information I've been able to find on this product and its obscure provenance suggests it's a knock-off that won't be very good. If someone reads it and I'm wrong, let me know. Heck, let me know even if I'm right!
BIG KIDS
Writer/Art/Cover: MICHAEL DEFORGE
Hardcover • 96 pages • 4.5" x 5.8" • full color • 16.95 USD / $19.95 CAD
Teenaged misfits and adolescent rabble-rousing take center stage in this dark coming-of-age tale.
Big Kids follows a troubled teenage boy through the transformative years of high school, as he redefines his friends, his interests and his life path. When the boy’s uncle, a police officer, gets kicked out of the family’s basement apartment and transferred to the countryside, April moves in. She’s a college student: mysterious and cool, she quickly takes a shine to the boy. Eerie and perfectly paced, Michael DeForge’s Big Kids muses on the complicated, and often contradictory, feelings people struggle with in adolescence, the choices we make to fit in, and the ways we survive times of change. Like Ant Colony and First Year Healthy, Big Kids is a testimony to the harshness and beauty of being alive.
I wasn't all that interested in adolescent coming-of-age stories when I was an adolescent myself. Thirty years later and my interest is now somewhere on the negative end of the number line. And that cover, with two nervous systems in an embrace is, frankly, disgusting! But I can only speak for myself. D&Q thought enough of this to send me a press release, so maybe it'll be good for those who have an interest in such matters.
BLOODSHOT REBORN #11
Art by LEWIS LAROSA
Cover A by RYAN SOOK
Cover B by CLAYTON HENRY
Cover C by JEFFREY VEREGGE
Variant Cover by TULA LOTAY
Variant Cover by BRIAN LEVEL
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | VALIANT PRESTIGE FORMAT
“THE ANALOG MAN” – PART 2
Valiant is proud to present BLOODSHOT REBORN #11 – the second earth-scorching chapter of “THE ANALOG MAN” from New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (Extraordinary X-Men) and blockbuster artist Lewis LaRosa (Punisher)! Presented in the deluxe, ad-free VALIANT PRESTIGE format with laminate card-stock covers, heavyweight end sheets, and exclusive backmatter, the biggest storyline of 2016 doubles down this February as Bloodshot charges through the remnants of the world that was for a double-barreled, widescreen action epic that must be seen to be believed!
Far into a post-apocalyptic future, Los Angeles has descended into chaos … and even the remaining heroes of the Valiant Universe can’t stand against the G.A.T.E. super-tech that now dominates the wastelands. As Bloodshot and his longtime love Magic emerge from their desert refuge with a small group of survivors in tow, an unexpected acquaintance from the past returns, seeking help and forcing Bloodshot to either turn his back on his friends…or his family! But is the master assassin once called Ninjak truly an ally … or a foe lying in wait?
Madness, mayhem and monster trucks await right here as "THE ANALOG MAN" swerves into its next awe-inspiring chapter! Featuring covers by Ryan Sook (Wednesday Comics), Clayton Henry (HARBINGER WARS), Jeffrey Veregge (Red Wolf), Tula Lotay (The Wicked + The Divine), and Brian Level (The Mantle), Jeff Lemire and Lewis LaRosa’s jaw-dropping joyride shifts into high gear on Feb. 24, only in BLOODSHOT REBORN #11!
BLOODSHOT REBORN: THE ANALOG MAN – DIRECTOR’S CUT #1
Art & Cover by LEWIS LAROSA
$4.99 | 48 pgs. | T+
Valiant is proud to announce BLOODSHOT REBORN: THE ANALOG MAN – DIRECTOR’S CUT #1 – an oversized collector's edition re-presenting the blistering first chapter of Jeff Lemire and Lewis LaRosa’s gear-stripping joyride through the future of the Valiant Universe! On February 24th, go behind the scenes with this special 48-page “director’s cut” of THE ANALOG MAN's opening salvo from BLOODSHOT REBORN #10 with an electrifying look inside this all-new jumping-on point for Valiant’s most relentless hero!
Stripped down to pencils and letters alone, this is your exclusive first chance to marvel at Lewis LaRosa’s jaw-dropping, hyper-detailed pencil artwork from BLOODSHOT REBORN #10 alongside Jeff Lemire’s complete and expurgated script for the first time anywhere! You’ve never seen Bloodshot like this before as the must-read storyline of the New Year circles back for a bonus presentation of THE ANALOG MAN’s bare-knuckled first issue jumping-on point, only in the BLOODSHOT REBORN: THE ANALOG MAN – DIRECTOR’S CUT #1!
Many years from now, Los Angeles has become a post-apocalyptic wasteland and the once unstoppable killing machine known as BLOODSHOT has become THE ANALOG MAN. Hopelessly outdated, Bloodshot’s taken on a new role as the protector of a small town, eking out a subsistence existence with the great love of his life – Magic – and protecting a group of stragglers who’ve weathered the storm. But when a gang of marauders arrives, the settlement’s survival is threatened, and Bloodshot is forced to bring justice to the distorted and disjointed badlands of the Valiant Universe!
“THE ANALOG MAN is a benchmark event for Valiant – one that's not only loaded with action, emotion, and impact, but that will also have dire consequences for Bloodshot," said Valiant Publisher Fred Pierce. "Jeff and Lewis' first issue alone is nothing short of staggering, and, even in raw black and white, it stands tall as a monumental piece of comics storytelling. That's why, for the first time ever, we're giving fans the opportunity to experience THE ANALOG MAN in pencils alone in this deluxe DIRECTOR'S CUT edition. Come 2016, BLOODSHOT REBORN is going to be one of the most beautiful books on the stands, plain and simple."
On January 27th, don't miss a beat as THE ANALOG MAN throttles into comic shops everywhere with a bullet-riddled jumping-on point in BLOODSHOT REBORN #10 – an all-new arc by superstar creators Jeff Lemire and Lewis LaRosa! Then, on February 24th, go back to basics and relive the action in bold black-and-white with an all-access pass to LaRosa's unfettered pencil-and-ink artwork and Lemire's complete script, only in the BLOODSHOT REBORN: THE ANALOG MAN – DIRECTOR’S CUT #1!
That's some serious promotion! Valiant is clearly proud of this one.
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED
THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON ($9.95):: H. G. Wells's story of the first men on the moon, and what they find there! Classics Illustrated tells this wonderful tale in colorful comic strip form, providing an excellent introduction for younger readers. Also includes theme discussions and study questions. Writer: H.G. Wells; Art: Gerald McCann
GOLD BUG & OTHER STORIES ($9.95): Includes three Poe tales: The Gold Bug, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Cask of Amontillado. Classics Illustrated tells these wonderful tales in colorful comic strip form, providing an excellent introduction for younger readers. Also includes theme discussions and study questions. Writer: Edgar Allan Poe; Art/Cover: Alex A. Blum
OFF ON A COMET ($9.95): Jules Verne's fantastic tale of a small group stranded in space on a comet! Classics Illustrated tells this wonderful tale in colorful comic strip form, providing an excellent introduction for younger readers. Also includes theme discussions and study questions. Writer: Jules Verne; Art: Gerald McCann
One thing that jumps out at me just as much now as it did when I was a lad, is how awful the art is for most Classics illustrated comics. I guess they didn't pay much.
DOUBLE TAKE
“In my days at Marvel we sampled over 6 million physical copies of Ultimate Spider-Man. Today, the most efficient and effective way of promoting a new comic book is through digital sampling,” explained Double Take General Manager Bill Jemas. “Online readership is largely complementary to physical readership. We are so proud of our upcoming third issues that we wanted to share the rest of our work in anticipation of their release.”
DEDICATION #3 ($2.50): Thanks to some hungry customers, the closing shift at George's Market has turned into a graveyard shift. Cleanup in aisle ... well, all of them. It's a late-night snack attack in George's market. Help wanted: minimum wage, maximum carnage. Writers: Michael Coast, Matt Summo; Art: Jean-Jacques Dzialowski; Cover: Ruiz Burgos.
HOME#3 ($2.50): A happy family, a lovely spring evening and zombies. The family that faces zombies together stays together. Until they don't. The Foster family learns that blood, literally, is thicker than water. Writers: Michael Coast & Various; Art: Francis Nuguit; Cover: Ruiz Burgos
HONOR #3 ($2.50): Protect. Serve. Beat. Burn. Rinse. Repeat. If you get pulled over by these cops, get ready to hand over your license, registration and death certificate. Writers: Bill Jemas, Michael Coast; Art: Brent Peeples; Cover: Apple Qingyang Zhang
MEDIC #3 ($2.50): Doctors and nurses and zombies, oh my! These patients just won't die! Something wicked this way comes, taking toes and eating thumbs. Writers: Brian Finkelstein & Various; Art: Marco Castiello; Cover: Michael MacRae
REMOTE #3 ($2.50): As ghouls surround her station, KBRF Radio ace DJ Samantha stays on the air all night. Will Rock & Roll save her soul? Burn baby burn. Samantha starts a zombie inferno. Stand back. We don't know how big this girl gets. Writers: Colin Mitchell & Various, Art: TBD; Cover: Jeff Dekal
RISE #3 ($2.50): They're coming to get you, Barbara. An old story with a new end and a new beginning. Johnny and Barbara escape from the undead, live through the night, then pick up a hitchhiker on their way home. No good deed goes unpunished. Johnny blacks out, then goes to the kind of hospital where patients check in but never check out. Writer: Jeff McComsey; Art: Federica Manfredi; Cover: Apple Qingyang Zhang
SLAB #3 ($2.50): Even a brain a day can't keep this doctor away. Things get weird in the lab when Dr. Grimes feeds a zombie sandwiches, all in the name of science. Bring out your undead ... bring out your undead ... I'm not undead yet! Writers: Brian Finkelstein, Michael Coast; Art: Joe Cooper; Cover: Carlos Reno
SOUL #3 ($2.50): The posse shoots to kill, but Ben survives. Too bad it's all downhill from here. As the tale unwinds, Chief McClelland and the posse suspect that Ben may not be telling them the whole truth. And they might be right. Good thing Ben has a hard head. If at first you don't succeed, die, die, die again. Writer: Michael Coast; Art: Ricardo Sanchez; Cover: Julian Rowe
SPRING #3 ($2.50): Hot sun, hot babes, and the cold decaying flesh of the zombie horde. She wore an itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny yellow polka dot bikini ... to the Apocalypse. It's co-eds vs. the undead. The only thing worse than disappearing under the water is being left behind. Writer: Bill Jemas; Art: Derlis Santacruz; Cover: Andrey Vasilchenko
Z-MEN #3 ($2.50): Dead and/or alive. LBJ orders the Secret Service to bring him back a zombie. This should be easy. With the S.S. in PA, solely as advisers, the Air Force drops 300,000,000 tons of advice on Evans County. Writer: Jeff McComsey; Art: Alisson Rodrigues; Cover: Ruiz Burgos
DOUBLE TAKE SUPER PACK #3 ($20.00): Keep up with Double Take's bestselling series with this 10-pack of comics containing one copy of issue #3 from 10 different Double Take titles.
ABOUT DOUBLE TAKE
Double Take (2T) has launched a new comic book universe. The first 10 stories start in the world established by the 1968 cult classic Night of the Living Dead, then we let our imaginations … and our zombies …run wild. Mostly, our creators are telling new stories starring new characters. But if you love the classic film, you won’t be disappointed. You can follow your favorite characters from the film, from their first appearances through their dying breaths, to their first baby zombie steps.
This week brings the third issues of Double Take's 10 titles. I've read them all, and you can read most of them, too: The first two issues of each are available to read for free at www.doubletakeuniverse.com. The third issues have been made available to read, but not all at once: Each has been posted for 24 hours this week before being replaced by the next, and that will continue through Tuesday, Feb. 24. (At least three of them are or will be available as of this posting.)
Three issues is enough for some impressions, so let me tell you what mine are. That's right: Captain Comics read 30 Double Take comics, so you don't have to! No, no, don't thank me -- all part of the service. Here we go:
All of the books take place in rural Pennsylvania, and begin on April 24, 1966, as the movie did. They don't move very fast; it's still April 24 in most of the books (although it's evening now).
In addition to the stories taking place very slowly, the pace of the art is also very slow, with lots of repetitive frames where very little happens. That's puzzling until you realize that these books are designed to be "motion comics," with limited fake animation. Like a car coming up a driveway in three takes, using fades, stop-motion, time-lapse or other tricks to suggest movement. Or someone standing at a refrigerator in panel one, whose arms "move" up in panel two, and then "move" back to the first position in panel three. Or a panel with no words, until the word balloons or caption pop in.
I found this more frustrating than interesting. In the regular comics this approach results in static, slow-moving art with almost zero rendering. In the "motion comics" it forces the reader to wait for each tiny program to finish running before he or she can progress, and most veteran comics fans read faster than the programs allow.
So overall, the art is something of a disappointment -- bland and static, with poor pacing. However, some of the covers are excellent, especially those by newcomer Apple Qingyang Zhang.
As to story ... these are some quirky books. I almost feel like I'm missing something. A joke, a subtext, a metaphor ... I don't know what it is, but I always feel like something's going on that I'm not privy to. Are they comedies, and I'm taking them too seriously? Are they tragedies, and I'm not taking them seriously enough? I keep waiting for a punchline or dramatic pronouncement or something to explain to me the significance of what I'm looking at, because for the most part very little happens and I wonder what's supposed to be entertaining me.
For one thing, most of the characters pretty much take the zombie apocalypse in stride. Where is the running and screaming? Where are the desperate battles? This zombie apocalypse is being talked to death.
And the talking often isn't about the action. In many of the comics, one character is telling a story, or relating a dream, or otherwise engaged in some exercise in shaggy dogginess. They tell this interminable story, all through the issue, as the characters are doing other things -- killing zombies, having sex, grocery shopping. And when you get to the end of the story, like all shaggy dog stories, it wasn't worth the time it took to hear it. Maybe it's supposed to reflect on the action in some subtle way, but if it is, it's too subtle to me. Also boring and irritating. Get! To! The! Point!
Also, these zombies are different from not only other zombies, but the ones in Night of the Living Dead. They aren't hungry for human flesh -- they're hungry for everything. In Dedication (which takes place in a grocery store), the zombies push past the human employees to feast on the food on the shelves. That's kind of ... not scary.
Speaking of Dedication, there's a book that sums up my puzzlement. It focuses on the manager of a grocery store, who is terribly irritated by the zombie apocalypse because it ruins his schedule. For three issues, we've watched this guy maintain order in the store, browbeating employees to stock shelves and mop floors. He keeps catching two employees having sex, and admonishes them that they are still on the clock. (That was NOT a normal reaction in 1966 to catching two people having sex in public.) And the manager has reason for wanting to keep the show running, because people -- ordinary, not-zombie people -- are still coming to shop. During the apocalypse.
I have no explanation. If this is supposed to be funny, the joke has been drawn out way too long. If we're supposed to admire the manager for adherence to duty, it might help if his duty was an admirable one. As it is, he just seems like an oblivious martinet. Meanwhile, in the third issue, one employee is telling another one for the whole issue about a bad acid trip he took while they pop zombies with a rifle (across the street, to draw the other ones away from the store). Other than that, not much really happened.
Oh, and the couple having sex all the time? They're interracial. In fact, at least three books feature interracial relationships. Spring involves multiple interracial coupling of teenagers, with absolutely no reaction from the adults. All the comics ignore race entirely, despite the cast having a high percentage of African Americans.
In 1966. In rural Pennsylvania. Clearly, this is an alternate universe, because in ours, there would probably be a lynching or two. I mean that quite seriously. If you weren't around in 1966, let me assure you that in rural parts of the country and in the South, interracial anything was frowned upon in a homicidal way. Think To Kill a Mockingbird. Think Emmitt Till. The free-love part of the '60s hadn't begun yet, at least outside of cities like San Francisco, so rural Pennsylvania in 1966 would be very much like any part of Pennsylvania in 1956. Which means a black man would be taking his life in his hands to even make eye contact with a white woman.
In other words, this is nonsense. And it's pernicious nonsense. We need to remember the bad parts of our past, so that we don't repeat them. We need to remember what life was like for those Americans kept in second-class status for generations, so we understand their anger. If you're going to set a story in 1966, show 1966, not 2016 with old cars. In fact, part of the plot of the original Night of the Living Dead was based on racial animus -- the horrible fact that even in the zombie apocalypse, a white guy named Cooper hated the one black guy more than he did the walking dead, so the humans couldn't pull together.
Speaking of the original Night of the Living Dead, one of my favorite horror movies, these series take a lot of liberties with it.
One of things that made NotLD so amazing to me when I first saw it was that nobody survived. In fact, what was so scary was that there didn't seem to be any way TO survive. In vampire movies, you wave a cross. In werewolf movies, you carry silver bullets. But in Night of the Living Dead, while the monsters were slow and stupid, there were no rules, no wards, to drive them off. They were unrelenting, and won by sheer numbers. Yikes! Not even a clever monkey like me would survive! It was such a downer!
But you remember the last survivor, the black guy? In the movie, he gets shot in the head by "rescuers." Oooh! Ironic! But he survives in these comics, as the central character in Soul.
Remember the freaked-out chick who kept crying over her boyfriend Johnny, bitten in one of the earliest scenes in the movie? Yeah, you remember her, because Johnny comes home and eats her! Oooh! More irony! Except that Johnny and his girlfriend survive in these comics, and star in Rise.
That's kind of lame, changing the movie like that. Me no likee.
There's more going on, some of which might turn out to be fun, if the pace ever picks up. There are some aliens disguised as humans (presumably from Venus); the undead virus is carried by a worm or something, not radiation like in the movie; there's mysterious graffiti everywhere; there's an invisible woman; the virus can cross species and has already infected dogs and a cow. Oh, and some of the undead can think and plan -- even shave and change clothes and hitchhike -- which is bad news for the living. And all of the books cross over in light way, meaning you'll see a scene that's in the foreground in one book repeated in the background of another book, and vice versa.
Some or all of these things may mean something, some day. I'll stick with it and report back, but right now the only book I can recommend is Remote. It's the story of woman at a radio station who is the only one there and stays on the air 24/7 by training the undead to operate equipment and star in improv skits and such. It's pretty funny, especially since our star gets increasingly unhinged as the story progresses, getting more and more blue on the air. It's a straight-out black comedy, and it's moving faster than the other books, so I can dig it.
If anyone else is reading these books, feel free to chime in -- my opinion certainly isn't the end of the discussion. Hopefully it's the beginning.
E.X.O. VOL 1: LEGEND OF WALE WILLIAMS (GN)
Writer: ROYE OKUPE
Art: SUNKANMI AKINBOYE & VARIOUS
Cover: GODWIN AKPAN
136 pages / $19.99
Featured on CNN, the BBC and Forbes, E.X.O.: The Legend of Wale Williams is a superhero story about redemption, set in a futuristic Africa. Volume one of the graphic novel series follows the journey of Wale Williams, an impetuous young man who inherits a suit with super-powers after his father goes missing.
The super-stuff seems pretty formulaic, but the hero is from Nigeria, and the author is a Nigerian emigre. I don't know how much that will differentiate this character from 100 other Peter Parker wannabes, but it's interesting.
The preview above is thirtysomething pages, so if you're on the fence, that should tell you something one way or the other!
FAITH #2 (of 4)
Art by FRANCIS PORTELA and MARGUERITE SAUVAGE
Cover A by JELENA KEVIC-DJURDJEVIC
COVER B by MARGUERITE SAUVAGE
Cover C by FRANCIS PORTELA
Variant Cover by COLLEEN COOVER
$3.99 | 32 pgs | T+
The most talked-about new book of 2016 is just getting started!
Valiant is proud to present FAITH #2 (of 4) – the second stratospheric issue of the year’s most talked-about new series from rising star Jody Houser (Orphan Black) and acclaimed artists Francis Portela (Green Lantern) and Marguerite Sauvage (DC Comics Bombshells)! Launching out of the pages of HARBINGER and into her first-ever solo series, Faith’s long-awaited headlining debut continues here on February 24th with a daring new chapter for Valiant’s sold-out sensation!
Faith “Zephyr” Herbert has just set out on her own with a new city, a new job, and a new secret identity … but, just when it when she thought it was safe fly solo as Los Angeles’ leading superhero, her former teammate – and ex-boyfriend – might just bring her high-spirited solo career crashing back down to Earth! And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s a conspiracy brewing in the Hollywood Hills that’s going to threaten the lives of Faith’s fellow psiots and new friends alike … and a volatile new alien threat that nobody saw coming!
Jump on board here to find out why fans and critics are heralding FAITH’s arrival as one of 2016’s most important new series and a milestone moment for the largest independent superhero universe in comics:
“✮✮✮✮✮… [A] truly stunning book… This is a superhero done right, folks, and that’s something we can all appreciate.” – Nerdist
“✮✮✮✮✮… A perfect first issue… FAITH shines as a true jumping-on point…" – Comic Bastards
“✮✮✮✮✮… You will have faith in FAITH. The first page is enough to get you hooked.” – First Comics News
“✮✮✮✮½… FAITH is yet another utterly brilliant character from a company that seems to thrive on brilliant characters, and this is an upbeat, positive and – above all – a truly fun book that deserves to be seen by as many eyes as possible." – Big Comic Page
“✮✮✮✮½… Absolutely refreshing… We need more stories like this in comics.” – Comicosity
"✮✮✮✮… [A] blast of fresh, companion field-fueled air… Welcome to the big leagues, Faith. You’ve made it." – IGN
“✮✮✮✮… There has never been a character in comic books like Faith Herbert… A propulsive, character-centric story that gives us enough to leave us wanting to hang out with Faith and her diverse co-stars more.” – Newsarama
“✮✮✮✮… [FAITH] makes her character even more likeable, if such a thing were even possible.” – Comic Book Resources
“✮✮✮✮… Often hilarious and always mindful, [FAITH] is a Valiant slam-dunk…” – Doomrocket
On February 24th, get ready to #FLYLIKEFAITH with the seminal new series of the New Year, only in FAITH #2 (of 4) by Jody Houser, Francis Portela, and Marguerite Sauvage – featuring covers by Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic (DIVINITY), Marguerite Sauvage (Thor), Francis Portela (Green Lantern Corps), and Colleen Coover (Bandette)!
Plus: Missed out on Faith’s sold-out first issue? It’s not too late to start at the beginning… Ask your local comics retailer about the FAITH #1 (of 4) SECOND PRINTING – in stores now!
As ever, points to Valiant for making their highest-profile superheroine something other than a size zero. (And no brokeback poses!)
FUKUFUKU KITTEN TALES (GN)
Writer/Art/Cover: KANATA KONAMI
$10.95
New York Times-bestseller Konami Kanata returns to the States with another collection of all-ages cat comics based on her very first major kitty property - FukuFuku. Focusing on FukuFuku's tales as kitten readers get to experience more of the feline adventures they have come to love from Konami but in a more affordable format. Stray kitty, FukuFuku, has been adopted into the home of a widowed grandmother and the two quickly begin to develop a relationship viewed through the kitten's eyes.
I can feel myself developing Type II diabetes just reading the solicitation.
GRIMM FAIRY TALES: OZ: NO PLACE LIKE HOME #1
Writer: JEFF MASSEY
Cover A: WIMBERLY
Cover B: CALDWELL
Cover C: CARDY
Cover D: TBD
Mature / $5.99
Dust-bowl Kansas, 1939.
They say there's no place like home, but after seeing the wonders of Oz, Dorothy Gale is finding it hard adjusting to a "normal" life back on Earth. So when dust storms, circus freaks, and flying monkeys descend upon her home in 1930s Kansas, what's a simple (highborn) farm girl and her giant wolf to do?
New allies and old friends return in this bridge tale of Oz!
First issue alert!
After reading Alan Moore's Lost Girls, I find it hard to think of Dorothy Gale in an innocent and non-prurient way. These covers sure aren't helping any.
THE GINGERDEAD MAN #1
Art: SERGIO RIOS
Cover: SERGIO RIOS & MARCELO COSTA
Variant: DAN MENDOZA
32 pgs./ T+ / FC / $3.99 (reg.) / $4.99 (Var.)
Variant Covers limited to 1,500 copies each!
Finally, the most edible horror movie monster of all time, The Gingerdead Man, is getting his own sweet & stabby comic book! Action Lab Entertainment and Full Moon Features are proud to announce the sick & twisted Killer Cookie’s upcoming comic book mini-series, The Gingerdead Man: Baking Bad.
The first issue, The Gingerdead Man: Baking Bad #1 was maniacally written by comic book veteran, Brockton McKinney (Ehmm Theory, Killer Queen), with art so good it’s just scary, by Sergio Rios, and gorgeously evil variant covers by the creator of Zombie Tramp, Dan Mendoza.
Based on the hit cult classic movie starring Gary Busey, and brought to you by the companies behind the hit comic book series Puppet Master, Action Lab: Danger Zone and Full Moon Features, The Gingerdead Man: Baking Bad has laughs and gore galore!
There is a new designer drug on the streets, and it’s called Confection! It’s so powerful that it has to be baked into a culinary treat. When a gang of drug dealers take over the abandoned Betty’s Bakery, all pastry hell breaks loose when they use a leftover box of baking ingredients containing the remaining ashes of deceased crazed murderer, Millard Findlemeyer, unwittingly unleashing that cookie of doom: The Gingerdead Man!
Danger Zone publisher Jason Martin adds, “We here at Action Lab are fans of the Full Moon Features properties, and we knew that once we had the rights to publish Puppet Master comics, we also needed to bring some of Full Moon’s other fabulous gonzo creations to the comic book world. Gingerdead Man is one such concept begging to be further unleashed, and Brockton McKinney is the perfect man for the job!”
First issue alert!
Points for the Breaking Bad pun, but otherwise I have little to add, never having seen the movie. (Nor will I ever. Gary Busey? Really?)
IMMORTAL WINGS #1
Writer: CARLO SAN JUAN
Art: ROD ESPINOSA
$3.99
"A Fistful of Dirt!"
Deep in the wild wastelands of the cosmic frontier, bounty hunter Blaze and her draconic partner, Gruffyd, combining fighting prowess and magical might to stay alive as they make a living. Then the Galactic Shogunate hires their services to eliminate the ultimate threat to its control over the stars ... a rabbit.
First issue alert!
I don't care much for the art in the preview, but I can't tell from that whether the story will grab me. Time will tell.
IMPOSTER #1
Writer: JAMES PATRICK
Art: MARTIN SZYMANSKI
Cover: VICTOR SANTOS
$3.99
One man is every hero who's ever existed. He's the vigilante Centipede, the space traveler Captain Apex, the sorcerer Dr. Oculus, and the adventurer Jungle Jack. This is the world's most dangerous secret, it's about to be revealed, and everything will change.
First issue alert! Sounds interesting -- a sort of Philip Jose Farmer Writes the Martian Manhunter.
KAIJUMAX VOL 1 (TPB)
Writer/Art/Cover: ZANDER CANNON
$9.99
THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE! On a remote island in the South Pacific lies KAIJUMAX, a maximum security prison for giant monsters. Follow doting father Electrogor as he stands up to the cruel space-superhero warden! See corrupt guard Gupta manage his illicit uranium-dealing empire and pay off his gambling debts to the Queen of the Moon! Watch Mecha-Zon battle his own programming when the monster he was created to destroy shows up on the pound! These stories and more will assault you from every angle in the cesspool of corruption that is KAIJUMAX!
First issue of the graphic novel alert!
I actually read a couple of the issues. It's about kaiju in prison -- Monster Island meets Ryker's Island. It didn't do anything for me, but kaiju fans will probably get a bang out of it.
Publisher: BOOM! STUDIOS
Writer: BEN HAGGARTY
Art/Cover: ADAM BROCKBANK
$24.99
What's to Love: Mezolith is an award-winning British graphic novel that we are excited to publish for the first time in the U.S. because, simply put, it's a captivating, coming-of-age story with lush, gorgeous art! Writer Ben Haggarty is a renowned performance storyteller, having been appointed Honorary Professor of Storytelling at the Arts University of Berlin, and illustrator Adam Brockbank is a storyboard and concept artist who has worked on the Captain America, Spider-Man and Harry Potter films. The pair has collaborated to produce one of the best-looking books you'll see all year.
What It Is: 10,000 years ago, the Kansa tribe live on the eastern shores of Stone Age Britain, where danger is never far away. Each season brings new adventures, each hunt has its risks, and each grim encounter with the neighboring tribe is fraught with threat. Poika, a boy on the verge of manhood, must trust the wisdom of his elders and endure life's rites of passage as he finds his place in the tribe.
http://adambrockbank.com/mezolith
First issue alert!
This sort of looks like Anthro but with much better art. And I mean MUCH better art. The preview (follow the link) doesn't give me enough to story to judge the story, but the art is so good it's probably worth the $25 gamble.
Publisher: SUPER GENIUS
Writers: NEIL GAIMAN, JAMES VANCE
Art/Cover: TED SLAMPYYAK
TPB $19.99 / HC $24.99
From the mind of New York Times-bestselling author Neil Gaiman comes Mr. Hero! Created by the villainous Henry Phage (aka Teknophage) as a sleeper agent, steampunk robot Mr. Hero is the toast of the late 19th century carnival scene. But when an accident during a boxing match causes him to seriously harm a patron, he's boxed up and forgotten. Rediscovered 100 years later by a young street magician, Mr. Hero struggles to overcome his original programming and become the hero his new friend (and the world) needs. This new volume (the first of a two-volume set) will collect all of the classic Mr. Hero comics for the first time anywhere. Available in softcover and hardcover editions.
I'm a huge Gaiman fan, but even I have to admit this was one of his weaker efforts (and pre-Sandman, I believe). It's about a Steampunk robot that something of a Pinocchio story, and ties in with the other Gaiman titles at Tekno Comics, Teknophage and Wheel of Worlds.
Publisher: KODANSHA COMICS
Writer/Art/Cover: SOU TOBITA
$10.99
A crossover manga featuring characters from Persona 3, the best-selling game that has won acclaim at the top of numerous RPG of the year lists. The gang from the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad are back in a new adventure that ties into the new 3DS game, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth. Side: P3 focuses on characters from Persona 3, including class-clown Junpei Iori, the cyborg Aigis, canine-companion Koromaru, and more, as they wander through an Alice in Wonderland-themed labyrinth. Along the way they battle shadows and other foes with their personas as they try to find their way out of the treacherous maze and back to Gekkoukan High School.
Given how promiscuously manga picks up concepts from other cultures and re-invents them, a crossover manga based on video games could get very weird very quickly!
PRE-CODE CLASSICS: WEB OF EVIL VOL 3
Writers/Art: Various
SLIPCASE EDITION: 125 copies in full colour slipcase, £44.99/$69.99
BOOKSHOP EDITION: 1,875 bookshop copies available, £36.99/$59.99
As we already mentioned elsewhere, this title has the lot … including persuasive evidence that animated corpses (that’s zombies to you, fella) used to be gray and had see-through rib-cages. Just shows you how far medical science has come in the almost sixty intervening years. They’re all good, these books we’re bringing out (bringing out? Heck, we’re unleashing ‘em!) but this one may well be the gerkin on the burger.
Due to be published for December 2015, Volume Three features issues 15-21 from June 1954 – December 1954. Featured artists include Charles Culdera, Jack Cole, Leo Morey, Charles Nicholas, Bob McCarty and John Forte.
Weirdly, I already got this from Amazon earlier in the month.
SNOWPIERCER VOL 3: TERMINUS (HC)
Writer: OLIVIER BOCQUET
Artist: JEAN-MARC ROCHETTE
232 pages / Mature / $29.99
Titan Comics is thrilled to announce the publication of Snowpiercer 3: Terminus, the gripping third installment in the New York Times best-selling Snowpiercer series from award-winning writer Olivier Bocquet and the artist Jean-Marc Rochette.
Fans eager to immerse themselves further in the critically acclaimed series after the release of the movie adaptation of Snowpiercer 1: The Escape, starring Captain America’s Chris Evans, will embrace a return to the frozen, dystopian Earth.
The Icebreaker has finally stopped its endless loop around the world. The last known survivors of the human race are driven by the need to know: Could it be that they aren’t really alone in the world? Is there finally hope?
I know when a proparty sells well sequels are inevitable, but I like to pretend Snowpiercer ended with the first volume. Its moral lesson is stark, unmissable and unpitying that way, just the way I like it.
VAMPBLADE #2
Art: WINSTON YOUNG
Cover: WINSTON YOUNG
“Goo” incentive variant cover (limited to 1,500): WINSTON YOUNG
Artist variant cover (limited to 1,500): BILL MCKAY
“Booty” variant cover (limited to 1,500): ANDREW PEPOY
“Homage” variant cover (limited to 1,500): PAVEL BALABANOV
“ '90s Cheesecake” Risque variant cover (limited to 2,000): ANDREW MANGUM
32 pgs./ M / FC / $3.99 (reg.) / $4.99 (Var.)
After transforming into the Vampblade and having her first encounter with the disgusting other-dimensional “space vampires”, Katie Karver winds up in the hospital. But now that she’s connected to the mystical blades there’s no place to hide from the vile otherworldly parasites that are drawn to them. Time to check out and kick ass!
Vampblade is done in much the same way Zombie Tramp is, but this is an actual superhero tale, not a black comedy. Well, mostly.
WILL EISNER'S THE SPIRIT #8
Art: DAN SCHKADE
Colorist: BRENNAN WAGNER
Cover A: ERIC POWELL
32 pages / Teen + / $3.99
The Spirit and his comrades continue their search to uncover the secrets of the mysterious and deadly Mikado Vaas. Our blue-masked hero's quest brings him into contact with an equally secretive and capable character from his past as well as a fellow (and rather unexpected) crusader for justice on the Central City streets. Weatherby Palmer's desire to unseat Commissioner Dolan runs into a certain immovable object... leading to a far more sinister resolve. Join Eisner Award-winner Matt Wagner and the stylish visual team of artist Dan Schkade and colorist Brennan Wagner for the latest installment in the ongoing adventures of one of comicdom's most iconic characters - Will Eisner's The Spirit!
"This is a fun and enjoyable book that continues to add more layers and depth with each issue." -- Adventures in Poor Taste
If Mikado Vaas turns out to be another Kaiser Soze, I will not be happy. In the meantime, it's good to see Denny Colt again.
The character has appeared several times before at long intervals, going back to 1996.
This caught my eye. Gilberton didn’t adapt Buchan’s novel. The title’s original British publisher, Thorpe & Porter, published some original issues, but this issue has apparently been added to the series by its current republisher, Classic Comic Store. Its website claims the issue was “first published October 2012 by Classic Comic Store”, but the interior images shown there are from a c.1950 adaptation by a short-lived American publisher, Seaboard Publishing / Famous Authors Illustrated. The GCD tells me it published the adaptation twice, in Fast Fiction and Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated. It can be read at Comic Book Plus. The artist was Jim Lavery.
John M. Burns is a veteran British comics creator. I noticed his name in the solicitation as he briefly drew Modesty Blaise. He did a 2006 mini for Marvel called Sable & Fortune. In recent years he's done original adaptations for another publisher (Classical Comics), but presumably he just did the cover for the present issue.
THE GINGERDEAD MAN #1
Points for the Breaking Bad pun, but otherwise I have little to add, never having seen the movie. (Nor will I ever. Gary Busey? Really?)
I don't think I've ever heard of these movies. The titles are a kick:
Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust (2008)
Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver (2011)
I recently revisited the Tom Orzechowski (?) series released on Kindle and loved them. Thinking I would love all things J"Onzz I nearly preordered this book.
Thanks to your musings it's off my wish list.
Honestly. Invaluable insight. Much appreciated.
Thankyou
Thanks, Richard!
Richard Mantle said:
About the Doubletake comics, I wonder if the weird flora and fauna of "Spring" #2 are intentional.
Also, Johnny and Barbara of "Rise" are brother and sister,not a romantic couple.
There are some good ideas in there, but the execution feels a bit too timid and slow to me.
I had forgotten that Johnny and his girl to brother and sister, as it surprised me -- I thought they were a couple in the movie. I haven't seen Night of the Living Dead in decades, but that's what I remember. I could have been wrong, though. If not, then that's another change the comics have made.
I had forgotten the strangeness of Spring, too, because my suspension of disbelief was marooned on the shoals of race blindness. I think I basically skimmed that book, finding it too preposterous. Maybe the oddities found therein suggest that this is, in fact, a parallel world that didn't suffer Jim Crow, or maybe that the people who aren't undead are affected to some degree anyway, like forgetting racial animus. Maybe what I think is a mistake is a plot point.
But as you say, things are moving along waaaay too slowly. And the way everyone seems to be very calm and matter of fact about the dead walking is both puzzling and a little boring.
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