MARVEL COMICS
ALIEN: PARADISO #1 (OF 5, $4.99) lets the xenomorphs loose on a luxury resort. Nice to know they don't just snack on working-class people.
“With Romulus taking the franchise back to its roots in many respects, I wanted to make sure we were offering readers a story they couldn’t find anywhere else,” writer Steve Foxe said. “Setting our tale on the sun-kissed shores of a high-end beach resort populated by underhanded criminals, undercover marshals and underpaid employees immediately spun us in a new direction. But as someone who considers Alien perhaps the most perfect film of all time, I hewed very close to the fundamentals of what I found so horrifying in the first place: a small group of people out of their depth, stalked by an unknowable threat in a contained location. Edgar [Salazar], Peter [Nguyen] and I are working to bring you the Alien you know, love and fear, but in a way you’ve never seen before. Pull up a beach chair and watch out for the acid splash.”
"8 Deaths of Spider-Man"
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #63 ($4.99): Spider-Man battles Cyrios, scion of Cytorrak, and given the name of this storyline, I'm assuming it won't go well.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #117 FACSIMILE EDITION (NEW PRINTING, $4.99): First appearance of The Falcon.
INCREDIBLE HULK #20 ($3.99): Guest-starring Werewolf by Night. I guess it really is a horror book now! Or comic book "horror," anyway.
INFINITY WATCH #1 ($4.99): If any of these created-for-the-annuals characters become as popular as a single one of the characters they're replacing -— i.e., the original Infinity Watch, characters which were created independently and organically — I will be astonished. But I won't know, because I won't be reading this. The Captain Comics axiom about the typical lameness of a bunch of characters created all at once would almost certainly apply. They don't even look original or interesting. One of them stole a Green Lantern outfit, which is just tacky.
LAURA KINNEY WOLVERINE #1 ($4.99): If I'm reading the PR right, Laura will be the X-Man sent on missions where the intent is assassination. And here I thought that's what Psylocke was for. Well, it won't be her first time as an assassin.
“We want to show you all different sides of Laura," teased writer Erica Schultz.
What, her cloned side, or her other cloned side?
"There will be laughing and crying,” she said.
And stabbing, I'm fairly certain.
“Laura has dealt with a lot, and when she’s met her other clones, she’s asked herself ‘Is that the person I’m supposed to be? Am I fated to be that person? Should I take my own path, or end up like Logan?’ She decides to forge her own path. This will be her solo adventure.”
PETPOOL POOL PARTY #1 ($6.99) will collect the adventures of Dogpool, Catpool, Mousepool and their Dogpool Team-Up Infinity Comic. As famed philosopher Jeff of Earth-J once said, "Sometimes it's embarrassing to be a comics fan."
ULTIMATE UNIVERSE: ONE YEAR IN #1 (ONE-SHOT, $5.99): Hey look! White Nick Fury is back! Since Marvel has spent the last couple of decades turning white Nick Fury into a villain, it would be nice to read a story about a white Nick Fury who was a good guy. Remember all the Sgt. Fury and Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. comics where he was a hero? I do, but it doesn't seem like Marvel does.
Although I'll bet a dollar this Fury won't be any better than our own. He's got a hand where the eagle was in the SHIELD logo, which doesn't bode well for his function in this universe. Also, this issue is told "from the bad guys' point of view" and Fury is front and central on the cover (in a nice Steranko-style image, I must say), so he's one of the bad guys being referenced. In fact. I suspect Fury was The Maker's chief enforcer.
“With ULTIMATE UNIVERSE: ONE YEAR IN," writer Deniz Camp said, "my goals were simple: Create an entryway for new readers into the Ultimate Universe; reward longtime readers, especially those who have wanted more connective tissue between the Ultimate books; AND set the stage for the next year of stories, as we build towards the return of the Maker. All this while telling a complete and satisfying one-issue story from the bad guys’ point of view! It's going to be dark, it's going to be kind of cruel, and, thanks to Jonas Scharf, it's going to be beautiful.”
This week in "Raid on Graymalkin"
UNCANNY X-MEN #7: Part two of the X-Men/Uncanny X-Men crossover. Evidently team leaders Cyclops and Rogue "find themselves at war." Because of course they do. Marvel's spent the last couple of decades turning Cyclops into a $%#@!! as well. At least nobody's punching him in the face on a cover this week.
YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #1 (OF 5, $4.99) is a prequel to the new animated series.
“I've had the privilege of writing a lot of Spider-Man's adventures, both in comics and in the Insomniac video games, but one thing I've never gotten the chance to do is recount his earliest exploits,” writer Christos Gage said. “And the exciting part about this book is it's a brand new take on those formative times. While this is definitely Peter Parker, the Spidey we know and love, he's got a new cast of supporting characters — including Nico Minoru, who you may know from Runaways — and some surprising twists!”
DC COMICS
BATMAN: DARK PATTERNS #1 (OF 12, $4.99) presents four self-contained mysteries from Batman's early days. I think Batman works best as a weird detective pulp hero (like The Shadow), more than a superhero. A non-powered guy like him would need a large degree of mystery just to survive. I like stories where he's a terrifying urban legend to criminals ("You know what they say. They say he can't be killed. They say he drinks blood.") and this might fit the bill.
“I love the strangeness of Batman. A man dressed as a huge, gothic bat, solving crimes in a hostile city of black magicians, mad scientists, and superstitious, cowardly criminals. I’ve always wanted to write a series of mystery stories that would home in on that aspect of the character — a dweller in the shadows of Gotham’s towering, dilapidated spires,” said writer Dan Watters. “After watching The Batman, this desire was reaffirmed. Batman: Dark Patterns explores the pulpiest part of the Dark Knight's rich history and gives readers an entirely new perspective on the early years of DC’s Dark Detective.
“Each case is born from Gotham and its people adapting to the horrors they’ve been subjected to over recent and not so recent years — from Joker poisoning the water supply to the Falcone gang war. The criminals are superstitious and cowardly … but how could the whole city not be superstitious and afraid?” continued Watters. “And Batman’s role as a wounded healer shrouded in urban myth, who seeks to give hope to the hopeless.”
DC FINEST EVENTS: ZERO HOUR PART 1 (OF 2) TP ($39.99) collects Superman #93, The Flash #94, L.E.G.I.O.N. #70, Green Lantern #55, Superman: The Man of Steel #37, Team Titans #24, Darkstars #24, Valor #23, Batman #511, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #31, Detective Comics #678, Legionnaires #18, Hawkman #13, Showcase '94 #8-9, Steel #8, Superboy #8, Outsiders #11 and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #3-4.
As a loyal fan, I made a good-faith effort to get on board with the new continuity after Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986. But it was clear early on that DC had no plan — they burned it all down with Crisis and said, "Now what do we do?" The constant stopgaps, revisions, pocket universes, reversals and so on had left me pretty frustrated by the time Zero Hour came along, another all-hands-on-deck revision.
Crisis pulled the rug out from under my feet after more than 20 years, and I grew increasingly bitter as everything Crisis destroyed came back -- only more convoluted and less fun. The Legion wasn't a superhero team 1,000 years in the future, they were inhabitants of a pocket dimension created by a supervillain to explain all those Superboy and Legion stories from 1945 to 1985 (I have forgotten the in-story reason), since Superboy no longer existed. Supergirl wasn't Superman's cousin, she was an animated blob of protoplasm from a destroyed alternate universe that had super-powers that resembled Superman's but weren't really. The immortal Wonder Woman hadn't been in the JSA and a founder of the JLA, it was a time-traveling (?) Hippolyta in the JSA and Black Canary's daughter in the JLA (which wasn't really a good fit, but we were expected to roll with it). Wonder Woman didn't come in 1941 because Man's World was in a crisis due to World War II; she came in 1987 because that's when George Perez started writing and drawing her (again, I don't remember the in-story reason). Power Girl wasn't the Supergirl of Earth-Two, she was some sort of magic-based character whose super-powers resembled Superman's but weren't really. And Hawkman wasn't a cop from another planet, he was ... lordie, it got so complicated that I can't even explain it.
I say all this to explain why I didn't enjoy Zero Hour as much as some other fans did. For many, I think Crisis was a jumping-on point, and Zero Hour was a fun crossover with all the new continuity (including a villain-ized Hal Jordan), while trying to smooth out some remaining wrinkles. For me, it was a Band-Aid on an arterial wound. If I hadn't lost interest in DC's continuity by 1994, Zero Hour finished the job.
YMMV, of course!
DC FINEST: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES -- ZAP GOES THE LEGION TP ($39.99) collects Action Comics #378-387 and #389-392, Adventure Comics #374-380 and #403, and Superboy #172-173, #176, #183-184, #188, #190-191, #193, #195 and #197-203.
This book is a comprehensive collection of the Legion of Super-Heroes from Nov 68 to Jul-Aug 74. And what a long, strange trip it was.
I loved the Legion — born the same year I was — from the moment I discovered them (probably Adventure #305 in 1963). But they faded toward the end of their Adventure Comics run, which ended with issue #380 (May 69). By then the art was by Win Mortimer and Jack Abel, a serious comedown from the peak years of Curt Swan and George Klein. The feature moved to the back of Action Comics, first with a reprint (#377, Jun 69) then a "Tales of the Legion" series off and on through Action #392 (Sep 70). These were slight tales, sometimes by E. Nelson Bridwell, usually spotlighting one of the lesser Legionnaires doing something pedestrian. There was one story where Duo Damsel thought her duplicate had developed a separate personality. (She hadn't.) There was another where Chameleon Boy turned himself into a handsome white dude to woo a girl who found his Durlan form repulsive. (He learns a valuable Life Lesson.) There was another where Matter-Eater Lad taught Duplicate Boy how to treat Shrinking Violet like a lady when on a date. (Because it may be the 30th century, but the patriarchy is eternal.)
Boy, did I miss the heady days of Mordru and the Fatal Five! Given the bland Mortimer/Abel art, I pretty much erased these stories from my mental hard drive.
The Legion disappeared for about a year, and who could blame the Li'l Capn if he thought it was gone for good? But lo, it reappeared in Superboy #172 (Mar 71). It wasn't anything to write home about, as it was still by Bridwell, now with bland George Tuska art. This go-round the stories were slightly less "After-School Special," but the series still didn't set the world on fire, being replaced by reprints for a year or so.
But somewhere in there — well, it was Superboy #188 (Jul 72) — a new story slipped in among the reprints, with a new creative team. "Curse of the Blood Crystals" was by relative newcomers Cary Bates and Dave Cockrum, and it was ... good? Yes! Yes, it was good! Better yet, these guys started appearing more and more frequently, and I began to anticipate Superboy like I did the best Marvel books. The Legion feature grew in depth, Cockrum re-designed or updated many of the costumes, and finally — with Superboy #197 (Sep 73) — the Legion became a regular feature, and took the cover spot from Superboy. It even said "Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes" right there in the logo! (It didn't become official in the indicia until issue #231 in 1977.) The Legion had finally become A-list, baby!
Well, until 1986. Don't get me started!
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS UNCOVERED ($5.99): Another book of nothing but covers.
GREEN LANTERN #59 FACSIMILE EDITION ($5.99): First appearance of Guy Gardner.
SUPERWOMAN SPECIAL #1 (ONE-SHOT, $5.99): Joshua Williamson finally tells us how Lois Lane got super-powers. "Guest starring the Atom, Mister Terrific, Supergirl and Silver Banshee!"
IMAGE COMICS
3D ANOMALY VOL 1 TP ($39.99) collects Captain Wonder, The Marked, Sonata, Hellcop and Faster Than Light 3D comics.
CREEPSHOW 2024 HOLIDAY SPECIAL (ONE-SHOT, $3.99): I've really begun to enjoy the new trend toward horror anthologies. They're generally quick reads, sometimes with top-flight creators, often with unexpected and clever twists. And no prior continuity knowledge is needed!
"Auld Lang Syne" is written by Tini and Blake Howard. But the real star is artist Stevan Subic, whose lush illustration bring to mind the greats of the '70s B&W horror magazines. The story is set at a party in 1899 London, hosted by one of those rich English guys who would loot ancient Egyptian artifacts for their personal collection. This gives Subic an opportunity to not only depict late 19th century London, but also stuff from 3,000 BCE Egypt. A strange feast is involved, but the story is a feast for the reader's eyes.
"Late Night Terry Reno" is less satisfying, being pretty much average. It involves a late-night comedian's Christmas special, set probably in the '80s or so, the comedian being a cruel tyrant and visually a cross between David Letterman and Jay Leno. It involves a ventriloquist dummy, and if you've read any '50s horror comics at all, you have a pretty good idea where that's gonna go.
"We proudly present a holiday special of petrifying proportions with two terrifying tales! First, A New Year’s Eve party gets fiendish as Tini Howard (Catwoman), Blake Howard (Punchline) and Stevan Subic (The Riddler: Year One) will have you crying for your mummy in the new year! Then, beloved comedian Terry Reno revisits a holiday classic, from the Petrol Head team of Rob Williams and Pye Parr, that quickly takes a shocking turn before a live studio audience! "
“The holidays wouldn’t be the same without a cheerful dose of horror, mayhem and cannibalism,” said creep and series editor Ben Abernathy. “Our annual Creepshow Holiday Special is a treat to be enjoyed with your loved ones.”
DREAD THE HALLS (ONE-SHOT, $5.99) is a Christmas-themed horror anthology by Image Comics and Syzygy Publishing, co-created and written by Jordan Hart (Ripple Effects, The Cabinet) and Chris Ryall (Zombies vs. Robots). As I said above, I'm generally enjoying these books. But as with all anthologies, some stories are great, some are mildy entertaining and some are clunkers.
Hart's "Dead Notes" falls into the latter category. It has an interesting and mysterious concept — demonic carolers — and has great art by Fabio Veras. In fact, Veras saves the day, going all out with great visuals and a dread-filled atmosphere. The story, however, feels unfinished. It has no real ending, and I'm not really sure what those carolers were. If it wasn't for the art, I'd be annoyed.
Ryall's "Gone Fishing" is decent. It features two kids who want to snag Santa Claus with a fishing hook in a cookie and get presents every day. They catch ... something. My only complaint is that the story spends too much time explaining how the not-Santa (and his helpers) came to be. Unnecessary. Do we need to know how the guy who leaves his hook on the car door got his hook? No, we do not. Sure, a little explanation is needful (see story above), but we don't need an origin story. Suffice to say that there are evil things in the world, and you shouldn't mess with them.
Hart's "Northerners" is a nice, self-contained story that's heart-warming, despite a horrible, flesh-eating monster and one of the two protagonists being kinda dead. Weirdly, the other one suffers injuries in an accident identical to ones I suffered in a car wreck in the mid-'80s. (How did they know that? Now I'm scared!) Walter Pax's art is sumptuous and '70s; it could run in B&W (and mostly does). It's my favorite story of the book.
The title of Hart's "Krampus Slayers" is pretty much the whole story. It's also hampered by the too-cartoony (for a horror book) art.
“The Victorians showed us horror pairs quite well with the holidays through their fireside ghost stories,” said Hart. “Dread the Halls honors this tradition with four festive tales of terror, each with individual narrative and visual styles. Chris and I wanted to make a stocking stuffer for any comic or horror fan. And thanks to mind-blowing covers, the issue doubles as a dreadful piece of holiday décor too.”
“Dread the Halls is our gift to everyone who might expect to see their name on Santa's Naughty List, although anyone on the ‘Nice List’ who like their holiday season to have some added spice is invited to partake, too,” said Ryall. “As a comic reader, I’ve always loved comic-book stories that fuse elements of Halloween and Christmas together in sweet and scary ways, and that’s what we set out to do here as well."
DOLL PARTS: A LOVESICK TALE #1 (OF 4, $3.99): I haven't read Lovesick, but apparently there's a major character named Domino the Dominatrix. This is her origin story, by Luana Vecchio, the creator of Lovesick. NIIS, described as a "popular punk band," contribute a related song and music video inspired by the series. "Directed by Meriel O’Connell and starring NIIS lead singer Mimi Doe, the music video for “Lovesick” features Doe as a seductive yet terrifying dominatrix, alluding to Mother Demon Domino, luring in her prey."
"One of the things I love most about art is how creating it inspires others to create more,” said Vecchio. “It’s incredibly beautiful and, in a way, so romantic. That’s exactly what I thought when Mimi sent me the demo of Lovesick. I was amazed that someone on the other side of the world could create something that captured the essence of my work so perfectly. NIIS’ 'Lovesick' is bold and addictive, just like the world of my comic.
"As I listened, I could imagine each scene vividly coming to life. When I wrote Domino, I envisioned her as a natural performer who loves to dance and sing; I had a clear sense of her voice, sweet like a mother’s yet sharp as a demon’s. I’m almost spooked by how perfectly Mimi captured her, as if she read my mind. I was blown away by the quality of NIIS’ music video. Everything is so perfectly done! I love how the visuals echo Lovesick’s style while the band still told their own story. Hats off to everyone involved — I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched it!"
“When we were writing the song 'Lovesick,’ my guitarist started kicking around a dark riff,” said Doe. “I hadn't found the words to put on it yet. Actually, I wasn't really feeling inspired until that night. I was laying in bed with my boyfriend and he asked if I wanted to read together. He pulled out Lovesick and I immediately was awestruck. I couldn't get enough of Domino. She was so beautiful, strong, scary, and so fragile at the same time. Domino's character conveyed so much power to her audience, and the fragility and incompleteness spoke to me so much. I kept getting lost in her character amongst everything else going on in the comic. ‘I would never let you shatter me’ continues throughout the song because I truly feel as if no one could shatter Domino, except maybe herself.”
Continued Doe: “For the music video, Meriel O'Connell directed it and she was so amazing. I explained to her how much the comic meant to me and how I really wanted to incorporate Domino's character into the story. She really went above and beyond, and took it and ran. I’m grateful I got to live in a world where I was my version of Domino for a second. I just can't wait for Luana's next chapter.”
Added Vecchio about the upcoming Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale miniseries: “Since Lovesick was released, both Domino and I have received so much love. This support inspired me to write Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale, the prequel that tells Domino’s teenage story. I feel that female adolescence isn’t explored enough — at least, not in the way I’d like. Growing up as a girl can truly be a terrifying experience: getting unwanted attention, dealing with a changing body, and discovering love and sexuality. For some of us, these can be real-life horror experiences. That’s why I’m so proud of this prequel; I feel I’ve told this story with the freedom, honesty, and sensitivity it deserves. I love how, with Image Comics, I truly feel free to express both my creativity and my worldview, finally bringing a female experience to comics that is still too rarely explored."
Image was apparently so excited they sent me two previews. I don't know what order they run in, but here they are (plus covers and a polyptych cover).
TRANSFORMERS #15 ($3.99): There is yellow type on blue captions in the preview below. Nobody over the age of 40 would OK that.
DARK HORSE
FROM THE WORLD OF MINOR THREATS: BROOD #1 ($4.99) is written by screenwriter and comic author Heath Corson (Animal Kingdom, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe) and illustrated by I.N.J Culbard (Tales from the Umbrella Academy: You Look Like Death, Salamandre).
I've never read a Minor Threats book, so I gave this first issue a try. It's told from the point of view of a Luthor-type villain (Napoleon Archimedes) who fears he is dying, and goes to a Brainiac-type villain (Intellectus) to get diagnosed. His biggest fear is his legacy, as none of his three super-villain children seem up to the job of creating a dynasty -- or continuing his war with The Searcher, the superhero of Meteor Falls. (A female superhero, always referred to with female pronouns, who sometimes appears male in flashback. I assume this will be explained.) We get to see the three adult children (two males and a female) at home and learn some about them. It's Succession by way of Mort Weisinger.
It's good for what it is, but superhero pastiches are a dime a dozen, and you're probably not going to beat Alan Moore's Supreme or 1963. I'll give it another issue, primarily because I want The Searcher's gender-bending explained.
“The two major influences were Succession and then Wes Anderson's Royal Tenenbaums, which you can very much see in Ian's art and color palette,” said Corson. “The idea came when I was watching the film and thinking: What if this was the continuing story of Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor? What if he married Ms. Teschmacher, had three children, and tried to raise them in the family business? So, Napleon's brood was always his big idea: Have a dynasty. Eventually, you'll outlive the heroes ... AND WIN.”
MORE COMICS
BETTY & VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #330 (Archie, $9.99)
Here's a complete story:
BIG GUNS STUPID REDNECKS #2 (OF 3, Band of Bards, $4.99)
BLACK WHITE & BLOODSHOT #4 (OF 4, Valiant, MR, $4.99): More of the Valiant revival.
IN BLOOM #1 (OF 5, BOOM, $4.99): "When the BLOOM finally happened, humanity was changed forever, transformed by the symbiotic fungal megasystems that infected their bodies." Well, somebody's been playing a lot of The Last of Us! Here's a PREVIEW.
CITY BENEATH HER FEET #1 (DSTLRY, MR, $8.99) is described as "a love letter to New York City" (which I've heard before) and "an action/thriller love story for a new generation" (that means "gay"). So a woman has a brief but torrid affair, and years later finds out her former paramour listed her as the emergency contact. So she sets out to investigate her former lover's life (turns out she was an assassin) and find out what happened to her. Sounds interesing, and the B&W art below looks nice.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN #17 (Titan, MR, $3.99)
DISNEY COMICS AROUND THE WORLD IN ONE HUNDRED YEARS HC (Fantagraphics, $100.00) is just what the title implies, a collection of Disney stories from various countries from the last 100 years. Here's a PREVIEW.
DYED HARD #1 (OF 3, Keenspot, $5.99): The Easter Bunny as an ultra-violent action hero. Bleah. Is nothing sacred? Also, it feels like they should have held this until March. I like the punny title, tho.
EC SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES #1 (Oni Press, 56 pages, $7.99): Announced creators are Jason Aaron, Ben H. Winters, Kano and Peter Krause. Is that third cover an homage to an actual EC cover, like maybe an issue of MAD, or just an homage to the trade dress?
GRIMM TALES OF TERROR 2024 HOLIDAY SPECIAL (Zenescope, $6.99): Call me a cynic, but I don't think that outfit is designed to keep the girl warm.
HAPPYLAND VOL 1 GN (Ablaze, $12.99): Evil amusement parks are sure trendy these days.
HARVEY KURTZMAN'S MARLEY'S GHOST GN (Ablaze, $19.99) is a posthumous completion of the legendary Harvey Kurtzman's adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, using Kurtzman's breakdowns. The writers are Josh O'Neill (editor of Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream) and Shannon Wheeler (creator of Too Much Coffee Man) and the artist is illustrator/animator Gideon Kendall (Disney, Cartoon Network, The New York Times).
I'm usually not thrilled with posthumous "collaboration," but you can see Kurtzman in the layouts of the preview below. (The finish is modern, though, and probably should be.) I'm tempted, because when was the last time I read something "new" by Harvey Kurtzman?
HEAT SEEKER: COMBUSTION -- A GUN HONEY SERIES #2 (Titan, MR, $3.99): "Perhaps if I allow my bodacious ta-tas to fly free, it will distract them long enough for me to escape," says nobody in this book, but someone probably should.
As discussed elsewhere, these are pretty good crime noir stories, where I find the frequent nudity more distracting than, ah, tittilating. I'm sure I'd feel differently if I were, say, 15 years old. Teenage me wouldn't be reading this for the story.
HOLIDAY SPECIAL: THROUGH THE BOUGHS #1 (ONE-SHOT, DSTLRY, 64 pages, $9.99): I feel obliged to at least mention holiday one-shots, even if I have no review copies or previews. I don't expect to actually see any of these small-press books in my lifetime.
This one features James Tynion IV (Something Is Killing the Children), Patrick McHale (Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, Over the Garden Wall), Jim Campbell (Over the Garden Wall), Jensine Eckwall (Into the Goblin Market), Ryan Andrews (This Was Our Pact), Sweeney Boo (Harley Quinn), K. Wroten (Eden II), Grim Wilkins (Mirenda), and Molly Mendoza (Stray).
LIFE IS STRANGE: FORGET ME NOT TP (Titan, MR, $17.99)
LIFE SUCKS TP (Fantagraphics, $19.99): I remember this one! I had to look it up, but it came out in 2008. I must have read it then, because I remember the Warren Pleece art. (Well, I remember not liking it.) It's about a vampire who is the night clerk of a 24/7 convenience store, who gets into a romantic competition when he meets beautfiul-human-flirting-with-the-dark-side Rosa, who draws the attention of a much-more-successful vampire. I don't remember how it ends, so maybe I just read the first issue. Apparently even then I was a sucker for a punny title. Here's a PREVIEW.
NEXUS NEWSPAPER STRIPS: BATTLE FOR THUNEWORLD TP (Rude Dude Productions, $29.99): Comic-strip collectors' alert! Sort of!
PARLIAMENT OF ROOKS #1 (Ablaze, MR, $4.99) is a Gothic horror story originally published digitally by ComiXology. Looks very Poe-ish. Here's a PREVIEW.
PERSEPHONE TP/HC (BOOM, $17.99/$24.99): There's been a rash of GNs based on the classic Greek myth in the last few years, and here's another one. This is an updated version, with a modern girl who's the daughter of stage magician Demeter, who ends going into the Underworld to find out who and what she is. I'm an old-fashioned guy when it comes to classic myths, so I prefer the original story. But decide for yourself with this PREVIEW.
PROMETHEUS IN CHAINS VOL 1 TP (Red 5 Comics, MR, $19.95): A rewrite of Bride of Frankenstein, set during the Manhattan Project. Victor Frankenstein's wife Elizabeth dies of radiation poisoning while both are working at Los Alamos during WWII, and he is desperate to bring her back. You know what happens next, right?
RICK AND MORTY PRESENTS: MAXIMUM CODA #1 (Oni Press, $5.99): Back to the well once again. Are all of Oni's Rick and Morty books one-shots?
SCARY CHRISTMAS V: KILLER CLAUS (American Mythology, $4.99): American Mythology's annual Christmas-themed horror anthology. Listed writers include James Kuhoric (Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash), Todd Livingston (Starring Sonya Devereaux) and G.O. Parsons (creator of Willy's Wonderland). Artists include Ev Cantada and Emanuele Tommarelli.
SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT VOL 1: NAUGHTY LIST TP/HC (American Mythology, $24.99/$49.99) collects Silent Night, Deadly Night #1-4 plus the Silent Night, Deadly Night Special, based on the 1984 movie of the same name.
TERMINATOR #3 (Dynamite, $4.99): I wish the art was better on this. I'm enjoying the story.
TOXIC AVENGER #3 (OF 5, Ahoy, MR, $3.99/$4.99): Here's the trading card included in the $4.99 version:
VALIANT UNIVERSE HERO ORIGINS: BRITANNIA TP (Valiant, $24.99): More of the Valiant revival.
VALKYRIE SAVIORS: KEY OF STORMS #3 (OF 3, Antarctic Press, $4.99): Another set of outfits not designed to keep girls warm. Of course, these are skyscaper-size, mythological girls, so maybe they don't even need clothes.
WARM FUSION #1 (DSTLRY, MR, $8.99) is by writer Scott Hoffman (Nostalgia, Wag) and artist Alberto Ponticelli (Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E., Goodnight Paradise, Orc Island) for "a sci-fi/horror mystery that pushes the limits of the grotesque" and "a dark, sci-fi thriller, mixing the body horror of David Cronenberg with the bleak urban future of Blade Runner." It's set in a near-future, dystopian New York City, where a mutant hooker and a cop team up to investigate a series of brothel murders. Spoiler: There's a Jekyll/Hyde mad scientist behind it all. That's a lot of genres in play.
Whatever the hooker's mutation is, it's not in evidence on these covers.
ZOO JITSU FIGHTERS #1 (OF 4, Icon Heroes, $15.00): Oh, please.
Replies
INFINITY WATCH #1: ...I won't be reading this.
I won't, either. I don't buy anything Infinity-related unless Jim starlin's name it attached (although it does look as thought he provided one of the alternate covers). Time was, I would have bought something like this just for the cover alone, but not at $5 a pop.
PETPOOL POOL PARTY #1 - "-gate," "-pool," -aholic"... all suffixes that could stand to be returned AFAIAC.
I think Crisis was a jumping-on point, and Zero Hour was a fun crossover with all the new continuity
That's a fair assessment.
"...and finally — with Superboy #197 (Sep 73) — the Legion became a regular feature, and took the cover spot from Superboy."
That was my very first "real time" (i.e., non-reprint) LSH story.
DREAD THE HALLS (ONE-SHOT) - You didn't mention it, so I will: one of the alternate covers is an homage to EC's Panic #1.
EC SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES #1 (Oni Press, 56 pages, $7.99): Is that third cover an homage to an actual EC cover, like maybe an issue of MAD, or just an homage to the trade dress?
Actually, it is also an homage to Panic #1. (Huh. It's been 70 years and now we get two in the same week!)
HARVEY KURTZMAN'S MARLEY'S GHOST GN - I do not remember seeing this solicited. I'll have to give it a look.
I'm tempted, because when was the last time I read something "new" by Harvey Kurtzman?
1993. ;P
[Superboy #197] was my very first "real time" (i.e., non-reprint) LSH story.
Lucky you, starting with Bates/Cockrum! You didn’t have to endure all those years in the wilderness.
It is also an homage to Panic #1. (Huh. It's been 70 years and now we get two in the same week!)
Ha, I didn’t even notice there were two! Every time I saw one, I thought it was the same one, if I thought about it at all.
I read "Curse of the Blood Crystals" in a b/w Tempo Books Legion paperback I got from my school's book fair. It took years before I ever read it in color, and not broken down panel-by-panel to fit onto the pocket-book size pages.
I'm really looking forward to the Legion volume -- I'll probably skip the first third or so, as I just re-read those stories in the Silver Age Omnibus v3, but those Superboy stories are where it's at!
They're, like, outta sight!