Posts Tagged ‘ Image ’

I meant to post this yesterday but time got away from me (stupid day job) so I didn’t get a chance. I did post about this week’s DC #1s yesterday but here’s the rest of the publishers…

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9 #1 – I was hugely disappointed with Season 8 and it’s ‘hey we don’t have a budget, let’s throw in everything’ plot, not to mention the way it incorporated Angel and Spike into it – but hey, it’s Buffy. Chances are I’ll check this out for an issue or two before switching to trades (or possibly digital). I picked up Angel & Faith last week, and that was a pleasant surprise – mainly due to Christos Gage’s strong writing, I think.

Witch Doctor #3 (of 4) – Still a good little book, but I don’t yet see a through-line for the mini. Enjoyable, though.

Amazing Spider-Man #669 – I’m really enjoying Spider-Island and particularly the fact that Peter’s becoming a hero without his mask. I hope that the main baddie behind this isn’t the Queen from Paul Jenkin’s Spectacular Spider-Man arc that tied into Avengers Disassembled and gave Peter his organic web-shooters – it would make sense, but I’d rather forget that story on account of it being terrible. There’s also something interesting going on with Mary Jane – it looks like she’s regretting leaving Peter, and Carlie seems to be getting more than a little cocky with her new powers. Pride cometh…

Daredevil #3 – Closing up the first arc; I’ll be honest, as much as I’m enjoying Waid’s take on Matt I think this is it for me. It’ll play well in trades so I think I’ll switch to them like most of my Marvel stuff these days.

Evolutionary War Omnibus HC – Why, Marvel? Why would you reprint perhaps one of the worst, most convoluted crossovers you ever put out in this format?

Spider-Island The Amazing Spider-Girl #2 (Of 3) – Eh, I think I’m on record as not loving Paul Tobin’s Spider-Girl but liking the character. I’m picking it up but out of habit, nothing else.

And the non-DC pick of the week…

Shinku #3 – Ron Marz and Lee Moder’s samurai vampire series so far has been bloody good (see what I did there?), and it’s my pick of the week. Early enough to hop on board.

I missed a few weeks of Pull Lists (or at least one, anyway) since I was on vacation, but I’m back now. Since this month the DCnU launches and I’m at least considering picking up every #1 to show support, IO’m going to be doing two pull lists a week for the next few – the non-DC one, and the DC one. The DC one is here. And now to the rest, such as they are…

Drums #4 (Of 4) – This has been a great, atmospheric series that I’m surprised I haven’t seen more chatter about. Good strong stuff, and I’d be happy to see more from the team here.

Spider-Island Avengers #1 (One Shot) – I may not be reading the Avengers books these days, but they don’t feature Frog Man. Frog Man, people.

Spider-Island I Love New York City #1 (One Shot) – I do enjoy anthology one-shots, and set around Spider-Island this is at least should be interesting.

It’d be a relatively small week if not for Flashpoint winding down – but there are a lot of trades out worth your time and (maybe) your money. I couldn’t be bothered listing the DC Retroactive titles just to say what I’ve been saying the last month; good idea, bad price point. Anyway…

Flashpoint Minis: Abin Sur The Green Lantern, Legion Of Doom, The Outsider, Wonder Woman And The Furies – All #3 (Of 3) – Once again, some are better than others. I haven’t taken to Abin Sur or The Outsider (although he’s an interesting enough villain and one I hope carries over to the DCnU), but Wonder Woman – coupled with Emperor Aquaman – has been very enjoyable in fleshing out the last few years of war in the Flashpoint world, even if 14 years seems an awfully long engagement. Legion of Doom, though, has been an unnecessarily violent book with almost no redeeming qualities, with last issue featuring the death of two heroes, one by curb-stomp and one by head squish. And I’ve enjoyed the hell out of it.

Secret Society Of Super-Villains HC – One of those books I’ve always wanted to read, but I’m not sure I’ve always wanted to read it at $40 retail. Even so, this includes the entire series and a bunch of other stories and crossovers, so it may be worth it.

Superboy #11 – I recall being excited with this series when it was announced, disappointed when it debuted, and then vaguely guilty when I dropped it. Last week I read the last three or four issues of the book and although I quite like the story being woven with the Hollow Men, Superboy is absolutely the worst character to do it with. It’s not helped by the fact that the majority of his supporting cast are plain unlikeable or simply boring. It’s times like this I miss Tana Moon and Hawaii…

Supergirl #67 – Oops, missed last issue. Even so, I enjoyed most of the first part of this final guest arc and from the looks of the DCnU this will be the last we see of a Supergirl with a sunny disposition for a while…

Halcyon TP – I think this was overlooked when it came out, but Marc Guggenheim and co crafted a pretty good story about what happens to superheroes when violence just stops – and what happens to a hero who doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Some strong stuff here, and enough to make me want to see more. Recommended.

Invincible Compendium Volume 1 TP – Holy bejeebus,the first 47 issues of Invincible in one collection? As someone with the first two HC I’m a bit miffed that this works out $6 cheaper than buying the next two HC volumes that make up the contents (at Amazon prices) so I have a decision to make. Highly, highly recommended if you haven’t read Invincible before but like superhero comics.

Daredevil #2 – I really enjoyed the new optimistic take on Matt Murdock in the first issue, but I may skip onto trades. Or I may not – it’s really that enjoyable…

Fantastic Four By Mark Waid And Mike Wieringo Ultimate Collection Volume 2 TP – Look, it was my third favorite run on the FF for a reason, okay? Pick it up if you haven’t read it already.

Spider-Island The Amazing Spider-Girl #1 (Of 3) – As much as I thought the previous Spider-Girl series was a missed opportunity and a mish-mash of tone, I’m looking forward to this. Once it’s done I hope Anya is left in a position where she can be picked up and used by a different writer though.

Venom #6 – Spider-Island hits the book. I go back and forth on this one, in spite of generally enjoying a lot of what Remender is doing. I’m not sure if it’s because I automatically view Flash Thompson as a supporting character or something else, but there’s something that isn’t quite clicking – I just can’t put my finger on it.

And my pick of the week…

Avengers Academy #18 – My one concession to Fear Itself and as always the book hasn’t disappointed. The kids are being put through their paces, with at least one seemingly slipping towards the dark side with their actions during the ‘war’. The book continues to be one of the best team books on the market, and worth reading regardless of what other Marvels you pick up.

London may be burning (and other parts of the UK) but that won’t affect comics in the US, so I figured I should do a quick list…

Batgirl #24 – Ah, Steph, we hardly knew ye. Probably the casualty of the DC not-a-reboot that hurts most.

Booster Gold #47 – I’m so impressed Booster lasted this long in his own book, and looking forward to the not-a-reboot JLI.

DC Retroactive The ’80s – Green Lantern, Justice League Of America, Superman – All #1 (One Shots) – Same as usual, good idea, bad price point.

Flashpoint minis – Citizen Cold, Deadman And The Flying Graysons, Emperor Aquaman, Frankenstein And The Creatures Of The Unknown – All #3 (Of 3) – Again, same as usual, these have been a pleasant surprise.

Red Robin #26 – Next to Batgirl, I’m going to miss this most. Having Tim Drake being on top of his game the past few years has been great; I’m not convinced (although I’m willing to be proved wrong) that nu-Tim will be quite as experienced.

Showcase Presents The Trial Of The Flash TP – I’ve heard so many bad things about how dull and stretched-out about this I’m almost compelled to pick it up. I’m full of self-loathing.

Teen Titans #99 – Speaking of self-loathing, I’m here to the bitter end. Last issue was a slight improvement on recent arcs, to be fair, but I’m not holding my breath for a great ending to the series.

Blue Estate #5 – I think I’m done. My love of the covers can only stretch so far – and I’ve more or less had my fill of the tenuously linked plotlines here. If it was a mini I’d probably stay to the end, but I think this is an ongoing.

Amazing Spider-Man By David Michelinie And Todd McFarlane Omnibus HC – If I had some money to burn, I’d be all over this. A great collection of stories here. McFarlane was never better than when he worked on Spidey with Michelinie, for my money.

Spider-Island Cloak And Dagger #1 (Of 3) – As a hopeless Cloak and Dagger fan, I’m more than pleased about this. As someone a bit burned on Morning Glories, I’m a little bit nervous, though.

Spider-Island Deadly Foes #1 (One Shot) – Wait, I forget what this is about. Hobgoblin and someone else, right? Eh, I’ll take a look. And then I’ll pick it up.

Spider-Man The Fantastic Spider-Man HC – Thought this came out last week. My mistake!

X-Men X-Tinction Agenda HC - Another one that I’d pick up if I had some spare cash lying around. A good crossover, contained with no spin-offs, from back when the X-Men were feared and hated. Also, this is one that actually had a lot of ramifications in the books. Good stuff.

Pick of the week…

Amazing Spider-Man #667 – Spider-Island really kicks off this week, and I can’t wait. The first Marvel event I’ve bought in a couple of years. Also, I really dig Spider-Woman in the Ben Reilly sweatshirt in the cover above. That’s probably some kind of subconscious thing I shouldn’t think about too deeply…

I didn’t get to the store last week and I’m probably not going to get there this week either – but when I finally get there…

Action Comics #903 – In spite of being hugely disappointed by Paul Cornell’s Lex Luthor arc, I decided to pick up the last few issues of his run as they’re the last few of this volume of Action and part of me hopes that there’ll be one last Lois and Clark scene. That said, this story is a mess.

DC Comics Presents SHAZAM #1 – It’s a crime against comics that Jerry Ordway and Peter Krause’s Power of SHAZAM! series remain mostly uncollected, so ‘ll be picking up this arc from towards the end of the series (#38-41) in the hope that it nudges DC to a couple of nice big hardcovers.

DC Retroactive The ’70s One Shots – Green Lantern, Justice League Of America, Superman – Like last week’s Retroactives, I like the idea of these enough to check them out in the $1 bins or in trade, but at $5 a pop I’ll pass.

Flashpoint Minis – Hal Jordan, Kid Flash Lost Starring Bart Allen, Lois Lane And The Resistance, Project Superman – All #2 (Of 3) – As I’ve said countless times, I’m really enjoying these books. There are some I’m enjoying more than others, but that’s always the way. As a whole, though, they’re painting such a comprehensive and interesting picture of the Flashpoint DCU that I’m kind of sorry that it’s going to be wiped clean by the DCnU. An Untold Tales of Flashpoint series of books, please!

Justice HC – I missed this when it was two trades, and didn’t want to shell out for an Absolute, but a single HC collecting all 12 issues? That sounds like a deal to me.

Teen Titans #98 – It’s almost painful to watch this once-great book in it’s current death throes (although I really liked JT Krul’s Blackest Night minis), but I. Can’t. Look. Away.

Skullkickers #9 – Consistently one of the most entertaining books on the stands. Highly recommended!

FF #7 – After last issue’s nigh-unreadable Black Bolt debacle, I am actually on the verge of kicking this to the curb once and for all. Just a terrible, terrible issue in a mediocre book. I know people hail Hickman as a great writer and plotter, and I certainly agree that he seems to plot way ahead of most writers but what he fails to do is make individual issues engaging. You should not be bored reading a comic.

Spider-Man Blue TP – If you only know writer Jeph Loeb from his more recent work, check out this collection of his second Marvel mini with the incredible Tim Sale. It’s a beautifully illustrated love letter to the Silver Age Spider-Man, and it’s one of the first books I double dipped on.

Spider-Man Fantastic Four TP – Really liked the Spider-Man/X-Men mini by the same team of Christos Gage and Mario Alberti. Both books take team-ups from different eras, and given the rich history of the FF and Spidey, this should be fun.

Spider-Man The Complete Ben Reilly Epic Volume 1 TP – And speaking of fun, there’s a lot to be had in this collection. Granted, the Clone Saga became bloated and repetitive, but there’s no denying that the first few months of Ben Reilly coming to terms with being Spider-Man were different from any Spider-Man we’d seen in years. It was fun to watch the former Peter Parker reconnect with heroes and villains, and build a new supporting cast and life. Unfortunately it was only five or six months before Peter and MJ were reintroduced and the writing was on the wall; but these issues at least seemed like a fresh new start. This collection focuses on Ben’s final adventures as the Scarlet Spider and his transformation into the new Spider-Man. And the New Warriors. Can’t go wrong there!

Venom #5 – While I’m generally enjoying this, it’s not quite clicking for me yet. Even so, the close ties to Spider-Man and the creative team will keep me on board at least until Spider Island is over. Which brings me to…

The Pick of the Week

Amazing Spider-Man #666 – After months of teases, Spider Island kicks off with Manhattanites developing Spider powers left, right and center. I like that at least part of the story will apparently deal with the fact that Peter no longer has a unique power, so does that mean he no longer has the responsibility – but obviously we know the answer to that is yes. In any case, I am looking forward to this one, even if I am slightly disappointed this issue number wasn’t used to have Spidey giving Mephisto a good kicking, just out of principal.

Better late than never. I know a lot of people are off to San Diego this week but that doesn’t mean that we mere mortals aren’t able to pick up some comics too…

DC Comics Presents The Metal Men #1 – I think this mainly reprints the Metal Men backups that ran in the recent Doom Patrol series, but I could be wrong. May be worth a look as I heard good things.

DC Retroactive: Batman The ’70s , The Flash The ’70s , Wonder Woman The ’70s – All #1 (One Shot) – I really like the idea of these, but I had more affinity for the 80s and 90s at DC. Also, I’ll probably just pick up the inevitable trade – or I could always raid the dollar bins at the next con.

Flashpoint minis: Deadman And The Flying Graysons #2 (Of 3), Legion Of Doom #2, The Outsider #2 (Of 3), Wonder Woman And The Furies – All #2 (Of 3) – WW aside, these feel like they need to stand on their own as they do very little other than flesh out the Flashpoint world. Outsider has an interesting new character that I’m not altogether sure of, but the first issue was strong enough (aw, Mr and Mrs Terrific) to warrant a second; Legion of Doom feels like we’ve been there before, but the final page of an ingenious break-in to prison by a character I haven’t seen in a while hooked me, and Deadman and Dick (okay, but that’s what it should be called) not only fleshes out Europe after the Atlantean attack but is also a pretty enjoyable book in its own right (also, the covers are beautiful). Wonder Woman was also good last issue, and I’m enjoying the WW/Aquaman dynamic in the new world. All in all, surprisingly good stuff.

Supergirl #66 – With all the alien-ness of the new Superfamily, I’m going to miss the wide-eyed teen take on the girl of steel for a while. It’s been fun – and this story, with her going undercover at college shows the potential in the book. Ah well.

Daredevil #1 – I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited by the prospect of a more swashbuckling DD than we’ve seen in the past decade or so – I was one (possibly the only one) who really enjoyed Karl Kesel and Joe Kelly’s runs as writers on the character the last time this was tried back in the mid-90s. Mark Waid and his two art teams would seem to be the perfect fit, too. That said…although I’ll pick this up, I may end up moving to trades quickly, simply because I seem to do that with almost all Marvels these days.

Incredible Hulks Planet Savage TP – I’ve been a massive fan of Greg Pak’s run on the green giant, but I switched to trades a few arcs back. This has been one I’ve been looking forward to for a while; I’ve grown attached to Skaar, and the Savage Land is probably my favorite non-NY locale in the Marvel Universe, and one the Hulk always seemed well-suited for.

Thor Black Galaxy Saga TP – If there’s one thing the DeFalco/Frenz team did on Thor in the late 80s/early 90s (a team that I’m a big fan of), it’s pay homage to the masters. This Thor arc – that originally ran as a biweekly summer story back in the summer of 1990 – has Thor (bonded with Eric Masterson, future Thunderstrike) on a space adventure with Hercules, running into the likes of the High Evolutionary and the Celestials. It wouldn’t feel out of place in the 60s; that said…your mileage may vary.

Thunderbolts Violent Rejection TP – I wasn’t 100% on Jeff Parker’s first Thunderbolts trade, but I’m a big enough fan of his writing that I’ll give him another shot. I do kind of miss the classic T-Bolts though; I know that some of the cast is here, but it’s not the same. Okay: old man whine over.

And the pick of the week…

Turf HC – I harped on and on about this when it was being released, but the series took so long to complete that it drained a lot of readers goodwill. Well, don’t miss this if you can spend some money on it – Jonathon Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards have mashed up gangsters, vampires and aliens in prohibition New York in a story that works on a lot of levels. I’m impressed by Ross’ debut – dialog is sharp, characters are real (well, as real as you can get for a gangster bonded with an alien, and a Vampire who wants to live in peace) the plot rolls along with a minimum of slow points, and the strands of story really come together. As for Edwards – I’ve never been a huge fan of his, if only because the books I’ve seen him on never felt they played to his strengths, but his work here is nothing short of fantastic; he really captures the dirtiness and desperation needed here. Five stars. If I gave stars.

Without further ado…

Lady Mechanika #2 – I enjoyed #0 and #1, but with what feels like at least a four or five month gap between #1 and #2, I think I’m past investing my time and money in this book on an issue by issue basis. A shame, too, as I seem to remember it being pretty good. Maybe in trade.

Batgirl #23 – Ah, Steph, we hardly knew ye. She might be getting kicked to the curb in a few issues time, but that’s no reason not to enjoy the hell out of this book while it’s still here.

Booster Gold #46, Flashpoint Citizen Cold, Flashpoint Deathstroke And The Curse Of The Ravager, Flashpoint Emperor Aquaman, Flashpoint Frankenstein And The Creatures Of The Unknown All #2 (Of 3) – Damn, but it’s a Flashpoint heavy week this week. Booster continues to try and fix whatever went wrong with the timeline, Len Snart is a cold bastard in any version of history, Deathstroke feels surprisingly ‘right’ as a pirate, more moping with FP Arthur (that’s what you get when you kill millions of people), and Frankenstein no doubt kicks some ass. All in all a pretty good batch here, although Citizen Cold and Deathstroke feel superfluous.

Red Robin #25 – Like Batgirl, one of the few books I’ll miss come the DCnU. But I’ll get it while it’s here.

Teen Titans #97 – Like some horrible car crash on the opposite lane that you can’t help slowing down to look at, Teen Titans continues its slow descent into being potentially the worst currently published series. And yet I cannot look away. I think (hope) this concludes the now-moot introduction of Solstice, the bright (ho ho) new star (ho ho) of the book, who will promptly vanish as of the DCnU and never be seen again.

Amazing Spider-Man #665 – The issue before Spider-Island begins, this is one that Dan Slott has been talking up, saying it plays off from something that happens way back in Amazing Fantasy #15. So it’s probably something like how did poor Peter Parker pay for the raw materials to make his web shooters. Or maybe not. Either way, I’ll be picking it up – this is the best Spider-Man has been in a long, long time.

Captain America #1 – A new #1? Steve back in the union suit? Is there a movie coming out?

Dr Strange Into The Dark Dimension HC – Roger Stern’s run on Doctor Strange is one that I’d missed when I started collecting, and one that I never went back to pick up as I’ve never had that much affection for the character – but I’m tempted by this one if only because I always feel I should like the character. Oh, and because Roger Stern remains one of my favorite comic book writers.

FF #6 – You know the drill. Irked on a number of levels but – like with Teen Titans – unable to look away. Annoying me this issue: the Inhumans returning to Earth with Black Bolt. That they’re back at all and that he’s back from the dead in particular both annoy me since they have evolved so much over the course of War of Kings and Realm of Kings.

Ghost Rider #1 – A new Ghost Rider. And this time he’s a she. Is this the 90s again?

Spider-Man The Death Of Jean Dewolff HC – An absolute classic storyline, as Spider-Man’s ally falls to the Sin Eater. Highly recommended if you haven’t read it previously.

X-Men Schism #1 – Apparently this will change everything about the X-Men. You know what? I may pick this up in spite of abandoning the book for trades a while ago (and having finally read Five Lights last week, man that was dull).

And my pick of the week…

Dungeons And Dragons #1 (Legacy Edition) – I know, I don’t tell you that this series is awesome enough. This reprint includes a couple of variant covers, John Roger’s script, and a D&D module. If you haven’t tried the book before, this is the one to pick up. It’s probably a bad sign when the comic I’m looking forward to most is a reprint of one I already have, isn’t it?

According to the guy at Midtown Comics, comics will be in store tomorrow even though yesterday was a holiday. I don’t know if they’ll be available in the morning, but I guess I’ll find out when I turn up at 8.30…

Flashpoint #3 (Of 5) – As much as I’m enjoying this (and I am, quite a lot), the plot needs to move on a bit. Also, a lot of the ‘background’ stuff like the Atlantis/Amazon war in Europe feels disconnected. If it’s to connect to the main Flash/Batman plot it needs to do so in this issue. If it’s just to give the world color I’m okay with that, but we don’t need to flash over to see Arthur or Diana if they don’t influence the core story.

Flashpoint Abin Sur The Green Lantern, Flashpoint Batman Knight Of Vengeance, Flashpoint Secret Seven, Flashpoint The World Of Flashpoint -all #2 (Of 3) – A mixed bag of tie-ins; I feel that the Abin Sur/Hal Jordan minis are amongst the weakest tie-ins (and they tie together) and there’s a feeling of inevitability to them. On the other hand, Batman is the strongest of the bunch, Secret Seven is good looking if a bit baffling, and I enjoyed World last time round. Getting ‘em all.

Gotham Central Volume 2 Jokers And Madmen TP – Collecting #11-22 of the incredibly popular series, this is damn good read. However for me at least the impact of the stories of regular Detectives Montoya and Allen is lessened in retrospect since they became the Question and the Spectre respectively. It takes away from the street level view a bit.

Green Arrow Volume 1 Into The Woods HC – The first six issues of Ollie Queen’s third new ongoing in the past, what, ten years (and don’t forget he’s got a fourth coming up) tie in to Brightest Day, and have the exiled emerald archer hanging out in the new forest at the center of Star City like some kind of Robin Hood…oh, I see what they did there…

Infinity Inc Volume 1 The Generations Saga HC – I’ve always been a fan of Infinity Inc (even with Nuklon’s hair), the team made up largely of offspring of Golden Age characters, but this collection – including Infinity Inc #1-4 and All-Star Squadron #25-26 and Annual #2 – feels overpriced. Then again, 1980s Roy Thomas…it’s tempting.

Saga Of The Swamp Thing Volume 5 HC – I probably need to catch up on this. Read the first volume of Alan Moore’s well-regarded work and was impressed, but apparently not impressed enough to pick up the second. Is it really as good as everyone says?

X-Files 30 Days Of Night TP- I know; licensed comics can be the bane of your life. They almost always suck all the joy out of the original source material. That said, this particular combination seems to be pretty on the money. I’m curious if anyone out there has read it, though…

Doctor Who II Volume 1 The Ripper TP – I feel obliged to point this out since, you know, Doctor Who, but I confess the only recent Who comic I’ve read was The Forgotten. Which was pretty damn good, now I think about it. Tempting…

Dungeons And Dragons Volume 1 Shadowplague HC – Originally scheduled for last week, here’s what I had to say:

Collecting the first arc of the new series, this is another book I can’t recommend highly enough. John Rogers has crafted a fast-moving, funny, and exciting story here with plenty of nods to the classic game to keep fans happy, whilst also being accessible to newbies. Andrea DiVito’s art is pretty damn good too. Seriously, if you like fun comics, this is for you. If you don’t – well then, I don’t even want to know you.

Locke And Key Volume 3 Crown Of Shadows TP and Locke And Key Volume 4 Keys To The Kingdom HC – I enjoyed the hell out of the first volume of Locke And Key, an resolved to pick up the trades going forward, then promptly forgot about it. Is it worth catching up on?

Blue Estate #4 – I’m really not sure why I’m still picking this up. I suppose the plot strands are finally being drawn together a bit, but it’s still full of what appear to pointless diversions (like the guys who get beat up outside the strip club). That said, the covers are amazing.

Heroes For Hire Control TP – I’ll pick up pretty much anything that Abnett and Lanning have a hand in these days, and I like most of the characters here. I don’t see it having a long run, but I want to pick it up anyway.

Red Skull #1 (Of 5) – Beautiful covers, and having a Nazi monster like Skull as your main character takes some balls. Pity those balls weren’t on display when Waid’s Cap issue starring the Skull was rewritten all those years ago – although I hear it may be showing up unedited in a trade somewhere.

Spider-Girl #8 – Final issue. I enjoyed this book, but the tone was all over the place. Killing off Spider-Woman’s father so early on was unnecessary. As I said months ago, not every character needs a tragic back story – especially when they’re already committed to superheroing. The inclusion of Red Hulk was an odd choice too. The story will continue in the Spider-Island tie in mini, but I’ll be surprised if Anya gets another shot at a solo book any time soon.

And finally, pick of the week…

Shinku #2 – I know, vampires feel very overused and omnipresent these days, but Ron Marz and Lee Moder’s take on them (with samurai!) is satisfyingly bloody and just a little bit sexy. This may not be everyone’s thing, but it’s off to a strong start. Frankly, after Marz’s incredible run on Witchblade I’ll check out anything he does, and I miss seeing Moder’s art monthly, so I’d recommend picking it up. There’s a preview of the first issue here – check it out.

It’s been a while since I’ve done this – but there sure seem to be a lot of trades around. And Flashpoint books, of course…

Batman: Knight And Squire TP – I admit, I didn’t quite warm to writer Paul Cornell’s run on Action Comics (which everyone else seemed to love), or to this when I saw the previews. That said, there’s been plenty of good word of mouth on this mini, and who am I to pass up the British versions of Batman and Robin? I’ll be picking this up at some point.

Flashpoint Green Arrow Industries #1 (One Shot), Flashpoint Hal Jordan #1 (Of 3), Flashpoint Project Superman #1 (Of 3), Flashpoint The Canterbury Cricket #1 (One Shot) – By and large I’ve been incredibly impressed with the Flashpoint tie-ins. None of them seem to be necessary to understanding the main story, but they’re certainly well-thought out and contribute to a greater view of the Flashpoint world. Against all odds, this is shaping up to be an excellent crossover.

Red Robin Hit List TP – I can’t recommend this title enough; along with Batgirl, it’s been a ray of light amongst DC’s last few years worth of books. Great characterization, great writing and art, and a great development of Tim into his own man. If there’s any two characters I’m going to miss when the DCnU rolls around, it’s him and Steph. I know that Tim’s still going to be Red Robin, but it seems he’s not going to be my Red Robin.

Dungeons And Dragons Volume 1 Shadowplague HC – Collecting the first arc of the new series, this is another book I can’t recommend highly enough. John Rogers has crafted a fast-moving, funny, and exciting story here with plenty of nods to the classic game to keep fans happy, whilst also being accessible to newbies. Andrea DiVito’s art is pretty damn good too. Seriously, if you like fun comics, this is for you. If you don’t – well then, I don’t even want to know you.

Drums #2 (Of 4) – The series started strongly, with what looks like a mass suicide, a zombie witness that only the lead FBI agent saw, and a whole heap of voodoo. Dark and ever so slightly horror-tinged, this is yet another strong mini from Image.

Marineman #6 – Speaking of strong minis from Image, I think a lot of people overlooked Ian Churchill’s labor of love due to his new almost animated-like art style, and due to the fact that the hero looks like an Aquaman rip-off. They’ve missed a fun romp. I’ve had huge issues with the pacing, but all in all this has been very enjoyable. Wouldn’t mind seeing a second series (assuming this is the last issue of this one, which I think it is…).

Skullkickers #8 – Like D&D, this series has been a surprise. Another great fun book, if slightly more slapstick and less polished than Rogers’ entry into the genre. Even so, I’d recommend this too.

Witch Doctor #1 (Of 4) – Worth a look if only because the tag line of ‘House meets Fringe‘ has me intrigued. It’s also the first non-Kirkman book from Robert Kirkman’s Skybound imprint. There’s a preview here.

Amazing Spider-Man #664 – It’s be easy to tread water as Spider-Island is coming up, but Dan Slott’s not content to do that – instead he’s throwing us what would seem to be a capper on the long-gestating Mr Negative/Anti-Venom storyline. Negative’s one of the better characters introduced during BND, so I hope he makes it out of this intact.

Daredevil Reborn HC and Daredevil Yellow TP – Two DD books hit, and although I’ve heard almost nothing positive about Reborn, I highly recommend Yellow. It was the first of the Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale ‘color’ collaborations when they moved to Marvel, and is a nostalgic look back at the man without fear’s early days. Sale’s art is beautiful, and there’s something about it that reigns Loeb’s more bombastic side in. It’s a touching book, and one of only a few that I own in both original issues and trades. Take a look if you’ve never read it.

FF #5 – Still treading water; Hickman’s admittedly intricate plotting is no excuse for the slow as molasses pace that this book has been in since way before the relaunch. Plodding and ponderous, this is a poor excuse for a book that should be about high adventure meeting SCIENCE! in the most exciting way possible. And yet I’m still buying it. Shut up.

Incredible Hulk And The Human Torch From The Marvel Vault #1 (One Shot) – I haven’t been picking these Vault books up but will probably get it once the trade hits. This one has Steve Ditko art, though, so I may make the exception

Incredible Hulks Annual #1 – The third part of a crossover between Spider-Man, Deadpool and Hulk, where the three have been thrown to an alternate world and forced to confront their dopplegangers. In Spider-Man, the alt-Peter was the world’s primary super-hero who needed to feed off the powers of alternate Peters, for Deadpool his alternate was basically Dr Doom (much to his disgust), and for Hulk – well, we’ll see. This has been really enjoyable; a nice surprise.

And the pick of the week….

She-Hulks Hunt For The Intelligencia TP – Collecting the She-Hulks mini (that was curtailed down from an ongoing, which was a travesty) – Harrison Wilcox and Ryan Stegman brought their A-game here. The book is funny and sweet, yet manages to be what a book involving Hulks should be (ie, there’s a lot of hitting). As much as I like Jen Walters, I’ve grown quite attached to the so-called ‘Savage’ She-Hulk, Lyra – and having them play off one another is a treat. Another one that I’d recommend wholeheartedly.

Assuming that Wednesday actually is new comics day (even after five years in the US I still get confused as to which holidays delay shipments and which don’t), there’s a bunch of stuff that looks interesting to me tomorrow. There’s also Fear Itself.

Flashpoint #2 (Of 5) – Against my better judgment I’ve been sucked into this mini, especially with all this speculating about what happens after Flashpoint. Of course in reality, chances are nothing major will happen after it except maybe having another world to play with in specials or something, so bravo, DC marketing. Bravo.

Flashpoint Minis: Abin Sur The Green Lantern #1, Batman Knight Of Vengeance #1, Secret Seven #1, The World Of Flashpoint #1 – Yeesh, four of the 372 tie-ins to Flashpoint also drop this week. I’m not sure I’ll be getting any (I may pick up the inevitable HC collections as I did for Blackest Night), but to my surprise some of these really do pique my interest. Will I be strong enough to hold off? Possibly.

Planetary Batman Deluxe HC – I won’t be picking this up, as I picked it up first time around, but I do remember it being a pretty good one-shot, with the Planetary team running up against multiple versions of Batman through his publishing history (ie, Dark Knight Returns Batman, camp 60s Batman, etc). I do question the price point of this, though, at $23 for a HC of what was originally a $5 or $6 book when it first came out. Sure, it has Warren Ellis’s script as well, but that’s pretty steep for a 96 page book.

Halcyon #5 (Of 5) – Marc Guggenheim’s underrated superhero story from Image has been surprisingly satisfying, if a little predictable at times. Essentially, all violence has been eliminated by unknown means, putting most heroes out of a job (and villains too for that matter). Only one hero is determined to uncover the reason though it will cost him his life – and the remaining heroes stand against him. Good stuff that I’d recommend picking up in trade if you can.

Amazing Spider-Man #663 – I think I’m an issue behind on this at the moment, but this is almost always my most looked-forward to read these days, and I think that’s recommendation enough.

Astonishing X-Men #39 – So much for running the book as minis. I wish the alternating creative teams luck (and I’m a big fan of Christos Gage’s work), because this book has felt pointless for quite some time now.

Avengers Academy #14.1 – And speaking of Christos Gage…this should be a good jump on point as it’s part of this silly ‘Point One’ initiative, so check out the best team book you’re not reading.

Captain Britain Volume 1 Birth Of A Legend HC – Collecting Captain Britain’s early Marvel UK appearances, these strips are definitely a mixed bag. Many were originally in black and white and suffered as a result of being, well, not very good – but having reread them recently, I can say they have a certain charm.

Marvel Zombies Christmas Carol #1 (Of 5) – I have no words. Shouldn’t this have died a death some time ago at this point?

Osborn Evil Incarcerated TP - I’ve heard a lot of good things about this mini, so I may give it a shot if only because I hope that it manages to effectively book-end Dark Reign and set Osborn’s direction for the future (although I won’t object to him being off the table for a few years).

S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 – Many people were fans of the first run of this series, so I feel obliged to point out that it’s back. Me, though, I decided not to pick it up as I’m sick of secret histories and I am not a huge fan of this particular writer’s style.

Thor Thunderstrike TP – Okay, this isn’t for everyone. Collecting some key issues in the development of Thunderstrike (the mortal, very 90s Thor stand-in who eventually spun off in his own series), this features Thor’s merging with Eric Masterson, the later ‘death’ of Thor and Masterson’s debut as a familiar looking hero, the return of Thor and Masterson’s assumption of his own identity. Each part of the trade was actually separated by a few years of publishing, so I expect this to be a bit disjointed – but I heartily recommend it for anyone who feels a little nostalgic for fun, uncomplicated heroics.

And the pick of the week…

Turf #5 (of 5) – Jonathon Ross and Tommy Lee Edward’s mini has been tortuously late in coming out; at 18 months for 5 issues it’s not in Planetary‘s ballpark, but it feels close. That said, this is a great, great comic that screams ‘high concept’. A mix of prohibition New York gangsters, vampires, and aliens, with a sprawling cast, this shouldn’t work but it does – thanks largely to great character work by first-time writer Ross and razor sharp dialogue. Ross has a few more series coming out soon with a number of high profile artists (including, according to a DM he sent me a few months back, a classic horror artist) – and if this is the standard of the work he’s going to put out, the more the merrier. Great, great stuff. Get the trade – you won’t regret it.

It’s a pitifully small week for me – and even smaller when you consider that I’m not getting half the stuff I;m talking about. In fact, all in, it looks like I’m picking up two comics, maybe three. Last week was one so I didn’t bother going to the store. I guess if that’s four I could make the trip…

Superboy #5 – I said I’d stick around until the book got derailed by this Doomsday thing, and I will. Unfortunately the book has not lived up to its early promise in the slightest for me; paper-thin characterizations, plot twists I feel I can see coming a mile off, and Conner blundering around forgetting everything he’s learned the past few years. It’s at times like this I miss Kesel, Grummet, Hawaii, Dubbilex, Tana Moon, Rex and Roxy, and the other Krypto (remember him?). Maybe not the fade and the leather jacket…

Skullkickers Volume 1 1000 Opas And A Dead Body TP – I picked up the single issues of this but wanted to recommend it anyway as I’ve been singing it’s praises since day one – this collects the first arc for the bargain price of $10 and it’s a steal at that. Great hyper-kinetic fantasy fun with our nameless troublemaking ‘heroes’.

Girl Comics TP – The (in my opinion) badly-titled collection of the three issue anthology of comics by female creators finally hits the trades. While I want to support it, at $15 retail for a three issue collection, I’ll be honest: I’m probably not going to. See you in the back issue boxes at the next con.

New Mutants Fall Of The New Mutants HC – I love the original New Mutants, and enjoyed the hell out of the book’s first arc. The Siege and Necrosha thing derailed it for a bit, but I’m looking forward to getting back into the book before it gets derailed again by Age of X and a new direction after that. I’ll probably wait for the softcover trade though.

Sigil #1 (Of 4) – Marvel’s Crossgen quasi-relaunch kicks off; I wasn’t optimistic about it when it was announced, I’m not optimistic about it now. But I’ll at least flick through the book even if I don’t pick it up.

Venom #1 – The world needs a Venom solo book like it needs a Flash Thompson solo book. And yet here we are. Cynicism aside, I like the concept and limits on the new Venom (20 missions and 2 days), and I did enjoy the Spidey .1 issue that was basically Venom #0 so this is one I may, may pick up.

Pick of the week

Batgirl #19 – This is an easy one; any week with a new issue of Batgirl, it stands a pretty good chance of being the best thing out that week. Now that DC has shifted Red Robin to another week, that chance has increased – I guess they realized that a week can only hold so much awesome. Seriously, Bryan Q Miller has quietly crafted a great run on an incredible book here. There isn’t another superhero book out there that makes me smile quite so consistently as this. Pick it up.

I’m a day late with the pull list this week on account of not being around on the internet yesterday. Once I put away the snark, there’s actually only one regular comic that I’m interested in this week, so chances are I’ll skip the store visit this week. In fact, the vast majority of things I’m actually interested in this week are trades and not comics. How depressing.

Hexed TP – Probably not related to the BBC series Hex, which is a shame because the lead from the first season was quite attractive. She was also fake royalty in Human Target, but I don’t hold that against her. Wait, I completely lost my train of thought there, didn’t I?

Batman Time And The Batman HC – If you ask me, $20 is a bit steep for a collection of Batman #700-703, but the issues were actually pretty good and Amazon has a discount as usual – so if you’re a fan of Grant Morrison’s Batman, this is pretty good. Even so, the ‘untold tale’ between R.I.P. and Final Crisis would have made more sense if it had appeared then…

Billy Batson And The Magic Of SHAZAM Mr Mind Over Matter TP – One of DC’s more fun kids books, this is definitely worth picking up if you have young children you’re trying to get into comics. Recommended!

Giant-Size Atom #1 – I wasn’t picking up Adventure Comics when it was running the Atom back-up, so I probably won’t pick this conclusion up (it doesn’t collect the ones already printed, right?). What I will say, though, is this: great title for a book. Heh.

Hellblazer Volume 1 Original Sins TP – Okay, I need someone to tell me if this is a good first read for Hellblazer. I mean, I know its being used as the start of a new print run of collections, but is it any good? Anyone?

Wildcats Version 3.0 Year Two TP – Collecting the second (duh) and final year of Joe Casey’s much respected run on the once-flagship Wildstorm book. I actually think the entire run passed me by; I have all of the first run but bailed about halfway through the second. Maybe it’s time to pick this up…

Angel After The Fall Volume 1 HC (Premiere Edition) – I’m speechless. $100 retail for the complete 17 issues of the ‘After the Fall’ storyline? Let me save you a bunch of money: it’s terrible. Messy art, boringly plotted, and suffering from the same ‘hey we don’t have a budget, let’s throw everything we can in there’ attitude that derailed the Buffy series. Depressingly, after an Amazon discount, it’s less than I paid for the issues as they came out. Don’t make my mistake. Run, run!

Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms Volume 1 TP – Collecting the first 8 issues of DC’s old series from 1989. If I remember rightly, this was a pretty fun comic but nothing special. It does have early Rag Morales art, though – but you can probably find these in the back issue bins for cheaper than this.

Star Trek Captain’s Log Volume 1 TP – Captains Pike, Sulu, Harriman and Jellico? Wow. They really broke out the A-list characters for this one (no offense, Sulu fans).

5 Ronin #1 (Of 5) – I’ll be honest, I don’t get it. Is this some kind of alternate universe thing with a bunch of Marvel heroes re-imagined in feudal Japan? What’s the point?

Annihilators #1 (Of 4) – I won’t be picking this up since I’m waiting on the trade, but it seems like this is Abnett and Lanning’s swansong on the cosmic side of the MU for now; and possibly the swansong of the cosmic side itself. It’s been a fun few years since Annihilation kicked off, guys. See you in the funny pages.

Avengers Academy #10 – Glad I jumped back on the singles for this; really entertaining comic.

Captain America And Falcon #1 – First in a series of one-shots spotlighting Cap and his allies. Seems there’s a big push to get Captain America trades on the shelves for the summer. You’d think there was a movie coming out or something.

And the pick of the week – a trade this time out…

Thanos Imperative HC – This will be arriving this week for me – been looking forward to the culmination of the last year or so of Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m kind of irked that I spoiled the ending for myself, but this is definitely my pick of the week!

Trying something new today. Last night I actually read all the comics I picked up yesterday – something that never happens – and figured I’d do a review post. And then I thought why not do some review tweets as well?

So each review appears on twitter (I had to cheat with the comic titles in a few cases to get it under 140 characters), with a tiny bit more detail here. So off we go…

Action Comics #898 Incomprehensible Maguffin makes this a mess; @Paul_Cornell‘s story is a big disappointment. At least its over soon. #OTR

A bit more – I really like most of Paul Cornell’s work, but his Action leaves me cold. I just don’t buy Lex acting the way he does. He’s back running LexCorp, yet still flies around in that godawful armor and kills people in public with no come back – and that’s not even getting into the Lois robot again. Additionally, this whole black orb power quest thing makes little sense the more you read it; too much of the dialogue about them is close to nonsensical. I’m sorry, but I really think this has been a failure.

Teen Titans #92 A Robin switcheroo makes the last few issues pointless. Jeanty’s art doesn’t suit unless you like Buffy as Wonder Girl. #OTR

A bit more – Speaking of failures, I understand that Tim might want to hang out with his friends a bit more now he’s not all moody loner guy, but losing Damian after only a few issues feels like a mistake; now we’re back to Ravager being the only internal source of tension on the team. Again. And can we give the Calculator a rest, please? I’m almost as sick of him as I am of Raven.

Am.Spider-Man #655 Touching and beautiful; @DanSlott and M.Martin knock this out of the park marred only by 2 unnecessary final pages. #OTR

A bit more – I always get a little bit of a smile when Dan Slott shows off his knowledge of Spidey continuity, but the two page spread of people who have died was fantastic. Sally Avril? Ben Reilly? The Spider-Mobile? Awesome – and Slott’s the only writer I can remember bringing up the fact that Spider-Man killed someone in the Spider-Man vs Wolverine one-shot back in, what, 1987? And Marcos Martin – his layouts and work here are simply amazing. Restrained and simple in the silent funeral scene, but taking on almost Steve Ditko-esque levels of trippiness in the dream sequence. Like I said, though, I didn’t really need the 2 page lead in to next issue. As a stand alone, this would have been perfect.

FF #588 Less an ending and more a tease for FF#1. Hickman’s best written issue. Especially touching: the Thing/Thor/Hulk and ‘Uncles’. #OTR

A bit more -I’ve been pretty vocal about not loving Jonathan Hickman’s run on the book, but this was really good, even without dialog for the main story. Even so, there were some bits I didn’t need as they clearly just set things up for FF #1; Kristoff taking over Latveria (When was the last time we saw him? Where did that awful armor come from? Does Stature still have a crush on him? Why is Doom stepping down?), Reed deciding to reassemble the council, and the return of Nathaniel Richards (again) especially left me cold. That said, Ben’s venting in the desert with Thor and the Hulk – presumably at Johnny’s request was perfect, as was his almost hateful look at Namor during the wake. I also enjoyed the fact that Doom showed for Johnny’s funeral, even if only for a panel, and that Reed was apparently ready to fly solo in the Negative Zone with the Ultimate Nullifier to try to get Johnny back -only to receive his shredded costume from l’il Annihilus (so still no body…). Nick Dragotta gave a suitable Kirbyesque feel to the art, especially where the mourning Sue was concerned, and all in all did a fine job. And as I said, the ‘Uncles’ back-up with Franklin and Spider-Man was nice and sweet. I may just stick around for FF after all.

D&D #4 Continues to be a pleasure; one of the better recent launches. Captures the fun D&D spirit but great for non-players too. #OTR

A bit more -Phew, not the end of the series after all! I still can’t recommend this enough to fantasy fans. Simply a very well crafted and fun comic, and John Rogers is writing the hell out of it. Highly recommended.

SkullKickers #6 Some hits and misses in this anthology issue but maintains the fun of the series. Forgettable and skippable though. #OTR

A bit more – The first two tales are pretty good fun, the second two less so. This isn’t the best introduction to the comic by any means, but it’s a decent enough placeholder for regular readers. It seems as if the second arc won’t kick-off until May, but it should be worth the wait.

Turf #4 Labyrinth plot draws tighter together and parties come together; continues to be incredibly impressive comics debut for @wossy. #OTR

A bit more – Jonathon Ross and Tommy Lee Edwards are really knocking this out of the park, despite the lateness. Gangsters vs Vampires vs Aliens may sound like a recipe for disaster, but it’s really not; there are so many great characters at play here that even the quiet scenes like the face-off between the Dragonmir brothers, or the looting of a diamond store really hold your attention. That’s the other thing; I haven’t read a comic that takes this long to read in a long time. The art is beautiful and the dialog is so dense that you really need to go back and read the whole comic again when you’ve finished. As a penultimate issue this obviously isn’t a jumping on point, but when the trade comes out I recommend you pick it up.

And that’s your lot!

I swear, I don’t understand how holidays over here work. Monday was a holiday so – as with many holidays – I expected shipments to be delayed a day, but no, they’re not.

Flash Gordon Invasion Of The Red Sword #1 – Okay, so this didn’t come out last week. What did I say again? “In spite of some confusing art (as in I had no idea what was going on), I really enjoyed the last Flash Gordon mini that was collected as The Mercy Wars, and the Secret History of Mongo HC, because it really captured the devil may care I think Flash should have, and the alien-ness of Mongo. Even so I don’t think I’d seen new Flash Gordon stuff for at least eighteen months so I’d assumed it was dead. Apparently not.” Yep, still about right.

Action Comics #898 – Lex Luthor continues on his tour of the DCU to establish his place in it – because let’s face it, that’s what this is. So far he’s checked in with Mr Mind, Deathstroke, Gorilla Grodd, Death, Vandal Savage, Secret Six and the Joker. This time up, it’s Larfleeze. These kinds of tours often feel forced but at least there’s an attempt here to justify it in the storyline. Even so, I’m bored now. Can we move on to #900, please?

Cover Girls Of The DC Universe Poker Set – Ooh, pretty.

If anyone wants to, er, ‘lend’ me $200 I’m all for it.

DC Comics Presents Batman Conspiracy #1 – Another random reprint in the nice format, this time out the main feature is a collection of a JH Willliams illustrated arc from Legends of the Dark Knight to piggyback on his new Batwoman series.

Justice League The Rise And Fall HC – Mock if you will (oh, and you will; you will) but I kind of enjoyed the whole Green Arrow/Arsenal thing from last year that included Green Arrow killing off a man who can predict anything with an arrow (bet he never saw that coming from Green Arrow); Arsenal getting a robotic arm, falling off the wagon, getting friendly with a dead cat, and not being able to perform with the psychotic mother of his dead child. It’s certainly not good, exactly, but it’s all enjoyable nonsense. Yes, I know that people complained about Arsenal’s daughter Lian being killed off to get to this storyline, but its not like she was being used in a particularly interesting way anyway…

Scalped Volume 7 Rez Blues TP - Hands down one of my favorite series, and one that I rarely talk about. With a structure that would make Tarantino blush, every single trade of this series is infinitely re-readable. It seriously is that good – the first trade, like most Vertigo ones, is $10. Pick it up.

Teen Titans #92 – I know, I’m throwing good money after bad with this – although since Krul’s arrival as writer the book’s picked up, it still features some characters that I have no affinity for even after 20 years of reading about them. What can I say?

Angelus Volume 1 TP – I don’t often mention this, but I am a huge fan of Ron Marz’s stint on Witchblade, and this series spinning out of it is a must-buy for me.

Skullkickers #6 – You should know the drill by now. Awesome fun, pick it up. This issue is a bunch of shorts by other creators, but even so.

Turf #4 (Of 5) – Atrocious (and I mean atrocious; this is the fourth issue in just over a year) scheduling aside, this has been a very strong debut from Jonathon Ross, in conjunction with artist Tommy Lee Edwards. It’s almost too ambitious, featuring as it does vampire clans and a ship-wrecked alien mixing it up with prohibition gangsters in 1920s New York, but there’s a sense of controlled chaos to the storyline. Ross apparently has four more projects on the way, including The Golden Age, already optioned for a movie, and another one that sounds amazing but I’m not sure has been announced. Too late to jump on if you haven’t tried it yet, but I recommend the trade when it comes out – which may be in 2013 at this rate, but still…

Amazing Spider-Man #655 – A very special issue – and one that Dan Slott has been pimping heavily.

Avengers #10 – Not picking this up regularly, but I did note that it contains a reprint of Heroes for Hire #1 at no extra cost, which can’t bode well for that book’s sales numbers.

Iron Man 2.0 #1 – Look, just call it Iron Man: War Machine, okay? This is just confusing and it’ll get lost on the stands in the glut of Iron Man books around.

X-Men Forever 2 Volume 2 Scream A Little Scream TP – Judge me all you want, but I’ve really been enjoying Chris Claremont’s alt-take on what would have happened if he stayed on the books after he left them the first time. I’ll be sorry to see it go once the next trade finishes.

X-Men Legacy Collision HC – I’ll be honest, although I’m a huge fan of Mike Carey’s Felix Castor books, I’ve felt that his run on Legacy has been less-than-stellar, especially in the last year or eighteen months. I’m sure it’s not helped that he keeps getting derailed by crossovers, but there’s just something lacking at the moment. I hope that the current Age of X gives it a much-needed boost.

Pick of the Week

Fantastic Four #588

In spite of my complaining about Hickman’s FF run, and the fact that I’m underwhelmed by how the ‘death’ of the Human Torch played out, this final issue of the Fantastic Four (well, at least until the upcoming FF aligns with what would be Fantastic Four #600) is my pick of the week – if only because I’ve always enjoyed the aftermath of big deaths more than the death itself. I’m also tempted to reread his run from the start – especially the bits with future Franklin and Valeria – to see how this all pulls together.

It’s a massive week on the Pull List if you’re into your trades (especially on the Marvel front) – but for singles, not so much.

Batgirl #18 – Look, I’ve said time and time again that this and Red Robin are the best two superhero comics on the market, and they are. If you’re not reading them, you’re missing out.

Cinderella Fables Are Forever #1 (Of 6) – Cinderella’s spy shenanigans are always a good time, and this time around she has a full six issue mini to herself.

DC Comics Presents Green Lantern Fear Itself #1 – Maybe it was always a part of the publishing plan given the upcoming movie, but I can’t help think that DC’s reprinting of Fear Itself, it’s 1999 graphic novel starring Green Lanterns Alan Scott, Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner is also a jab at Marvel’s big Fear Itself event.

DC Comics Presents Wonder Woman #1 – reprints a four issue arc guest starring Superman and Batman from a few years ago. The main thing I remember about this is that Yanick Paquette’s art was quite good.

Flash Volume 1 The Dastardly Death Of The Rogues HC – Boring old Barry Allen gets his title back in this collection of #1-6. I’ve read the first five issues so it seems superfluous for me to get this when I’ll be able to score #6 for a dollar somewhere, but if you haven’t read it, Geoff Johns’ story here is pretty good – but the real reason to pick this up is Francis Manapul’s art. The man’s fantastic.

Red Robin #20 – See what I said about Batgirl above?

Suicide Squad Volume 1 Trial By Fire TP – I was hoping for a showcase, but I’ll take this – the excellent Suicide Squad finally gets its reprints from the beginning. Spinning out of the Legends crossover, the new Squad started living up to its name in the first issue, and kept on being unafraid to take risks for the rest of it’s excellent 66 issue run, almost all of which were written by John Ostrander. This reprints the first eight issues and a story from Secret Origins #14 (another book I’d kill for trades of) and is well worth your time and money.

Superman Mon-El Volume 1 TP – the ridiculousness of DC’s trade schedule means that the first half of Mon-El’s stint in Superman (while the man himself was off on New Krypton) are hitting the shelves in trade form about 18 months after they wrapped up their original print run. Regardless, this was a pretty good period in the book – at least for the issues contained in this volume – and if you like the Legion of Super-Heroes mainstay, you could do worse than pick this up.

Teen Titans Volume 13 The Hunt For Raven TP – However, you couldn’t do worse than pick this up. Seriously, it has no redeeming features. None.

Dungeons & Dragons Dark Sun #2 (Of 5) – Considering that I enjoyed the Dark Sun story in the cheap #0 issue it shared with the regular Dungeons and Dragons book a while ago, the first issue of this series was pretty poor and actually read like a discarded Conan story. That said, I always liked Conan so I may pick up the rest of this mini.

Star Trek Infestation #1 – Star Trek vs Zombies. I know, I know, zombies are done – and I agree, but there’s a part of me that wants to see Spock try and Vulcan deathgrip a zombie redshirt only to find it doesn’t have nerve endings any more.

Hack Slash #1 – I’ve heard a lot of good things about this series – getting a new ongoing here – but there’s so much material collected out there I’m loathe to jump in at a new #1 without getting caught up.

Acts Of Vengeance Omnibus HC – At $100 retail, this is one pricey mother (and it’s still $63 on Amazon), but it does contain 33 comics (then again almost all would be overpriced in a dollar bin) but I love these things. This collects the main arc of the 1989 Avengers-based crossover from Avengers, Avengers West Coast, Avengers Spotlight, Iron Man, Quasar, Thor and Captain America. The collection also includes an issue of Cloak and Dagger (presumably as the Avengers show up there too), and the ten part Spider-Man crossover that ran through his books as part of Acts of Vengeance where he becomes the holder of the Captain Universe power. It’s a hefty volume, but one only for those passionate for this era at Marvel.

Amazing Spider-Man #654 – the end of the underwhelming Spider-Slayer story. Still love the book, but bored by the villain.

Atlantis Attacks Omnibus HC – Apparently releasing the same day is this far-less-essential collection of the 14-part crossover that ran through the 1989 annuals, plus a few extra issues that tie-in a bit. This retails a bit cheaper than the AoV one ($75/$43) but frankly, it should do. Most of these annuals had sub-standard art and writing, and don’t even get me started on the painful Serpent Crown history that was serialized in them and collected here. There are some bright spots in the annuals but they’re few and far between. I might pick this up if it were half the retail, but at this price forget it.

Captain America Lives Omnibus HC – Geez, another omnibus book this week? This one collects the recent run of Captain America #43-50 and #600-601 (it was renumbered) , plus Captain America: Reborn #1-6. I’d assume it had the Who Will Wield The Shield one-shot too, but I can’t confirm it. This is a good run by Brubaker and his cohorts, and worth picking up if you don’t have the issues. As I do, I’ll pass – but the next omnibus may be mine when it comes out.

Namor The First Mutant Volume 1 Curse Of The Mutants TP – As a big fan of Namor, this is on my to-get list, even if I’m not a massive supporter of his current status quo.

Namor Visionaries John Byrne Volume 1 TP – This collects #1-9 of John Byrne’s 1990 Namor series, and is a personal favorite of mine. How much you’ll like it will depend on your Byrne tolerance, but I felt it took Namor in an interesting new direction at the time.

New Mutants Forever Volume 1 TP – Another one of these alternate timeline ‘Forever’ book things continuing old writers’ run on a series they left. Claremont’s run on the original New Mutants was pretty good and ended at an interesting point, so I’ll take a look at this. Anyone pick the series up?

Onslaught Unleashed #1 (Of 4) – Somebody must have asked for this, right? Hands up if it was you.

Power Man And Iron Fist #1 (Of 5) – I find it hard to resist a book with this title – but I’ll hold off till the trade hits.

Shadowland HC - I’m way behind on Daredevil, haven’t heard particularly good things about this – but, honestly, I still want to pick it up. Chances are that I’ll wait for the softcover though. Then again, there’s a pretty hefty discount on Amazon…

Thor The Death Of Odin TP – Collecting part of Dan Jurgens’ run on the book, this chronicles that time Odin died. If that doesn’t narrow it down for you on account of him croaking more often than his ravens (ah, mythological humor), this kicked off the ‘Reigning’ storyline that ran through Jurgens’ departure, where Thor took over Asgard and eventually Earth in an attempt to bring about a better world; unfortunately taking control of Earth involved killing his former allies. Needless to say, time travel and wiping out timelines was involved in resolving the story – but I enjoyed it when it originally ran, even if the Reigning seemed to go on forever.

Thunderstrike #3 (Of 5) – I’m really enjoying this old-school mini resurrecting the Thunderstrike name, if not the character. I wish that the DeFalco/Frenz team could do an ongoing of some sort set within mainstream continuity.

X-Force A Force To Be Reckoned With HC – Collecting Rob Liefeld’s much-mocked run on the end of New Mutants (#98-100) and the start of X-Force (#1-4), plus the crossover with Todd McFarlane’s final issue of Spider-Man (#16), this is probably not high on anybody’s list of good comics. It is however pretty high on my list of fun comics. Introducing a number of new characters – chief amongst them Deadpool, Domino, and Shatterstar – this run of books was groundbreaking at the time. Sadly not included with the collection: polybag and trading cards.

Young Allies TP - The ill-fated Young Allies gets a trade. I’m curious who’s going to buy this since it didn’t get enough traction to last past 6 issues, but it also includes the Nomad back-ups from Captain America #602-605 so if it ends up on sale at some point I may get it myself.

It’s a mammoth week of interesting books and trades this week, so I’ll get right to it.

Action Comics #897 – Lex Luthor’s uncharacteristic campaign for power continues. Not that him wanting power is uncharacteristic, but sleeping with a sexbot? Yes, I’d say that was. Yes, I’m still hung up on that. Sue me. Also, last week when I picked up the Secret Six crossover issue I found out that I’d missed an issue of Action and hadn’t noticed. Never a good sign.

DC Comics Presents Superman Sole Survivor #1 – The latest of these (still like the format but wish they’d reprint something I actually want to read) reprints Superman’s run-in with the Ultra-Humanite from Legends of the DC Universe #1-3 and #39 of the same series (haven’t read that one). The first arc is okay if nothing special.

New York Five #1 – It’s been a dog’s age since I bought a Vertigo series in their monthly format (the first arc of Young Liars, if I remember correctly). Chances of me picking this mini up are slim, but as it’s been written by Brian Wood you may want to take a look if you’re a fan of DMZ, Northlanders or Demo. Me, I’ve read the first issue of two of those series and they didn’t really grab me.

Question Pipeline TP – I didn’t think Greg Rucka’s Question back-ups read that well in 8-page chunks when they ran in Detective Comics, but maybe it’s better in trade. At least it’s pretty with Cully Hamner on the art chores.

Saga Of The Swamp Thing Volume 4 HC – I picked up the first volume of these reprints of Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing and while I enjoyed it I instantly forgot about it. For a groundbreaking run, it certainly started off a little bit mediocre – so tell me, does it really get better or do people simply remember the run through rose-tinted glasses now?

Teen Titans #91 – And speaking of mediocre, that’s a generous description of this title. New writer Krul has a better handle on the characters than Felicia Henderson did but that doesn’t say much. Nicola Scott’s artwork gets the job done, and the addition of the new Robin to the team has provided the requisite amount of friction. That said, starting off the run with an underwhelming high school based threat hasn’t exactly set it on fire.

Angel: The John Byrne Collection HC – For those that think John Byrne’s best artwork is behind him and he no longer draws backgrounds, I point them in the direction of the beautiful four-issue Blood and Trenches mini collected in this book. While the story is a little workmanlike, his art has never been better, especially in black and white. The book also collects a two part Angel v Frankenstein and a Lorne four-pager. The Lorne four pager was better than the first part of the Frankenstein story. Retail on this is a steep $25, but Amazon has the book for a much more reasonable $15 – and at that price, I’d recommend it.

Infestation #1 – I really shouldn’t be interested in this. IDW’s zombie story (if I understand correctly) kicks off here and then has the zombies in question tearing through a bunch of different realities, including Transformers, GI Joe, Star Trek and Ghostbusters. I mean, it sounds terrible – but when I found it was written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, my interest was piqued, because if anyone could take a ridiculous idea and make it work, they could. You know how I know? Rocket Raccoon. So, yes…I’m interested.

Proof Endangered #2 – I’m not entirely sold on this relaunched Proof; I don’t think it’s separated itself from its previous volume enough to attract new readers. That said, it’s still a solid comic and I’ll stick with it.

Skullkickers #5 – Continually awesome. If you’re not picking this up, you should be. There’s a trade collecting #1-5 out in a month or two for ten bucks. Recommended!

Age Of X Alpha #1 – I’m not reading X-Men Legacy anymore, but something about this interests me. I think it’s because it obviously hints at the classic Age of Apocalypse, which was beyond awesome when I was younger. But honestly, I don’t need to pick this up with any urgency. Let me know how it goes and I may get the trade, okay?

Avengers Academy Permanent Record HC – Remember when I ran a competition and nobody entered (he asked bitterly)? Well, I know I’ll be picking this up even if you aren’t.

Avengers By Brian Michael Bendis Volume 1 HC – Okay. I will probably get this at some point because I’ve been with the Avengers since Secret Wars II - but again I feel no urgency, so it’s a paperback purchase for me unless someone can tell me why I should shell out the extra bucks on a hardcover for it?

Blockbusters Of The Marvel Universe #1 – So it’s like an OHOTMU but for events? Well, no, I couldn’t possibly…dammit all….

Fantastic Four #587 – This issue…SOMEBODY DIES! For reals. With polybags and everything.

Hawkeye & Mockingbird Ghosts TP – I’ve been a fan of Hawk and Mock since they founded the West Coast Avengers together (and seriously, why hasn’t the time-traveling story from WCA #17-24 been collected? It would have been well-timed to be released around the time this series premiered) so I’ll be getting this soon.

Hulk The End TP – Collecting Hulk: The End and Hulk:Future Imperfect #1-2, this is a nicely-priced little trade collecting arguably Peter David’s strongest Hulk work. Future Imperfect has the Hulk’s ‘Professor’ incarnation taken to the future to confront his future self, the Maestro, but the star here is The End, probably the best of Marvel’s future-set stories of their characters, and features great art from Dale Keown. Recommended.

Incredible Hulks Dark Son HC – I’ve been following along with the Hulk books through $1 bins at conventions, but with this I may leap to trades. Good solid storytelling with a suitably Hulklike cast.

Spider-Man Fantastic Four HC – I enjoyed the previous Spider-Man/X-Men series by Gage and Alberti, even if it was kind of lightweight. I expect something similar from this – workmanlike stories that have no lasting impact with nice art. Don’t think its a hardcover purchase for me though.

What If Classic Volume 7 TP – some good stuff here in this last collection of issues from the first volume of the alternate-earth based series. Included here amongst others are What If Captain America Were Revived Now? (#44), which is possibly one of my favorite Cap stories ever printed. There’s a great run down of the issue here, and it’s worth a read. Sadly missing from this collection due to licensing issues is the fantastic #43, What If Conan Had Remained in the 20th Century?, which is actually a What If story derived from a different ending in the previous What If..? #13, making it – to my knowledge, anyway – the only alternate alternate What If story produced. Anyway, the answer to the question posed is that Conan would become a pimp, a gang leader, throwdown with Captain America and be invited to join the Avengers. Don’t believe me? Read this. But I digress; these are all usually good value collections and this one is no exception.

It’s my first pull list of the year, since I missed last week due to travel. In fact I haven’t been to the store in three weeks so I suspect there’ll be a couple more issues to add to this. In the meantime though, this week’s releases…

Batgirl #17 – I’ll be honest; I’ve always found the ancillary Batman characters more interesting that Batman himself – and for some reason that now extends to Dick Grayson, who was far more interesting to me when he was determined not to become Batman. As such I have no buy-in to the whole Batman, Incorporated thing which I’m sure will fade away once Grant Morrison gets distracted by a new idea. But right now, Batgirl is a shining example of how to write a great comic that you can read without getting sucked into everything else going on in the shared comic universe. Great stuff.

Doom Patrol Brotherhood TP – I’m kind of interested in the new Doom Patrol if only because (a) I like Giffen’s writing, and (b) I’m surprised it’s lasted as long as it has. If anyone is actually reading it, please let me know how it is.

Red Robin #19 – See what I said for Batgirl, because it holds true for this too. A great comic.

Wonder Girl #1 – While I have some interest in the character (and fondly remember when she was an ugly duckling with a black wig) I’m not really interested in this one-shot from the preview I’ve seen. However, as it apparently feeds into Teen Titans (aka The Book I Can’t Seem To Quit No Matter How Bad It Gets) I may as well pick it up.

Amazing Spider-Man #651 – I haven’t even picked up last issue yet, but i have enough faith in Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos that I’m looking forward to this. I’m still not convinced that was Roderick Kingsley in the first issue of Big Time. He did have a twin, after all…at least, I think Daniel was his twin.

Daredevil Reborn #1 – I haven’t read Shadowland yet, but I know the gist of what happened. I think this involves Matt Murdock wandering the country all Bill Bixby-like to find himself. I remember the last time he did that but I bet he doesn’t end up beating down Ultron this time. One for the trades for me.

Deadpool #31 – Yes, it happened. Last issue I went to pick up Deadpool and it had a Curse of the Mutants banner on the cover – so I left it on the shelf. It’s not that I’m opposed to the vampire crossover, I’m actually looking forward to reading it at some point – I just don’t need it infringing on books I pick up. So I’m now officially Deadpool free!

New Avengers By Brian Michael Bendis Volume 1 HC – I had this preordered on Amazon but canceled it a while ago, along with most of my preorders. I’m sure I’ll get it – or the issues in it at some point, but not just yet. I have heard it’s the strongest of the main three Avengers books though.

Thor The Mighty Avenger #8 – I never read it (and apparently not too many other people did either), but those that did are a vocal lot who say very good things about it. And this is the last issue.

Infinite Vacation #1 – Nick Spencer, writer of the moment, launches another new ongoing (at least I think it’s an ongoing) from Image. It’s another high concept idea, this time involving alternate realities for sale, and I’m sure it’ll be a big seller. However, I’m now past the point where I can guarantee I’ll get to the store on Wednesdays, and nothing irritates me more than sell-outs and reprints. Let me know how it goes and I may try the trade – or, hey, I have this ipad app…

It’s Christmas Week, but comics are still shipping Wednesday. Next week I’m not so sure about…

DC Comics Presents: Superman #3 – Four issues from the Loeb/McGuinness run from *urk* 8 years ago. Back then, the new creative teams on all four Superman books really invigorated the titles and got people picking them up again for the first time in years. This collection includes the appearance of the young Japanese Toy Man (now retconned into being yet another Winslow Schott robot, I think) and some Bizarro and Solomon Grundy bashing. Mindless fun.

DC Comics Presents: Young Justice #3 – We may not be getting any Young Justice trades, but these are the next best thing. Collects the Secrets and Origins 80 page special and #7 of the series, which if memory serves was a camping trip with the parents. Good stuff.

Green Lantern: Larfleeze – Christmas Special #1 – I know I shouldn’t, but part of me really wants to read this. I think Larfleeze is going to try to find Santa. Because, you know, he wants stuff and Santa has lots of it. Or something like that anyway. Frankly, I doubt it will be able to top the origin of Dex-Starr.

Hitman Vol. 03: Local Heroes TP – If you’ve never read Hitman you’re missing one of the finest finite series that DC ever produced. You can jump in on this volume without prior knowledge; here, Tommy Monaghan comes face to face with his first bona fide superhero (puking on Batman’s shoes doesn’t count) as Green Lantern Kyle Rayner comes to Gotham. Also: zombie night at Gotham aquarium. Yep. Zombie seals. Awesome.

Teen Titans: Cold Case 1 – A ‘lost tale’ of Captain Cold vs what looks like a fairly recent Titans line up (Tim Drake’s Robin, Wonder Girl, Ravager). I’ll read that as ‘an inventory story we found when we cleaned out our offices’.

WildCATS #30 – The end of Wildstorm. I remember the early days of WildC.A.T.S., not to mention Stormwatch , Gen 1and their other books along the way (Savant Garde holds a special place in my heart). I’m sure that one day the characters will make a comeback on whichever one of the 52 alternate Earths they’re based on – and probably not in the current post-armageddon setting that they’ve been in the last few years.

Deadpool #30 – I can’t remember where this is up to, but I think it’s the last part of the Secret Avengers arc. Could be wrong though.

Fantastic Four #586 – The countdown to 3 continues. Minor point, but couldn’t Sue have stopped Namor’s thrown trident with a forcefield in the blink of an eye last issue? Or are we at the stage of ignoring people’s powers to make the story work the way we want it to? Oh well, at least it looks good with Epting on the art chores. More to come on this later today…

Marvel Universe vs The Punisher HC – Dammit all. If the HC is out, that means I missed #4 along the way. #1 was one of the strongest issues I’ve read in a while, but #2 and #3 let me down a bit. Even so, I’d give this a look if you didn’t already. It’s Frank Castle in I Am Legend, with the rest of the MU as feral vampire-types.

Marvels Eye Of Camera TP – I am a huge, huge fan of the original Marvels but somehow I haven’t really heard anything at all about this so I’m unsure if it’s worth picking up or not.

Skullkickers #4 – I mention this virtually every week so let me just say it’s very entertaining and you should pick it up.

It’s a potentially big week for the Pull List (surprising given the number of things I’ve dropped) but I’m not 100% sure I’ll be picking it all up. Even so…

Conan The Road Of Kings #1 (Of 6) – While I haven’t picked up an issue of Conan since Dark Horse’s first volume ended – I always intended to pick the second volume in trades but never did – I’m tempted by this if only because it’s Roy Thomas’ first work on the title since his Marvel days (to my knowledge) and, barring Kurt Busiek, there’s nobody I’d rather see write the character.

Batgirl The Greatest Stories Ever Told TP – While I love Barbara Gordon as a character, there are relatively few stories I’ve read with her as Batgirl – namely the excellent and highly recommended Batgirl: Year One (which I don’t think has ever been collected in the US), a couple of flashback issues, and Batgirl: The Last Batgirl Story published just prior to The Killing Joke – so I’m, tempted to pick this up; judging from the issues collected there’s a minimal amount of Silver Age wackiness, so that’s a good thing.

DC Comics Presents Batman #3 – An odd collection of Ed Brubaker’s Batman run from just prior to Bruce Wayne: Murderer, these are mostly forgettable stories including a Joker: Last Laugh tie-in and a Santa Klaus story – which, I guess, is why it’s being published in December. Still, I do like the reprint format.

Green Lantern Plastic Man Weapons Of Mass Deception #1 – This seems a little random; a Hal Jordan and Plastic Man team up by Marv Wolfman and Brent Anderson; after the events in the JLA book just prior to Blackest Night, I’m not even sure that Plastic Man has himself together enough to utilize his powers, so I suspect that this is an inventory story that DC are pushing out.

Supergirl #59 – The end of Sterling Gates’ great run on the book. Yes, it suffered a little from having to deal with the New Krypton status quo for a year, but all in all this is the best that the character has been used since she was reintroduced to the DCU a few years back. Nick Spencer has some big shoes to fill.

Superman Secret Origin Deluxe Edition HC - Finally. I picked up the first issue and liked it but felt that it would read better in one sitting – and as it took forever to complete, seems like I was right. Looking forward to getting this, if only because I’m a huge fan of Gary Frank’s art.

Vertigo Resurrected Hellblazer #1 – I guess this is the Vertigo version of the DC Comics Presents. This collects two two-issue arcs on Hellblazer, one by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon and the other by Jason Aaron and Sean Murphy. I’ve been looking for somewhere to start reading the Hellblazer trades, so this feels like it might be as good a place as any.

Dungeons And Dragons #2 – I thought the #0 issue was a bit lackluster, but I enjoyed the hell out of #1. I know, I’m as surprised as you are. I said it before, but between this and Skull Kickers it’s a great time to read fantasy comics.

Next Men #1 – I’ve never read an issue of John Byrne’s Next Men and I doubt I ever will. There are many, many properties I’d prefer to see him return to, but they’d all rely on him playing nice with Marvel and/or DC which just doesn’t seem on the cards any time soon. A pity, because his Angel mini series and one-shots have actually been pretty strong on the art front.

Wynonna Earp Yeti Wars GN – To say Beau Smith is overlooked as a writer is putting it mildly; his work on Guy Gardner: Warrior in the late 90s and his first Wynonna Earp series seem to be sadly overlooked these days. I’m more than happy to see Earp back in some new material – and the character and world she inhabits would make for a great movie adaptation – just as long as Megan Fox isn’t involved.

Proof Endangered #1 – I’ve been a big proponent of Proof from the start, even if I think it lost its direction part way through the run. Even so, I’m glad it’s getting a second push with a new #1, and I’ll continue to support it. Hopefully now that a lot of the trappings of the first series have been stripped away it’ll give the series a fresh focus.

Velocity #3 (Of 4) – I could have sworn this was an ongoing when it was first solicited. In any case, this is a good take on Top Cow’s resident speedster, and Kenneth Rocafort is doing great work on the art side. It’s written by the always reliable Ron Marz, who appears to have become Top Cow’s sole architect over the past few years.

Amazing Spider-Man #650 – I’m still not sure where I stand on the new Hobgoblin, the easy (and relatively graphic) dispatch of the old Hobgoblin (unless of course it was Roderick’s twin masquerading as him somehow), or Peter’s new job – but I have to admit I’m enjoying the hell out of Big Time so far.

Avengers Academy #7 – I know, I was going to pick this up in trades but Christos Gage has convinced me otherwise. And don’t forget: send me a creative pic of you reading #7 to be in with a chance of winning the Avengers Academy Vol 1 HC!

Black Panther The Man Without Fear #513 – Honestly, I have no interest in the book and haven’t picked up Black Panther regularly since early in Priest’s run (well, I’m not counting his time on the FF), but this preview art is gorgeous.

Generation X Classic Volume 1 TP – If you’ve never picked up Generation X before, you should give this a look. Collecting their introduction as part of the (oddly uncollected) Phalanx Covenant crossover and their first four issues under Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo before they got sucked into the Age of Apocalypse, I’d recommend this if only for the mad genius of Bachalo’s artwork on his section of the book.

Uncanny X-Men The Birth Of Generation Hope TP – I’m supposed to be picking this up at some point but I recently canceled almost all of my Amazon pre-orders so it won’t be arriving as scheduled. I haven’t really heard much good or bad about this arc or Generation Hope, but it’s the X-Men so I probably will get it at some point. Hardly a glowing endorsement, I know…

Didn’t get to the store last week, still feel crappy, but here we go –

Action Comics #895 – I continue to be under-enthused with this book, but I stick with it because I like both the creators and the main character, even if I feel they’re not a good fit together.

Batwoman #0 – Only three or four years later, Batwoman launches into her own series. See you in the trades (or back issue bins), young lady.

DC Comics Presents Young Justice #2 – A nice collection of stuff here; the team’s No Man’s Land tie in, the Girlfrenzy one-shot (written by Todd DeZago, who was supposed to be the ongoing’s writer) and a Secret Files book. Lots of fun from back when Impulse was fun, Superboy had a fade and an earring, and Tim Drake was still the coolest kid on the block.

Green Lantern Omnibus Vol. 1 HC – If I had (a) spare cash and (b) spare shelfspace, I’d be all over this. But I don’t, so I’m not.

Teen Titans #89 – I know. I tried to quit and even wrote a post on it. But just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. Dammit.

Amazing Spider-Man #649 – Big Time kicked off with an impressive first issue two weeks ago; let’s hope it can maintain it’s momentum.

Chaos War Alpha Flight #1 – Not picking it up as I’m going to get all the Chaos War stuff in trade – but am I the only person who remembers that there’s a younger version of the (currently dead) original Alpha Flight out in space with the Plodex?

Fantastic Four #585 – Last issue was the first that really connected with me from the Hickman – but then again, if you can’t win me over with a Thing spotlight issue there’s something wrong with you. Epting’s hitting all the right notes on the art front, too – his Galactus is sufficiently awesome.

Thunderstrike #1 – It’s no secret that I the DeFalco/Frenz run on Thor and Thunderstrike remains one of my favorite runs. It’s certainly not groundbreaking, it’s definitely not cool, but they feel like superhero comics should feel to me. I’m all in for this.

Skullkickers #3 – I’m pleasantly surprised by the quality of this and IDW’s Dungeons and Dragons; I can’t remember a time when there were two good quality fantasy comics on the market.

The Walking Dead Vol 13 – Too Far Gone – Rick and co are settling in in the community, but it’s pretty obvious that (a) there’s a dark secret lurking about somewhere, and (b) Rick’s losing his shit. Continually impressive.

Witchblade Redemption Vol 1 – I recently read Ron Marz’s run on Witchblade up to this book, including the Broken Trinity crossover, and I have to say that I am damn impressed. Sara Pezzini and the Witchblade mythology have really been developed and the book is far beyond it’s T&A roots (not that there’s anything inherently wrong with those roots or that there’s no T&A in the book anymore). It’s quite simply one of the most entertaining comics around at the moment, and the renumbering of the trades at this point suggest a perfect jumping on point. Recommended.