Yes, it's time for Previews #329, with more good stuff than you deserve!



Once again, I'm in black text, Travis is in blue. You know the drill!

Dark Horse:

All the solicits are here!

Aliens: Defiance (page 46) is by Brian Wood, and Tristan Jones's art looks really neat. Of course I'm getting it in trades! I just wonder: How is this an ongoing? Human characters in Alien stories don't have long shelf lives.

I'm not terribly sure if I want the hardcover of Fight Club 2 (page 50) or if I want to wait for a softcover. 30 dollars for 10 issues ain't bad, though. However, the movie is so much better than the book, so I'm a bit leery of his writing (his travel guide of Portland, however, is a treat).

Whoo-hoo! Matt Kindt's Dept. H shows up on page 52! Yes, I'm getting this in single issues, because Kindt is so awesome!!!!

Somehow when I flipped a page, I realized the significance of the title (remove the period!). I'm tempted to go singles with this - I know you were going singles with Mind MGMT, but do you know if it was true that there was some stuff that was in the singles that wasn't in the trades? That's one reason I haven't gotten even the trades of Mind MGMT yet.

Yeah, I think the stuff inside the covers - front and back - weren't in the trades. They were fun little stories that fleshed out the world a little, but if they intersected the "actual" story, Kindt explained them. But maybe they did make the trades, I don't know.



I'm a bit wary of the fact that How To Talk To Girls At Parties (page 54) is 18 bucks for 64 pages, but it's a Gaiman story adapted by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, so I know it will be good. But good enough at that price? That's tough.

It is a great story, I've read the original. And Moon and Bá are great. But yeah, I'm not sure at that price either. Depends on what else strikes my fancy!

Speaking of Matt Kindt, he writes Poppy! and the Lost Lagoon on page 59, which is drawn by Brian Hurtt, so the fact that it's not drawn by Kindt is mitigated a bit. This is about a girl explorer looking for her lost grandfather, so of course it sounds neat-o!

See, they list Kindt as doing some of the art, too, so I'm not sure - is he coloring it? Doing some of the art? The sample pages look kinda Kindt-y. (Duh, now I can read - Kindt is listed as writer and colorist, which would explain the look.) This does sound like it could be a lot of fun.

Faith Erin Hicks is writing an 80-page Buffy story on page 61. She doesn't draw it, but it still looks pretty good, and Hicks's writing is great. I don't know if I'm going to get it simply because I don't love Buffy, but good for Hicks!

I'm amazed they haven't been doing more of these "lost" tales of Buffy in high school in the "season" era. I do love Buffy, and Faith Erin Hicks, so I may be getting this!

Page 62 has the Complete Emily the Strange. I think I've read a little of this, but I'm not sure if it's something I'd like. It is nice and cheap, at 20 bucks for a 400+ page book!

The olde-tymey Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (the one from the '70s that Chaykin drew instead of the one from the '90s that he wrote) is collected on page 64. Boy howdy, I'm getting this bad bear.

Yeah. This is something that's an almost definite for me this month. I like the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories that I've read, and O'Neil, Chaykin, Simonson, and Starlin from the '70s? Fuck yeah. (Did Chaykin write the ones that Mignola drew? Answer after looking it up: yes, from Marvel/Epic.) Apparently this is a collection of the DC series Sword of Sorcery, as this cover is from the cover of the fifth issue of that. Hey, sounds good to me!



Thomas Yeates's work on Tarzan is also collected on page 64. Page 64 is Greg Hatcher's favorite Previews page EVER!!!!

I liked the Once and Future Tarzan one shot, and Yeates draws Prince Valiant and that looks purty in the newspaper, so I might go for this.

Noted: The Art of Doug Sneyd, on page 66, a collection of Playboy cartoons. It looks purty from the cover, and it's a decent chunk of pages for 20 bucks, but I'm not familiar with this artist.

You've never seen Doug Sneyd's work? That's strange. Dude was in like every single issue of Playboy for decades. Are you not as depraved as we think you are?!?!?!?

Playboy isn't depraved ENOUGH for me! HA!

Ian Bertram is drawing House of Penance (page 71), a mini-series about the Winchester House. So that will look great, if Bertram can actually finish it. Peter Tomasi is writing it, which doesn't really sway me one way or another. I mean, he can write a solid story, but does he have a masterpiece in him?

Well, now, does Bertram have a reputation for not finishing stuff? Because that's kinda harsh, dude! I will probably get this in trade because it sounds neato. I like Tomasi - The Mighty was pretty damn good, and he did write one of my favorite new 52 issues with the Batman and Robin Annual 1 where Damian sends Bruce on a scavenger hunt. Great stuff there.

Everything I've seen by Bertram is either one issue or he didn't do the entire thing. So I don't know if he's slow, but there is that evidence. I just hope a lot of this series is already in the can.

Ah, ok. Of course, weren't those things Zero and Prophet, where multiple artists were used anyway? Well, let's hope he's got this mostly done, as it does sound interesting!

He also drew Bowery Boys, which was a graphic novel and didn't seem to have any deadline, and he didn't draw all of that. It's a shame, because he's a really good artist.



Semiautomagic gets a trade on page 74. This was serialized in Dark Horse Presents, and it's actually pretty good. Alex de Campi's stories are creepy but also pretty exciting, and Jerry Ordway's art is terrific.

I dunno, I thought it started out good but petered out really quickly. Maybe it was just reading a chapter at a time, so I'll have to re-read them (since I've been getting DHP with all of these stories, and don't need this collection), but yeah, Ordway is great as usual.

DC:

Take a look at the full solicits here!

DC is releasing ANOTHER Harley Quinn book (page 82). It's only a mini-series, but dear Lord, that's a lot of Harley Quinn. I guess it's better than waiting for six months AFTER the movie comes out!!!!

I was going to say that we just got a Harley cover on Previews, didn't we? And now another one (the flip side, but still). Well, from what retailers are saying on various posts I see, about the only DC or Marvel stuff that sells is Harley and Deadpool, so they've got to get their money however they can! And don't forget the one shot on page 83, with Jim Lee art, even though, surprise, he couldn't do the art on the whole thing! (Cheeks is good, though!)

J.T. Krul and V. Ken Marion of Aspen fame are writing/drawing Bloodlines on page 84. Hey, I even like the art on Jirni and think this is a bad idea, mainly because I do not like Krul's writing in any way, shape, or form. Good for them, though!

I'm tempted if only because Marion is from my area. I've been in the same comic store at the same time as him! I haven't talked to him, mostly because while I think he does a good job with that Mike Turner style, it's not a style that I have any interest in. YMMV! (Also, I'm really shy! In person, anyway!) And as Dread Lord implicitly pointed out by his post showing all of the Bloodlines characters, any non-Hitman Bloodlines stuff sucked. (God, did Anima suck. More like Enema!) Hey, will Hitman appear in this book?

Yeah, I doubt if Hitman will appear. Let's hope not!

The Darkseid War concludes in Justice League #50 (page 86). Considering that it's been going on for, what, at least three years, it's about time!!!!

Does anyone care?

The solicitation copy for Doctor Fate #11 (page 93) reads: "The emperor Julius Caesar ..." I know I'm a history geek and that makes me sensitive to this stuff, but doesn't everyone know that Julius Caesar wasn't an emperor? I mean, he was killed specifically because everyone thought he was going to make himself the king. Come on, copy writer!!!!

I hope it's the same Julius Caesar as in Sandman. It's Buggerin' Time!

Wasn't Titans Hunt originally 12 issues, not 8? (page 103)

Beats me. It wouldn't surprise me, though.

Why does DC insist on making all of the Superman stories into giant multi book crossover epics? It's frustrating to follow! (page 105-108)

That can't be the actual cover of Superman: The Coming of the Supermen #3 (page 110), can it? CAN IT?!?!?!?!?

I hate it when I get a sliver, too!

Do you mean a splinter instead of "sliver"? Is that some regional thing I don't understand?

Could be. I think my intention was to convey a splinter, which is a sliver of wood. Yes. That is it.



Speaking of covers, those JRJR variants -- what the hell's going on to our right? EVERYONE IS FACING THAT WAY FOR BATTLE!!! It even infects the cover to Superman: American Alien 6 on page 111!

Oh my, Harley's Little Black Book 3 (page 118) features Zatanna. And is drawn by Joe Linsner. Oh my. I will definitely be getting this title in trade!

Ugh, Linsner. Sure, I guess there's some Sexy Times there, but no thanks.



Page 119 - really, Redtool? Did Conner and Palmiotti just play with a rhyming dictionary for a while?

Jeez, too bad they didn't proofread and make sure that David Petersen of Mouse Guard's name was spelled correctly in every part of the text of the solicit to Gotham Academy 17 (page 120).

Um ... oops ... I think they left the solicit text from the first volume of Geoff Johns on Flash in for this listing of the second volume (page 131). I guess nothing new happened in these issues!

I really liked the first 2 volumes of Sensation featuring Wonder Woman, so yeah, I'm in for v3 on page 134!

Also on 134 is the second volume of Superman Adventures, which has the last few Scott McCloud written issues and a few Mark Millar written issues. Also, the Lobo fight!

Peter David's Supergirl gets a trade on page 135. I have been trying for years to buy all of the issues in this 80-issue run, and recently, I got all of them ... except issue #79, which is kind of impossible to find (low print run, as it was the end of the run, is a contributing factor). So now DC is collecting it in trade, which I hope means the entire thing will be collected, and then I won't have to find issue #79!!!!

I actually looked for #79 for you! Didn't find it, but I did look! I am tempted because I've heard good stuff and I have a few of the issues. It probably would have made more sense for DC to have had this stuff in stores at the beginning, not end of the Supergirl season ... However, I will give props for putting this out in a book that's cheaper than what the equivalent Marvel book would be - a Marvel trade this size would be 40 bucks, not 25!



Also I'll probably get the Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade trade on the same page. Landry Q. Walker and Eric Jones did some good stuff with Batman: Brave and the Bold, and other stuff they've done.

I don't know if Mike Deodato's entire run on Wonder Woman has ever been collected, but it is now, on page 137. I bought every single one of these, God bless 'em, and man, they're something.

Why collect it now ... oh, yeah, movie crap. Jeez, I keep forgetting. But really, is this "best foot forward"? If you see WW in a movie and then say, "hey, let me get some WW comics", will this be the stuff to make you get more? Or is it the stuff to drive away lady-type-persons that will want to get into comics? I think we all know the answer! Again, though, at least it's reasonably priced.

Dark Night: A True Batman Story (page 139) is an autobiographical tale about Paul Dini overcoming a beating he received back in the '90s and how Batman helped him recover. Sounds neat, and it's drawn by Eduardo Risso, so there's that.

I don't know that I'd heard that about Dini before. Wow. This does sound good (um, the book, not that Dini was beaten!). I'm surprised they didn't re-list "It's a Bird" from Seagle and Kristiansen, which was also a Vertigo semi-autobio book involving a DC mainstay hero.

Yeah, I thought of It's A Bird, too. Dang, that's a good comic.



The first volume of Art Ops is on page 141. I might have to check this out.

We kid DC and Marvel for their apparent desire to bring down the comics business by making stupid moves, but 6 issues for 15 bucks of a 4 dollar single issue book is a damn good deal, and they would be well served by continuing it. I was waiting for the trade, and it's Allred, so of course I'm in!

DC always prices their trades pretty well. Much better than Marvel does.

I know you like Brian Wood's stuff - is DMZ a good one of his? I've only read one issue. (page 142)

DMZ is pretty good. I've never finished reading it (I just finally got all the big hardcovers, so I stopped reading my trades until I got those), but I read about half of it, and it was pretty good. Of course, it might all go to crap in the second half, but that's a chance I have to take!

Page 144 has the latest Hellblazer collection, which has the entire Warren Ellis run (although not the "Shoot" issue that was eventually published). I may go for this!

Why wouldn't DC put that "Shoot" issue in that collection? Sigh.

I hope someone realizes they forgot that, and says, "shoot!" HAHAHAHA

That cover of Last Gang in Town #5 is great. (page 144)



The Twilight Children trade is on page 147. Despite my ambivalence toward Gilbert Hernandez, I'm definitely getting this. Maybe it will change my mind!

Well, don't start with Blubber from Beto. Issue 2 just came out, and while I haven't read it, if it's more weird sex stuff, that won't put you in the Los Bros camp. I'm not offended by it, just think it's kinda weird. And again, DC does us a solid - a 4 issue $5 an issue mini is $14.99 for the whole shebang. Thanks, DC! I will continue to hound you about not being a fan of Los Bros, however! Heathen!

Page 148 has Unfollow TP 1, which sounds like a cool "Ten Little Indians" style book, updated for the social media that the kids all seem to like. Plus, #6 has art by RM Guera! What I saw of the first issue looked pretty neat, too. Again, 6 issues for 15 bucks is a pretty good deal! Thanks again, DC!

I hope they finally let Rainbow Batman march in the Saint Patrick's Day parade. (page 154)



IDW:

Whoo! All the solicits are here!

I'm liking Dirk Wood's Bob Ross look on page 157! The art appreciation covers are mostly neat, says this art history major!

Hey, it's Micronauts on page 158 by Cullen Bunn and David Baldeon. That's a pretty good combination, so this might be fun.

I have virtually no interest in this property, but I do like the JHW3 cover, and the creative team might be good. I'll consider a trade!



I've never been interested in Dungeons and Dragons, but Jim Zub is writing the new series (page 161), so that might be decent.

Page 175 has Star Trek: Manifest Destiny, which not only has a Klingon language edition, but must be the strangest comics crossover yet! Wait, actually, both Kirk and Spock and Lewis and Clark are explorers, so it works, kind of!

Hardy-har-har-har.

The second Jem volume is offered on page 179. Everyone is buying Jem, right? It's awesome!!!

I've been buying, of course, but I am a little behind on reading it. Oops! I'm hoping to get to it by the time this post is up, or soon after!

The Yellow Heat Artist's Edition Portfolio (page 183) is far too expensive ($40 for 8 pages), but it's still tempting, because it's Russ Heath. Sigh.

Yeah, it sounds interesting, but that price is too dear. I want to see Cowgirls from Hell, or whatever the name of the National Lampoon story he drew in a weekend was!

Speaking of Artist's Edition, on page 184 we get one for The Amazing Screw-On Head. Oh, to be independently wealthy!

There's a giant Wynonna Earp trade on page 186, collecting all the stories before this new one. I'll have to get this!

Yeah, this is one I'm interested in. I have an issue of Wynonna Earp somewhere, so if I can dig it out, I might read it and see if I want this.



I'll probably get the Fistful of Blood trade on page 190. I've been looking at the single issues, and they look insane (Bisley on art will do that), so I'll have to think about getting the trade.

I'm leaning towards getting it too, because Eastman and Bisley, but I think the singles were the same as the collection, so I may wait and see if my shop has the singles.

Page 192 has LOAC Essentials Presents King Features vol. 1: Krazy Kay 1934 (whew, that's tiring and I didn't even spell out LOAC!) is bound to be good stuff, as is the L'il Abner volume on the same page. Old comic strips should be good!

Image:

Yes, the full solicits are here.

Brian Wood returns to Vikings with Black Road (page 196), which I might have to get. It's a Viking murder mystery!

I'm probably in on this in trade, because the preview does look pretty cool.

Nick Spencer (who's okay) and Steve Lieber (who's awesome) reunite after Superior Foes of Spider-Man (which is awesome) for The Fix (page 200), which sounds a bit like SFoSM, to be honest - inept crooks being goofy. But that's okay, because it's not a bad hook. Anyway, I like Spencer when he's forced to end things (otherwise he tends to ramble), but this is an ongoing, so we'll see.

Yeah, this too should be fun in trade. I'll be in then.

Aloha, Hawaiian Dick is on page 204. Yay, more Hawaiian Dick!!! That is never a bad thing, and it's nice that B. Clay Moore was able to bring it back.

I'll have to look into the trades, and see what I have and need. I think I have the original mini, and it was good stuff, iirc.



There's a new Criminal one-shot on page 206 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the series. There will also be a magazine-sized format like the one last year, which will probably be neat. I'm looking forward to this!

Huh, I'da thunk this was older than 10 years, for some reason. I don't know why! But yes, I will get the magazine size one, and hopefully be able to reorder the other magazine size special where it's reoffered on 207 as well.



Demon Chicken Poyo is on page 209. Because all things Chew are awesome.

Yes, I have the other Poyo specials, so I need to get this one! I also need all the big Chew omnis. I'm so far behind now!

Think Tank gets resolicited on page 211. I would really like it if it came out this time!!!

I assume this is the same book I ordered months ago. I think I'll get it in singles, but I'm not sure. My Think Tank formats are all different anyway, since I got the first 4 issues in singles and the rest in trade, except for that one special. But Hawkins does good comics, so I'm in with some format!

Hey, what the heck? Dark Corridor 7 is listed on page 221 as the "season finale", so why isn't this in the TP I ordered last month? Wha?

Yeah, that Dark Corridor solicit is really weird. It claims it's a "season finale," but the burst by it reads "series finale," and they already solicited the trade with issues #1-6. On Twitter Tommaso seems to imply that it's the final issue and that a "new series" will follow, but will it be in the same setting, just new characters? And why do a trade of the six issues and then have one more issue wrapping everything up? That makes no sense.

It makes my haid hurt!

Hmm, now Prophet Earth War is only 4 issues, not 6. Guess I better check my shop for the singles instead of waiting for the trade like I was gonna. (Page 226)

Page 229 has 2 issues of The Violent listed. Ahead of schedule, or having to wrap up early due to low sales? I was waiting for the trade because I do like Brisson!

What lies about The Walking Dead on page 231! The coloring book solicit info claims they never had color. So what Dread Lord showed us from 75 in his CBLR about the start of the book didn't happen (well, within the storyline, yes, but YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN)? Liars!

Page 232 has Camp Midnight resolicited, probably because they're pushing it for FCBD. It sounded neat, so I may go for it!

Page 234 has the deluxe HC of Airboy. Now, here in the book, it's not clear, but the online solicit said there's a new story in there. Grr! I'll wait and see if they do a trade of this down the road. Or get this cheap online eventually.

The solicit on CBR doesn't say anything about an extra story in the Airboy trade. Did you see it somewhere else?

Yeah, here over on the Previews site: "which features a brand new story dealing with the reaction to the comic's initial publication that doesn't turn out the way anyone expects ... least of all Robinson and Hinkle." Trying to sucker me into paying for it again!

Well, that's annoying. I'd like to read that story, but I don't want to buy the entire series again!

The Goddamned is in trade on page 235. I'm still mulling over whether I'm going to get this or not.

Wha? It's the Scalped team, 5 issues for 10 bucks. Of course you get this, dammit!



Limbo gets a trade on page 235. Three issues in, this is pretty good. Let's hope the final three issues are as good!

Oh cool, I waited for the trade, so I'm glad it's been good.

Page 236 has the rasslin' comic Ringside, which I'll probably get, and maybe even give it to a pal who watches rasslin'!

Page 237 has the first trade of Symmetry, which is another Hawkins book, and like I said, I'm in for his stuff.

You said Birthright is a good book? I may go for the trades offered on page 239. Dunno why I passed on v1 in the first place!

Birthright is quite good. Go read it!

I probably will!

Page 240 has v2 of Descender and Invisible Republic, so I better read v1 of each! There's also v2 of EGOs, which was a really good book (they even quoted Kelly as saying so!), so of course I'm in on this!

Page 241 may allow me to catch up on Minimum Wage, which I ought to look into, since Bob Fingerman is pretty good.

Page 242 has the third trade of Postal, which has been quite good (Hawkins again!), the second trade of Pretty Deadly, which turned out to be better than I thought going in, and the sixth Archive volume of Savage Dragon, 25 issues in B&W. Smart comics readers like the Dragon!

Page 243 has the third volume of Southern Bastards, which v1 was ok, and the third volume of Wayward, which means I might get v1 at my shop and see if it's any good.

Marvel:

Oh, you know you can find the full solicits here!

A lot of people have been very keen about Ta-Nehisi Coates writing Black Panther (page 6), but I just don't get it. I mean, I don't know if he's a good fiction writer or not - he exploded last year with a non-fiction book - but more than that, does it really matter? There have been very good black writers on Black Panther in the past, and it hasn't moved the dial in the mainstream, and despite T'Challa getting more prominent in the MCU, I doubt if that will change. It's great that they got Coates to write it, but while it might be a good story (which I will get in trade), it's not going to create a great cultural shift or anything.

I'd say it's as much an acknowledgement that Marvel is trying to be more diverse and get creators and creations that aren't just straight white males on their books. That's a good thing. Plus it'll get mainstream coverage in places that don't always look at superhero comics (NPR is bound to do something about it). So hey, I get your point, but, y'know, get out of the way, old man, change is a-comin' whether you like it or not! (Heh!)

Why I hate the new Poe Dameron ongoing on page 8: Apparently, Disney/Marvel is planning to fill plot holes in the movie with these things, like the prequel novel apparently did. That's just fucking cheap, and it pisses me off. If your fucking movies can't stand on their own, don't make people who have legitimate questions about the characters go searching for answers in books and comics. Dick move, Disney.

It's called cross-marketing, and it's the way the Mouse will suck the blood from the wallets of all the Star Wars nerds! HAHAHA!!! I didn't see the movie and don't plan on it anytime soon - did Dr Spock defeat the Day-leks when Marty McFly and Frodo came in at the end to save everyone?

Yay, Marvel tries again with Moon Knight (page 12)! It'll be a nice trade, at least, and I just love that, like so many other characters in their stable, they just keep plugging away with everyone's favorite crazy vigilante. Marvel knows no defeat!!!!!

Throw everything against the wall and see what sticks!



Marvel had the absolute balls to name the monster in "Standoff" - his "monster name" is American Kaiju - Corporal Todd Ziller. Holy shit, Marvel, that's some good trolling there.

I give no shits about Standoff. None. Is the dude's real name significant?

He's a giant monster that resembles monsters in Japanese monster movies ... and he's named Todd Ziller. THINK, MAN!!!!

Ohhhhhh! Duh! I need to listen to my BÖC, man!

Page 79 has Mockingbird 2, with the kind of sexytime BDSM wear people that we all want! YAY!



Hey, look, it's a brand-new Miracleman story on page 98. That should be groovy.

Our long national nightmare is over!



Mark Millar once again pays an artist I like (Stuart Immonen) to draw a comic I won't read (Empress on page 104). DAMN YOU, MARK MILLAR!!!!!

I'll probably eventually read the trade.

Hey, McFarlane's adjectiveless Spider-Man book is in advantageous Omnibus format! I think I have most of that stuff, though. And it ain't worth this price! (page 118)

But I'm sure that compared to other comics, its quality ... RISES ABOVE IT ALL!

Because Dread Lord showed us some neat stuff from All-New Wolverine, I may get the trade! (page 122)

The Spider-Man Deadpool team-up book on pae 123 includes the famous DP issue [Editor: issue #11 of the Joe Kelly series], as well as some other stuff that might be fun. Maybe!

I suppose I'll get the first trade of Charles Soule's Daredevil (page 133). I haven't heard much about it, but I like Soule, and I like Ron Garney, so we'll see.

Tell me if that's really Gambit that he's training!

I'm sure you're getting the Starbrand trade on page 134. NEW UNIVERSE, BITCHES!!!!!

HA, nice! No, no I am not getting it.

Page 135 has the "Under Siege" Avengers storyline, in an Epic collection, that everyone seems to like. Pricey, though, like I was saying over in DC. Maybe!

And I really know you're getting the FORCE WORKS trade on page 137. 40 bucks for 472 pages of pure 1990s AWESOME!!!!!

Geezus WTF is wrong with people? Why would you collect this shit?! Who buys it? I want names!



Let's check out the back of the book!

Action Lab gives us the beginnings of the "Actionverse" with a weekly series on page 258.

Just Another Sheep gets a trade on page 263 (also from Action Lab). This sounded neat - a teenager in 1969 goes on a road trip to find out how he got super powers, and bizarre, 1960s-stuff happens to him - so I'll probably pick it up.

Yeah, I was definitely interested. I liked JD Faith from San Hannibal, and the series sounded nice and weird. "The most innovative series in history", though? That's a tall order!



Also on page 263 is Kingdom Bum in trade, which is about hoboes fighting. Y'know, like in Nancy, with Sluggo.

Why is a Zombie Tramp Christmas Special coming out now? I guess it's new exclusive covers, but still, very odd! (page 265)

Aftershock is offering comics for $1.99 on pages 266-268. They sound okay - given my predilections, Rough Riders (in which Teddy Roosevelt and his team fight aliens and other bad guys) is the one I'm interested in, but they all sound pretty good. I wonder if Aftershock already isn't doing well, so they're resorting to these stunts to get people to buy their books. We shall see.

Yeah, all 3 sound pretty good. I suspect that they've just fallen prey to the malaise and ennui that has fallen over us comics readers due to the moves from DC and Marvel lately. Also, 3.99 to plunk down to try a book that will probably get traded is a hard sell when Image has plenty of good books cheaper (for a while still, at least!). I may pick up some of these at 1.99, but I'll probably just trade wait still anyway. It's my new thing! That said, Rough Riders does sound like the best concept of the bunch, although I don't know about Adam Glass's work enough. I do love Pat Olliffe! So League of Extraordinary Historical Figures should be a pretty good book. (Oh snap!) And Jackpot, with con artists planning to scam the gods sounds neat, and Ray Fawkes is pretty good. B.E.K. (Black Eyed Kids) (wait, Fergie and Will.i.am are in a comic?) sounds creepy, and Joe Pruett is pretty good.



Alternative has Chain Mail Bikini on page 272. Woo hoo! Waitasec ... oh, stories about female gamers. Not quite what I was thinking, but it actually sounds better than that!

Irene v6 on the same page features Lucy Bellwood, and I do believe she's a creator you like, right?

Yeah, I dig Bellwood. I'll probably skip this, but maybe I'll get it at a convention directly from her, if she has copies.

King-Cat Comics is up to #75 with its 25th anniversary. Cool. I've read a little of John Porcellino's stuff, and it's pretty good.

I may also go for the 3 issues of The Secret Voice offered on 272 and 273, because Zack Soto is pretty good, and I've got the #0 issue from ... whoever put it out years back (Adhouse?).

Corey Lewis, of Sharknife ... fame?, has a new anthology series on page 273 called Sun Bakery. I've never read Sharknife, but I like Lewis's art, so this might be something to check out.

I know not of this Sharknife, but this looks like it could be fun. What else has he done?

I don't know what else Lewis has done. I only know him from Sharknife.



May I point out the delightful Patty Cake, 2 volumes of which are available on page 273 from Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics. Yeah, it's a re-list, but it's really good stuff!

American Gothic Press has Killbox 1 on page 274, which sounds like a real life video game where the players have to kill each other off. Might be interesting in trade!

Wow, Greg LaRocque is back drawing comics, this time on Stargate: Atlantis on page 276 from American Mythology. I have no interest in this, but good for LaRocque!

This doesn't look like his best work, but yeah, I always like to see creators working regularly!

I also do not like the Three Stooges (I know, sacrilege), but Brendon and Brian Fraim are drawing their new comic on page 280. The Fraims are pretty good artists, so this will probably look nice. I'm still not getting it, though.

Oh, wiseguy, eh? My favorite use of the Stooges in comics was in Cerebus, of course, but that's another story. I did not notice that the Fraims were the artists on this, though. Now I have to dig out The Waiting Place and give that another look!

Straitjacket is offered as a trade on page 283 from Amigo. This has been a pretty good series so far (it has one issue to go), so if you've been waiting for the trade, there it is!

I've been getting the singles, as El Torres has proven to be a good writer (putting out comics on time is another matter ...), but I have not yet read this. I know you're surprised!

He's also got Unleash on the same page, which sounds interesting, with a young woman who wants to fight sexual predators as a superhero. And it'll be a movie, yay!



Page 287 - she has no head! Steamlore #1 from Antarctic Press. Interiors look pretty good, though.

Man, that is hilarious. The interiors do look good, but man, that cover!

New volume of Ennis's War Stories on page 294 from Avatar, if anyone's interested. I should catch up with this stuff.

I have to check who is in this, but Big Planet/Retrofit has Big Planet Comics Blue GN, with DC/Virginia/Maryland area cartoonists. I think Rafer Roberts is from that area, but I don't see his name on the cover, and I don't find this comic on the Big Planet website yet. (page 300)

Black Mask has 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank #1 (of 4, I think it says somewhere in the Previews book), by the guy who wrote We Can Never Go Home, which I still need to read. That is a design-y cover! (page 302)

We Can Never Go Home is pretty good. Bleak, but good.



Blue Juice Comics has, on page 302, Aether and Empire 1, a steampunk/Verne-esque tale of the Royal Naval ship that has to rescue a scientific mission to Mars. Art by Bong Dazo, and it sounds pretty neat. Blue Juice also did Accelerators and Anne Bonnie, and they were both quite good!

Marcus To is drawing Joyride from Boom! (page 306), which is about a group of teens who decide to leave the polluted Earth and see what's out in space. Bad things happen, I assume. To's art is terrific, and this sounds fun.

Yeah, that does sound like it'll be fun. I'll wait and see on the trade!



Hope Larson is writing Goldie Vance (page 308), a story about a kid detective at a Florida resort. Everyone likes Hope Larson's work, right?

This does sound fun. I'm in for the trade!

I reviewed The Fiction #1, and it was pretty keen, so I'm glad Boom! is putting out a trade (Boom! seems to really wait a long time to put out trades!) on page 314.

Yeah, they aren't very quick on getting trades out, and then I forget about a book. Like this, or the second Day Men volume on the same page. Of course, I still have to read Day Men v1!

Hey, a company that actually gives GMozz the space he wants and needs to tell a story! Klaus is now 7 issues. (page 316) There's also the Pen and Ink version of #1 and 2 offered here, which may be worth getting for the commentary as well as the neat art.

You thought when Boundless brought back Web Witch that they had scraped the bottom of the barrel. But on page 320, we get a new ... Hellina! Holy shit, it's a new iteration of Hellina. I'm actually stupefied.

I didn't think I could love comics any more than I already do!

Speaking of overly pervy comics, oh my, that wraparound cover of Jungle Fantasy: Vixens #2 (page 322) is filthy! Even without the nude version! It would have been classy if not for the dripping trunk on the woolly mammoth. Yeah, that's what makes it bad ...

I'm not even going to post it here, as this is a fucking family blog! Gaze upon it here ... if you dare!

Page 326 has Canton Street Press, with some neato stuff. Charlton's Nightshade is reprinted, and I will probably get this because Ditko! And Is This Tomorrow?, anti-Commie propaganda with some art by Charles friggin' Schulz! Awesome!

Chapterhouse has The Fourth Planet #1 on page 327, and it sounds neat, with humans crash landing on an alien planet where 3 races are at war, but the most advanced race is only at the gunpowder weaponry stage. Cover looks purty too.



Huh, Brian Pulido got Lady Death back, and is putting out a new issue from Coffin Comics on page 328. Not sure the "naughty" cover is any worse than EVERY OTHER LADY DEATH COVER EVER, but they gotta make money somehow, I guess.

Also on 328 from Cinebook is Namibia v1, where Hermann Göring was still alive in '49, after he supposedly killed himself. Sounds like an interesting book.

ComicMix has Touching Evil volume 1 (page 330), which has a ridiculous premise - a lawyer has a power that kills anyone she touches, but only if they're evil - but I like Dan Daugherty, to a degree, and something that ridiculous has to be at least entertaining, right?

That's an awesome premise, and if you think it's not, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU READ COMICS, THEN! Ahem. Anyway, I may go for this, it sounds neat.

Also from ComicMix is Sir Apropos of Nothing, from PAD. Did IDW originally publish this?

I'm not sure. I guess it doesn't matter now!

Also on page 330, ComixTribe has Chum by Ryan Lindsay, which is a pulp story set on a tropical island, about a girl who will do anything to leave. I might check this out.

This I might get in singles, since it's only 3 issues and I like RKL. Pair it with Hawaiian Dick! Remind me to send you the emails from Comixtribe I get that had a link to a preview/prelude comic. I still have to look at it myself!



Creature has Forgive Me Father 1 of 3, also on page 330, and this too sounds interesting, with a despairing priest trying to help a runaway girl, who may not be all she seems. I might go for this in singles as well!

Dynamite has Gold Key: Alliance 1 of 5 on page 332, putting the characters that were the foundation of the Valiant Universe together with other guys that Gold Key published. But they all exist in today's world, now. I may go for the trade, because I like these characters and Phil Hester is writing. But when did he do Wonder Woman? I'm blanking! And egads, the interview on page 334 tells us he has a son old enough to be working on his masters! When did that happen? I bet he asks himself that too!

Hester finished JMS's run on Wonder Woman. Yeah, it's not surprising that you don't remember that.

Oh, yeah, now I remember!

Page 335 smashes together the Twilight Zone and the Shadow, because that's what the two darts thrown against the wall at Dynamite's offices hit this month! HA! Cover is awesome, and if there are no variants, I may go for this in singles. Or wait months down the road until it's really cheap in back issue bins!

Huh, they're only just putting Xena back out again in comics. She looks good for being gone 25 years in the story! (page 336)

New Miss Fury on page 340, as well. The first Dynamite series was pretty good, from what I read of it.

Complete Alice in Wonderland on page 343, but is there another Johnny Depp Alice movie coming? Why?

Devil's Due/1First has the Mercy Sparx Omni on page 350, which is something I may go for. Don't judge me!

Also Operation Nemesis offered again, for those of us who missed it the first time.

They also offer the first trade of RRH on page 354, which Dread Lord featured ... last year? Year before? and it looked good. I'll probably go for it! Red Riding Hood vs. werewolves sounds fun!

Dial has Little Dee and the Penguin, by Christopher Baldwin, who does nice comic strips in Mad Magazine, and he's pretty good. I assume this is not quite the same kind of subject matter - this is about an orphaned girl who goes on the run with a bunch of animals. Sounds cute!

Dover continues to re-publish some interesting stuff, with Murder by Remote Control on page 358. This sounds very neat and weird, and it looks great.

I will probably go for this. I've been glad to hear from Drew Ford from Dover in the comments for these columns we do, and that sort of goodwill from publishers translates into me spending money on their books! (Again, I am not above accepting free comics from publishers! Contact me in the comments!)

D&Q has, on page 358, a new Chester Brown book, Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus, which deals with the representation of prostitution in the Bible. Sounds interesting, and the cover is so vaginal! Heh. Other Chester Brown books are reoffered on page 359.

Since this book is out in Black History Month, I'll mention that Eureka's Graphic Classics v22: African American Classics on page 363 is reoffered. Good stuff, says this dumb white guy!

Yay, more Wallace Wood stuff from Fantagraphics on page 364, this time a reprint of Shattuck, his Western from the 1970s. This is drawn by Howard Chaykin and Dave Cockrum (at least some of it is - I don't know if it all is), and inked by Wood, who was, of course, a terrific inker. I'll have to check this out.

Hmmm, maybe they should point that out in the solicit, that it's not all drawn by Wood. It's only 72 pages, so while it's probably quite good, it seems a bit pricey.



Also on page 364 is 5,000 km Per Second, which the solicit says is "certain to delight American readers", which is likely a dang dirty lie, since it's in metric. Heh.

Speaking of Faith Erin Hicks, she has a new book that's she writing AND drawing, The Nameless City from First Second on page 366. Does it matter what it's about? No, it does not. It's Faith Erin Hicks!!!!

Oh yeah, it'll be good. I may wait to read it from the liberry, though!



I don't know the creators of Original Fake from GP Putnams on page 368, but weird families and street art will probably be fun!

Grind House has Escape From the Dead GN on page 377, with a guy imprisoned in a "sexually charged fortress", whatever that means.

GMozz is now editing Heavy Metal! Hide the children! (I'm amazed they let the double middle fingers go uncensored here.) (page 378)

Jet City Comics has a trade of King on page 380. I never got issues #3 and 4, and I don't know why, so I might have to get this trade. It's weird, because I got every issue of Muirwood: The Lost Abbey, which is also a Jet City comic, so I don't know why my retailer didn't get King. Sigh.

Yeah, King came out weird times - week early, week late from the listing on the Previews page. Like I told you already, #4 came out this past week at my store, but wasn't on the Previews list for the week. It's not listed (right now) on next week's list either. So I don't know if it's an issue with King, or Diamond, or your retailer, or what (or even King Diamond himself!). My store also got all of Muirwood, and I may get the set my shop owner put together.

Mark Waid is writing Axiom (page 388 from Legendary Comics), which sounds like a standard "superheroes save the world but they have hidden motives" kind of thing, but Waid knows what he's doing, so that's the good news. The bad news is that Ed Benes draws it. Now Benes knows how to draw, but I just don't dig his style. I'll have to think about this.

I'm torn too. It doesn't sound quite good enough to overcome the Benes-ness for me, either. I will say that Legendary is cool - just in the news because they were bought by a Chinese company, and the CEO is from my area. A dang billionaire came from my area! It's inspiring!

Madballs. Madballs in comics. Why god why? (page 388 from Lion Forge)

Page 392 gives us Magnetic/Darby Pop's Bruce Lee: The Dragon Rises, which sounds neat because the concept is that Bruce never died or aged. Meta!

Moonstone gives us Guns of the Black Bat 1 on page 394, wherein he'll team up with Airboy and Domino Lady and some others, and a trade of Domino Lady/Sherlock Holmes, which collects the decent 2 issue series and some other neat sounding stuff. I may go for these!



Jiro Taniguchi is the latest creator to do one of the Louvre-centered comics that NBM publishes, this one called Guardians of the Louvre on page 394. These are usually pretty cool comics, and Taniguchi is great, so I might have to get this.

I'm so provincial - what comics has Taniguchi done? (Ah, The Walking Man. I should familiarize myself with his stuff!)

Taniguchi has also done A Distant Neighborhood (which is pretty good) and The Summit of the Gods, which is excellent (what I've read of it - I pulled a "Travis" and fell behind on this). Check his stuff out!

Hey, buy me dinner first before you "pull a Travis". heh heh heh! I'm all class!

You might like the book Peplum on page 396 from New York Review Comics, by Blutch, set in ancient Rome with a woman in ice and a journey. Sounds like crazy fun!

That does sound neat. Making me spend more money, Pelkie!!!!!



Ugh, McKelvie's homaging Fleetwood Mac on the variant cover of Heartthrob 1 from Oni. I'm twitching from the exposure to classic rock! I need some Britpop, stat! Gimme some Pulp! The story itself sounds interesting, one of those "the organ transplant I got makes me act like the person I got the organ from" type of things. I'll see when the trade comes out! (page 397)



Page 398 has The Mighty Zodiac, by J. Torres and Corin Howell, so it'll probably be good.

I almost fell over when I saw that The Sixth Gun is back on the schedule on page 401. The last issue came out about a year ago, and I've been wondering if Bunn and Hurtt would ever finish the book. I'm so happy!!!!

I need to get more of that - I have the first arc's worth of issues, but nothing beyond that, but I've read ... 2 or 3 of the trades, I think? Great stuff, of course.

Peter Milligan and Brendan McCarthy's Sooner or Later gets reprinted by 2000AD on page 408. Yeah, I'll be getting this sucker.

It wasn't in the best of book from DH by those 2? (He says, revealing that he still hasn't read that book either ...) If not, I'll be getting this.

There's some of Sooner or Later in that Dark Horse Milligan/McCarthy book - I know it was in there, but I'll have to check to see if it's the entire thing. That would save me some money!

Yeah, me too. I don't know where I put that book now! Good thing we've got a few weeks still for me to find it!

Rothic has a couple of books on page 409. REM 8 #1 (was their 8th one Automatic for the People?), which mashes up Asian mythology with futuristic stuff. And Southern Nightgown v1. If wanting to read about young girls putting on strange nightgowns in the middle of a cornfield at night is wrong, I don't want to be right!

I saw that haunted nightgown book, and thought of you!

I'm not sure what the most disturbing part of that sentence is!



Noted: Henchgirl 6 is offered from Scout on page 410. Also from Scout is Sabretooth Dan, described as Calvin and Hobbes meets Lord of the Rings.

Also on page 410 from SelfMadeHero is Irmina, about a woman in pre-WW2 Germany who goes to Oxford and falls in love with one of the first black students there. Whole big thing of a war intercedes.



From Seven Seas Entertainment on page 412 comes (gimme a second to wind up!) Shomin Sample: I was Abducted by an Elite All-Girls School as a Sample Commoner v1! (*whew*) It sounds amusing - there's an elite school for young girls completely isolated from the outside world, but to combat culture shock when the girls re-enter society, the school kidnaps an average teenage boy to tell them about the outside. Could be fun, so I'll probably try it!

Titan stuff - on page 429, there are more Michael Moorcock books, a Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu book, Pimp by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr (how can I resist!?), and a lost pulp novel by Gore friggin' Vidal! Day-um! I blame Hatcher for my newfound love of pulpy mystery! Oh my poor wallet!

On page 431, the second volume of the Tenth Doctor Doctor Who comics omnibus reprinting the IDW stuff. I mention this because it's got a story by everybody's pal, Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston. Yay!

I'm totally blanking on what album the 12th Doctor Year 2 #6 homage cover is homaging. Argh! I know it, too! (page 432)

Um, that's the Rolling Stones' Hot Rocks. Sheesh, come on, Travis!



Page 435 has the trade of a book I was interested in, Bloodthirsty: One Nation Under Water, which is about a post-Katrina NOLA ... and vampires, I think? I can't remember why, but I was interested. Cover looks good.

Page 436 gives us more Garth Ennis/war comics, with Garth presenting the Fighting Mann collection, and a book of Johnny Red. These are probably good stuff. The first book also features canine heroics!

12 Gauge gives us, on page 440, Nick Travers v1, which is more NOLA mystery. A suicide, a missing saxophone, and of course, a woman. That cover is nice and graphic!



I'm liking the Udon Street Fighter Unlimited homage covers, like the one on page 444 homaging Bane breaking Batman's back. It's so cool, it distracted me from the boobs right next to it!

Valiant gives us Divinity II from Kindt and Hairsine on page 446. I guess I still have time to read the trade of v1 before the trade of this comes out!

I was a bit disappointed by the first series. It was okay, but nothing special.

Page 455 gives us a couple of neat Valiant things - the new Handbook for this year, which I'll probably get because I'm a sucker for the Valiant Universe, and the first 10 dollar trade of Wrath of the Eternal Warrior, which has a neat hook, and looked good when the Dread Lord reviewed it. I'm always a sucker for a 10 dollar trade! Heck, I'm just a sucker!

Christopher Priest's and Mark Bright's Quantum and Woody gets its fourth volume - the recent one, where they wrap up old plot threads, presumably - on page 456. I liked the first three trades, so I'll get this one, too!

It was many years ago when I read them, but I had a couple of issues from the original run of Q&W, and I ... just didn't get all the love for it. I dunno. I'll have to look again at some point, but it just escaped me why people loved it so.

Owly's Andy Runton did an X-O Manowar story (in the dee-loox HC 3 on the same page)? Did X-O mope around adorably?

Did you actually get that Family Pets GN that Zenescope put out, offered again on page 478? I love how a presumably kid friendly book like that is right below the skeevy Alice in Wonderland coloring book!

No, I didn't get it. It just didn't look like my kind of thing.

For those of us who nerd out on conversations with creators we like, there are 2 of the Conversations books offered on pages 480 and 481, with Ed Brubaker in a $40 HC and Seth in a $25 SC.

The Wonder Woman Q-Figure on page 534 is adorable.



As is the Baby Hellboy figure on page 543.

Page 588 - DC Superhero Back Scratchers. Fighting injustice and ... itchy skin, I guess.

And I'll end with one of those wonderful Japanese manga/anime based statue/figure things. On page 569, there's the Testament of Sister New Devil Mio Naruse PVC figure, and I assume that no matter how you try to stand it, it keeps falling forward. Japan is weird, man.

With those profound words, we'll wrap up this month's look through Previews. Have a good day, everyone, and make sure to find all the cool stuff you need!