Yes, I'm still in SoCal, but I have a computer and I know how to use it! Previews is even thinner this month, which depresses me to no end, but let's flip through it anyway!
I've been skipping Kull because, like Conan, I was planning on getting it in trade. Well, the first trade has been solicited (page 24; 28 October), if you're interested.
If you haven't been reading Rex Mundi, you probably won't care, but the final issue is coming out (page 28; 19 August). I don't want this great series to end, but I can't wait to sit down and read it all, because it's just so damned good.
Meanwhile, on page 30, Bryan Talbot's latest epic, Grandville, is offered (28 October). It's an alternate history murder mystery, which means I am compelled to get it. Given that Talbot's Luther Arkwright is quite good and Alice in Sunderland was one of the best graphic novels a few years ago, this should be quite awesome.
Neil Gaiman and John Bolton's Harlequin Valentine is "finally back in print" on page 31 (14 October), in case you're interested. It's not bad, but for 13 bucks for 40 pages, it's a bit pricey.
On page 32, we find The Groo Treasury volume 1 (25 November), which collects a ton of Groo material (336 pages of it) for 25 dollars, which isn't bad at all.
Trade waiters of The Umbrella Academy: Dallas will find it offered on page 34 (21 October). Decent story, gorgeous art. On the solicit page there's this quote by the God of All Comics: "It's the X-Men for cool people." Considering he actually wrote the X-Men, does that make him uncool?
Insomnia Café by M. K. Perker on page 39 (21 October) sounds kind of neat. A disgraced rare books expert finds a place where books currently being written are already on the shelves. The black marketer who ruined his life the first time around gets wind of it, and mayhem presumably ensues.
There's a third "library edition" of Hellboy on page 43 (21 October). Yes, it's $50, but these are really nice editions, with a chunk of comics and some nifty backmatter. It's how I read my Hellboy!
Blackest Night Blackest Night Blackest Night blah blah blah ... Man, it's such a shame that these mega-crossovers sell so well, because DC and Marvel keep putting out so much product in conjunction with them. Shouldn't there be burnout yet?
I don't have that big a problem with J. Michael Straczynski writing four one-shots starring the old Archie superheroes (pages 80-81), but I do wonder why he just didn't create four new characters. I assume it has something to do with copyrights, which is a depressing if inevitable way to write comics.
On the one hand, I don't really care about yet another incarnation of the Doom Patrol (page 82; 5 August). On other hand, Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire doing the Metal Men has to be cool, right? I really hope DC is planning on collecting these back-up stories ...
DC is getting a new printing of the first trade of Icon on page 93 (30 September). That might be a cool thing to pick up.
Showcase Presents: Warlord shows up on page 95 (16 September). Grell's art has to be better in color, but this still sounds really keen.
Red Herring (page 102; 12 August) sounds like a fun little mini-series about a "global conspiracy of invading aliens and big businessmen." Yes, big businessmen are evil, naturally, which is a bit trite, but hey! Philip Bond is on art. That has to be good news, right? Also, I found the preview pages humorous. "Erection" and "of God" (and in "Holy Mother of God") have been blacked out. I suppose I can deal with the first, but why the second? Odd.
I find it interesting that, according to the solicitation text of Peter & Max: A Fables Novel on page 112 (7 October), it's a stand-alone book, yet in the very same text, it lets us know that secrets to several Fables characters are revealed, plus there's a story that bridges to the collected trades of the series. Doesn't sound all that "stand-alone," does it?
Chris Giarrusso has a new G-Man series out on page 136 (12 August). I haven't read the first volume yet (I got it a few weeks ago), but come on - it's Giarrusso! You know it will be awesome!
I didn't pick up Killer of Demons when it came out, but now the trade is offered on page 147 (12 August). I may have to get it, as Scott Wegener is super-duper.
The solicitation text for Proof #23 (page 157; 26 August) is odd: "The Julia arc concludes with a cold-blooded murder. Queen Victoria would have censored this issue." Why would Queen Victoria have such a problem with it? Was Queen Victoria a big-time censor?
I know it's not his name, but when I saw the cover of Savage Dragon #151 (page 158; 5 August), I thought "Land Shark." Does that date me way too much?
I don't think this is the time to rant about this, but there's The Marvels Project on page 6. I'm sure it's going to be fine, but I'm really sick of nostalgia porn from the Big Two. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I blame Busiek and Ross's Marvels, which is a damned good comic but unleashed years of comics that look back instead of looking forward. Every time one of these comics shows up, I despair a bit. I want comics that push things forward, consarnit! And no, bringing back the dead in a big DC crossover doesn't count. Even though I'm not a big fan of what's been going on in the Marvel U. these days, at least they're moving forward. The Marvels Project might be the greatest comic ever, but it's a bit sad that this is what fans want.
Ahhh! Scary round Spider-Man face!!!!!
I'm not going to complain about the J. Scott Campbell cheesecake cover of Amazing Spider-Man #601 (page 23), but I will complain about Mary Jane's ripped jeans. Really, Campbell? Ripped jeans? Didn't they go out of style at least a decade ago? At least? Sheesh - MJ is a model, right? Shouldn't she know fashion?
As much as I like Terry Dodson's art, doesn't Dagger look a bit ... mature in this cover? I mean, isn't she still a teenager? She looks like a full-grown woman here. That seems to be a problem with a lot of artists - they can either draw teens really well or women really well, but not both. Of course, maybe Dagger is now a bit older. I doubt it, though.
Page 38: Hulk #13. Page 39: Hulk #14. Page 50: Incredible Hercules #132 AND 133. Page 51: Incredible Hulk #601. Page 52: Son of Hulk #14. Fuck the heck? So Hulk #12 leads into Incredible Hulk #600, then goes back to its original numbering while Incredible Hulk continues with a new creative team? God-fucking-damnit. What a crock of shit. And in issue #601 there's apparently a story that has something to do with Son of Hulk. Wha????
So they're cancelling Ghost Rider and finishing Aaron's run in a Ghost Rider mini-series (page 48)? Well, that makes sense.
Yay! It's another Captain America Omnibus (page 82)! That's how I like reading my Captain America - in 20+-issue chunks!
A Deathlok Marvel Masterworks (page 83)? Really?
Don't stop now - we're moving on to the back of the book! (I have only one scans, as I scanned stuff before I left and wasn't entirely sure what I'd be writing about. Sorry!)
Page 180 brings us Western, a collection of "strips" from people like Steve Bissette, Kieron Gillen, Dwight MacPherson, and Leah Moore from Accent UK. Sounds odd enough to work!
Twenty-five dollars is a bit spendy for 120 pages, but Tom Scioli's Myth of 8-Opus: The Labyrinth, which is offered on page 186, is a blast of cosmic awesome, so you might want to check this out. It's self-published - you know you want to give it a try!
Super Human Resources gets collected in trade on page 186 from Ape Entertainment. Ken Marcus sent this to me in .pdf format a while back, and I suck because I haven't read it all yet. What I have read is quite fun, though. I'll try to review this soon, because it's a pretty good comic that you might want to check out.
Archaia has some cool books offered, unsurprisingly, although I'm still not completely sold they'll actually come out until they, you know, come out. On page 186 we get Days Missing by Phil Hester and Frazer Irving, which is about a powerful being that has wiped out certain days from the historical record, and now they're revealed! Hester is a good writer, and Irving is, of course, freakin' awesome, so I'll be picking this up. Over on page 191, Robotika #3 and 4 is offered as one issue, with the text promising "the longest fight in comic book history," with 48 pages of fist-throwing! Gold!
Howard Chaykin writes Die Hard: Year One for Boom! Studios (page 206). That's ... strange. And over on page 216, we get Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? #3, which is drawn by Tony Parker. I mention this only because Parker is a local Arizonan, and he's a pretty cool dude. If that holds any weight with you coldly cynical people, that is. And finally, the first trade of Irredeemable is on page 219. It's only 10 bucks for the first four issues, which is cheaper than if you bought it in singles!
On page 220, Candlewick Press offers The Storm in the Barn, which is about a boy in 1937 Kansas who sees something strange in his barn. Spooky! It's kid-friendly, but that doesn't mean it's for losers!
If you wait for the trade for things, I Am Legion comes out in trade on page 223 from Devil's Due. Weird mystical Nazi shit and John Cassaday art! What's not to dig?
There's a Thulsa Doom series from Dynamite Entertainment on page 230. Alex Ross's cover doesn't look anything like James Earl Jones, I must say.
Meanwhile, on page 231, you can get all three Garth Ennis Battlefields series in one big ol' 30-dollar hardcover. I wasn't aware he was only doing three of these. Oh well. And on page 233, the third volume of Borderline is offered. This is a nifty, trippy science fiction story with art by Eduardo Risso. Which means it looks fantastic. Finally, Francesco Francavilla is back on Zorro with issue #15 (page 234). Hot damn!
Page 248 has Stuffed! from First Second Books. A man inherits a museum of curiosities and weird things start to happen. It sounds pretty keen, and Nick Bertozzi draws it, so it will look nice.
On page 258, IDW has a bunch of interesting stuff. First, there's a Hero Initiative book for $3.99 with a bunch of different creators, including an American Flagg! story by Howard Chaykin, Art Adams redoing classic Marvel covers, and a Matt Wagner Grendel cover. It's for a good cause! Then, next to it, there's GrimJack: The Manx Cat for the first time in comic book form. God, I hope this sells, so IDW will reprint the GrimJack trades they haven't yet. On the bottom of the page is a reprint of Starstruck by Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta, and next to it is Detectives, Inc. by Don McGregor, Marshall Rogers, and Gene Colan. Other Greg has said this isn't that great, but still - that's a cool page of solicits.
Wasteland #26 is offered on page 272 by Oni Press. I mention this only because I really, really, really want issue #25 to come out. Please come out, issue #25! Where could you be?
The only reason you have for not reading Jeff Lemire's Essex County is if you've wanted a collection of all three graphic novels, and now Top Shelf gives it to you on page 280! Can you resist it now????
And with that, we've come to the end of another catalog chock full o' comics. Make sure you demand more from your comics reading, and they will be forced to satisfy you! Wouldn't that be nice?