It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes, and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Jeff Lemire's Frankenstein is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Archaia

The Grave Doug Freshley - A lot of publishers are doing Weird Western comics lately and that's just fine with me.

Spera, Volume 1 - I like the sound of this fairy tale in which a couple of princesses combine efforts to save their kingdoms. It's not that I'm anti-prince, but that's a cool, new way to do that story.

Avatar

Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates of Cindery Island - Warren Ellis doing Steampunk sounds thrilling, but really all they had to say was "pirates." I bet this is still really good though, even if you're pickier than I am.

Boom!

Roger Langridge's Snarked #1 - After a well-loved zero-issue, Langridge's version of Wonderland gets its real, official start.



Dark Horse

Turok, Son of Stone, Volume 1: Aztlan - I never read any of the Valiant stuff, nor the original comics they were based on, but having rediscovered my interest in dinosaurs in the last few years, I gave the first issue of this a shot and enjoyed it.

DC

The Huntress #1 - How's Levitz doing with his new Legion stuff? Can he still write? DC finally rebooted the Legion enough times to pound the fandom right out of me, so I haven't been keeping up. I'm always curious about the Huntress though, because she seems like a character with a ton of potential. I'm drowning in the hype in this solicit ("Hot new miniseries!" "Largest price on her head in DC Universe history!" "Jaw-dropping events!" "Defines her life!" "Tie-in to upcoming Birds of Prey!"), but I'd like to read a good Huntress story and am hoping this qualifies.

The Shade #1 - This is probably as close as we're going to get to a new James Robinson Starman series, but you know what? It's really damn close. And it's got some amazing artists scheduled for it like Darwyn Cooke, Javier Pulido, Jill Thompson, Frazer Irving, and Gene Ha.

Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Volume 1 tpb - Hey! Cheapskate edition! I hadn't even dared to hope.

Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 5 - I was getting all excited about the Tales of the Batman: Don Newton collection also coming out this month and was about to write something about how much I love Bronze Age Batman. Then I realized that that's what this collects too, only cheaper and it's slightly earlier stuff. Still, that Newton volume is in color, so I'll probably want both books.

The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12 - Do you know what I like better than a Batman/Zatanna team-up? I don't either.



The Annotated Sandman, Volume 1 - Dammit, DC. You're going to make me buy this again, aren't you?

Drawn and Quarterly

Hark! A Vagrant - If I could only buy one thing this month, Kate Beaton's collection would be it. I cannot wait to start loaning this out and sharing her stuff with my friends and family who don't read webcomics.

Dynamite

Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris, Volume 1 - Colossus of Mars - Unlike the glut of Green Hornet comics, there seem to be solid reasons for each of Dynamite's John Carter series to exist side-by-side. I'm eager to hear what Burroughs fans think of this one.

Sherlock Holmes: Year One - Ditto this and Holmes fans. Is it closer in tone to A Study in Scarlet or Young Sherlock Holmes?

First Second

Orcs, Volume 1: Forged for War - Orcs are my least-favorite Tolkien/D&D mythical race, but I trust First Second to change my mind about that. Dwarves better watch their backs if they don't want to get bumped to the bottom of the list.

Humanoids

The Zombies That Ate the World, Volume 1: Bring Me Back My Head! - My Guy Davis collection is one step closer to being complete.

IDW

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #1 - In spite of what I said about my Legion fandom earlier, this really does sound cool. Then again, I'm the guy who liked the Star Trek/X-Men crossovers.



30 Days of Night #1 - Very excited about a 30 Days of Night ongoing. This means I probably need to catch up on the last couple of mini-series though.

Cold War #1 - Yes, I do believe I could get into a John Byrne spy series.

Bloom County: The Complete Library, Volume 5 - Eep! I'm falling behind!

Kill Shakespeare, Volume 2: The Blast of War - The massive Fables-meets-the-Bard mini-series is all collected finally. Which means I get to read it now.

Marvel

Avengers 1959 #1 and 2 - See what I said about John Byrne's Cold War, substitute Howard Chaykin for Byrne; add Namora and Kraven the Hunter.

Legion of Monsters #1 - Someone started a meme a while ago about what titles you'd want in a Marvel version of DC's New 52. I've been giving that some thought and a couple of my wishes were a  comic about all of Marvel's monster characters and another about Elsa Bloodstone. Marvel's apparently reading my mind.

Moonstone

Return of the Monsters - I'm already pretty interested in Moonstone's pulp characters: Black Bat, Phantom Detective, Domino Lady, and the Spider. But I'm hooked right through the cheek when they meet Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, a mummy, and a werewolf in a series of four, separate comics.

Airboy Presents The Airfighters - I'm a little confused about whether this has already been solicited before, but I guess it doesn't really matter. I haven't read it yet and I want to.



NBM

Salvatore, Volume 2: An Eventful Crossfire - I do love a good anthropomorphic animal story. Blame Blacksad.

Scar

Madame Samurai, Volume 2 - The first volume of this was quiet and beautiful. Glad there's a second.

Sofawolf

Nordguard - The blurb for this reads like a standard Northern adventure story about a team of sled dogs who have to brave a variety of dangers to save some miners. I dig Jack London and all, but I've seen that story before, usually on Disney. Then I looked at the cover and realized that the sled dogs are wearing parkas and carrying revolvers.

And that's it for me. What did I leave out?