In addition to Pipeline, I'm also a contributing writer to the CBR Reviews section right here at ComicBookResources.com. I gave up the Editor's mantle a while back, but I still stick around to fill in some gaps here and there, mostly from the Image catalog. This month, for example, I've reviewed "Invincible" #101, "Comeback" #5, "The Manhattan Projects" #10, and "Glory" #33.

I was going to review Jimmie Robinson's "Five Weapons" #5 last week, but ran short on time to do so. So let me fill in that gap here this week.

"Five Weapons" is a smart and downright clever comic book from the creator of "Bomb Queen." It's also completely different and more accessible to readers of all ages. This book is built around a boy sent away to a school for assassins. Needless to say, it's a dangerous place to be for a new kid looking to fit in. It's doubly dangerous for a new kid who refuses to use a weapon, but must choose to join one of the school's classes centered around a specific fighting style -- from arrows to kung fu and everything inbetween. It's triply dangerous when the boy isn't exactly who everyone thinks he is.

Robinson takes a concept that could easily be played for laughs or some sort of satirical purpose (maybe riffing off "Hunger Games" or "Battle Royale") and instead turns it into some classic high school drama and adolescent angst mixed with a dry wit and a sharp tongue. The most interesting part of the book is the way Robinson sets up little mysteries, quickly solving them later on with a callback to the panel that shows what the reader saw earlier in a whole new light. The big clues in the second issue are obvious now that you have the set-up and the pattern, but the trick will be in how the clue is used to solve the boy's problems next issue. I can't wait to see it, because Robinson hasn't disappointed me yet with the first two issues. I'm sure it'll be just as crazy and tricky as everything else.

Robinson's art in the series is shot directly from his tight pencils and then knocked out with a lighter color. (All credit to Paul Little for the coloring in the book, keeping things simple yet interesting.) It gives the book a softer look, but not at all a looser or sketchier look. The real giveaway is in the shaded sections, where you can see the obvious pencil liness. A trained eye might notice the lack of line weight volatility as well. This book looks nothing like what an ink brush might create. You'd need to be looking for that before you notice it, though, most likely.

The entire series is made up of wide panels, stacked four to seven high on a page. After you're done reading an issue, it's worth going back to see how Robinson fit in all the storytelling in a format that can be very restrictive. Those wide panels often mean more close-up shots, or more dramatically distant shots, to show all of the staging in a scene. It's mostly done with close-ups, but Robinson varies his angles enough to change the point of view of the shot. He also adds layers to the panels, with items in the extreme foreground helping to frame a panel within a panel.

The only thing in the series that bothers me a little is the lettering. The biggest problem is the number of balloon tails that point to characters' foreheads, eyes, and necks instead of their mouths. The font, itself, is a little annoying to me, though that's strictly a personal opinion and not a technical one. (It's not like he's using the crossbar-I or that the font is easily mistaken for Comic Sans.) And with all of the dialogue in the issue, the balloons occasionally look a little crowded or are linked together in funny ways. Sometimes, they float in the middle of the panel, while other times they butt up against and knock out the panel border. (Worse, sometimes they just barely overlap.) It's never consistent.

That all said, I absolutely love Robinson's decision on linking the balloons together on the first panel of the first page. It keeps the words out of the way of the art, but it also adds a rhythm to the language that you otherwise wouldn't get if the balloons were butted up against each other. You can feel the movement of the knives even more this way. It's a pattern repeated in the second panel for Tyler's response. That works because of the parallels. Nicely done.

Both issues of the series so far should be available to you still. The first issue has a second printing scheduled for release this week, and this second one just came out less than a week ago. There's always the digital option, as well. It's worth a read.

In other Image news, the grand finale to Joe Keatinge and Ross Campbell's "Glory" series hits shelves this week. Someone else will be handling the official CBR review of it, but I have read it and do think they stuck the landing nicely. It's a proper ending for the series that treats its outlandish characters as real people, the kind you're going to miss for all sorts of reasons. It takes a set-up that could quickly go off the rails into the cliche and absurd and turns it into an entertaining and, at times, heart-warming story. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to read it all over again. Congrats to Keatinge/Campbell/Gieni/Brisson and friends for an excellent run.

IMAGE COMICS SELLS OUT

You might remember the hubbub back in December when Image announced plans to stop some second printings. At the time, I made some predictions on which books would sell out and need second printings in March, the next available solicitations. Let's see how I did.

I wrote:

"East of West" #1 is the new one from Jonathan Hickman. His books always sell out.

Here, now, is the Image press release from March 28:

EAST OF WEST #1, the premiere issue of the apocalyptic Western by Jonathan Hickman (THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS) and Nick Dragotta, has sold out the same day as its release on March 27. It will receive a second printing (Diamond Comics code FEB138443), going on shelves in stores on April 24, the same day as EAST OF WEST #2.

Prediction #2:

"Lost Vegas" #1 is a new four part miniseries from Jim McCann of "Mind the Gap" fame, and Janet Lee, who also did the art on McCann's script for "Return of the Dapper Man." That book won awards. I bet this one gets under-ordered.

No second printing. Perhaps the awards and the assumed popularity of the book meant the book was ordered higher to begin with? The system works!

Prediction #3:

"Sex" #1 is Joe Casey's subtle ploy for attention. How can a title like that not be sold out in record time?

Image press release from March 11:

This week, Image Comics demonstrated what everyone has suspected all along: SEX sells. Joe Casey's and Piotr Kowalski's comic book SEX, that is - a subversive take on superheroes that takes a former costumed crime-fighter into the underbelly of the city he'd formerly sworn to protect. The first issue, which made its debut with a limited edition exclusive cover at Emerald City Comicon and landed in stores on March 6, has sold out and will receive a second printing.

That one was almost too easy. The second issue is out this week. The cover features ridiculously perfectly strategically placed noir shadow stripes. (Ha! That's three adverbs in a row! Take that, Strunk! Take that, White!)

"Five Weapons" #2 will be under-ordered, because orders traditionally drop on a second issue. Can Jimmie Robinson sell the series enough with its first issue to keep the readership anxious enough for #2 to overcome that? He has a good chance with this one. If #1 goes to a second printing, I think this one will, as well.

The first issue did go to a second printing. That was announced on March 8th:

The Image Comics imprint Shadowline, helmed by Image co-founder Jim Valentino, has another hit on its hands with Jimmie Robinson's FIVE WEAPONS, as the first issue sold out in its first week of release, prompting an immediate reprint. The second printing of FIVE WEAPONS #1 will be in stores on April 3 and it can be pre-ordered now (Diamond Comics code JAN138340).

Doesn't look like the second issue will be, but you never know. Given how good the book is -- see my review above -- I'd argue that I was right about the book being "under-ordered," at least.

And then my predictions went completely off the cliff. No reprints for "Walking Dead: The Governor Special", "Walking Dead" #108, "Saga" #11, "Invincible" #101, "TriggerGirl 6", or "Chew" #33. (That issue of "Chew" won't be out until April now, but I wouldn't bet on it getting a second printing anymore.) Five out of those six are relatively long-running series at this point, so perhaps their audiences are locked in, at least? Maybe the "Walking Dead" bump from a new season has settled down and everyone is just waiting for the trade? Or maybe retailers took heed of Image's discussion of the matter in December and started upping their orders? (Looking around at some sales guesstimates on-line, it seems like only "Saga" had a big bump in sales from December to February, though, so I wouldn't bet on that.)

Also in March: "Nowhere Man" #1 got its fifth and final printing, while the series' fourth issue went to a second printing. "Peter Panzerfaust" #10 had a second printing announcement on March 18. Two days later, "Five Ghosts" #1 sold out on its day of release and had an immediate reprint announcement. Second printings are still happening.

So I hit up Image's newbie BizDev Guy, Ron Richards, to see what was up:

Basically, the approach to reprints is, for series that are still finding their audience, we will reprint to meet demand. It's been great to see the reaction to "East of West" and "Sex", those are by established creators...but with "Five Ghosts", "Peter Panzerfaust" and "Nowhere Men" - there continues to be interest and demand beyond our initial printing.

We're not doing second printings on series that are established and found their audience, like "The Walking Dead", "Saga" and "Chew". Retailers are adjusting their orders and for the most part, ordering to meet demand now on those, so the need for a reprint has become lessened.

Image has a unique sales problem. They have a large number of titles in their monthly listings with no sales histories. So much of Image's catalog is mini-series from a variety of creators, many of which haven't made their permanent mark in comics yet, or just in non-Marvel/DC comics. That makes ordering even trickier than usual. (All Joe Casey books will not sell alike, even if they area all oddball superhero books.) All of the traditional parameters for determining what a comic might sell -- characters, crossovers, creators -- are not guarantees with an Image book they way they are with a Marvel or DC title. Who can guess what fans will want? It wasn't too long ago that a Bryan Hitch-drawn book that drew sales under 20,000 copies in a month would be considered an epic failure and a shocking surprise. Yet, that's where we are with "America's Got Powers."

For now, maybe it's a combination of the best of both worlds. December brinksmanship, perhaps? A greater realization and awareness of deficient ordering practices? The natural evolution of the system that wants to make more money working out for both parties? A mad scramble to make my predictions look remarkably bad? Probably a little of each. Well, except that last one. My ego isn't that big. . .