I know I've pointed this out before, but Previews is kind of great for finding new stuff. I know a lot of retailers refuse to give it out for free, and if you can't convince your comics shoppe owner to pass it out gratis, ask him (yes, I'm assuming it's a him) if you can have it for $3. That's how much it costs him to get it! This month: Vol. XVIII, #8, with some weird-looking red chap on the cover!
Mike Mignola is drawing a new Hellboy story, "In the Chapel of Moloch" (page 26; 29 October). I guess that's a big deal or something.
Boy, there's just not a lot that's compelling from Dark Horse this month. Their MySpace thing (page 49) announces a new Mister X story by Dean Motter, but that's about it. Let's move on.
DC:
On page 57, the "art and covers" for Final Crisis #5 (29 October) lists Jones and Carlos Pacheco. Pacheco is doing a cover, but is he doing interior art as well? If so, what the hell? I love Pacheco's art, so I wouldn't mind, but how long has Jones had to do the interiors of this comic? If Pacheco is only doing the cover, never mind.
Terror Titans (page 64; 1 October)? Really?
Morrison promises that the Black Glove is someone obvious (Batman #681; page 67; 29 October). I'm going out on a limb here and saying that it's Tim Callahan. How much more obvious could it be?
The sixth issue of Batman: Gotham After Midnight (page 71) takes place on Halloween, so of course DC is releasing it ... on 22 October, not the 29th. That makes sense.
I've been wondering if I'm going to keep up with Checkmate, and page 78 makes it moot, as #31 is the final one (29 October). Oh well. I'll probably just buy the rest, at least to see if Jones could have done anything with the book.
Also on page 78, we get this tidbit from Green Lantern Corps #29 (8 October): "Ice proposes to Guy Gardner!" If that's your sort of thing.
I asked Marc Andreyko why they didn't renumber Manhunter (#35 is on page 79 for 1 October), and he had a good answer: It probably wouldn't have helped sales, and he wants it to be a complete whole when it's done, instead of encompassing two "volumes." That makes sense.
DC's idiotic policy of printing trade paperbacks is spotlighted on page 84, where they offer JLA/Avengers in trade ... for the first freakin' time (12 November)! Maybe Marvel had something to do with it taking so long, but that's just ridiculous. I've been interested in this, but not enough to spend goofy amounts of money on the hardcover. 20 bucks is about right. But why did it take so long?
Hey, check it out! It's the new Top 10 mini-series that Zander Cannon mentioned at last year's Comic-Con (page 99; 1 October). Gene Ha got around to drawing it!
The new Unknown Soldier ongoing (page 106; 22 October) could be good or bad - Dysart is a pretty good writer, so who knows - but what I found interesting is that he spent a month in Uganda doing research. Two things strike me about this: Who paid for him to go to Uganda, and is the book always going to be set in Uganda? These are things I wonder about in the dead of night, when my thoughts torment me!
Andy Diggle's final issue of Hellblazer is offered on page 113 (22 October). Wasn't that only, like, a year on the book for him?
Bill Reed will be happy, as Kill Your Boyfriend gets a new printing on page 113 (29 October). Isn't it Bill who loves this? Or is it Mark? Anyway, someone here will be happy about this! And then there are others who loathe this book. Let the back-and-forth commence!
Ryan Kelly draws the next arc of Northlanders (page 115; 29 October). Damn, that's going to be awesome.
There's an alien in Young Liars #8 (page 115; 8 October). Not an alien who comes from another country, but an alien who comes from another planet. What a weird comic.
If a writer/artist team falls in the woods and no one cares, did it really happen? That's how I feel about the new McFarlane/Portacio pairing on Spawn #185 (page 130; 22 October). This isn't 1992, so I don't know how anyone cares about this.
Page 137 has a new hardcover collection of Elephantmen (15 October). It's 35 dollars, so it might be a bit steep for you, but those hardcover collections are really nice.
That's a pretty damned cool cover of Noble Causes #39 (page 148; 22 October):
In case you're interested, there's a big ol' trade of DNAgents on page 158 (14 October). It's 25 dollars for 452 pages, which ain't bad. I wonder if it's any good.
For you Ted McKeever fans (and doesn't that include everyone?), a trade of Transit is offered on page 161 (1 October), including the "never-before-published final chapter." From the fact that they're labeling this the "Ted McKeever Library Book 1," it seems like Image is publishing more old McKeever stuff. That can't be a bad thing!
Joshua Hale Fialkov mentioned to me that he and Rick Mays were doing a Cyblade ongoing, and it's offered on page 164. He said he tries to get more into Cyblade's psyche, which might make this an interesting comic.
Hulk have mohawk on cover of Ultimate Origins #5 (page 11). Mohawks make Hulk mad!!!!!
Marvel has gone out of its way to whitewash the fact that Flash Thompson fought in Vietnam, because that would date the character. So, on page 18, Amazing Spider-Man #574 features ... a story about Flash Thompson in the Middle East. How long before that gets swept under the carpet?
Page 20 made me chuckle. It's Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1! So not only does Joey Q want us to forget that Peter and Mary Jane were ever married, he's casually erased the comic in which it happened from existence! "An Amazing Spider-Man Annual in 1987? Sorry, that's impossible. This is the first one!"
I bet you never thought you'd read this in a Marvel solicit: "All hell has broken loose in Birmingham." That's why Captain Britain and MI 13 (page 30) is so freakin' cool.
Monster-Size Hulk #1 (page 40) will probably kick ass because Jeff Parker is writing it, but the fact that the pencils are "TBA" doesn't fill me with confidence. It's August. The book, presumably, is coming out in October. They don't know who's drawing it yet?
Klaw starts a country and western band in Marvel Adventures: Super Heroes #4 (page 44). That's quality entertainment.
I won't be reading Marvel Apes (page 45), but that's a great cover:
So there's a two-issue tie-in to Astonishing X-Men on page 70 called "Ghost Boxes." Remember when you could read a title and get the complete story in that title? Good times!
Speaking of Jeff Parker (and I was, just a bit ago), remember that the dude can draw quite a bit:
(Of course, he mentioned that he only did it because Kevin Nowlan was inking it, but still.)
There's a new trade of old Spidey stuff on page 112, with a collection of Amazing Spider-Man #176-180. Wouldn't it be nice if Marvel got onto releasing more Essential volumes that would collect this? I'm just saying.
With the Big Four behind us, let's peruse the back of the book! Do you dare?
Brad Curran ought to be happy: Markosia is publishing Headlocked: The Tryout (page 188), which is "the world's first real wrestling comic!" Of course, it says it "continues" even though this is a #1, but whatever. It's a wrestling comic!
Over on page 192, Amaze Ink/Slave Labor offers Rex Libris #13. I point this out only because I read somewhere that it's the final issue, although it doesn't say so in the text. That's too bad, but at least we got 13 fantastic issues out of James Turner!
I have no idea if Almighty from Blackhalo Productions (page 218) is any good, but it sounds pretty keen. I am, of course, a sucker for post-Apocalyptic stuff, and this is one of those comics.
This is weird: Cartoon Books, Jeff Smith's company, is offering Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails and Rose again (pages 226 and 227), even though they were just offered recently. What bothers me about that is I ordered Rose, but haven't gotten it yet. Do I need to re-order, or is this just a re-solicit and anyone who ordered it before can skip it?
On page 247, we learn that Jon Bogdanove apparently named his son Kal-El. Sigh.
If you're not burned out by Garth Ennis war stories yet, he has another one from Dynamite Entertainment on page 257. It sports the rather unwieldy title of Garth Ennis' Battlefields: The Night Witches, but it features chick bomber squadrons! Who doesn't love chicks dropping bombs!
Hey, there's a new Acme Novelty Library from Drawn & Quarterly on page 278. Maybe one day I'll read one of these!
For 50 bucks, you can get a signed hardcover version of the Zot! collection that just came out (page 297, HarperCollins). Or you could just find the softcover in a bookstore, because it's so very, very excellent.
There's an odd comic on page 298 from Hill & Wang: Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography. It sounds somewhat surreal, which might make it more interesting than just a straight bio.
I've never read Dykes To Watch Out For (mainly because I have no interest in sea barriers), but Houghton Mifflin has an "essential" hardcover for $25 on page 298. Fun Home, as you know, was quite good, so this might be something to check out.
For some reason, I've never liked Larry Hama, but apparently his G. I. Joe stuff is pretty good. He's back on the title as IDW picks up the license on page 299. It might be a good place to jump on. Of course, you can still get the "World War III" trade from Devil's Due, which was a very good story arc to end their involvement with the Joes.
IDW, never one to turn down a licensing agreement, also has a new Ghostbusters comic on page 303, right above their two comics about the presidential candidates (with the J. Scott Campbell covers). Something for everyone!
As I've mentioned, I've never been interested in Doctor Who, but on page 304, there's a collection of Grant Morrison-written Who stories from the Eighties. I still doubt if I'll get them, but I'll be tempted, I must say!
I forgot to mention something about IDW in my convention post. I spoke to some dude at the IDW booth (I didn't get his name, because I suck) who told me that the likelihood of them publishing more GrimJack trades is slim to none. Apparently I was the only person in the country buying them! That depresses me, because they only had about 20 issues to go to finish the run. I get that the initial print cost would be high, but wouldn't it be good for them to have them in print forever? I guess not. Now I have to go through the back issue boxes for the latter issues of Ostrander's early classic.
I'm quoted in Previews on page 317, which is kind of neat. Soon I will rule the world!
Steven Grant is always an interesting hard-boiled kind of writer, so Socorro from Platinum Studios on page 324 might be nice. A former CIA soldier becomes a one-man A-Team in Los Angeles. Why wouldn't he?
Yet another post-Apocalyptic comic shows up on page 326: City of Dust from Radical Publishing. Steve Niles writes it, which means it has a great hook - in the future, cops patrol for crimes of the imagination, and a homicide detective must confront a killing spree - but may not be scripted particularly well. That's the way it seems with Steve Niles books! Still, it sounds like a cool set-up.
I spoke briefly with the Brian Clevinger at San Diego, and assured him that Atomic Robo is indeed quite good. I just mention this becuase the third issue of the second series is offered on page 327 from Red 5 Comics.
If you skipped the exclusive Previews version of Watching the Watchmen, the inclusive hardcover is offered on page 330 from Titan Publishing. Of course, you can probably get it on Amazon for cheaper than 40 bucks, but it still looks like a keen book.
The third of Jeff Lemire's Essex County trilogy, The Country Nurse, comes out on page 338 from Top Shelf. The first two graphic novels are offered as well. The first two were very good, and I have no doubt the third will be as well.
That's about it for this tour through Previews. Oh sure, there's other stuff, but do you really need to know about it? Can't you just trust me? Remember to ask your retailer nicely if you can have it for free, and find your own hidden treasures! Who knows what you'll find!