It's time for Previews #333! You know it will be fun!



Once again, we're joined by Travis Pelkie, whose thoughts are in blue. Mine remain in black, like my cold, black heart!

Dark Horse:

Here are the full solicits!

On page 36, we get Briggs Land from Brian Wood and Mack Chater. It's a story about a secessionist movement and what happens when there's a civil war within that community. Wood is good at these sorts of things, so this might be pretty keen.

Jeez, I hope Matt Hawkins doesn't go Postal over this one ...

Lady Killer is back on page 38. This will be gorgeous, of course, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Joëlle Jones does on her own as writer (although, according to Jamie Rich, she wrote most of the first series by herself, with only minor contributions from him).

Cool, the first one was damn good, I'll be getting the trade of this too down the road. Gah, granny panties in the preview!

The Moebius Library is finally here on page 40 with The World of Edena. I will be all over this!

Maybe someone else can tell us if this one is a good beginner volume?

I don't love Dave McKean's graphic novels, but he has a new one on page 42: Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash, which is about a Surrealist painter during World War I. Expect it to be bizarre!

This looks like it will be cool. I should know, as an art history major, if this is a real artist or not. But I don't know! And Cages is reoffered on page 43, and that's one I ought to own, huh? As well as the 2 volumes of Pictures that Tick, and one of the ex-Vertigo volumes, Violent Cases.

Uh, yeah, Paul Nash is a real artist. Use the Internet, ya lazy butt!

Page 44: The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story TP -- sounded neat and I like the artists, but is this any good?

I didn't get The Fifth Beatle, so I can't say. I do know this softcover was solicited quite a while ago and never came out, so we'll see what we see, won't we?

Page 45: The Secret Loves of Geek Girls TP -- I wish I was one! Heh. That is, a secret love of a geek girl, not a geek girl per se. I heard good stuff about this and it's a great creator lineup, so I'm probably in!

Terminal City gets a Library Edition on page 50 for 50 dollars. I assume this collects both mini-series, so it's 14 issues of groovy Dean Motter "retro-futurism" and beautiful Michael Lark art. It's neat!

I did like the first issue of this way back when I read it, and I'm a fan of Mister X. I too assume both minis are included in this. Jeez, another book Vertigo used to have!

Page 51: Kingsway West 1 of 4 -- more like East of Kingsway West, amirite? (This joke rerun brought to you by comics, reusing the same tired old stuff since 1956!) Wonder why it took so long for this to come out?

Page 52: Another Chance to Get it Right 4th ed HC -- another chance for me to purchase this one, huh? Andrew Vachss is good, I just read a story he co-wrote with Joe R. Lansdale featuring the latter's wonderful Hap and Leonard characters. Plus, he's an advocate for kids in bad situations, so how can you be against that? Don't Buy Thai! Use Trojans, not Durex, cuz they're made in 'murrica! OK, I'll calm down now.

Page 53: Buffy: The High School Years - Glutton for Punishment -- another of these books offered, as well as the first one reoffered just before it's released this upcoming week. I like Buffy, so I may eventually get these!

Bandette is on its third volume (page 57). I dig this comic so very much!

Damn, I need to read the first 2!

I don't love that World of Tanks (you're welcome!) (page 59) is based on a video game, but it's Garth Ennis doing a war comic drawn by Carlos Ezquerra, so it will probably be pretty cool.

I hope they're getting tankloads of money for doing it!

DC:

Read all the solicits here!

So All-Star Batman (page 76) sounds like a Loeb comic. Is that really who Scott Snyder wants to emulate? I mean, I guess so, because Loeb used to sell boatloads of comics, but ... ugh.

So ... Batman doesn't have a hacksaw to cut handcuffs to free him from Two-Face? I'll probably eventually read this from a library, because damn, that's a great artistic lineup.

Oh, look, they're bringing back Blue Beetle (page 77). How nice.

I don't know how Julie Benson and Shawna Benson are (they're television writers, it seems), but Claire Roe is drawing the first issue of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey on page 79, so that issue, at least, will look nice. Maybe the comic will be good, too!

Christopher Priest writing Deathstroke (pages 80-81) is interesting, but probably not interesting enough to get me to read it. Of at least not in single issues.

Exactly what I wrote before you sent this to me. See: I'm intrigued by Priest on Deathstroke, but not enough to get it in singles. I never quite got the appeal of his Quantum and Woody stuff, myself.

Page 84: I was amused to find out, from the solicit to Red Hood and the Outlaws 1, that the "False Face Society is not what it seems"! Well duh!

Who'da thunk it?!?!?!?

Emanuela Lupacchino continues to draw comics I'm not particularly interested in, as she's on Supergirl on page 85. Sigh. Oh well.

Supergirl: Rebirth is tempting anyway, because Steve Orlando is good (even though I didn't convey that well to him when I met him at a con!), but what's making me really want to buy this is "Kryptonian werewolf"! And I didn't even think about Lupacchino (which sounds suspiciously like a werewolf name, now that I think about it!) is drawing it.



Is Jim Lee really drawing Suicide Squad? I mean, I know it says he is (page 87), but is it a one-and-done thing, as it's shipping twice a month? Is he just drawing this issue to get a big launch for the movie? I can't imagine he'd draw more than two issues, right?

I would be amazed if he can get one of the 2 issues each month done. Maybe he's doing/has done the first arc (or parts of it) and then will hand it off to other talents?

Juan Ferreyra is drawing Green Arrow #4-5 (page 94). I really don't know how this twice-monthly shipping is supposed to work. It's parts 4 and 5 of a story, but he isn't drawing the first two issues, just issues #3-5 (so far). I don't get this, unless DC doesn't care about consistency at all (oh, wait a minute, look what company I'm talking about!).

Well, even on monthly schedules artists aren't keeping up for an entire arc anymore, so I'm not worried from that angle. I have been curious myself how they're going to do this twice monthly stuff from the artist side. DC always has treated artists as interchangeable cogs in the machine.

Page 88: God, Superwoman is a dumb concept, but is that a red female version of Electric Boogaloo Superman? That is an underappreciated costume!



I am, of course, perversely intrigued by Sixpack and Dogwelder: Hard-Traveling Heroz (page 103), but I might wait for the trade on this one. Each issue is $3.99, and that's just not on.

I assume from the description that Constantine is going to talk to Sixpack and Dogwelder? Since I didn't get the first Section 8 series, I certainly won't get this in singles. In trades down the road, probably!

Page 105: Suicide Squad: War Crimes Special 1 -- ooh, Ostrander! Glad they have the decency to get the original writer some action on a SS book! Has it really been a decade since Blackest Night, the last time (presumably) he did a SS book?

Neal Adams drawing an entire issue homaging his own Superman/Muhammad Ali comic from 40 years ago is crazy, but when you consider it's a Harley Quinn/Superman comic (page 108), it becomes even more insane. I cannot wait!!!!

Damn! Other than the president and first lady, though, who are the "celebrities" on the cover? (also, the deluxe HC of the original is reoffered on page 138)

Is that Howard Cosell on the cover? Right by her left leg. It could be, I suppose.

See, I would have guessed Joe DiMaggio there, but Cosell makes more sense. It's so weird, because they're supposed to be actual people, but they're unrecognizable! Heck, as long as Charo, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Nipsey Russell are in there, though, everything would be all right!



Wow, both Scooby Apocalypse and Future Quest have "story previously scheduled for #3" listed. Wha? How does that happen this soon into the series? (page 114 and 116)

Those solicits are weird. Did the stories that were supposed to end in issues #2 just get too big to stop? Weird.

You can't stop them, you can only hope to contain them. Please, God, contain the Scooby one. Future Quest sounds decent, though.

I actually got Scooby Apocalypse. I know I said everyone involved in it should be punched in the face, so I suppose the next time you see me, you may punch me in the face. It wasn't the worst, batshit insane comic ever, which is a bit disappointing, but it wasn't very good. It was just kind of unnecessary and mediocre. I often make jokes about cartoons my daughter watches (including Scooby-Doo) about how unrealistic it is - "How can that damned dog talk?" and stuff like that. I imagine most people do that. But, because one of the people who has done that runs DC Comics, we get a comic explaining why Scooby-Doo talks. WE NEVER NEEDED THAT!!!! WE GET THAT IT'S JUST A CARTOON!!!!!

Okay, rant over. Sorry!

I'm not sure about the series, but that cover of Flintstones 2 is a great Amanda Conner one. (page 115)



Page 123: Batman: Arkham: Poison Ivy TP -- ooh, that sounds pretty good, and presumably they've listed all the included stories, which is something they haven't always been doing. They're not pushing the fact that the Secret Origins story is written by Neil Gaiman, though! I'm probably in for this one.

Page 124: Art of DC Bombshells HC -- pricey, but if it includes all the variant covers they did a year or so ago, I probably want this. I like that style.

I already own all the comics contained in The DC Universe by Neil Gaiman Deluxe Edition HC (page 126), so I won't be getting it, but it's a pretty good deal for 30 dollars. I am curious to see how the Wednesday Comics stuff looks on "regular" paper - I don't suppose they'd stick newsprint in the middle of the book, would they?

Speaking of Neil Gaiman ... I have all but the Poison Ivy SO story, so I'll probably just get the Poison Ivy book! The rest of the Gaiman volume is quite good stuff, though, with the "last" Batman story, Metamorpho with Allred, the "lost" Action Weekly team up book, and the very good Riddler story from the Secret Origins Special. If they're nice, they'll include that entire special, as it was very good! That's a good point about the Wednesday Comics stuff. Would they print those pages "sideways" in the book (because of the dimensions that WC was)? Will stuff get lost in the spine of the book? Hmm. Actually, you may want to pass on this one, folks!

Page 126: DKR collected box set and page 137: Watchmen collected box set -- what's that sound? I think it's the milking of udders! God, really, HC books of each individual issue of these series? Why?

Page 127: Flash by Manapul and Buccellato Omnibus HC -- what I read was decent, but I wouldn't pay that much for it all.

I was never too impressed when I read Mark Waid's Flash, but a lot of people were, so it's nice that DC is bringing out The Flash by Mark Waid Book One (page 127), which collects a bunch of comics for 30 dollars. Maybe I'll get this just to give it another chance.

It's like I don't even know you! It's about damn time this was collected! One of the best superhero runs ever, man! I jumped on with the Impulse introductory issues, and stayed on for a good amount of time. So good! And that was his first regular writing gig? Cool.

Page 128: JSA: The Golden Age HC deluxe edition -- another classic I should own! It's significant that it now includes the JSA indicator in the title. Rich Johnston said so!

Page 129: Harley Quinn's Greatest Hits TP -- it's a decent collection for cheap, but seriously, DC, you didn't fucking figure out that putting out a trade of HQ stories to coincide with the Suicide Squad movie was something you should do quicker than you did figure it out (as this was "already offered via rush solicitation in the DC newsletter", meaning they didn't have the sense to put it together a few months back)?

Page 131 has two I'm wondering about. Were either Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death or the first trade of Robin, Son of Batman any good?

Beats me!

Page 132 has another media tie-in that DC dropped the ball on, the Adventures of Supergirl trade of the digital first stuff, the first 2 print issues of which both came out last week. Good job, DC! It looked pretty good, though, so I'll probably get the trade. And then there's the Supergirl coloring book on the same page. Nothing says female empowerment like a belly shirt and an upskirt shot!



Page 133 has a bunch of Supergirl trades from the last series before the DCnU, I think. Ugh, New Krypton stuff, don't remind me of that!

Superman: American Alien HC is offered again (for the first time!) on page 135, and I'm STILL going to wait and see about ordering it!

That seems weird. Why solicit it if it's not ready to go? It's a fairly high-profile comic, so DC should know whether it will be completed on time or not.

The Superman/Batman: Saga of the Super Sons TP gets a new edition on page 136, and I read this from a local library. It was goofy fun, as I recall, because it's Bob friggin' Haney.

More Bob Haney with the Teen Titans Silver Age Omnibus HC on the same page, featuring a great Darwyn Cooke cover (which is, of course, redundant). Y'all can thank me for this one, because I just got the Showcase Presents volume of TT not long ago, so OF COURSE they've collected this in a nice big book now!

And also same page, Titans Hunt TP, which is apparently really, really important to the Rebirth stuff.

The Dark and Bloody gets a trade on page 142. This sounded decent, so I'll probably pick up the trade.

I was waiting for this, and I will get the trade. Hopefully this means that Scott Godlewski can get back to Copperhead now!

Yeah, don't hold your breath on that. I mean, I'd like it, too, but I'm not expecting it at all.

Survivors' Club also gets a trade on page 144. This also sounded pretty keen, so I'll get this trade, too!

From things I've seen, it was decent but a bit too scattershot tonally to live up to its premise. I will probably get this because I like the artists and I've read a pretty good novel by Lauren Beukes (the title of which escapes me).

It probably means I'm a bad person, but for some reason the description of the Oracle figure (in the Batman Arkham Knight Batgirl/Oracle 2 pack) having a "highly detailed wheelchair" amuses me. I don't know why! (page 148)

It's because it's weird. I mean, it's nice that they're doing an Oracle figure, but to advertise it like that is weird.

IDW:

The solicits are here!

J.M. DeMatteis and Vassilis Gogtzilas have another Augusta Wind series on page 152. The first one wasn't bad, so this will probably be pretty good, too.

Well, you can't beat using Nazis as villains, like Jackboot and Ironheel on page 153 does.

There's a new Atomic Robo series on page 153, which you know will be excellent! There's also another big thick trade below it, so if you haven't already, you can catch up!

I will be getting that third big trade. It will sit and wait until I get my OCD arranging of comics done and am ready to read them all!



I can't remember, but I think I got the Superf*ckers book from the last Top Shelf web sale. Are you astonished to find out I haven't read it yet? A new mini of that series is offered here. (page 154)

Man, I hate Superf*ckers. One of the worst things I've ever read.

So ... you didn't like it?

You could say that.

OK, I can dig the other books at the start of the IDW section being creator driven, but how is a comics adaptation of Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me creator driven? He's dead, it's not like he chose who was doing the adaptation! That said, I may get the trade of this down the road. (page 155)

March Book Three is offered on page 156, and the entire trilogy is offered on page 157. I was waiting for a big collection, so I'll probably get this sucker, which at 50 dollars might even be cheaper than getting the three individually. Right? They were all 20 bucks, right?

I know your old man eyes probably don't work, but since volumes 1 and 2 are reoffered on page 157, those of us young people with good eyes can see that book 1 was 15 bucks and book 2 was 20. So the slipcase is still a bit cheaper, yes. I will be reading this from the library, which, that being a socialist institution, Congressman Lewis is undoubtedly in favor of! HA!

Ooh, that Chris Samnee Daredevil Artist's Edition set looks damn cool. (page 158)

I may splurge on the TMNT Universe issue 1 on page 161, because the back up story is by Eastman and Billy the Sink!

Let it be noted that Transformers vs GI Joe is wacky fun, and the third and final trade is offered on page 162. I got the first two trades out from a local library, but if an Omni is offered down the road, I will buy that!

I got the first trade, but never saw the second one (I'll have to check if I actually ordered it, which I probably did). Strange. But yes, it is wacky fun.

Godzilla: Rage Across Time sounds like it'll be a fun mini about the big G in various eras. I'll wait for the trade, though! (page 169)



Page 172 -- I just wanted to mention that online, Wynonna Earp 7 was listed as #7 of 6. Who's doing the counting on that, Todd McFarlane? Giff on the Ambush Bug Year None book? HA!

I have been led to understand, via Bleeding Cool, that Duck Avenger 0, offered on page 177 featuring Donald as a superhero, is actually quite good. Also, it's 72 pages for 4.99, which ain't a bad deal. I may go for this!

Surprise surprise, I'm behind on this, but the final volume (5 of 5, it appears) of Amelia Cole (versus the End of Everything!) is offered on page 179. I think I ordered all of the trades, and I've read at least the first 2, and they were very good. I recommend this just based on those first 2 books!

I was waiting on the trade of Amazing Forest, the anthology from Erick Freitas and Ulises Farinas. There were at least 6 issues, which makes 25 bucks for the trade not a totally awful deal. I may get it! (page 183)

Speaking of J.M. DeMatteis, The Last One - another Vertigo book that's not with Vertigo anymore - gets a reprint on page 183. I know I've read some of this, but I can't remember if I read all of it. Hmmm.

Hey, don't step on my punchlines! I wrote this before you sent your message: The Last One, by JM DeMatteis and Dan Sweetman, is yet another book that Vertigo used to have. What happened?! This is one I found interesting way back, with the sole survivor of a race of immortals wanting to die. Wait, how do that work, sole survivor of immortals?

Page 184 features LOAC presents King Features Essentials v2, Tim Tyler's Luck 1933, where Alex Raymond comes into his own, apparently. Somebody buy this for Dave Sim!

More Corto Maltese on page 185, that I won't buy and Greg won't read, because we're heathens. HEATHENS!

Well, I've read a bit of Corto Maltese, enough to know I like it, so I figure I can read them when I'm damned good and ready!

From Hell gets another reprint on page 185. If anyone hasn't read this yet, they really should.

I know I got the HC of that from that last Top Shelf sale. Hey, it's in the pile to read!

Ditko Unleashed on page 186 is a retrospective that's a museum catalog to accompany an exhibition in Spain. When will American museums do exhibitions of comic book artists?!?!?!?

We don't need the museums, man! We've got the original comics! Also, they exhibited comic book artists when they showed Roy Lichtenstein's stuff. HA! Actually, not too long ago there was a Kirby exhibition at some museum ... somewhere. It was on Mark Evanier's site. I'm too lazy to look it up!



Just in time for Labor Day comes The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L Frank Baum and illustrated by Eric Shanower. HA! Both this and the Wind in the Willows illustrated by David Petersen on page 187 are prose books with spot illos by the respective artists.

Image:

You know you want to look at the full solicits!

Hey, Jonathan Hickman launches another series that he'll ignore after the first few issues! The Black Monday Murders (page 190) is a neat-sounding crime drama (with magic!) and it's drawn by Tomm Coker, so it will look nice, but Hickman, beyond East of West, doesn't have the best track record when it comes to getting his comics out (and even that scheduling is a bit wonky). I'll certainly give this a look (the first issue is "56" pages and costs $5), but I really do hope it comes out on a decent schedule!

Great minds, this is what I wrote before you sent this: Hey, it's another book that Jonathan Hickman is going to delay on! Ah, I kid, because I like his creator owned stuff. And like Hickman says in the Image Plus #2 mag, Tomm Coker is an underrated artist. I've liked him since Xenobrood!

Anyone who likes Xenobrood is all right by me, my friend.

Woo hoo! I think there still might be an issue or two that I need to get, but damn, I really liked that zero issue way back when.



Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and Elizabeth Breitweiser are back with Kill or Be Killed (page 192), about a dude forced to kill bad people and what that does to him. I was a bit disappointed with the ending of The Fade Out, but I'm certainly not going to skip a Brubillips joint!

Another good looking one from them. I may even get this in singles, although they aren't promoting that there are back up features that won't be in the trade ... so maybe I won't, either!

Demonic on page 194 by Christopher Sebela and Niko Walter and Dan Brown looks like spooky scary soul stealing stuff, but I'll wait for the trade, as it doesn't excite me quite enough.

Eden's Fall (page 196) is the Matt Hawkins crossover between Postal, The Tithe, and Think Tank. I'll give it a look!

I'll probably get this in trade. I've been reading all 3 series and I'm interested to see how they come together. I like Matt Hawkins's stuff!

Nathan Fairbairn is writing a comic these days with Lake of Fire on page 198. It's about an alien spaceship landing in southern France during the Albigensian Crusade in 1220. I love the Albigensian Crusade (not that I love what happened during it, because it was a horrible war, but to study), so I'm all over this, even though it sounds a bit like Eifelheim.

Ooh, I'm torn here! Fairbairn is better known as a colorist, and it's drawn by Barbarian Lord's Matt Smith (whom I've met, back in Boston 5 years ago, and that book was great!). I'm not torn on whether or not I'll get this at all (I will, of course!) but if I'll spring for the singles. Smith's got a Jeff Smith look to his art, and this story seems tailor made for you, history dork. Thank goodness aliens show up during the Crusade, so that boring history is finally enlivened by something cool!



Old school crossover on page 201, with Spawn and Savage Dragon meeting up in their respective books.

Switch ends with issue 7 (page 222), so I might go for the trade that undoubtedly will be offered soon.

And huh, Tokyo Ghost ends with #10 on page 224. Yeah, "miniseries" finale. Sure it was! Guess I'll have to get the second trade, unless I read v1 and it sucks. HA! Like I'll get around to reading v1 by the time v2 is offered!

Volume 1 of Tokyo Ghost was okay. The first issue was terrible, but it got better. Still not great, but not bad. Nice art, of course.

Prince of Cats is Ronald Wimberly's first comic, and it gets a reprint on page 227. I know some people absolutely hate his art, but I kind of like it, so I'm probably going to check this out.

Yet another former Vertigo book, in HC here. I didn't know that was his first work, and I'm wondering why/how Vertigo didn't present it as intended, as the solicit says. Based on the long preview in Image Plus #2, it looks like an urban version of Romeo and Juliet, as if the gangs in DKR were putting on the play. Interesting stuff, from the preview.



I will probably get the trade of Circuit-Breaker on page 228, to see how Kyle Baker would do Astro Boy. Sounded ok from the solicits.

The Fix trade is offered on page 229. Only two of the four issues have come out, but it's quite a good book so far!

Another of them 10 dollar trades! This one only has 4 issues, though! Oh noes, they're on to us!

I was interested in Saints, and the trade is offered on page 231, 9 issues for 20 bucks. Good deal, and I like the Book of Hours look to the cover.



Solstice gets a reprint on page 232. This is a fairly old book by Steven Seagle and Moritat (then going by Justin Norman, his actual name), but it's superb. Check it out!

Sounds neat, so I just may!

Anyone read BloodStain, the second volume of which is offered on page 233 (with a reoffering of v1)? It sounded amusing, with, I think, a woman coming to work for a vampire, and Linda Sejic did interesting art on Wildfire, iirc.

Not me, man. Sorry!

Empty Zone TP 2 is offered on page 234. I got v1 but ... well, you know the rest. Apparently this was originally a Sirius title, though, as I got some of those issues as well at my local shop on FCBD. Or some time, I can't remember.

Hey, I can finally get The Pro, a book I've been interested in. Yay superpowered prostitutes! (page 234)

You've never read The Pro? I mean, there have only been approximately 829 printings of it!

Yeah, I know, it's weird. I think when it first came out, I wasn't buying comics quite as regularly, and it slipped past me. Then I just never got around to getting it any other time. I should be all over it, right?!



My guy got me the singles of Think Tank: Creative Destruction, so unless he missed 3 and 4 in the order book, I won't need the trade of this mini offered on page 235.

Also, via the Image Plus #2 mag, Will Dennis is editing the upcoming new Azzarello/Risso book, which is sort of like Vertigo moving to another publisher, and Brandon Graham amusingly rants about the Ewoks Battle for Endor TV movie.

Marvel:

Yep, there are solicits!

Gah, I don't care about anything from Marvel for almost 100 pages! Sheesh!

I'm here for ya, baby!

Page 21: What, A-Force already has another series artist, in Paulo Siqueira? Ben Caldwell lasted just 3 issues? Kellyyyyyyyy!?!!?!!?!

Regarding Marvel changing artists so quickly: I'm SHOCKED!

Yeah, yeah, I know I shouldn't be, but it seemed like they were pushing it as a whole big thing (as they should have, everything I've seen of it looks great), but Siqueira seems like such a different stylistic change. Maybe because of the Civil War II crossover?

Page 34: Is the All-New Wolverine 11 cover an homage to that Wonder Woman special/GN with the JG Jones cover where she's got the boot to Batman's head? Or just an homage to Steve Rogers's dom/sub fantasies?

That's a bit of an obscure reference if so, isn't it? I mean, it's not like The Hiketeia (yeah, I know what it's called, bitches) is such a well-known story, is it? But it seems like it kind of has to be, doesn't it? (Note: The Hiketeia is pretty freaking cool, if you're wondering.)



I have no idea what Tsum Tsums are (apparently I've been living under a rock, so sayeth the solicit!), but this looks very dumb, but very cute and fun. (page 38)

Heh, that's cool, the All-New, All-Different Avengers Annual is Kamala Khan's Avengers fan fic! Faith Erin Hicks does something in it, too! (page 41)

Dang, that is cool. Must ... resist ...

If the Flaming Lips are guesting in X-Men '92 6, why don't they look like they did in "She Don't Use Jelly"? (page 82)

See, I know what all those words mean, but I can't put them together to make sense. I'm a really bad Gen-Xer, I guess.

There's a Squirrel Girl graphic novel on page 96. It's 25 bucks for 120 pages, so I won't be buying it until there's a softcover, but let's just ponder a world in which a Squirrel Girl original graphic novel is a thing.

I will probably get back into Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by getting this USG Beats Up the Marvel Universe! Sounds fun! Why don't you like fun?!?!

I'm sure the Squirrel Girl GN is a good book, but that's just a bit pricey. I'm moving into a bigger house, you know, so my mortgage and utilities are going to go way up! I have to cut costs somewhere!!!!

Bah, responsibilities! Does that mean, though, that when you sit around the house you will no longer quite sit around the house? HA!



Gerry Duggan's and Brian Posehn's Deadpool gets collected in a giant, 1300-page omnibus for $100 (page 103). That's good value (there are over 50 issues in here!), but as usual, the binding might be a problem. This is a very good series, though, so it might be worth it.

I have about half of this, but stopped buying it when I got behind reading (no!) and the price jumped, but it's damn good, just based on the first half. I'll hope that the HCs of the second half of the series get discounted someday!

Ta-Nehisi Coates's first arc on Black Panther is collected on page 106. I'll probably give this a look.

I was going to get Black Panther in trade anyway, most likely, but the good review from our Dread Lord sealed the deal. Plus, it includes the first appearance of BP from FF! And bonus content, I always like that!

What does it say about me that I have almost all of the books collected in Marvel's self-mocking collection Secret Wars Too? The Spider-Ham issue is mostly fun, Cap Who Won't Wield the Shield? was quite good, and the book that this cover comes from, Marvel Now What?! was really fun stuff. I'm torn -- I have so much of it, but I'm missing a bit of it too, so I don't know if I should get this! (page 108)

I may get the trade of X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever, even though it does not star Gambit. (Another joke rerun!) (page 110)

Hmm, was the Rocket Raccoon book good enough to get the RR/Groot collection on page 113?

Well, I didn't think so. But that's just me.

"An elephant pregnancy, a mission to Mars, and the next issue of Fell." "Name 3 things that take longer to occur than for the 6 issues of Karnak to appear." "Hi-yo!" (Karnak trade on page 115, which I will probably get.)

Yeah, that Karnak series took a long time. It's not even done yet!

Wow, what's the term, lipstick on a pig, or a pretty bow on a pile of manure? They're trying to distract you from how awful the Doctor Strange and the Secret Defenders TP (featuring the first 11 issues of Secret Defenders from the '90s) is by putting a sweet Tim Sale cover on it! (page 123)

I did an issue of Secret Defenders for Into the Back Issue Box (the late and lamented, mind you), and yeah, it was terrible. I think Tom Grindberg stopped by to comment!

I'll have to check that out.

I'd link to it, but it was before the formatting change, so it's jacked up, and I was kind of a douchebag. I mean, some people think I'm still a douchebag, but I really was one in that post. I mean, it's a terrible comic, but I shouldn't have gone after Marz and Grindberg like I did. They've both done good work in comics, so I was just being a dick.



I can't say anything about the rest of the collection, but the Marvel Super Hero Spectacular one shot that had the same cover as the trade of the same name on page 124 was pretty good stuff. Natch, since Karl Kesel wrote it! If you find that issue in a back issue bin, pick it up for sure, and maybe even spring for this trade.

Again stretching the definition of the word "classic" comes the second (and I think final) trade of the post-Valentino '90s Guardians of the Galaxy. (page 125)

Page 128 has a sweet Captain America collection, with the tail end of Kirby, the whole (I think) of Steranko, and Gene Colan on art, and introducing the Falcon. Good stuff! Learn how Greg Hatcher was scarred for life!

The Captain America Epic Collection does indeed have the Steranko issues. It's worth it for those three issues alone!

Page 129 has an Epic Collection of the Defenders (the first one they've done so far?) with the "Six-Fingered Hand Saga". Is this a good one, folks who've read it?

For once, I can point out something you've missed, as right underneath the title is "Volume 6 in the Defenders Epic Collections." So I'm going to say this isn't the first one they done.

If you're like me and missed other Epic Collections, many are offered again on pages 130-133. I probably need to get the Moon Knight ones!

Punisher War Journal by Carl Potts and Jim Lee (and plenty of others, of course) gets collected on page 134. This is 20 issues for 40 bucks, which ain't bad. I'm not a big fan of the Punisher, but I might get this. Has any of it ever been collected before?

Ok, how many issues of Punisher War Journal did Jim Lee actually do? This collection has the first 19 issues of the '88 series, but was he on most of them?

I don't think Lee did too many Punisher issues. But it has issues drawn by Neil Hansen! You know those are awesome!



You know it's a bad sign when a book I got a while back is in a new printing and I still haven't read it. I think I have a problem! Mini Marvels on page 135! Chris Giarrusso went to the same college I did! I had to buy it the first time! It's good stuff, what I have seen!

All right, let's check out the back of the book!

Hatcher wrote a bit about Indie Comics on page 246 from Aazurn Publishing, and I might have to check it out. Interesting sounding stories, certainly!

I may try it. I think this is a reboot, with a whole new #1, as they did another, similarly titled book before. Can't remember if it was Indy Magazine or what.

Rachel Rising (from Abstract Studio) gets a complete edition for $75. As this was 42 issues long, this is a good deal, and giant-omnibus editions is how I get my Terry Moore comics!

I have the first 5 issues, kept unread in part because of my usual lameness, but more because it had some movie or TV deal and I had the notion of flipping the issues on ebay or something, so I didn't want to touch them more than I had to. I don't know if there's still a demand for them, though! I might take a look and see if I want to get this Omni.

Speaking of big books of comics on page 246 that I own but haven't read yet (we totally were, dammit!), Aardvark-Vanaheim offers the Remastered edition of Cerebus: High Society again. Great comics, and I understand they look really good here too!

Action Lab's Blood and Dust 1 on page 253 maybe shouldn't be so obvious about being influenced by American Vampire, no?

I don't care too much about things ripping off other things. Everything is derivative, yo!

Also from them on page 254 is the first trade of Voracious, about a chef who regains his desire to cook once he gets to time travel and cook dinosaurs. This sounded neat when the singles were offered, and 15 bucks for 4 issues isn't awful!

Aftershock offers another neat sounding book with Animosity from Marguerite Bennett and Rafael De Latore, where the Animals start thinking, talking, and taking revenge. I assume for all the lousy covers of "House of the Rising Sun" they inadvertently inspired? HA! I will trade wait! (page 256)

Also from Aftershock and Bennett comes the first trade of Insexts on page 261. 7 issues for 20 bucks isn't bad, of course, but Aftershock just offered their first 2 trades for 10 bucks a pop last month. Odd way of pricing things!

Yeah, I'll check this out. I met Bennett (briefly) at ECCC, and she seems nice. That's not why I'm checking this out, but it doesn't hurt!



Alternative gives us a few interesting things on page 262. The 23 Skidoo one shot is a reprint of a minicomic Al "don't make me do Big Numbers in Billy the Sink's style!" Columbia did. At the Shore is a GN about art students at the beach encountering sea monsters. And the Magic Whistle 3 pack annoys me because I have a couple of the issues but I want the other stuff they offer with it! GRR!

Also from them on page 264 is Vile #2 from Tyler Landry, who goes from SF to Western horror with this tale, "Lonesome". I can't remember if I actually ordered #1, but if I did and I manage to read it before the order cut off, I'll see if I want to get this too!

I did order #1, but I have no idea if it came out yet. Unfortunately, small titles sometimes slip through the cracks before the make it to my store.

American Mythology is releasing The Three Stooges: Red White and Stooge 1 (page 266), where the readers (well, retailers, anyway) are going to "elect" the Stooge president based on which Stooge sells the most covers. Vote Larry!

Ugh, I've never been a fan of the Stooges, comedy troupe or band. Vote Joe!

They also offer another interesting one on page 270, also with art by the Fraim brothers, called Starring Sonya Devereaux 1. Yeah, you'd think I'm interested solely because it appears she's nude on the cover, but it actually sounds like a fun concept -- this actress stars in various "B-movies" each issue, so they'll be able to send up different genres and movies each time. Hey, maybe she can star in one of Beto's comics starring Fritzi Ritz!

That does sound like a fun concept.



Amigo offers Drums TP 1, with Santeria zombies in Florida that stymie an FBI agent investigating the deaths. Sounds like it appeared at least in part sometime? I'll probably go for this, since El Torres is damn good (page 271).

Also on page 271 is my must-have of the month! AMP! Comics for Kids offers Kid Beowulf book 1: The Blood-Bound Oath GN, by Alexis Fajardo. This is pretty amusing stuff, where Beowulf and Grendel are 12 year old twin brothers traveling the world to meet other epic heroes. Alexis went to the same high school I did, 3-4 years ahead of me, and I have signed copies of the early editions of this. I'm going to be rich! Seriously, though, check this out, it's good stuff, and also check and see if he's still doing anything with his comic strip Plato's Republic. Very funny stuff as well! He's also done work with Peanuts stuff, including some stuff with the Boom version in the past few years.

That sounds neat. I'll have to check it out.

What do you think, should I update my Alan Moore cosplay look by styling my hair like Beardy has it in the Cinema Purgatorio lobby cards on page 285 from Avatar? "Rebirth using the Watchmen characters was worse than a rape scene from one of me own books!"

Boom! must be throwing boatloads of money at people to get James Kochalka, Rob Guillory, and even Terry Moore to do Mighty Morphin Power Rangers stories! (page 296)

And they've got Jonathan Case and Ted Naifeh on Labyrinth stories on page 299.

Hey, Liz Prince is doing a Garfield story in the Big Fat Hairy Adventure OGN on page 301. That's neat!

They have the first volume of Goldie Vance on page 303. I'm getting this both for me and for my daughter, who thought it looked cool. It does look cool, Daughter!

It does look pretty neat, and I think it's now an ongoing. Hopefully your daughter gets a good eye for comics from you, and, y'know, looks and brains and personality from your wife. Without the questionable taste in dorky guys that the mrs. must have.

Man, I'm so horrible, and you've always been so nice to me! I kid because I love!

Well, I will track you down and start cutting off body parts, but other than that, we're all good!

There's a second giant Lumberjanes hardcover on page 303 as well. Of course it leaves out issue #13. Why? NO MAN CAN SAY!!!!

I think that was a Halloween one by Faith Erin Hicks, so it stands alone. So this man can say! Also, mumble mutter grrr about the Lumberjanes HCs again!

Are you upset about the fact that they don't release those in softcover? I asked the Boom! person at ECCC whether they ever would, and she said it was doubtful. They're sticking with short trades and giant hardcovers, it seems!

I'm also torn on the trade version of the Peanuts Charles Schulz Tribute on the same page. So many good creators, but right on the cover shows why it's just wrong. We shouldn't see Snoopy drawn realistically, dammit, even if it is by Paul Pope! Also, is Jason Yungbluth's work featured in that? Heh.

Yeah, I'm going to say that's not happening.

Did you get Mezolith, the second HC of which is offered on page 304? It looks purty, but it's pricey at 25 bucks for 96 pages!

No, I didn't. That's a bit too rich for my blood!

I have never heard of Hotspur from ComicMix on page 318, but it's by Ostrander and Truman ("and various"), and while it's 15 dollars for 80 pages and that's not a great deal, I'm still getting it!

You'd think I'd have heard of it more, but it rings only quiet, distant bells for me. I assume it was a back up in some First Comics book. Jeff Nettleton will know! Wait, no, I got un-lazy, apparently it was a 3 issue mini from Eclipse. Huh, wonder why they didn't try pushing the angle that Ben Dunn did some of the art as well. Sounds pretty fun, though!



Battlestar Galactica gets a reboot on page 324 from Dynamite. This does nothing for me, but there it is.

They also collect the Devolution mini from Remender et al. on page 327. I will refrain from making the same Devo reference as when the first issue came out! This sounded neat, so it's on my long "maybe" list!

If the Dejah Thoris statue is inspired by Frank Cho's art, why doesn't it, y'know, look like something he might have drawn? (page 330)

Seduction of the Innocent gets a trade on page 336. I was mildly curious about this, so I might check it out.

Same here.

The Thun'da trade on page 337 not only includes a recent mini of this character, but classic remastered stories of the character by Gardner Fox and Frank Frazetta. Ooh, that's tempting!

I'll probably get Delete in trade on page 342 from Devil's Due/First, but I do like how they don't list the creators. Poor creators!!!!

Maybe it's a meta thing, the names of the creators got erased from a book about deleting memories! Spooky! They are listed on the ad on page 340, however. This sounded neat, so it's another maybe for me!

I mostly flip right by the Digital Manga ads, like the one on page 345, but the title Don't Rub Yourself Against My Ass!! caught my eye. HAHAHA! It's offered on page 351, if anyone else has the courage to take a look!

On page 346, Dover has Attu by Sam Glanzman, which is about a caveman wandering the Earth. Of course I'm getting this!

I have one of the Attu volumes from 4Winds that I of course haven't read, but got from a local library book sale. Or the freebie shelf, can't remember. I did read another Dover book by Glanzman, A Sailor's Story, and it was quite good, so I may go for this. Shout out to our pal Drew Ford, who's got another Glanzman book, Red Range, written by the great Joe R. Lansdale, through his new It's Alive imprint, and here's the kickstarter for it.

Also from Dover on the same page is the resolicit of Private Beach. Maybe I'll get around to looking at the old version of the trade that I have this time, and see if I want this!

D&Q is mostly re-solicits, I think, but any company with Lynda Barry and Gilbert Hernandez is damn good. Also, wasn't Sarah Glidden's How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less originally a Vertigo book? (pages 346-347)

Yes, yes it was. Another Vertigo book resurfaces elsewhere!

Fantagraphics has their usual offerings on pages 352-353. I'm morbidly curious about We Told You So: Comics As Art, a 50 dollar book full of self-back patting about how awesome they are that they pushed the notion of comics as art. I'm wondering how/why they're including Dave Sim, since they didn't include anything by him in their top 100 comics of the century ...

Also a new Crumb Art and Beauty mag full of neato illustrations of the kind of wimmin Crumb likes. A collection of cartoons from the Realist magazine, which includes a ton of great cartoonists. The third issue of Beto's weird sex comic Blubber. Dash Shaw's Cosplayers stories get collected, and what I read was interesting but probably not enough to get me to buy this book. The Eternaut is reoffered as well, so maybe I'll go for it this time!

You should get The Eternaut. It's pretty damned keen.

451 Media Group offers NVRLND 1 on page 356, the first of a 4 issue mini that updates Peter Pan to modern Hollywood. Sounds cool, and that's a sweet Christopher Mitten cover! I may go for this in singles, as I haven't seen this company do any trades yet (of course now will be when they start!).



Raina Telgemeier has a new book, Ghosts, on page 366 from Graphix. My daughter will dig this.

Your daughter is much cooler than you are. Can I write this with her, instead? HA!

I don't know - if she's cooler than I am, she's definitely cooler than you!

Harper Collins gives us a complete HC of P. Craig Russell et al.'s adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book, which was a pretty good novel. Not sure if this is worth 35 bucks for the HC, but that is a great artistic lineup.

Reincarnate gets resolicited on page 368 from Heavy Metal. This sounded neat the first time around, so maybe it will be good this time, too!

Yeah, I'm guessing that 10 dollar trade of it that they'd offered isn't coming? Just like the Hoax Hunters season 2 trade, huh? I blame GMozz!

Also from HM is Aftermath: Big Clean on page 367, where a Disney-like cartoon character rules a post-apocalyptic future, and on 368, Atoll, a mini where someone is abducting people to combat against a Great White shark. Hmm, I want to get these books, but I feel like I've been bitten once, so now I'm shy this go round! (groan!) Oh, yes, here on page 369 they have a mini that is an ... alternative version of the Nirvana story. Bah.

Peter David and Sal Velluto's Phantom FINALLY gets a trade from Hermes on page 369. Man, how long did it take for this to come out? Three years? Sheesh.

Was it that long? Probably. Yeah, I'm in for this. Should I spring for the de-loox HC? It's odd that the HC is supposed to have extra stuff, but the two books have the same page count. Hmmm.

Well, it might have been two years. A LONG TIME IS WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY HERE!!!!

Joe Books has Rebel 1 on page 374, a crime book where an assassin goes on trial and his daughter ... is a stripper, based on the cover. I'd like to see some more about this book to decide if I want it.



Lion Forge has Three O'Clock Club, a new mini about a high school that has a portal where teenage anxieties come to life. Sounds weirdly fun! (page 380)

Jules Feiffer has a new graphic novel out called Cousin Joseph (page 380 from LiveRight), about a tough guy defending the "American Way" against, you know, hippies. I didn't love Feiffer's previous book, Kill My Mother (which is resolicited below it), but I'm still intrigued by this.

KMM was pretty good stuff, in my opinion. I'll probably be waiting to read this from a library, though.

Magnetic Press has Hugo Broyler, with "static-levitation racing" becoming a thing. Cool group of creators in the ad, but the solicit makes it sound like they just did concept art. Weak! Also from them is the resolicit of Re*Pro*Duct, with stories of robots in a society where they have the right to life. (page 382)

I've been wondering if I'd ever see a Cyril Pedrosa book again, and on page 383 from NBM, we get Equinoxes, which sounds neat - four stories set in four seasons starring people who occasionally cross paths. Pedrosa is a good creator, so I'm looking forward to this.



Oni has Jeff Steinberg on page 384, a regular schlub who's been picked to be the representative of Earth by judge-y aliens. We're doomed!

Also from Oni on page 389 is the first trade of Heartthrob, where a woman who gets a heart transplant meets a mystery dude. Of course he's the dude whose heart she has! This is 20 bucks, so I hope it's the first 5 issues.

The first 4 issues of Space Battle Lunchtime, an alien take on cooking shows, get collected for 13 bucks on page 390. This looks cute. Maybe your cool daughter would like it?

Maybe. I'll have to ask her.

On page 391, we get volumes 1 and 2 of Oh Joy Sex Toy by Erika Moen and her husband, Matthew Nolan (plus all the guest creators). I already own these, of course, because Moen is so awesome, and you should get them even if, like me, you're not really into sex toys (like I have time for them!). It's definitely NSFW!!!!

I've wanted to check these out since you'd first mentioned them, so I'm glad they're coming out in wider distribution. I am questioning why they're putting out 2 $30 books at the same time like that, though.



OSSM offers the Terminarch one shot on page 393, which sounds really neat, about a society where robots knew they were inferior in the arts, so they killed off everyone but the artists to create an art colony utopia. But them damn artists wouldn't play along! If it's truly self-contained, I'll be a happy boy!

Overground has another book, Primordium, about the Roswell aliens, and it sounds like it might be neat. I'd like to see them put out a trade of something at some point. I'll be all over them! (page 393)

Papercutz has a cute sounding one on 394, Anne of Green Bagels GN, where a girl at a new school gets that nickname from the health food her grandma made her for lunch, and her father's possible connection to her favorite TV show. Sounds like it might be good.

T-Pub's Turncoat is resolicited on page 420. Maybe this time I'll order it!

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Mycroft Holmes writings get adapted to comics. It's a slam dunk! (wokka wokka wokka!) (page 426)

Yeah, he's supposed to be a pretty good writer. I'll have to think about this.

Why is Marv Wolfman's Suicide Squad novelization coming from Titan on page 429 rather than DC? That makes no sense!!!!

Why does IDW put out some Disney books, and Fantagraphics does as well, when they could all come out from Marvel? Licensing, man! I mean, I don't understand HOW it works, but I assume it's either cost effective or makes them more money to do it that way. I should hope, anyway!

On page 430 from Toonhound Studios we get Baggywrinkles, Lucy Bellwood's collection of comics about sailing on tall ships. If that doesn't sound interesting, I may have to punch you in the face, because the comic is very funny and fascinating, plus Bellwood is one of the nicest people you're ever going to meet, so you should totally buy this. Would I steer you wrong?

That's a trick question, right? HA! I kid, though, because I can't think of anything off the top of my head that you've steered me towards that I didn't enjoy. I will say, from that description, it doesn't SOUND interesting, but I will believe you when you say that it is. Not in the face, man, I'm so pretty!

Well, it's also possible you have no soul. Incidentally, if you're interested in seeing some of the art, I wrote about Bellwood here.



Valiant's A&A: Adventures of Archer and Armstrong gets a 4 issue 10 dollar trade on page 445. I'm in! I got to meet Rafer Roberts (again, after about 14 years) on FCBD at a local store, and we talked about A&A some, but mostly he was a cool dude and sketched in the copies of his Plastic Farm books that I bought from him. This series was really weird and really good when I read it, way back, and I hope to dive into these books soon. Once I find the damn self-published versions he did years ago that I got at a con in the early 2000s, to compare and contrast! My pal Jim Coon even does a story in one of the books!

Hmm, I knew that Z2 had cancelled the individual issues of Allen, Son of Hellcock, but there's a HC of the story offered on page 463. I was sort of interested in what appears to be a nerdy Conan, so I may go for this.

New Jeffrey Brown book on page 478, Lucy and Andy Neanderthal. Looks cute.

And a new Kate Beaton picture book on 482, King Baby, to go with the reoffered The Princess and the Pony.

I like the Judge Dredd "Democracy Isn't Working" t-shirt on page 488. On the same page, a shirt with the DC Ted Kord Blue Beetle is shown, but the background picture is the Jaime version. Um ...

Page 597 has V For Vendetta keychains and mugs. Because lost keys and a lack of caffeine lead to anarchy!

And this month's egregious sexifying of something that probably shouldn't have been sexified is the Edward Scissorhands statue on page 559. Because why not turn Edward into a gothic Lolita kind of a girl?



With that disturbing image, it's time to say goodbye to another Previews catalog. Remember: There's so much good stuff past the "Big Five," so don't be shy about asking your retailer for a copy (for free, if possible) and checking out what's what in Previews. Or, I guess you could go on-line like all the kids do these days. That's a thing, isn't it?

Have a nice day!