There's plenty to look at this week: a Buffy one-shot leading up to next month's release of the start of the culminating arc of the Season Eight storyline; new issues of Angel and Secret Avengers; a new miniseries by Brian Clevenger of Atomic Robo fame; and a smattering of other books that caught my eye.
Note: The Weekly Previews may contain spoilers from previous issues of the titles mentioned, so don't read on if you haven't read them yet (and want to have actual surprises upon reading said books).
1 for $1: Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
- Written by Mike Mignola & John Byrne
- Art by Mike Mignola
- Colors by Mark Chiarello
Hellboy bursts onto the film noir monster detective scene. From his apocalyptic origin in World War II England to the modern-day case of the sole survivor of a doomed Arctic expedition, Hellboy must battle vampire frog creatures and worse in his debut miniseries.
1 for $1: Usagi Yojimbo
- Writing and Art by Stan Sakai
The close of sixteenth-century Japan is regarded as the age of civil wars, as feudal lords fought amongst themselves for land and power. When one leader finally rose above the others and was proclaimed shogun, a peace came upon Japan and the samurai warriors found themselves suddenly unemployed. Many of these ronin turned to banditry to survive; others found work with minor lords. And a small number traveled the musha shugyo—the warrior pilgrimage—to hone their spiritual and martial skills. But whether they took the honest road or the crooked path, the ronin all found one common link—they were generally less than welcome. Such is the tale of Usagi Yojimbo.
There have been a rash of these first-issue re-releases for $1 from several comics publishers, lately. Dark Horse has several this month. These two caught my eye because I love Hellboy (I've only been able to read what my library has, though), and I've always heard good things about Usagi Yojimbo. It might be worth it to pick up the latter, at least, as I haven't read it before.
Angel #36
- Written by Bill Willingham & Bill Williams
- Art by Elena Casagrande
- Cover by Jenny Frison
When L.A. went to hell, everyone thought things couldn't get any worse. Well, they were dead wrong. Especially now that the new Big Bad is officially out for blood. Meanwhile the magical fall out from The Fall continues to get weirder, and Angel find himself with more enemies than you can wave a sharp wooden type thingy at.
I guess the “magical fall out” they're talking about is Spike's apparent lack of a soul, now. I'm interested to see where Willingham goes with that. It explains much regarding Spike's behavior, which I had seen as one of the few weak points in Willingham's run on this book.
Avengers & the Infinity Gauntlet #1
- Written by Brian Clevinger
- Pencils & Inks by Brian Churilla
- Colors by Michelle J. Madsen-Stewart
- Cover by Humberto Ramos
The evil THANOS has acquired the Infinity Gems, granting him control over the entire universe. He’s destroyed half the population of all worlds. The only force standing in his way? THE AVENGERS! But how can a ragtag group of heroes and villains (!) overpower the unstoppable? Check out the non-stop, pulse-pounding, white-knuckling action brought to you by Brian Clevinger (Atomic Robo) and Brian Churilla (Rex Mundi, The Anchor)!
I probably would only take a cursory glance at this, but it's written by Brian Clevinger, so I'm definitely taking a closer look at this miniseries. Everything I've seen of Atomic Robo has been superb, so I'm expecting this to be awesome.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Riley
- Written by Jane Espenson
- Pencils by Karl Moline
- Inks by Andy Owens
- Colors by Michelle Madsen
- Cover by Jo Chen; Alternate Cover by Karl Moline
Acclaimed Buffy television writer Jane Espenson is back with answers to one of the surprising twists she and executive producer Joss Whedon introduced in the hit story arc “Retreat”!
In the midst of the battle, Buffy’s former flame, the demon-fighting soldier Riley Finn, seemingly in league with Twilight, was revealed as a double agent working for the Slayer army. Now Espenson and artist Karl Moline (Fray, Willow) uncover the secrets of Riley’s recruitment by Buffy, his infiltration of Twilight’s inner circle, and what’s become of him and his superspy wife, Sam.
This essential one-shot delivers thrilling spy adventure and is filled with major revelations for the story of Buffy Season Eight!
The Buffy hiatus finally comes to an end (almost)! Okay, it's only been a couple of months, but when that's most of the summer, it seems a lot longer. I'm very happy to see this one-shot focused on Riley. My wife and I are big fans of the character, and I'm eager to find out how he became Twilight's right-hand man. I'm also glad to see that his wife is still in the picture, and that she's being addressed here. I hate when characters like that get cast aside like they didn't exist or matter. The preview looks good: it helps that Espenson's writing, because she's got Riley's voice down perfectly.
Little Lulu, vol. 24: The Space Dolly & Other Stories
- Writing and Art by John Stanley & Irving Tripp
There's hilarity on every page as Tubby swoons over brand-new character Fifi (a little girl with a French accent and a missing piggybank), Iggy teaches Annie's doll to fly, Alvin makes a new friend, the fellers misunderstand tea parties, a sandcastle contest determines who gets a kiss from Gloria, and Lulu accidentally makes a farce of Father's Day. These stories and more prove time and again that Little Lulu is the funniest funny book of all!
Little Lulu's Pal Tubby, vol. 1: The Castaway & Other Stories
- Writing and Art by John Stanley
From the pages of Little Lulu comes Tubby!
The comedic genius of John Stanley couldn't be contained by one series alone, so in 1952 Lulu's pal Tubby made his solo debut in his own hysterical comic. Filled with all the charm and hilarity of Little Lulu, Tubby is a familiar but different delight from comics legend John Stanley!
Dark Horse is proud to present these never-before-reprinted gems from comics' golden age in a new series of paperback collections. Like Dark Horse's new Little Lulu series, Tubby is printed in full color, just as the comics appeared over fifty years ago!
One of the first books that caught my daughter's eye in our trips to the LCS was on of these Little Lulu collections Dark Horse has been putting out. We've gotten quite a number of them since, and they're well worth it. It's wacky and zany little-kid fun that is enjoyable for adults, too. Back then, they were mostly black-and-white with the occasional full color volume, but recently they've been releasing them all in full color. And now they're releasing volumes of the Tubby spin-off that was made by one of the two Little Lulu creators. Yay!
Phoenix Without Ashes #1
- Written by Harlan Ellison
- Art by Alan Robinson
- Cover by John K. Snyder III
Harlan Ellison, one of the Grand Masters of science fiction and a multiple Hugo-, Nebula-, and Edgar Award-winner, returns to his roots with the graphic novel, Phoenix Without Ashes. The year is 2785, and Devon, a farmer banished for challenging his community's Elders, discovers a secret that changes everything he knew about the world, leading him on an adventure beyond his understanding and a quest to solve a mystery beyond his understanding before his entire world is destroyed in cataclysm.
I know nothing about this book. The title caught my eye, the cover looks nice, and the story might be interesting. The solicit is a tad on the vague side, so I'll probably take a look to see if it falls on the interesting or the clichéd side of what it could be.
Secret Avengers #4
- Written by Ed Brubaker
- Pencils by Mike Deodato
- Cover by Marko Djurdjevic
The fate of one hero and the birth of another will be decided here, as the Secret Avengers true enemy is finally exposed! It's an all-new kind of Avengers by award-winning writer Ed Brubaker and acclaiming artist Mike Deodato, Jr.
This series has been a bit of a disappointment for me. It was a great concept, and the first issue was good (though I had several issues with the art), but it's been pretty weak since. This is the final issue of the opening arc, and unless it's amazing and/or the next issue looks amazing, it looks like I'll be dropping this series after this. There are plenty of other books that would be a much better use of my money right now.
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