This first Previews post is extra-long, as I happened to start this blog just before I make my monthly trek to the LCS. It's also late for the same reason. So, little talk here, just read on to see what I'll be perusing at the shop.
American Vampire #5
- Written by Scott Snyder & Stephen King
- Art and Cover by Rafael Albuquerque
It all comes down to this: revenge. It's payback time, as fledgling vampire Pearl Jones finally confronts the vicious Hollywood coven that left her for dead, and Will Bunting reveals the final, shocking chapter in the saga of James Book and his deadliest adversary, American vampire Skinner Sweet. Be there for the unforgettable, double conclusion to the first arc of AMERICAN VAMPIRE.
I've been enjoying this so far. It's interesting how the two plots have, essentially, both been about revenge. They've had two very different sides of it, however. I'm not a big fan of gorey horror, but that's been smaller moments when it came, at least. Now that this opening arc is coming to an end, we'll see how well it does without Stephen King's name attatched to it. Both stories have been quite good — in writing and art — and I'm really interested in the characters, so I'll probably stick around.
Angel #35
- Written by Bill Willingham & Bill Williams
- Art by Elena Casagrande
- Colors by Ilaria Traversi & Arianna Florean
- Cover by Jenny Frison
Sometimes being a 'chosen' one really sucks. Which is something Connor is about to find out when his little band of merry demon warrior women decide L.A. really needs to clean up its act. No human or supernatural thingie is safe from their swords. And not even Angel knows how to get them out of this mess.
I've really been enjoying Bill Willingham's run thus far. He mostly has the voices right, and he's been doing some interesting things with the story. This especially shines because it followed some really bad writing (though the ideas were decent) — and the art finally looks good!
Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #4
- Written by Grant Morrison
- Art by Georges Jeanty
- Cover by Andy Kubert
The most anticipated series of 2010 continues!
Grant Morrison's can't-miss Batman story rolls on as Bruce Wayne's next stop on his amazing journey through time brings him to the Wild West – but will he escape alive? Artist Cameron Stewart (BATMAN AND ROBIN) joins Morrison to take The Dark Knight on a ride!
I'm not sure what to think about Jonah Hex being involved here. I don't really know anything about the character, but it seems wrong to include him. And with the movie out at the same time, it feels too much like marketing. But, I've been having fun with this series, so I'll give it a shot. I might read the free Jonah Hex #1 (I think it was) that I picked up last month at the LCS first, just to get a feel for the character. I'm not sure how Jeanty's style will work with this title, though. We'll see.
Deadpool #1000
- Written by Peter Bagge, Christopher Giarrusso, Adam Glass, Howard Chaykin, Inc., David Lapham, Frederick Jan Van Lente, Rick Remender & Rob Williams
- Pencils by Peter Bagge, Philip Bond, Christopher Giarrusso, Howard Chaykin, Inc., David Lapham, Paco Medina & Jerome Opena
- Inks by Peter Bagge, Philip Bond, Howard Chaykin, Inc., David Lapham & Juan Francisco Velasco
- Colors by Peter Bagge & Tomislav Tikulin
- Cover by Dave Johnson
Has it really been 100 issues since Deadpool #900? Who cares! Some of comics’ top creators take aim at the Merc with a Mouth in this massive 104-page special that pits the Deadpool against a cavalcade of baddies – including urban cannibals…underage hit men…mimes from outer space…and Lady Luck herself.
Anthologies like this are always hit and miss, and the $4.99 price tag is hefty (though, even if half of it's crap, it's still a deal at 104 pages). Also, Deadpool's getting way too many comics (even though I quite like him), and the #900 thing was cute but this is a bit much, so I was going to give this a quick look-through and probably pass on it. But then I looked at the credits and saw that Chris Giarrusso is going to be writing and drawing one of the stories. This has moved quickly from a “probably pass over” to a “probably pick up” in that one instant. There is not a scrap of anything that I've seen from Chris Giarrusso that I haven't loved, so it'll be hard to pass this up. Also, I've liked everything I've seen from Fred Van Lente, so there's another plus.
Deadpool: Wade Wilson's War #3
- Written by Duane Swierczynski
- Art and Cover by Jason Pearson
“ME AND YOU AND A DOG NAMED POOL” Is Wade Wilson a brave soldier fighting American’s secret wars — or just some lunatic with a gun and an imaginary healing factor? The U.S. Senate wants to know, and forces Wilson to talk about what really went down in Sinaloa, Mexico…Watch as Deadpool and his deadly team of mercs raid the Mexican drug cartel from hell! Listen to the sound of snapping gunfire! Taste the fear! Smell the exploding dog doo! And when you’re done with all of that listening, tasting, and smelling, keep watching… because the world is about to crumble all around Wade Wilson. And this time, there will be no shooting his way out.
Okay, so Deadpool has too many books, and I dropped the eponymous title a few months back because other books were more worth it, to me, but …. This is only a mini, so I'm only committing to the four issues, and it's been pretty good. Nothing “supa awesome” or anything, but good. And my wife cracked up for a solid minute at the Michael Jackson thing from the last issue.
Detective Comics #867
- Written by David Hine
- Art by Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens
- Cover by Peter Nguyen
The four-part epic "BATMAN: IMPOSTERS" begins with this thirty-page adventure!
A call to arms has gone out through Gotham City, and normal, everyday citizens are being drafted into a bizarre battle. Will they side with vigilante justice or join the cause of chaos and anarchy? Only The Dark Knight can rein in the terror created by the villain known only as The Imposter. But what is The Imposter's true motivation for this gang war — and what's hiding behind his rictus grin? Be here to find out!
I started reading Detective Comics at the end of the Batwoman run (and quickly picked up the start of that run, too). I've stuck with it because it's been decent-to-good, and I really like Batman. It's still possible I won't pick this up, but if a flip-through looks more than outright bad, I'll probably still be getting it.
Fantastic Four #581
- Written by Jonathan Hickman
- Art by Neil Edwards
- Cover by Alan Davis
The first of a two-part story featuring the return of Nathaniel Richards. Follow us as he jumps through time back to the college years of Reed, Ben and Victor Von Doom and recruits them for an impossible mission in the future.
I have loved every issue of Hickman's run on Fantastic Four. The slowly building, a-piece-here-a-piece-there overall story has been great. It reminds me of the Angel TV series. There'd be hints of this or that through the season, and in the last episode or couple of episodes, everything would finally come together. I'm getting that vibe here, and I like it. It'll be interesting to see if this ties in at all to his S.H.I.E.L.D. series, with Nathaniel Richards coming in. It'll also be interesting to see if any issues from the “Solve Everything” arc comes in to play.
Prince of Power #3
- Written by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
- Pencils by Reilly Brown
- Inks by Terry Pallot
- Colors by Val Staples
- Cover by Humberto Ramos
It's a race against time -- and eternity! -- as the Mighty Thor and Amadeus Cho try to beat the nefarious PANTHEON to all the pieces of The Ultimate Boon! The next stop on their mythological mystery tour is the realm of the ancient Egyptian gods -- and a no holds barred slugfest with SEKHMET, Goddess of Destruction! But once the sand settles, will the Prince of Power continue to side with the God of Thunder -- or with humanity? Join the New York Time Bestselling authors of INCREDIBLE HERCULES as they continue the tale of Herc’s former protégé!
I've been loving the dynamic between Amadeus and Thor. Amadeus's heartfelt speech to Thor about who was Herc's real friend moved me last issue. Looks like they'll be getting into it again. And the Ikea sound effects from last issue killed me. As always, I'm looking forward to this more than most books.
Red Robin #15
- Written by Fabian Nicieza
- Art and Cover by Marcus To and Ray McCarthy
With Tim Drake targeted for assassination, will Red Robin have to eliminate his secret identity? Or is it all part of an elaborate ruse to draw out the lethal Egyptian assassin known as Scarab and get Vicki Vale off his trail?
I've been loving Tim's mastermind planning. I'm feeling like the “elaborate ruse” part of the solicit is more the way it'll go. In any case, this book has been great from issue #1, and the fact that I haven't even noticed a difference with the writer change speaks volumes for the future of this title.
Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
- Written by Bryan Lee O'Malley
- Art by Bryan Lee O'Malley
It's finally here! Six years and almost one-thousand pages have all led to this epic finale! With six of Ramona's seven evil exes dispatched, it should be time for Scott Pilgrim to face Gideon Graves, the biggest and baddest of her former beaus. But didn't Ramona take off at the end of Book 5? Shouldn't that let Scott off the hook? Maybe it should, maybe it shouldn't, but one thing is for certain — all of this has been building to Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour!
Scott Pilgrim is the awesomest awesome that awesome can be. And you can quote me on that. Seriously, I've been waiting for this from the moment I bought volume 5. This is definitely the most anticipated book this month (year, even) for me. And I never go to the movies, and I never ever go on opening day, but I'm making a plan to go to the Scott Pilgrim movie when it opens. Scott Pilgrim is one of the first books I picked up that wasn't Buffy or Angel, and I've loved it from moment one.
S.H.I.E.L.D. #3
- Written by Jonathan Hickman
- Pencils and Inks by Dustin Weaver
- Colors by Christina Strain
- Cover by Gerald Parel
The surprise hit of the year marches on! In this issue, discover the secrets of Sir Issac Newton, see how Galileo defeated Galactus long before the Fantastic Four ever did and find out why Leonardo da Vinci traveled over 400 years to do. All of this from the twisted minds of writer Jonathan Hickman (FANTASTIC FOUR) and superstar in the making Dustin Weaver.
The second issue didn't have the epic feeling of the first (and less places for the amazing detail in Dustin Weaver's art), but it wasn't bad. Just not as good. This issue looks to be what the series seemed like it would be when it was announced: super-awesome comic-book history running parallel with the overall story. In any case, if we get an expansion of the two-page Galileo v Galactus spread from issue one, this should be a great issue.
Secret Avengers #3
- Written by Ed Brubaker
- Art by Mike Deodato
- Cover by Marko Djurdjevic
What hides in the depths of the red planet? How does it link to the Shadow Empire lurking behind the scenes in America for nearly 150 years? And will our heroes be able to save one of their own? The Secret Avengers duo Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato bring the action.
I wanted to really like this series: I wanted to know more about Moon Knight and Nova; I love Beast; I'd like to see Black Widow because I liked her in the early Iron Man stuff I've been reading; and I'm interested in this black-ops Steve Rogers. After reading the first issue, I liked Valkyrie and the Irredeemable Ant-Man, too (sorry, War Machine, you didn't do anything). And I like the whole black-ops Avengers thing. And I've heard a lot of good things about Ed Brubaker, and this seems to fit his writing well, or so I hear. After reading the second issue, I'm still waiting for the rest of that issue to come out, because I must've been missing some pages. At least there was little standing spread-legged or TEETH! — I'm serious, I don't think I've seen Deodato's work before, but man, this guy likes showing people's teeth! Calm down, buddy! Anyway, I'm hoping this series gets better, because I'd hate to have to drop it after one arc — the premise was too good — but I can think of several other comics I'd rather be reading based on what I've gotten here, so far.
Spike: The Devil You Know #2
- Written by Bill Williams
- Art by Chris Cross
- Cover by Franco Urru
Spike and Eddie continue to butt heads, sometimes literally, as they try to figure out what to do about some baby Hellmouths, blood manufacturing, and oh yeah…world destruction.
I didn't pick up the first issue of this because I didn't know if it was a mini or an ongoing. Well, it's a mini, kind of leading into a Spike ongoing, but I'm not sure if I'll pick it up, anyway. I'm a little annoyed at all the extra Angel-related books IDW is putting out — feels like a money grab to me. Still, I love Spike and I'm interested in Eddie Hope, so I may give it a shot.
X-Factor #207
- Written by Peter David
- Pencils and Inks by Sebastian Fiumara
- Colors by Jeromy Cox
- Cover by David Yardin
Remember when we warned you about the shocking twist involving Madrox's baby? Remember when the return of Shatterstar wound up making every comics-related website? Well, that was just a warm-up for the shocking end of this issue. X-Factor gets a new client, a tall green-garbed woman with a deadly secret, but that's just a set-up for the jaw-dropping final page that's going to reignite the Internet and have fandom going, "Did you BELIEVE what happened at the end of X-Factor #207?!"
I started picking this up at #200 — which was a really good idea, because this has quickly become one of my favorite books each month. This is what I wish the X-Men books were because I really like some of those characters. But I've fallen in love with all these characters, too. So, I have little idea of what this solicit is talking about, but I'm excited anyway.
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