What I'm Getting Wednesday

Week #2 in a four week month. Last week was the first week in like forever that I did not have a hardcover or a trade paperback on my list. So this week, of course I’m paying a price with a lot of collected editions on my lists.

Batman Confidential #6 – The end of the first story arc by Andy Diggle and Whilce Portacio. This has been a fun story and an interesting view of Batman building his arsenal. The battle between Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor has been over the top and fun. It sure as heck doesn’t fit into any continuity that I know of, but it has been a good story.

Countdown #46 – I know that I have read a lot and heard a lot of people who are just not getting into this book. I believe that too many people were looking for the same type of story telling as 52 and I will continue to state that just because two books are monthly does not mean they are the same thing. Countdown, as it title implies, is building and I think it is laying out some great mysteries and Mary Marvel dramatic change last issue was very cool.

Hawkgirl #65 – The penultimate issue of this book. Hawkgirl goes toe to toe with Hath-Set. I hope Simonson gets another title, I have not enjoyed his work that much on this book, but he is a good creator for the most part and deserves more work. I personally think the whole hawk mythology was fixed as well as it could be by Johns and someone at DC screwed everything up with the Rann/Thanagar war. Hawkman should never have been back on Thanagar, Carter Hall was never that involved with Thanagar.

Green Arrow #75 – Final issue and in it Green Arrow proposed to Black Canary. I’m guessing no answer is given and then we move off into their solo mini-series and then probably some new title in September or October. This wrap up of Green Arrow feels forced to me and I will miss what Winick was doing with Ollie as mayor.

Green Lantern Corps #13 – The Mogo story takes center stage as the planet GL, must face the enemy that is apparently within him. Dave Gibbons has done a great job with this series and I really have grown to enjoy follow the different Green Lantern this book focuses on.

JLA Classified #39 – Part 3 of 5 of the Kid Amazo story. This has been an interesting story to date. Really the JLA is not the focus, but the journey of Amazo’s son. A coming of age story for a super powered cyborg.

Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus Volume #1 – My first collected edition for this week and it is one I have been waiting for from DC. This is a hard cover collection of all of Kirby’s Fourth World material collected in chronological order. When this first came out I didn’t appreciate it as much as I do now. Kirby’s art was blocky and four panel max to a page, but the great concepts that came out of this series are major elements in the DCU to this day. This is 396 pages and is volume #1 of 4. The man was prolific.


Superman/Batman #36 – The final chapter in the return of the Metal Men. I’m curious how we went from the mini Metal Men in 52 to this full sized version again, but I hope the mini-series will address that point. Still this has been a marginal okay book at best.

Justice #12 (of 12) – This book has looked so nice, but the story has just fallen off the rails. If this was ending I would have ended it anyway. Really did not work as a series and I even have reservations about buying this as a hard cover. I avoided the mini-hard cover releases, but if they ever do this as an Absolute with all 12 issues combined, I will have to think long and hard about whether it is worth the money.


Trials of Shazam #7 (of 12) – Feels like this book is late, but I have enjoyed Freddie earning the powers of Shazam. I hope we see more of Freddie as Shazam after this series is over. I liked that the Marvel family has been going through some shake ups and want to see more of these characters in their new roles.

Fables Volume #9 – I love this book so much that I send the single issue off to my daughter Gwen and then pick up the trades. I also loan the trades out to a friend at work.

Fables #62 – This is such a good series, that it should be on every comic fan’s list. It really does such a great job extending the fairy tales stories into a more modern setting. This book just screams hard covers and yet nothing yet from DC on this book. Okay skip the hard cover, let’s do Absolute Editions.


Loveless #18 – The official hype “Atticus continues to try his hand at bounty hunting, with some shocking results. As the Federals dig their heels into Blackwater, Ruth finds the hills around the town getting too crowded for comfort. Will her secret be exposed? And what of Wes?” I really like this book, but it is obtuse in its story telling and that makes it a hard sell.

Grifter/Midnighter #4 (of 6) – A great action flick of a comic book. Chuck Dixon (writer) and Ryan Benjamin (artist) are delivering a fun story of intergalatic invasion with Grifter and Midnighter caught up as a last line of defense. Ultimately not that compelling of a story, but an entertaining read. Not all stories need to have a great purpose, being a fun and easy read is sometimes also good.

Gen 13 #9 – I like this book, but it still has not really resonated with me. I think if Gail Simone wasn’t writing it I would have dropped it by now. The characters just refuse to stick with me. We are on issue #9 and I can’t tell you who is who.

Stormwatch PHD #8 – What I think is the best book to come out of the Wildstorm relaunch. This issue the PHD unit gets to meet up with Stormwatch Prime. The hype promises a great ending. Normally I would yawn, but Gage has been a good writer and he may have a good trick up his sleeve.

Fantastic Four Visionaries John Byrne Volume #7 – Probably the last of this run that I will bother getting as they are adding so much extra stuff from other series it loses the momentum the series had built under Byrne. Bryne’s work on the FF was the second great time in FF history (Lee/Kirby being the best).

Fantastic Four Omnibus Volume #2 – Covering Issues #30-60 and Annuals #2-#4. This is one of those purchases that I really question myself about. I have this material in Masterworks, but the oversized art and the letter pages have swayed me to buy the Omnibus Editions, and I still keep the Masterworks. I have no solid rationale for owning two version of the same material. It is my collector side taking over. Great material from arguably the best era of the Fantastic Four ever.

Mystic Arcana: Magik – Part of a series of books from Marvel exploring the magical characters in their Universe. Really has limited appeal to me, but the Magik character was always one that I liked and I have no clue whether she is supposed to be alive or dead, so what the heck, I will check it out.

Killraven Premier Hardcover – I really want the original stuff in a hard cover format, but Alan Davis did a nice job with this character and I have always loved Killraven, so why not, plus how with two hard covers and two trades already this week what’s one more.

Nova #3 – Nova continues his visit it Earth and is meeting up with Penance (the former Speedball). Really have enjoyed this book so far and it looks like we should be 3 out of 3 good issues in a row. Abnett & Lanning have keep this character more grown-up as befits his experiences.

Punisher War Journal #8 – This issue needs to be good or I drop it. Fraction is giving up his political views which appear to be diametrically opposed to mine on illegal immigration. He is entitled to his opinion, I just don’t need to support his book. Also Frank works better in his Max book away from the Marvel Universe proper. Finally how can Iron Man not track him down and put him in prison.

New Avengers #31 – The official hype “No hype! No BS! The most important last page of any Marvel comic this year! Do not miss it!” Not too bold of a statement. I really don’t like this version of the New Avengers, but anytime a company over hypes a book (even using cognitive dissonance in their hype) it makes it impossible to actually achieve the goal, because nothing can be as radical as I would want to see. Next week we get Flash #13 which is DC’s over hyped book. Both companies are pushing these books as major precursors to the 2008 events they are planning.


Sub-Mariner #1 (of 6) – I was going to skip this book, but the undersea heroes (or anti-hero in this case) are always interesting to me and always hard to sell and/or tell compelling stories about. So I will try this out with almost zero expectations.

World War Hulk #1 (of 5) – Marvel’s big event for the summer begins, with enough cross-overs and add on mini-series to make you feel like the Civil War has broken out again. Greg Pak (Hulk’s current writer) and John Romita Jr. bring you the main story for the Hulk in a mini-series, with the extra non-Hulk stuff in his own book. Backwards, but a great way to make the overall sales higher. Romita Jr. is not my favorite artist, but let’s see what happens in issue #1 before I judge this book.

BPRD Garden of Souls #4 (of 5) – I’m still reading the earlier series before I get to this one.

Chronicles of Conan Volume #12 – Yes one more trade to round out this week. I have not sat down to read all of these, but John Buscema and Ernie Chan where turning out beautiful work on this book and it is fun reading, I couldn’t resist picking it up in these nice little trades from Dark Horse.

Dominion #2 (of 5) – The first issue was decent. Not great, not overly compelling, but enough to make me want to read the next issue and enough to make me pick up the original two issues by Giffen and Richie. I think this version is better, the old stuff was a little disjointed.

Hero By Night #4 (of 4) – I have really enjoyed this book. It has a light hearted feel to it, enhanced by the slightly cartoon style artwork, yet the story is a little edgy.

Tag Cursed #4 (of 5) – Love this series so far and the gap between issue is a little annoying, but the story is strong enough that I remember the crux of the story. I hope we actual learn the origins of the curse.

That's a wrap for this week.