What I’m Getting Wednesday

CONTEST UPDATED WITH CLUES

Between my real job getting busy and lots of other summer activities I’m actually just barely keeping up with reading my new stuff week to week and this week is another decent size week with no hard cover collection, so the dollar impact is lessened. My weekly market share report: DC 47% with 17 titles, Marvel at 31% with 11 titles and independents at 22% with 8 titles. Arachaia has three new titles hitting the stands this week, which is exciting as that publishers has really gotten my attention lately and it all started with Mouse Guard for me.


Atom #14 – Part 3 of the “Hunt for Ray Palmer”. I have to say that this story line is interesting and based on solicitations I believe the group after him was a moving target as I thought it was going to be Nightwing, Kyle and Donna, now it is Jason Todd and Donna Troy. Still Gail Simone has kept this book as a very good read every issue.

Black Canary #3 (of 4) – Tony Bedard has done a great job with this mini-series and I’m curious to see how the whole situation with Dinah’s adopted daughter Sin works out.

Countdown #39 – Really I liked this series when it started and give it a lot of rope, but for someone who follows all of the DCU, this book is almost redundant. I hope it catches fire soon.

Metal Men #1 (of 8) – I recently re-read some older Metal Men issues by Gerry Conway and Walt Simonson and the story was pretty weak, still I can’t help but look forward to this mini-series. The concept is so much fun, that I want it to work.

Detective #835 – A two part story by John Rozum and Tom Mandrake. I enjoy Tom Mandrake’s art and I’m not 100% familiar with Rozum, so this is a judge it when I read it issue. Simone Bianchi’s covers are always good, but I saw a bunch of Detective issues in a row at the comic store and realized they are look the same at a quick glance, mainly due to the coloring.

Nightwing #135 – The best arc on this book since Chuck Dixon left it. I know Marv Wolfman is treading on familiar ground with a new Vigilante, but I’ve really enjoyed this story so far. This issue is a major confrontation between Nightwing and the Vigilante and we are supposed to learn who the new Vigilante is.

Outsiders Five of Kind : Week 1 Nightwing / Boomerang #1 (of 5) – I like the concept of Batman taking over the Outsiders and using tasks to choose who will be on his team, but I believe this one is a forgone conclusion to be Boomerang. Boomer has certainly been an interesting 2nd generation character.

Jonah Hex #22 – Flat out a very good and at times great series. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti have made this book a must read.

Supergirl #20 – An Amazon attacks tie-in by Tony Bedard. Tony has apparently taken over the DCU as his name now appears everywhere. I assume Tony has no life other then in front of a keyboard. What was he writing a year ago, because I forget, but man he is everywhere lately and doing a great job.

Action Comics #853 – Continuing the three part Countdown tie-in that is focusing on Jimmy Olsen and his coming to grips with having super-powers. Kurt Busiek is at the helm ands the last issue was entertaining.


Justice Society of America #8 – This book is so well done. Johns has so many characters with so much untapped potential and back stories that they should make this book a bi-monthly comic. I hope he has a ten year run on this book in addition to the almost seven year run he had on the prior series.

American Virgin #17 – This is a really good series and Steven Seagle and Becky Cloonan have kept what I thought would be a limited premise interesting for almost a year ad a half. A well done and entertaining book.

Exterminators #20 – A wonderfully off beat and fantastic series about bugs and the people who kill them. The official hype “Faced with overwhelming odds, the Bug-Bee crew locks and loads for its apocalyptic showdown with the invading Mayan Hisser army, while in the Ocran boardroom, the newly power-mad Laura is putting together a secret army of her own.”

Faker #2 (of 6) - Issue #1 did not impress me that much and issue #2 needs to pull me into the story or I may bail. It wasn’t until the end of issue #1 that we found out that Nick was having issues proving he existed. So hopefully this issue will get the story started in earnest. I want to like this series as Mike Carey and Jock are very good creators.

Scalped #8 – A beautiful coming of age story set in an Indian Reservation. If by coming of age means that you are a hard ass son of a b*tch undercover FBI agent being sent back into the hell hole you grew up in. An intelligent action/crime drama.

Midnighter #10 – This book gets saved from my dropping it due to Keith Giffen coming on board as the new writer joining Chris Sprouse and Karl Story. Giffen usually has a lot of interesting ideas, so I will give him a chance to renew my waning interest in this title.

Welcome to Tranquility #9 – Gail Simone has taken an unusual concept and with astute character development and solid plots made it into a book that I enjoy reading month in and month out. Neil Googe is an underrated artistic talent that works perfectly for the tone Gail has set.

Inanna’s Tears #1 (of 5) – Three books from Archaia Studios Press this week. The official hype for this series “Inanna’s Tears: a proto-historical romantic tragedy in five acts 5000 years in the making. A five-issue series and graphic novel written by Rob Vollmar and illustrated by mpMann” I’m not sure if this book will be to my liking but I willing to give it a try. That’s what the right publisher can do for a story, because you trust that the publisher is looking for the right type of material to do. Check out the preview web pages http://www.daradja.com/inannas_tears.php

Grimm Fairy Tales #16 – The “good girl” covers still puts me off on this book a little, but I find it to be a light read, that is amusing in its twisting the old fairy tales.

Grimm Fairly Tales Return to Wonderland #2 (of 7) – This had a good start to it and it should be interesting to see what happens to Alice’s daughter as she goes thru the rabbit hole. The overt sexual conations in this book are unnecessary and distract from what could be a good story.

Awakening #1 (of 10) – Again from Archaia. The official hype “A series of missing-persons and gruesome murders has begun to unfold in the city of Park Falls. Derrick Peters, a former member of the Park Falls Police Department, receives a visit from Cynthia Ford one January afternoon. Cynthia, well known as the town crazy, seems to have finally lost her mind. She claims to have information about the murders…but does she hold the key to unlocking the mystery or has she truly gone insane? To Derrick’s disbelief she utters one word: Zombies.” Now I have to say that this book better be damn good in the first issue, because we have really beaten Zombies to death (pun intended). Check out the preview webpages http://www.daradja.com/awakening.php

White Out Trade Paperback Vol #1 – Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber , Great premise and as I never got around to reading this before, I decided to try it out. The official hype “U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko has made Antarctica her home. In its vastness of The Ice, she found peace... until someone commits a murder in her jurisdiction and the lawwoman is forced to use her detective skills once more.”

Garth Ennis’ Chronicles of Wormwood #6 (of 6) – The last chapter in Garth Ennis sacrilegious story of the anit-Christ trying to stop his Dad from ending the world he enjoys.

Killing Pickman #1 (of 6) – Archaia Studios Press strikes again with the main title that sounds so frelling cool, that I really hope it is as good as the premise. "William “Bloody Wulf” Zu is a New York homicide detective that has just made the arrest of his career. With the apprehension of Richard Pickman he has solved over one hundred missing child cases over a span of thirty years. The excavation of Pickman’s basement reveals horrors beyond imagination…the bodies of children mutilated in bizarre satanic rites.But nine years of solving violent crimes and this latest and most awful discovery has pushed William Zu to the brink. Neither a promotion at work, a lucrative book deal, nor even the love of his wife and newborn son can break the grip of a dark depression that settles over his soul. Frustrated with his role of clean-up man to the detritus of the world, William makes what may be a fatal mistake: he decides to kill Pickman.Fatal, for Richard Pickman is no ordinary psychopath. The rituals he performed were not the work of a madman but sacrifices made to a very real demon to prolong his life. Killing him is going to be a lot tougher than Zu ever thought possible.” Check out the preview webpages http://www.daradja.com/killing_pickman.php

Snakewoman Tales of the Snake Charmer #2 – This new arc about the Snakewoman is almost re-setting the story line. A very cool book, that is my favorite series from Virgin Comics.

Daredevil Battlin’ Jack Murdock #3 (of 4) – This has been a very enjoyable little mini-series giving us some back story on DD’s early years and his Dad.

Fantastic Four #548 – The FF vs. The FF. I liked the idea of a new Frightful Four and I enjoyed the opening bell in this storyline, so this issue has potential.

Ant-Man #11 – This book ends with issue #12 and I actually think that this book deserved its death. Eric was too unlikable to make this book succeed. An unlikable character can work but it is a fine line to walk and this book missed the mark too many times.

Marvel Illustrated Last of the Mohicans #3 (of 6) – Strictly a book I buy and send to my daughter in Florida. After trying to read issue #1, I gave up on this book.

New Avengers Illuminati - #4 (of 5) - The significant other’s of the Illuminati apparently take center stage or are ticked off at their mates. Could be amusing.

New Warriors #3 – Okay issue #1 I liked the book, issue #2 I was wondering when the book was going to start. This is a pivotal issue for me in deciding to hang in to see how it develops or to drop this thing like a rabid squirrel.

She-Hulk #20 – Last issue the book felt fun again and this promises to be more of the same as Dan Slott starts to wrap up some of his plotlines in anticipation of Peter David coming in with issue #22. I really enjoy this book when it is fun and was disappointed when it was dragged into Civil War.

Spider-Man / Fantastic Four #4 (of 4) – This has been a throw back type story, that has none of the angst ridden stuff of the regular continuity. It has been a light book in content, but it has been an enjoyable story that harkens when super hero comics were fun.

Thor #2 – The first issue was a snooze feast and a waste of my $3. I hope JMS has his meandering bullsh*t done with and we get down to actually seeing the start of a story line. I mean Thor can have epic in scope adventures, but still let’s get the ball rolling.

Uncanny X-Men #489 – Curious to see how this plays out, but for the most part three X-books (Uncanny, Astonishing and X-Men) all seem a little lost. Cassady’s art carries Astonishing, but the rest don’t even have that going for them.

World War Hulk #3 (of 5) – So the first issue was really cool, I thought the second issue was brutal and lost its momentum. So (again) issue #3 is a pivotal issue to see how this series will play out. I also have an issue with Romita Jr,’s artwork as it tends to get sloppier as the series progresses.

In looking through my comments, I really need to cut back on some Marvel books as few of these titles are exciting me in looking forward to them. Another big week for just comics, which is always fun.