What I’m Getting Wednesday

A relatively small week in terms of number of books for a 4 week month. Included in this week is a highly anticipated and often delayed hardcover, final issue of a Marvel event book and a few #1s, a debut of new writers and plenty of issues from solid series. DC dominates with 19 books, 7 from Marvel and only 5 Independents.

All Star Superman #9 – Just typing the book’s title makes me smile. One of the best series to come out from any company. Each issue of this book has taken old silver age story elements and updated them and played with them in such a way to make each issue a revelation. Frank Quietly has crafted his own take on depicting each of the characters, yet keeps the essence of each person. I especially enjoy his Lois Lane. In case you can’t tell I’m looking forward to this book.

Batman and the Outsiders #1 – This book went through a lot to just get to this issue. First I heard Peter Tomasi was to write it, then it was Tony Bedard and now it is Chuck Dixon. Sounds like a lot of plans are changing on the fly at DC, but if the net result is Chuck Dixon on a Batman title, it is a win. I am curious to see what will be the direction of this book. Will it be Batman running a pretend outlaws group or more of a straight super hero group book or something different?

Black Adam: The Dark Age #4 (of 8) – The last issue ended with Black Adam shot and apparently dead, obviously his quest to save Isis can not be over yet. Peter Tomasi has continued the development of the Black Adam character. There is so much to the man and you can see the flaws just destroying anything good that he tries to do. Doug Mahnke continues to excel and is one of the top artists in the field.

Booster Gold #4 – To me this is DC’s biggest surprise (and hopefully a hit) series. Booster Gold has the right touches of light heartiness and dramatic flair to make it a very entertaining super hero book. Not only is he fixing the time issues in the DCU his own story line is being advanced. The official hype for this issue “The critically acclaimed smash hit of the decade continues! (Hey, we're optimists!) Booster Gold, Rip Hunter, Barry "The Flash" Allen and Wally "Kid Flash" West are stranded in time with a broken cosmic treadmill, and hot on their tail is the murderous… Supernova? Plus, what's going on with Dan Garrett — the Golden Age Blue Beetle?”

Countdown to Final Crisis #24 - Well the pace is picking up as last issue we saw Desaad take over the Firestorm matrix and poor Mary Marvel is delivered to Darkseid. I like that these moments are coming faster and I’m starting to slowly look forward to what all of this means.

Green Arrow / Black Canary #2 – Wow, Judd Winick just has his foot down on the gas on this series and is not letting up. If you considered this an extension of the Green Arrow series Winick has crafted what is a definite run on Green Arrow and now adding Black Canary to the mix and making it work. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t like the marriage, but I’m getting over it. Last issue we solved Ollie’s death and now Black Canary, Speedy and Green (Connor) Arrow are off to rescue Ollie from the Amazons. Cliff Chiang’s artwork is getting better and better every time out.

JLA Classified #46 – Justin Gray has being telling a good tale about J’onn and it has gone from a series that started out as run of the mill, to be a nice take on J’onn fighting a battle for his mind. Rick Leonardi’s style suits this book very well.

Nightwing #138 – Continuing the “Ressurection of Ras As Ghul” storyline. Written by Fabian Nicieza and art by one of DC’s best Don Kramer. As this storyline grows I hope it all pulls together and works out. Bottom line at the end of the story Ras should be totally back.

Salvation Run #1 (of 7) – Written by Bill (Fables) Willingham and art by Sean Chen and Walden Wong. I read that it is based on an idea by George R.R. Martin (no relation). All the villains are being shipped off to another planet, will they survive and what happens on that planet. I assume we also have why are they being shipped off and who is behind it. We know the Suicide Squad has been gathering them, but who okayed this plan? My expectations are mixed on this book, Bill Willingham yes, the artists are decent, the premise sounds intriguing, but still not 100% sold at this point.

Simon Dark #2 – Loved the first issue. A very quirky start to this book about a monster who would be a hero. Scott Hampton did a lot of photoshop work by dropping in backgrounds against his drawings and it was very different, but I like it for this book. Really looking forward to see how Steve Niles reveals this character and it will be fun to watch the character grow. Since they put him I Gotham there is an inevitable Batman run in coming up.

Suicide Squad Raise the Flag #3 (of 8) – The first two issue were in the past and I hope that we are moving into the present as the Suicide Squad has been playing a major role around the DCU lately. John Ostrander and Javier Pina have really done a great job with this book. A well told story and Javier’s artwork is only getting better.

Superman Confidential #9 – Okay this book has been published almost weekly. There most have been one hell of an inventory of material to put out that the origin of Kryptonite was holding up. Anyway Superman’s first meeting with the New Gods continues as he and Orion go toe to toe.

Superman/Batman #42 – The conclusion to the “Torment” story line as Batman continues to try and help Superman regain control of his mind from Darkseid. This has been one heck of a good story arc by Alan Burnett. Dustin Nguyen’s art has really moved up a notch in my opinion.

Teen Titans East Special – Judd Winick and Ian Churchill bring us a new group of Titans back on the East Coast where it all started. A team headed up by Cyborg (the one Titan who just keeps running these teams no matter what) with an eclectic group of younger heroes. Many of the heroes I’m not familiar with but Winick gets some leeway as his work on Green Arrow has earned my respect and Churchill is a solid artist. Still I’m not sure I care about this group.

Wonder Woman #14 – Have you ever really wanted something so bad for a long time, that by the time you got it you almost didn’t care anymore? Gail Simone finally takes over on Wonder Woman and I’m very happy about it, because she should have been on it from the jump after Infinite Crisis. Now she has to try and live with the weird status quo that has been created and either make it work or work her way out of it. Terry and Rachael Dodson are the artists, so you have a solid talent pool on this book. Still my expectations are rather muted after waiting forever for all the schedules to fall into place to have this new start begin.

Gen13 #14 – A new writer takes over and it is Simon Oliver. It has been a stretch for me to hang in on this book as the characters have never quite endeared themselves to me, but I enjoy Gail Simone’s writing and have hung on. Simon Oliver writes Exterminators and I really enjoy that story and the characters have at least become acquaintances for me, so let’s see what he has got in store for this group.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen : Black Dossier HC – What will most likely be Alan Moore’s last project published by DC. I do not know the whole ins and outs of the bad blood, but lets just say that Alan Moore is a known eccentric and will probably be happier as more of an almost self publisher. Having said that I’m looking forward to this next adventure of the league and here is the official hype and a list of all the extras promised in this book “Written by Alan Moore; Art and Cover by Kevin O'Neill Acclaimed writer Alan Moore once again joins forces with artist Kevin O'Neill for THE BLACK DOSSIER — a stunning original hardcover graphic novel that is the next chapter in the fantastic saga of THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN! England in the mid-1950s is not the same as it was. The powers that be have instituted some changes. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have been disbanded and disavowed, and the country is under the control of an iron-fisted regime. Now, after many years, the still youthful Mina Murray and a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain return in search of some answers — answers that can only be found in a book buried deep in the vaults of their old headquarters — a book that holds the key to the hidden history of the League throughout the ages: The Black Dossier. As Allan and Mina delve into the details of their precursors, some dating back centuries, they must elude their dangerous pursuers who are hellbent on retrieving the lost manuscript…and ending the League once and for all.THE BLACK DOSSIER is an elaborately designed, cutting-edge volume that includes a "Tijuana Bible" insert and a 3-D section complete with custom glasses, as well as additional text pieces, maps, and a stunning cutaway double-page spread of Captain Nemo's Nautilus submarine by Kevin O'Neill. Don't miss what's sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year!” This should be terrific.

Welcome to Tranquility #12 - The final issue of a fun little series that was too under publicized and had no familiar characters that at least I knew. Still I had grown to love this little town and I appreciate the stories we got by Gail Simone and Neil Googe.

Fables #67 – “The Good Prince” story line continues. Each issue builds upon the last issue and each issue is a quality piece of work. I really believe in about five to ten years down the road this series will be considered one of the all time books.

Atomic Robo #2 (of 6) – This is an enjoyable series that has an almost pulp science fiction feel to it . The intelligent robot and his continuing adventures and the best part the entire series is already produced so no late shipping. Ultimately a really fun title from Red 5 comics.

BRPD The Killing Ground #4 (of 5) – I’m so far behind on reading the BPRD mini-series that the next one will be out and completed before I ever get to reading this one.

Mice Templar #2 – The first issue did not sell me on the series and in fact was almost a total turn off for the series. Still the first issue was a ton of back story to set up the actual ongoing series, so #2 maybe the real #1. Going in with low expectations and if it doesn’t turn my opinion, I could be dropping this title.

Brit #3 – This book has my interest, but only on a marginal basis. I never read any of the Brit stories before this series and I’m still learning the characters. Still the offbeat nature of the book is entertaining and it seems like an anything goes type of book, so I’m on this book for a few more issues.

Killing Girl #4 (of 5)- Still ticked that Frank Espinosa did not finish this series as the artist, but the story of a stolen child being turned into a Mafia hit person has been told well and ultimately is the draw of this story.

New Avengers #36 – So in this issue we are dealing with the Venom virus, the Hood and the skrull issue. Bendis really has some good ideas, but I wish they would let someone else script the book and get a different artist on this book. I really only get this book to complain about it anymore. Plus Marvel has made this a core book and I like knowing what is going on in the MU.

Captain Marvel #1 (of 5) – I guess since bringing Bucky back from the dead worked, why not do the same for Captain Marvel. The premise is he was pulled forward in time to run the prison for Tony and Reed during Civil War. What the actual series premise is I don’t know as I’m tying to go in with an open mind and see what they are planning. If the story idea for bringing him back is good, then it will be alright, if not then I may drop it after one issue.

House of M: Avengers #1 (of 5) – See another new mini-series and five is the new six. I’m approaching this series with an even more jaded eye then the Captain Marvel series. Still if you doing a story from an alternative reality, it can be almost anything as long as it remains true to the source material from the original series. Ultimately just another “What If” story.

Nova #8 – All the hype about this issue tells you absolutely nothing. The official hype “The next big Nova arc blasts off here! In the first four sold-out issues, we’ve seen Richard Rider burnt to a crisp, replaced by a hot Kree soldier and turned to the dark side. But just wait until you see where writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning – and special guest-penciler Wellinton Alves (Nightwing) -- rocket Nova now as a special spooky two-parter begins! If you missed his first or second story arcs, but heard how good they were, don’t miss your third chance to jump on the book that IGN.com calls a “Must Read!"” Which is idiotic as the book is a central part of the Annihilation Conquest. So as that starts are we really having a non-related two parter? I hope not.

Thor #4 – Last issue was decent for the battle between Thor and Iron Man, but JMS writes the longest damn stories in comics and it takes forever to move a story forward. Add to that that the artist appears to not be able to hold a monthly schedule and we have a book handed for the “buy it as a trade” route real soon.

World War Hulk #5 (of 5) – I’m sure it is more me then anything else, but this has taken way too long to conclude considering the breakneck pace of the story. I have been pretty much turned off on this book, but the ending could make or break it for me.

X-Factor #25 – At work when one person in my group screws up we get a memo to the whole group saying that we need to do such and such. In school if kid “a” frelled up, the teacher would yell at the whole class. All of the X-books are crap, but X-Factor, but they still have to be part of “The Messiah Complex”, so here is Chapter 3 of that story.

So that wraps up what looks to be a great week of comics. I’m anxious to read the LOEG book, but may wait until I go away in December to actual sit down and read it.