What I’m Getting Wednesday

After being crushed and overwhelmed by my own list during the four week months and then trying to do a decent purge of my list I find that I actually feel like I have a more realistic list. Of course this can be an illusion as the five week months spread out the books and give me more breathing room. Still I have found fewer books to take off my list in the last couple of weeks and with new books coming on I always have to keep an eye out on what to cut. Also many books are now just mini-series and that means I have a lot of books falling off the list as the series end which also helps. The market share report for this week Independents 48% (12 titles), DC 40% (10 titles) and Marvel 12% (3 titles). Now I could rank DC a notch higher as my book store missed Scalped and I will be getting that this week, but it is not included in my market share report. Still this shows how strong my Independent list has become.

BPRD 1946 #4 (of 5) – A friend of mine gave me all the BPRD series about a year ago and on a whim I continued to get the new ones. Then I got around to reading this material and the more I read, the more I wanted to read. BPRD is now being given even more of a history and this series is giving depth to the beginning years of the group. Hard to believe how much has grown out of Hellboy and what a masterful job Mike Mignola has done to create such an expansive universe of characters and horrors.

Criminal Macabre My Demon Baby #4 (of 4) – It has been along time between issues on this book, so I only remember bits and pieces of the story of Cal McDonald trying to save a baby. This book is all dark humor/film noir/monsters combined and I have been enjoying it and even have the prior mini-series in a trade to be read. I have heard some complaints from people that there a sameness to each mini-series, but the nature of a continuing character is a sense of familiarity.

Goon #23 – Eric Powell has really made this year a big one for Goon with the hard cover and now with the actual series itself coming out almost monthly. He has turned the coloring over to Dave Stewart so it has freed up more time for him to writer and draw more issues of Goon and Dave Stewart is an excellent colorist. If you are not getting Goon, try it out and see if you enjoy Powell’s seminal creation as much as many of us do.

Hellboy Library Edition Volume 1- Boy did Dark Horse pick the right year to start publishing the Hellboy material into hard covers as I have become such a big fan of Mike Mignola’s work, which started with Hellboy, so this was a no-brainer.

Screamland #2 (of 5) – This book was a lot of fun as we have a burnt out Frankenstein Monster looking for work in the movies and his agent has finally landed a job for him and the rest of the old movie monsters. Frank was not real happy about it, but a job is a job. A great little tongue in cheek look at old movie star monsters and what they must be doing now if they were real (I think it would be a reality TV show – Dancing with the Monsters).

Suburban Glamour #4 (of 4) – I have thought the story way too derivative and lacking in much originality, others have disagreed, but we all believe that the artwork by the writer is wonderful. Jamie McKelvie’s art is his own style and it has a beautiful clean line and is great to look at.

Doktor Sleepless #6 – I’m still not really sure where this book is going, but Warren Ellis is producing a tale that is about a unique rebel who is fighting against society in a high tech future. Blessed with strong artwork and some interesting concepts, I have hung onto to this title longer then it really has a right to expect. Still the first arc is eight issues and I want to see what is established by that arc. After that I can judge better whether to continue with it or not.

Foundation #4 (of 5) – This has been a great little series. The premise that Nostradamus saw the future and then funded an organization to stop all of these calamities from happening is a good one. Last issue a rival group has apparently made the Foundation commit a lot of agents to the field and killed them. How will they recover and defeat their foe is the question now.

Locke & Key #3 – A real winning series from IDW, that is part a story of growing up, part of exploring mysteries of a mystical house and no small part horror story. Last issue a spirit had tricked our young hero into supplying it with help that will free the one killer (of his father) who survived. Well written and excellent art, this is a good series and you should be buying it.

Resurrection #4 – By cutting away about 20 books in the last few months I find that my list is a long one of great series, really good series, a solid read and that is the way it should be, but I sound redundant as I try to say a little something on each book. This is another post apocalyptic setting book, but with a nice twist. It is about what we do after the alien’s conquer us and then leave. Instead of just following a small group we are following multiple people and are getting both a big picture and the little picture at the same time.

Terry Moore’s Echo #2 – The first issue we got a brief introduction of the major character and some of the supporting cast, but little in the way of what the series will be about. We do know that Julie has been profoundly changed by last issue’s event and how much she has been changed and what the government will do about her is going to be explored over the course of this series. Get in on the ground floor now!

Wormwood Gentleman Corpse Calamari Rising #3 (of 4) – The outlandish madness and fun that is Wormwood continues as he fights to save the world. Ben Templesmith does some wonderful work here, but it is not for the faint of heart and certainly not for children. I was surprised to see IDW has signed Ben to an exclusive contract. Very unusual and the first time I have seen a small press publisher do that. I guess this means no more Fell by Ellis and Templesmith (unless they move the book to IDW).

Batman Confidential #16 – The Wrath” saga by Bedard and Rags Morales has been a very good one so far and my favorite arc of this series. I’m still not 100% sure what the point of canceling Legends was and replacing it with this series. It seems to me that DC should solicit proposals for Batman, Superman, JLA and JSA for mini-series and green light good ones and then run them. Why have a series that demands a monthly schedule. I would love to crunch some numbers and see if two Batman mini-series a year would be a better sales tool then a continuous out of continuity ongoing comic.

Booster Gold #8 – We are in the middle of the “Blue and Gold” story line and I’m still convinced it has to end with Ted Kord dying. In some ways if it does end that way it would make Ted an even bigger hero because he goes into a situation knowing he has to give his life to help make the world a better place, which is very heroic in my book.

Countdown to Final Crisis #3 - #2, #1 and then it is finally over. Last issue was back to just being no good. Mary Marvel succumbs to temptation and is the “slutty” Mary Marvel again- blecch. As much as I have come to dislike this book I still have high hopes for Final Crisis.

Green Arrow Black Canary #7 – This book has been such a roller coaster ride and one of the fastest paced books on the market. Last issue was almost slow in comparison to the first five, but then we find the ship that GA brought down was being driven by aliens (and not from over the Mexican border kind). You never know what is next with this book and the cliff hanger endings are always memorable.

Green Lantern Corps #23 – Returning to the regular story line after we got a two part Alpha Lantern story and a return of regular writer Peter Tomasi, the official hype “Some of the best and brightest of the Corps — including Kyle Rayner, Soranik Natu, Ion and Guy Gardner — are sent on an urgent mission to locate and destroy missing Sinestro Corps Rings that remain from the Sinestro Corps War. But Mongul has a different idea on what to do with the Rings”

Justice Society of America #14 – I really look forward to this book every month. First and foremost I love the JSA, next I think Johns has gotten better in the last couple of years and he was a top flight writer before. Third, most issues are by Dale Eaglesham who is legitimately a top ten comic book artist for realistic super hero art. The Kingdom Come story line has been slow building, but I’m trying to be patient.

Simon Dark #7 – For some reason last issue did not resonate with me that well. I think I was dead tired when I read it, but overall this is a fine series. I think it needs to be remarketed a little bit by DC as I do not think it has garnered enough attention. For me a teen-age Frankenstein monster made with science and magic by Steve Niles and Scott Hampton is enough, but others may not know who Steve Niles is. For me he is a draw, for people who don’t read anything but Marvel and DC, he maybe a who?

Titans #1 – The return of the original Titans, Nightwing, Flash, Donna Troy, Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy. I’m really not sure if this is such a great idea. I know super groups get back together all the time, but it will need to be top notch to really recapture the major this group had 20 plus years ago.

Wonder Woman #19 – Last issue was really a little wonky with Wonder Woman courting Tom Tresser. I love Gail Simone (writer) and want to like this series, but it is still been very uneven so far. Gail has earned enough points in the bank that uneven earns her a lot of issues before I would consider getting off this book.

Exterminators #28 – This issue we begin the final arc on this comic. On one hand I’m sad to see this strong of a series have to bite the dust, but given the premise of the book a 2 ½ year run is not bad. Also it appears they were given enough lead time to be able to end the series.

Criminal 2 #2 – The second issue of the re-launched Criminal book from Marvel’s Icon imprint. It kills me to think that Kick-Ass is selling a lot more copies then this comic, when this book, from the same imprint, which is 500 times better, is struggling to survive. Brubaker and Phillips are producing a great noir comic book tale and it is almost always a great read.

Nova #12 – So last issue Warlock form New Mutants shows up and all sorts of other heck breaks loose as all the techno- organic beings are getting involved in the Phalanx mess. I ready for Rich to beat the virus and move on to our next adventure. This series started out great but Annihilation Conquest has been a drag on it, especially since Nova is not an integral part of Conquest.

Wolverine #64 – I hate that Jason Aaron and Ron Garney are only on this book for this one arc. After this we got a Millar/McNiven future story line that I will pass on. If it gets good reviews and people enjoy the story I will get the hard cover, but I can’t see investing in what is essentially a mini-series within inside the regular series. It is a little odd when I think about no book to my knowledge is really moving Logan’s character forward.

Again the five week months almost seem like I have stopped collecting comics. It is a Pavlovian response in some ways after 40 plus issue weeks going on and on, 25 books seems like next to nothing. The grass is starting to grow again and I can use to time to cut the yard (oh boy!)

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEE!