What I’m Getting Wednesday

The five week magic is working again and this week is a comparatively light week for me. So much so that I decided to pick up the new Jonah Hex trade. I have really enjoyed this series and have picked up the trades to date one day on a whim, so I can have them in my library of books. Of course my fear is they will announce a hard cover and then I will be buying that material all over again. The market report for this week from this tiny corner of the comic book world is DC 46% (13 items), Independents 36% (10 items) and Marvel 18% (5 items).

Batman #675 – This is the final issue before we get into the Batman R.I.P. story line. I have started to appreciate Grant Morrison’s take on Batman a lot. Morrison’s work often takes time to come together and this book feels like it is evolving in its scope. Morrison’s run on X-Men reads so well when read in long form. I hope DC considers doing a hard cover treatment on Morrison’s Batman run and not the six issue variety, the 12 issue variety.

Birds of Prey #117 – This series is such a great series and it went from Chuck Dixon doing a great run to Gail Simone making the book her own to Sean McKeever and next Tony Bedard. The series just works.

Checkmate #25 – Rucka’s last issue and we should see the final conclusion to Checkmate’s battle against Kobra. I have heard a lot of people say this is just his Queen and Country stuff all over again and that is just nuts. While both involve an intelligence operation that is like saying James Bond and Jason Bourne are the same. It is a similar genre, but that is it.

Countdown to Final Crisis #1 – Well this is good news as I can finally stop complaining about this book as it is over. I’m actually curious to see what this issue is all about as it felt like an ending last issue. Regardless of how bad this has been I still excited to see Final Crisis and look forward to the next weekly series Trinity. Note I was unable to get a good download of the actual cover.

Death of the New Gods #8 (of 8) – This is another book that I have enjoyed, but have many questions about it now since Countdown to Final Crisis #2 had an ending which seems to conflict with this story. I’m not a rigid continuity person, but when both stories are running at the same time and I’m reading both I want consistency or at least an explanation.

Fables #72 – This issue is the second part of the Cinderella story. I loved last issue’s ending where Cindy almost laughs at Hansel’s question and tells him the war has already started. Fables is building up to a major event and I give Bill Willingham credit that he is willing to actually take his stories to where they are going and then deal with it. What I mean is often once something is successful they no longer actual take chances on the book, they just give us the illusion of change.

Jonah Hex TP Volume 4 – Only the Good Die Young – Of course what that title means is that Jonah will live for ever. Not that Jonah is an evil person, he has his own code and it is a harsh one. A book that deserves to be owned and I don’t keep the monthlies.

Justice League of America #20 – This issue we have Ethan Van Sciver as the artist and that is always a good thing. The story is something about Flash and the Queen Bee and other stuff. JLA has really been derailed. Brad Metzler’s started it up and it was okay, but it lacks a sense of direction.

Northlanders #5 – I was reading about the NYCC Vertigo panel and Northlanders did not get a big of a round of applause as DMZ. I dropped DMZ and was told it got a lot better and I have been tempted to go the trade route on DMZ and get back into it, but Northlanders is great. It is a historical action/adventure story focused on Vikings. The non-super powered Thor book.

Secret History of the Authority Jack Hawksmoor #2 (of 6) –You have got to love the long titles that comics are coming out with. While I have read a lot of the Authority books it is funny that the back story on many of the characters is a blank slate for me, so this material appeals to me.

Shadowpact #24 – The penultimate issue as the Shadowpact of three different times are drawn together to take out the Sun King. I hate to see Shadowpact bite the dust at 25 issues, but given what this series was a two year run is a decent amount. I would like to see series being given a green light to be as long as the writer wants them to be, but have an endpoint in mind. If sales warrant let it go 50/60 issues, if not have the ending come earlier. It would serve a few purposes. First I believe series with a beginning, middle and end have a better chance to remain long term sellers once traded. Second when the reason that the series get created or the natural evolution of the series comes to an end it does as opposed to just keeping it going and going until the sales tank.

Spirit #16 – Once Cooke left the heart of the series left and then we only got Mike Ploog for one issue. The new writing team does not have a handle on the Spirit yet and I’m starting to fall off this series. The film by Frank Miller in 2009 should be interesting.

Superman/Batman #47 – The stories in this book seem totally out of any continuity and I’m fine with that, except this story line is Batman and Superman eliminating all Kryptonite in the world. If successful that should have an impact in other books down the road. Regardless this has been a great read and has great art by Shane Davis and Matt Banning.

Dynamo 5 #12 – The Faeberverse books are both now on my list as I have added Noble Causes to my list of comics. Dynamo 5 has been coming along so well and has hit all the points that a good super hero group book should hit. This is one of the best super hero group books on the market and maybe the best one on the market.

1001 Arabian Nights Adventures of Sinbad #0 – The cover shown here is a variant cover as Zenoscope is the absolute King of variant covers. I hate the whole variant cover thing as to me instead of producing chase variants put the best cover on the darn comic and help increase sales. Just for those of you not paying attention this is not the comedy Sinbad, this is the Sinbad of old fame.

Fall of Cthulhu #11 – BOOM is stating this is a good jumping on point as the next story arc is just beginning. I hope some more people jump on as this is a well done horror book and if I wasn’t reading so many comics every week I would be reading the original source material by Lovecraft because this book has piqued my interest in the original material.

Neozoic #4 – See Gwen’s mini-review here. Hot chicks, dinosaurs and mass destruction with very good writing and art that just gets better each and every issue. I have a pull quote early on used by Red 5 and I think it is a valid description of this book “this comic does what comics do better then any other medium, it tells a fantastic story in a fantastic setting and tells it well”. I actually changed what I said slightly, but as I’m quoting myself I should be within my rights.

Queen & Country the Definitive Edition Volume #2 – I know I’m late to the game on this book, but its is new to me and I loved volume #1, so I’m looking forward to this volume. The size and format of this book is perfect for carrying around and reading in almost any setting.

Sheena Trial of the Mapinguari One Shot – I was unable to find a decent cover shot of this book, so the ad will have to do. This appears to be a follow-up to the mini-series. I think this book can work as a series of mini-series, but it would need to have a little deeper story I think to last long term.

Space Doubles #3 (of 5) – See my review here. The cover shot is both covers combined as this is a flip book. A unique series on the market as every issue is two complete stories and are in the vein of the Outer Limits and Twilight Zone. A very good series so far, but as they are all one short stories you can pick up any solo issue and not worried you missed any other issues.

Tales from the Wonderland Queen of Hearts #1 – This is the first of three one shots following up on the Wonderland series from a few months back. I’m glad that this series did well enough to expand on as it has been my favorite material out of Zenoscope publishing to date (although Willow Creek #1 was not bad either). This is also a variant cover and I believe the NYCC Exclusive.

Wormwood Calamari Rising #4 (of 4) – Last issue I thought slowed down as it really had too much story, but fat Vegas Elvis saving Wormwood bodes well for a great ending. Between this book, Fell and 30 Days of Night, Ben Templesmith has made a big impact on the comic book market. A real creative force and one I hope to follow in the years to come.

X-O Manowar Birth HC – I’m really worried about this purchase as I was unimpressed by the production value of the Harbinger reprint. Since I never held onto those early issues and I have grown to dislike keeping monthlies anyway, this is the best option I have to own the early material on X-O, which was the best part of the series.

Mighty Avengers #12 – We are moving into Secret (shhh…) Invasion. For a Secret Marvel is trying to tell everyone about it. After the Captain Marvel series I have real trepidations about this whole shebang. Still as a fun and madcap adventure within inside the Marvel Universe it has potential. I hope that the core of the story in contained within the two Avengers series and the actual mini-series as I’m ignoring all of the rest of the tie-ins.

Thor #8 – Like the Thor mini-series tied to Secret Invasion, I’m skipping that book, and Marvel made it easy as we have a great ongoing series that doesn’t need to be interrupted and they have Matt Fraction (whose writing has not impressed) writing it, so it is an easy skip. Last issue of this series was very well done and I’m looking forward to part 2 as Thor is apparently learning to accept the mantle of leader.

Ultimate Spider-Man #121 – I have been down on this book for the last couple issues and have felt like Stuart Immonen’s art is rushed. Still it is the one Spider-Man title I read and usually they are enjoyable.

Uncanny X-Men #497 – This is part of the groovy arc, where San Francisco has been transformed into a sixties version of itself. It is amusing to see people write this type of story of an era that I lived through (granted relatively young), but it was nowhere near the romanticized version it has become in popular culture.

X-Men First Class #11 – With X-Factor losing a little bit of its mojo, this now becomes my favorite X-book in or out of continuity. This book captures the essence of the early years and has updated them so you don’t realize that Cyclops in now around 60 years old. Even in comic years Cyclops should be at the youngest 38. I also think writer Jeff Parker should totally forget continuity and just do whatever he wants with these stories and let the 40 year old virgins place it in continuity down the road.

As I said a relatively lighter week for me as the five Wednesday month continues to work its magic. Of course May is more exciting for me as that is a five Friday month and I’m paid ever other week, so it is a three paycheck month. That really has to beat a five Wednesday month.