What I’m Getting Wednesday

This week I don’t have a pressing issue to push, but a friend of mine asked me what was my recession proof list of books that I had on my list and I thought it was an interesting exercise. I limited my selection to just ongoing series and managed to reduce my list to these books in no particular order:

Jonah Hex, Scalped, Action, All Star Batman, Batman, BPRD, Criminal, Daredevil, Detective, Echo, Fables, Fear Agent, Fell, Green Lantern, House of Mystery, Invincible,
Justice Society of America, Madam Xandu, Proof, Secret Six, Simon Dark, Superman, Thor & Walking Dead.

So theoretically I can knock my list down to 23 ongoing series and some of those (especially Fell and All Star Batman) have eradicate publishing schedules at best. It was fun seeing what books I would not let go of and I hope it does come to that as I would miss reading all that I do read.

The books that I’m looking forward to the most this week are:

Camelot 3000 HC Deluxe Edition – This was not the best story in the world, but it did make me realize what a great artist Brian Bolland was and this series was infamous for how late the last issue was (about one year between issue #11 and #12). Now if DC can just do the Bernie Wrightson Swamp Thing material. This volume contains “Written by Mike W. Barr; Art by Brian Bolland, Terry Austin, Bruce Patterson and Dick Giordano; Cover by Brian Bolland. The classic tale that exploded into comics shops in the early 1980s is collected for the first time in hardcover! Featuring a new cover by acclaimed artist Brian Bolland, this deluxe, oversized volume collects the twelve-issue series in its entirety, along with bonus materials including never-before-seen preliminary artwork by Bolland and developmental material from writer Mike W. Barr!”

Final Crisis #5 (of 7) – So far I have really enjoyed this series, but the changes that have occurred to the DCU are so widespread and vast that it is still a little disconcerting trying to figure out how this will play in other books down the road. Ignoring the continuity ramifications, this has been enjoyable so far. The company line “Written by Grant Morrison; Art and covers by J.G. Jones, Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino. Humanity enslaved! Time shattered and bleeding! Anti-Life triumphant! Can Earth's demoralized, beaten heroes rally their scattered forces for the ultimate super-battle against the nightmare armies of Apokolips when the forces of good meet the forces of evil on the bridge to Blüdhaven? As Darkseid's presence causes reality itself to sicken and the lights to go out across the universe, as even the Guardians fall, the true power of the evil gods finally reveals itself, and a major character returns for a shocking conclusion. Does the secret of humankind's salvation lie in a mysterious cave painting and a bolt of lightning? Or has the Last Day come for us all?”

I Kill Giants #6 (of 7) – I give Joe Kelly credit I wasn’t sure that there were any giants until they showed up last issue. Barbara is such a compelling character and you can’t hope but to root for her. The hype “story Joe Kelly art & cover J.M. Ken Niimura The die have been cast. Fate has spoken. Can Barbara find the strength to face the monster? This is the brawl for it all.”

Secret Six #4 – Gail Simone has crafted one of those rare series that just hits the mark from issue #1 and keeps getting better each and every issue. Granted she honed her skill with this group with two prior mini-series, but this has fast become one of my favorite DCU books. The word “Written by Gail Simone; Art by Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood; Cover by Nicola Scott. It's Viva Las Vegas for DC's most dangerous and demented team as the mysterious Junior tightens the noose around all their necks! That squeeze pushes one Secret Six member towards a life-threatening hazard that proves once and for all that rest-stop bathrooms really should be avoided at all costs! Plus, the new sixth member has joined the team, but is she really willing to stick with the Six all the way to Gotham with half the villains in the DC universe chasing them?”

The rest of the list:

30 Days of Night 30 Days Til Death #1 - David Lapham, the acclaimed Eisner Award-winning creator of Stray Bullets, brings his unique brand of graphic storytelling to 30 Days of Night and IDW. In 30 Days 'til Death, Rufus is just a guy trying to fit in, to get by and not be noticed. But there's a catch; Rufus is a vampire. So why does a vampire want to keep such a low profile? Because he is being tracked by the mother of all hit squads, made up of 'old guard' vampires who don't take kindly to these punk kids and their new ways.

Action Comics #872 - Written by Geoff Johns; Art by Pete Woods; Cover by Gary Frank."New Krypton" part 7! As Superman attempts to free the other cities and abductees from Brainiac's ship – including the original monster military unit, the Creature Commandos – Lex Luthor experiments on Brainiac himself. Meanwhile, rebuilt and out for blood, Metallo and Reactron attack, and a major turning point for one of our characters sheds a dark shadow across all that is good.

Ambush Bug Year None #5 (of 6)- Written by Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming; Art by Keith Giffen and Al Milgrom; Cover by Kevin Maguire. Infinite Omacs are just the start to yet another hilarious romp through the DC Universe with our favorite green bug. All this and the coveted recipe for Ma Hunkel's world-famous meatloaf! Yummers!

Batman Confidential #24 - Written by Andrew Kreisberg; Art by Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens ; Cover by Stephane Roux. "Rights" part 3 of 4! In an attempt to gain insight into this new kind of criminal The Joker represents in Gotham, Batman goes undercover to share the lunatic's cell in the Gotham City Police Department's holding pen! And a rogue officer hunts down Commissioner Gordon!

Booster Gold #15 - Written by Dan Jurgens; Art and Cover by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund. Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens takes over as writer to kick off the 4-part "Reality Lost" storyline! With the timestream inexplicably altered and Rip Hunter missing, Booster Gold travels into the past to fix the anomaly before they're wiped out of time forever! Luckily, Booster gets a hand from none other than the Elongated Man!

BPRD War on Frogs #2 - Legendary artist John Severin (Two-Fisted Tales) lends his pen to the second of four one-shots set during the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense's fight against the frog monsters. Series writer John Arcudi and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola take B.P.R.D. back to its roots with a classic horror story: a squadron of B.P.R.D. soldiers hunts down a nest of frog monsters on an abandoned battleship--only to become their quarry's prey.

Challenger Deep #4 (of 4) - By Andrew Cosby, Andy Schmidt & Chee The clock is ticking. A nuclear submarine sits atop an underwater glacier of methane ice, enough to crack the world in half if it's not rescued in time. Here's a last issue spoiler - the Earth doesn't actually end up cracked in half. You, however, will be on the edge of your seat, thanks to writers Andrew Cosby, creator of the hit Sci-Fi Channel show Eureka, and Andy Schmidt!

Detective Comics #851 - Written by Dennis O'Neil ; Art by Guillem March ; Cover by Guillem March. "Last Days of Gotham" part 1 of 2! Longtime BATMAN writer and editor Dennis O'Neil returns to The Dark Knight for this special two-part tale. Joined by artistic rising star Guillem March (JOKER'S ASYLUM: POISON IVY), O'Neil's "Last Days of Gotham" dives into the soul of a city that has lost its most famous citizen, its favorite son, its beloved protector. How will Gotham City react in the wake of the horrible tragedy that has befallen The Caped Crusader?

Echo #8 - By Terry Moore Julie isn't the only one with remnants of the atomic armor she wears. There is another, much darker soul, who lusts for the power the armor brings. The Dark One is determined to find Julie and claim her share of the armor. To do that, he will have to kill her!

Epilogue #3 - Steve Niles (w); Kyle Hotz (a & c) As the body count rises, the police can no longer ignore the midnight vigilante. A special strike force is formed to hunt Ethan down and capture him. Meanwhile a mysterious visitor from the old country has arrived in the city and wishes to make a pact with humans to destroy the vigilante once and for all.

Final Crisis Revelations #4 (of 5) - Written by Greg Rucka; Art and Covers by Philip Tan and Jonathan Glapion. Cain walks the Earth with the Spear of Destiny in his hand, and the only one who can stop him is the Spectre! But the Spectre hovers at death's door, split from his host, and only one person can save him: Crispus Allen. Meanwhile, the Question, Radiant, and Huntress struggle to defend what's left of Gotham in the face of a Justifier siege.

Green Arrow Black Canary #15 - Written by Andrew Kreisberg; Art by Mike Norton and John Floyd; Cover by Ladrönn. New series writer Andrew Kreisberg (JLA CLASSIFIED, Simpsons) introduces a new era for Green Arrow and Black Canary! As Connor and Speedy head off on their own and leave the married vigilantes truly alone together for the first time, a new villain gives Ollie cause to reflect on just how much his life has changed!

Green Lantern Corps #31 -Written by Peter J. Tomasi; Art by Pat Gleason and Drew Geraci; Cover by Pat Gleason. A prelude to "Blackest Night" chapter! As the growing power of the Star Sapphires intensifies, the next law is burned into the Book Of Oa by the Guardians resulting in further life-altering reverberations amongst the personal lives of the Corps. Meanwhile Kyle and Natu battle Kryb for the soul of Lantern Amnee and Matoo's infant son.

House of Mystery #8 - Written by Matthew Sturges; Art by Luca Rossi and Henry Flint; Cover by Glenn Fabry. Down in the basement, some bad things have come to call, and Fig finds herself face-to-face with the diegetically impaired Miranda in part 3 of "Love Stories for Dead People." Meanwhile, Harry tells the story of his first days in the House, and who showed up to chase away the nightmarish stowaways in "The Bartender's Tale," illustrated by Henry Flint (HAUNTED TANK).

Invincible #56 - Story Robert Kirkman art & cover Ryan Ottley & FCO Plascencia. When someone very close to Invincible is hurt - the gloves come off!Is Mark Grayson's murderous Viltrumite heritage finally coming to the forefront? Find out in this special stand-alone issue that answers the question once and for all: can Invincible be driven to MURDER?

Justice League of America #27 - Written by Dwayne McDuffie; Art and Cover by Ed Benes. A "Sightings" tale! Doctor Light is missing, and her former Justice League teammates intend to find the man responsible and make him pay. But before they do that, they'll have to get past his Shadow Cabinet of powerful superbeings who have sworn to "Save humanity from itself." Milestone Comics characters Icon and Hardware make their first modern DCU appearance, but this time it's not clear whose side they're on!

Legion of Super Heroes The More Things Change TP - Written by Paul Levitz; Art by Steve Lightle, Ernie Colon, Keith Giffen, Larry Mahlstedt and others; Cover by Steve Lightle and Larry Mahlstedt. Bursting out of the 1980s comes this tale starring the far future's greatest heroes! In this volume, you'll find LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #7-13 as the team discovers a factory hidden between dimensions creating a Sun-Eater. Plus, it's team leader election time!

Nightwing #151 – Written by Peter J. Tomasi; Art by Don Kramer and Jay Leisten; Cover by Georges Jeanty. Nightwing has saved New York City from Two-Face, but that doesn't mean that he's saved himself – or that Two-Face is through with him. Nightwing will be forced to confront the madman in Arkham Asylum then face dire changes to his personal life as he deals with the aftereffects of "Batman R.I.P." and makes the ultimate leap!

Secret Invasion Dark Reign – Written by Brian Bendis, Pencils & Cover by Alex Maleev.The Invasion is over!! There are winners and there are losers and in this major one-shot from the Eisner award-winning team of Bendis and Maleev, (New Avengers: Illuminati, Civil War: The Confession) the stage is set for the next major era in Marvel Comics. Hold onto your beenies, boys, because you have NEVER seen your universe turned upside down like this!!

Simon Dark #15 - Written by Steve Niles; Art and Cover by Scott Hampton. Can Simon learn how to change his ghoulish appearance? Gus thinks so, but is Simon up to the task? Meanwhile, Tom follows the trail of the murderous stranger, and begins to realize that his crimes may somehow be connected to Simon!

Superman Batman #54 - Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson; Art and Cover by Rags Morales and John Dell. The Man of Steel attempts to help The Dark Knight learn how to control his newfound superpowers. But has the Caped Crusader let his new abilities go to his head? Meanwhile, Clark deals with suddenly being powerless and unable to protect the world.

Superman Batman vs Vampires and Werewolves #5 (of 6) - Written by Kevin VanHook; Art and Cover by Tom Mandrake. Destroy all monsters! The Man of Steel and the Dark Knight Detective – with help from their own supernatural expert Etrigan, the Demon – battle Dr. Combs and his vampire and werewolf horde for the fate of all of Gotham City. But when the good doctor invokes a Lovecraftian beast to join the fight, it will be the ultimate monster mash for Superman and Batman!

Titans #8 - Written by Judd Winick; Art and Cover by Howard Porter. There's a traitor in the Titans' midst, and the entire Tower is under lockdown until the team can discover which member could betray them. The problem is, there's no real way to investigate, since the traitor is now a sleeper agent!

Trinity #28 - Written by Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza; Art by Mark Bagley and Art Thibert, Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens, Tom Derenick and Wayne Faucher and Mike Norton; Covers by Jim Lee and Scott Williams and Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino. The Dark Trinity, having revealed a traitor in their midst, attempts to take the newly ordered world by storm with a new recruit by their side! Meanwhile, find out exactly where the original Trinity – Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman – are and what's become of them and the strange new world they inhabit!

The joys of five week months and my maintaining a somewhat less impulsive willingness to try things for too long is keeping my list on the smaller (for me) side. I have to say I’m enjoying it, as I have Christmas that I getting ready for and my real job has gotten way too busy. Also this has allowed me to actually stop and look at the new comic rack and occasionally try something on more of a surprise basis. Last week I tried a Punisher (Max) Christmas Special and X-Infernus and enjoyed both of them.