Image Preview Review for July

Jim: Image has not been very exciting lately. They have some great books and some interesting selections, but they seem to be trying to decide exactly what type of company are they. As of last month Image was down to fifth place as a publisher with Dynamite Entertainment hot on their heels. I think Image needs to have a stronger identity in the market.
Lee: While they are slipping, I still think that Image offers lots of good books. They may be in a slump but they will come out of it.

THE MICE TEMPLAR: DESTINY #1 story MICHAEL AVON OEMING & BRYAN JL GLASS art VICTOR SANTOS & MICHAEL AVON OEMING cover MICHAEL AVON OEMING variant cover VICTOR SANTOS & VERONICA GANDINI JULY 2932 PAGES / FC$3.99
The second chapter in the saga of the Mice Templar begins here!The Templar have fallen, leaving the natural world in the grip of tyrants and ever-increasing chaos. The promise of restoration for the Templar and the salvation of all creatures now lies in the paws of the newly-knighted Karic. But as sinister powers seek to thwart him, others are desperate to use his mission for personal agendas. Now Karic is anxious to complete his training so that he might rescue his family from slavery. But his new master is Cassius, a bitter Templar exile who does not believe in Karic's destiny. Their journey takes them to the legendary Haunted Wood, a dead forest inhabited by Diabhlan, ancient evil spirits hungry to feed off of living souls.
32 PAGES – NO ADS!

Jim: I tried this book out and it was really not working for me. Bryan Glass was nice enough to e-mail me and state that they had resolved the problems they were having but I never got back into the series. Glad to see it is doing well enough to get to a second chapter.
Lee: I picked up the fancy hc that collected the first part of the series. It was good and well thought out. The art was great but the story was kinda generic sword & sorcery stuff with mice. Not bad by any stretch but certainly not amazing.

ARMAGEDDON NOW: THE BEAST #1 (of 5) story PHIL HOTSENPILLER & ROB LIEFELD art & cover ROB LIEFELD & MIKE CAPPROTTI JULY 2932 PAGES / FC $3.99
In the aftermath of World War 3, the world as we know it has been altered forever. America is crippled and rebuilding. A leader emerges, Sadju, also known as The Beast, seeks to unite the nations, while he mobilizes his forces and consolidates his international power. Meanwhile our hero, John Corbin races across the globe in pursuit of his former lover, the assassin known as Jada. Who will uncover the secrets of the Corinthian and unlock the prophecies of Orion that will reveal the true destiny of mankind?
Fully painted color.

Jim: I guess this is one problem with Image that Liefeld is still part of the company and they are forced to publish crap that he is involved in. Liefeld’s day has long past and Image needs to be rid of him and not wasting valuable marketing time on projects that may never see the light of day.
Lee: Yeah, it’s hard to justify Liefeld projects these days. But if he stopped publishing then who would we laugh at?

DESCENDANT #1 (of 3) story MICHAEL DOLCE & MARCUS PERRYart MARIANO NAVARRO cover TYLER KIRKHAM JULY 15 32 PAGES / FC$3.50
Believed to be the embodiment of an ancient Incan prophecy, and exiled years earlier for abusing her own powers, Rayne Santiago must confront the past she has been running from her entire life if she hopes to not only win back the trust of her people, but also rescue her brothers.

Jim: Here is another problem, none of these names ring a bell and the cover is very generic. No pizzazz here like Jersey Gods and Proof have.
Lee: Actually, Proof had nothing going for it and the only pull Jersey Gods had was the shameless aping of Kirby. This looks closer to Top Cow pointless fluff than anything else. Maybe the cover appeals to 16 yr olds.

EXISTENCE 2.0 #1 (of 3) story NICK SPENCER art RONALD SALASc over TIM DANIEL 32 PAGES / FC / $3.50 Self-absorbed physicist Sylvester Baladine finds his consciousness transferred into the body of the hitman who just killed him! Things don’t seem too bad until his daughter is kidnapped by the same people who "killed" him. Now, he's forced to dig up his past and solve his own murder…inadvertently making himself a target once more.

Jim: Great concept, but after all the three issue mini-series that was only the first chapter of the story I want to know that the story will be complete in three issues. By the way, why is Image stuck on three issue mini-series? I think this maybe the same stuff that Shadowline (a sub imprint of Image) was pulling which is test out a concept with a three issue prologue or the start of a story as opposed to actually committing to a full story. I’d buy this as an OGN, but I’m leery of investing time and money or three issues that could be an incomplete story.
Lee: The problem is even worse for people like me who didn’t read the first part. There’s not motivation to read 2.0 even though I like the concept. If Image is going the 3 issue route, then it needs to mimic the Hellboy mini-series and be self contained.

Jim: That's funny because I'm reading 2.0 as part of the title and Lee is seeing this as the second part of a story. That is bad news if I think it is a new series and Lee thinks it is a continuation.
Lee: What does that say about your marketing campaign if two nuts like us, who read every single line of the previews can't determine what the title means? I'm going with it's a bad sign.

BOMB QUEEN OMNIBUST, VOL. 1 HC story JIMMIE ROBINSON art & cover JIMMIE ROBINSON JULY 8 328 PAGES / FC$39.99 By popular demand! This deluxe OVERSIZED hardcover collects for the first time ever between two covers BOMB QUEEN # 1-4, BOMB QUEEN II # 1-3 and BOMB QUEEN III # 1-4, plus more extras than you can shake a nuke at! Not for the weak of heart, has been known to cause rashes in some cases. Check with your doctor should swelling develop...or not.

Jim: The cover, the name, the whole package is just too funny and yet Jimmie Robinson has made this work for quite a long time.
Lee: It’s superheroes with lots of t ts and penile jokes. It’s fine. There’s obviously a market for it but I really don’t need a hc of it.
Jim: Oh, I'm not thinking of buying it, I'm just saying I surprised it has gotten this far to warrant doing a HC of the material.

FIVE FISTS OF SCIENCE GN (NEW PRINTING) story MATT FRACTION art & cover STEVEN SANDERS 112 PAGES / FC /$12.99True story: In 1899, Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla decided to end war forever. With Twain’s connections and Tesla’s inventions, they went into business, selling world peace. So what happened? Only now can the tale be told – in which Twain and Tesla collided with Edison and Morgan, an evil science cabal merging the Black Arts and the Industrial Age. Turn of the century New York City sets the stage for a titanic battle over the very fate of the mankind.

Lee: This is some of Fraction’s early work before he made it big. I haven’t read this but Fraction can write a heck of a story and it’s got a great historical setting. I might have to pick this up since I missed it the first time around.

Jim: I disagree; Matt Fraction has yet to show me he is a writer of note yet. He has potential, but I think he misses more then hits. Name some of Fraction's great works?
Lee: How about the latest Iron Fist run, the Thor Ages of Thunder one shots, and Casanova. All were pretty darn good.

LIBERTY MEADOWS SUNDAY STRIPS, VOL. 1 HC story FRANK CHO art & cover FRANK CHO JULY 1 304 PAGES / FC$29.99
The long-awaited complete collection of Frank Cho’s award-winning internationally syndicated Sunday strips, Liberty Meadows, begins this July in a series of high-end landscape format hardcovers containing the entire full-color run.
This volume collects over three hundred pages showcasing Frank Cho’s bawdy sense of humor and mastery of the female form including a behind-the-scenes look into Cho’s creative process in developing his highly acclaimed series.

Jim: This should be right up my alley, but for some reason Cho’s work has never resonated with me.
Lee: Cho’s early Liberty Meadow work was very good. Unfortunately, I think a lot of his humor got watered down by editors. But, he usually pushed on the Sunday strips, so I might have to get this.

NOCTURNALS: THE DARK FOREVER AND OTHER TALES , VOL. 2 HC story DANIEL BRERETON art DANIEL BRERETON, TED NAIFEH & FRIENDS cover DANIEL BRERETON JULY 8 REGULAR EDITION: $29.99, 280 PAGES, FC PREVIEWS EXCLUSIVE EDITION: $39.99, 296 PAGES, FC The essential collection of DAN BRERETON’s truly groundbreaking "Nocturnals" graphic novels and stories continues in this second hardcover volume, presenting over 250 pages of material we couldn't fit into Volume 1. Doc Horror's crew of inhuman avengers, including his spooky daughter, Evening, tackle creatures hiding in the roughest hidden towns, the depths of the Earth, even the bottom of the sea. The nighttime world is crawling with dangers the sleeping populace is dimly aware of and only the Nocturnals stand watch. This handsome, must-have volume - for newcomers and completists alike - includes two miniseries: "The Dark Forever" by DAN BRERETON and "Gunwitch: Outskirts of Doom," story by BRERETON and art by TED NAIFEH (Courtney Crumrin, DEATH JR.), as well as the special "Troll Bridge" and stories “Spectres” and “Beasts.” Extras include guest Introduction, sketches and afterword by DAN BRERETON. The PREVIEWS EXCLUSIVE EDITION contains sixteen more pages of bonus material!

Lee: LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. I have the Nocturnals Vol 1 hc and it’s great. I am all over this too. Great story. Great art. Well worth the investment.
Jim: This sounds like a lot of extra material as opposed to the actual good stuff, but I’ll let Lee get this one and I will pass.

THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #18 story ROBERT KIRKMAN art & cover JASON HOWARD variant cover FRANK CHO JULY 29 32 PAGES / FC$2.99
“LOCKDOWN,” EpilogueBring on the bad guys! Has Wolf-Man’s time in prison turned him to the darkside? Everything has changed, again... and the stage is set for our monumental issue 25!

Jim: This book changes what is happening so much that it has never really had a status quo, which makes this book consistently unpredictable. If you have passed on this book before check it out now.
Lee: Didn’t you pick this last month? Why aren’t you picking Walking Dead too?

Jim: I don't think I picked it last month and Wolf-Man still seems like the ugly duckling of Kirkman's stuff and it is becoming a swan.

Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #1 (of 5) (W) Mark Waid (A) Kenneth Rocafort (Cov) Rocafort, Mike Choi & Sonia Oback
Top Cow’s technology based teams collide in a critical crossover event that will have everyone talking this summer!The Hunter-Killer team’s directive to hunt down and detain rogue Ultra-Sapiens brings them head to head with the Cyberforce team in a brutal showdown that leaves more than one member bleeding. But who is manipulating these two teams into conflict and to what end?The team of writer and Hunter-Killer co-creator Mark Waid (Amazing Spider-Man, Irredeemable) and artist Kenneth Rocafort (Astonishing Tales, Madame Mirage) bring you a crossover filled with epic action, intrigue, lies, and betrayal. Featuring two connected covers by series artist Rocafort and a third variant cover by Mike Choi and Sonia Oback (Uncanny X-Men, X-Force).
Full Color 32 pages $2.99 limited series
Expected Ship Date – July 22nd, 2009

Jim: I guess a paycheck is a paycheck, but I have to wonder why Mark Waid is wasting time on this book. Regardless of their hype I know of no one who talks about Top Cow anymore.
Lee: I think that Top Cow caters to a particular crowd. You’re older, married, and employed. Trust me, you’re not the Top Cow demographic.

Jim: So their demographic is young, living in the basement and unemployed? Lousy target market.
Lee: Lots of disposable income to be had from parents who pamper the young, living in the basement, and unemployed.

Jim: IDW in March was the number three publisher (and they were started up by Wildstorm people 10 years ago). Dark Horse is still strong and Image seems to be fading. Subtract Robert Kirkman and they only have two other ongoing series that are viable (Proof and Jersey Gods). The business model they have no longer seems to be working.
Lee: I hate to say it but I think Eric Larsen leaving the EIC role has really hurt Image. He really expanded what they did and was able to identify exciting new books. Ever publisher goes through ups-n-downs. Image is just down right now.