IDW Preview Review for February Part 2 of 2

PART 2 AS PROMISED

FROM THE ASHES
Written, art and cover by Bob Fingerman.
Bob Fingerman's speculative memoir (starring Bob and his wife Michelle) set in a post-apocalyptic and nuclear ravaged New York City is a surprisingly perky take on Armageddon. A hip satirical romp though Manhattan's ruins, From the Ashes is a new spin on the old autobiographical comics genre. 160 pages, $19.99.
Lee: This is a book I cannot wait for. I think of this as the capper of Fingerman’s horror trilogy with Recess Pieces, Connective Tissue, and now this. The first two were great and I bet this will be good too. Comix does Zombies. You can’t go wrong.
Jim: I’m totally unfamiliar with this material and therefore this does not generate any excitement for me, but I love how varied IDW is making their line of books and comics.

GRIMJACK OMNIBUS
Written by John Ostrander, art by Timothy Truman.
The entire original John Ostrander/Timothy Truman GrimJack run, from its very beginnings in Starslayer to the first 21 issues of First Comics' solo title. BlacJacMac! Bob The Watchlizard! Goddess! Gordon Munden! They're all here in all their amazing glory! The creation that made comics superstars of Ostrander and Truman, now all gathered in one stellar Omnibus edition! 400 pages, $24.99.
Lee: I wish I knew if this were b&w or color. I’m betting b&w because shorter, more expensive color trades have already been done. Since I have those I won’t be getting this but it’s great material if you haven’t read it yet. Ostrander creates a excellent science fiction private eye. And this is some of Truman’s best art too.
Jim: I have the shorter more expensive trades and if this is in color I will be crying. Not really because the trades I have are high grade paper and I suspect this will not be.

MUNDEN'S BAR: ALL-STAR, ALL-NEW, ALL-STRANGE
Written by John Ostrander and Martha Thomases, art by Skip Williamson, William Messner-Loebs, Marc Hempel, Joe Staton, Joanna Estep, Hilary Barta, Chris Burnham, Mark Wheatley and Norm Breyfogle, cover by Marc Hempel.
Return to the nexus-point of Cynosure, GrimJack's own Munden's Bar, for a slew of brand-new, never-before-printed stories produced by comics' most creative talents‹including Skip Williamson, John Ostrander, William Messner-Loebs, Marc Hempel, Joe Staton, Hilary Barta, Mark Wheatley and guest-starring Wolverine MacAlistar, Jesus Christ, Del Close, the Frankenstein Mobster, and more! Cutting-edge heroic wackiness, as only found at Munden's! 104 pages, $17.99.
Lee: The Munden’s Bar backups from Grimjack were always good. And, many of the artists who did stories took the chance to really try new things. With this line up of artists, I’m sure this will be very, very good material!
Jim: Munden’s Bar was a place where a lot of different people got a chance to tell a story or two. A nice melding of new and old and almost had an underground feel to it sometimes.

WEEKLY WORLD NEWS #2
Written by Chris Ryall, art by Alan Robinson, covers by Alan Robinson and Thom Zahler.
In the second chapter of "The Irredemption of Ed Anger," the first-ever Weekly World News comic series, Ed hits the road in his attempt to discredit Bat Boy and runs into Manigator and Nessie the Lake Erie Serpent, even as Chaos Cloud gives him a nightmare at 20,001 feet...! Bonus back-up: more classic articles from the Weekly World News! 32 pages, $3.99.
Jim: Doing all the things to make them financial sound allows them to do fun books that I’m not sure anyone other then Dark Horse would dare to take a shot at.
Lee: This just looks like fun.

Jim: When you add in Grimjack, Locke & Key, Ben Templesmith’s work, Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson, Fallen Angel, Angel, Transformers, Bloom County collections and more you can see why IDW has become one of the big names outside of Marvel and DC.
Lee: Yep, with all that talent I see the IDW review continuing to be part of the monthly preview-review cycle. And, I see myself spending more and more money with them this year.