IDW Previews Review for March 2011 Part 1 of 2

Lee: DH had an absolutely atrocious month for new releases. Hopefully IDW will be better. IMO, IDW has replaced Image & DH as the #3 publisher in the business. I don’t remember if the numbers support this, but in terms of quality IDW is better than the other two.
Thomm: I’m still an Image fan, mostly for Kirkman, but Proof and Dynamo 5 are reliably good, too. The only thing I have from IDW on a regular basis is Locke & Key.

Best of Dick Tracy Vol. 01 SC by (W/A) Chester Gould
Highlights from Dick Tracy's long and storied career, as chosen by comics historian and comics writer Jay Maeder. This 128-page trade paperback contains the Best of the Best sequences from the 1930s through the 1970s, and is a great introduction to the character for new readers and old ones alike. Featuring such villains as Doc Hump, The Blank, B-B Eyes, Flattop, The Brow, Shaky, Mumbles, T.V. Wiggles, Model, Rughead, and Flattop Jr.! $19.99
Lee: Dick Tracy was one of the better strips for a very, very long time. This is an excellent collection and well worth the low entry cost to discover why this was so good. I am glad that IDW is producing this along with the more expensive hc’s so that the material can even be enjoyed by cheapskates like Thomm.
Thomm: If this was very good, what’s the difference between it and the current version? Is the current version very good, too? My only exposure to the strip currently is the ripping on it by the great Comics Curmudgeon site.
Lee: I think Dick Tracy's best years ended in the early 90's when Max Allen Collins stopped writing it. This collection doesn't contain any of the newer material and contains only the material that made Tracy famous and beloved.

Danger Girl Vol. 01: Destination Danger SC by (W) Campbell, Yune, Hartnell (A) Various (C) J Scott Campbell
A collection of fantastic Danger Girl stories from across the globe, including the Danger Girl novelettes Viva Las Danger and Hawaiian Punch, both painted by Phil Noto, and Danger Girl Kamikaze, by Tommy Yune. Plus, a fantastic Danger Girl adventure delineated by legendary artist Arthur Adams, and a host of pin-ups by some of comics brightest stars. $19.99
Lee: Is there still a market for Danger Girl? Between this and new collections of Lady Death and Witchblade it feels like the 90s bad girl craze all over again.
Thomm: Easy pass. I like tangible boobs much better than two dimensional ones, and there’s really nothing else to recommend here, so far as I can tell. Other than showing off assets, what does this character do?

Ghostbusters: Infestation #1 of 2 by (W) Erik Burnham (A) Kyle Hotz (C) Hotz, John K. Snyder III
IDW's Infestation event continues here in this bi-weekly two-part Ghostbusters tale! Thanks to a plague of poltergeists that resist long-term storage in the containment grid, the Ghostbusters are dealing with a surplus of work... and their job is only going to get harder when Britt's zombies try to take a nibble out of the Big Apple! Written by Erik Burnham (The A-Team: War Stories) and illustrated by Kyle Hotz (Marvel Zombies). $3.99
Lee: It’s good to see that DH isn’t the only company thriving on licensed products. Again, I have to wonder if there is that much of a market for this material. Between GI Joe, Transformers, Star Wars, and this… I would think the average fanboy would be overloaded.
Thomm: I guess publishers do make money off the licensed stuff or they wouldn’t do it. My son likes Transformers but he’s not so wedded to it that he goes out of his way to ask me for the comics. I haven’t enjoyed a licensed product story since Marvel’s old Star Wars continuations when only the first movie (1977) had come out.
Lee: BUT, Hotz is an awesome monster artist so I’m betting it looks great no matter how good, or bad, the story is.
Thomm: Art’s not going to be enough for me, which I’m sure is a surprise to no one.

More tomorrow....