IDW Preview Review for July

Lee: Every month IDW seems to find new things to get me excited about. The problem is they seem to be getting more and more expensive. You will need some seriously deep pockets to afford it all this month.
Thomm: Well, that largely leaves me out.

Walter Simonson’s Thor: Artist’s Edition
Walter Simonson (w & a & c)
Last year, IDW Publishing released the inaugural Artist's Edition book, printing the entire Rocketeer saga by Dave Stevens from the original art and at the same size it was drawn. The book was a smash hit and quickly sold out.
This year, IDW Publishing, in cooperation with MARVEL Comics, is pleased to offer the second book in the series: Walter Simonson's Thor: Artist's Edition! This collection will present Thor 337-340 and 360-362—Simonson's first story, followed by one of his favorite arcs. All the pages in the Artist's Edition were scanned from Simonson's personal original art to ensure the highest possible quality reproduction. While appearing to be in black and white, each page was scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art—for instance, corrections and blue pencils. Each page is printed the same size as drawn, and the paper selected is as close as possible to the original art board. HC • BW • $75.00 net discount item • 176 Pages • 11” x 16”
Lee: IDW appears to be more and more art books these days. They did an Artists Edition for Dave Steven’s Rocketeer and that was fantastic. I am sure this will be gorgeous also. If you love art then this is a must have. For everyone else it’s a nice to have because it’s just really expensive.
Thomm: Fortunately, I bought these issues when they came out the first time and still have them. Not being an art guy, I’m not hearing the siren for this.

Duke Nukem: Glorious Bastard #1 (of 4)
Tom Waltz (w) • Xermanico (a) • John K. Snyder III, Xermanico (c)What do time-traveling Nazi UFOs, space pigs, and a hot French Resistance babe code-named the French Tickler have in common? They’re all about to run head-on into Duke Nukem, and for some of them (the ones that don’t look good in bikinis, that is), it’s gonna end painfully. Video game legend Duke Nukem tears it up in his first comic book series! Written by Tom Waltz (The A-Team: Shotgun Wedding) and illustrated by Xermanico. The King is finally back, baby, and he’s bigger and badder than ever! FC • 32 pages • $3.99*2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio.*Variants:Duke Nukem Forever Concept Art Team coverFoil-stamped, glow-in-the-dark, embossed John K. Snyder III cover
Lee: And so, IDW enters into the video-game come comic book market with a title that is sure to please the juvenile in men everywhere, and make conservative mom’s everywhere mad. But how can you call a game that has a “'Capture the Babe' mode where players can choose to spank women on the buttocks while abducting them” bad? I’m surprised that IDW is publishing this. It sound more like Avatar material.
Thomm: Is this supposed to be fun? I like stupid fun but this just seems to be confusing intentionally offensive for funny.
Lee: And just to make it perfect, it has a foil-stamped, glow-in-the-dark, embossed variant cover!!! I feel like I’m back in the 90’s.
Thomm: Somehow I managed to miss all that ‘90s cover hype. Apathy has its advantages.

Wormwood: Bingo Night in Valhalla #1 (of 4)
Ben Templesmith (w) & (a) & (c)
Eisner-nominated creator Ben Templesmith returns to the world of Wormwood with the undead detectives idea of a “vacation.” Which naturally entails Nordic gods, nursing homes, Valkyrie property developers, and a surly unicorn, too! FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Lee: Yahooo, the return of Wormwood. Templesmith has always written some wonderfully twisted Wormwood tales and I can’t recommend them enough. Part horror, part offensive, all fun. Reserve your copy today.
Thomm: I’ve yet to partake of this series, though I’ve heard many good things about it. I might jump on to this to see if the hype matches the product.

Parker: The Martini Edition HC
Darwyn Cooke (w & a & c)
Darwyn Cooke's first two Parker books, The Hunter and The Outfit, are collected in a tremendous, special oversized hardcover edition—with an ADDITIONAL 65 pages of Darwyn Cooke content—including a BRAND NEW story and a beautiful slipcase!
Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter graphic novel debuted in July 2008 to instantaneous popular and critical acclaim. It made the New York Times best-seller list and won coveted Eisner and Harvey awards. The second graphic novel, The Outfit, was released last year and was met with similar response, and is currently under consideration for nominations in this year’s awards season.
The Hunter and The Outfit tell the story of Parker, Richard Stark's classic anti-hero, as he returns to New York to settle the score with his wife and partner in crime after they betray him in a heist gone terribly wrong. After evening the field and reclaiming his prize, the Outfit decide to do some score settling of their own... and learn much too late that when you push a man like Parker, it had better be all the way to the grave.
This very special collection measures an impressive 9 x 13 inches and weighs in at 334 pages. Extras include an extended art gallery section as well as a brand-new 8-page Parker story by Darwyn Cooke, unique to this volume. HC • Partial Color • $75.00 • 360 Pages • 9” x 13”
Lee: If I had any doubts about IDW entering the art book market this offering squelched them. The Parker books are very, very good so I understand why this book is being offered. But, I already have the originals so I think I might have to pass. Then again, it has a new story and the art is reproduced at almost full size…. I just might cave.
Thomm: Wuss. Man up and resist those dark urges! While I love Cooke’s work, I’m not shelling out this kind of money.

Edge of Doom
Steve Niles (w) • Kelley Jones (a & c)
Discover the true meaning of terror as fright-masters Steve Niles and Kelley Jones bring you five frightening tales of stark raving horror! In one tale we watch a very sad and lonely man reaching the end of his rope, only to discover he’s in way deeper than he ever imagined. It seems there’s an army of little demons in his garden and he’s their next sacrifice... Or another, of brave space explorer left to roam a strange planet all-alone as a result of an engine malfunction, with his only companion, a weather droid. And yet another, as we witness a husband and wife who thought the toughest challenge before them was their impending divorce, until a terrible car “accident” makes them unwitting subjects in a bizarre scientific experiment. TPB • FC • $19.99 • 120 Pages
Lee: I am picking this solely on the strength of Jones’s artwork. Niles does good horror, but Jones draws FANTASTIC horror. This is an easy buy.
Thomm: For whatever reason, I like horror anthologies better than longer tales. Maybe it’s the nature of the tales or maybe it’s that my first reads were the old House of Mystery and the like that were anthologies. Most horror doesn’t seem to hold up for a longer story. This looks like a good variety.

Spinecrawler
Pete Von Sholly (w & a & c)
Spinecrawler is the story of a young girl who goes to the Big City to save her sister from the clutches of a mad artist with a sinister secret. She discovers a twisted madman whose nightmares are not just those of his drug-fueled imagination. His web of insanity is just the gateway to a terrifying unknown reality from which she may be lucky to save herself in the end. *Brought to you by writer/artist Pete Von Sholly, the legendary veteran storyboard artist from dozens of Hollywood feature films, having worked with Sam Raimi, Frank Darabont, George Romero, Brian Yuzna, and many others. TPB • B&W • $17.99 • 128 Pages Visit Von Sholly here.
Lee: Now here is something that really has piqued my interest. Sholly is a proven Hollywood commodity and basically a historian of monster movies. I find his art somewhat hit or miss but I trust that he can tell a good story. A tiny risk on this one but it’s so small that I’ll probably take a chance on it.
Thomm: I’ll wait and see. I’m always wary of jumps from one medium to another, and I don’t really know Sholly in his primary medium.

Lee: It’s a great month if you are super rich, otherwise I have to hope some of the high end hc’s end up on ebay. Other than that, looks to be a good month for horror fans between Sholly and Jones.
Thomm: IDW has horror overload as far as I’m concerned. I’d like to see them venture into some other fields of stories.
Lee: It’s overload because I picked… I tend to skip Transformers and Angel every month.