MYSTIC #1 (of 4)Written by G. WILLOW WILSON
Penciled by DAVID LÓPEZ
Cover by AMANDA CONNER
A Crossgen title reimagined as only Marvel could! Eisner Award-nominated G. WILLOW WILSON (Air, Superman, Cairo) and superstar DAVID LOPEZ (HAWKEYE/MOCKINGBIRD, Catwoman) join forces to bring you the story of two seemingly ordinary orphan girls who find their lives turned upside down by magic…one of them will find herself responsible for saving the world and the other as her mortal enemy! The magic begins this August! 32 PGS./ $2.99
Thomm: G. Willow Wilson is one of the few Vertigo writers I just couldn’t get into. Not knowing what Crossgen is doesn’t help matters.
Greg: I wasn't wild about Air, but this concept sounds great and the preview art has been some of the best comic art I've seen in years. I know the sales on this crossgen stuff haven't been spectacular, but the results on the page have been very impressive. I hope Marvel and/or Disney can find some sort of audience for this stuff.
X-MEN #16Written by VICTOR GISCHLER
Pencils & Cover by JORGE MOLINA
“THE LAND OF THE SKULL” The X-Men and the FF team up when strange happenings in the Bermuda Triangle threaten the Marvel Universe. Yes, you’ve seen the X-Men and the FF interact before, but never with Magneto and Dr. Doom on the side of the angels. Don’t miss this landmark team-up with an adventure that you have to see to believe. 32 PGS./ $3.99
Thomm: Considering I’ve seen a lot in comics, unless Magneto lays a big wet one on Doom, I don’t think there’d be anything I wouldn’t believe here.
Greg: In theory this is interesting, but this book has been so thoroughly uninspiring, I doubt that this story will change things.
X-MEN LEGACY #253Written by MIKE CAREY
Penciled by KHOI PHAM
Cover by MICO SUAYAN
“LOST LEGIONS” Conclusion! Not only have the X-Men escaped the AGE OF X, but so have some of the most dangerous monsters lurking in Legion’s psyche! And one of them in particular is determined to retain his freedom. His power? Sucking the life out of his victims. The X-Men have never before encountered a foe like this…and at this issue’s close, Rogue will find her team a member or two short… 32 PGS./$2.99
Thomm: I know I’m old (but not as old as Jim), (Hey wait a minute no need for that - Jim) but how would the X-Men not have encountered a foe who sucks the life out of people? Mutant X, Dracula, Sauron, and the Brood come readily to mind from stories about 30 years ago. Much as I like Mike Carey’s work on Unwritten and Lucifer, I’m so burnt out on the X-Men, once my favourite title, I can barely muster a whiff of interest.
Greg: Carey's X stuff has been good, but he's very interested in the minutiae of the X universe and it can be very hit or miss. And can we please stop talking about X-Men and vampires, Thomm. The less I think about those stories the better.
X-23 #13Written by MARJORIE LIU
Penciled by PHIL NOTO
Cover by KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY
GUEST-STARRING THE FF! As X-23 searches for the sole survivor of her kill list, a seemingly-unstoppable force descends on New York and X-23 is its target…until an unlikely cavalry shows up. But maybe for a girl who struggles with her past, maybe the Future Foundation are the only ones that can help! 32 PGS./ $2.99
Thomm: The FF sure are getting around this month. The fact that that’s the only Marvel title I’m reading isn’t going to get me to read this. Don’t know the character, don’t know the creators, don’t care.
Greg: Well that's the kind of enterprising attitude we need on this blog. I haven't loved this creators' work, but it has been very popular with a certain segment of fandom. If you have a livejournal account, give this a look.
FANTASTIC FOUR BY JOHN BYRNE OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC Written by JOHN BYRNE, CHRIS CLAREMONT, MARV WOLFMAN, BILL MANTLO, STAN LEE & ROGER STERN
Penciled by JOHN BYRNE, MIKE ZECK, JACK KIRBY & RON WILSONCovers by JOHN BYRNE
Collecting MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #61-62; MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #50; FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) #215-218, #220-221, #232-262 and ANNUAL #17; PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (1976) #42; AVENGERS (1963) #233; THING (1983) #2; and ALPHA FLIGHT (1983) #4. 1084 PGS./ $125.00
Thomm: If it’s by John Byrne why are there 5 other writers? Yeah, yeah, Byrne was the artist and co-wrote, I get it. You know, the years after the titles is a bit confusing. At first I was thinking that’s when these stories were published, then I remembered how everything old is new again and these things have been re-launched a few times since. If they go back to the Fantastic Four name and numbering again does that mean a new series will still be part of 1961?
Greg: Well I'm glad that we're focusing on what's important here.
OZ: OZMA OF OZ HCWritten by ERIC SHANOWER
Penciled, Cover by SKOTTIE YOUNG
Dorothy Gale plunges into adventure again, this time with a talking chicken named Billina. Dorothy and Billina are washed off their sailing ship to face drowning, starvation — and screaming Wheelers, strange men with wheels instead of hands and feet. The multiple Eisner Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling team of Shanower and Young returns to Oz with this comics adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s third Oz book! Collecting OZMA OF OZ #1-8. 192 PGS./ $29.99 Trim size: oversized
Lee: This series is utterly fantastic. I read it last week and loved it. This week the kids and I are reading it together. Considering it was originally published in 1907 it holds up incredibly well. Tons of verbal word play jokes make this an outstanding book.
Thomm: I really need to read the originals. I’d already been leaning that way with the goings on in Vertigo’s Cinderella.
Lee: This is as close to the originals as you can get without reading them. Shanower has been writing Oz stories for years, and he has stated that the only changes he made in dialogue were to incorporate dialogue from the original stage productions done at the turn of the century.
Greg: Marvel deserve a medal for giving us Skottie Young art like this. Amazing book and I wish Marvel published more stuff like it.
Greg: Marvel deserve a medal for giving us Skottie Young art like this. Amazing book and I wish Marvel published more stuff like it.
THE MARVEL ART OF JOHN ROMITA JR. HC
Written by JOHN RHETT THOMAS
Penciled, Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.
He grew up in the shadow of a comics legend, but he didn’t stay there for long. John Romita Jr. may share a few things with his dad — an abiding loyalty for Marvel, an acumen for drawing some of the best Spidey panels to ever see print and a reputation as a master storyteller — but he’s done it all his own way. THE MARVEL ART OF JOHN ROMITA JR. celebrates JRJR’s three decades-plus in the industry he’s helped redefine with his explosive artwork. Compiling images that run the gamut of his career — including his work on Iron Man, Daredevil, the X-Men, the Avengers and, yes, Spider-Man — this deluxe art book will tell one of the great stories in comics: the career of John Romita Jr. 240 PGS./ $49.99 Trim size: landscape
Lee: Two points: (1) Why does Marvel do this for Romita Jr but not Kirby, or Ditko, or Kane, or Romita Sr. (2) why is this landscape when most of the art wasn’t drawn landscape?
Thomm: I got no answer for either of those. Marketing is something of a mystery to me with both DC and Marvel.
Greg: I'm sure that they have done or will do stuff for those other artists, so untwist your panties, Lee. Now, I know that when you first started reading comics in the 50's, Romita Jr. wasn't born, but just cause he wasn't a comics industry pioneer, doesn't mean he's not influential. He's probably one of the definitive superhero/comic artists of the modern era and I'd argue that his take on Spider-Man is almost as iconic as his father's. I'm not sure how many comic artists deserve their own art book, but he's one of them.
SHADOWLAND TPBCollecting SHADOWLAND #1-5 and material from X-MEN: CURSE OF THE MUTANTS SPOTLIGHT.
SHADOWLAND: THUNDERBOLTS TPB
Collecting THUNDERBOLTS #148-151.SHADOWLAND: STREET HEROES TPB
Collecting SHADOWLAND: DAUGHTERS OF THE SHADOW #1-3, SHADOWLAND: BULLSEYE, SHADOWLAND: ELEKTRA, SHADOWLAND: GHOST RIDER and SHADOWLAND: SPIDER-MAN.
SHADOWLAND: DAREDEVIL TPB
Collecting DAREDEVIL (1964) #508-512 and SHADOWLAND: AFTER THE FALL.
Thomm: Skipped all the first time. I’ll continue that trend.Greg: Do yourself a favor and read the Shadowland Power Man series. Very fun stuff.
Thomm: Just what did I do to deserve this? Other than the Rucka Punisher, there’s nothing of interest for me here. I’m sure the Ozma book is good, but what I really want is the original L Frank Baum book.
Greg: Someone who didn't know creators or characters so they didn't care didn't find good stuff? I'm shocked. Shocked.
Lee: Many thanks to Thomm, who really doesn't read Marvel for filling in for me this month. Even more thanks to Greg for putting up with him. Next month, I'll be back and try to be positive. Then again I said I wouldn't pick horror books for IDW and we all know how that went.
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