I still on occasion have some big ass crazy weeks and this
is one of those weeks. Unfortunately due to the way I get my hard cover books
my favorite thing from this week will not ship until later. Of course if you
want to see the whole list click New Comics for September 26 . So let’s jump into the list.
Let’s talk hard covers. I have tried to express how deeply I
miss Joe Kubert, because even though I never met the man, he was a part of my
life for decades. The Joe Kubert Artist’s Edition is out this week
and it collects a lot of his Tarzan work, including his adaptation of the first
novel. I just read the novel and breezed through Joe’s adaptation in the Dark
Horse Archives of Joe’s Tarzan work and he did the book proud and essentially draws
the book as opposed to changing it. To have the Artist’s Edition will be
glorious. Also out this week is American Vampire Volume 4, I love this series so
much that I happily buy the material twice. Snyder continues to blow me away
with this series. Image is doing a hardcover of The Milkman Murders by Joe Casey and
Steve Parkhouse and I missed this before. The preview I read made this
intriguing. Here is the sales pitch from the company “ The
horror of suburban life explodes in an orgy of mythic violence -- and
mild-mannered housewife, Barbara Vale, finds herself at its dark epicenter! And
when you meet her family, you'll understand why.” To see
a small snippet of the book click Milkman Murders Preview. To round it out my Marvel
Masterworks Iron Fist was
delayed for a couple of weeks and that decided to show up this week also. Ouch!
There are so many books I’m anticipating next week that I
will have a hard time deciding what to read first. We have Rachel
Rising #11 by Terry Moore,
just a fantastic series. Image has Happy #1 (of 4) by Grant Morrison and Darrick Robertson hitting the
stands. It is amazing how many high profile creators are doing more and more
creator owned stuff. I love it. Heck with Dancer #5, Debris #3 (of 4), Invincible #95 and Mind the Gap #5, Image on its own is providing a lot of quality
entertainment. It really seems like the non Marvel and DC stuff is getting
stronger and stronger. One thing I haven’t read much about is that it appears
to me that overall market share by the rest of the world has been creeping up.
The regular Marvel Universe has Incredible Hulk #14, Punisher
#16, Secret Avengers #31, Winter Soldier #11 and X-Men
#36. It is real easy to understand why
these books make my list. The writers are Jason Aaron, Greg Rucka, Rick
Remender, Ed Brubaker and Brian Wood. Hell I even added Amazing Spider-Man
#694 by Dan Slott this week to read the
ramp up to issue #700, which is advertised as the last issue (until it is
re-launched as part of Marvel Now in January is my guess). I just jumped back
onto Punisher in time for the series to end this issue. Then it becomes a five
issue mini-series to bring the series to a conclusion as Rucka leaves the book
and the big two behind for now. Why this marketing plan is a good idea is
beyond me. Still Rucka and Brubaker have left Marvel for now to concentrate on
creator owned work. Actually once you can survive on what you own it makes
sense to put forth your energy in those projects.
Both Marvel and DC have books under their banner which have
nothing to do with the regular universes. Marvel has Fury
Max #6, which I keep
expecting to end any issue now. Under Icon, which for all intents and purposes
is Mark Millar’s personal imprint, Hit Girl #3 (of 5) is coming out. DC has Before
Watchmen Ozymandias #3 (of 6) by Wein and Jae Lee on the
stands. Wein has been writing a good book and I’m impressed as I had decided
Wein was past his prime. This book has been working for me, but with Jae Lee’s
art the book has been phenomenal. I always wonder if this book would be any
good if it was being drawn by a Sal Buscema. Matthew gets upset when I talk
about Sal this way, but he was what I call a solid professional. He could do
great layouts and had strong story telling ability, but the art was not dynamic
or eye catching. Heck Mike Sekowsky fits that category as do many other
artists. Last and far from least in this group is American Vampire #31, after last issue’s end this maybe the
first book I read this week.
The regular DCU is well represented with All
Star Western #0, Batman Inc. #0, Batman The Dark Knight #0, Flash #0, I.
Vampire #0, Justice League Dark #0, Talon #0, Phantom Lady #2 (of 4) and National Comics Rose and Thorn #1. I’m not sure about Talon #0, the whole Court of Owls
thing was great with Batman, but it almost went too far. I’m still not 100%
over the lingering doubt that Batman’s brother (don’t even like that part) maybe
the Court’s greatest assassin. What I think was a smart move by DC was to
release one new series a week. It makes it easier for someone on a budget to
try out the different books. So far I’m signed on for the three new series,
with Phantom Stranger being my least favorite. Unfortunately it is apparent
that this series has a lot of background material for what will be a major DCU
cross over. As I am a sucker for that stuff right now it will keep me on that
series for a few issues at least. I’m also giving Batman The Dark Knight
another look as I’m a huge Batman fan and I know the book is moving in a
different direction soon. I never felt like Finch got a full shot at telling
his story as the new DCU intruded into his first try with the series.
The rest of the list is loaded with great books. Dark Horse
is publishing BPRD Hell on Earth Return of the Master #2
(of 3), Goon#42 and Mind Mgmt #5. IDW gives us Hawken #6 (of 6) and Mars Attacks #4. Finally Dynamite has The Shadow Annual #1 and The Spider #5. The
Shadow Annual is a shot in the dark as it is a one and done story, but not by
the current Shadow team. Of the rest Mind Mgmt #5 is the one I’m dying to read
and it may beat out American Vampire #31 for the first book I read this week.
Of course sometimes I wait to read Mind Mgmt as the book is not a quick read if
you want to pick up all the nuances Matt Kindt has layered into the story. 
I can't believe I almost forgot about Tower Chronicles by Matt Wagner and Simon Bisley. This is the first book from the new venture Legendary Comics. I read an early review that was giving it a marginal rating, but I'm a fan of Wagner and Bisley so I'm hoping for the best. The company apparently is releasing large format issues of each series, so I wonder is the high entry cost per issue ($8) will kill them before they get started. In my view it is either go right to full blown graphic novel or release as a regular size comic. With non-returnable sales retailers are going to being hesitant to bet heavily on this format
It looks like a truly great week of books for this week.
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