Previews – May 2012

Maybe we’ll start this as a new feature?  I’ll flip through Previews, tell you what I think is worthwhile and you can tell me I’m a moron.  Sound like fun?

DARK HORSE

– Axe Cop: President of the World #1 – At some point, this odd comic that is written by 8 year old Malachai Nicolle and illustrated by his brother, 31 year old Ethan, will lose it’s magic.  Someday Malachai will probably “grow up” too much or become too self-aware, but until that happens we should enjoy the ride.  Here’s a link to my review of last Spring’s Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1.

– Early issues where you can hop on before it’s too late.  Fatima: The Blood Spinners #2 by Gilbert Hernandez, Mind Mgmt #3 by Matt Kindt and The Massive #2 by Brian Wood.

– Eerie Comics #1 brings back the beloved old Warren Publishing title.  It’s really hard to go wrong with a horror anthology in black and white.  Of course, don’t miss the big brother: Creepy Comics #9.

DC

– I know folks are gaga over Before Watchmen, but I can’t get that excited.  I’ll check it out digitally if folks say it is incredible.

– I couldn’t be less interested in any of the DC superhero titles that isn’t called Batman #11 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.  I’ve never been this uninterested in the DCU in my entire life.  These cover images just remind me that I don’t particularly like the DC house style of art.

VERTIGO

– How cool is it that Punk Rock Jesus #1 is coming out?  Sean Murphy (writer and artist) has been talking about this one for a long time.  I expect the art to be stellar, although I note that the listing says “B&W”.  I’ve never seen Sean’s work uncolored besides the few original pages of his that I own, so that should be interesting.  The story premise sounds cool too: modern science clones Jesus Christ and a reality show is created around him.  As you can imagine, “J2” doesn’t enjoy living in a 21st century fishbowl and lives a different life than his namesake.  The religious folks are up in arms about this title which means it will probably be good.  Seriously, when was the last time those people complained about something and it wasn’t awesome?  For me, those people are like a backwards Rotten Tomatoes.

– A double-bill of fanged goodness in American Vampire #29 (new story arc with Rafael Albuquerque) and American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #2 (with art by Dustin Nguyen).  Every story arc of AV has been something that a complete newbie could pick up and enjoy, so don’t be scared away thinking you’re too late.

– The usual suspects: I Zombie #27 (penultimate issue), Sweet Tooth #35 (“The secrets of the plague revealed at last!!”), Spaceman #8, New Deadwardians #5 (I wish this was an ongoing), Saucer Country #5 (wonderful character work in this series so far) and The Unwritten #39 (quietly, this might be the best series of the last few years)

IDW

– I haven’t been buying these IDW Artists’ Editions.  I love original art and these are mostly artists I’ll never be able to own pages from (Have you seen what a Wally Wood page costs?), but I just can’t justify ~$125 for a big hardcover that doesn’t fit on the shelf that I’ll probably only look at once.  That said, Bernie Wrightson’s: The Muck Monster, Artist’s Edition Portfolio is intriguing.  It’s only 7-pages for $29.99, but you get that original art vibe without the huge bulky book and the mega-price.  Then again….I have a Wrightson original, so this will be a game time decision.

– I wish IDW published more comics that I want to read beyond GI Joe #15, Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow #15 and Cobra #15.  They do such a lovely job with the publishing: nice paper, nice printing, etc.

IMAGE

– Can you believe we’re here?  The Walking Dead #100 is upon us.  It’s an extra sized issue and promises “one of the most violent and brutal things to happen within the pages of this series.”  That sounds nifty!

– Revival #1 by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton looks pretty cool about a cop who has to solve a murder during a zombie outbreak.  Seeley knows horror and Norton makes pretty art.  This should be high quality.

– Debris #1 has me torn.  I LOVE Riley Rossmo’s art.  But, I’ve been less fond of writer Kurtis Wiebe’s stories.  This is why you buy things digitally and DON’T put them on your pull list where you’re stuck with 3 of the 4 issues in the miniseries before even reading the first one.

– Definitely check out Hoax Hunters #1. The #0 issue was really great and brought a kinda Myth Busters meets Bigfoot vibe to comics.  Even though we have an artist change from the #0 issue, the “new guy” is Axel Medellin who has been drawing Elephantmen.  It’ll be pretty!

– A bunch of usual suspects: Elephantmen #43 (always good), Fatale #7 (new arc, although I wish they’d go back to doing Criminal), Haunt #28 (love Nathan Fox), The Manhattan Projects #5 (ongoing Hickman science goodness), Mind the Gap #3 (very excited for this series to begin), Planetoid #2 (again…very cool looking), Prophet #27 (this series has been pure awesome), Saga #5 (probably the most exciting debut of the year), Secret #4 (we’ve only seen one issue, but it was good)….  Image get’s a lot of my money.

MARVEL

– God….it’s just Avengers vs. X-Men all over the damn place.  I guess it’s enjoyable enough and I already get the main X-books and the main Avengers books, but until Marvel shows that that these issues have any weight, it leaves me cold.  They get my money, but not my passion.

– Mark Brooks is doing GREAT covers on X-Men Legacy.  The series itself has been seriously “blah” for 3+ years, but these covers are pretty hot.

– The double-shipping is getting annoying because Marvel doesn’t have enough A-list artists to pull it off.  I enjoy the tag-team of Chris Bachalo and Nick Bradshaw on Wolverine and the X-Men, but I’d rather not see lesser artists come on board to maintain a rapid shipping schedule that readers don’t want.

– Speaking of covers, why are the covers for the Ultimate comics mostly bad?  And why does Marvel advertise with these mediocre covers in their house ads?  It makes me not want to read the book.

– Seriously uninspiring Marvel!  Unlike DC, I really WANT to like Marvel, but they don’t make it easy with the events and the artist changes.  Just put a good artist on the good books and publish some stinking stories.

BACK OF THE BOOK

– Ironic that they’re on the same page because they are so different, but both Rachel Rising #10 by Terry Moore from Abstract Studios and Glamourpuss #26 by Dave Sim from Aardvark-Vanaheim are examples of why creator-owned comics are so awesome.  These are two master comic book creators who are doing their thing without any fiddling.  Seriously, the depth of creation going on in these titles is so much better than anything in a superhero book.

– Don’t be missing The Secret History of DB Cooper #5 by Brian Churilla.  It’s been crazy and trippy fun so far.

– The back of Previews is kinda a dust-bin.  Between the pages will all these tiny thumbnails of book covers you have these BIG AND NOISY sections for publishers like Aspen.  It’s really an assault on the senses and it’s hard for small guys to stand out.  Usually, there are a few OGNs or reprints that catch my eye, but not this month.

– Dean Stell