IT’S NEW COMIC BOOK DAY!
Major Spoilers runs down the comics we are looking forward to, and recommending, this week.
ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #12
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Pere Perez
Publisher: Valiant Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: If General Redacted wins the Faraway, he’ll use its centuries-old secrets to stamp out the heathen collectivist Bolsheviks of modern day America. Now, it’s down to Archer, Armstrong, and Mary-Maria, Archer’s assassin stepsister/love interest (ew), to run the greatest infiltration/liberation/inebriation mission mankind has ever known. Which would be a cakewalk if its wasn’t for all the trigger-happy UFOs, hostile natives and, of course, the dinosaurs… Yep, they could definitely do without all those dinosaurs.
CHRIS: After slowly catching up on this series it has become my favorite Valiant title. The story is rich with adventure and comedy, never failing to be a fun read. Plus, there are dinosaurs now. Extra awesome.
MATTHEW: This book is funny, it’s got action, it’s got great dialogue and charismatic leads, why aren’t you reading it already? (If you are reading it, well-played, Faithful Spoilerite.) Come see what trouble an immortal drunkard and a sheltered teenage living weapon can get into when they clash with conspiracy nuts and alien greys!
ASTRO CITY #3
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Brent Anderson
Publisher: Vertigo
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: In the midst of all-out battle between Honor Guard and the Skullcrushers in the mountains of Ecuador, we see the human cost, as HG support staff member Marella Cowper wades into the middle of it. Why is she there? What will she find? And why does she consider it all her fault? The award winning ASTRO CITY continues to explore life in a superhuman world. Featuring the second half of a diptych cover by Alex Ross.
ELIJAH: Astro City is my favorite on going superhero comic of all time, and I have been incredibly pleased with the previous two issues of the 2013 revival. The story set up in the last issue is, amazingly, something I have never seen before in a superhero comic and I look forward to how it will play out.
RODRIGO: Astro City is always worth reading. At least so far.
AVENGERS ARENA #13
Writer: Dennis Hopeless & Christos N. Gage
Artist: Kev Walker & Karl Moline
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Hank Pym searches for the kidnapped Avengers Academy students…by the special guest creative team of AVENGERS ACADEMY’s Christos Gage and Karl Moline!
CHRIS: How can this book last with so many characters having been killed off already? I don’t know or care. It’s a little sadistic, but watching these kids put through the ringer every issue entertains the hell out of me. And it looks like someone finally realized the kids from the Academy were missing!
BATGIRL #23
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Fernando Pasarin, Jonathan Glapion
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: “The new “Batgirl: Wanted” epic begins here, as Commissioner Gordon must track down his son’s murderer—who happens to be his daughter! But has Barbara already given up the Bat?”
WAYNE: I enjoy Ms. Simone’s comics scripts much more than her posts on Facebook, so it’s a good thing she’s back in Barbara Gordon’s corner! I have to admit that having Commissioner Gordon chasing his own daughter is a pretty interesting development. If I had to guess, I bet the Commish will eventually discover her dual identity (although he probably may already know this).
BATMAN #23
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Greg Capullo, Danny Miki
and Rafael Albuquerque
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: “Witness the moment Bruce Wayne becomes Batman as “Zero Year” makes history! And in the backup story, a young Bruce Wayne fights for his life in a death match in Russia!.”
CHRIS: It’s Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Batman. Plus, everything is better with Batman.
GEORGE: Zero Year’s been boss so far. And I’ll read any comic with a Russian death match.
STEPHEN: I’m all in for this Zero Year stuff, I just hope it doesn’t somehow get warped into that Zero Hour stuff.
WAYNE: Like every month, Batman will be one of the very best-selling comics as well as a must-read! Can we just put this title in the Staff Picks “Hall of Fame” as long as Mr. Snyder and Mr. Capullo are working on it?
DEADPOOL #14
Writer: Gerry Duggan & Brian Posehn
Artist: Mike Hawthorne
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: • Deadpool re-teams-up with Iron Fist & Luke Cage 40 years after last issue!
• The threat the Trio-For-Hire faced in the 70’s resurfaces…wanting VENGEANCE!
GEORGE: The last issue of Deadpool was one of the funniest comics to come out this year – and with the threat of the White Man carrying into the present, I’m certain the humor will too. Great stuff.
FEARLESS DEFENDERS #8
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Will Sliney
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: New costume! New arc! New status quo I still won’t tell you about! Misty kicked ass in Valkyrie’s world, now it’s time to see how Valkyrie fairs in Misty’s. Guest staring Elsa Bloodstone!
CHRIS: Man this book continues to rock. The story is great and stars such underused, wonderful characters. I really hope people are giving Marvel books like these a chance because I would rather see more like them than twenty Superior Spider-Man issues a month.
HALO: INITIATION #1
Writer: Brian Reed
Artist: Marco Castiello
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Halo®—one of the largest video game franchises—comes to Dark Horse!
Before she was a super-soldier defending humanity as part of the Spartan-IV program, Sarah Palmer was an ODST—Orbital Drop Shock Trooper—carrying out the most dangerous missions behind enemy lines!
* The origin of Sarah Palmer—and the Spartan-IV program!
* The Halo franchise has sales eclipsing $3 billion over its lifetime.
* From one of the writers on Halo 4—comics veteran Brian Reed!
RODRIGO: Zach’s review of this on the Major Spoilers Podcast was very enthusiastic. I am terrible at first person shooters, so this is a good way for me to experience the Halo storyline.
INFINITY #1
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Jim Cheung
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: The oversized kickoff to the year’s most anticipate Blockbuster summer event, chaning the way you view the Marvel Universe! The outbreak of war on two fronts: Earth and Space, with our heroes torn between them. The world-shattering return of Thanos!
MATTHEW: Will it be awesome? I hope so. Hickman is good, Cheung is good, Thanos is evil, and the setup (in New Avengers) has seemed interesting. Check out this week’s Dueling Review to see if Stephen and I like this one!
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7
Writer: Geoff Johns, Jeff Lemire
Artist: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy
Publisher: DC
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: TRINITY WAR CHAPTER 4! The hunt for a murder suspect leads Superman and his new teammates to the secret behind the Secret Society, while Batman finds the key to the crime—and one of the Leaguers will be forever changed by it. Plus, who is the Secret Society of Super-Villains and what are their plans for Pandora?
ROB: I’ve been following all there Justice League titles and I was looking toward the Trinity War with a mostly cynical eye, fearing the giant fight of the three Leagues that had been teased. I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised where the story started, how the “teams” are unfolding and am actually looking forward to this issue.
MY LITTLE PONY COVER GALLERY #1
By: Steve Niles, Sam Kieth, Davide Furno Sam Kieth
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Cover-to-cover Ponies in this special Cover Gallery! Many beloved, rare, hard-to-find, and fan-favorite My Little Pony covers are collected here in this 32-page art extravaganza!
RODRIGO: Listen guys, I’m going to buy a sandwich and a coke, sit over here and look at pictures of magical ponies. You guys go over there and do whatever you want.
SAGA #13
Writer: Brian K. Vaughn
Artist: Fionna Staples
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: HE SMASH-HIT, CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SERIES RETURNS!
Now that you’ve read the first two bestselling collections of SAGA, you’re all caught up and ready to jump on the ongoing train with Chapter Thirteen, beginning an all-new monthly sci-fi/fantasy adventure, as Hazel and her parents head to the planet Quietus in search of cult romance novelist D. Oswald Heist.
GEORGE: Hey, Saga’s back! Yeah, there’s a few reasons why Saga is a critically acclaimed, smash-hit – and you’ve probably read plenty here. If you’re not reading it by now, I’m not sure what I can say to convince you. But for you true believers out there, the romance novel subplot is one of my favorite little details in Saga, and I’m excited to see how Vaughn and Staples expand on it.
ROB: It’s finally back! The best new title of last year has been on a hiatus for a few months, but now we get to rejoin with the family that was never supposed to be. With the cliffhanger ending of the previous issue this has been a long time coming.
THUNDER AGENTS #1
Writer: Phil Hester
Artist: Andrea DeVito
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents are dead, or will soon be, unless new recruit Dynamo can master the incredible but lethal power of the Thunderbelt in time to rescue his teammates from the mysterious Iron Maiden.
MATTHEW: ONE! MORE! TIME! They’ve come and gone from half a dozen publishers, most recently DC, but the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents are a fascinating concept that is totally worth your time and money. I’m hoping this one is a little more approachable than Nick Spencer’s take, but either way, heroes whose powers are fatal is a neat concept…
WAYNE: I feel sorry for the fans who never got to read the great Thunder Agent stories told by Wally Wood and George Perez back some time ago. I enjoyed Nick Spencer’s recent incarnation, but I think Mr. Hester’s style fits these heroes so much better. Can’t wait!
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #34
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Nick Bradshaw
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: THE HELLFIRE SAGA CONCLUDES! Wolverine and the X-Men face Mystique, Sabretooth and the Hellfire Club!What fate awaits the Jean Grey School students who joined the New Hellions?The WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN landscape is redefined!
ROB: This is still my favorite X-title on the shelves right now, and for good reason. It has a proper mix of all I like about the X-Men, interesting new mutants, fun characters, and ridiculously weird stuff happening around every page-turn.