New comic book day is just around the corner! Before you head out to your local comic shop, take a look at the books members of the Major Spoilers staff are looking forward to this week.
BATWOMAN #19
Writer: J. H. Williams, Haden Blackman
Artist: Trevor McCarthy
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: What is the shocking family revelation that can turn Batwoman’s world upside down?
GEORGE: I took a break from Batwoman awhile back. I’m not a huge fan of magical storylines in street-level Batbooks, and so the previous arc didn’t really grab me. But I hopped back on with last issue and dug what was going on. The book is best with J.H. Williams on art, but Trevor McCarthy is a decent replacement as he is an ambitious artist in his own right. Hopefully, this book can hook me for a few more issues.
CHEW #33
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Tony takes on a load of seamen.
ROB: I almost didn’t include this on my picks this week because by now everyone should know that Chew is going to be one of, if not the, best read to come out this week. And then I realized that Chew is likely to be the best book out this week (just like every other week it came out) and thought, oh yeah, why settle for anything less.
CYBERFORCE #4
Writers: Marc Silvestri & Matt Hawkins
Artists: Khoi Pham & Sunny Gho
Publisher: Top Cow
Cover Price: FREE (A $2.99 VALUE!)
SOLICITATION: RIPCLAW UNLEASHED!
With the aid of Velocity, Ripclaw has been able to resurrect the rebel Cyber Force faction from complete obliteration at the hands of the CDI corporation. But where can you run when you are hiding in a city that is completely owned, operated, and monitored by those who want you dead most?
RODRIGO: I have read some crappy, crappy comics drawn by Marc Silvestri. I didn’t realize until recently that I have a weird pavlovian response to his art. Worse still, as a child of the 90s his designs have a style that very much appeals to me. INNER CONFLICT! Although the interiors on this book are done by someone else. Breakdown averted, I guess.
DANGER CLUB #5
Writer: Landry Q. Walker
Artist: Eric Jones
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: It’s the end of the world, and Jack Fearless must now pay the price for his crimes.
ELIJAH: For some reason I just love Danger Club. The more objective part of me sees its flaws, but the rest of me just ignores them and and devours every issue of this that comes out. I was afraid it was cancelled when we went so long without a release, but now its finally back! Rejoice true believers!
DOCTOR WHO PRISONERS OF TIME #4
Writer: Tipton, David
Artist: Erskine, Gary
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Our yearlong celebration of Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary continues! Put on your scarves and munch on some jelly babies, as the fan-favprite Fourth Doctor takes the spotlight in this issue of a 12-part epic adventure featuring all 11 incarnations of the Doctor!
MATTHEW: It’s the Doctor you’ve all been waiting for. (Me, I get to wait another issue.) Tom Baker’s iconic Fourth Doctor joins that battle against an unknown foe, and I expect that he will end up ensnared like his earlier incarnations. Still, it’s the journey that matters, not the destination, and given that I’m very slowly warming up to Clara Oswin Otto Octavius Ostrich, it’ll be good to go in knowing what to expect from our favorite Gallifreyan. (I’m hoping for Leela.)
STEPHEN: It’s the Doctor I’ve been waiting for! Curly hair, scarf and Jelly Babies! Of course I’m hoping the story continues to be good, and if all goes well, perhaps a guest appearance by K-9!
IDOLIZED #5
Writer: David Schwartz
Artist: Pasquale Qualano
Publisher: Aspen Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Aspen Comics proudly presents their first ever super-hero series, IDOLIZED!
It’s the final chapter in the first volume of IDOLIZED, as Joule and her fellow members of the Top Ten face off against Stasis and his followers. With the whole world watching, will Joule become the hero she has the potential to be, or will she give in to her old fears and anger and fail once again? The answer may just surprise you in this shocking climax to Aspen’s first-ever superhero series!
MATTHEW: It’s later than I expected, and I’m still cynical about the whole ‘superhero-reality-competition’ mini-genre, but damned if I’m not excited to see how this one wraps up. The story of Joule and her quest for fame, fortune and a cool cape have caught my attention, even if the cover images of a real-life model feel a bit too much like looking at a PSA. Either way, I’ll be picking this one up and seeing how things wrap up in the world of Idolized. Cobra OUT!
IRON MAN 2020 TPB
Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Publisher: Marvel
Cover Price: $34.99
SOLICITATION: 1st printing. Collects Iron Man 2020 GN (1994), Amazing Spider-Man (1963 1st Series) Annual #20, Machine Man (1984 2nd Series) #1-4, Deaths Head (1988 Marvel) #10, Material from Astonishing Tales (2009 Marvel) #1-6, and What If (1989 2nd Series) #53. Cover by Bob Wiacek. The armor is familiar, but the man inside isn’t who you’d expect! He’s Arno Stark, the cold and hard-hitting Iron Man of the future – and Tony Stark’s descendant has quite a legacy to live up to. Catch all the futuristic action as Arno battles Spider-Man and Blizzard in a time-traveling adventure to stop a nuclear terrorist; faces Machine Man at the behest of Tony’s old foe Sunset Bain; and clashes with the original Death’s Head, industrial saboteur Wellington Marcus and the high-flying Commodore Q! Can Arno overcome his foes – and himself – to become the hero he’s modeled himself after?
MATTHEW: The Machine Man miniseries from 1984 was not only my first introduction to the character, it was my first glimpse of a lot of Marvel Universe conceits, including the “superhero wannabe from the future.” Still, the Iron Man of 2020 grew out of that series into a recurring character throughout the Marvel U, eventually showing up in another dystopian future, that of Death’s Head. If you’re a fan of anti-heroes, this one’s a winner, although it’s kind of hilarious that Iron Man’s high profile has caused a Machine Man mini to be collected under his name…
MAGIC THE GATHERING PATH OF VENGEANCE #4
Writer: Matt Forbeck
Artist: Martin Coccolo
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $4.99
SOLICITATION: THE FINAL SHOWDOWN! Dack Fayden confronts Sifa Grent in a battle that may be too much for the Planeswalker thief. With the fate of Ravnica hanging in the balance, Dack must rally all his strength to put an end to the villainous Sifa once and for all!
ROB: Have I mentioned that I like both Magic and Comics and that this book manages to blend both of those two joys into one very solid read? I have? Well, then I will just say it again, the M:tG series has got everything right for the work it’s doing.
MINIATURE JESUS #1 (of 5)
Writer: Ted McKeever
Artist: Ted McKeever
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Devil on one shoulder – angel on the other. One tells you to do bad things, the other . . . well, you get the idea. Bad news for a recovering alcoholic if the “good” one is MIA. Between a liquor-gulping demon and a mummified cat hell-bent on mucking up his fragile stability with esoteric trappings of Egyptian Gods, it’s all about to make our hero’s day hit the proverbial fan.
GEORGE: So, I don’t actually have any idea what’s going on with this, but that is not unusual with Ted McKeever’s hallucinatory, affecting work. The only thing I do know for sure about Tim McKeever’s comics are that they are buy on sight for me.
NOVA #3
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Ed Mcguinness
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: It’s time for Sam Alexander’s Training Day. And with the Guardians of Galaxy’ s Gamora and Rocket Raccoon in charge, Nova soon learns that old lesson “Practice Makes Painful!”
RODRIGO: I’ve been hearing good things about Savage Wolverine… But it’s a Wolverine book so I’m gonna read this instead.
TMNT VILLAIN MICROSERIES #1 KRANG
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Mike Henderson
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Krang was not always the feared warlord he is today. Once he was the spoiled prince of a falling dynasty. One disastrous mission to a penal colony planet changed all of that! Stranded by himself and surrounded by enemies, Krang faces the ultimate test for survival! See how this seemingly helpless alien grew to become a legend. . . and a leader!
ROB: The TMNT Microseries have all been interesting and quite good as well. Now we get to delve into the more villainous side. I am really curious to see who the further issues will highlight, but starting with General Krang, probably still the oddest part of the entire franchise, seems the best path.
WITCHBLADE: DAY OF THE OUTLAW #1
Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artists: Nelson Blake II & Dave McCaig
Publisher: Top Cow
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: SHOWDOWN WITH THE WITCHBLADE OF THE WILD WEST!
In the days of the Wild West, before Sara Pezzini claimed her destiny, Witchblade bearer Sheriff Enola protected the high plains from the Darkness that lurked beyond the horizon. Although her townspeople lived in peace, they were always mistrusting of their sheriff-witch. With her town seeking to banish her and the Darkness angling for a duel, will the Witchblade be enough to save Enola from becoming a footnote in the annals of the blade’s history?
RODRIGO: Yeeehaw! It’s the rootinest tootinest witchblade in the wild wild west! I think the Witchblade’s pretty genre-savvy, I mean, it could be hanging out in a remote Tibetan monastery; but no, as soon as the American Civil War ends it packs its weird magical spacemonster bags and heads for Oklahoma.
WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #27AU
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Paco Medina
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: • An AGE OF ULTRON tie-in (make sure you read #6 first!)
• Wolverine and the Invisible Woman find themselves in the Avengers’ past!
GEORGE: So, I’m keeping up with Age of Ultron even though it’s some kind of terrible, but I’m not enough of a masochist to track down all the AU sidestory crossover cash-ins. I wasn’t going to give this a second look, until I saw that Matt Kindt was writing it. He’s writing the incredibly good Mind MGMT over at Dark Horse, and I’m interested to see if an alternate universe one-shot will let him bring the same creativity to the Marvel universe.
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No Atomic Robo love?