IT’S NEW COMIC BOOK DAY!
Major Spoilers runs down the comics we are looking forward to, and recommending, this week.
ANIMAL MAN #22
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Steve Pugh, Francis Portela
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Animal Man is suddenly the most famous hero in the world, which is not helping matters in the Baker household—or stopping the horrifying debut of The Splinterfolk!
ROB: Buddy has not been taking the death of his son well, which makes sense, but he’s …
ROBOT OVERLORD: At this point, Rob’s eyes glazed over and he muttered something about Twinkies and wandered out of the room… It’s sad when these things happen so easily, this early in an article.
BATMAN ’66 #1
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Jonathan Case
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Put on your go-go boots and get ready to “Batusi” back to the Swingin’ 60s as DC Comics reimagines the classic Batman TV series in comics form for the first time! These all-new stories portray The Caped Crusader, The Boy Wonder and their fiendish rogues gallery just the way viewers remember them. In this first adventure, The Riddler’s out to steal some valuable artwork from under the noses of Gotham’s police. But Batman gets help from an unlikely source: a certain femme fatale dressed in feline finery!
GEORGE: The buzz around this digital first comic has been pretty positive, including our own Matthew Peterson’s favorable review. But I am a troglodyte, reading almost all my comics in analog formats, so I had to wait until this week to get my hands on this tale. Telling stories set in the old, campy 60s Batman continuity is such a good idea.
BLOOD BROTHERS #1
Writer: Mike Gagerman, Andrew Waller
Artist: Evan Shaner
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Nick and Tree have smoked opium with Genghis Khan, had orgies in Michelangelo’s studio, and even fronted a death metal band. But after a century of friendship, these inseparable vampire buddies are on the verge of splitting up. Terrible timing, as an apocalypse-obsessed villain is plotting an end to humanity.
Best friends . . . forever.
RODRIGO: A story about vampire bros having a falling out? Is this book going to make me cry?
DEADPOOL #13
Writer: Gerry Duggan & Brian Posehn
Artist: Mike Hawthorne
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
Cover Image:
SOLICITATION: • Another “lost” Deadpool issue…this one from the ’70s!
• Deadpool hits the streets with Power Man & Iron Fist!
GEORGE: I love what Duggan and Posehn have been doing with Deadpool. It’s not the freshest, most-boundary pushing thing to come out of Marvel NOW!, but it has successfully rehabbed one of my most favorite characters. And take a gander at that cover – if you don’t want to read a book with that cover, I don’t want to know you.
DINOSAURS ATTACK #1
Writer: Gary Gerani
Artist: Herb Trimpe, Earl Norem
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: They’re BACK! 25 years after Topps’ original DINOSAURS ATTACKS! trading cards took a bite out of candy counter sales, the original Eclipse graphic novel written by DA creator Gary Gerani returns, this time released in its entirety! With pencils by Herb (G.I. JOE) Trimpe and paintings by veteran illustrator Earl Norem, the entire story will be released as five comic books, with all the blood-curdling trimmings. So put world-conquering Martians aside for a bit and relish the time-tilted melodrama and wild humor of DINOSAURS ATTACK! — the ultimate nightmare is now a reality from IDW!
CHRIS: This has so many great things going for it. It was a Topps trading card series, it has Herb Trimpe artwork, awesome paintings by Earl Norem and, of course, DINOSAURS! And if Jurassic Park taught us anything it’s that dinosaurs killing humans is entertaining as hell. Why wouldn’t you buy this?
STEPHEN: How could you NOT want to pick up this book (Rodrigo, I’m looking at you)? Dinosaurs terrorizing man with Herb Trimpe art on the cover – consider me sold!
GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #22
Writer: Justin Jordan
Artist: Bradley Walker, Andrew Hennessy
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Witness the beginnings of the next major Green Lantern villain in this issue! Something terrible has emerged from the Anomaly at the edge of the universe—and it’s going to tear Kyle Rayner apart!
ROB: Kyle is now the baby sitter of the new set of hippy guardians. Hopefully we get to see the rest of the Lanterns still too. Either way, I’ll follow Kyle for a bit longer.
HARBINGER WARS #4
Writer: Joshua D. M. Dysart, Duane Swierczynski
Artist: Clayton Henry
Publisher: Valiant Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: It all comes down to this! H.A.R.D. Corps vs. Bloodshot vs. Toyo Harada vs. Peter and the Renegades! Who will be left standing amidst the wreckage once called Las Vegas? The bone-crushing conclusion to Valiant’s first summer blockbuster is here – and no hero in the Valiant Universe can escape its aftershocks.
CHRIS: All of Valiant’s titles have been great, or at the very least really, really good. Harbinger Wars has been an excellent event for the Harbinger and Bloodshot world and extremely satisfying. It does a great job of keeping the story contained and at no point have I felt I needed to read the other titles. Of course I have, which shows just how well done this story is.
THE LEGEND OF KORRA: THE ART OF THE ANIMATED SERIES BOOK ONE – AIR
Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko
Cover Artist: Bryan Konietzko
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: Price: $34.99
SOLICITATION: This handsome hardcover contains hundreds of pieces of never-before-seen artwork created during the development of Season 1 of The Legend of Korra. With captions from Mike and Bryan throughout, this is an intimate look inside the creative process that brought the mystical world of bending and a new generation of heroes to life!
* Captions bycreators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko!
* Follow-up to smash hit animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender!
* Never-before-seen artwork!
RODRIGO: The Legend of Korra may be the greatest animated show of the decade. Seriously, I’m not even joking. Someone needs to travel back in time and give me this book for my birthday.
STEPHEN: This book is AMAZING! If you love the behind the scenes art that goes into projects, you’re going to want to get your hands on this book.
PROPHET #37
Writer: Brandon Graham & Simon Roy
Artist: Simon Roy & Giannis Milonogiannis
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: New father must finish the job that his lifebomb brother failed at (in Issue 31) and destroy the dismembered body city of Ixpoliniox.
GEORGE: This is still one of the weirdest, most entertaining comics out there. Every issue is like a gateway to a fresh, alien world. Just read that solicitation text. Simply wonderful.
REVIVIAL #12
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Mike Norton
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: The ‘Revival Event’ as seen through the eyes of young Cooper Cypress.
KEVIN: Revival has some of the best in-depth characters in comics today. While zombies are experiencing a rebirth in movies and television, Revival completely reinvents the genre. The plot digs into human nature and world views of a mass resurrection. If you were a big fan of “Lost” or just like zombies, this series is a must read.
SUPERIOR CARNAGE #1
Writer: Kevin Schinick
Artist: Stephen Segovia
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: SUPERIOR SPIDER-MONTH GETS SINISTER WITH THE RETURN OF CARNAGE! LOCKED AWAY IN AN ASYLUM, IT LOOKS LIKE CARNAGE IS GONE FOR GOOD-BUT HIS FELLOW INMATES HAVE OTHER PLANS… WILL THEY SUCCESSFULLY WAKE THE MONSTER? OR WILL THIS HIDEOUS EXPERIMENT CREATE THE MOST POWERFUL, DANGEROUS, MANIACAL CARNAGE YET… A SUPERIOR CARNAGE? KEVIN SHINICK (Avenging Spider-Man, Robot Chicken) and STEPHEN SEGOVIA (Extreme X-men, Thor) come together to create a story so grotesquely gratifying you wont be able to look away!
CHRIS: What can I say? I’m sucker for the character no matter how 90’s he may be. I read all of Minimum Carnage and at the end, it looked like the character would be retired for a while. Of course, I didn’t really believe that but at least they made the attempt. Regardless, I’m picking this issue up, but at $3.99, they’re going to have to blow me away to stick around for all five issues.
TMNT VILLAIN MICROSERIES #4 ALOPEX
Writer: Bryan Lynch
Artist: Ross Campbell
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Alopex, the first mutant of the Foot Clan, has quickly become one of Shredder’s most useful agents. However, when she sets out to learn more about her past, she discovers a devastating truth that could have her questioning everything she knows about the Foot Clan!
ROB: Another character introduced for this series, Alopex may not be as interesting as Old Hob, but she is still worth looking at. This should be yet another good issue in an interesting series.
WONDER WOMAN #22
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Welcome to New Genesis! Wonder Woman makes her first visit to Orion’s homeworld and comes face to face with the Highfather…and sees the strange hold he has over his uncontrollable son!
RODRIGO: Mostly I just want to see Cliff Chiang’s take on the new gods. Almost no one can pull them off without looking ridiculous, but his pencils are blocky and stylized enough that we might get some interesting renditions.
ROBOT OVERLORD: YOU NOW HAVE A LIST OF BOOKS TO BUY THIS WEEK! CONSUME!
