It’s New Comic Book Day!
What should you pick up this week? The Major Spoilers Staff runs down the titles they are most looking forward to this week.
24 #1
Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Michael Gaydos
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Jack Bauer lives again! Before the Emmy Award-winning drama returns to your television with LIVE ANOTHER DAY, find out what the heroic agent has been up to in the several years following the events of the final season. Re-starting the clock on the high-octane saga are writing sensation Ed Brisson (Secret Avengers) and Eisner Award nominee Michael Gaydos (Alias).
MATTHEW: Gotta love Jack Bauer, even if licensed comics are a difficult proposition. Will this be awesome? I sure hope so…
ALL-NEW INVADERS #4
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Cory Smith
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: ““GODS AND SOLDIERS” PART FOUR
• THE INVADERS incursion into Hala, the Kree Homeworld, has begun…and already our heroes are in trouble.
• Now the team must fight a Kree-controlled God, but which God? From which pantheon? And how can they defeat an immortal with unlimited power? See NAMOR unleashed, CAPTAIN AMERICA fight and THE HUMAN TORCH turn up the heat!!! And what is the dangerous side mission that only WINTER SOLDIER and AARKUS THE GOLDEN AGE VISION can complete?”
WAYNE: This title is fast becoming one of my very favorite Marvel comics, and I can’t wait for this issue to hit the stands! If you’d like to learn more about it, listen to my interview with artist Steve Pugh at this link!
AVENGERS UNDERCOVER #3
Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Artist: Kev Walker
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: FACE-TO-FACE WITH ARCADE! What happens when the Murder World survivors confront their former captor? Hint: Someone doesn’t survive!
CHRIS: I’m one of the few people who enjoyed Avengers Arena, so its abrupt end was slightly unsatisfying. I’m glad the creative team has returned to continue the story they were telling and so far its been fun. Hopeless is doing a great job of showing how the kids are dealing with what Arcade put them through and it looks like it’s going to get intense.
BATMAN: ETERNAL #3
Writers: Tim Seeley, Ray Fawkes, John Layman, James T. Tynion IV, Scott Snyder
Atists: Jason Fabok
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: “A gang war erupts in Gotham City, but the G.C.P.D. doesn’t plan to help Batman stop it. Plus: The return of a fan-favorite Batman supporting character: Stephanie Brown!”
STEPHEN: Stephanie Brown!? I thought DC hated her? Good to see her back, and can’t wait to see what happens next in this series.
WAYNE: For a Bat-fan like myself, this is like Christmas every Wednesday! I hope you’re enjoying it as well because it’s blossoming into an excellent Bat-story, in my opinion!
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FORGOTTEN REALMS OMNIBUS TBP VOL. 1
Writer: Jeff Grubb
Artist: Rags Morales
Publisher: IDW
Cover Price: $26.99
Solicitation: Collecting the comics from the most popular fantasy campaign setting in history, this omnibus contains the first 14 issues of Forgotten Realms and the TSR Worlds Annual #1 originally published by DC Comics.
PAIGE: Anyone who knows me knows that easiest way to get my attention is to say “Dungeons and Dragons” and this seems like a great way to jump into the comics. The Forgotten Realms setting is incredibly rich so I’m excited to see what they do with it.
FUSE #3
Writer: Antony Johnston
Artist: Justin Greenwood
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.50
SOLICITATION: Whoever thought two dead bums could be such a pain in the ass? Now even the Mayor’s office is under scrutiny, but even an old Muscovite like Klem Ristovych knows that’s a whole new bag of hurt to be poking. And why the hell is Ralph researching terrorist groups?
MATTHEW: This series is good, and not really like anything we’ve seen in a while. I’m really looking forward to seeing it mature into its full potential.
GHOSTED #19
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Davide Gianfelice
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: “Jackson Winters may think he knows everything about the supernatural world, but the jungle are filled with all sorts of ghosts … .”
WAYNE: This comic is such a great horror book in that it keeps throwing curve balls at fans like me! I’m already dying to know how this story arc concludes!
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #0
Writer: Lemire, Jeff
Artist: McKone, Mike
Cover Artist: McKone, Mike
Publisher: DC Comics
SOLICITATION: Top comics writer Jeff Lemire teams with superstar artist Mike McKone for the all-new monthly series JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED, starring the new team of powerful heroes Earth calls Justice League Canada! In the aftermath of FOREVER EVIL, Adam Strange is caught up in an adventure across the far reaches of the cosmos that will unite an unexpected team of heroes including Supergirl, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Stargirl, Martian Manhunter and Animal Man – but if they’re on the team, who exactly is Canadian? Plus: Don’t miss the debut of a new Canadian hero who will have a huge effect on the group!
CHRIS: This is one of those books that just seems ridiculous. A Canadian Justice League? Let the jokes begin now, eh? If someone can pull this off it’s Jeff Lemire, so I’m eager to see what he has in store. Plus, Mike McKone art looks nice.
JASON: I’ve been very curious about this title ever since it was announced. It’s a good thing they dropped the Canada moniker from the end. Here’s hoping Jeff Lemire can give us some great, weird League stories, because there really needs to be at least one good book out there with Justice League in the title.
THE MIDAS FLESH #5
Writer: Ryan North
Artist: Shelli Paroline, John Keogh
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: The ship is torn by a battle of head vs. heart. Now that they have the allmighty power of The Midas Touch at their hands, do they have what it takes to use it on the Federation’s home planet? Lives are at stake and friendships are challenged in issue #5 of THE MIDAS FLESH!
PAIGE: The Midas Flesh is one of my absolute favorite series right now. The writing is always superb, and with the story now entering its second half things are really heating up. I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on this.
MIND MGMT #21
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Matt Kindt
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: MIND MGMT goes quiet this month in a special “silent” issue! But in a world of psychics and mind readers, silence screams louder than words!
GEORGE: I tend to come at things from a writerly perspective, so usually silent issues aren’t my bag. But I love Matt Kindt’s rough, engrossing art style – just look at that cover – and the mind-bending weirdness of Mind MGMT is embodied in both his writing and his art. This should be quite interesting.
ORIGINAL SIN #0
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Jim Chung
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
SOLICITATION: This April, the biggest Marvel Universe series of the year kicks off in ORIGINAL SIN #0 – from Eisner Award-Winning writer Mark Waid and blockbuster artist Jim Cheung!
Who shot the Watcher? And who now holds the deepest, darkest secrets of the Marvel Universe? All will be answered in Original Sin! But first – who is the Watcher? That’s what Nova is wondering after his latest brush with the moon-dwelling enigma he’s encountered before!
Join Nova as he uncovers a startling secret that will have a profound effect on the young hero, as well as prime the pump for the most cataclysmic event in Marvel history! The marquee comics event of the year kicks off this April in ORIGINAL SIN #0!
MATTHEW: Not gonna lie, I’m really leery of this series and the myriad ways it could go bad. I’m thrilled that the hype machine will be slowing down, though…
ROB: So someone has killed Uatu (the original, not the kid from Horizon Labs). I admit I am a bit curious to see how this unfolds, and I guess this is where we start.
SECRET ORIGINS #1
Writer: Greg Pak, Kyle Higgins, Tony Bedard
Artist: Gene Ha, Will Conrad, Paulo Siqueira
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
SOLICITATION: At last, the SECRET ORIGINS of the World’s Greatest Heroes in The New 52 can be revealed! This new series gets off to an awesome start with the origins of The Last Son of Krypton and Kara Zor-El, Supergirl, plus the first Robin, Dick Grayson.
ROB: About a year and half after I expected it, the book I’ve been looking to DC for has finally arrived. Let’s see where the New 52 begins.
SOVEREIGN #2
Writer: Chris Roberson
Artist: Paul Maybury
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: An emperor lays dead, with no successor named for his vacated throne. Visitors from a distant land discover that there is more in the world than their philosophies know. And three masked outcasts come bearing word of a coming apocalypse…
PAIGE: Sovereign #1 had a lot of exposition so I’m hoping this issue will contain the drama the writer has been promising. This issue is expected to focus on one of the more interesting POV characters, so I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.
TMNT ONGOING #33
Writer: Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman
Artist: Mateus Santolouco
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: The Turtles return to New York to find a city in Shredder’s grip. The Turtles will have to use all of their skills and stealth to survive. But is Casey ready for a homecoming welcome from Hun?
ROB: Hey, look, I’m recommending a TMNT book. Still my favorite read every time it comes out, and now the Turtles are back together and headed home.
UNCANNY AVENGERS #19
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Daniel Acuña
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: • AVENGE THE EARTH Continues!
• Kang’s Chronos Corps arrives on Planet X with a terrible offer!
• The former members of the Uncanny Avengers must reunite to save the Earth!
• Magneto’s all-new X-Force are out for the blood of a Summers!
GEORGE: Kang’s Chronos Corps. C’mon. Remender’s been doing crazy, Silver Age-inspired work on Uncanny Avengers, blending the X-Men’s penchant for time travel and parallel universes with the Avengers’ cosmic bent. The result is something that’s a bit more interesting than some other recent Avengers stories, and Daniel Acuña’s stuff always looks great.
UBER #11
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Canaan White
Publisher: Avatar Press
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: The explosive end of the second arc turns everything you know upside down! This issue is what this has all been building towards – Hitler’s secret plan, Churchill’s massive new Ubers, and a stunning assault that threatens to change the face of the war. Prepare for one jaw-dropping shock after another as Kieron Gillen’s masterpiece rockets into high-gear!
GEORGE: Uber is better than a comic about superpowers during WW2 has any right to be. Kieron Gillen’s research, plotting and sensitivity, along with Canaan White’s memorable art, makes Uber the worthy read that it is.
