It’s New Comic Book Day! I know we are excited, and you should be too, as there are a number of titles you will want (and should) pick up. But where to start? The staff members at Major Spoilers have shared a list of comics they are most looking forward to this week.
ANGRY BIRDS COMICS #1
Writer: Jeff Parker, Paul Tobin
Artist: Paco Rodrigues, Marco Gervasio, Cesar Ferioli
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Angry Birds, the world’s most popular mobile game franchise, makes it’s comic book debut! Featuring a fun-filled, action packed story from Eisner-nominated creator Jeff Parker, these comics are ready to slingshot their way off the page and into your hearts!
RODRIGO: There’s a long, proud, history of great video games being adapted into terrible comics. Will Angry Birds break the mold? I’m curious to see.
ASTRO CITY #13
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Brent Anderson
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: 24 hours. 24 pages. A robot. A bank robber named Gundog. The Hanged Man. Jack-In-The-Box. The eternal, mysterious Dancing Master. And a whole lot of romance. One of ASTRO CITY’s most unusual stories, of city-wide turmoil and changing lives, all in a single day.
JASON: You should always buy a ticket to Astro City. Nuff said.
RODRIGO: Been meaning to get back into Astro City. This appears to be a stand-alone issue so it’ll be extra easy to dive into.
BEE AND PUPPYCAT #2
Writer: Garrett Jackson, Natasha Allegri
Artist: Natasha Allegri
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Bee and PuppyCat save the day! Sort of. It’s a crazy life when you’re job is beating up bad guys and your biggest worry is paying the rent. Hopefully things will start looking up for Bee as she learns the ropes of her new “job.”
ROB: Every part of this franchise has been fun, including the first issue. That makes this look like the most promising pick up of the week for me.
DEXTERS LABORATORY #3
Writer: Derek Fridolfs
Artist: Ryan Jampole
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Dexter has located his missing sister in an alternate DEEmension…in her own mind! A world of pink clouds, unicorns, and fantasy, but more importantly…a world without science! Unable to use his inventions in this imaginary land, can Dexter find a way to convince his sister to return home and make things right again? Or will she keep her brother prisoner from ever returning back to his lab? The reign of Princess Dee Dee has begun!
ROB: So the last issue didn’t ramp into the ridiculousness I expected, but this one promises so much more than that. A land designed for Dee Dee. This one will be fun.
EDGAR ALLAN POE’S MORELLA AND THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE
Writer: Richard Corben
Artist: Richard Corben
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Killer apes and the return of the dead are presented in these two gothic horror Poe adaptations by Eisner Hall of Fame inductee Richard Corben.
PAIGE: Adaptations of Poe using my favorite form of storytelling? Sign me up! This is at the top of my list for this week.
THE EMPTY MAN #1
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Vanesa Del
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION:
WHY WE LOVE IT: There’s nothing scarier than horror that hits home-a tale of terror only one or two steps removed from our reality. THE EMPTY MAN is a dystopic version of the world we know, where a terrifying disease has taken on almost deific connotations.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT: Cullen Bunn (THE SIXTH GUN, VENOM) and Vanesa R. Del Rey (HIT) are two of the most exciting talents in the industry, and perfectly in sync on this haunting new crime procedural.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: It’s been one year since the first reported case of the Empty Man disease, and no drug has been able to slow its progress. The cause is unknown, and the symptoms include fits of rage, hideous hallucinations, suicidal dementia, followed by death, or a near lifeless, “empty” state of catatonia. As murder cults rise nationwide, the FBI and CDC enter a joint investigation of the Empty Man, hoping to piece together clues to stop the cult and uncover a cure.
GEORGE: Sounds freaky. With this and Woods, Boom! Studios might be the place to go for creator-owned horror. Cullen Bunn’s done some great work, and this sounds like an excellent concept.
FIGMENT #1
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: John Tyler Christopher
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: THE NEXT DISNEY ADVENTURE IS HERE – STARRING ONE OF DISNEY’S MOST POPULAR CHARACTERS! • Dive into a steampunk fantasy story exploring the never-before-revealed origin of the inventor known as Dreamfinder, and how one little spark of inspiration created a dragon called Figment. • What is the Academy Scientifica-Lucidus? Who is Blarion Mercurial? What is the Integrated Mesmonic Spark Convertor? Find out as we give a Marvel spin to Epcot’s mind-bending attraction, Journey Into Imagination! • Brought to you by the acclaimed and uniquely talented team of Jim Zub (Skullkickers) and Filipe Andrade (CAPTAIN MARVEL)!
ROB: Disney finally using the comic company it purchased for comics, I think this may very well be worth the price of entry. Besides, the creative team looks fun.
HULK #4
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Mark Bagley
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: “BANNER DOA” TAKES A MIND-BLOWING TURN! • To stop HULK from destroying the AVENGERS a dangerous plan is put into play • Bruce Banner’s brain damage is cured, but at what cost? • What forbidden knowledge has TONY STARK used to save his friend?
PAIGE: Now that more of the Avengers are getting involved with Hulk’s story, I’m positively addicted. Waid is a talented writer and I think we’re in good hands here.
INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #1
Writer: Keith Giffen/Dan Didio
Artist: Keith Giffen/Scott Koblish
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Four of the best students from New Genesis arrive on Earth to study and aid in the advancement of humanity – but they soon discover a darker purpose to their mission: a threat so great that it may bring the multiverse itself to its knees! The only thing that stands between them and total destruction is the mysterious entity known as the Infinity Man!
MATTHEW: As much as I love Keith Giffen and his Kirby fetish, I don’t find Dan Didio in any way compelling as an author. It’s a crapshoot for me, and I worry that the book won’t make 12 issues, but I’m in for the ride anways.
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #2
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Mike McKone
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
SOLICITATION: It’s all out battle issue as Hawkman has a showdown with Lobo as the League is teleported to Rann to face the shape-changing alien called Byth! This looks like a job for Supergirl!
JASON: While the idea of Hawkman vs Lobo would sound like it’s a reject idea from a 90’s comic, this fight actually intrigues me since it is wrapped inside Jeff Lemire’s kooky Justice League title.
LUMBERJANES #3
Writer: Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson
Artist: Brooke Allen
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley will have to put their Lumberjane knowledge to the test as they make their way through a mysterious cave filled with traps and riddles!
STEPHEN: Buy It. Read It. Love It. You’re Welcome.
RED CITY #1
Writer: Daniel Corey
Artist: Mark Dos Santos
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: In the wake of a system-wide civil war, hard-nosed interplanetary investigator Cal Talmage is given a simple mission to find a missing ambassador’s daughter in Mars Central, a.k.a. Red City. The routine case quickly complicates as Cal finds himself in the midst of rival alien mobs, street vendettas, and political conspiracies. He struggles with personal demons as he discovers that another war is brewing, and the lives of an entire race hang in the balance.
MATTHEW: Space Detective? SOLD, American!
PAIGE: Anyone who knows me knows I have a thing for gritty stories with crime drama elements. Red City #1 promises aliens, gangs, and film noir style monologues. What more could I ask for?
STEPHEN: I hope this really is a story about space detectives and not some commie plot to undermine the minds of young Americans with subversive plots and hidden meanings.
SHE-HULK #5
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Ronald Wimberly
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: • She-Hulk & Hellcat must uncover the secrets of the Blue File – a conspiracy that touches the entire Marvel Universe!
• This new mystery brings us She-Hulk’s most terrifying role ever: DEFENDANT!
• Charles Soule (THUNDERBOLTS) and Ron Wemberly (MIGHTY AVENGERS) continue the smash hit of All-New Marvel Now!
GEORGE: I’m really curious to see what document could put She-Hulk, Tigra, and the Shocker (amongst others) together in North Dakota. Charles Soule is crafting a great story in She-Hulk, and I’m very curious to see what Ronald Wimberly brings to the table.
THAT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE A ROBOT
Writer: David Quantick
Artist: Shaky Kane
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: TWO COPS, ONE’S A ROBOT, ONLY THEY DON’T KNOW WHICH!
BAFTA winner and writer on HBO’s award winning Veep, DAVID QUANTICK teams up with THE BULLETPROOF COFFIN’s SHAKY KANE on this migraine inducing Pop Art Cop-Buddy one-shot set in a near future Los Angeles.
WARNING: Contains oversized patrol cars and perilous situations.
GEORGE: Shaky Kane! I mean, that’s enough for me, but you also have one of Britain’s finest comedy writers in David Quantick. Why is this only a one-shot??
WILDFIRE #1
Writer: Matt Hawkins
Artist: Linda Sejic
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Is genetically modified food an end to world hunger or a first class ticket to the apocalypse? Dan Miller is a plant biologist working with a small team perfecting an accelerated plant growth process. When things go wrong, Los Angeles pays the price in a disaster story unlike any before.
MATTHEW: THREE NUMBER ONE PICKS IN ONE WEEK? I like to live dangerously. As for this book, it sounds interesting, and I love Michael Martin Murphey, so I’m willing to take a flyer on it…
RODRIGO: Is genetically modified food an end to world hunger or HAS SCIENCE GONE TOO FAR!? Honestly I’m hoping that this becomes all about the survival horror and not a long fingerwag at science.
