IT’S NEW COMIC BOOK DAY!
But what to read?
Fortunately, the Major Spoilers Staff have comic book recommendations for you!
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Olivier Coipel
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: SPIDER-VERSE BEGINS HERE! • Superstar artist OLIVIER COIPEL (THOR, SIEGE, HOUSE OF M) joins DAN SLOTT to bring you the biggest spider-event ever! • When a force of evil threatens spider-characters throughout the multiverse, EVERY SPIDER-MAN EVER is needed to save the day!
ROB: More Spidey than ever before! This has been talked up since Peter Parker’s return and I am more than excited to finally see it start. Looks like any Spider related character in the Marvel U is gonna see some play here, so let’s get rolling.
CHEW #44
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: “CHICKEN TENDERS,” Part Four Warning: Sissies will need an adult diaper before reading this one. No joke. No lie. This will be the most talked about issue of CHEW in years
ROB: Still riding Chew through to the end, as things wind into the close of this chapter, we’re also coming down to the final three chapters of the series so there’s no stopping now.
EMPTY MAN #5
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Vanesa Del
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Having barely survived the journey through Patient Zero’s hellscape, Langford and Jensen close in on the location of the kidnapped children. But will the Witnesses make them see the glory of the Empty Man before the agents can come to the rescue?
GEORGE: Empty Man is crazy weird, with Bunn and Del doing excellent work to sell the strangeness and horror. The story posits a medical malady with aspects of the strange and the occult in a way that shouldn’t work, but does. I only wish this miniseries was longer than six issues.
THE GHOST FLEET #1
Writer: Donny Cates
Artist: Daniel Warren Johnson
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: THEY TRUCKED WITH THE WRONG GUY!
For the world’s most valuable, dangerous, or secretive cargo, you don’t call just any trucking service . . . You call THE GHOST FLEET. When one of the world’s most elite combat-trained truckers takes a forbidden peek at his payload, he uncovers a conspiracy that will change his life forever! A new series of badass action on the open road begins here!
RODRIGO: This can’t possibly be a mediocre book. It will either be self-aware and amazing or so bad it’s good.
GOTHAM ACADEMY #2
Writers:Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan
Artist: Karl Kerschl
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Olive joins the creepy Order of the Bat as an afterschool activity, and we learn more about her secret past!
ASHLEY: Since the first issue of this series I have been jones-ing for some more Olive and Maps! This is one of the most original series to come out of DC in the past year, stars girls and has BATMAN!
GEORGE: DC is finally publishing fun stories again, and Gotham Academy is leading the charge. I wasn’t sure about how interesting a private school in Gotham could be, but I enjoyed the first issue immensely, as the creators built an atmosphere of mystery and secrets. Gotham Academy is good stuff.
MATTHEW: The first issue of G.A. was pretty amazing, giving us an almost Hogwarts-style take, with a couple of cute and capable main characters, as well as that whole Batman tie-in potential. It’s a well-drawn, entertaining read, and you should check it out…
RODRIGO: Everyone who listens to the MSP knows I’m pretty cynical about Batman stuff. That said, the recent trend to create batman-light stuff set in Gotham city is at least having the positive effect of giving us a more diverse (in every sense of the word) DC comics experience.
STEPHEN: Yes, Yes, Yes! This is the book to pick up this week. Great writing by Fletcher and Cloonan, and the art by Karl Kerschl is the best – THE BEST! One of the few comic books I’m actually excited about picking up when I see the title appear in the solicitations listing. Get it now, thank me later.
GRANDVILLE NOEL HC
Writer: Talbot, Bryan
Artist: Talbot, Bryan
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $19.99
SOLICITATION: Detective Inspector LeBrock stalks a cult responsible for horrific mass murder. With Paris in the grip of a mysterious crime lord and violent attacks by human terrorists, can LeBrock stop the inevitable slide into fascism? And could this all be part of a centuries-old conspiracy to throw the world into war?
ASHLEY: I love the first two books in Talbot’s series, not least of all for the comparisons between Inspector LeBrock and Sherlock Holmes! I can’t wait to see Paris in the wintertime presented in Talbot’s gorgeously crafted noir style.
WAYNE: I’ve enjoyed Mr. Talbot’s work for quite some time, and I particularly have been enamored with his series of Grandville hardcover graphic novels. His use of anthropomorphic animals, including the main detective (who’s a badger), keeps me wanting more, so don’t miss it!
THE SKY: THE ART OF FINAL FANTASY (SLIPCASED EDITION)
Writer: Yoshitaka Amano
Artist: Yoshitaka Amano
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $89.99
SOLICITATION: Previously available only as a part of the now sold-out The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy Boxed Set, Dark Horse is pleased to offer fans another chance to own the three-book hardcover set The Sky I, II, and III, included in the new The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy Slipcased Edition!
The Sky I, II, and III showcase Amano’s ethereal illustrations for the first ten Final Fantasy games! Each hardcover book in The Sky Slipcased Edition is 11 5/8″ high by 10 5/8″ wide, and printed on glossy stock. Volume 1 contains Amano’s work forFinal Fantasy I-III. Volume 2 contains his contributions for Final Fantasy IV-VI, and volume 3 features his art for Final Fantasy VII-X.
The slipcase containing The Sky I, II, and III features the same wraparound exterior artwork as The Sky Boxed Set, with a double-hinged flap that folds around the open edge and is held flat to the back side with a hidden magnetic closure, making it easy both to remove the books and to display the set closed.
RODRIGO: If you ever played a japanese RPG, chances are that it was either influenced by or part of the Final Fantasy series, and Yoshitaka Amano’s art basically formed the visual spine of the series for a long time. This book looks amazing and I can’t imagine a better gift for the video game enthusiast in your life. Which is me, by the way, I’m saying someone should give me this as a present.
SKYMAN ONE-SHOT
Writer: Spencer Cushing
Artist: Manual Garcia, Bit
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Sergeant Eric Reid may have survived the Skyman Program’s assassins and exposed its corruption, but he’s about to find that wearing the Skyman belt and trying to do the right thing means there will always be a target on his back. Can he take the heat? Or will he burn up in the atmosphere? Manuel Garcia (Bloodshot) and Bit (Captain Midnight) return for another high-flying Skyman story! This will be a great way for new readers to experience the action and excitement of the Project Black Sky Universe.
WAYNE: When the Skyman miniseries came out not long ago, I really enjoyed this Captain Midnight spin-off. I’m so glad to see the character gracing comics pages again, and I hope this is only the beginning of many more appearances! His own comic series, maybe?
SPIDER-VERSE TEAM UP #1
Writer: Roger Stern, Christos Gage
Artist: David Williams
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: SPIDER-VERSE TIE-IN! Which is obvious from the title! • TWO SPIDEY-STORIES PER ISSUE! • The old-man Spider-Man from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #500 and Spider-Ham team-up to recruit BEN REILLY! • Spider-Man Noir and a Six-Armed Spider-Man go on a mission that terrifies them more than anything they’ve ever seen!
ROB: Finally, as Spider-Verse kicks off we get to see many of the different Spidey’s working together. Some of my favorites are hitting the issue, including Spider-Ham, Ben Reilly and Spider-Man Noir, so this should be exciting.
TOOTH & CLAW #1
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Ben Dewey
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: MARVELS and ASTRO CITY writer KURT BUSIEK returns to Image Comics with rising-star artist BEN DEWEY for an all-new ONGOING SERIES! Conan meets Game of Thrones meets Kamandi in an original high-fantasy epic for mature readers, as a secret conclave of wizards brings a legendary champion back through time to save the world, with disastrous consequences. The action begins in a spectacular DOUBLE-SIZED FIRST ISSUE, with forty-eight pages of story with no ads for the regular price of just $2.99!
GEORGE: There are a lot of reasons to be interested in Tooth & Claw. First, a Kurt Busiek book is always worth checking out. Second, high-fantasy, time travel, and warthog wizards scratch a lot of my itches. Lastly, three bucks for forty-eight pages is great value in a world of four dollar, twenty page issues.
MATTHEW: You had me at “new Busiek”.
WAYNE: This must be Fantasy Week or something! I’ve loved Kurt Busiek and his storytelling for quite a long time as well, and he’s spent more of his writing time these days putting together fantasy stories, and that’s okay in my book! Busiek and Dewey craft the beginning of another interesting anthropomorphic take that I’m anxious to follow, so I highly recommend it!
VELVET #8
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Steve Epting
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.50
SOLICITATION: Velvet takes her battle right to the heart of the agency’s headquarters, literally.
MATTHEW: “What if Miss Moneypenny was actually James Bond?” Well, so far, it’d be an amazing ride, with some great spycraft and a surprise ending for #7. Velvet’s come home, and the Agency’s chickens are ready to roost…
