Major Spoilers Staff Picks for November 19, 2014

IT’S NEW COMIC BOOK DAY!

But what to read?

Fortunately, the Major Spoilers Staff have comic book recommendations for you!

THE ART OF DRAGON AGE INQUISITION
Writer: BioWare
Artist: BioWare
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $39.99
SOLICITATION: The next generation of fantasy is here! Go behind the scenes of Dragon Age: Inquisition,the most ambitious game ever created by legendary developer BioWare!

Featuring hundreds of never-before-seen art pieces and commentary from the developers themselves, this volume offers revealing insight into the inspiration and creation of every facet of Dragon Age: Inquisition, from the heroes to the wondrous weapons they wield, the powerful beasts they battle, and the extraordinary world they inhabit.

RODRIGO: It’s probably going to be a year before I finally buy a next-gen console and am able to actually play this game. So until then maybe this hardback will tide me over.

BATMAN 66 THE LOST EPISODE #1
Writer: Harlan Ellison, Len Wein
Artist: Jose-Luis Garcia Lopez, Joe Prado
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $9.99
SOLICITATION: During the original Batman television series run, legendary science-fiction writer Harlan Ellison turned in an outline for a story that would have introduced Two-Face. The story never made it to air, and Two-Face never entered the TV show’s Rogues Gallery. Now, “The Two-Way Crimes of Two-Face” is adapted to comics by two comic book legends: writer Len Wein and artist José Luis Garcia-Lopez. Also included in this special edition are Ellison’s original prose story outline and the complete, original pencils by Garcia-Lopez.

MATTHEW: I love me some Harlan, even with I don’t love me some Harlan, and even with the prohibitive pricetag, I want to see how he’d have brought Two-Face into the TV fold…

CARTOON NETWORK SUPER SECRET CRISIS WAR #6
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Derek Charm
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Mojo-Jojo and Ed, Edd & Eddy–captured! Samurai Jack, Ben 10, the Powerpuff Girls, and Derek—overwhelmed by Aku, Vilgax and their Doppleganger army. The DeathStare—poised to destroy a world. The heroes are in trouble—so why would Aku and Vilgax attack each other? And, more important, who will win?

ROB: This has been a fun ride, and I’m looking forward to reading the entire run over again. I’m also curious to see if this has been enough of a success to warrant more stories coming from it, because I think it has been.

DEADLY CLASS #9
Writer: Remender, Rick
Artist: Craig, Wesley
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.50
SOLICITATION: A murder from Marcus’s past comes back to haunt him in a bad way. Can he count on his friends to stick by him when lying and backstabbing are on the school’s curriculum?

ASHLEY: This issue promises some secrets and revelations from Marcus’ past. Those should prove entertaining against the dangerous school for assassins he has found himself in. This is consistently the only book I love from Rick Remender and one of the most fun – if violent – issues I pick up.

DEADPOOL #37
Writer: Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn
Artist: Mike Hawthorne
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: AXIS TIE-INS!
• Deadpool has given up violence in favor of enlightenment!
• How that will protect his FauX-Men friends from the real X-Men, I don’t know.
• Plus: Cowboy stuff!

GEORGE: Cowboy stuff! This title is still the best Deadpool thing in years, by a mile.

INHUMAN #8
Writer: CHARLES SOULE
Artist: PEPE LARRAZ
Publisher: Marvel
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION:
• We know Black Bolt and Maximus have been involved with the New Avengers’ activities, but that’s not close to the whole story.
• The Boltagon brothers are in trouble and we at the House of Ideas know it ends very badly for one of them!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

RODRIGO: I’m sorry. I know it’s something that has been a part of comics history for decades, but it’s still really difficult for me to read the name “Blackagar Boltagon” with a straight face.

LUMBERJANES #8
Writer: Ellis, Grace
Artist: Allen, Brooke A.
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: This crazy war between Apollo and Artemis finally reaches its peak and it’s up to the Lumberjanes to save their camp from this crazy sibling rivalry. All questions are finally answered and the scouts learn the true importance of trust and friendship.

ASHLEY: I think I write this with every issue and every Staff Pick – if you aren’t reading Lumberjanes you are missing out! I am looking forward to more crazy wicked wild creatures, Ripley jumping about and shouting and an earnest, yet simultaniously un-contrived, lesson about the importance of friendship.

STEPHEN: This is a great, fun read… I know I say that a lot, but it is so true. I think this is the latest incarnation of my love the mystery and the wilderness that we see in shows like Gravity Falls, and books like Lumberjanes. PICK IT UP!

MOON KNIGHT #9
Writer: Brian Wood

Artist: Greg Smallwood
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Moon Knight’s psychiatrist (introduced back in #1) is back and gets knee-deep into Moon Knight’s complicated psyche. Like Moon Knight, the doctor isn’t what she seems!

CHRIS: I had a love/hate relationship with Ellis’ work on Moon Knight, but was still sad to see him leave. Brian Wood has kept the done-in-one storytelling while also having loose ties to some of the previous issues. I was expecting a drop in quality when Ellis left but, if anything, it may actually be better! Seeing a crazy as hell Moon Knight in a suit and tie brings me all kinds of joy. Now if I could only get a Mr. Knight toy…

GEORGE: I hope we’re finally getting the answer to the mystery of this whole bird skull thing.

MULTIVERSITY PAX AMERICANA #1
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
SOLICITATION: Brace yourselves for the next exciting chapter of THE MULTIVERSITY as the acclaimed ALL-STAR SUPERMAN team of writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely investigate the conspiracy on Earth-4, home of Pax Americana! Told backwards through an experimental storytelling technique that reveals new mysteries with each turn of the page, PAX AMERICANA stars The Question, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Nightshade and Peacemaker like you’ve never seen them before! As the assassination of the U.S. president leads to political intrigue, interpersonal drama and astro-physical wonder, the truth behind the crime and those involved will blow your mind! What confidential conversation between the president and Captain Atom could reveal everything? How far will The Question take his hunt for the truth before he hurts his former friends – or himself? And who is the steel-handed bogeyman operating in the shadows?

CHRIS: Every issue I open of Multiversity has me excited but also cringing in fear that it may be the one that bursts the bubble. I’ve yet to be let down and every book keeps getting better and better. I don’t know how he’ll top the last one but having Frank Quitely art is a good start. Morrison looks to be getting majorly wacky with the storytelling in this one and I can’t wait to see what f@cked up trip it turns out to be. This is the best thing DC is publishing and I’m hooked.

GEORGE: All these Multiversity books have been good fun. I’m always a sucker for Elseworld stuff, and this one is doubly exciting since Morrison and Quitely bring out the best in each other. But will this “experimental storytelling technique” actually end up being readable? That worries me, but I’m more than open to finding out.

ROB: Multiversity has at least been interesting thus far, and I’m curious to see what this story brings to the mix. And the usually Morrson way of not really knowing what’s going on until the end has actually made this a more intriguing read than I expected.

PUNK MAMBO #0
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Robert Gill
Publisher: Valiant Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Oi! Comics icon Peter Milligan (Hellblazer) and upstart artist Robert Gill (Armor Hunters: Harbinger) are about to introduce a different kind of magic into the back alleys of the Valiant Universe…
From a posh girls’ boarding school, to the slimy gutter of the London punk scene, to sniffi ng voodoo glue in a Louisiana swamp…how did the Punk Mambo haul herself from the upper crust to the backwater? Now, Punk Mambo is about to head back home to spread some much-needed anarchy in the UK! The punks and the voodoo priests she used to know have cleaned themselves up, and she’s a loud, belching ghost from their past, come to break in the new furniture…and break some faces!

MATTHEW: Milligan always does interesting work, and since this is new Valiant’s first original launch, I’m really keen on seeing how it distinguishes itself. Worst case scenario, we get another weird trade paperback…

SINERGY #1
Writers: Michael Avon Oeming, Taki Soma
Artists: Michael Avon Oeming, Taki Soma
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.50
SOLICITATION: FROM THE CO-CREATOR OF THE HIT SERIES POWERS! Jess was on her way to college with an athletic scholarship—until her first sexual experience enabled her to see inter-dimensional monsters who live secretly among us and feed on SINERGY (energies emitted by sin)! Oh, and did we mention that her boyfriend is one of them and that her father wants her to start hunting these monsters with him?

RODRIGO: it’s a portmanteaux, get it? sin energy, sinergy! Which would be a lot more impactful if the majority of people actually knew how to spell synergy.

SPIDER-WOMAN #1
Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Artist: Greg Land
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: New Ongoing Series/Spider-Verse Tie-In! Jessica Drew has been an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and agent of S.W.O.R.D., an Avenger and so much more. But nothing could prepare her for the multidimensional insanity that is Spider-Verse! A war is brewing, and every spider-character in the multiverse is a target! But being a target is something Jessica Drew just won’t abide. She’s a woman with a mission and with Silk, the newest spider-character on the block at her side, she’ll have to put all her training to the test if she wants to make it out of Spider-Verse alive! SPIDER-VERSE KICKS OFF A NEW ONGOING SERIES! • Dennis Hopeless (CABLE & X-FORCE, AVENGERS: ARENA) and Greg Land (UNCANNY X-MEN) bring you a universe spanning adventure starring Jessica Drew Spider-Woman and the newest spider-hero, SILK!

CHRIS: After all the commotion about an ugly cover by an artist that has done other Marvel covers, the actual issue finally arrives. I’m honestly not even interested in the character or title, just the backlash and heat that it may get. If it wasn’t for all the negative publicity, I’d probably have ignored this altogether. I guess it is true that no publicity is bad publicity (and that I’m an idiot).

MATTHEW: I’m interested in Jessica Drew, and, with yet another high-profile gig, I’m now certain that Greg Land has compromising photos of the President of Marvel Comics with a sock puppet and three professional bowlers…

ROB: I plan on picking up all things Spider-Verse, at least through the event, and I’m excited to see where this goes both during and after the fact.

TEEN TITANS EARTH ONE VOL 1 HC
Writer: Lemire, Jeff
Artist: Dodson, Terry
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $22.99
SOLICITATION: In this new, original graphic novel, the young heroes of the Teen Titans never felt like normal kids…but they had no idea how right they were. Their seemingly idyllic Oregon upbringing hides a secret – one that will bring killers, shamans, and extraterrestrials down on their heads, and force them into an alliance that could shake the planet to its foundations! The superstar team of writer Jeff Lemire (ANIMAL MAN, GREEN ARROW) and artist Terry Dodson (WONDER WOMAN, HARLEY QUINN) reinvent DC’s youngest heroes, with an all-new mythos in an all-new world!

ASHLEY: Any more Teen Titans material is fantastic and immediately piques my interest. While the legacy characters are some of my characters in the DCU, I’m intrigued by the idea of a Teen Titans team being made up entirely of stand alone heroes with their own mantles who aren’t beholden to their predecessors. DC has done a great job with the previous Earth One graphic novels and I’m a big fan of Jeff Lemire’s Green Arrow run, so I have a lot of hope for this one!

ZOMBIE TRAMP #4
Writer: Dan Mendoza, Jason Martins

Artist: TMChu
Publisher: Action Lab Danger Zone!

Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: The hit series concludes its first gonzo story arc with a battle royale at the Grand Canyon! Our undead anti-heroine turned slave-bride Zombie Tramp battles ‘The King’ for her right to shamble on down the road, and not be eternally shackled to a rotting bloated man-pig… thankyouverymuch!

CHRIS: Yes, it’s everything that you think it is, but a lot that you don’t. Look at that cover and tell me a zombie tramp holding a helicopter blade like a sword isn’t cool. It does manage to keep itself out of the dirt the whole time and if you’re sick and twisted enough like me, you’ll dig it. Plus, it’s a perfect book to purchase along with your Milo Manara Spider Woman cover! Feel twice as horrible about yourself!