IT’S NEW COMIC BOOK DAY! #NCBD
The best day of the week just got a lot better with a new round of awesome comics arriving in stores this week. Staff members at Major Spoilers are here to help you with your comic book selection this week, with their roundup of comics they recommend.
ADAM.3 #3 of 5
Writer/Artist: Scott Kolins
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Continuing the best work of his career, Scott Kolins (Flash, Avengers, Solomon Grundy) shows the terrifying cost of evil as Adam battles monsters who were once his closest friends! How many will suffer as S.E.E.D.S. Part 3: Epidemic threatens to destroy all life on the island paradise?
WAYNE: Creative? Yes! Gorgeous art? Check! Unique? Of course! This book continues to shine each month, so I highly recommend it!
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli, Various
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $5.99
SOLICITATION: Spider-Man has gone global! Parker Industries is more successful than ever, with offices in New York, Shanghai, London and San Francisco and Peter Parker is racking up the frequent flyer miles with his “bodyguard” Spider-Man in tow, of course. But success breeds enemies and a reinvigorated Zodiac have also widened their scope to threaten the whole world. Join Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli as they take Spider-Man to the next level! This huge first issue also includes stories featuring Silk, Spidey 2099, Spider-Woman and much more!
MATTHEW: The cover is seriously ugly, and I’m uncertain about the addition of the strange bile-green accents to a blue & red costume, but Slott’s work on this title has earned him a little bit of patience. Does the premise sound an awful lot like Bronze Age Iron Man? Sure. But I’m still gonna check this one out…
STEPHEN: Don’t listen to the nay-sayers, who have gone on the record as being an Alex Ross hater, buy this book and see how Peter Parker’s life has changed since the end of Secret Wars… which is still ongoing… You know what? Just buy this book and read it, without getting caught up in all the other drama.
ATOMIC ROBO AND THE RING OF FIRE #2
Writer: Brian Clevenger
Artist: Scott Wegener
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Atomic Robo’s head is discovered and a new style of bowling is founded. Also: monsters threaten all life on earth!
STEPHEN: Yes, you can read this series online for FREE, but you can support your favorite action scientists by buying this book. If this is your first introduction to Atomic Robo, you’re welcome.
WAYNE: Robo continues to be one of the very best comics produced! Be sure to pick it up and dive in head first!
BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #1
Writers: James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder
Artist: Tony S. Daniel
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: It’s here at last-the sequel to the blockbuster weekly series BATMAN ETERNAL! Five years ago, Batman and Robin worked the most disturbing case of their crimefighting careers-bringing down the organization of the ultimate human trafficker, the mysterious woman known only as Mother. At the time, Dick Grayson never quite understood the scope of that case, but now its darkest secrets are coming back to haunt him and everyone else who ever worked with Batman! With Bruce Wayne now lost to them, Dick and all his allies are out in the cold! Who can they trust? Is someone among them not who they say they are? And who is the deadly, silent young woman in black who’s come to Gotham City looking for Batman? Prepare yourself for six months of international intrigue, twists and turns, and new additions to the world of Batman and Robin, from showrunners James Tynion IV and Scott Snyder, and writers Tim Seeley, Steve Orlando, Genevieve Valentine, Ed Brisson, and Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelley!
STEPHEN: I still haven’t caught up to Batman Eternal, but I’ll go ahead and jump on this series, if for no other reason than to see how the idea of a weekly series has changed since 52.
WAYNE: Another Batman weekly with Mr. Tynion and Mr. Snyder? Count me in!
JUGHEAD #1
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Erica Henderson
Publisher: Archie Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: In the grand tradition of comic book reboots like Archie #1, Archie Comics proudly presents Jughead #1 from the comics dream team of Chip Zdarsky (Howard the Duck) and Erica Henderson (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl)! Riverdale High provides a quality education and quality hot lunches, but when one of those is tampered with, Jughead Jones swears vengeance! Well, we mean, he doesn’t “swear.” This is still Archie Comics after all.
MATTHEW: Seeing Zdarsky’s unique brand of humor on an Archie Comic is draw enough for me, but add in the fact that revamped Jughead is the strongest character in the Archie ouvre, as well as charming art, I’m thinking we’ve got the makings of a winner here…
STEPHEN: Such a fun read! This is another book you should have on your pull list this week.
LARA CROFT AND THE FROZEN OMEN #1
Writer: Corinna Bechko
Artist: Randy Green
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: An all-new Lara Croft miniseries begins with Corinna Bechko at the helm!
It’s up to Lara to stop a group of cultists from causing worldwide cataclysmic devastation, and ancient ivory artifacts hold the key to both salvation and destruction! It’s a race against time in Lara’s new quest, filled with incredible action, dual pistols, and high-spirited adventure.
STEPHEN: The title screams Indiana Jones, and the revamped hero is ready to take on cultists! Why wouldn’t you want to read this book? This was on my must read list months ago.
PAPER GIRLS #1
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Cliff Chang
Publisher: IMAGE COMICS
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: SAGA writer BRIAN K. VAUGHAN launches a brand-new ONGOING SERIES with superstar Wonder Woman artist CLIFF CHIANG! In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Stand By Me meets War of the Worlds in this mysterious young adult adventure, starting with a spectacular DOUBLE-SIZED FIRST ISSUE for the regular price of just $2.99!
GEORGE: Love me some BKV and Cliff Chiang and also Halloween and aliens so I’m hoping I love Paper Girls. The concept seems solid and the creators are golden.
STEPHEN: I know almost nothing about this series, but with Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chang on this series, what more do you really need t know? I definitely put this in the “In Vaughan We Trust” category, and I have a good feeling about this issue.
SECRET WARS #6
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Esad Ribic
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: THE FINAL WAR!
ROB: I guess it’s time for the beginning of the end. Delays have hurt this, but not enough for me to want to see how it ends. Besides, the story has still been enough to keep me intrigued.
SOUTHERN BASTARDS #11
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Jason Latour
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.50
SOLICITATION: Deep in the woods of Craw County lives a man who may be even more dangerous than Coach Boss. He hunts with a bow. Handles snakes. Hates football. And has just been given a special mission from God.
GEORGE: Possibly the best comic on the shelves these days. I’m still waiting for the return of Roberta Tubb but I’ll also take a snake-handling bow hunter too.
SURVIVOR’S CLUB
Writer: Lauren Beukes, David Halvorson
Artist: Ryan Kelly
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: One was possessed by a poltergeist. Another was trapped in a haunted house. A third had a killer doll. Ever wonder what happened to these children of the 1980s? Find out in SURVIVORS CLUB, a new series cowritten by renowned horror novelist Lauren Beukes and videogame journalist Dave Halverson, with art by Ryan Kelly (NORTHLANDERS).
Having found each other over the internet, six grown-up survivors are drawn together by the horrors they experienced in 1987 when a rash of occult events occurred around the world-with fatal results. Now, there are indications that it may be happening all over again. Is it possible that these six aren’t just survivors-but were chosen for their fates?
GEORGE: Lauren Beukes is one of the best new genre fiction writers out there, so I’m excited to see her debut on some comics. The best horror is set in the 1980s, as everyone knows, so good choice on that.
TMNT ONGOING #50
Writer: Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman
Artist: Mateus Santolouco
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $7.99
SOLICITATION: The epic conclusion to over four-years worth of storylines! The Turtles stand against Shredder for one final battle that will determine the fate of NYC, and the world, for years to come!
ROB: This should be awesome! The TMNT ongoing has been my favorite series for the last 4 years and while I’m excited for the conclusion, I am going to be very sad to see it go. Hopefully something more will be coming out soon.
TELOS #1
Writer: Jeff King
Artist: Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: The villain of the world-shattering CONVERGENCE event stars in his own new series! Set loose from his planetary tether at the end of the best-selling CONVERGENCE, Telos finds himself free and able to traverse space and time via a sliver of Brainiac’s powers. As this epic begins, he embarks on an odyssey, journeying across time and space in search of his past.
MATTHEW: When we say we are “looking forward to” a comic, it can mean more than one thing. In this case, I am “looking forward to” Telos #1 the same way one “looks forward to” getting one’s tonsils out. There’s a pretty good chance it’s not going to be as bad as I think, but I’ll want sherbet either way.
ROB: Curiosity is the driving factor here. I just want to see how they take a major event created villain like Telos and turn it into an ongoing story. Hopefully it turns out well.
