Major Spoilers Staff Picks for February 17, 2016

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.

AMERICAN VAMPIRE VOLUME 8 HARDCOVER
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Publisher: Vertigo
Cover Price: 22.99
SOLICITATION: In the latest AMERICAN VAMPIRE hardcover, it’s 1965. Pearl and Skinner escaped The Gray Trader with more questions than answers, and their search for clues leads them to…NASA! You’ve never seen vampires like this before in these tales from AMERICAN VAMPIRE: SECOND CYCLE #6-11!

RODRIGO: So I superduper fell off the American Vampire wagon, but this is a good place to jump back in. By which I mean a good place to wait for me to buy the last 5 volumes and then pick this one up.

BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #20

Writers: Scott Snyder & Various
Artist: Paul Pelletier, Tony Kordos

Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Everything that can go wrong does in both the past and the present! Batman spent years believing Mother was dead…and when you see their blood-soaked confrontation, you’ll know why! Now that she’s returned in the modern day, Batman’s allies will find themselves under siege from a world-destroying weapon they never saw coming! And on top of everything…Harper Row learns a devastating secret that will change her life forever-and potentially make her the most dangerous foe the Robins have ever faced!

WAYNE: We’re building to a powerful conclusion, one I’m anxious to see! With only a few weeks left, I can’t miss this weekly comic!

BILL AND TED GO TO HELL #1
Writer: Brian Joines
Artist: Bachan
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
SOLICITATION: Bill & Ted are back for a brand-new miniseries, this time with the Imagine Agents team of Brian Joines and Bachan at the helm. It’s time to get the band back together! Bill & Ted and the Princesses will have to reunite with some historic friends to knock down the Devil’s door and get their friend Death back. With the help of Rufus, Billy the Kid, Joan of Arc, and more, this is the showdown that will rock the supernatural world. History vs. Hell. Too bad Hell has some surprises up its sleeve…

TOM: I’m a lifelong fan of Bill and Ted. This fandom was promulgated by Evan Dorkin’s landmark “Bill and Ted” series from the 1990’s, which was recently reprinted. This issue marks the second new miniseries by Boom Studios. The first mini had its heart in the right place and seemed to grasp the characters’ attitudes and motivations well. With this story seemingly taking cues from “Bogus Journey,” I can’t wait to see what’s in store for our hapless duo, and I can only hope that William Sadler’s Death (the character, not the event) features heavily in the book.

BITCH PLANET #7
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: Valentine De Landro
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Makoto arrives on Bitch Planet. Whitney has to answer for Meiko’s death. Kam gets a new cellmate and a critical clue to the whereabouts of her sister.

MATTHEW: The second arc of this book is building upon everything established in the first, and… it’s pretty heavy stuff, in all the right ways. Highly recommended!

CLEAN ROOM #5
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Jon Davis-Hunt
Publisher: Vertigo
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Astrid Mueller is scared for the first time as she struggles to tame a Clean Room gone wildly out of control. Meanwhile, her cult followers take the recruitment process to a whole new level. And Chloe faces demons more horrible than even her own hallucinations.

MATTHEW: You guys! You guys! Vertigo is back! This is a truly terrifying and entertaining book. You should check it out…

KING #4
Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artist: Bernard Chang
Publisher: Jet City Comics

Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: After absconding with Roze, King is about to get the most painful pink slip of all time. And if being hunted by his pterodactyl co-worker wasn’t harrowing enough, King and Roze fight for their lives as they evade a robot army modeled after one of history’s most fear-inducing organizations – the LAPD!

WAYNE: This is such a fun read! If you haven’t discovered King yet, I highly recommend it! Oh, and Mr. Fialkov recently had a TV script of his air, so he’s just getting better and better!

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #1
Writer: David Walker
Artist: Sanford Greene
Publisher: Marvel Comics
SOLICITATION: THE ORIGINAL HEROES FOR HIRE, BACK ON THE CLOCK! We KNOW you’ve been waiting to see LUKE CAGE and DANNY RAND back together and back to STREET-STOMPING basics! POWER MAN and IRON FIST are tracking a mystery with all the ingredients of a classic Heroes-for-Hire tale. Expect old friends, hired goons, crime lords, weird magic, plenty of power, a flurry of fists and as much bromance as you can handle! It’s Power Man and Iron Fist reunited, and writer DAVID WALKER and artist SANFORD GREENE are making it feel so GOOD!

STEPHEN: Power Man and Iron Fist are an the verge of breaking big this year with the coming Netflix series, which means there is no better time to jump on board the action than right now. RIGHT NOW!

TOM: Truth to tell, I almost let this one slip under my radar. Marvel’s marketing department made sure to remind me this book is available, and I’ll give it a try. Both title characters have had amazing solo runs recently. I’m genuinely interested to see what brings these two back to the streets, especially when Luke now has the responsibility of fatherhood. The biggest draw for me now is the art…I wasn’t sure what to make of Greene’s gritty-yet-cartoonish style, but it is growing on me. I am looking forward to seeing it in action.

SNOWFALL #1
Story By: Joe Harris
Art By: Martin Morazzo
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: 3.99
SOLICITATION: Writer JOE HARRIS (The X-Files) and artist MARTÍN MORAZZO (Vertigo Quarterly), creators of GREAT PACIFIC, reunite for a brand new ongoing science-fiction series and an OVERSIZED DEBUT ISSUE featuring 32 pages of story! In the year 2045 it no longer snows following a crash that left the climate ravaged, society splintered and the newly-christened “Cooperative States of America” propped up and administered by the powerful Hazeltyne Corporation. Only one man wages an all-out weather war against the system, wielding the forces of nature themselves as weapons. He’s the White Wizard. The ghost in the night. Genius. Terrorist. Outlaw. Hero?

RODRIGO: This premise is a little weird. But I’m interested.

SUPERZERO #3
Writers: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti

Artist: Rafael de Latorre

Publisher: Aftershock Comics

Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Dru takes the next step towards her search for super powers.  She trains with her new backyard buddy, Wax, and applies what she learns from him both in and out of the classroom. All this happens while Dru’s idea for a Gamma Ray bath is in the early stages of development!

WAYNE: This comic is a great one if you know about comics! I wish I could say I didn’t know people who just might attempt what Dru is doing, but I do! Even if you don’t, you’ll enjoy this witty take on comics and comics fans.

TOMB RAIDER #1
Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Artist: Phillip Sevy
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: 3.99
SOLICITATION: A perfect jumping-on point for new readers!
After Rise of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft’s adventure continues in a new comic series by Eisner Award winning writer Mariko Tamaki (This One Summer)!

Lara Croft is pursuing a lost truth about the world that just might unlock the secret to defeating death! She becomes entangled in a search for a rare mushroom said to grant immortality and a lethal new enemy that just won’t die!

* Continuing where the Rise of the Tomb Raider game left off!

RODRIGO: Rise of the Tomb Raider took an old character in an interesting new direction. I hope that this comic keeps that instead of bringing us closer to the original version.

STEPHEN: I was really surprised how much I liked the art and story in this first issue. It perfectly sets up the adventure, the bad guys, and more. Truly a must read this week!

TWILIGHT ZONE #1959
Writer: Tom Peyer & Various
Artist: Randy Valiente, Colton Worley
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone. Journey back to where it all began! The year was 1959, the Twilight Zone took over the airwaves, and television was changed forever! Now, Dynamite has recruited three all-star writing talents to craft a unique Twilight Zone story paying homage to where it all began! Including the first Dynamite work by writer Tom Peyer, the return of John Layman, and a tale masterminded by Twilight Zone writer Mark Rahner! Three unique tales, each firmly set in that other dimension… the Twilight Zone!

MATTHEW: I don’t know if I buy the renumbering stunt this time (Captain America claiming 600 issues was more believable) nor am I sure it’ll be any good. But anything with ‘Twilight Zone’ on the cover is worth a look, as Rod’s legacy can make for some fascinating reading…

ROBOT OVERLORD: WHAT WILL YOU BE BUYING THIS WEEK? USE THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW!

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