Major Spoilers Staff Picks for April 6, 2016 #NCBD

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.

ARCHIE #7
Writer: Mark Waid
Artists: Veronica Fish, Andre Szymanowicz, Jen Vaughn, Jack Morelli
Publisher: Archie Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Hiram Lodge finally learns who his daughter, Veronica, is dating. And when he realizes that it’s the boy who destroyed their mansion-to-be, his resulting rage will upend the entire town of Riverdale in this next installment of the best-selling all-new ARCHIE series!

STEPHEN: Love, love, love what is going on with Archie right now. Pick it up, get on board, and remember everyone, Reggie is the worst.

BATGIRL #50
Writer: Cameron Stewart, Brendan Fletcher
Artist: Babs Tarr
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: It’s the explosive conclusion of the epic that changed Barbara Gordon forever! The enemy lurking at the edges of Batgirl’s life has been revealed, as have the gang of heroes assembled to help her! From this point on, Batgirl doesn’t walk alone! It’s an extra-sized celebration of the greatest hero Burnside has ever known, from Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr!

CHRIS: This Batgirl run was so good and did some great new and wonderful things with Barbra Gordon as Batgirl. I’m going to be sad to see it go as I’m not too excited about the new direction Rebirth’s story will be taking. Plus, this is an oversized issue with Babs Tarr art!

MATTHEW: Change is a’comin’ in the DCU, which means the end is near for the Batgirl of Burnside. I’m glad that they’re getting a bit anniversary issue to play with, though…

BLACK PANTHER #1
Writer: TA-NEHISI COATES
Artist: BRIAN STELFREEZE
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: 4.99
SOLICITATION: A new era for the Black Panther starts here!
Written by MacArthur Genius and National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates (“Between the World and Me”) and illustrated by living legend Brian Stelfreeze, “A Nation Under Our Feet” is a story about dramatic upheaval in Wakanda and the Black Panther’s struggle to do right by his people as their ruler.

The indomitable will of Wakanda—the famed African nation known for its vast wealth, advanced technology, and warrior traditions—has long been reflected in the will of its monarchs, the Black Panthers.

But now the current Black Panther, T’Challa, finds that will tested by a superhuman terrorist group called the People that has sparked a violent uprising among the citizens of Wakanda. T’Challa knows the country must change to survive—the question is, will the Black Panther survive the change?

MATTHEW: Just in time for his big movie debut, The Black Panther returns to solo action. Given his relatively poor treatment in the last few years of Marvel Comics, this could be a chance to get him back on track…

RODRIGO: Black Panther is about to make his big movie debut. It’ll be interesting to see if this new comic is going to be close to the movie depiction or go its own way.

STEPHEN: There’s a movie coming up that features this character, so I expect all eyes will be looking at Black Panther this week. I’m hoping Black Panther takes off and becomes crazy popular like Iron Man did after his movie debut, which would mean more comics like this in the future.

BLOODLINES #1
Writer: J.T. Krul
Artist: V. Ken Marion
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: “HOSTILE TAKEOVER”
When a meteor crashes to Earth, bringing with it an unspeakable alien presence that terrorizes a nearby small town, the lucky ones die first. As for the rest, they find themselves locked in a hellish struggle for control of their bodies and their minds. This isn’t just an invasion. It’s an infestation. What would you do if the greatest threat to humanity was hidden away inside you?

Award-winning writer J.T. Krul (Teen Titans, Green Arrow, Jirni) and superstar-in-the-making V. Ken Marion (All New Soulfire, Jirni) bring you their dark and horrifying science-fiction epic about tortured souls who are cursed to a fate worse than death…much worse.

RODRIGO: The team behind Jirni doing a very non-Jirni like book. Interesting…

BUNKER #16
Writer: Joshua Fialkov
Artist: Joe Infurani
Publisher: Oni Press
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Surprise, surprise: The Bunker’s empty when the feds get to it. Making Heidi out to be a liar. But Natasha – future Natasha – is facing worse problems. Her immunity may have saved her from the virus, but there are other, more dangerous threats out to get her.

WAYNE: This book just keeps surprising me! Mr. Fialkov should be a baseball pitcher because of his ability to throw curve balls! Highly recommended!

EMPRESS #1
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Stuart Immonen
Publisher: Marvel
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Imagine you’re married to the worst bad guy from your favorite sci-fi movie. An alien dictator feared throughout the universe, who will kill you if you leave — but you need to escape for the sake of your three children. All you have are your wits, your bodyguard, and three guns. Welcome to EMPRESS, your new favorite comic.

CHRIS: While the solicitation is a bit sketchy and vague, I’m always down for checking out a new Mark Millar series. The first issue from something of his always sets the tone for the rest of the story so it’s extremely easy to grasp whether it’s for you or not. This one is intriguing and I’m looking forward to seeing Millar take on sci-fi again.

MATTHEW: Hey, did you guys know Icon is still a thing at Marvel? This could be great, this could be awful, but whether genius or cheese sandwich, it’s a book I want to read…

THE FIX #1
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Steve Lieber
Publisher: Image
Cover Price: 3.99
SOLICITATION: From the creators of The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, comes a story of the crooked cops, scheming mobsters, and corrupt politicians that run things—and the sex toy that can bring them all down. Oh, and the hero is a drug-sniffing beagle named Pretzels. Bad people do bad things to each other in this frenetic, outrageous, sometimes off-putting new caper! If you liked classic crime comics like CRIMINAL and 100 Bullets we apologize in advance for letting you down! – See more at: https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/the-fix-1#sthash.Vhd0MIsr.dpuf

RODRIGO: I swear if this solicitation is overstating the importance of Pretzels, the drug-sniffing beagle I’m going to be very upset.

REPLICA #5

Writer: Paul Jenkins

Artist: Andy Clarke
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: In which we meet Number 5 – a legal genius who was undercooked during the cloning process and came out half-baked. In which Trevor and the gang at the Precinct run afoul of the dreaded Scarlet Empire. In which our trusty heroes go for a “round of golf” and decide instead to undertake a naked assault on an alien Embassy. Because, you know… Tuesday.

WAYNE: This is my favorite of this company’s new offerings. It’s funny, it’s smart, it’s full of shocks and surprises! I also love how each cover has something to do with the number of the issue. Don’t miss this excellent title!

ROUGH RIDERS #1

Writer: Adam Glass
Artist: Pat Oliffe
Publisher: Aftershock Comics

Cover Price: $1.99
SOLICITATION: Led by a young Theodore Roosevelt, a motley crew of soon-to-be American legends must work together to solve a mystery that threatens all of existence. Harry Houdini – street magician and master of misdirection. Annie Oakley – a washed-up entertainer, eager for a chance to prove herself in a real war. Jack Johnson – an undefeated brawler and the son of ex-slaves, determined to get his shot at the heavyweight championship… When a terrifying alien technology destroys the USS Maine, these unlikely allies set sail for bloody Cuba, into the heart of a brewing conflict, to wage a shadow war against the greatest threat mankind has ever known. Before they were famous, they were… ROUGH RIDERS.

WAYNE: A new Aftershock title! Looking forward to it since it has a great premise! Out today!

SPIDER-MAN #3
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Sara Pichelli
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Miles finds himself face-to-face with his toughest villain yet- HIS GRANDMOTHER!!! And an Avengers-study session (date?) with Ms. Marvel goes horribly wrong!

ROB: Miles and Kamala together sounds great! Bendis is off to a good start bringing Miles into the 616 universe, and Miles is the kind of character that deserves the recognition.

SPIDER-WOMEN ALPHA #1
Writer: Robbie Thompson, Jason Latour, Dennis Hopeless
Artist: Yasmine Putri
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: SPIDER-WOMEN PART 1! The Spider-Event of 2016 is here, bringing SPIDER-GWEN, SILK and SPIDER-WOMAN together for a story too big for any one of their books! Spider-Woman is taking a mentor-role with Silk and Spider-Gwen, and the three spider-heroes take a brunch break on Gwen’s Earth-65. But when the nefarious spy organization S.I.L.K. and their leader (Earth-65’s Cindy Moon) notice the interdimensional interlopers, all of Jessica Drew’s plans go wrong.

ROB: The three Spider-Ladies are getting a book together and I am thoroughly excited to see it. The three books have been great for the last 6 months or so, and this promises to keep that up.

UNCANNY X-MEN #6
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Ken Lashley
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: “APOCALYPSE WARS” CONTINUES! The first time original X-Man Archangel met Apocalypse, he was transformed into the homicidal Horseman of Death. Breaking free of Apocalypse’s grasp, Archangel eventually returned to the X-Men and formed a relationship with his teammate, Psylocke. Now, years later, Psylocke has found a vacant, drone-like Archangel in the guise of Death once more. Fearing he’s again fallen under Apocalypse’s sway, Psylocke and her team of X-Men embark on a mission to save Archangel’s life. But little do they know that they are about to discover a far more horrifying truth than they could have imagined…

ROB: Cullen Bunn has taken a group of mutants I wouldn’t have expected to like and made me enjoy them. And with someone else taking over for Land on art, I’m even more excited.

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

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