For those of you who want to be a part of the complete Major Spoilers Experience, and want to participate in the Major Spoilers Podcast, we’re giving you a heads up on the trade paperbacks we will be reviewing in the near future.
JANUARY
January 01, 2013
The bestselling saga that defined one of the Marvel Universe’s most unique characters! Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon deliver a wild ride of innovative chaos, reinstating the Punisher as an unstoppable force dispensing his vigilante justice on the streets of New York City. But not everyone is happy to see him return: Two unlucky cops draw the unenviable task of capturing him, while the ruthless Ma Gnucci and her gang will stop at nothing to see him dead. The Punisher also must contend with nosy neighbors and the rise of three copycats – the Holy, Elite, and Mr. Payback – who want him to join their crime-cleansing force. Collecting Punisher (2000) #1-12.
January 15, 2013
The first, fantastic Dredd saga is now available in an awesome paperback! When plague devastates Mega-City Two, Judge Dredd volunteers to deliver the vaccine that will save its last remaining inhabitants. But first, he and his crew have to travel 1,000 miles across the Cursed Earth, the savage radioactive wasteland which separates the cities. With cannibals, dinosaurs, mutants and insane robots between the Judges and their goal, it’s not going to be a smooth journey! Featuring work by fan favourite Brian Bolland (Batman: The Killing Joke) and classic Dredd artist Mike McMahon (Slaine), this shouldn’t be missed by any Judge Dredd or 2000 AD fan!
January 22, 2013
The Trouble with Girls is a satirical action series starring Lester Girls, who wants to be simply an “average guy” with a dead-end job, a plain wife, and no adventures more exciting than a good night’s sleep. But Lester can’t go for a drive without terrorists launching missiles at him, or walk into one of his many mansions without a beautiful, talented, curvaceous woman reposing half-dressed on his bed. Wealth, adventure, sexual magnetism, dashing good looks, and the savoir faire of a Hollywood action hero are what he calls “the curse of Girls.”
FEBRUARY
February 05, 2013
Orchid Volume 1
When the seas rose, genetic codes were smashed. Human settlements are ringed by a dense wilderness from which ferocious new animal species prey on the helpless. The high ground belongs to the rich and powerful that overlook swampland shantytowns from their fortress-like cities. Iron-fisted rule ensures order and allows the wealthy to harvest the poor as slaves. Delve into the first chapter of Orchid, the tale of a teenage prostitute who learns that she is more than the role society has imposed upon her, from the mind of musician Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, The Nightwatchman).
February 12, 2013
THE CURSE OF DRACULA
The Curse of Dracula is back in this deluxe new hardcover edition! A mysterious, charismatic figure is moving amongst the circles of San Francisco’s political elite. When Jonathan Van Helsing and his team of vampire hunters come to town investigating a string of grisly murders, they know it’s only a matter of time before they come face to face with the master of the dark!
February 19, 2013
The Black Smurfs (English title The Purple Smurfs) is the first album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo, first published in 1963. In a little mushroom village live the Smurfs, diminutive blue-skinned humanoid creatures. One day, one of them gets stung by a purple fly that turns his skin purple, reduces his vocabulary to the single word “gnap!”, and causes him to go berserk. He bounces around and bites other Smurfs on their tail, which turns them into purple Smurfs as well. Soon, almost everyone in the village has become a purple Smurf, and Papa Smurf, the leader, tries to find a cure and cease the tail-biting epidemic.
February 26, 2013
Elfquest (or ElfQuest) is a cult hit comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978. It is a fantasy story about a community of elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons. Several published volumes of prose fiction also share the same setting. Over the years Elfquest has been self-published by the Pinis, then Marvel Comics,[1] then the Pinis again through their own company Warp Graphics and more recently DC Comics. All issues of Elfquest are available online for free.
That’s right, you can read the series, right now FOR FREE!
March 05, 2013
This tale of the original TMNT expands the Turtles universe! After a big Mouser battle, Splinter’s gone missing and it’s up to his ninja turtle sons to find him. But, little do they know, an extraterrestrial surprise of cosmic proportions awaits them at the end of their search!
March 12, 2013
Tokyo Babylon
It’s 1991, the last days of Japan’s bubble economy, and money and elegance run through the streets. So do the currents of darkness beneath them, nourishing evil spirits that only the arts of the onmyoji—Japan’s legendary occultists—can combat. The two most powerful onmyojiare in the unlikely guises of a handsome young veterinarian, Seishiro, and the teenage heir to the ancient Sumeragi clan, Subaru.
* A prequel to the events of CLAMP’s X.
* Book One contains over a dozen pages in full color.
* The anime was released in English by Manga Entertainment.
March 26, 2013
Sandy Frank Productions, Top Cow Productions and Alex Ross proudly present: Battle of the Planets! Join Mark, Jason, Tiny, Keyop, and Princess on their adventures to save the earth from the evil Zoltar and the forces of Spectra! The attack on Earth has begun, and only the super-team known as G-Force stands between the forces of evil and our planet’s utter destruction. Can Mark, Jason, Keyop, Tiny and Princess defeat Zoltar and the soldiers of Spectra? Earth had better hope so, because time is running out! Collects Battle of the Planets #1-3!
April 02, 2013
Rust is a high-octane adventure set in the prairie lands of an unknown time. Life on the Taylor family farm was difficult enough before Jet Jones crashes into the barn, chased by a giant decommissioned war robot! Oldest son Roman Taylor struggles to keep his family’s small farm afloat as the area heals from a devastating world war. While the rest of his family may not trust the mysterious boy with the jetpack, Roman believes the secrets of Jet’s past may be the key to their survival.
April 10, 2013
The newest Power Rangers series arrives in comics in the first graphic novel from Papercutz! On a rare day off, the Power Rangers attend a free rock concert dressed as civilians, blending in with the rest of the attendees. Unbeknownst to the Rangers, the evil Master Xandred has been watching them closely, and plans to trap them by turning the crowd of thousands against them. Can the Rangers stop Master Xandred’s plot without harming any of their fellow teens?
April 16, 2013
When Wally West, the adolescent nephew of the Flash’s fiancée, accidentally gained powers of super speed, he became the Scarlet Speedster’s sidekick. Growing up as his hero’s protégé, Kid Flash had a childhood of amazing action and adventure. But on the day that the Flash died, Wally’s carefree adolescence abruptly ended and his life as an adult began. THE FLASH: BORN TO RUN looks back at Wally’s earliest days as the Kid Flash and explores the gamut of his emotions and experiences from his first day as a child hero to his succession of Barry Allen as the new Flash. A journey full of humor and drama, this story shows just how much Wally West loves being the fastest man alive.
April 23, 2013
This week on the Major Spoilers Podcast, we take a look at Jim Aparo and Michael Fleisher’s run on the Spectre in Adventure Comics #431-440 – The Wrath of the Spectre!
One of DCs most powerful and terrifying characters has been the Spectre, the wrath of the Lord made manifest. Since his introduction in 1940, the Spectre has chilled villains to their marrow and protected the innocent from things worse than death.
April 30, 2013
One of the best selling graphic novels of all time is back in a new edition. Can even Superman stop the unstoppable creature called Doomsday? If the assembled might of the JLA can’t do it, what hope does he have?
Collects SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #18-19, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #69, SUPERMAN #74-75 and ACTION COMICS #684.
May 07, 2013
Berkley Breathed’s Bloom County was one of the most popular and critically acclaimed newspaper strips of all time. Bloom County ran from December 8th, 1980 to August 6th, 1989 and was published in an astounding 1200 newspapers on a daily basis. The huge popularity of Bloom County spawned a merchandizing bonanza, as well as two spin-off strips, Outland and Opus. The Bloom County Library Volume 1 highlights the first time the entire run of the immensely popular Bloom County strip has been collected in beautifully designed hard cover books with exceptional reproduction.
May 14, 2013
This first volume, covering the first two and a quarter years of the strip, will be of particular fascination to Peanuts aficionados worldwide: Although there have been literally hundreds of Peanuts books published, many of the strips from the series’ first two or three years have never been collected before — in large part because they showed a young Schulz working out the kinks in his new strip and include some characterizations and designs that are quite different from the cast we’re all familiar with. (Among other things, three major cast members — Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus — initially show up as infants and only “grow” into their final “mature” selves as the months go by. Even Snoopy debuts as a puppy!) Thus The Complete Peanuts offers a unique chance to see a master of the art form refine his skills and solidify his universe, day by day, week by week, month by month.
May 22, 2013
Calvin and Hobbes is unquestionably one of the most popular comic strips of all time. The imaginative world of a boy and his real-only-to-him tiger was first syndicated in 1985 and appeared in more than 2,400 newspapers when Bill Watterson retired on January 1, 1996. The entire body of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons published in a truly noteworthy tribute to this singular cartoon in The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Composed of three hardcover, four-color volumes in a sturdy slipcase, this edition includes all Calvin and Hobbes cartoons that ever appeared in syndication. This is the treasure that all Calvin and Hobbes fans seek.
June 04, 2013
Essential Power Man and Iron Fist, Vol. 1
Writers: Chris Claremont, Jo Duffy, Steven Grant, Bob Layton
Artists: John Byrne, Greg LaRocque, Mike Zeck, Sai Buscema, Marle Severin
Publisher: Marvel Comics
A new era of greatness begins for the most unlikely team of all! From a Night of the Town to the Day of the Death Machines, Power Man and Iron Fist – Heroes for Hire – face the Living Monolith, El Aguila, the Maggia and more! Guest-starring the Uncanny X-Men and the Daughters of the Dragon! Collects Power Man and Iron Fist #50-72 and #74-75.
June 25, 2013
John Bryne’s Superman (#1-22)
This week, on the Major Spoilers Podcast, the panel examines John Byrne’s run on Superman (Superman #1-22).
If you missed this week’s Major Spoilers Retro Review of Superman #22, take a look at it, as it reveals and goes in depth into the end of Byrne’s run, and is being used by those justifying that big moment in Man of Steel.
July 30, 2013
B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth Volume 5: The Pickens County Horror and Others
Writers: Mike Mignola, Scott Allie
Artists: Jason Latour, Max Flumara, James Harren, Becky Cloonan
In these horrific tales showing the world going to hell, a reclusive vampire clan and a deadly mist create a disastrous mission for a trespassing B.P.R.D. crew; another team investigates an abandoned warehouse in Chicago, only to discover the site of a hundred-year-old magical ritual with shocking revelations about man’s prehistory; and Hellboy appears in a story about Professor O’Donnell’s trip to the secret library of a dead necromancer.
As always, the Major Spoilers Podcast is nothing without comments from great readers and listeners like you. You can use the comment section, drop us a voice mail by calling (785) 727-1939, or record your comments and send it as an MP3 file in an email to podcast@majorspoilers.com.
Here’s your chance to be heard on the show! Give us your thoughts on this book, or if you want to share your thoughts on the state of the comic book industry, or anything else that might be on your mind drop us a line. Only the most awesome comments (positive and negative) make it on the show, so get your stuff to us right away!