We made it to issue 40 of Waiting for Wednesday! In today's comics landscape, that's a major achievement! And, yes, the re-boot is coming soon. I plan to kill off all the major characters and relaunch with a new number one in the new year.
So, [Alex does some quick--fine, slow--math in his head for a while...] we'll end this year's Volume One of Waiting for with issue number 44, and come January 6th (the first Wednesday of the new year), we'll start up again with Volume Two, issue one.
You know, just to confuse the heck out of everyone and to make it nigh impossible to eventually collect all of these things into a book (for myself and for Nathaniel at first, and then eventually when we are bought out by a giant, Swiss comics conglomerate, to Amazon UK).
And don't think we're not huge in Switzerland. Because we are. Huge in Switzerland, that is.
And now, I type, I type, I type...right into a transitory sentence. So, since yesterday's post was a bit whiny and sappy on my part, I am going to make a concentrated effort to not be that way today. Actually, today should be a fun day here at Exfanding HQ, as Nathaniel and I are going for round three of our introduction to the films of Akira Kurosawa.
Not sure yet which film we'll be watching today, as Nathaniel is in charge of physically getting the movies from our local library, but we'll have a review of it posted just around this time tomorrow.
Nathaniel and I will also be talking about a few other blog-related things, including an upcoming contest idea that we've been toying with for a little while, and we'll be coordinating our holiday-themed posting for the days and weeks ahead.
On that note, if anyone out there has any suggestions for The Awesome-est Geek Gift Ever, please drop us a line in the comments, or post something on our Facebook page. We would love to hear from you.
Now that that's out of the way, let's get to this week's comics. Big list from Diamond, and because of the Thanksgiving holiday, books will ship ON THURSDAY THIS WEEK in the United States. So if you wander into your LCS this afternoon looking for the newest issue of All-Star Batman and Robin, you'll get laughed at. And for two different reasons.
The first being, you think there's actually going to be a new issue of All-Star Batman and Robin, and the second being there are no new comics today. So, heed my call dear reader. And don't get laughed at.
For those of you who still read this column for the comics previews (and not for my witty banter on a great many things), I'll stop stalling. What I wanna do this week is compare the list of books I would have bought (if I was still working a full-time job) to the books that I'm actually going to be buying this week.
Here's my list of books I would have bought:
DARK HORSE COMICS
AUG090017 ROBERT E HOWARD CHRONICLES SLIPCASE SET PI
DC COMICS
OCT090183 BLACKEST NIGHT THE FLASH #1 (OF 3) $2.99
OCT090187 BLACKEST NIGHT WONDER WOMAN #1 (OF 3) $2.99
OCT090293 GREEK STREET #6 (MR) $2.99
OCT090302 HOUSE OF MYSTERY #20 (MR) $2.99
OCT090278 NORTH 40 #6 (OF 6) $2.99
OCT090305 SWEET TOOTH #4 (MR) $2.99
IMAGE COMICS
OCT090361 HAUNT #3 $2.99
AUG090327 NIGHTMARE WORLD TP VOL 01 13 TALES OF TERROR (IMAGE ED) $15.99
MARVEL COMICS
OCT090503 DARK AVENGERS ANNUAL #1 $4.99
SEP090377 DARK TOWER BATTLE OF JERICHO HILL #1 (OF 5) $3.99
OCT090560 DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #898 $2.99
OCT090514 FALL OF HULKS ALPHA FOH $3.99
SEP090437 IRON MAN REQUIEM $4.99
SEP090388 MARVELS PROJECT #4 (OF 8) $3.99
OCT090467 SIEGE CABAL $3.99
OCT090481 SPIN ANGELS #4 (OF 4) (MR) $5.99
OCT090489 ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #5 $3.99
COMICS
SEP090636 ABSOLUTION #4 (OF 6) WRAP CVR (MR) $3.99
OCT090840 BOYS #37 (MR) $2.99
OCT090730 SUPERGOD #2 (OF 5) WRAP CVR (MR) $3.99
And here's the list of books that I'll actually be picking up:
SHIPPING THIS WEEK: 12/3/2009
OCT090293 GREEK STREET #6 (MR) $2.99
OCT090302 HOUSE OF MYSTERY #20 (MR) $2.99
OCT090278 NORTH 40 #6 (OF 6) $2.99
MARVEL COMICS
OCT090503 DARK AVENGERS ANNUAL #1 $4.99
SEP090377 DARK TOWER BATTLE OF JERICHO HILL #1 (OF 5) $3.99
SEP090437 IRON MAN REQUIEM $4.99
OCT090467 SIEGE CABAL $3.99
COMICS
SEP090636 ABSOLUTION #4 (OF 6) WRAP CVR (MR) $3.99
And I'll likely cut two or three more of these after checking them out in the store. Just doing the quick math from the list up top, I'm at around $30, and the $5 Dark Avengers Annual is a killer. So is the $5 Iron Man: Requiem.
The former is written by Brian Bendis, and the latter is written by Matt Fraction. Requium, I think, is going to be a very important story in the Marvel Universe, and I have the feeling that Dark Avengers will have a big chunk of re-print material to fill its "giant size" back pages. Judge for yourself, though, by taking a look at the preview for the book, on Marvel's site. I'm thinking that I might nix the Annual myself, and take a shot with Iron Man.
[EDIT: After actually checking these books out at my LCS, I realized how completely wrong I was here. Check the comments for more. --Alex]
The other important Marvel book this week is Bendis' Siege: The Cabal, which is the beginning of Marvel's next event. So, we go from Secret Invasion to Dark Reign to The List to The Siege to Fall of the Hulks, all over the course of one calendar year. Yikes.
Still, it is Bendis, and freqent coolaborator Michael Lark (Alias), and if you want to know what the heck's going to be happening in the Marvel Universe these next few months, I'd suggest picking this title up. Here's the David Finch cover for the book, followed by Marvel's blurb for the series.
THE SIEGE STARTS HERE!! Remember when you were first introduced to the Cabal, the gathering of the most sinister members of the Marvel Universe, and you said to yourself: Well, that's going to blow up in everyone's face! Well, you were right and it happens right here!! Norman Osborn faces off with Doctor Doom and his mysterious threat to Doom is revealed. All of this is setting the stage for next month's explosive event: SIEGE!Now, one of the things that's interesting about not having a steady gig is that I can really take stock of what books mean something to me, and why certain books need to go.
Take that Fall of the Hulks book from the "would have bought" list above. It's the first part in Marvel's next event (well, after The Siege, that is), Fall of the Hulks, and it'll probably be a pretty good issue, since Jeff Parker is writing it.
Parker wrote one of my favorite, weird series from this past year, Mysterius the Unfathomable, which was published by Jim Lee's Wildstorm imprint over at DC.
It was off-the-wall fun, and I'm very interested in seeing Parker's take on the brewing battle between the (many) Hulks of the Marvel Universe. However, starting from the beginning of what will be a (I'm assuming) long and cross-over-y event that will only lead into the Next Big Thing, I just don't want to get into it. Maybe I'll read the main Hulk event book when it comes out, but that'll be it.I'm doing the same with DC's Blackest Night event, even though I'm really enjoying Geoff Johns' story. The two tie-ins this week--Wonder Woman and Flash--will likely be excellent stories. Why? Well, because Greg Rucka (Detective Comics, Whiteout) is returning to Wonder Woman for the three issue mini along with rising star Nicola Scott (Birds of Prey). If you read Rucka's Wonder Woman run of a few years ago, then you know that he is one of the best writers the character has had since her inception. Here's the solicit from DC:
Fan-favorite writer Greg Rucka returns to chronicle the adventures of the Amazing Amazon in the DC Universe's darkest hour! Black Lantern Maxwell Lord has risen and he seeks revenge and retribution for his murder at the hands of Diana. Look for unexpected changes to await Wonder Woman in the course of this series as she plays a major role in the War of Light against the Blackest Night.
And the Greg Horn cover:
Clearly, Geoff Johns is one of the most important writers to ever take helm of the Flash, so this Blackest Night tie-in is a can't miss, high quality read. Here's the blurb for the issue:The Flashes of Two Cities - Barry Allen and Wally West - battle the undead Rogues. Will the legendary speedsters be able to handle the Black Lantern Rogues' revenge? Plus, witness the resurrection of Barry's greatest enemy, the Reverse Flash in this hyper-speed miniseries event reuniting the fan-favorite FLASH creative team of Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins.
And the cover:
So, why skip these?Well, the Batman tie-in to Blackest Night written by Peter Tomasi was good, and so was the Superman tie-in by James Robinson. I picked them both up at the time, and I enjoyed them. But they weren't essential to the main Blackest Night story, so I could have done without them.
I've pretty much sworn off any tie-ins, and honestly, at this point, starting a new mini-series just doesn't appeal to me. If the Wonder Woman and Flash books are good (and I'm betting they will be), I'll consider buying them in trade.
This week will also see Wildstorm's excellent, creepy, and downright strange mini-series, North 40, come to an end. Which means one less monthly title for me. It also means that, from this point on, a book is going to have to blow my mind in order for me to pick up a number one issue.
So, the final verdict for today--there's lots and lots of lots and lots. Plenty of different books for everyone, no matter your taste. From big honking mainstream stuff to lesser known gems, it's a great comics week.
And that's all I've got today. I have to go get ready to watch a movie in a little bit, but first I need to clear out the old inbox. But before I go...what are you Waiting for?
4 comments:
Blackest Night -- The Flash wasn't really all that interesting and it feels like most of the issue was padded out anyway. The art was also kind of mediocre.
The Fall of the Hulks suffers the same problem; it was just a prologue to the Fall of the Hulks storyline, with an awful lot of retconning. I have to admit that I'm largely turned off of it BECAUSE of the retconning -- Marvel does it way too much. The only worthwhile bit is at the very end, where you find out what's up with the Red Hulk.
Supergod was okay, but it honestly feels like a series that will read much better as an uninterrupted narrative in a trade.
I'm looking forward to Irredeemable myself...
Yeah, I just flipped through Flash in the store, but it didn't seem like something earth-shattering.
And you're right about Marvel. But at least they have another event every two months, right? *sigh*
And, to my edit in the actual post--the Iron Man issue was actually ALL re-print, while the Avengers Annual was a big, healthy story with some major things happening.
I must have completely twisted them around, and I do apologize for that.
The Hulk stuff was interesting for a while, but now Marvel seems to be amping it up to make for the next "World Event", much to my dismay.
The Incredible Hulk
The Hulk
The Fall of the Hulks
The Hulk: Winter Guard
There's just too much. The last title was a piece of crap, anyway...
Oh, I know what you mean. It's gotten so crazy at this point that I can't imagine comics without major, "line-changing" events anymore. Which, of course, means more tie-ins and crossovers and whatever.
In this past week's Wizard Magazine, I read something amazing and hypocritical--they stated how "event fatigue" has set in, and that fans need a break from all the madness.
Meanwhile, the magazine was busy promoting every one of Marvel's events, and Blackest Night, and they have done so for the past decade.
Comics is a strange business. Once an idea catches on, everyone has to do it, and everyone has to do it until everyone else hates it. Then, gradually, they stop and try something else.
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