Waiting for Wednesday, Volume 2, Issue 4

I've been in the dark for the past 24 hours. And, unlike my usual obliviousness to a great many things, I mean it quite literally this time. We had a pretty major storm up here at Exfanding HQ, and the lights went out just before 10 am on Monday morning.

It's now Tuesday morning at about the same time, and power has finally been restored. And what's the first thing I do with the electricity back on?

Write up this week's Waiting for Wednesday, of course!

And after a night of emptying buckets and buckets (and gallons and gallons) of water from a threatening-to-flood basement, I can honestly say that there's no place I'd rather be!

Well, okay, maybe in bed, asleep, is a little more truthful. But still.

The sump pump in the basement stopped doing its thing when the lights went out (obviously), and after over eight hours of steady, hard rain...well, let's just say things got a little ugly down there for a while.

When the lights finally came back on, though, I was running through the basement like George Bailey down Main Street.

Crisis averted, and now I can focus on comics and job searching. Probably not in that order, mind you, but at least neither one of those things involves gallons and gallons of water.

Speaking of comics, let's dive right in (EDIT: oh, I just realized in reading this thing over that "dive right in" is a pretty funny line in this context...er...I mean, I wrote it intentionally, because it's a pretty funny line in this context...right).

I honestly have no idea what books ship this week, mostly because I haven't had a computer since Sunday night. And my iPhone wasn't charged, so I had to turn it on intermittently throughout the day to check email and voice mail and to not drain the device completely.

You know, in case of a Skrull invasion.

So hang on a moment as I check out Diamond's site to see what's on the way from publishers this week.

[Elevator music plays softly...]

And we're back. Okay, so, it looks to be one of those stupid big end of the month shipping schedules. There's a ton of stuff coming out today, including some major event books, such as Green Lantern, issue 50 and Justice League: Cry for Justice, issue 6, from DC, and New Avengers, issue 61 (a Siege tie-in) and Captain America: Reborn, issue 6, from Marvel.

You really can't go wrong with any of those titles, but I'm especially interested in New Avengers, since it's written by Brian Bendis and it will address the whole Captain America reborn-ing thing.
And you know it has to be a good issue, mostly because of the way Cap is pointing at you. Well, that and the solicitation info hints at some big things a-coming. Check it out:

Steve Rogers makes his triumphant return to the Avengers, but is he too late? With the SIEGE on Asgard begun, he must act swiftly, but who can he turn to and trust in a world with Norman Osborn in charge? When the gods fall, what chance does a Super Soldier stand? The biggest shake up since DISASSEMBLED starts here!

Sounds interesting, and as is the case with anything written by Bendis, I'll be there.

This coming weekend is going to be my big, "catch up on Marvel" weekend, so I'm really looking forward to getting to the current point in the overreaching story arc of Siege. That said, I've pretty much had enough of Reborn. I'm caught up with that book, but I haven't yet read the Who Will Wield the Shield? one-shot.
Reborn was/is a good series, well told, and with great art. But the way the ending was spoiled--Marvel released that Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield? one-shot, which gave away the ending of Reborn , before issue 6 of Reborn hit shelves) left a sour taste in my mouth. The spoiler just seemed unnecessary.

I'll pick up the final issue of Reborn, just to finish off the story since I'm already so deeply invested.

Moving on, the DC side of things is equally event-driven, as the over sized Green Lantern issue promises to keep Blackest Night rolling along. DC's done a nice job in keeping this story (mostly) self-contained, and I've been happily following the main Blackest Night book and Geoff Johns' Green Lantern series.
It's one of those events that the reader gets out of it what he or she puts into it, and one can follow along by reading just the bare minimum of titles. Which is a bit of a switch, since DC was not long ago the worst culprit of the "read everything or you're lost" event.

Here's the blurb for this week's Green Lantern:

BLACKEST NIGHT spreads with an over sized anniversary issue! Surrounded by friends and enemies, Hal Jordan goes into battle with a being he will never defeat – the Black Lantern Spectre! Can Saint Walker, Sinestro and the others put a stop to this bizarre Spectre rebirth?

Plus, Atrocitus reveals a tie to a power that may make him the most unbeatable of all the Lanterns!

Moving out of the overtly mainstream universes now, from Marvel's Icon imprint, Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. (finally) bring us the last issue of Kick-Ass. With the movie from Lions Gate coming out this summer, this series has hit a long stretch of delays.

But now, finally, we get issue eight of this flat-out insane fever dream of a super hero title. Millar--known for such over-the-top mainstream series as Civil War, Old Man Logan, and The Ultimates--lets loose on this book. Curses and blood fly at about the same frequency, and Romita's art perfectly complements the style of the writing.
Of course, this is a mature readers title, and anyone who might be even a little squeamish should probably pass on the book. Here's the blurb from Marvel:

THIS IS IT!!! The final confrontation as KICK-ASS and HIT GIRL test their mettle. Bodies will fly and bad guys will die as the biggest surprise hit super hero comic of the twenty-first century reaches shocking new heights! Who will live? Who will be morally outraged?

MARK MILLAR (WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN) and JOHN ROMITA JR. (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) know the answers—and they hold NOTHING BACK in what’s sure to be the most talked-about single issue of the year!

Publisher hype (not to mention all CAPS in a solicit) is funny, and usually just something I shrug off as I wait to see for myself. But with a series like Kick-Ass, the reader really never knows what in the heck is going to happen next.

I'm assuming the trade for these eight issues will likely be out sometime around the theatrical release of the film, so if you haven't yet checked the book out as the floppies shipped, you might have a bit of a wait on your hands.

Still, if you're a fan of super hero mayhem like The Authority, then I think Kick-Ass will be worth the wait.

And, finally, another Marvel title. From Brian Bendis, the Ultimate line sees a bit of a shake up today. Ultimate Comics: Enemy, issue 1, ships this afternoon, and it promises to bring some surprises to the Ultimate Universe.
Bendis has been killing it on the new launch of Ultimate Spider-Man, delivering fun, fast-paced, new, and thoughtful stories to a character who has had a million writers tell a million different Spidey stories.

Here's the blurb:

Who is the face of true evil in the Ultimate Universe? What is the biggest secret the world doesn't know? Join the gathered heroes as they embark on an adventure unlike anything seen in Marvel Comics…and that's a promise!!

Ultimate Universe co-founder, BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (Ultimate Spider-Man, Secret Invasion) and rising star Rafa Sandoval (Avengers: The Initiative) unveils this important new chapter in the most exciting line in comics!

The current Ultimate Universe is exciting and different, and between Bendis' Spidey and Mark Millar's Ultimate Avengers, it's been a lot of fun in recent months. I think Marvel saw that the books were getting a bit stale, and so they shook things up with the line-wide event, Ultimatum, and now the relaunched titles have gotten a much-needed shot in the arm. So I'll be on board for Enemy, and I look forward to what else they have in store for us.

And that's my list for the week. As I said, there's tons of new product coming, so what are you Waiting for?