Waiting for Wednesday, Volume 3, Issue 14

Holy cats! It's a HUGE comic book Wednesday, and from the looks of the ol' shipping list, Yours Truly is in for some serious spending today. We get some major titles from DC and Marvel, and Image has three--count 'em, three!--big books shipping this week.

And one of them sold out over two weeks ago.

Which is what I want to talk about, briefly (or, I should say, as briefly as I can manage), before launching into this week's new swag.

Go on eBay and do a search for Nonplayer. Go ahead, I'll wait.

It's a comic put out by Image, and written and illustrated (beautifully, stunningly, even, might I add) by Nate Simpson. You can check out a free preview of the book over on Simpson's website, and you can buy it toda--oh, wait.

That's right.

Remember that suggestion to search for the title on eBay, just up the page a little bit? Yeah, I almost forgot. The book has completely sold out from the distributor, which is a Good Thing.
The Bad Thing? It's likely that your local comics shop either grossly under ordered the issue, or they didn't order it at all.

I don't know what makes me more upset, the fact that this beautiful, interesting book will be tragically under ordered (and thus under-read), or the fact that someone out there is charging upwards of $50 bucks for a copy...on its DAY OF RELEASE.

Makes you want to throw up in your mouth a little, doesn't it? Is there anything that could possibly turn off potential readers more than that kind of mark up??

I mean, sure, this is great for creator-owned comics in that there's this huge interest around a smaller press title. And believe me, I love seeing a smaller book go off like this--just go back and read some of my earlier posts on books like Chew, and Morning Glories, and The Goon.

But does anybody out there remember the 1990s? Or, for that matter, last week?

Anyway, here's hoping that your local retailer ordered plenty of these--and isn't selling them for $50. And here's the solicitation information for Nonplayer, issue one, which, in case I haven't made it clear in this post, I am uber excited about:

The future kind of sucks, and that goes double for Dana Stevens — she's stuck in a dead-end tamale delivery job, and she's way too old to be living with her mom. But in the online fantasy world of Jarvath, she's an elite warrior. When she slays the wife of celebrity game character King Heremoth, her fame seems all but guaranteed — that is, until the game spins totally out of control.

I just think this book is going to be incredible, and I hope enough people will be able to get their hands on it.

Speaking of Image books that have sold out...

The next two books are looking to follow in Nonplayer's shoes, and they both ship today. First up, we have Green Wake, issue one, written by Kurtis J. Wiebe and with art by Riley Rossmo.

When I saw this in previews, I figured I'd take a chance on it. I'm a sucker for new horror books, and the preview art I've seen looks great.

Here's the blurb from Image:

A riveting tale of loss and horror. In the forgotten town of Green Wake, a string of grisly mutilations leads Morley Mack on the trail of a young woman named Ariel, who is the prime suspect. But when a stranger with startling connections to Ariel arrives under mysterious circumstances, Morley unravels a dark plot with a shocking link to his past.

Definitely looking forward to giving this book a chance, and here's hoping that I'll have a new, monthly horror book to buy.

The third soon-to-be-sold out book from Image is another intriguing title, Blue Estate, from writer Viktor Kalvachev and a slew of others. Again, the preview art sold me on the title, and I've since heard some very positive reviews of the book.
So far, all of my "hunches" on new Image number ones have been correct--I've liked all of the Image books I've tried in the past few months (Butcher Baker was a fantastic, over-the-top read last week).

Unfortunately, I've also been right about their inevitable after-market value increases, which while not necessarily a bad thing, is another argument for comics to come out as long-form graphic novels, as opposed to monthly issues.

We want stories, not collectibles.

Anyway, here's the solicit information from Image for Blue Estate, issue one:

A powerhouse team of Hollywood and comic book veterans (along with special guest artists) presents a fast, funny, 100% cool new series for readers of all stripes. On the mean streets of Los Angeles, an alcoholic hit man and a desperate starlet dodge Russian mobsters, Italian gangsters, ninjas, hippies and the L.A.P.D. in a scheme to steal millions from a psychotic action movie hero. F

eaturing art by VIKTOR KALVACHEV (PHERONE, DMZ, The Incredibles), NATHAN FOX (Invincible Iron Man, Pigeons From Hell), TOBY CYPRESS (Batman/Nightwing), ROBERT VALLEY (Gorillaz, Tron), and written by Emmy Award winning screenwriter ANDREW OSBORNE.

GAH! So many good books out this week, and so little time in which to finish this post!

There's issue three of the excellent Image series, Who is Jake Ellis?, issue 18 of the monster-hit that is Chew, the first issue of the latest BPRD mini-series, The Dead Remembered, as well as issue one of Solomon Kane: Red Shadows, both from Dark Horse, the latest issue of one of my personal favorite series ever, House of Mystery, from Vertigo, and, oh yeah!

Marvel's big event for the summer starts today with Fear Itself, issue one, written by Matt Fraction and with art by the awesome Stuart Immonen.
It's Marvel. It's (almost) summer. It's event time. I have managed to not buy the hype for this series thus far, and I've convinced myself that I don't need any of the cross-over titles (we'll see how long that lasts), but I will certainly give issue one a shot.

Here's the blurb from the House of Ideas:

The Story: DO YOU FEAR...TOMORROW? In this time of global anxiety, of economic turmoil and mass hysteria, Sin, the new Red Skull, has made an awesome discovery...a shameful secret that will rock the foundations of the Marvel Universe!

A revelation that will divide father and son, turn friend against friend, and herald the rise of Fear personified. HE IS RETURNING...and the world has nothing to fear but FEAR ITSELF. Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen bring fans the biggest Marvel the biggest Marvel event since CIVIL WAR!

Sounds cool, and no one does these big events like Marvel. I don't really need to sell anyone on this, so I'll stop right here, and get back to work.

Before I go, though, two things. First, if you're at all interested in any of the three books from Image I mentioned today, be sure to call your shop this morning to reserve a copy. And second...

What are you Waiting for?