Sure you noticed the snow. May not have noticed what we did on the website this week. Unless you use Internet Explorer. Finally got the kinks ironed out of that browser! Hopefully. Also took all the “Put It in My Box” buttons off the trades. Just have to use the contact form for now. We got something better up our sleeves. Coming soon! Course that depends on your definition of soon…
What’s that? You want to know what the Whiz Bang is this week? Okay.
It is SIMPLY SCALPED.
From Wednesday, February 2nd, to Tuesday, February 8th, all Scalped trades will be 40% off!
This will make nearly every volume of the series available to you for under $10!
Simply Scalped Sale Prices
Vol. 1: Indian Country – $8.99
Vol. 2: Casino Boogie – $8.99
Vol. 3: Dead Mothers – $10.79
Vol. 4: Gravel in Your Guts – $8.99
Vol. 5: High Lonesome – $8.99
Vol. 6: The Gnawing – $8.99
Mentioned our new Top Twenty rankings above. And even though Walking Dead has now edged out Scalped for first place in our rankings. Scalped was the #1 comic of 2010 here at Cosmic Comix. And thusly deserving of our second trade paperback Whiz Bang!
No superheroes. Just some down and dirty dealings on an Indian reservation. All vices are welcome. Gambling, drugs, murder, prostitution. You name it, Scalped’s got it!
Highly recommend it. One of my all time favorites. Read it up!
Brothers Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba have together produced some of the most unique comics we’ve read in the last five years. Two of them are featured here: Daytripper, one of our absolute favorite series of 2010, and De: Tales, a compelling look at life in urban Brazil and named by Booklist as one of the 10 best graphic novels of the year. Plus, after three Eisner Awards and a series of acclaimed projects with writers Joss Whedon, Gerard Way (Umbrella Academy), Mike Mignola (BPRD: 1947) and Matt Fraction (Casanova), Moon and Bá are now among the hottest creators in comics.
Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba tell the story of aspiring writer Bras de Oliva Domingos and with each chapter of Daytripper Moon and Ba reveal a beautifully lyrical tale chronicling Domingos’s entire existence – from his loves to his deaths and all the possibilities in between. Introduction by Craig Thompson (Blankets).
Yes, we talk about comics, but more importantly, coming soon, a Cosmic Comix exclusive!
Brightest Day Dust Hawkman and Dust Hawkgirl action figures!
Just Listen!
In order to listen, all you need to do is make sure you have speakers or headphones plugged in and click the "play" button you see below or right click here to download.
Welcome to the TOP TWENTY! It’s a new feature here at Cosmic Comix, an ongoing monthly look at two ordered lists comprising A) The top twenty single issues of the month and B) the top twenty current series in comics. How did we come up with the lists? Well, the Cosmic Comix Top Twenty Committee took several things into consideration: Best Book nominees, poll winners, poll votes, sales numbers and general buzz levels surrounding each book. Yes, your input is not only appreciated but also counts toward the rankings. So let us hear it!
Now, the system hasn’t been perfected just yet, so please bear with us as we iron out the kinks. Nonetheless, if it’s on the list we think it’s worth reading. Enjoy!
Top Twenty Comics of January 2011 The Best Single Issues
GI JOE COBRA II #12 – Chuckles shoots Cobra Commander in the head and takes the number one spot
BATGIRL #17 – Stephanie + Damian = BFFs.
WALKING DEAD #80 – No Way Out part one. The herd of zombies huffs and puffs and tries to blow the whole town down.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #614 – Bucky on trial? Nope. Bucky on the lam.
SUPERIOR #4 (OF 6) – Self-titled "The Best Book on the Stands"! Nope. It’s number five.
HALCYON #3 – Enjoy it while you can, it’s a five-issue mini.
AGE OF X ALPHA #1 – Totally delivered on the hype surrounding it.
DETECTIVE COMICS #873 –The first story arc comes to a screeeeee-ching end!
SCALPED #45 – Tippecanoe and Red Crow, too.
INFINITE VACATION #1 – Still-buzzworthy writer Nick Spencer comes through with a quality first issue.
UNCANNY X-FORCE #4 – So much for Apocalypse!
TERRY MOORES ECHO #27 – Julie continues to grow, Ivy continues to shrink.
BRIGHTEST DAY #18 – Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Hasta la vista, Hawks!
THUNDERBOLTS #152 – The monsters were awesome!
NEW AVENGERS #8 – Power Woman. Not to be confused with Bionic Woman.
AVENGERS ACADEMY #8 – Tigra clears out the dead wood. Good luck finding another job in this economy!
THOR MIGHTY AVENGER #8 – The little comic book that could CAN’T… and comes to a close.
THANOS IMPERATIVE DEVASTATION – Voted into the Top Twenty. I am Groot!
GREEN LANTERN EMERALD WARRIORS #6 – Voted into the Top Twenty. BLAAARGH!
SPAWN #201 – Slips into the Top Twenty. Don’t be scared.
Top Twenty Titles of January 2011 The Best Current Series
WALKING DEAD – Takes over the number one spot as No Way Out part one beats Scalped’s You Gotta Sin to Get Saved part one.
SCALPED
CHEW – No issue this month, so sad. Better ship soon or it will fall in the rankings…
GI JOE COBRA – Won the month and zoomed up the chart!
DETECTIVE COMICS – Scott Snyder’s Vertigo-esque arc continues to win fans… especially Jim.
SUPERIOR – It’s easily the best of the Mark Millar Icon books.
BATGIRL – Fun, fun, fun.
COWBOY NINJA VIKING – See Chew.
UNCANNY X-FORCE – Great first arc.
FABLES – Longtime favorite. Even Bufkin can’t knock it out of the Top Twenty.
ECHO – Would be higher… if more people read it.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN – MANY people read this one, as Big Time rolls on!
NEW AVENGERS – Sales matter. And that’s two good issues in a row.
BRIGHTEST DAY – Sales matter. And it always gets votes in the weekly poll.
UNCANNY X-MEN – Sales matter. And they go up when Greg Land does the book.
AMERICAN VAMPIRE – Critical darling. It’s actually about zombies… kidding!
28 DAYS LATER – This one IS about zombies, and only Walking Dead does it better.
INVINCIBLE – Comes out this Wednesday, narrowly avoiding a "See Chew."
AVENGERS ACADEMY – Surprisingly good. The People’s Choice.
HALCYON – A mini-series that very few of you read makes the Top Twenty. It must be good.
Comic book artist Clement Sauvé passed away on January 27th after a long battle with cancer. He was 33 years old. The artist worked on Human Defense Corps, Infantry, and was doing character designs for the Hub’s GI Joe Renegades. Rest in Peace, you went too young and there were way too many comics for you to create. Cheers.
Wizard Magazine will cease publishing, and will soon come back out as an online magazine only. There have been numerous written accounts about the closing of the actual Wizard magazine. Suffice it to say, it marks the end of an era. I wish I could say I’m sorry to see it go, but it would only be for nostalgia sake. Back in the 1990s I enjoyed it very much. Too bad they could not reinvent themselves for the 21st Century.
Anyone out there disappointed that Fear Itself is going to be another huge mega crossover for Marvel? Well DC doesn’t want to be outdone. Starting in May, Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert begin their five-issue Flashpoint mini-series. As previously reported there will be a series of mini-series tying into this Event which affectively changes DC’s history. There will be 15 mini-series. No, you did not read that wrong, FIFTEEN different mini-series to coincide with Flashpoint. You can read a list of them all here. Now if only the regular Flash book was any good…..
Rick Remender, the writer for the ongoing Venom series, gave an interview about what to expect from the book with CBR. He already spoils the identity of the new Venom host. (Note: It was exactly who I thought it would be.) Go on and read the interview if you want to know too!
So Namor is going to Hell in his own book. I think this makes sense because, you know, Wolverine just got back from there. Time share and all that.
I thought Jim wrote a really good column this week. As someone who reads a lot of comics and has been reading comics for a long time, superheroes are something I always struggle with. I call it the Three Stages of Superhero Comics: 1) Excitement with the hot new artist/writer on a superhero book, 2) Raving about said new artist/writer, 3) Complaining that they don’t have any new ideas. For example, right now Scott Snyder is at Stage 1, while Geoff Johns is at Stage 3. I go through my own personal cycle of getting disenchanted with all superhero books and dropping them, then getting re-energized and adding them all back about six months later.
In any case, not sure if Jim was psychic or just lucky, but it was a great week for superhero comics. Even comics that had problems had good moments. Still not sure what the heck is going with Thunderbolts #152, but it had a great monster fight. Action Comics #897 had a great Joker/Luthor interaction with Joker seeming the more rational one, though I’m still unclear what’s the deal with the black orbs and whether there’s any resolution looming. Even Zatanna #9 had a good continuation from last issue with the creepy puppet and a humorous back-up that relied on Mr. Spell.
This week we had two more chapters in superhero books at the mature end: Uncanny X-Force #4 and Detective Comics #873. We had villains executed and villains escaping. I especially enjoyed Dick referencing the lessons from his parents while using his acrobatic skills and Deadpool nursing Angel back to health in the grossest way imaginable. Though I wish someone would define Fantomex’s powers for me. So far I’ve got misdirection and his spaceship. Does he also have healing, aiming, etc.? Also, what happened to my Jimmy Gordon story? In any case, two of the best books on the shelf and the next issue for both is a brand new arc.
Last week I read Rocketo Vol. 1, which was a classic adventure story. It was so good that I felt like reading more adventure stories, but with a modern twist. So this week I read WILDCATS 3.0 YEAR ONE, written by Joe Casey, drawn by Dustin Nguyen and published by DC Comics/WildStorm.
WildCats 3.0 isn’t your typical superteam story. As usual, our heroes decided to save the world. But, in a perfect twist, they become a corporation designed to take over the world through profits and acquisitions. Our heroes will give people the products and means to make their lives better. Jack "Spartan" Marlowe, the Wildcats leader, is the head of the corporation and hires the people he needs to achieve his goal. Cole "Grifter" Cash, former man of action, does the dirty work. But what happens when people find out that Spartan is a robot from outer space? More importantly, what does a man of action do when the action starts to dry up?
This version of Wildcats is different from every other version that you have ever read. Gone are the tights. Gone are the big bads trying to take over the universe or destroy the world. Gone is pretty much everything associated with your standard superhero comic book. What you are left with is one android trying to take over the world via his corporation and people with powers trying to deal with their own issues and shortcomings.
So many choices today. And my winner comes straight out of left field.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #614. The Trial of Captain America Part 4.
Many moons ago Captain America used to show up on many a best book list. Then Steve Rogers died. Then the book floundered a little. Started to find its footing again with the Heroic Age storyline. And with issue #611, The Trial of Captain America Part 1, began to hit its groove.
And it just getting better and better.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #614 started off with some witty banter between Black Widow and Falcon. They soon got captured by Sin, the Red Skrull’s daughter, glad she’s back. Which causes Bucky to liberate himself from captivity all to set up a climatic confrontation with Sin. Which will happen next issue. And the next issue box states: A Conclusion No One is Expecting! Can’t wait.
This issue dealt with Bucky’s trial.
Norman Osborn takes the stand against Bucky! Bernie Rosenthal, Bucky’s lawyer, quickly discredits his testimony. I’d like to ask you how many times you’ve been institutionalized for delusions, Mr. Osborn?
Dr. Faustus takes the stand for Bucky! Bucky was not responsible for his actions. He was mind controlled. Let me show you how easy it is Mr. Prosecutor. I could tell you to grab that gravel and attack the bailiff… WHACK!
Just a great issue. Dr. Faustus was awesome and the plot keeps moving forward.
Bucky as the Winter Soldier did some dastardly deeds and it was high time those deeds were addressed. With a great story arc. Welcome back to the winners circle, Cap.
For the first time in a long while, we had multiple polls in the same week! Last Friday, you voted GI Joe Cobra II #9 as the best book of the week. Well done! And then on Monday this week you voted Johnny Storm most likely to die in Fantastic Four. No comment on that, in case you haven’t read the that issue and/or haven’t been on the Internet for a few days.
This week was a Marvel week, no question about it. We got the polybagged Fantastic Four #587, of course, and we also got the beginning of the next big X-event, Age of X! And speaking of Things X, X-Men #7 kicked off a new story arc featuring the one and only Spider-Man, while Uncanny X-Force ended the Apocalypse story. It was a great week for the Avengers, too, with both Avengers #9 and New Avengers #8 (sorry, Secret Avengers). And Rusty is going the Marvel way with his pick: Captain America #614. Bucky on trial! From DC we really only had Detective Comics #873 and the Andy K-nominated Zatanna #9. Andy also nominated American Vampire #11! But enough of this… time to vote!
What was the best book of the week?
Detective Comics #873 (5 Votes)
Fantastic Four #587 (5 Votes)
Age of X Alpha #1 (4 Votes)
Uncanny X-Force #4 (2 Votes)
Captain America #614 (2 Votes)
Spawn #201 (2 Votes)
Scalped #45 (2 Votes)
Zatanna #9 (1 Votes)
I have something else in mind, which frankly I should have nominated yesterday but forgot. (1 Votes)
A huge week of comics, especially Marvel comics, led to some very fine reads this week. Liked far more than I will be nominating today. Ten’s the limit! Plenty of other worthy candidates for you to nominate. Speak now or forever hold your peace!
My nominees for the Best Book of the Week:
AGE OF X ALPHA #1 – Really liked it. The Arcade/Cyclops sequence was awesome! Gave us some history. Gave us some setup. Nice start. Well worth a whirl.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #614 – The Trial of Captain America Part 4! Buck is on trial. But Dr. Faustus steals the show.
DETECTIVE COMICS #873 – Rock n’ Roll Batman continues! Lost me a little with the dream sequence. And the big bad was ridiculous. You should have stayed in your cave and licked your wounds, little bat. In your caaavve! Screeee! Look in my eyes, what do you see? I see Mr. Grayson whipping your butt! Still cool.
FANTASTIC FOUR #587 THREE – I’ll nominate it. The image at left is the cover inside the black bag. Read well. FF’s been on a little roll as of late. Made sense. A heroic death. Although it was a backed-into-a-corner scenario that didn’t have to happen and you never actually see him die…
NEW AVENGERS #8 – Even though I don’t like the art. Personal preference. But I do like Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, the Power Woman bits were hilarious, as was the waitress, and the whole book was basically about them. With a Doombot thrown in for good measure.
NEW YORK FIVE #1 (OF 4) – It’s about college chicks in New York. And I’m probably too old to be reading it. But I enjoyed. Reminded me of Scotty Pilgrim a little. At least the character boxes did. Jumped right in and you might want to check out New York Four for a little background info.
SCALPED #45 – You Gotta Sin to Get Saved Part One. There’s an election?!?! Who knew? Red Crow is going to be ousted by a vote? That’s like Al Capone getting arrested for tax evasion!
SPAWN #201 – Talked about Spawn a couple of weeks ago. This issue was great. Had a very noir feel to it. Although very wordy. More bang for your buck in this case. A head got ripped off. The new Spawn can heal people. Lots of stuff going on. And yes you can start with this issue. Give it a go.
THUNDERBOLTS #152 – The Monsters from Planetary #2 showed up. Except they’re still alive! And almost the entire issue was the Thunderbolts fighting said monsters. It was cool. Loved seeing Hyperion getting slapped down! And then to have Hyperion go bad… as it should be… liked it a lot.
UNCANNY X-FORCE #4 – The end of the Apocalypse story. Blam! Literally. Once again lost me a little bit in the middle with a fake out. Just an illusion. Really fooled the bad guys. Only lost me for a page or two. And Archangel breaking down in tears was silly but I guess necessary for how it ended. And I liked how it ended, the issue and the story arc. Deathlok’s next!
Regular Musings columnist Shawn has the week off, so this week’s column comes from Cosmic Comix Conversation panelist, frequent website commenter and store regular Jim Martin.
I think a discussion needs to be had about the top selling comics on the market, the ones that everyone buys. You see, we who read comics have a tendency to forget what got most of us into reading those comics in the first place, which are often those top sellers.
Most of us who see ourselves as critics have a propensity to celebrate the titles that might only sell marginally, to be nice about it. You will hear the praises of Daytripper, Echo and Scalped sung far and wide, but when you look at sales charts you would wonder if every person who read those didn’t go out and write a review about them. We critics also get caught up in the next new writer and hop on that bandwagon so fast we never give the writer a chance to succeed; we expect their best work on every book they touch. Often they need time to develop, as most writers’ best work is not their first.
This is a function of reading a large number of comics for many, many years. Since the superhero material dominates the market, many of us often look for something different and forget to pay attention to the girl who got us to the dance in the first place.
So, in order to provide a little balance to our constant praise of the critical darlings, let’s talk about the cool stuff from the cape and cowl set. Now, this is a column designed to praise these books. So while I could certainly remark on the downside of this material, I won’t. I’m here to tell you what is great about the books we all read.
SURPRIIIIIISE! It snowed. You probably thought we at the Best Covers desk would have gotten the day off today and taken ourselves over to Suicide Slope with our toboggans… but you’d be wrong! We were Code Blue: all essential employees had to report. And what is the Best Covers column if not essential?? So we braved the 900-mile back-up on 95 and made it in here. And naturally, we were rewarded with dozens of contenders for the Best Covers of the Day.
SCALPED #45
Man, what a freak show Scalped is. I think literally every character in this series is scarred beyond repair. And now every reader is likely scarred, too, thanks to cover images like this. Doesn’t cover artist Jock have any consideration for our minds! I’ve said it before about things like this: once you see them, you can’t UNsee them.
But also, what is this animal? A moose? I would say it was a deer, but the antlers are throwing me. Maybe it’s a character from The Dark Crystal. Or the Forest Spirit from Princess Mononoke. Whatever this deer monster is, I will definitely see it again in my dreams.
(And the fact this pick is my number one is especially relevant considering what’s in store for today’s Editorial. Tease!)
After reviewing the list of books coming out this week I am now convinced that the comic book industry believes the only thing I do is eat, sleep and read comics. There are so many books coming out this week I may have to skip my first week back to school simply to catch up on everything. Not that I am complaining since most of the titles coming out look really good! I guarantee you that trying to pick out the Best Book of the Week from the awesome titles we have to choose from on Wednesday will be a difficult feat indeed.
First, normally I’d complain that both Avengers #9 AND New Avengers #8 were coming out in the same week. The reason I will let it slide is that I read a preview of New Avengers featuring art by the talented Daniel Acuna ,which showcased Luke Cage and Jessica Jones on a date. Giving one more example as to why instead of two Avengers books Bendis needs to be writing a Cage/Jones title. I think it will be great. Also, I’ve really enjoyed this new arc on Avengers featuring the Infinity gems, the Illuminati returning and the inclusion of the Red Hulk. The Hood is coming back for the Infinity Gauntlet and a force is coming to Earth to challenge him with the Avengers caught in the middle. Can I hope it’s Thanos? Please?
But really, I think the biggest release has to be Fantastic Four #587. One of the members of the FF is going to shuffle this mortal coil and leave the team one member short. Who is it going to be? Who do you want it to be? It doesn’t matter because this is going to be HUGE whether you are a regular reader of the series or just want to see who bites the dust. All I’m saying is, if Reed Richards is a goner I expect Sue to be dating Namor within the year.
If you’ve been on this website anytime in the past six months, you’ve probably seen mention of COWBOY NINJA VIKING. It’s one of our favorite comics coming out. Well-written, funny, and one of the most inventive stories you’re likely to ever read. But don’t take our word for it, check out the back of the book! (Pictured right, click to enlarge.)
COWBOY NINJA VIKING VOL 1 TP
$17.99
Tasked with creating a counter-intelligence unit, Dr. Sebastian Ghislain turned to those long thought useless to society: patients with Multiple Personality Disorder. Now all but one of these "Triplets" has gone rogue, and it’s up to Cowboy Ninja Viking to find and stop this band of ridiculously disturbed-but highly effective-assassins! Collects Cowboy Ninja Viking #1-5, plus never-before-seen scripts, covers, preliminary art and other extras!
A few years ago, writer Brian Wood teamed up with artist Ryan Kelly for a project called The New York Four, which was published by DC under its Minx imprint. It told the story of four young ladies in their first semester at NYU. This Wednesday, we’re set to get THE NEW YORK FIVE #1, the beginning of a new mini-series that revisits those same students in their second semester.
The series reunites Wood (Demo, DMZ, Northlanders) and Kelly (Lucifer, Local) for four issues that will each be a full 32 pages with no ads. By all accounts, the black and white drawings are absolutely stunning, capturing the city and NYU freshmen Riley, Lona, Merissa and Ren (The New York Four) as second semester begins.
THE NEW YORK FIVE #1
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Ryan Kelly
There’s nothing more exciting than college life in the big city, but you never know what’s around the next corner. In THE NEW YORK FIVE, Riley’s sister Angie is making a name in the Lower East Side with her new band, and now Riley is the black sheep of the family. Lona’s murky past appears to have been hiding an alarming proficiency for stalkerism, and Merissa and Ren are about to confront uncomfortable situations involving older men. But who is the “five” in THE NEW YORK FIVE?
Click the image above for a look at the cast of the story!
The first issue of the four-part New York Five mini-series arrives tomorrow!
Lots to talk about this week so let’s get right into it! The story seems to be Marvel comics and lots of ‘em!
First up, Age of X Alpha #1! It’s the beginning of the next major event in the X-Men family. We’re also looking at Fantastic Four #587! It’s the big one. One of the FF kicks the bucket! Plus, X-Men #7, Uncanny X-Men #532, Avengers #9, New Avengers #8, Secret Avengers #9, Chaos War #5, Captain America #614, Magneto #1 and three Ultimate books! Plus much more! Whew.
Plenty more, too, including a nice week for DC’s Vertigo imprint with Scalped #45, Fables #101 and Brian Wood’s New York Five #1 (more on that soon). We’re also looking forward to the second TPB installment of the mighty Cowboy Ninja Viking!
Andy did indeed scoop me again! It will actually happen quite often. The Whiz Bang is too awesome for any one man! And this week’s Whiz Bang is… dare I say it… oh… go ahead and say it… Fantastic!
You may or may not heard but with the release of FANTASTIC FOUR #587 this Wednesday one of the members of the Fantastic Four is going to die. Yes. Someone is going to die. And we don’t know who. It’s a mystery. It’s even shipping in a black poly bag!
And cause a character dying in a comic book is such a rare occurrence, I thought we should commemorate the occasion with those $10.00 HC’s Andy was talking about! Good comics. Great price. Read ‘em up!
Now who will die? Mr. Fantastic? Mrs. Fantastic? Brother Fantastic? Orange Fantastic? Let’s put it to a vote! Who do you think will die? Who do you want to die?
Personally, I’m rooting for Reed Richards to bite the dust. No offense to Reed. Just seems to make the most sense to me, especially if you’ve read those HC’s we mentioned. Of course, that’s also a sometime rare occurrence in comics, sense, so we shall see. On Wednesday!
And the book I am probably most interested in this week is AGE OF X ALPHA #1. Been hearing about it for awhile. Lots of hype surrounding it. It’s highlighted. Here’s the last page of X-MEN LEGACY #244 which leads directly into Age of X.
Seems to be an alternate earth/universe/dimension story which is good. Anything goes! Hope they have some fun with it. And they are also saying that something will happen in this alternate earth/universe/dimension that will have lasting repercussions which is also a good thing. And X-Men Legacy and New Mutants are the only books affected by the storyline which is also a good thing. So Age of X definitely has some positives to it going in. Now we just gotta read it!
Having said all that. Don’t be surprised if DETECTIVE COMICS #873 turns out to be the Best Book of the Week next week!
Let me start by apologizing. Because once again I am being forced to scoop Rusty and tell you ahead of time what this week’s WHIZ BANG is! In case you couldn’t tell by the title above, this week, from Wednesday, January 26, to Tuesday, February 2, in honor of Fantastic Four #587 (somebody dies!), we’ve got four Fantastic Four Marvel Premiere Hardcovers available for the bargain price of just $10.00! Normally these puppies go for $25.00 apiece, which makes this Whiz Bang worth OVER 50% OFF!
Why did I have to scoop Rusty? Because, my friends, I had to tell you about these particular hardcovers. They’re not just four random FF hardcovers. The first one marks the beginning of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s excellent run on the series with issue #554, and the others are the next three consecutive books!
When Millar (Superior, Kick-Ass) took over writing, it was a soft reboot. Pretty much everything currently happening in the series, including this week’s #587, starts right there. So if you want to start at the very beginning, you can pick up that first Millar hardcover listed below. Or you could start at the point where Jonathan Hickman took over the writing chores a year or so later and continued with many of the themes Millar had set up… all the way up to "One Will Fall!"
These four hardcovers will get you up to issue #579. Or, if you wanted to read this week’s issue without all that back story, you could start with the current arc. We do have some second prints of issues #583-586. Or you could just hop right into #587 and see who dies! Totally up to you. But we do have these hardcovers on sale all week. WHIZ BANG!
Following their epic successes with Ultimates and Ultimates 2, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch reunite to forge a new future for the Fantastic Four!
First up is the return of Reed Richards’ old flame, Alyssa Moy, with news of worldwide calamity that only Mister Fantastic can help divert – but what if the price is his marriage to Sue? Next, the Defenders are back and barraging New York with high-velocity attacks. This mysterious group of heavies has taken out Doctor Doom and Johnny Storm – and that’s not even their biggest surprise! Collecting Fantastic Four #554-561.
FANTASTIC FOUR: THE MASTER OF DOOM
PREMIERE HARDCOVER
Written by Mark Millar
Art by Bryan Hitch
There is Doom… and then there is the Master of Doom! Eager readers of the World’s Greatest Comic don’t have to wait nine weeks for the fun, frisson and fantastic action of Fantastic Four! The magnificent Marvel team-up of Mark Millar (Wanted) and Bryan Hitch (Ultimates) wind up their epic run with a rip-roaring yarn that pits the First Family against their deadliest archenemy – and the powerful being for whom even Doom will bow! Are you ready to meet the Master of Doom? Collecting Fantastic Four #562-569.
As you’ve surely heard by now, this week’s FANTASTIC FOUR #587 promises the death of one of its members, thereby marking the end of the Fantastic Four and the penultimate issue of Marvel’s longest running series. Concluding the "Three" storyline by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Steve Epting, this issue will come polybagged, not unlike the famous Death of Superman issue and even the X-Men "X-Cutioner’s Song" story arc from so many years ago. Been a while since we’ve seen a major book like this polybagged!
In addition, Marvel has also announced that there will be no overprint on Fantastic Four #587, so if you want a first print be sure you get in here on Wednesday!
“The surprises in this issues — and what comes next — constitute one of the biggest events in Marvel history,” said David Gabriel, SVP Sales & Circulation. “When you see the plans that Tom Brevoort, Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting come to fruition, you’ll know why we say this is the story everyone will be talking about.”
And that’s about it… the end of the Fantastic Four. But what could bring about such a stunning change to the fabric of the Marvel Universe? It all adds up to a must-read for this week. Check it out!
So who do you think is going to kick the bucket? Look for a poll in the Whiz Bang!
AGE OF X: ALPHA #1 is set to hit the racks on Wednesday, and it marks the beginning of the next major event in the X-books! We’re still not 100% sure exactly what it entails, but every promo and solicitation we’ve seen invokes some kind of major war and a sense of finality. As in, whatever happens is going to be SERIOUS.
The event carries over into both X-Men: Legacy and New Mutants, and including the one-shots there are only nine books in the entire event (see the checklist at right), which is one thing we like about it. If you want to get in on it, it’s not a massive investment like a lot of events can be.
But as far as what the event actually is, both writer Mike Carey and editor Daniel Ketchum strayed away from directly addressing the question "What is the Age of X?"
"I thought it might be cool to have a story that brought [all the generations of X-Men] back in the field and Daniel and I thought for a while about possible mechanisms to allow that to happen," explained Carey of the origins of the story. "The more we talked, the more we realized we were more interested in some of the story arcs that we were creating to enable that sort of situation. We came up with a different idea that became Age of X."
That idea begins in an alternate timeline, one where the enemies of mutants united far earlier than in the regular Marvel Universe. Because of this unified anti-mutant front, not only did the X-Men never form, but mutants as a whole became a rather endangered species.
"This is a world that has never known the X-Men," said Carey. "We have a situation for the first time where the surviving mutants are making a collected stance. There is a certain confluence of events that bring them together and they stand up together for the first time."
The title “Age of X” Ketchum and Carey both said harkens back to Stan Lee’s original interpretation of the "X" in "X-Men" meaning extra and extraordinary, but also refers to a mysterious character known simply as X. Carey revealed that the character plays an important role in the upcoming event, but refrained from delving further into details.
Get in on the ground flloor with Age of X: Alpha this Wednesday!
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What’s that? You want to know what the Whiz Bang is this week? Okay.
GI JOE COBRA II #12 – Chuckles shoots Cobra Commander in the head and takes the number one spot
WALKING DEAD – Takes over the number one spot as No Way Out part one beats Scalped’s You Gotta Sin to Get Saved part one.
Comic book artist Clement Sauvé passed away on January 27th after a long battle with cancer. He was 33 years old. The artist worked on Human Defense Corps, Infantry, and was doing character designs for the Hub’s GI Joe Renegades. Rest in Peace, you went too young and there were way too many comics for you to create. Cheers.
I thought 
Last week I read 
So many choices today. And my winner comes straight out of left field.
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A huge week of comics, especially Marvel comics, led to some very fine reads this week. Liked far more than I will be nominating today. Ten’s the limit! Plenty of other worthy candidates for you to nominate. Speak now or forever hold your peace!
Regular Musings columnist Shawn has the week off, so this week’s column comes from Cosmic Comix Conversation panelist, frequent website commenter and store regular Jim Martin.
After reviewing the list of books coming out this week I am now convinced that the comic book industry believes the only thing I do is eat, sleep and read comics. There are so many books coming out this week I may have to skip my first week back to school simply to catch up on everything. Not that I am complaining since most of the titles coming out look really good! I guarantee you that trying to pick out the Best Book of the Week from the awesome titles we have to choose from on Wednesday will be a difficult feat indeed.
A few years ago, writer Brian Wood teamed up with artist Ryan Kelly for a project called The New York Four, which was published by DC under its Minx imprint. It told the story of four young ladies in their first semester at NYU. This Wednesday, we’re set to get THE NEW YORK FIVE #1, the beginning of a new mini-series that revisits those same students in their second semester.
Lots to talk about this week so let’s get right into it! The story seems to be Marvel comics and lots of ‘em!
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FANTASTIC FOUR: WORLD’S GREATEST 
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As you’ve surely heard by now, this week’s FANTASTIC FOUR #587 promises the death of one of its members, thereby marking the end of the Fantastic Four and the penultimate issue of Marvel’s longest running series. Concluding the "Three" storyline by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Steve Epting, this issue will come polybagged, not unlike the famous Death of Superman issue and even the X-Men "X-Cutioner’s Song" story arc from so many years ago. Been a while since we’ve seen a major book like this polybagged!
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