As the old rhyme goes: 30 days have September, April, June and November. So welcome to the last day of November! You know, some folks have taken to calling it Movember instead of November. I’m not 100% sure what it’s about but I’m pretty sure it involves growing moustaches for charity. In light of that, I actually tried to find covers today that featured moustaches but then I realized how few comic book characters actually have moustaches! Can you name any? All I could think of were Sinestro, Jim Gordon and Major Bludd from GI Joe. Al have fine ‘staches, especially Sinestro because he looks like John Waters, but none of them were on any covers today. Very sad. Now, if December were suddenly to become devoted to sensible haircuts and chiseled features? We would have a field day in this column.
DAREDEVIL #6
Cover by Marcos Martin
Lots of buzz surrounding this title, almost from the jump. Shawn sang Mark Waid’s praises in his column yesterday and I couldn’t agree more. Later, in a comment to that post, Chris then sang Marcos Martin’s praises. (We’re a very melodic bunch around here, singing praises all the time. We should probably start a choir or something. The Cosmic Comix Tabernacle Choir.) Anyway, I also have to agree with Chris. Love Marcos Martin’s stuff, and this cover is no exception.
Last week, I lamented the lack of punches to the face in recent comic book covers. And while this one still fails that test it probably comes closer than any cover in recent memory. You can just see it happening even if it isn’t exactly pictured here. So, since this is Marcos Martin’s last issue, we’ll give him credit for an off-panel punch to the face!
The fifth week of the month is always a tricky bugger, especially now that DC Comics is on a regimented four-week release schedule. All of the New 52 books have the week off as a result. That turns out to be a good thing because DC still has a couple nice entries for this week anyway, Marvel has a handful, and some of the other publishers also get a chance to dazzle you with books. What we end up getting is a truly fun mix of comics for Wednesday!
The top spot is always a struggle for me. I am torn between the preconceived “big release” and what I plan on devouring first. This week I am going with Ultimate Comics Ultimates #4! Since its initial debut Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic have brought the same excellence back to the Ultimates that Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch had in their first two volumes. After years of floundering this is still my favorite version of the Avengers! It deserves your support and comic book love!
Nick Spencer has been doing some really interesting work in recent years. I like Morning Glories, and his work on the recent Cloak & Dagger and Ultimate Comics X-Men. Well, a stipulation in his exclusive with Marvel allows him to relaunch THUNDER Agents #1 at DC Comics. He had a run on this series before the DC relaunch and I enjoyed it immensely. This will be his only DC work for the foreseeable future. I am hoping it is every bit as good as his first volume. I’m betting it will be!
Speaking of a light DC week, this Wednesday will see the release of Spaceman #2 from DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint by creators Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, the creative team from 100 Bullets. The first issue was wild and crazy (and only cost $1.00) and I am looking forward to exploring more of this wicked future world. Azzarello and Risso are one of those comic creating duos that need to make comics until the end of time! So says me!
If you’ve been following the X-Men for the past year, you know that in the aftermath of the Schism event, the X-Men have split, with Cyclops and his team remaining on Utopia while Wolverine has returned to Westchester and opened the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. This is the new status quo, X-Men: Regenesis! And this week we’re set to get two of the Regenesis titles with Uncanny X-Men #2, which follows Cyclops and his team, and X-Men Legacy #259, which marks the first time this series has entered in to the Regenesis story!
UNCANNY X-MEN #2
Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Carlos Pacheco
After the Schism, Uncanny X-Men starts over at #1. What is to become of Cyclops and the mutants who side with him after the big split? And what does it have to do with the resurrected Mister Sinister? The hottest new writer in the business, Kieron Gillen (Thor) and superstar Carlos Pacheco (X-Men: Schism, Ultimate Avengers) bring you the biggest and baddest X-Men you’ve ever seen.
And, while the team in Uncanny has been dealing with Mister Sinister and, if you’ll recall, his Sinister World’s Fair, Magneto and Rogue and the team in X-Men legacy have been in outer space. But now they’re back… and decisions must be made…
X-MEN LEGACY #259
Written by Mike Carey
Art by Khoi Pham
The X-Men are divided. As the teams part ways, Rogue, Magneto and Gambit attend to unfinished business, hoping to avoid answering the question: Whose side are they on?
Marvel Comics’ Uncanny X-Men #2 and X-Men Legacy #259 both come out on Wednesday!
When the first THUNDER Agents series kicked off late last year, it was one of the most intriguing comics on the rack. It was also one of several titles that had us all talking about writer Nick Spencer (Morning Glories, Iron Man 2.0, Ultimate Comics X-Men) who would eventually get locked into a Marvel-exclusive deal. That deal, however, lets him write THUNDER Agents.
THUNDER AGENTS VOL 2 #1 (OF 6)
Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Wesley Craig
One of the most critically acclaimed series of the past year returns with a new #1 issue that serves as a great jumping-on point for new readers! What kind of people willingly become superheroes, knowing that their powers will eventually kill them? That’s the question this new six-part mini-series will explore as the team must face off against the Warlord and his Subterraneans!
Nick Spencer (Morning Glories, Ultimate X-Men) teams with rising star Wes Craig for a twisted tale of super heroics, espionage, and action!
We’re also getting the trade paperback collection of Spencer’s first volume of THUNDER Agents, if you’re now curious about that…
THUNDER AGENTS TP VOL 01
Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Howard Porter, Adriana Melo and others
Would you rather burn out or fade away? That’s the question at the heart of this bold title collecting issues #1-10 of the acclaimed new series. Meet a group of people who find purpose when they’re offered a chance to become super heroes. The catch? Their powers will kill them.
DC Comics’ THUNDER Agents Vol. 2 #1 and TP Vol. 1 both come out on Wednesday!
If you’ll remember, last week’s Whiz Bang was for $1.00 back issues. And if you’ll also remember, that sale was gonna last aaaaall the way through the big Year-End Sale, which kicks off next week! That’s all I’m here to tell you about today. The Back Issue Whiz Bang continues! As I said last week:
During the sale, everything in the store will be on sale… no exceptions! (Well, maybe not the computer or the counter or the bookshelves, but everything else!) And that of course includes back issues! But before that happens we wanted to give you a little teaser on the savings. Here’s the deal:
From Wednesday, November 23, through Tuesday, December 6 — the two weeks leading up to the sale — all back issues priced $5.00 or less are on sale for $1.00!
That includes our entire stock of back issues, from Marvel to DC, Dark Horse to Image, and everything in between. If it’s in a bag and a board and it’s priced at $5.00 or under, it’s only gonna cost you a buck!
Once the Year-End Sale starts up on December 7, we’ll then include all those issued priced above $5.00, but like I said we wanted to give you a little taste of the action early. And there are thousands of back issues to choose from under $5.00… a veritable cornucopia of comics during Thanksgiving! And you know what I always say: comics are better than cranberry sauce.
It’s the fifth week of the month! What does that mean? For one thing, it means we get none of the DC New 52 books. But we do nevertheless get some quality titles from DC. One of the more interesting releases is THUNDER Agents Vol. 2 #1 from writer Nick Spencer! Also look for a trade paperback of the first series. Next, the first issue of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s Spaceman was a pretty wild ride, so we’ll definitely be checking out issue #2. Also look for Fables #111 and Legion Secret Origin #2!
From Marvel, the lead has to go to the X-family! For starters, look for Uncanny X-Men #2, the second issue of the flagship series following Cyclops and his group over in Utopia. Plus, X-Men Legacy #259 and Wolverine #19! Also, just a week after the mighty Fantastic Four #600, we get FF #12, as writer Jonathan Hickman continues to unfold his epic tale!
All that plus Previews, Cobra Ongoing #7, Haunt #19, Game of Thrones #3 and more!
The Universe is a big place …
And there are enough Lanterns in the Corps to police it all!
All four figures feature multiple points of articulation and include a display base.
Character-appropriate accessories are also included.
GREEN LANTERN ARKKIS CHUMMUK
GREEN LANTERN HAL JORDAN (POWER GLOW)
RED LANTERN GUY GARDNER
GREEN LANTERN STEL
4-color clamshell blister card packaging.
WALKING DEAD LUNCHBOX
FEAST ON THIS!
This is the ultimate gift for any fan of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead – a lunchbox featuring artwork by series artist Charlie Adlard! Don’t be the last survivor to roam without one!
This past week marked the 48th Anniversary of the first ever airing of Doctor Who! I have become a huge Doctor Who fan in the last year or so and seeing as how the good Doctor has been around longer than sci-fi mainstays like Star Trek; I thought it deserved a mention. Here’s to another 48 years of the Doctor!
DC will be collecting all of Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles into one large omnibus edition. That’s right 1,536 pages in one volume. It will collect Invisibles (Vol 1) #1-25, (Vol 2) #1-22, (Vol 3) #12-1 and the short story from Vertigo Winter’s Edge #1. It will cost $150. The sound you hear is me becoming poor because I cannot pass that up! Look for it in August 2012!
Issues #4, 5, and 6 of Daredevil will be the last for Marcos Martin. The illustrator is apparently leaving the series to do a creator-owned book with Brian K. Vaughan, his partner on Doctor Strange: The Oath. No word on what the title is yet or with which publisher the book will appear.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving! I know I did. Here are some of the books from this past Wednesday that I liked the best! If you are already reading these books you know how good they are. If you are not reading them, perhaps I could persuade you to give them a flip through at the store. You never know, you might just find your next favorite series!
I, VAMPIRE #3
DC Comics
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Andrea Sorrentino
The best thing I read this week was I, Vampire. I know I have reviewed this book before, but please let me be clear; it is now tied with Animal Man as my favorite of the DC52 books. In my opinion it is better than Aquaman, Justice League, Batman, Wonder Woman, Action Comics, and Batwoman. This is important to note because I enjoy all of those book very much. So when I say I, Vampire is better than them you understand exactly what I am saying.
I enjoyed the first issue for the mood, setting, and the hints at what we were going to get with this series. I loved the second issue for showing the readers what is at stake (pun intended) with the impending Vampire Civil War. This issue though is the one grows the story by adding allies for Andrew Bennett in his quest to stop the evil Mary from unleashing her Vampire armies on the world.
Last week, I read Hellspawn: The Complete Collection, which was a fantastic art book with a pretty good story, too. Since I’ve been having so much fun with mainstream books, I thought I would try another. I decided to go with one of the biggest, most mainstreamy names I could think of, so I read NEXT MEN PREMIERE EDITION VOLUME 1, written and illustrated by John Byrne, published by IDW.
The "Next Men" are late teens/early 20-somethings who were genetically modified as babies and raised in a computer generated world. The group is freed from the machines that "store" them and they quickly discover the real world is far different from the one in which they were raised. While they were normal looking inside the computer world, once in the real world they quickly start to mutate as their genetic enhancements develop. They are the first people in the world with abilities beyond the normal person… but is the world ready for them?
Over the past decade I think Byrne’s outspoken and slightly grumpy attitude has cost him some of the respect he is rightfully due. His run from X-Men to Fantastic Four to Superman has got to be of the greatest runs by a writer/artist ever. Next Men is at the tail end of that peak period but it still packs a punch. This is a solid science fiction comic with slight superhero overtones. This is one of the earliest books to really address the idea of superpowered people in a modern world.
This volume collects John Byrne’s Next Men issues #0 to 10, which were originally published in 1992. Byrne quickly sets the premise and starts working his way through the obvious plotlines with deft skill. The questions, such as why were the children mutated and how it was done, are quickly answered. At the same time Byrne spends equal time developing the group as individuals and how they deal with the changes that are happening to them and around them. It’s interesting to see how Byrne tried to apply real physics to superpowers and the likely consequences of having them.
I’ll be going with a title not many of you read today and show some love to a personal favorite of mine, as Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli’s saga of Matty Roth and life in a war-ravaged New York City comes to a close. There will be one final epilogue issue, which I’m sure I will also enjoy, but for all intents and purposes the series ends with DMZ #71.
And I thought it ended great.
DMZ is an alternative, fictional story of a civil war that breaks out in the United States, with New York City being the focal point. Matty Roth is a young, naive reporter who gets thrown into the DMZ as the war begins and we follow his exploits throughout the series until the war concludes. And it is a "real world" story. No superheroes. No magic. No aliens. Just a gritty tale of people trying to survive a very difficult situation.
DMZ #71 brought Matty in front of a war crimes tribunal to answer for all his actions throughout the series. Murder. Theft. Weapons Trafficking. High Treason. Mass Killing. Nuclear Terrorism. DMZ features many, many instances of people doing things, rightly or wrongly, which even in a war-torn environment would have to be considered suspect. And although Matty is taking the fall for some events that were not really his fault, I very much appreciated that the events which did happen throughout the series were addressed in this issue.
A nuclear bomb did explode, it had to be addressed. People did die, someone should be held accountable. We strive for consistency in all our comics. What you do in a Superman comic, you can’t do in Scalped. And if you are going to write a "real world" comic there have to be some consequences at the end. That’s why DMZ #71 was great because it ended how it should have ended. That’s why DMZ is great because it held true to itself throughout the entire series.
It should come as absolutely no surprise that last week’s poll came down to a neck-and-neck battle between the two DC Comics heavy hitters Justice League #3 andBatman #3! But someone had to win, even if it was a one-vote victory. And that someone was… Batman #3!
This week I will say absolutely nothing about the choices below so as not to sway the voting in one direction or another, other than to say this: Scalped rules. Now get to voting!
What was the best book of the week?
Shade #2 (6 Votes)
I Vampire #3 (5 Votes)
Scalped #54 (4 Votes)
Aquaman #3 (3 Votes)
Secret Avengers #19 (3 Votes)
Rasl #12 (3 Votes)
Flash #3 (3 Votes)
Fantastic Four #600 (3 Votes)
Captain America and Bucky #624 (3 Votes)
DMZ #71 (2 Votes)
Wolverine and X-Men #2 (2 Votes)
Teen Titans #3 (1 Votes)
Maybe it's the food coma talking but I don't see my pick here! Which is... (1 Votes)
One of the best thing about comics is that you just never know what each and every week of new books will bring. And after all that happened during Fear Itself — Blitzkrieg USA, Thor dying, Bucky dying, Avengers Tower getting destroyed, Paris getting turned to stone — after everything that happened… and don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the vast majority of it… the new status quo presented to us this week in INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #510 just flat-out made me laugh. Because of all the continuity I envisioned spinning out of Fear Itself, the last thing I thought we would get was a starring role for an ex-mead drinking, cursing dwarf! That’s right. Tony’s got a new running buddy and it’s Splitlip, son of Broketooth, son of Grundle, son of Stonespliiter, otherwise know as Split the Dwarf!
Nominees!
AQUAMAN #3 – Where is Atlantis?! I don’t know and Aquaman ain’t telling. Aquaman is, along with Mera, chasing the marauding fish monsters into THE TRENCH and I can only imagine what terrible fate awaits them deep in the ocean depths.
DMZ #71 – Conclusion to "The Five Nations of New York" storyline and basically the last issue, Issue #72 is being billed as an epilogue, of a series I have thoroughly enjoyed since issue #1.
FANTASTIC FOUR #600 – Was ginormous! There have been multiple, multiple plot threads running throughout Jonathon Hickman’s FF run, and while we might not have gotten any real resolution (the story is totally to be continued), I did think this issue did a nice job of both recapping and consolidating them into the same time and place. Although that’s not why it gets nominated. It gets nominated for the second story in this ginormous issue, "Whatever Happened to Johnny Storm?" As you probably know, back in January, in Fantastic Four #587, Johnny died while heroically saving Earth from Annihilus and his Negative Zone minions. Haven’t sniffed a whiff of Johnny since. No spoilers today, but the fate of Johnny Storm, everything that happened since he died, everything you need to know, was totally laid out in this issue. And I thought it was great.
INVINCIBLE #85 – Ha! No Invincible, Atom Eve or even the planet Earth for that matter in the issue. We go back into space as Mom and Dad Invincible travel to the central base of the coalition of planets and meet up with President Allen the Alien. And guess what? Invincible and Dad Invincible’s unilateral decision to call an end to the war and just let the Viltrimutes live in peace on Earth is not being well received by President Alien. Shocking! Although it did make me happy because they didn’t have the authority to make that deal in the first place and I’ve been waiting for someone to stand up and say, "Hey, you didn’t have the authority to make that deal!" And President Alien did. Letters page! Mr. Kirkman was nice enough to give us a quick recap of Robot’s history — he turned up a couple issues ago as Rex, which had me befuddled — and the explanation made total sense. And while I had been toying with the idea of reading Invincible again from the beginning, now I think I’m gonna have to!
I VAMPIRE #3 – This book is great. I like everything about it. The scale is huge and yet it’s character driven. So much back story and yet it’s done so lightly you don’t even know it’s there. It’s fantastic. And it’s only going to get better. Highly recommend it. Read it up!
KICK-ASS 2 #5 – ARRGGGGH! It was good as usual. BUT. They gave us a tease at the end of last issue for some Hit Girl action. They gave us a tease at the end of this issue for some Hit Girl action. She is not a tease! She is all action! And I want some Hit Girl action!
SCALPED #54 – People continue to drop like flies. The Sheriff goes down. Papa Bad Horse Wade goes down. Just tell my son, tell my son, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I could never find out who killed your mother… oh, but you did Wade, I’m standing right here… choke! Amazingly, Shunka is still alive. Although he has now gone to Dash’s house to call him out and I sincerely doubt they both survive the experience! Bad Horse!
SECRET AVENGERS #19 – Said it before, will say it again: Warren Ellis cracks me up. He is my favorite writer. He just cracks me up. This was his fourth issue of Secret Avengers. Have loved them all. Very entertaining, pace is always great. In this issue the bad guys were creating super humans with the bones of some elder gods, which they found in an old grave in Transia. It seems the souls of these elder gods were locked in their bones when they died and when you grind said bones up and smoke them up you get super powers. Then throw in some fast paced action. Steve tosses a whiskey bottle at bad guy, Sharon shoots the whiskey bottle drenching said bad guy, Black Widow tosses a lighter, bad guy burns, no more bad guy! Freaky scenarios and fast paced action is what Mr. Ellis does and I love it. He is the man! But what cracks me up is, all four issues, while having radically different stories, all have had the same basic plot. Steve Rogers and his Secret Avengers go on a mission and kill all the bad guys. And while I understand that’s the current premise of the title, it still cracks me up. Because as good as it is, and a lot of you read it and you know how good it is, to me he’s not even trying!
SUPERMAN #3 – This would be the exact opposite of a Warren Ellis comic. The adrenaline level is hovering just above zero. It’s very wordy, it’s very talky. Even the action is flat. And yet I really like it. When you read some comics, like Secret Avengers, you find yourself turning pages faster and faster and faster until you get to the end of the issue with a whew and you’re worn out. Superman? I just find myself settling in with Superman. Taking my time, reading at a leisurely pace. And it’s not boring. If it was I would never make it to the end. No. It totally holds my interest. Just has that small town (Smallville if you like) pace to it. And I really like it.
TEEN TITANS #3 – Much like I can’t believe how much I’m enjoying the adventures of Little Loki over in Journey into Mystery and various Thor titles, I can’t believe how much I’m enjoying Kid Flash. And this was a great page!
Hope everyone enjoys — or is enjoying, as the case may be — their Thanksgiving Holiday. Can’t believe the end of the year is already upon us! But it is. Gonna be snowin’ in B’more soon! * Shudder * At least if it does snow, it will mean it’s stopped raining… what… what’s that you say… I forgot a book today. What about WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #2?? You did rave about how great the first issue was, picked it as your Best Book of the Week and all that, and issue #2 doesn’t even garner a nomination? No. Unfortunately it does not. Not by me at least. Standing behind my love of the first issue. And did actually like the second issue; dialogue, characters, plot, overall direction. All were good again. Just had a problem with the art. And I’m probably more of a Chris Bachalo fan than you. Think his art really shines with talky issues. Like Wolverine and the X-Men #1. Like his Fear Itself Avengers issues. This was far more of an all out action issue and sometimes the action got a little murky. Still a good issue, still on board with the series. Just had a hard time following some action sequences. And therefore thought 10 books were better than it this week.
You might not know this, but here in the Cosmic Comix news room not only are we comic book experts, but we’re also TV professionals. From my own favorite show, The Amazing Race, to Rusty’s favorite, Family Feud reruns, to Shawn’s favorite, Vampire Diaries, our tastes really do run the gamut of televisual entertainment. So it goes without saying that our advice on which are the good shows to watch is sound advice.
That said, you should be sure to tune in to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade tomorrow. I know, I know: who wants to sit through four hours of Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira waxing poetic about how great it is to be alive? But, we need you to watch and pay close attention to the floats. Snoopy, The Grinch, Garfield, Dora. Take a good look and see what makes for a quality float. Because we have decided to spring for a Cosmic Comix float for next year’s parade and we need ideas! Send all ideas to floatcommittee@cosmiccomix.com.
WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2
Variant Cover by Ed McGuinness
It takes a lot for me to actually laugh out loud when I look over the covers for the day. Kudos to this Wolverine and the X-Men variant for totally accomplishing that! Just click on the image to enlarge, and enjoy.
Also, let me also say something that will totally ruin this cover forever. Something that once you see it, you will not be able to UNsee it. Just take a look at Wolverine’s butt. Man that thing looks weird. That is all.
I do not know about the rest of you, but this Thanksgiving I will be giving thanks for all of the great comics coming out. Another week and another difficult time whittling down the list to get our Showcase for Wednesday! I was about to step outside to kill this year’s Thanksgiving Day turkey (I insist on killing a live one with my bare hands out in the backyard before we cook it), but before I do I will share which comics deserve your scrutiny this week!
I was not going to give it the top spot, but I had to give consideration to Fantastic Four #600. Is Johnny Storm coming back? I do not have a freaking clue. That said, to celebrate 600 issues, regardless how many times the books have been renumbered and then changed back again, is an impressive feat indeed. Marvel’s First Family gets top billing this week because they are doing just that!
Warren Ellis has been knocking it out of the park with his stint on Secret Avengers. In an Eastern European country a drug dealer is going to sell something secret to the Shadow Council and Steve Rogers and Co have to prevent it. Secret Avengers #19 is illustrated by Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano, and it looks to be as fun as the last three issues!
I expect Aquaman #3 to disappear as quickly as the first two issues did. It seems Arthur Curry has a tremendous amount of crossover appeal at the store, and I have seen fans flock to the book! (Maybe I should have said swim instead?) Though I am awaiting the plot to catch up to the characterization, I am hoping this issue will hit all of the right marks!
The first issue of Wolverine and the X-Men was absolutely fantastic, so good in fact that it won both Rusty’s pick for Best Book of the Weekand the Best Book Weekly Poll! (And we still have them in stock.) As Rusty said, "Wolverine and the X-Men #1 was funny. It was nicely paced, well written and well drawn. It touched on a multitude of characters and a multitude of plots. It set the stage for what is to come, told an entertaining story and just had a real nice flow to it." Couldn’t agree more! This series, by Incredible Hulk and Scalped writer Jason Aaron, looks like it’s gonna be a great ride.
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #2 XREGG
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Chris Bachalo
Wolverine and his X-Men have very little chance of surviving the new Hellfire Club. And that’s without another classic villain (the villain of the most important X-Story ever) returning!
Marvel Comics’ Wolverine and the X-Men #2 comes out on Wednesday!
At the end of Aquaman #2 we got our first glimpse of the villains in the opening arc of Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis’ excellent Aquaman series. They are called "The Trench"! They’re dark, they’re gross, they’re bitey and they kind of look like piranhas. Judging by this cover, in fact they are actually piranha men.
"They are a glimpse of the horrific world at the bottom of the ocean and beyond that Aquaman has never faced, that we have never really encountered," Johns said about them. "They are still learning and meeting new species every day, so I wanted to go as horrific and bizarre as I could. And you haven’t even really seen how bizarre these creatures can get. They are pretty nasty.”
AQUAMAN #3
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis, Joe Prado
The secret of the Trench revealed! Where did these cannibalistic sea creatures come from? What fuels their monstrous hunger? Why have they chosen now to invade the surface world? To unravel the mystery of the Trench, Aquaman must seek help from the last person on earth he ever wanted to see again.
Also look for Superman #3, Teen Titans #3, Voodoo #3, Flash #3, Green Lantern: New Guardians #3 and Batman: The Dark Knight #3. They all come out on Wednesday!
Before the New 52 hit, most folks were reading the main Batman titles, with good reason. But all the while, two series were quietly and steadily getting better and better: RED ROBIN and BATGIRL. If you were reading Batman and Robin you know how important Tim Drake (Red Robin) is to the Batman books. And Batgirl… well… Batgirl was just good! One of the most enjoyable reads in the store, hands down.
BATGIRL VOLUME 1 TP
BATGIRL RISING
$17.99
In this new title collecting the first seven issues of her hit series, Stephanie Brown, formerly known as the Spoiler, takes on a new guise as Batgirl – and becomes the target of both Gotham City’s heroes and villains.
Based on everything I’ve read, this week’s Fantastic Four #600 is going to be as epic a comic book as you can imagine. For starters, it ties together everything that’s happened in Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four and FF runs to date — and if you’re familiar with Hickman, you know he likes to have lots going on. And to accomplish that, the book is over 100 pages long! Plus, it ties into a story established in Matt Fraction’s Mighty Thor, one of our very favorite titles over the past several months. My guess? Look out for Galactus.
And if you haven’t read any Fantastic Four (or FF) recently, you should check out Fantastic Four #600 anyway. Apparently, the first few pages are enough to bring you up to speed. The first few pages being only a small percentage of the 104 pages total. Ha!
FANTASTIC FOUR #600
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Various
THIS IS IT! The 50th anniversary issue of the Fantastic Four! This month we begin the five-part conclusion to the story that began over 30 issues ago. Join us for the epic celebration of Marvel’s First Family with 96 pages of all-new content written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Steve Epting, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Leinil Yu and Farel Dalrymple.
Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four #600 comes out on Wednesday!
Since its inception in 2004, Marvel Comics’ Icon imprint has produced some of the best comics in the business. Featuring top flight creators doing creator-owned material, Icon is responsible for hit series like Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming’s Powers, Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips’ Criminal and Incognito, David Mack’s Kabuki, Matt Fraction’s Casanova and many others! But arguably the imprint’s biggest hit has been the one, the only… Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Kick-Ass. The newest issue comes out this week!
KICK-ASS 2 #5 (OF 7)
Written by Mark Millar
Art by John Romita
The mayhem continues.
Also from Icon this week, look for Kapow! I can’t add much more to the solicitation… it pretty much says it all! Sounds very cool.
KAPOW GUINNESS WORLD RECORD SPECIAL #1
Plot by Mark Millar
Written by Paul Cornell, Keiron Gillen & more!
Art by Frank Quitely, Dave Gibbons & more!
In April 2011, Mark Millar, Frank Quitely, Dave Gibbons, John Romita Jr, Leinil Yu, Paul Cornell, Andy Diggle, Jock, Duncan Fegrado, Sean Phillips and over fifty other comic-book creators joined forces with Kapow to break not one but TWO Guinness World Records – the fastest comic-book ever produced and the biggest number of creators working on a single comic. The Kapow Special stars Superior and was written, penciled, inked and lettered in less than 12 hours.
PLEASE NOTE: All proceeds from the sales of this comic will go to Yorkhill Sick Children’s Hospital in Scotland and the print-run for this book will be limited to just 10,000 copies.
Marvel Comics’ Kick-Ass 2 #5 and Kapow #1 come out on Wednesday!
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As the old rhyme goes: 30 days have September, April, June and November. So welcome to the last day of November! You know, some folks have taken to calling it Movember instead of November. I’m not 100% sure what it’s about but I’m pretty sure it involves growing moustaches for charity. In light of that, I actually tried to find covers today that featured moustaches but then I realized how few comic book characters actually have moustaches! Can you name any? All I could think of were Sinestro, Jim Gordon and Major Bludd from GI Joe. Al have fine ‘staches, especially Sinestro because he looks like John Waters, but none of them were on any covers today. Very sad. Now, if December were suddenly to become devoted to sensible haircuts and chiseled features? We would have a field day in this column.
The fifth week of the month is always a tricky bugger, especially now that DC Comics is on a regimented four-week release schedule. All of the New 52 books have the week off as a result. That turns out to be a good thing because DC still has a couple nice entries for this week anyway, Marvel has a handful, and some of the other publishers also get a chance to dazzle you with books. What we end up getting is a truly fun mix of comics for Wednesday!
If you’ve been following the X-Men for the past year, you know that in the aftermath of the Schism event, the X-Men have split, with Cyclops and his team remaining on Utopia while Wolverine has returned to Westchester and opened the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. This is the new status quo, X-Men: Regenesis! And this week we’re set to get two of the Regenesis titles with Uncanny X-Men #2, which follows Cyclops and his team, and X-Men Legacy #259, which marks the first time this series has entered in to the Regenesis story!
And, while the team in Uncanny has been dealing with Mister Sinister and, if you’ll recall, his Sinister World’s Fair, Magneto and Rogue and the team in X-Men legacy have been in outer space. But now they’re back… and decisions must be made…
When the first THUNDER Agents series kicked off late last year, it was one of the most intriguing comics on the rack. It was also one of several titles that had us all talking about writer Nick Spencer (Morning Glories, Iron Man 2.0, Ultimate Comics X-Men) who would eventually get locked into a Marvel-exclusive deal. That deal, however, lets him write THUNDER Agents.
We’re also getting the trade paperback collection of Spencer’s first volume of THUNDER Agents, if you’re now curious about that…
If you’ll remember, last week’s Whiz Bang was for $1.00 back issues. And if you’ll also remember, that sale was gonna last aaaaall the way through the big 
It’s the fifth week of the month! What does that mean? For one thing, it means we get none of the DC New 52 books. But we do nevertheless get some quality titles from DC. One of the more interesting releases is THUNDER Agents Vol. 2 #1 from writer Nick Spencer! Also look for a trade paperback of the first series. Next, the first issue of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s Spaceman was a pretty wild ride, so we’ll definitely be checking out issue #2. Also look for Fables #111 and Legion Secret Origin #2!
GREEN LANTERN SERIES 4
WALKING DEAD LUNCHBOX
This past week marked the 48th Anniversary of the first ever airing of Doctor Who! I have become a huge Doctor Who fan in the last year or so and seeing as how the good Doctor has been around longer than sci-fi mainstays like Star Trek; I thought it deserved a mention. Here’s to another 48 years of the Doctor!
Last week, I read 
I’ll be going with a title not many of you read today and show some love to a personal favorite of mine, as Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli’s saga of Matty Roth and life in a war-ravaged New York City comes to a close. There will be one final epilogue issue, which I’m sure I will also enjoy, but for all intents and purposes the series ends with DMZ #71.
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One of the best thing about comics is that you just never know what each and every week of new books will bring. And after all that happened during Fear Itself — Blitzkrieg USA, Thor dying, Bucky dying, Avengers Tower getting destroyed, Paris getting turned to stone — after everything that happened… and don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the vast majority of it… the new status quo presented to us this week in INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #510 just flat-out made me laugh. Because of all the continuity I envisioned spinning out of Fear Itself, the last thing I thought we would get was a starring role for an ex-mead drinking, cursing dwarf! That’s right. Tony’s got a new running buddy and it’s Splitlip, son of Broketooth, son of Grundle, son of Stonespliiter, otherwise know as Split the Dwarf!
I do not know about the rest of you, but this Thanksgiving I will be giving thanks for all of the great comics coming out. Another week and another difficult time whittling down the list to get our Showcase for Wednesday! I was about to step outside to kill this year’s Thanksgiving Day turkey (I insist on killing a live one with my bare hands out in the backyard before we cook it), but before I do I will share which comics deserve your scrutiny this week!
The first issue of Wolverine and the X-Men was absolutely fantastic, so good in fact that it won both Rusty’s pick for 
At the end of Aquaman #2 we got our first glimpse of the villains in the opening arc of Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis’ excellent Aquaman series. They are called "The Trench"! They’re dark, they’re gross, they’re bitey and they kind of look like piranhas. Judging by this cover, in fact they are actually piranha men.
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Based on everything I’ve read, this week’s Fantastic Four #600 is going to be as epic a comic book as you can imagine. For starters, it ties together everything that’s happened in Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four and FF runs to date — and if you’re familiar with Hickman, you know he likes to have lots going on. And to accomplish that, the book is over 100 pages long! Plus, it ties into a story established in Matt Fraction’s Mighty Thor, one of our very favorite titles over the past several months. My guess? Look out for Galactus.
Since its inception in 2004, Marvel Comics’ Icon imprint has produced some of the best comics in the business. Featuring top flight creators doing creator-owned material, Icon is responsible for hit series like Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming’s 
KAPOW GUINNESS WORLD RECORD SPECIAL #1
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