Welcome to another edition of Shawn’s Showcase. I am your host, Shawn. Right this way, if you please…
DC has a strong showing with Animal Man #6 and Swamp Thing #6. I put these two books together because the leads in both books are fighting the same supernatural menace, The Rot. Also, in the last issue of Animal Man, Buddy Baker was told that only the Swamp Thing could help him now. These books are two of my favorites both in and out of the DC Universe. I think both of their opening arcs get conclusions this week and I am excited to see how they play out.
If awesome superhero fiction with tights is your thing than you do not have to look any further than Invincible #88. This book consistently reinvents itself and takes the vast array of characters in new and interesting directions. Invincible finds himself facing off against a friend, and fighting alongside a former foe. This also puts him at odds with his brother. Robert Kirkman gets tons of praise for the Walking Dead, and rightfully so, but Invincible is every bit as good and in many respects even more fun.
The biggest Marvel release in my mind has to be Winter Soldier #1. Bucky has been an amazing character since Ed Brubaker resurrected him as the Winter Soldier. He was a great Cap as well. Given that the main Captain America book has become more superhero-y and lost much of the cool espionage/thriller feel Brubaker was infusing it with for over half a decade, I think Winter Soldier will be a return to the types of stories I prefer. I am looking forward to it.
Ever since Fear Itself #7.1: Captain America, we’ve been stoked about this one. As Rusty said when he picked that comic as Best Book of the Week back in November:
"Bucky has always been an integral part of Ed Brubaker’s Captain America saga. Heck, the first arc was titled Winter Soldier. And we got some very good Bucky (and Captain America) stories out of the run… To let Bucky get back to being the Winter Soldier. I just thought it was great. He’s not Bucky Barnes the sidekick. He’s not Captain America. He’s not even Sucky Cap. He’s the Winter Soldier. Even the new Captain America and Bucky title… is retelling Bucky’s World War Two adventures with a decidedly Winter Soldier flair. It’s who he is."
And that’s why we can’t wait to read this. It’s Bucky doing what he does.
WINTER SOLDIER #1
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Butch Guice
Winter Soldier and Black Widow are the super-spies of the Marvel U! Ex-Russian Sleeper Agents awaken, but under who’s control? Is that Dr. Doom? Uh oh.
Marvel Comics’ Winter Soldier #1 comes out this Wednesday!
As the banner at the top of the cover states, "2 Months until Avengers vs. X-Men!" When this series came out it promised the return of Cable and some big old fights with the Avengers. Well, that promise has definitely been kept, as we saw Cable take on Captain America in the first issue and then Iron Man in the second. This time around? RED HULK.
Something has happened to Hope Summers and Cable, techno-organic virus and all, has blamed the Avengers. But that has its consequences… as we might just see in two months with Avengers vs. X-Men!
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #3 (OF 4)
Written by Jeph Loeb
Art by Ed McGuinness
Cable rumbles with the Red Hulk as his fight to save the future carries on!
Marvel Comics’ Avengers: X-Sanction #3 (of 4) comes out on Wednesday!
This week, the first week of February, marks the beginning of the sixth month in DC Comics’ New 52 initiative! Fifty-two brand new #1 issues were at the start and several of the titles that were our early favorites back then come out this week! There’s Grant Morrison’s Action Comics, the last issue of which featured a very cool retelling of the hero’s origin; then there’s Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man, with this issue featuring art by John Paul Leon; and there’s Swamp Thing, Scott Snyder’s outstanding series of the Green, the Red and the Black, each of which represents some side in the fight. Plus, Red Lanterns, Detective Comics, and Stormwatch!
ACTION COMICS #6
Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Andy Kubert
The breakneck pace of Grant Morrison’s run on ACTION COMICS continues as the Superman of the present day must team up with suspiciously different versions of the Legion of Super-Heroes to save the jeans-wearing Superman of five years ago! Whose hand is that on the cover? Why, the leader of the Anti-Superman Army, of course!
Plus, a backup by Sholly Fisch and ChrisCross that spins directly out of the lead story!
DC Comics’ Action Comics #6 along with Detective Comics #6, Animal Man #6, Swamp Thing #6, Red Lanterns #6 and more all come out on Wednesday!
As I said when I pumped the first issue, "The crime noir collaborations between writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips have been, without using too much hyperbole, unbelievably awesome and completely and utterly fantastic." And that was before I’d even read it!
But, once we’d read it, Rusty said the following: "Felt like Criminal. Felt like Incognito. Obviously different characters and premise, but just as good. Sure we will be talking about it for many months to come. Read it up!" Classic Rusty. But he was right! It had such a strong start that it’s hard to believe it will be anything less than a Criminal or an Incognito.
And if you missed the first issue, we do have second prints coming in this week!
FATALE #2
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips
The second issue of the hottest new series of 2012 is here! In modern times, Nicholas Lash searches for answers about the mysterious woman who ruined his life, while in the mid-1950s, reporter Dominic Raines is drawn down that same murderous path… The award-winning team of Brubaker and Phillips keeps the heat on high in this epic horror noir.
A lot of you have picked up on the awesomeness that is Luther Strode. He’s the guy who makes a wish upon a star Charles Atlas-type ad in the back of a comic book and wakes up with his wish granted: he is now super strong… and violent. We’ve been pushing it from the jump and go so far as to rank it up there with the likes of Chew and Walking Dead for series that you NEED to be reading. The previous issue was so good that in our monthly Top Twenty, we called it the 12th best comic book of the month!
STRANGE TALENT OF LUTHER STRODE #5 (OF 6)
Written by Justin Jordan
Art by Tradd Moore
Luther tries to rescue Petra, and things end bloody. Meanwhile, Pete and Luther’s Mom are left alone to face something unimaginably worse. Not everyone gets out of this issue alive. The penultimate issue of the hit series.
Image Comics’ Strange Talent of Luther Strode #5 comes out on Wednesday!
You’ve heard us talk about American Vampire before. In fact, you might have even seen it over in the TPBs & Graphic Novels section of the website, in which we said, "American Vampire [is] Scott Snyder’s excellent DC Comics/Vertigo series that follows the life of one Skinner Sweet. Who is that, you might ask? Only the first vampire in America, a much more dangerous specimen than anything ever seen before…" It’s awesome.
Though only one trade has come out so far, this Wednesday we’re set to get the third hardcover collection, which includes seven issues of the main series PLUS the five-issue Survival of the Fittest mini-series!
AMERICAN VAMPIRE HC VOL 03
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Rafael Albuquerque & Various
Two epic World War II tales in one massive volume! This gorgeous hardcover includes AMERICAN VAMPIRE #12-18 plus the acclaimed 5-issue miniseries SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST! In the Pacific, Pearl’s husband Henry joins a clandestine group on a secret mission to Japan to hunt a new breed of bloodsucker. Meanwhile, Skinner Sweet has plans of his own…
And in Europe, vampire hunters Felicia Book and Cash McCogan go behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Romania in search of a rumored vampire cure.
Blood and bullets abound in this new collection from the Eisner Award-winning series!
DC Comics’ American Vampire Vol. 3 HC comes out on Wednesday!
Our first official Whiz Bang of the year last week was one of our favorites: Marvel hardcovers. This Wednesday, February 1, we are going back to another one of our faves and rolling out the massive MINI-SERIES WHIZ BANG! That’s right, for this week only — lasting through next Tuesday, February 7 — all collected mini-series back issues will be 50% OFF!
You’ve probably noticed the mini-series boxes on the floor near the back of the store. There’s an incredible variety of limited series in there: Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, GI Joe, Transformers and a ton of independents, too!
Prices are already pretty low on these mini-series sets – generally between $6.00 and $10.00 – so this sale gives you the chance to pick up a complete, multi-issue story for as low as $3.00!
(The picture below is a stock image, but it gives you a taste for what to expect: the front table loaded up with boxes, each one chock full with mini-series!)
The headliner for the week is easily Winter Soldier #1 from Marvel Comics. Be on the look out for a highlight on Tuesday! Can’t wait to see what Ed Brubaker has in store for Bucky. Also from Marvel this week, Uncanny X-Men #6, Avengers X-Sanction #3, Defenders #3, Fear Itself Fearless #8, Punisher #8 and Amazing Spider-Man #679!
We get our first look at issue number sixes in the new DC this week as it is now February! The tag team of Animal Man #6 and Swamp Thing #6 comes out along with Action Comics #6, Detective Comics #6, Red Lanterns #6 and Stormwatch #6.
Not to be outdone, Image Comics brings us three of our favorite books this week. Invincible #88, which is always good, the Strange Talent of Luthor Strode #5, which you absolutely should be reading, and Fatale #2, which got off to a great start in issue #1. And if you missed the first issue of Fatale we also have plenty second printings coming in this week to catch you up.
Plus, Rachel Rising #5, Boys #63, GI Joe #10, Magic the Gathering #1, Warriors of Mars #1, Sweet Tooth #30, and of course the newest issue of Previews all come out this week!
It’s the first Top Twenty of the year! And yes, to answer your question, we will be continuing this feature for 2012. Hope you’ve enjoyed it so far and we hope it’s pointed you toward a few titles you might not have normally read. The world of comics is as wide as you can imagine and there are myriad comics of every size, shape and genre. Okay! Pep talk over!
In case this is your first time, the Top Twenty is 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 and 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!
Top Twenty Comics of January 2012 The Best Single Issues
BATMAN #5 – Mucho discussion on the Conversation about this one, and a powerful showing in the polls propel this one to the top spot! Scott Snyder once again wins the month with Batman in a very cool issue that required the reader to turn the book sideways, upside down and ultimately read left to right! Very cool and a good story behind it all.
CHEW #23 – The second part of “Major League Chew,” introducing us to what is perhaps the greatest Chew back-up character to date: Agent Buttercup! A fantastic issue, which did actually lose in the poll to Batman (above), but won Rusty’s pick for Best Book of the Week. Something tells me Chew will once again hols top honors in the list below…
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #4 – This book was just fun, straight up fun. Nick Bradshaw took over on the art (from Chris Bachalo) and did a fine job, with Jason Aaron still writing. I loved the cover and the cover turned out to be a great indicator for what was to come. Basically just a crazy day at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. SO enjoyable.
WALKING DEAD #93 – The opening three pages basically tell the story on this one. So you represent other settlements, eh, Jesus? We’ll see about that!
SCALPED #55 – We’ve said this before, but Scalped isn’t the easiest series to just pick up and read out of the blue. However, if you HAVE been reading Scalped then this issue was awesome. A big old fight between two characters who were basically destined to fight. Not to mention an unbelievably good ending. “You’re under arrest!”
UNCANNY X-MEN #4 – We got two issues of Uncanny X-Men this month but this one was definitely the stronger of the two, completing a fantastic Mr. Sinister story arc. A big fight and an ending that was actually kind of moving. Just a good issue all around and Kieron Gillen moves up another few notches in our estimation.
PUNISHERMAX #21 – The second to last issue of the series and the third Jason Aaron book of the top 10. This is Old Man Frank in a struggle to the death with Wilson Fisk… and they both lose! A brutal issue in a brutal series.
SUPERIOR #7 (OF 7) – A very cool ending to a very cool series. Little kid gains superpowers, little kid loses superpowers, little kid must bargain away his immortal soul to get superpowers back. Mark Millar and Leinil Yu killed it on this one.
FATALE #1 – Hard to keep coming up with superlatives for the crime stories that Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips keep turning out. This one took a totally different turn than the ones that have come before it, an HP Lovecraft kind of turn, but it was nevertheless still awesome.
I VAMPIRE #5 – We’ve been enjoying this series, no doubt, but this issue might have taken it to the next level. Batman’s appearance was awesome.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #677 & DAREDEVIL #8 – Parts one and two of the two-part Spider-Man/Daredevil crossover by Mark Waid. Just included them as one pick because they were basically one story… one totally excellent story. An old school vibe and some very cool moments.
STRANGE TALENT OF LUTHER STRODE #4 (OF 6) – Personally, I wasn’t sure that this issue worked. An explanation issue that I felt didn’t explain anything! But it turns out I was completely wrong because everyone else loved it. And we’re still recommending this series without hesitation.
SHADE #4 (OF 12) – A one-shot set in the middle of a 12-issue series! James Robinson is still writing but for this issue Darwyn Cooke (Parker, DC: The New Frontier) took over on the art. And it was a great read.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #5 – A couple truly cheesy moments didn’t spoil the many other awesome moments in this one. The League is now together and turning their efforts toward Darkseid… and making confessions to each other.
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #6 – The scale on this one continues to defy belief. At this point we’re actually hoping the bad guys succeed just to see what happens!
WHISPERS #1 – We pumped this book before it came out as a the newest thing from (at least one half of) the Luna Brothers. And it didn’t disappoint. An obsessive-compulsive young guy finds he can have out-of-body experiences… thereby negating any germaphobic issues he might have. At least I don’t think there are germs on the astral plane…
RACHEL RISING #4 – The wild ride that is Rachel Rising continues. More weirdness with Rachel, more weirdness with the little girl, more weirdness full stop!
ACTION COMICS #5 – Superman’s origin told once again, but as only Grant Morrison could tell it! We saw Krypton, we saw the Phantom Zone, we saw Ma and Pa Kent. And it was charming.
SUICIDE SQUAD #5 – Haven’t given Suicide Squad much play in the Top Twenty but this issue makes it in because it gets us stoked for Harley Quinn!
ANGEL & FAITH #6 – Around here, we’re suckers for great endings, and man did this one have a great ending! Can’t ruin it here but it was a great issue!
Top Twenty Titles of January 2012 The Best Current Series
CHEW – I gave the first Chew trade paperback to a customer the other day and I swear no later than two hours later he came right back and bought the other three trades plus the three subsequent single issues. (TPBs)
BATMAN – So much to like about this series, from the density of the plot to the artwork to the overall execution. It really is outstanding.
WALKING DEAD – You’d think it would be hard to maintain the level of interest and intensity in such a longstanding zombie book, but Robert Kirkman keeps coming up with new ideas! (TPBs)
WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN – Before he left today, Rusty said, "Wolverine and the X-Men just might be the best Marvel book right now." And I think he just might be right.
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY – Didn’t make it up top this month, but it is still one of our faves and would probably be our favorite Marvel book if not for the #4 book on this list.
SCALPED – It’s dark, it’s not fun and it makes you cringe half the time. Needless to say we love it. (TPBs)
GI JOE: COBRA – Takes a little hit in the rankings because this month’s issue didn’t quite have the right vibe, but it’s got so much good will in the bank that we can’t demote it too much. The best GI Joe book ever. (TPBs)
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES – Continues to knock us out month after month. Personally, I enjoy it more than any of the Avengers books!
PUNISHERMAX – Only one more issue to go. Just might have to give it an honorary #1 ranking next month for its overall excellence. RIP Old Man Castle.
AMERICAN VAMPIRE – Scott Snyder has a way of making his stories.. just… well… cool. And this series is the epitome of that.
JUSTICE LEAGUE – So much action and this month we finally started a plot!
BUFFY / ANGEL & FAITH – Once again, they’re just good! And now is a great time to get on board if you haven’t already.
RACHEL RISING – Terry Moore’s story of a girl back from the dead gains complexity and features many… well… I don’t know if I’d call them “wow” moments so much as “well that’s pretty weird” moments.
UNCANNY X-MEN – With Uncanny X-Men and Journey into Mystery both as strong as they are, Kieron Gillen just might be the strongest writer in the Marvel U right now. Uncanny in particular is just really interesting!
AQUAMAN – A longtime favorite hero around here, and this series totally does right by him.
I VAMPIRE – The strongest issue yet propels an already very good series into the Top Twenty!
SWAMP THING – See comment for #10.
INVINCIBLE – Rusty said, "2012 just might be shaping up to be an Invincible year." Let’s hope so! (TPBs)
FABLES – Maintaining its place in the #20 spot, the always reliable Fables. (TPBs)
Others receiving votes for the Best Current Series:
The panel talks about the first month of comics of 2012! Look out for Batman, The Walking Dead, Chew, Justice League, I, Vampire, Wolverine and the X-Men, Uncanny X-Men and more!
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.
In April Marvel is releasing new All-Ages books that include The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Adventures #1 and Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures #1. Both of these books will reflect the new animated series appearing on Disney XD. Current Scarlet Spider writer Chris Yost is writing the Avengers book, while Men of Action (Ben 10), Dan Slott, and Ty Templeton will be writing the Spider-Man title.
It seems we know exactly when Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev are ending their Moon Knight run. It will be at issue #12. And it will also be the last issue of the series. That’s a shame. It was not their strongest book together, but it was fun and promising. I was hoping another creative team would be coming in to take it over.
I was concerned about the upcoming Captain Marvel backup in Justice League that is supposed to revamp the character. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are creating it and I was worried it would be more like the Flashpoint version that had a number of kids coming together to form Cap. I don’t know about you, but that is not what I wanted. Well the creators offered a sneak peak that can be found at Newsarama. Although the character will be reimaged (included a slightly different costume) and the character will now be called Shazam instead of Captain Marvel, it looks more traditional than I thought it would be. Fingers crossed.
Brian Michael Bendis is the Eisner Award-winning creator behind many of today’s biggest titles for Marvel Comics. From Secret Invasion to the Avengers, Bendis has had his hand in just about every major Marvel event of the past decade. Before his turn with Marvel, though, he was known for his crime fiction graphic novels, as published by Image Comics. They weer dark, violent, totally compelling, and they all had that signature Bendis dialogue and flow. Here we present the four of them — Torso, Jinx, Goldfish and Jinx — each one reprinted as a Definitive Edition with tons of extras and bonus material.
TORSO TP
$24.95
Cleveland: 1935. Eliot Ness, fresh from his legendary Chicago triumph over Al Capone and associates, set his sights on Cleveland and went on a crusade that matched, and sometimes even surpassed, his past accomplishments. Dismembered body parts have started washing up in a concentrated area of Lake Erie Sound. Their headless torsos have left no clues to their identity or the reason for death. Elliot Ness and his colorful gang of "The Unknowns" chased this killer through the underbelly of Cleveland for years. As far as the public was concerned he was never captured. But what really happened is even more shocking.
This award-winning collection includes a historic photo essay of the actual murders. Torso was nominated for an International Horror Guild award for best graphic story and for 3 International Eagle Awards.
Over the past few years we’ve seen some absolutely epic events in the Marvel Universe, each one with ramifications that affected years and years’ worth of Marvel stories. (I’d say more but I hate to give anything away. Suffice it say, people die!) Today we wanted to highlight five such events, starting with 2005′s House of M and working all the way up to Fear Itself! If you’ve been wanting to catch up on recent Marvel Universe history, these trades are a great place to start. And they’ll get you ready for the up and coming Avengers vs. X-Men event!
HOUSE OF M TP
$24.99
THE MARVEL EVENT OF THE DECADE IS COLLECTED HERE! The Avengers and the X-Men are faced with a common foe that becomes their greatest threat: Wanda Maximoff! The Scarlet Witch is out of control, and the fate of the entire world is in her hands. Will Magneto help his daughter or use her powers to his own benefit? Starring the Astonishing X-Men and the New Avengers! You know how sometimes you hear the phrase: AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN? Well, this time believe it, buster! NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN! Collects HOUSE OF M #1-8 and THE PULSE SPECIAL EDITION.
Last week I read Witch Doctor, Vol. 1: Under the Knife, which was closer to traditional super heroes than I normally read. Actually, it was more of a supernatural slightly humorous noir story than anything else. But, because it was more mainstream I felt like reading some more superheroes this week. This lead me to Chase, written by Dan Curtis Johnson and J.H. Williams III, illustrated by J.H. Williams III and more, published by DC.
Chase is the story of Cameron Chase, an investigator for the D.E.O. (Department of Extranormal Operations). It’s the D.E.O.’s job to catalog existing superheroes and ‘assist’ emergent metahumans before their powers get out of control. In this collection, among other adventures, Chase encounters a boy whose pyrokinetic abilities are just starting to manifest and has to go on an assignment to determine Batman’s real identity.
I picked Chase because of a couple of reasons: (1) J.H. Williams III, and (2) its’ cult status. Between his work on Promethea with Moore, Seven Soldiers of Victory with Morrison, and his current Batwoman series J.H. Williams III is one of the great artists of this generation. I rarely pass up a chance to see great art! Chase was published just before Promethea so this was a great opportunity to see how Williams art has developed over the years. Also, I believe this is one of his first attempts at writing a series so I was very curious to see how this compares to his current writing.
Before I get into my reviews this week (as always Beware of Spoilers!), I wanted to point out some great books that are not getting the full review treatment: ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #6 continues to be my favorite Avengers book, AQUAMAN #5 pushed the series in the right direction and like Daredevil is one of the more fun superhero comics coming out of the Big Two, and I VAMPIRE #5 was wickedly entertaining. With that in mind, here are my reviews:
AMERICAN VAMPIRE #23
Vertigo (DC) Comics
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Rafael Albuquerque
I did not review the first part of this story-arc last month, but it was a fantastic opening issue taking place in the 1950s. Travis is living fast killing vampires. Childhood trauma wired him well for it, and he’s been chasing the vampire driving the car in front of him all of his life. Sure the vamp’s got Piper, the girl he was going with to get close to a pair of vamps years before, but he will not let that distract him now.
Travis, as a new character, embodies the 1950s bad boy. Whereas much of this series has focused on specific vampires, this arc makes a human character the central focal point. His backstory is unfolding in slivers, and his methods for killing vampires is grand. (I still love that European vampires and American vampires have different powers and weaknesses.) I kind of saw the big reveal coming at the end, but it was nice to see nonetheless. I thought Snyder might try to stretch it out for a few more issues. I am glad he did not.
The ultra cool, fancy dancy, upside down and backwards book that was Batman #5 absolutely crushed the competition in last weeks poll! Congratulations to Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and the rest of the Batman team on another resounding victory. It is easily one of the best comics coming out today. Read it up!
Kicked up the nominee list to twenty five comics for you today! As I mentioned yesterday, I am going with Walking Dead #93 as my Best Book of the Week. But now it’s your turn! Vote it up! And as always, comments are welcome!
What was the best book of the week?
Aquaman #5 (10 Votes)
American Vampire #23 (6 Votes)
Fantastic Four #602 (6 Votes)
Justice League #5 (4 Votes)
I Vampire #5 (3 Votes)
Mighty Thor #10 (2 Votes)
Walking Dead #93 (2 Votes)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6 (1 Votes)
Justice League Dark #5 (1 Votes)
Secret Avengers #21.1 (1 Votes)
Ultimate Comics Ultimates #6 (1 Votes)
Angel & Faith #6 (1 Votes)
Teen Titans #5 (0 Votes)
Voodoo #5 (0 Votes)
X-Men Legacy #261 (0 Votes)
Superman #5 (0 Votes)
Transformers Robots in Disguise #1 (0 Votes)
Nancy in Hell on Earth #1 (0 Votes)
King Conan #1 (0 Votes)
Green Lantern New Guardians #5 (0 Votes)
Game of Thrones #5 (0 Votes)
Flash #5 (0 Votes)
Deadpool #49.1 (0 Votes)
Captain America and Bucky #626 (0 Votes)
Batman The Dark Knight #6 (0 Votes)
Still not enough picks! My favorite was... (0 Votes)
DC certainly held up it’s end of the bargain this week and Dynamite might have shipped everything they had, but your stack may have been a little light this week if you’re mostly reading Marvel comics. The shipping juggernaut that is Marvel seems to have slowed it’s roll a little bit as of late. Which is probably a good thing. As to the actual comics, plenty of surprise endings to be found but I don’t know that many of my nominees will surprise you today.
Nominees!
AMERICAN VAMPIRE #23 – As expected it was excellent. Do have a bone to pick with the issue. Our rock-n-roll teenage vampire hunter had a flashback this issue. Fifteen years ago. Which makes him at most four years old in the flashback scenes? Not so sure that worked. Dates and ages do get tricky at times. But that’s nitpicking. Hey! What else ya gonna do when a books this good! And if you are looking for a non-super hero book to read they don’t get much better than American Vampire.
ANGEL & FAITH #6 – The first of our surprise (and also fantastic) endings on the list today. Was titled Daddy Issues Part one. Got a flashback with Giles as a young man dealing with his daddy. Faith’s daddy came looking for her. And while Angel’s daddy didn’t show up, he’s got some daddy issues of his own! Won’t spoil the ending here. I loved it. The reveal was great. The twist was better. Can’t wait to see how it all plays out.
AQUAMAN #5 – Because I think dealing with Atlantis, the sinking of Atlantis and Aquaman’s history under the water is the direction the title needs to go and this issue got us headed that way.
FANTASTIC FOUR #602 – Because Barry Kitson’s art looked awesome, Galactus was flat out cool, Sue Richards was flat out cool and that was quite a space battle.
I VAMPIRE #5 – As expected, excellent. Think I’ve nominated every issue so far and our second vampire book of the week. Third if you count Angel & Faith. Would not consider myself a “vampire” fan. But good is good and all three titles are excellent. And radically different. I Vampire is probably a little more of what you would expect from a “vampire” book. Art certainly tilts it that way. But Batman showed up this issue and the conversation/fight between him and Andrew, our immortal vampire on the side of good, was great. Plus Andrew showed off his sweet Jedi mind powers. Those aren’t the droids you’re looking for!
JUSTICE LEAGUE #5 – So many cool bits once again. Flash and Superman trying to outrun Darkseid’s omega beams was super cool. As was Superman catching one in the back! Green Lantern totally got punked, again. For a second I thought Darkseid was going to rip off his arm, Invincible style! That would have been even better! Batman going to get Superman was a great Batman moment. Please pick me up Mr. Parademon! And Wonder Woman had the line of the week. “It’s settled then. We blind him”. Whoa. Settle down, chickadee. Don’t let that Amazon blood go to your head. Liked it all. Almost. Batman de-cowling and declaring to Hal, “My name is Bruce Wayne” was bad enough. But the history lesson and psychoanalysis, in the middle of a very exciting fight, was just horrible. Good still out weighs the bad! I’m a glass well over half full kind of guy.
SUPERMAN #5 – The second of our surprise (and also fantastic) endings on the list today. When we first saw Superman he was battling to contain the Fire and Ice forces that we have seen throughout the first four issues. And he succeeds. Threat averted. Superman then declares, “I have a city to save” and flies away. What follows is Superman destroying a stash of killer robot parts, then killing Titano, then killing the Sky Raiders gang, then he drops a newscaster off a building killing him! What is up with Superman? Has he gone mad? Is he possessed by an alien entity? Wasn’t sure what was going on. And I loved the last page! ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #6 – As expected, excellent. So much is going on and it was an all talk issue! Loved how Reed Richards reacted to the Falcon’s infiltration attempt. Um…your captured. Feel free to look around and report back on what you see, we have nothing to hide. Just be aware that human kind is now an endangered species and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Take that! The funny thing is I may actually believe the evil villain boast this time! I don’t see the Ultimates beating them. Actually hope they don’t. Hope it’s a permanent status quo change. I like how the new world order is shaping up. And the rest of the issue was just as good. I’m always up for a good bust on Tony Stark. Unnamed evil corporate lady says, “Keep it up and I’m going to think you’re super-power is actually impuissance” Wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. Knew it couldn’t be a compliment. Had to look it up. What it means is…Quit crying Tony! So what if twenty-seven million people died, it was all part of our plan to ruin the world’s economy! We used to own 1.7% of the worlds assets. Now we own 9%. We’re rich-er! Get it together man, we’re trying to take over the world!
VOODOO #5 – The third of our surprise (and also fantastic) endings on the list today. Always thought there was something a little weird going on with Voodoo. I know it’s the new 52 and all that but she just didn’t seem quite right to me. And now we just might know why.
WALKING DEAD #93 – After Andy’s highlights, Shawn’s Showcase and my Best Covers I finally got to read it. Wow. Did I laugh. Rick you are one crazy dude. I warned you. Run. Run. Run. Totally awesome! And on page three I knew I was reading the Best Book of the Week!
Poll tomorrow! If you want anything unusual listed, like Transformers or Witchblade, you got the next twenty four hours to send in your nominees!
Yes indeedy Andy is on vacation this week. Sunny San Diego. Which leaves me to bring you the Best Covers of the Week today. Have only had the honor once before. Much better covers to choose from this time around. First up…
American Vampire #23
Cover by Rafael Albuquerque
I was just talking to Andy about this the other day. Don’t know what kind of car you drive but my car trunk is too small! Can’t even fit a full size spare tire in it. Not to mention our weekly comic book haul. Back in my glory days of yore when I was zipping down Route 66 in my enormous Cadillac Coupe de Ville I could fit all sorts of things in my trunk. Frozen dinners, a jukebox, a pay phone, a typewriter, a bunch of hula hoops, an entire collection of Collier’s Weekly, you know, all the important things in life. And, yes, if on occasion you had to stash a dead body in the trunk, there was still plenty of room!
King Conan #1
Cover by Andrew Robinson
I only see one thing when I look at this cover. Cowboy Ninja Viking! Don’t you miss Cowboy Ninja Viking? I miss Cowboy Ninja Viking. If you’ve never read Cowboy Ninja Viking, you should read Cowboy Ninja Viking, it is quite awesome. Cowboy Ninja Viking is so awesome that Brian Michael Bendis turned Moon Knight into Spiderman Wolverine Captain America. He must miss Cowboy Ninja Viking too!
Meanwhile on a Conan note, only a couple more weeks before CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 by Brian Wood (Northlanders, DMZ, Demo) and Becky Cloonan comes out. Not to dis this fine fine comic to the left of me, I’m sure it’s good, Timothy Truman is a pro, cover is of course awesome and it’s "classic" Conan done right. Hoping Mr. Wood brings a fresh modern take to his world of Conan, got my fingers crossed, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he has up his sleeve.
Walking Dead #93
Cover by Charlie Adlard
Andy touched on it in his Highlight. Shawn mentioned it in his Showcase. And there is absolutely no way I’m not talking about it here. Great cover!
And while that may or may not be Rick looking down upon a community soon to be engulfed in flame, you just know he had something to do with it, don’t you? If my memory serves me correctly, and my memory is not very good, I think it was Dale some 50 or 60 issues ago that opined something along the lines of…We’ve got to get away from Rick before he gets us all killed! And wasn’t it only four or five issues ago that dude who hatched a rebellion said basically the same thing…We’ve got to take back control of our town before Rick gets us all killed!
Pay attention! The last thing Rick needs is to come into contact with more people and/or communities! If you see Rick coming you only have two choices. Put your faith in Jesus or RUN!!!! And although Jesus seems to be one tough hombre I would advise RUNNING!!!!
FF #14
Cover by Mike Choi & Guru e-FX
Say what? What kind of name is Guru e-FX? If you want to change your name I have no problems with that. You go right ahead. But c’mon. Guru e-FX? How about something cool like Meta World Peace. Love to watch Lakers games these days. Listening to the announcers is hilarious. World Peace with the rebound. World Peace goes up for a shot. World Peace rejected! Five seconds left. World Peace races across the timeline. World Peace for three. World Peace for the win!
But that is not actually why I included this cover today. We do have a bit of Galactus history here at the store. He’s large and in charge on our mural and is our commenting avatar icon. And that’s a really big Galactus hand. With what looks like some celestial power emanating from it. Not sure who that clown flying up to meet the celestial powered gigantic Galactus hand is but he stands no chance. No chance at all. SCRUNCH! Galactus Rules!
As I looked over the list of comics making the Showcase this week I saw one reoccurring theme. Three books about Vampires make the list! That’s right. I am not even that big of a vampire fan, but these three books are so good that they have to make the list. So, with that in mind, let’s check them out!
With apologies to some of the other books coming out this week, I think the biggest release is Justice League #5. More than either of the Avengers books, Justice League has managed to give readers the kind of story they want from the biggest superhero team in comics. It is fun, funny, epic in scale, and gorgeous to look at. It might not be the best book coming out, but it is a book that unites many different types of fans, and one they can all agree on for the most part.
My new theory that will begin to be examined in The Walking Dead #93 is that with the reveal that there are other “towns” with survivors in them, that every single one of them has a character like Rick who is destined to destroy mankind through the stupidity of their actions. I want all of the various Ricks of these towns to try and bring each other down, and then I want Carl to shoot every single one of them in the face. That is my hope for the new direction of the Walking Dead.
One of my favorite Marvel books comes out this week in Ultimate Comics Ultimates #6. Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic have restored the majesty of the original Ultimates run, and at the same time created an amazing threat for the team to face moving forward. The Children of Tomorrow, created by a demented Reed Richards, might be the best villains created for the Ultimate Universe yet!
.gif)
Welcome to another edition of Shawn’s Showcase. I am your host, Shawn. Right this way, if you please…
Ever since 
As the banner at the top of the cover states, "2 Months until Avengers vs. X-Men!" When this series came out it promised the return of Cable and some big old fights with the Avengers. Well, that promise has definitely been kept, as we saw Cable take on Captain America in the first issue and then Iron Man in the second. This time around? RED HULK.
This week, the first week of February, marks the beginning of the sixth month in DC Comics’ New 52 initiative! Fifty-two brand new #1 issues were at the start and several of the titles that were our early favorites back then come out this week! There’s Grant Morrison’s Action Comics, the last issue of which featured a very cool retelling of the hero’s origin; then there’s Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man, with this issue featuring art by John Paul Leon; and there’s Swamp Thing, Scott Snyder’s outstanding series of the Green, the Red and the Black, each of which represents some side in the fight. Plus, Red Lanterns, Detective Comics, and Stormwatch!
As I said when I pumped the first issue, "The crime noir collaborations between writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips have been, without using too much hyperbole, unbelievably awesome and completely and utterly fantastic." And that was before I’d even read it!
A lot of you have picked up on the awesomeness that is Luther Strode. He’s the guy who makes a wish upon a .jpg)
You’ve heard us talk about American Vampire before. In fact, you might have even seen it over in the 
Our first official Whiz Bang of the year last week was one of our favorites: Marvel hardcovers. This Wednesday, February 1, we are going back to another one of our faves and rolling out the massive MINI-SERIES WHIZ BANG! That’s right, for this week only — lasting through next Tuesday, February 7 — all collected mini-series back issues will be 50% OFF!
The headliner for the week is easily Winter Soldier #1 from Marvel Comics. Be on the look out for a highlight on Tuesday! Can’t wait to see what Ed Brubaker has in store for Bucky. Also from Marvel this week, Uncanny X-Men #6, Avengers X-Sanction #3, Defenders #3, Fear Itself Fearless #8, Punisher #8 and Amazing Spider-Man #679!
BATMAN #5
CHEW – I gave the first Chew trade paperback to a customer the other day and I swear no later than two hours later he came right back and bought the other three trades plus the three subsequent single issues. (
In April Marvel is releasing 
Last week I read 
Before I get into my reviews this week (as always Beware of Spoilers!), I wanted to point out some great books that are not getting the full review treatment: ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #6 continues to be my favorite Avengers book, AQUAMAN #5 pushed the series in the right direction and like Daredevil is one of the more fun superhero comics coming out of the Big Two, and I VAMPIRE #5 was wickedly entertaining. With that in mind, here are my reviews:
Loading ...
DC certainly held up it’s end of the bargain this week and Dynamite might have shipped everything they had, but your stack may have been a little light this week if you’re mostly reading Marvel comics. The shipping juggernaut that is Marvel seems to have slowed it’s roll a little bit as of late. Which is probably a good thing. As to the actual comics, plenty of surprise endings to be found but I don’t know that many of my nominees will surprise you today. 
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #6.jpg)
King Conan #1.jpg)
Walking Dead #93
FF #14
.jpg)
.jpg){kind=link}
