Dead-wood Dispatch Comic Pull List Thanksgiving eve 2015

So welcome to my thoughts on what comics I plan to buy this week at a budget of twenty dollars with some additional thoughts on what collections I might pick up if I was leaning that way...

Ringside #1

I'm a pretty unashamed fanboy when it comes to the books Joe Keating writes wether they be superhero, magical realism or like this one ringside drama. On and off during my life I have been a fan of the squared circle that is the business of wrestling; I'm a second generation fan of sorts as my grandfather loved professional wrestling well before the age of its media hay day.i had the opportunity to talk to Joe himself about this at RCCC and got a real good feeling that this title would be the kind of onstage backstage drama and games with over the top combat that will be to my taste. I expect big personalities big egos wacky stories and well lots of good sports entertainment. Joe is a well apt storyteller who creates some truly memorable characters. Nick Barber is a new name to me so I can only say that his spare style reminds me of Michael Aron Oeming of Powers and The Victories. $3.99

 

Black Magick #2

The first issue established the down to earth tone of this magic infused police drama; it is the other side of the Doctor Strange coin as much of the inspiration for the Magick practiced is based on real Wicca. Greg Rucca is someone who has been writing hard boiled crime stories for the majority of his career and I terms of pacing and tension he did create that with his initial issue of this series quite well. The real revelation for me here was his teaming with Nicola Scott who's art I think I may have seen in the past but I don't think I have read a book she illustrated and she is good, really good at telling a story through her art and that is not always the case with art that has her sense of realism. So yeah if moody, realistic crime drama with occult overtones is attractive this is surely a book to look at if for Nicola' art alone with those amazing colours. $3.99

 

All New Wolverine #1

I picked up the first issue on a whim because I loved David Lopez's art and storytelling from Captain Marvel and his design for Laura is so very real looking. Tom Taylor is a writer I have been reading good things about but have never really sampled and I can only say that this book was one of the best I bought two weeks ago and that is saying a lot given how good some of my regular books were that week. Between the fast moving and well plotted action, the pretty witty banter and the emotional hotspots hit in the story I really feel that this book is something not to be missed as it captured somehow what made Logan stories work for me and it's when the character is more then just the best at what she/he does and this is that book $3.99

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1

Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclair are a known quantity to me as I happened to have picked up their Rocket Gril from image and that book even though it's pretty slow is always a fun read and well anything with a Kirby legacy will attract my attention. I have to say for the most part it's the odd and not the norm from Marvel that has been on my must have list recently and this fits the bill and sometimes have no preconceptions or expectations about something is pretty nice. I'm sure I know the audience that this is targeted at and I hope it finds it as more light and fun books with a different flavor are only a good thing for the grim and dark comics market. $3.99

Rumble #10

So after saying that about grim and dark books I add to my list Rumble which looks to fit that description pretty well. John Arcudi's someone who makes a blend of the dark with heart and humor that lift the tone of what might be a one note idea in someone else's hands. Rumble takes the Hellboy idea of a world where monsters exist alongside us into a very different place, one where the end of the world is not neigh and everyday worries are more the stakes along with the occasional monster hunt and sword fight. This issue promises to add a new wrinkle to the story as well as more new regular characters. It's a great twist of a genre and I happen to like both sides of it. $3.50

 

And that gets me just about at twenty even.... This week also brings Silk #1 back to the Marvel universe and it may sucker me too as I liked the earlier Cindy Moon title but am uncertain about the whole sinister take on the story but it's got the same great writer who also has Venom Space Knight #1 out this week.

And have a great November Holiday .... Thanks for reading my questionable thoughts.....

 

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Dead-wood Dispatch Comics Pull list Nov 18 2015

Oh so it's another week of hard choices when sticking to a comics budget of twenty dollars and yet again it's a hard week even to pick a single must have books as I really consider two to be must haves out of my pull list. So again it's going to be a week of making choices for me and I suspect for many readers. An I will get right to it....

 

This week for these two books are pretty essential, Pretty Deadly #6 by Kelly Sue Deconnick and Emma Rios picks up the Thad tale of Deathface Ginny, Fox and Sissy in a new era set amongst the horrors of the war to end all wars. It's been a while since The Shrike, the first five issue story arc but much of the beautiful art and story remain with me when I think about the title. This was the first of Kelly Sue's creator owned work I read and like Captain Marvel I fell in love with the book and with the georgous art by Emma Rios who looks to have outdone herself with the new storyline. This is the kind of alternate archetypical mythological history that I happen to love and well to be honest I would buy it even if I had not seen a bit of preview as neither of them have ever dissapointed me. $3.50

And Shutter #17 I simply could not make a choice between the two to be honest as I went back and forth Eve as to which cover to post first. Shutter created by the team of Joe Keating and Leila Del Duca is a modernish action adventure story centering on a certain Kate Christopher who's world is about ninth percent more magical and fantastic then our own as there are magical portals, mythical creatures, talking animals and real furries and at least for her mysteries and dangers abound. Joe and Leila have something really special, fun, touching and always surprising going on here and I encourage people to check it out ... no really I can't shut up about it sometimes... It's ... Well I happen to love the book. $3.99

 

Wayward #11

Wayward by Zub and Cummings for those who missed the first two story arcs last year to me was kind of a love letter to multiple Japanese urban fantasy manga reaching back to the nineteen sixties right up to the present with touches of western UF thrown in for good measure. I got a sense that Jim and Scott both have a real love for the source material of their story and a love for their Japanese setting that matches my life lone interest in the country the culture its history mythology and media. The stories introduced us to both the old mythos and he new mythos as they come head to head in modern day Tokyo and a group of new "gods" displace the old. I'm pretty exited to see what they have in store as this is not a good vs evil sort of book even tough it seemed like one in the beginning. $3.50

Ms. Marvel #1

Though I'm not sure if G Willow Wilson's marvelous coming of age superhero book need a signal boost but I have to mention it because she has always managed to touch me with Kamala's heart and spirit. This new volume starts with Kamala a member of the Avengers, a part of a group she was a life long fan of in the wake of a team up with her heroine Captain Marvel and an actual world ending event; I guess the big question is where will the story go from here. What I expect is we will be getting more of the self searching heroine we came to love. In the end of the first volume of Ms Marvel she learned that she had not hidden her secret so well from her family as she thought and had a heart to heart with Bruno one of her few friends that know her secret... there is so much story left to be told. Ms Marvel is really for me the new flagship character at marvel no matter who the corporation seems to think it is. $4.99

 

Rat Queens #13

Talk about Rat Queens has quieted down but I know it has a pretty solid fandom out there. This is the fantasy series that from the start for me has been the story I wish that my old fantasy role playing games would have been; fun and irreverent about a band of characters that honest love and respect each other and to whom each other's stakes matter as deeply as their own. It's the kind of fantasy book that's unafraid to be just what it is and at weapons point dare you to say otherwise. This story takes us and the girls to a dark mirror version of the magical academy story and delves into the equally dark past of our lead Rat Queen Hanna. $3.99

 

And that gets me just shy of twenty.... And there is still more good stuff out there to be had to name a few that are tempting... Jem and the Holograms #9, The Mighty Thor #1, Huck #1 and Sam Wilson Captain America #3 to name just a few. We are kind of in a sequential storytelling Renaissance and it's a great time to be a comics lover...

 

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Dead-wood Dispatch Comics pull list Nov 11 2015

It's another bit if a calm week where I have some books that are the new shiny that may tempt me but the books I really want are pretty solidly great books and I can always get the others sometime as there will be plenty of them about. I try to keep this list to a budget of twenty and I'm getting better about keeping to the dispatch list in reality.... I am curious if anyone would like me to follow up with what I actually bought....

 

 

 

Zodiac Starforce #3, the Wicked and the Divine #16, 8House #5

So what is this, I usually pick a book I can not pass up and this week these three books all for their own reason fit that bill as the must have for me (but really everything on the list is kind of a must have). Zodiac Starforce Kevin Panetta and Paulina Ganucheau' love letter to the magical girl genre is a must as I have a soft place in me heart for those manga/animation friendship drama costumed superhero mashups particularly with a solid female cast. The story really hit the ground running as they sadly only have four issues at the moment and I'm hoping sales will get another outing for Kim, Emma, Molly and Savi as the girls and their brightly colored dangerous world is somewhere I have come to look forward to visiting. There s a collection coming on the heels of the end of the mini series but don't wait if you like series like Sailor Moon, Utena, Ms Marvel or Batgirl so so check this out. $3.99.

The Wicked + the Divine #16 This book usually figures high in my list but this issue is particularly a draw as its a story illustrated by Leila Del Duca who is about my favorite artist as she can do so so many different styles and what more it's th story focusing on the Morrigan... the more goth then thou god. Each of the commercial suicide issues has built on our knowledge of these curiously compelling characters and this intricately wrought story of celebrity and power and somehow managed to forward the story all the same. We now know who the heavy is but I have nought a clue as to how this story may in fact end. Kieron Gillen actually may be my go to writer for drama right now in comic terms. I may have to even buy both covers. $3.50

8house #5 Yorris 8house is an odd series as its not something I can pigeonhole and that is a good thing I think; it's an anthology of possibly related fantasy/science fiction stories curated by the mind behind Island Brandon Graham. Yorris was a brilliant surprise as I had no clue as to how much I would love the issue from Fil Barlow and Helen Maier but for me it clicked and it's something I have to see more of. Of the 8house stories this one also delivered some background on how some of the stories may fit together into a bigger picture. This is a book that anyone who loves the darker side of fantasy, more existential fantasy should give a read. $2.99

 

Ultimates #1

The Avengers book that I got the most enjoyment out of before the end of the old Marvel (i.e. Before the all new all different...) was Mighty Avengers written by Al Ewing and this is the spiritual successor to that book. It picks up with the Blue Marvel and Spectrum who were mainstays of the old book and adds America Chavez from Young Avengers, Black Panther and Captain Marvel pretty much grabbing many of my favorite characters in recent memory. In addition it promises to be a big idea book, a cosmic level book and seems to be sporting some pretty glorious art from the previews I have seen. I will probably have to choose to support only one marvel team book given Powerman and Ironfist is on the horizon among others so this is the one I have to choose even though I'm tempted by the other new Avengers book arriving soon too. Oh and the promise of the big purple guy on the cover being in the initial outing does not hurt either. $3.99

Codename Baboushka #2

I really enjoyed some of the characterful scenes that played out in the initial installment of this spy/assassin series starring an anti-heroine last month. It's kind of a version of the Blacklist if Red was a woman at least a little or a flip on the Bond story as its derived from that tradition. The art is a mix of western comics and Japanese manga that somehow makes it its own thing and this is one of the books that gives you something extra with the backmatter section including essays about the action genre from a woman's voice. I love the way that Anthony Johnston of The Fuse and Shari Chankhamma who colors the Fuse and does a heat job with the art here have this book set up to be a series of yearly stories about the woman called Baboushka giving the idea there is more to look forward too without the pressure of a regular monthly that can lead to burnout. The first issue treated us to a lot of action and intrigue and I have hopes for a lot more. Oh and the b cover for this issue is also done by the above mentioned Leila Del Duca... $3.99

 

 

Descender #7

Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's survivor tale about a boy robot names Tim continues finally after the big reveal in the final issue of the first arc that revealed that the AI technology is something other then what we had been lead to believe and introduced us to a new big wrinkle in the science fiction watercolor story that is Descender. This is a SF take that I think is going to be doing a bit of interweaving of mysticism and mythology and though it's nothing like the superhero tale that was Tetsuwan Atom I think a lot of the feeling of the story is reminiscent of that amimation and manga classic. Given how good this book is I find it odd that I don't see all that many people writing about it, perhaps this arc with its new characters and direction may hook more readers to it. In addition to Plutona this is think is the Lemire book to look at these days.... $2,99

 

And that just tops twenty one dollars... Crap well at least it's close. Beyond these the creators behind the Thought Bubble Anthology 2015 have me pretty much hooked into picking that up and the artist fo All New All Different Wolverine made sure I will at least look through that and oh I think All New All Different Avengers may also be on the shelves this week...

There are lots of good books every week so what do you think needs more attention.....?

 

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Dead-wood Dispatch Comics Pull List November 4 2015

After las month and its book ends of truely expensive and tough decision weeks it's nice to see that November will at least start out pretty clear cut. I can actually pare down my list to under twenty dollars though I may go back and try to fill in the ones I skipped last month given its more then virtual flood. I don't have a trade reccomendation this week.... So on with a list of what I will be getting and a bit if why.

 

Monstress #1

Heading up this week and the title I would get over the rest is Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda's kaiju fighting steampunk magic title that looks truely georgous. I would have been up for trying it out as they had me at Marjorie Liu as creator and writer but after readi the interviews which describe a richly detailed and thought out world created between Marjorie and Sana and seeing some of the actual I had to preorder it. My excitement about this one actually made me choose to spotlight it over one of the books I adore from one of the big two and I guess you can chalk that up to having read Marjorie's X-23 and a couple of her novels and know that the writing will live up to the promise of the concept and the richness of the art. Extra long initial issue too... $4.99

 

Ms Marvel #1

G Willow Wilson's book is the one Marvel I have no doubt that will be a worthwhile read no matter the price but I a, kinda miffed that it's taking the hike to 3.99 after this first issue's larger the normal outing. Secret Wars is over and it's a new ... New Jersey with the same great hero defending it from whatever gets thrown at her. I'd hope that this new book will have the same devoted fans as the most wonderful first volume did and though she is in a team book too under the guiding hand of Mark Waid this is where her heart and the heart of her story is. I can not wait for it but it did get eclipsed by a book fully owned by its creators this week. $4.99

 

Doctor Strange #2

So Aaron and Bachalo's Doctor Strange was pretty much my favorite of the first month of the new Marvel, of the books I tried it was the one that left me waiting for more. Jason did a great job both hooking this old Strange fan with his introduction the the new Sorceror Supreme as well I think he did an apt job of making it a good first issue without resorting to the obligatory origin story except for the initial page. Between the art and the almost jovial and certainly fun writing they managed to set a tone that brightened up what in my recent memory was a fairly gloom ridden part of the Marvel universe and I'm hoping for more of that a lot more of that. $3.99

 

Midnighter #6

Steve Orlando has for sure left his mark on the character Midnighter and it was making him be the actual star of his own book. Splitting him from Apollo move have angered some fans of the Authority but it has let him shine on his own and be more then just another version of Batman and really the was this story has let us see him I don't this the comparison was ever apt; I mean M has no plan for taking out his friends and teammates like that other black clad vigilante does and he actually is not driven by the same motivations. With then end of issue 5 things may be getting darker for him but who knows like I said he's not the vigilante most people pegged him as so I am anxious to see the was the story develops. I spotlight this too because I read the sales are falling and I don't want to see one of the few DC books I actually support go away... $2.99

 

Paper Girls #2

Brian K Vaughan and Cliff Chang killed it on issue knew from this new series and that is pretty much no surprise because Brian gets great collaborators and well I think the they create stories that mean something deep to them. I have little clue as to what is happening in the book as of yet but that matters not as I know I like the girls who are the stars if this book. They are an eclectic mix of personalities and drives and well I found I wanted to know more... The book also happenes to be very very pretty in the best non-complient sort of way, oh and for all that it is on the bargin end to boot. $2.99...

 

 

Ant that is all for the I'm sure I'm getting them list and it's just under twenty.....

 

I may be tempted by Doc Shaner drawing one of the Green Lantern Darkseid Wars book and Citizen Jack book looks right up my alley... But we will aye to see how things go...

 

 

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