Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Comics Pull List June 1 2016

These weeks don't happen to me that often... Weeks when I really only have a single book that I would normally pick up so I get to kind of play a bit picking up books I might have otherwise passed on or go back and get some that I did pass on as I didn't want to stretch to pick up in my loose twenty dollar budget...

Papergirls 6 $2.99

Papergirls was one of the really enjoyable new books that oddly remains enigmatic as to what is really going on throughout its initial arc. Brian K Vaughan created a group of creat characters, put them through the wringer threw them around space and time and ended the arc with some of them tossed into our 2016 present from their era in the late eighties. Between the crazy cool story by Brian and the beautiful pages created by Cliff Chiang and Matt Wilson, whose linked pallet if colors create a stunning look overall, this is one of books your really should not miss out on and as this week we get the collection you don't have to... And we're I not crazy I'd save some money and leave it there...but

Power Ranger: Pink 1 $3.99

Ok I'll be honest even on a week where I was already at budget I would be likely to pick this up as the writing team includes Kelly Thompson (Jem, A-force) and Brenden Fletcher (Gotham Academy, Batgirl and Black Canary) and the few preview pages by the art team of Danielle De Nicuolo and Sarah Stren looks pretty damn nice too. I will have to say I never watched what the American producers did with all the Sentai shows they bought and reworked for the American market but I did have great fun watching the original series' when I got the chance in the late eighties and early nineties and miss those opportunities now. I look forward to seeing new stories about a character I've seen buy not really seen in this incarnation. I'm pretty confident the book is in excellent loving hands and worth the admission price. Oh and all those cover choices....

Punisher 2 $3.99

So as time has not allowed me to get to last months Punisher 1 I'm taking it on my faith in the kick ass writing of Becky Cloonan and the art of Steve Dillon that this is a book worth my attention and money. I will say that having Frank Castle mentioned in one of the books I did get to this week (Nighthawk... And good stuff it was...Plug plug) reminded that this was coming soon. Becky writes characters that are dark and disturbed quite well and has a great grasp of creating a sense of growing forbidding dread so I know that it's likely to be a worthy read. (Subsequently read the issue and fully justified in my opinion it's worth a look...)

 

The Revisionist 1 $3.99

Aftershock books have been hit and miss at my FLCS as i think if no one asks for it taking a risk I know can be a bit of a step too far so I don't know if I can get this but as Frank Barbiere is writing e book it's likely to be a good lot of pulp fictiony fun. Time travel suspense and horror combined is a good mix so I will hope to get a look at it. On the whole I've been quite happy with the Aftershock books I have had the luck to get and I'm sorry I didn't think about preordering this to make sure. ...

 

Anyway this week has some other books that will do really well out of the gate that have the title Rebirth in the title and I know they need no more hype and I'm possibly picking one or two up despite misgivings as to how committed DC is to change (I already miss Midnighter and I worry about the tone of the new Batgirl, Birds of Prey, and have hopes for Suicide Squad but... Time will tell) the other big company had a book bannered by the title Civill War that I hope does not adversely affect title I love over the next couple months... There is lots of good to look forward to and DC Bombshells comes out this week and I'm well behind on that and Legends of Wonder Woman so I'm sure to kill my excess budget...

Till next post take care and remember why you love comics and genre media as some fans are taking things too too personal sometimes...

Addendum

 

A-force 6 $3.99

Last months A-force was a real lot of fun with Kelly Thompson taking the reigns and looked amazing at the hand of Ben Caldwell and though it looks like he won't be on the title long the group of characters are a real joy. I mean honest how could you pass up a book that has Thor-Dazzler and punk rock Dazzler both in the same book. Of the many reasons to buy this is the sense of joy I get coming from the team working on it and look no crossover banner....

 

Monday, May 30, 2016

Pre-orders are paramount...

Hi there and here's another call to talk to your friendly local comic shop staff about the books your wanting wether it's a monthly book like me or it your trade waiting... hell given the price point on things and that fact comic shops can return nothing on the average for the life of a project it can be a make or break kind of thing. If you need visual aids I will put a link here to the nice comic tutorial Kieron Gillen put together a couple years ago that still holds true... I try to put in the diamond order codes after the title where I can to help but knowing the publisher month it's out and the title can usually be enough...

 

Secret Loves of Geek Girls edited Hope Nicholson (JUN 160030)

I am likely to gush about this book because Hope managed to pull together such a a brilliant collection of talent to celebrate all things geek that are created by women... and look they even got Kelly Sue Deconnick to add a forward. This started out as a Kickstarter project and as with many of the ones that get attention it's been picked up for another publishing run by Dark Horse Comics. Naming all the writers and artists Hope hot to contribute would take far too much space as I would have to just copy the table of contents but I have to mention Ireve Koh, Jen Bartell, Margaret Atwood, Marguerite Bennettn Sam Maggs and from the look of things they added some more for this version including a new cover. This is one of those times I'm going to have two copies as it was a book worth having twice... look at the people mentioned in the cover... Books like this are a gift you should really give yourself, and others...

 

Lady Killer 2 (JUN 160017)

Anyone who caught the last two issues of Spiderwoman, the Mockingbird SHIELD 50th anniversary special or the First Lady Killer series will for sure tell you that you should not miss out in the sheer joy that is Joelle Jones' art and storytelling. Lady Killer is a wonderful mix of fifties/sixties family values kind of imagery thriller movie plotting and blacksploitation/Terintino levels of violence and blood gloriously well illustrated. Lady Killer was one of last years books I enjoyed a hell of a lot and it could only have been better if the writer of Grindhouse herself Alex De Campi had written it as it would have fit so well into that anthology. Somehow the juxtaposition of wholesome seeming images and pools of blood seems to work... Yeah sometimes I'm not such a safe for work kind of person....

Prince of Cats HC (JUN 160680)

This is a reprint of Ronald Wimberly's eighties hip-hop punk version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by way of Tom Stoppard as it takes the story for the view of Tybolt. The story plays out in an underground sword dueling club in late last century New York... I've never seen the art for this but given the acclaim and words I have read about it the 24.99 pricetag makes this real tempting and if the cover art is anything to go on its sure to please...

 

So there are more new projects in August I'm exited about and I'll get to those later in the month... This weekend I'm going back to July as the initial order cutoff is coming up fast... Remember if you have been reading about Kim + Kim the order cut off I believe is the 3rd of this month... Just a reminder...

 

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Comics Pull List May 25 2016

Welcome to the end of another shipping month as this is the last #NCBD in May and as has become the the trend for me the week with most books that I'm interested in getting so trimming that list down to the twenty dollars to spotlight is pretty hard. I'll try to hit the books that I think may be lower on people's radar as they are usually the ones I'm more interested in.

Nighthawk 1 $3.99

So many reasons that this tops my list for the week; David F Walker is one of my favorite writers, one who definitely has something to say with this stories, Ramon Villalobos is one of the artists that combines the best of several art styles I enjoy while Tamara Bonvillain is a treasure as a colorist so creatively it's a go. Nighthawk is a new take in this character putting him in Chicago where the creative team gets to really build and define his world; a world taken from our headlines with all its ugly racism and contradictions and mires him right in the middle of all that potential explosive violence. This is not the Nighthawk of Mark Grunwald's Squadron Supreme it's a different one but the title seems to want to tackle social issues head on that that reminds me of that book from so long ago. I think it's going to be a pretty book written about ugly things and in the hands of someone unwilling to pull any punches.

Image + 2 $1.99

Yes this is pretty much an all in house ad for Image but like Marvel Age back in the eighties for the price it delivers value at least in my opinion. Issue one had an interview with Marjorie M Liu and some beautiful preview pages for Snot Girl with I already knew I'd be getting but those sealed the deal. In some ways this magazine is like the back matter pages from some of the image comics and the feeling I get from those, like being part of a community is kind of here in this too. This issue draws for me are the articles previewing the Prince of Cats reprint that I will definitely be ordering and the Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie spotlight. There is also a Walking Dead feature that I'm sure will be a draw but as I got inn so so late with that I think it may be my only real entry to that lovely book. What else can you get for $1.99 comics wise that is of this value?

 

Another Castle 3 $3.99

I'm the kind of reader who loves a twist on genre conventions, boos that take your expectations even if you know they are breaking the rules and still manage to make you go hmmmm that is unexpected. Andrew Wheeler and Paulina Ganucheau have one of those on the go here with this approach to the kidnapped/married off fantasy princess story. Another Princess's heroine is someone fully capable of saving herself as she proved in the initial issue and that is sure to be complicated by the heroes trying to save her on the way. For me the title is a sheer joy because of the human qualities of the minions of the evil King and the fact that Paulina Ganucheau is on of the creators on this because I'm so missing Zodiac Starforce...

Monstress 6 $3.99

Though this is coming late in my pull list this week it's probably the title I'm look forward the most but it's the end of the first story arc and that may make it a bit of a tough first issue. The complex fantasy world created by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takada so recently torn up by war and destruction faces the threat of yet another conflict on the horizon. The good thing if the art and promise of a deeply thought out complex fantasy story appeals to you image has gone to multiple printings of the first and second issues so stores hopefully have them on hand. Sure this will be collected soon but with the sheer detail of Sana's pages being able to lay them out flat without worrying about the binding is so nice... if you have not looked beyond the covers the insides are no less detailed. One of the best books out there right now.

Mockingbird 3 $3.99

Chealsey Cain got the opportunity to write this series based in the strength of her one shot issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of SHIELD and she's actually dealing with the wacko crazy history that Bobbi has had over the course of her super-hero/super-spy career. It's a book getting overshadowed by a particular spider themed soviet spy being written by a couple of well known guys to comics fans. Mockingbird is kind of the weird fiction X-files-y Sex Criminals-y spy book that needs more eyes on it and people talking about it. Diamond took forever to get copies out to my FLCS which they shorted but it was honesty good enough to be worth the wait. Diamond is apparently overs hopping this book so give it a go if you have a taste for a bit of the weird.

 

And I'm safely in budget so far... But this week is also an Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Parsy Walker AKA Hellcat and Divinity II week so I'm sure to be breaking that budget to support them too...

 

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Pre-Orders, the continuing saga of promoting....

As some books are hard for shop owners to prepare orders for and with the growing stable of books out there pre-orders are pretty paramount nowadays for the life or long survival of lesser then a list books. Your local shop or if you have none your mail order of choice pretty much lives and dies, well at least the books do, on the demand that shop owners see for new and continuing books soo....

Black Hammer 1 (May160013)

This new book by Jeff Lemire who seems to be doing so many damn titles now is one that may just fall a bit under most fans radar unless they are like me and are obsessive about checking comics news sites and blogs. Jeff and Dean Ormston are creating their own superhero setting from scratch and with there off beat will be a conservative description of the likely characters and story. Black Hammer is a book that takes the superheroes of another age that for one reason or another became outcast from their reality and are existing somewhere else in a farming town making due when trouble seemingly finds them again. If they are not actually the figures we know and love they are versions of things we love and have for editorial reasons lost and want back. It's sure to be worth exploring this further look at the victims of comic events $3.99 coming July 20.

Angel CatBird (May160020)

Margaret Atwood does very little writing for comics; this may be the second time as I now she did a little piece for the Secret Love of Geek Girls (I'll be spotlighting that book in a couple weeks). This original graphic novel combines her talent with Vancouver BC artist Johnnie Christmas (Sheltered) and colorist extraordinaire Tamara Bonvillain promises to be a pulp action story about a scientists creation in an adventure that may just be full of cat puns. With the talent it would be a surprise if this slips below the radar but reminders that cool projects like this are coming up are a good thing. If I recall right proceeds from this go to cat and bird related clarities. It's been months since the comics news sites mentioned it so here is a reminder.

Mae 3 (sorr can't find the previews number but it's MAY16....)

Gene Ha Kickstarted this book as an original graphic novel that introduced a new urban fantasy story and it's heroes a year or so back and it gained the attention of Dark Horse Comics and got a nod to be a series. The first issue of the series came out this week (May 18) to positive reviews and added some pages and background to the first half of the graphic novel making it a must to have even if you have the KS version. It's a urban fantasy about a pair of sisters one who left her younger sibling to become the hero of a portal fantasy world that returns home inadvertently bringing the fantastic back with her. It's a pure joy of a book both in story and in art and well worth a look if Buffy, Alice, Dorothy or the Winchesters are your kind of thing. Take a look at the first issue and ask for this one ... order numbers tend to fall after the first issue and it's nice to reverse that trend by preordering books in progress.

 

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Trade Waiting May 18 2016

Zodiac Starforce: By the Power Of Astra by Kevin Panetta and Paulina Ganucheau $12.99

I make no secret of the fact that I lived this mini-series as it was runnin and it was one of the projects last year I was exited about for months before it started and the book really did deliver on all its promise to be a love letter to the magical girl genre. They didn't linger at all doing an origin tale rather doing a getting the gang back together story that remained true to the themes of the genre the creators so obviously love it was as much about fighting to protect the earth and your teammates as it was about the power of friendship, mutual respect and love and managed to really look at the costs that these characters often pay to take the job they have seriously regardless of the crazy of it. The collection promises to have a few extras so I'll most likely happily get it all over again. It's a great adventure story that hopefully will be followed up on sometime soon as there are well more stories to tell I think if we show them the is a supportive audience for them.

 

Monday, May 16, 2016

Comics Pull List May 18 2016

So I'll start by with sending condolences to the friends, family and loved ones of Darwyn Cooke and say that I saw so many lovely posts about him over the weekend it's obvious he was much loved and respected. Go look him up is your unfamiliar as his work is a real joy to look at and well it's good to celebrate great artists. This is a slim week for me so sticking to my twenty dollar budget might be a possibility but I know I tend to go and try things when I have a chance... But the two regular books I get are pretty exceptional...

 

Mirror 4 2.99

Emma Rios and Hwei Lim's genre crossing book really is one that is hitting so many elements I love about comics. The story manages to be rooted in fantasy science and mythology all at once as so much of the story and imagery can reference any or all of the three. I still stand by my thoughts on it initially as the soft ethereal feel of the art makes a great partner to the work of Dustin Nguyen in Descender and the serious nature and themes am a and Hwei are touching on makes me think of Monstress. It's truly a georgous book and I'm happy to be back reading comics right now as there is so much to love. It's one of the books i love as it can be read on many levels including as a brilliant adventure starring human animal hybrids and talking animals who curiously bring to mind the creatures of myth.

Power Man and Iron Fist 4 $3.99

So the good deed that brought Luke Cage and Danny Rand back together is kinda, read full on, blowing up in their faces as their former employee becomes their new nemesis. So yeah the Heroes for Hire are so not getting back together like Luke told Jessica. David F Walker and Sanford Green are doing a band up, sometimes literally, with the new book starring these mis matched buddies and it's been a joy to get them back after so long. In the same way Ultimates is the best crazy cosmic title in Marvels stable this is the best book about freindship and doing the right thing. Honestly I have to ask if your not getting this book why not. Ok enough gushing it's a great read with pretty unique art and marvelous dialogue. No really it's the week to give this book a go.

 

And well outside my normal list there are a couple I will seriously consider...

Dept H 2 $3.99

Matt Kindt is the perfect person to write a murder mystery at the ocean floor. From MIND MGMT he has proved to be able to do drama, suspense and blend of weird fiction and thriller. I picked up issue one and a lark and given I have space to play this week I'm likely to pick it up as I enjoyed his set up and liked his fish out of water investigator searching for her fathers killer a one the only set of dubious suspects there are in this twist on a locked room mystery. Like Jeff Lemire Matt's art style is indosyncratically all him and I have to say the colors by hi wife Sharlene are pretty amazing and as clearly hers as his art is his. If your like me and can do with a bit of different this book is probably your man.

 

 

 

 

Goldie Vance 2 $3.99

So I picked up Goldie Vance 1 as it was just too good looking when I flipped through it and sadly have yet to give myself the time to read it. It's got that Nancy Drew, Veronica Mars Tin Tin kind of young clever investigator vibe and I have fond memories of the old Nancy Drew stories. So I can not say much more then it's got a very charming look to it kitschy and a bit Starman retro....

 

Spider-woman 7 $3.99

This Dennis Hopeless book is one I sadly passed on early on given budgets and I've picked up here and there and it's a pretty great book... It's even greater as Joelle Jones is doing a couple issues before returning to her book Lady Killer; she so well draws pretty without being exploitive... This issue also introduces Jessica's doppelgänger from Earth 66...

 

And that gets me right up to the edge of my twenty dollar limit...

 

Be good to each other and check me back tomorrow for a bit of collection reccomendation...

 

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Pre-orders, a call for open excitement July/August pt 1

Not sure why I hadn't started a feature like this before given my awareness of the importance of pre-orders for the survival of books given the odd vagaries of the direct market. Different shops have different ways of doing these things some liking the Diamond item codes some just the titles so I'm going to try to include bother where I can. (Im going to do a separate post about why I think pre-orders are vital ...). Today I'm going to hit a couple books from Black Mask Comics... I'm hitting these first as they are the books I just added to my personal list

 

 

Kim + Kim (May161208)

By Magdalene Visaggio, Eva Cabrera and Claudia Aguirre

If you want to get a bit of a preview of this Bleeding Cool has a preview posted here and if your like me lamenting the end of Angela Queen of Hel this may be for you too. The write up you can check out here on Black Mask Studios site and promises to be a book about the power and validation built between friends against a day glow sci fi "queer as shit" Tank Girl-ish adventure story that puts me in mind of the late eighties anime Dirty Pair but with a trans-woman and a lesbian as our rough be tumble heroes. I'm looking forward to the journey this book promises to take us on. It's got support from some of my favorite people in the comics industry with alternate covers and well though it's not a romance book like Angela I think it will fill that void left in my comic reading life.

 

Jade Street Protection Services (APR163034)

By Katy Rex, Fabian Lelay, Mary Jayne Carpenter and Taylor Esposito

Like Kim + Kim this book fill a void in the books I'm getting right now, the book is being touted as a bit of a magical girl story about the bad girls from a magical academy who meet in detention and learn the assumptions about their world may just be wrong and the realty a bit darker. It sounds to be a book that will appeal to readers of Gotham Acaademy and Zodiac Starforce or Sailor Moon fans who want to see that genre from a bit different angle. To me it's great to see new writers doing something new with the genre and stories they love and again it seems to have support from cool people around the comics world. It's one of Black Masks first all ages appropriate books and I have hopes it will reach a enthusiastic vocal audience.

 

Anything new that your asking your friendly local comic shop for or that you full on exited for in the coming month that's off the beaten trac.... I'm going to be posting something like this regular... till Monday and the pull list post...take care...G.

 

Monday, May 9, 2016

Comics Pull list May 11 2016

Free Comic Book Day looked to have some amazing events that went far beyond just stores paying for book for us fans to have on their dime and the haul of heat books was more then I could reasonable take. Went a wee bit overly twenty dollar budget last week given two visits to my FLCS so here's hoping I can keep some self control and keep myself to the list I put up here this time around. For the new here I post up a list of my actual pull list keeping to books I think get less word of mouth around me and ones I honestly love or expect to....

Island 7 $7.99

For those of us who love weird science fiction fantasy stories like me Island has been brilliant and I have to say I'm a huge fan of the diverse tastes of Brandon Graham and Emma Rios who curate this book. In seven issues they have already made it a magazine that has hit my wide ranging comic tastes more often then not and have introduced me to artists and stort telling I would not have known I'd love the hell out of. Yes the price is a stretch but if you like a true variety of storytelling Island is only the cost of two normal comics these days and delivers a massive page count by comparison without all the adds and the everpresent hype. It's pure comic from contents to back cover sometimes. Brandon and Emma choose stories from creators who have a variety of storytelling chops and who push boundaries that may just challenge some readers but I happen to enjoy having my eyes opened and like a bit of an existential quandary. It's one of the books I pick up without a bit of a flip through as I know it's worth my time and money.

 

Shutter 21 $3.99

Joe Keatinge and Leila Del Duca's collaboration in Shutter is a book I find ever satisfyingly surprising in story and in technique as the entire creative team push themselves on this book. Shutter is also one of the books that I would suggest not to trade wait for as the back matter community what correspond with Joe and Leila makes for good reading as well especially if your lacking in local comic reading friends like me at the moment. It's a book of globe and genre crossing adventure and family drama about a woman attempting to have a quieter life in a very fantastical world. Were I to measure other $3.99 books by my enjoyment of Shutter as a benchmark I would likely have an easier time keeping to budget as it is such a satisfying read cover to cover.

Ultimates 7 $3.99

Al Ewing is writing the best Avengers book at marvel these days (I have yet to get to last weeks A Force though) for my money and it's one that does not bear the A branding. Ultimates is the new Marvel FF title... go with me on this it's not a book about prejudice politics or the monthly superhero wrestling match it's a book about exploration of the boundaries of science reality and solving problems in honestly new ways. This is Marvels new cosmic book in my opinion and look on the covers alone says that with Galactus being a character over a force of nature and this one has got the cosmic bad Thanos himself. It's the marvel book to be reading now as Angela is gone....

Jem and the Holograms 15 $3.99

Sophie Campbell may have been the reason I started getting this but her collaboration with Kelly Thompson is the reason it's still in my list and makes it into the buy this week post. Ever since the mid eighties comics companies have done the retread of the Dark ...... filling the blank story to varying effect and given the huge cast of Jem this has been a brilliant story thus far. I don't recall much of the animated series or how deep they allowed the Misfits to become there but here I'm really becoming quite attached to all of them and particularly Pizzaz in this arc. It's a complex villain-less drama that so effectively creates a silent music experience. Applause is appropriate for the women that work on this book...

 

And though I have a few more titles to mention I have hit my twenty dollar limit...

Black Panther 2 arrives this week along with Southern Bastards 14 and 4001 XO Manowar special that promises a giant robot vs a space mecha dragon...so yeah gonna be over budget again... not to mention the collections coming out that I will hit later in the week...

So sorry Jem readers I'm wrong about that as it does not seem to be on the shipping list so....

Southern Bastards 14 $3.50

So I don't get this well received book all that often but I did read the initial collection and the promise of Tubb's daughter opening up a can of whupp ass on a bunch of deserving rednecks is appealing to me. I know there has been a lt of good storytelling in the interim that has expounded on the townies but well to make room for books I wanted to support I kind of stepped away from this... Anyway I'm hoping it will be cathartic....

 

Monday, May 2, 2016

Comics Pull List post May 4 2016

I think it's going to be a bit of a rough month... got a hint of the shape of things to come with Angela Queen of Hel last week as one of my favorite current titles gives its farewell and I get a bit misty. This Month most of the DC books I get will be doing the same as Rebirth is on the horizon and well at least one book is not returning in any format. Anyway enough maudlin this is my weekly column where I tell you what my budget of twenty dollars will be spent on. I try to support or spotlight books that I think may be on the road to extinction hoping to signal boost for them. Anywho your here to see what I'm exited for this week.

Rat Queens 16 $3.99

Though not the last issue of this series it is sadly Tess Fowler's last issue as regular artist which also signals a bit of a hiatus as Kurt gets another colaborator for the book that is the fantasy adventure game we all wish our tabletop games were. After the complex and tearful tragedy ending of issue 15 the cover of this one signals a new status quo for the Queens and the inclusion of Braga as regular cast and seeing her there months ago exited me to no end. Tess Fowler has done a lot to define the way I see the Queens and Braga in particular as she did the art of that revelatory special issue. The Queens are rich deep and complicated characters making life work on their terms where the world would make them into something else. I will miss Tess' expressive art on the book but at least we have this last go round with her drawing them.

Midnighter 12 $2.99

Steve Orlando and ACO's Midnighter story comes to an end this week and I suspect we'll see some toys get put back in their places with this issue. M has shown over the course of the last year that he is all well and good defining his own damn self thank you very much. He's shown us more of his world, shown why he's not just a knock off of another vigilante and lived life on his own terms regardless of who he was before the experiment that changed him. The clever thing about this book is that it's avoided the pitfalls of mysterious figures like M, rather then revealing and wallowing in who he was it celebrated the person he is... it built a present that is vibrant and future writers if there are any can build on like Steve bout on the work of Warren Ellis. Midnighter at least found a loyal audience if one too small to warrant a longer run but sometimes a short solid story with a beginning middle and an end is better then one that drags long beyond its enthusiastic lifespan. It was a joyously violent book about a man seeking justice for the weak and what more could you want from a superhero book.

 

Punisher 1 $3.99

From one man of violence to another I'm surprised to be exited about a book about Frank Castle but I am. I am old enough to remember the original Punisher four part five issue mini series drawn by Mike Zeck and kind of wish I still had it to see if it was actually as good a read as I recall. Why would I say I'm surprised to want this well the luster wore off over time and numerous just ok or just downright repetive stories. I've missed some good ones along the way I'm sure but with Becky Cloonan taking the reigns here I have to take a look as I've loved her writing in Southern Cross and perhaps it's the right time for a bit of Punisher. No clue as to where she will be taking it but it's sure to be an interesting run.

Renato Jones The 1% 1 $3.99

This is one of the rare US titles that has a single vision behind it, Karre Kyle Andrews who did the same on Iron Fist recently is not producing his first creator owned book. I'm listening through the interview he did on Orbital in Conversation (link) and as with Iron Fist which I loved I'm enjoying what he has to say. This book looks to be a bit of a power fantasy one that I have had in fact given I've never earned much more then minimum wage. The idea of sticking it to the one percent and getting away with it is very very attractive but I know the title will be much more then that. Renato Jones promises to be a thumb in the eye to the exploiters at the top of the money pyramid. The issue is also double sized for the same price as the slim twenty two pagers.

 

A-Force 5 $3.99

This issue there is a whole new creative team as Kelly Thompson who writes the wonderful Jem and the Holograms takes over as writer and Ben Caldwell takes over as regular artist. Caldwell is someone I'd not heard of before but his rendition of these characters is down right lovely... the first three pages are out there to preview and they are well worth a look. Limits on my budget made me choose not to get the first arc but I had to make space for this one as Kelly writes very charming characters and as Captain Marvel' s own book has felt a bit flat to me I have hopes for this version of Carol Danvers (been enjoying her in Ultimates though). Post secret wars Marvel has been hit and miss for me and I expect this to be one of the hits.

 

And that is just about twenty... This week also sees Wicked and Divine 19 which I'm pretty assures to buy, 4001 1 which looks really very good also...

 

Anyhow share what you're exited about if you like...