ON
THE SHELF IN OCTOBER
by
Craig Reade
DARK
HORSE COMICS
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Page 26 - Hellboy: In The Chapel of Moloch,
$2.99, 32 Pages
By Mike Mignola, Colored by Dave Stewart
We do seem to be getting a lot of Hellboy these days, which
is great. Of course, some of this probably has to do with the
movie, but the hype surrounding that has died down quite a bit
(especially since The Dark Knight was released), and it is unlikely
that this issue is going to be a good movie-to-comic transition
issue. Mignola is doing the art, which is great - it has been
a couple years since he drew an issue of Hellboy, and it is
always nice to see him take up that role again.
The movie was entertaining - just like the first, and did a
lot for Hellboy's public profile as a property. If good comics
continue to come from that on a regular basis, then you can't
help but call the movie a success.
DC
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Page 60 - Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns
#1, $3.99, 40 Pages
Written by Geoff Johns, Art by Shane Davis and Sandra Hope
While Final Crisis has been lackluster at best, there is another
DC event looming on the horizon that has some promise: "Blackest
Night." This issue, while a titular Final Crisis tie-in,
might not be so closely linked with that story. Hopefully this
is the case - Johns' Green Lantern Corps saga is fantastic on
its own, a Final Crisis link would only weigh the story down.
This issue promises to be a "prelude" to Blackest
Night, with the new Red Lanterns warring with the Green Lanterns
over Sinestro. I have my reservations about all of Didio's talk
of possible Black Lanterns (all the name-dropping is making
me cringe), but we seem to be far from that point yet. No reason
not to enjoy a good story just because of oncoming potential
disaster. This issue should be worth picking up.
Page 63 - Vixen: Return of the Lion #1 (of
5), $2.99, 32 Pages
Written by G. Willow Wilson, Art by Cafu
This series makes me miss JSA Classified. That format was fantastic,
and if JLA Classified had followed it (and were still around),
this is exactly the kind of story that would be a perfect fit.
Vixen, while known, is certainly not on the A or B list of DC
Heroes, and some stories boosting her exposure would have worked
well in a JLA secondary title. Can't really say if the mini
is a better approach or not, but either way - if you are a Justice
League reader, you shouldn't forget to add this title to your
list. It will give some good background on Vixen, and will hopefully
end up being a decent read in the process.
Page 64 - Terror Titans #1 (of 4), $2.99,
32 Pages
Written by Sean McKeever, Art by Joe Bennett & Jack Jadson
Still not totally sold on the idea of Ravager going back to
the dark side, but McKeever has really hit his stride with his
recent Teen Titans stories so perhaps it is a good idea to trust
him. Ravager has been a key part of his Teen Titans story, and
moving to this mini as a centerpiece, it is clear that he intends
to develop her even more. Perhaps someday she would make an
excellent foil for the Titans, but it might be too early for
that. The best Titan villains have often been former members.
Unfortunately, she wasn't a member quite long enough for that
kind of impact. Hopefully this story is a vehicle for her redemption.
Either way, it should be a pretty good read.
Page 67 - Batman #681, $3.99, 40 Pages
Written by Grant Morrison, Art by Tony Daniel & Sandu
Florea
So is Bruce Wayne really going to die? That is what DC is trying
to tease with this story. Fans don't really seem to be buying
it (and there is a marked lack of interest overall in this story),
but comments at the San Diego Comicon call this story back into
question. Sure, it was played off like a joke, but every mention
of a potential dead character being met with an "I need
Black Lanterns" response was kind of an ominous thing,
especially when you consider how well that kind of tactic has
worked in comics before. Is Batman going to be killed, and returned
as a Black Lantern? Or is Bruce Waybe just going to be declared
completely insane, and unable to function as Batman any longer,
as other speculate? Or is this all hype, and everything will
return to the status quo once this story concludes? Impossible
to say really - but it looks like all of this will be answered
in October.
Page 74 - Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen Special
#1
Written by James Robinson, Art by Jesus Merino
Now this is a fun idea. As supporting characters go, Jimmy Olsen
(for some reason) always makes for an entertaining story. I
still remember that issue of Our Worlds At War he and Harley
Quinn was featured in - a real show stopper that was. The point
is - Olsen, as a character, can be confronted with all kinds
of strange and dangerous situations where he is hopelessly outclassed
and in dire peril, and still seem interesting. I'd love to see
him have his own ongoing again - odds of that are miniscule,
but this one-shot will be a nice treat. This issue will tie
into the New Krypton Special, so if you are getting that one,
don't forget this issue.
Page 75 - Supergirl #34, $2.99, 32 Pages
Written by Sterling Gates, Art by Jamal Igle and Keith Champagne
Great news all around for this title. Outside of seeing Igle
and Champagne together again (I still miss Firestorm), it is
exciting to finally have the prospect of a responsible
Supergirl. I don't mean the character - she is a teenage girl,
and "responsibility" isn't necessarily most teenagers'
strong suits. But since Supergirl was brought back, she has
been little more than an underage sexpot with absolutely no
redeeming qualities of her own. Coming right after a much more
practical Supergirl in Linda Danvers, Kara's reintroduction
was especially troubling. Still haven't heard a ton about where
this team will take Kara, but what we have heard so far is pretty
good. Fingers crossed on this one.
Page 106 - Unknown Soldier #1, $2.99, 32 Pages
Written by Joshua Dysart, Art by Alberto Ponticelli
A new Vertigo series is almost always worth a look, and DC is
really pushing Unknown Soldier. Already there were three full
preview pages in this month's Previews - it looked a little
confusing, but it doesn't really seem like the kind of story
that can be demonstrated in so few pages. The story is set in
Uganda - Dysart spent a month there doing research for the project,
so it will be a bit grounded. There is a superhero vibe to it
- at least in part. The protagonist suffers from a kind of split
personality where the dormant one knows how to effectively kill.
Kind of a Rose & Thorn thing. Well, its Vertigo - so it
is worth a shot.
IMAGE
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Page 130 - Spawn #185, $2.95, 32 Pages
Written by Todd McFarlane and Brian Holdgun, Art by Whilce
Portacio and Todd McFarlane
Trying to decide if this is a good thing or not. OK - a series
creator returning to a book is always a good thing. McFarlane
taking over as a writer for this title is surely sending Spawn
fans into a giddy fit. But is it a step in the right direction?
For a title that seemed to be finally getting back on track
in terms of timeliness, is it really the best idea from a business
perspective to go back to someone who was, in large part, responsible
for the book's inability to adhere to a shipping schedule?
Keeping the fingers crossed for this one, but consider me skeptical.
I am sure in terms of quality, this issue and the subsequent
arcs will be everything Spawn fans could hope for. Definitely
buy the issue. But one can't help but believe that it won't
be too long before we are once again talking about 6-12 month
delays on this book.
Page 134 - The Walking Dead #56, $2.99, 32
Pages
Written by Robert Kirkman, Art by Charlie Adlard and Cliff
Rathburn
Ah - the great thing about comics. You can declare an anniversary
issue on the basis of issue number (25? 50? 100?), or you can
go with simple years. We just celebrated the 50th issue of The
Walking Dead - why not go with the 5 year anniversary as well!
Eh - it seems a bit much, but The Walking Dead deserves all
the attention it can get. This issue promises to be a little
bit of a retrospective, exploring the history of the characters,
and examining what has been lost to each of them. Sounds like
a great jumping on point to me.
MARVEL
COMICS
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Page M3 - Ender's Game: The First Series #1
(of 5), $3.99, 32 Pages
Adapted by Christopher Yost, Art by Pasqual Ferry
It is great to see that this adaptation is going to focus on
the original Ender's Game novel alone, and not some weird blending
of Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. Don't get me wrong - the
whole Ender's Shadow series was interesting, but not great.
Not in the way that Ender's Game and Speaker For The Dead are.
It was beginning to seem like Ender's Game in any form (film,
comic, etc) would always be blended with Ender's Shadow. While
it does look like Marvel has plans to publish an Ender's Shadow
adaptation at the same time, the fact that they will be making
them two separate books means that this adaptation should be
relatively pure. Thank goodness. This should be great in comic
form.
Page M14 - Ultimate Captain America Annual
#1, $3.99, 48 Pages
Written by Jeph Loeb, Art by John Romita, Jr.
Page M15 - Ultimate Hulk Annual #1, $3.99, 48 Pages
Written by Jeph Loeb, Art by Marko Djurdjevic & Ed McGuinness
A pair of Ultimate Annuals this month - focusing on individual
Ultimates team members. Not a bad idea leading up to the Ultimatum
event - the Ultimate books have rarely focused on just one character
(really, Ultimate Spider-Man is the only character that gets
a solid solo treatment, not counting the recent Ultimate Iron
Man books), and allowing The Hulk and Captain America get a
little more face-time might not be such a bad idea. The Captain
America issue is going to spend some time exploring the relationship
between Ulimates Captain America and Black Panther, while the
Hulk book will feature Power Princess in addition to the Hulk.
Should be a decent couple issues... and a real test as to whether
Ultimatum is going to be entertaining, or a bore like the unfortunate
Ultimate Galactus story.
Page M20 - Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, $3.99,
48 Pages
Written by Marc Guggenheim, Art by Mike McKone
Well, Marvel has definitely been obvious about Jackpot, and
who she is supposed to be. Well, despite all that, Marvel is
set to reveal all about this "great mystery" in this
issue. Of course, the fact that they have been so transparent
about her identity means that there is probably something more
to this than they have let on, and I am sure the specter of
One More Day will once again rear its head. Impossible to say
if this issue will help smooth over what happened in One More
Day, or make things worse - Amazing Spider-Man has been much
better since that event ended, and it might be damaging to call
on it too strongly here. Time will tell. Should be worth checking
out though, especially if you are following the mostly weekly
title.
Page M22 - Amazing Spider-Girl #22, $3.99,
48 Pages
Written by Tom Defalco, Art by Ron Frenz
Wow - it has been a really long time since we heard any Spider-Girl
cancellation flap. Too long, in fact... it doesn't seem right!
Of course, it is great that the latest volume of Spider-Girl
has made it 25 issues without that threat resurfacing, and even
better that the title, overall, has been pretty entertaining.
The seeds of Spider-Girl being taken out of her element were
just planted recently in the title, and it looks like things
will be full blown by the time this issue hits the stands. Many
people don't really like the feel of Spider-Girl, but overall
it is a great Spider-book, and sometimes even the best Spider-Man
on the market. Through the mainstream Spider-Man's ups and downs,
this title (along with Ultimate Spider-Man) really exemplify
what a Spider-Man story should be. Glad to see that this book
is still going strong.
Page M28 - Captain America: White #1 (of 6),
$3.99, 32 Pages
Written by Jeph Loeb, Art by Tim Sale
This series has been in the news a lot over the past few months,
but it looks like it will finally be here come August. The fourth
title in Loeb and Sale's "Colors" series will focus
on Captain America and Bucky, deep in World War II. With the
overall tone of the previous Colors installments, and the violent
nature of WWII that wasn't really presented accurately when
Captain America's early WWII exploits were first put to paper,
this could end up being a very dark read. This duo has done
very well with their past collaborations, which makes this title
an easy one to try out. Should be pretty good.
Page M68 - Thor: The Truth of History #1,
$3.99, 48 Pages
By Alan Davis
Sometimes time travel stories can be fun - with superhero stories,
it can be tricky, especially when going into the far past. This,
though - should be fine - Norse Gods showing up in ancient Egypt
isn't as out there as it seems - and a good Thor story, especially
a one-shot, it always welcome. Plus, Alan Davis is the entire
creative team on this one, which is certainly worth notice,
especially for fans of his. This one should be a solid Thor
tale, definitely pick this one up if you are a fan of the God
of Thunder.
Page M81 - Giant-Size X-Men First Class #1,
$3.99, 48 Pages
Written by Jeff Parker and Roger Langridge, Art by Michael
Cho, Roger Langridge, Nick Kilislian, Dean Haspiel, David Williams,
and jeff Parker
Seems like all the really good issues this month are the extra
sized ones. This one is no exception! Parker's X-Men First Class
has been an outstanding concept, and it is great to see it still
around. A lot of Marvel characters have lost a bit of their
original flare over the years, and that is especially true with
the X-Men. Seeing a simple story with the original core group,
and not having to worry about thousands of other mutant characters
popping up and decades of weird stories and conflicting continuity
is nice. This is a Halloween themed issue, with Beast looking
into a few paranormal mysteries around the world, with the X-men
in tow no doubt. Should be a fun issue - simple and enjoyable.
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Page 344 - The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
#1 (of 3), $3.25, 32 Pages, Viper Comics
Written by Dale Mettam, Art by Erich Owen
Heh - this looks like a bit of fun. Not sure how close to the
original movie this comic will be - it is "based"
on the film, which could mean a lot of things, but Dixon is
present, so I would imagine it will be pretty close. I can't
help but wonder if this is in any way going to relate to the
alleged remake that is in the works (though why you would need
to remake this movie is beyond me, but I digress).
In any case - this is going to be a hilarious read and well
worth tracking down!
Craig's Top Five Of The Month
#5 - Batman #681, $3.99, 40 Pages, DC Comics - Not sure
Bruce is really going to die here, but something major is going
to happen one way or another.
#4 - Captain America: White #1 (of 6), $3.99, 32 Pages, Marvel
Comics - The return of Loeb and Sale to Colors will be great
news for many.
#3 - Amazing Spider-Girl #25, $3.99, 48 Pages, Marvel Comics
- Spider-Girl has really bounced back in recent months, and
regained a lot of its old charm. Looking forward to seeing where
this Brand New May story goes.
#2 - Supergirl #34, $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics - Looks
like Supergirl might finally be going in the right direction.
#1 - Ender's Game: The First Series #1 (of 5), $3.99, 32
Pages, Marvel Comics - This adaptation is long overdue.
The opinions in this article are the writer's alone, and
no not necessarily reflect the views of X-World Comics or comiXtreme.com.
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