Incoming... 24/02/2010

New comics are released tomorrow (in the States at least; we have to wait until Thursday in the UK!). Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.


Stewart R: The end of the month hits hard with Blackest Night #7 which should have many a comic fan rubbing their hands in eager anticipation. I’ll certainly be flicking through the pages of my copy before any other comic this week if for no other reason than to see if, and how, the events of Green Lantern #51 are covered and/or mentioned by the talented Mr Geoff Johns. From the start I’ve wondered if Johns has been writing this event with the two titles acting as the core pillar of the story or whether he thinks the event book can stand purely on its own.

The other DC title finding it’s way into my pile will be Batman and Robin #9 which should certainly throw up something interesting as the injured Damian comes face to face with the psychotic, Lazarus-Chamber revived clone of Batman. I've certainly not been blown away by the two previous parts of this arc but bringing Damian to the fore, particularly in his injured condition, should get Morrison earning his pennies.

Image throw Cowboy Ninja Viking #4 into my pile for the week and I cannot wait to see what other bonkers 'triplet personality' assassins might turn up in this highly entertaining comic. Image were so certain of success with this title that they switched it to an ongoing from 4-issue series before the 1st part had hit the shelves and while I'm not sure what sort of numbers it's been shifting it certainly deserves an audience as AJ Lieberman and Riley Rossmo have done well with this first, important arc so far.

And now on to the House of Ideas offerings for the week... Christos N Gage brings us the penultimate issue of Avengers: The Initiative as the trainee superheros are led into the Siege of Asgard by Taskmaster, Constrictor and Diamondback in #33 I've really enjoyed the title since its introduction and Gage has done a remarkable job of making me care about characters who would have never have had the focus if not for this book. I just hope he resolves the Constrictor/Diamondback storyline before it all comes to a close.

Deadpool #20 brings us the madcap antics of the Merc With The Mouth as he tries to help Spider-Man track down the infamous and deadly Hit-Monkey. Way seemed a little bit reserved in the last issue with the jokes and quips but I'm really expecting him to bust them out when the lethal Japanese primate makes his full debut. I'm expecting it to all go absolutely bananas... just as it might go in Secret Warriors #13. The Druid features on Jim Cheung's superb cover (c'mon Marvel, give this artist his own comic already!!!) and Phobos' predicted big things for Sebastian Druid a while ago and I'm thinking we might get to see what that was all about here.

Abnett and Lanning are working hard, managing to get a book out almost every week of the month what with the large number of cosmic titles under their command these days. The Realm of Kings miniseries' have certainly been impressive after I was highly sceptical of both in the early days of their runs. Realm of Kings: Inhumans #4 promises to increase the strain that the royal family have already been struggling to control as the threats and problems come from myriad angles. These writers have worked tremendously hard to develop both Queen Medusa and Crystal as leaders and I'm looking forward to finding out just where they are taking these strong, driven women.

A quick perusal over the rest of my list sees more 'Gauntlet' action in Amazing Spider-Man #622 as Morbius (groan - really? Morbius?) flies back into the Web Swinger's life; Thunderbolts #141 no doubt has these whipping boys on the end of a serious hiding in Asgard and X-Force #24 will probably be delighting and frustrating in equal measure as Clayton Crain draws/paints us some more Necrosha antics. I'll certainly be looking to be pleasantly surprised by at least one of these titles this week.