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: Sometimes, Ladies and Gentlemen, sometimes great things happen. Teams come from behind against incalculable odds to win games. The vision of a religious figure can be discovered in a piece of granary toast. Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark #1 can hit comic shelves around the globe and wow thousands of readers. Now, I’ll be watching football and eating toast as much as the next guy this week but I’m not sure if anyone is anticipating Ryan Ottley and Jason Howard’s bag-of-frogs crazy comic offering as much as me. I love the fact that the two creators simply discussed the idea, pretty much flipped a coin to see which creature they would get and the scuttled off to get writing and drawing. I’m really hoping for a gut-buster in the hilarity stakes here.
Aside from that one comedy effort it’s looking like a rather serious and grim-faced reading collection this summery June week. In Scott Snyder’s American Vampire #4 Pearl Jones is going after the vampire coven who brutally attacked her and left her for dead. This has been another strong offering from Vertigo during its first arc and I’m still loving the format of this comic with the main story propelling things on while Stephen King’s flashback, back-up story adds plenty of flesh to the blood-thirsty bones of Skinner Sweet.
Approaching the end at a steady pace is the truly epic tale from the mind of Grant Morrison as Joe struggles with his own health and the mysteries of his own mind and imagination in Joe The Barbarian #6. This comic has been a gripping read and a fantastic outlet for artist Sean Murphy who has crafted a mystifying and wondrous world for the events to unfold. With only two more issues remaining after this one I suspect readers will be hoping that a possibility for a sequel might be written in the ashes of whatever explosive or poignant finale we get.
Explosive is a word I’d associated with Bruce Wayne’s potential return to the present and in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3 I suspect that we may learn quite a deal more about Bruce’s role as Darkseid’s weapon of mass destruction aimed at the 21st Century. This time the millionaire, playboy socialite with the prime detective and crime fighting skills finds himself in a situation where pretty much none of that applies as he takes to the seven seas in the company of the infamous Blackbeard. Morrison is melding bonkers concepts with brilliant execution in this mini-series and I know for a fact that James R and Tom P are loving this to pieces so far. Let's hope that this continues to impress us all then!
Before I scoot on over to talking about the Marvel catalogue this week I will mention Green Lantern Corps #49 which I really do hope shows us that Tony Bedard has things under control and a good story in place following the recent handover by Peter Tomasi. The prospect of the Alpha Lanterns taking actions into their own hands is pretty exciting and I’m planning on sticking with this title throughout the turbulent months to come.
And so what does the House of Ideas have instore for me this week? Well the Grim Hunt is now in full (Spider) swing and no doubt Joe Kelly will be making sure that things go from bad to worse for Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man #635. Considering the preparation that has gone into the Gauntlet storyline and keeping elements of Brand New Day ticking over I would be extremely disappointed if the ‘braintrust’ were to make this arc anything less than unmissable so I’ve fingers crossed that this issue is as impressive, if not better than the last.
The same goes for Thunderbolts #145 and Secret Warriors #17 really. Thunderbolts in the hands of Jeff Parker and Kevin Walker looks like a very promising prospect indeed, not least because of the varied cast that Parker has been able to pull together. It should help this title back on track following a mediocre turn with Andy Diggle in charge which was still limiting this book's potential until recently. Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Warriors has also been building into a very promising final arc and I would be surprised again if this didn’t turn out to be a truly great seat-of-your-pants flight into battle for Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos.
X-Men Legacy #237 rounds off the week’s offerings with the end of 'Second Coming' sneaking up on us from the distance. Now, I am really enjoying the mutated pants of off this X-event but I once again find myself slightly miffed that the majority of the suspense has been spoiled to some degree by Marvel’s insistence on peddling the X-books that are coming out in the next 2-3 months. Through those advertisements alone we can see who is likely to survive this extinction level event for the mutants and it does lead me to believe that there may not be too many shocks or surprises ahead unfortunately. That’s a shame considering the completely bollocks plague of vampires it looks like we’re going to be subjected too shortly in these books.
Stewart R: Sometimes, Ladies and Gentlemen, sometimes great things happen. Teams come from behind against incalculable odds to win games. The vision of a religious figure can be discovered in a piece of granary toast. Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark #1 can hit comic shelves around the globe and wow thousands of readers. Now, I’ll be watching football and eating toast as much as the next guy this week but I’m not sure if anyone is anticipating Ryan Ottley and Jason Howard’s bag-of-frogs crazy comic offering as much as me. I love the fact that the two creators simply discussed the idea, pretty much flipped a coin to see which creature they would get and the scuttled off to get writing and drawing. I’m really hoping for a gut-buster in the hilarity stakes here.Aside from that one comedy effort it’s looking like a rather serious and grim-faced reading collection this summery June week. In Scott Snyder’s American Vampire #4 Pearl Jones is going after the vampire coven who brutally attacked her and left her for dead. This has been another strong offering from Vertigo during its first arc and I’m still loving the format of this comic with the main story propelling things on while Stephen King’s flashback, back-up story adds plenty of flesh to the blood-thirsty bones of Skinner Sweet.
Approaching the end at a steady pace is the truly epic tale from the mind of Grant Morrison as Joe struggles with his own health and the mysteries of his own mind and imagination in Joe The Barbarian #6. This comic has been a gripping read and a fantastic outlet for artist Sean Murphy who has crafted a mystifying and wondrous world for the events to unfold. With only two more issues remaining after this one I suspect readers will be hoping that a possibility for a sequel might be written in the ashes of whatever explosive or poignant finale we get.
Explosive is a word I’d associated with Bruce Wayne’s potential return to the present and in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3 I suspect that we may learn quite a deal more about Bruce’s role as Darkseid’s weapon of mass destruction aimed at the 21st Century. This time the millionaire, playboy socialite with the prime detective and crime fighting skills finds himself in a situation where pretty much none of that applies as he takes to the seven seas in the company of the infamous Blackbeard. Morrison is melding bonkers concepts with brilliant execution in this mini-series and I know for a fact that James R and Tom P are loving this to pieces so far. Let's hope that this continues to impress us all then!Before I scoot on over to talking about the Marvel catalogue this week I will mention Green Lantern Corps #49 which I really do hope shows us that Tony Bedard has things under control and a good story in place following the recent handover by Peter Tomasi. The prospect of the Alpha Lanterns taking actions into their own hands is pretty exciting and I’m planning on sticking with this title throughout the turbulent months to come.
And so what does the House of Ideas have instore for me this week? Well the Grim Hunt is now in full (Spider) swing and no doubt Joe Kelly will be making sure that things go from bad to worse for Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man #635. Considering the preparation that has gone into the Gauntlet storyline and keeping elements of Brand New Day ticking over I would be extremely disappointed if the ‘braintrust’ were to make this arc anything less than unmissable so I’ve fingers crossed that this issue is as impressive, if not better than the last.
The same goes for Thunderbolts #145 and Secret Warriors #17 really. Thunderbolts in the hands of Jeff Parker and Kevin Walker looks like a very promising prospect indeed, not least because of the varied cast that Parker has been able to pull together. It should help this title back on track following a mediocre turn with Andy Diggle in charge which was still limiting this book's potential until recently. Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Warriors has also been building into a very promising final arc and I would be surprised again if this didn’t turn out to be a truly great seat-of-your-pants flight into battle for Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos.X-Men Legacy #237 rounds off the week’s offerings with the end of 'Second Coming' sneaking up on us from the distance. Now, I am really enjoying the mutated pants of off this X-event but I once again find myself slightly miffed that the majority of the suspense has been spoiled to some degree by Marvel’s insistence on peddling the X-books that are coming out in the next 2-3 months. Through those advertisements alone we can see who is likely to survive this extinction level event for the mutants and it does lead me to believe that there may not be too many shocks or surprises ahead unfortunately. That’s a shame considering the completely bollocks plague of vampires it looks like we’re going to be subjected too shortly in these books.
6 comments:
Superman #700, Stew?
Busy week for me: as well several that Stew mentioned, there's three Archaia titles! (Mouse Guard, Killer, Secret History). Glad to see they've got their scheduling sorted at last. Looking forward to checking out Bullet in the Head from Dynamite and another issue of Incorruptible from Boom! too.
Make that Bullet To The Head from Dynamite!
"completely bollocks plague of vampires"
only in comics could I read that and have it make perfect sense!
Hooray for comics!!
Sorry Matt. Looks like Mouse Guard has been delayed this week. I'm guessing weasels are involved. Fingers crossed for next week.
Great work again Stewart, lots of stuff to look forward to. As for me? Looks like the Adam Hughes DC Covers book is heading to the top of my list. The man is a living legend!!
ARH MATIE, Me timbers are shiverin in excitement over The Return of Bruce Wayne #3.!!!!
"Ahem"
I cant wait to read T-bolts again the last one rocked, and Joe is rockin. JMS Superman #700 anyone?
Hey Stewart - thanks so much for the support thrown toward American Vampire - greatly appreciated by Rafa, Steve K. and me, too.
With the big showdown coming, I can't promise you issue 5 won't be pretty grim-faced, too, but I can say that there's at least a little more dark humor than issue 4 :)
Thanks again! S
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