Incoming... 09/03/2011

New comics are released Wednesday in the States and guess what, in the UK too! Here's a brief look at our expectations for the books we're picking up this week.

Stewart R: And what do we have here then? A very quiet week indeed? Oh my, yes, and following week after week of ten titles or more sat in my list I’m glad of a little respite even if it does turn out to be for just 7 days.

Let’s start with the slightly smaller fish in the big pond of comic publishers as 12-Gauge Comics’ Magus #3 makes an appearance this Wednesday. I said in a previous Incoming... that I hoped for a strong second issue to show us the clear direction that Jon Price wanted to lead this story and we got that. Now I want us to start getting some serious answers about this strange world that is rediscovering the magic power that comes naturally to it and for us to find out just who the main protagonist is supposed to be as that has remained a mystery to this point. Plus, you know, Tom P’s right when he gushes a little now and then over Rebekah Isaacs’ artistic abilities; she’s done a great job with this series so far and I’m looking forward to seeing just what mystical events she gets to capture on the page as the series continues.

Over at DC this week there sit only two titles with the power to make me go ‘Oooh, yes please!’ and they would both be Bat-related but do not involve Bruce Wayne! There’s a little disappointment from me with Batgirl #19 as Dustin Nguyen has only had time to do the cover to this week’s issue and has left the internal art to Ramon Bachs and looking at the preview pages I have to say that I’m not a big fan. There’s a similar ‘feel’ that’s been captured, keeping it in line with Nguyen’s style, and even Lee Garbett’s before him, but the facial expression work doesn’t look quite right. Of course I will give it the full 20 pages to make a proper judgement and Miller’s writing has been terrific on this title from the very beginning so not too much to worry about yet.

I’ve certainly no worries about Batman and Robin #21 by Peter J.Tomasi and Patrick Gleason as their debut on the title was captivating and has got those wheels of interest turning in my brain. I’m very eager to find out just who or what the White Knight is and just what he/she did to make the Man-Bat go crazy last time out. I find it a little strange that an arc so evocatively titled as ‘Dark Knight vs White Knight’ is only going to be 3 issues long but here’s hoping this is but a prelude to a greater and far more involved story from these two creators as their tenure continues. It’d certainly be a refreshing thing to have Dick Grayson and Damian come up against new, fresher villains just like Paul Cornell introduced with The Absence during the arc running #17-19. Sure, the creators could plug away with the same Batman foes who Bruce Wayne was tackling week in week out in his younger, pre-Incorporated and Bat-Family days, but these heroes are not Bruce Wayne and so we could do with some new foils. Let us see what Tomasi has up his sleeve shall we?

Mr Rick Remender has been wowing the majority of the Paradox Comics Group with his brilliant work on Uncanny X-Force in recent months and this week he sets his hand to another title where Flash Thompson, former bully of and now close friend to Peter Parker, finds himself donning one of the nastiest black suits in the Marvel Universe in Venom #1. The couple of introduction pieces that we’ve had in Amazing Spider-Man issues have been a great start, showing how Flash’s life has been both enhanced and turned upside down by his initial bonding with the sinister symbiote, and the dark promise of this story will be to watch Flash’s potential corruption and then hopefully salvation from his new powerful clothes. Tony Moore is locked in to provide the art work and this will be the first time I’ve seen his work since picking up my Walking Dead Compendium last year and it’ll be good to see how he handles the ooze like abilities of Venom.

So now I’m just left with Onslaught Unleashed #2 by Sean McKeever and Filipe Andrade but that’s no bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. I’d previously expressed concerns about anything Onslaught-related as I believe his previous appearances in the Marvel back catalogue to be full of promise and then severely lacking in the final product but the debut really was enjoyable and McKeever has at this point a strong grip of the many characters in his hands. He handled the Secret Avengers very well indeed capturing their many different personalities in a thoughtful and accomplished manner while also introducing me to the Young Allies who, aside from Rikki Barnes, I’d had no real experience with before. Now with Onslaught clearly in the picture the most important thing is that McKeever manages to convince me that this is a villain worthy of being the centre point of a miniseries such as this. He’s already convinced me that Nomad is a character worth getting to know more about so I’m confident that he can pull this off.

So in a quiet week such as this, what’re you guys picking up and looking forward to?