New comics are due to hit the shelves on Wednesday so here’s a look ahead at some of the books we’ll be picking up this week. To see what’s available at Paradox this week, click here.
Tom P: This is a heavy week, a little too heavy maybe, so let’s lighten the load. I think it's time to say goodbye to Justice League. What it’s lacked from the start is a real drive to the story and it still feels like it’s achieved very little. Why has it lasted this long on my pull-list? Shazam!, that’s why, but with Marvel and Image putting out so much great stuff I can no longer justify the cost of the book as a whole. Hopefully DC will collect the Shazam! backup because it is excellent. Painful as it may be to cut it, Ultimate Comics: X-Men is also going. It’s not acutely bad, it’s just weaker than most of Wood's other work and hasn't lived up to his brilliant stint on the regular X-Men title. Which brings us rather neatly to the comics I will be getting. First off, Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #17. It’s now the only surviving Ultimate book on my list, I swear Bendis can do no wrong with it! Another delightful Diana double-act with Batwoman #14 and Wonder Woman #14 this week - both of them continue to impress me every time. Sadly nothing from Image for me this Wednesday, but I’d like to point you towards Dark Horse as Baltimore: The Play should be a good slice of gothic horror. As with all Mignola's work I’ll be picking it up in the collected edition as I believe the man’s a true master and his stuff looks sweet on the bookshelf. Never tried Lord Baltimore? Now's your chance! So onto the galaxy of Marvel NOW! titles that will be available to me and let’s start with Captain America #1. It lets the Kick-Ass penciller and colourist loose on the Sentinel of Liberty and has Rick Remender shouting orders - sounds good to me. Indestructible Hulk #1 has me excited. We know from his work on the Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk that Lenil Francis Yu has what it takes and Mark Waid has been on fine form lately. I can't turn that down. Greg Land’s art wasn't too bad last time around so Iron Man #2 makes it home for a second time. Uncanny X-Force #34 sadly keeps racing towards its conclusion but it's been one hell of a ride. I will miss it. Wolverine as a clown? That can only be Wolverine & The X-Men, mad as a bag of snakes, but I trust that Jason Aaron is the only man who can to pull it off. That leaves just one comic left. Hawkeye. One word: magnificent.
Matt C: I'm joining Tom in saying "No more!" to Justice League this week. I love the Shazam! backup but bar the odd moment of brilliance the main feature hasn't grabbed me the way it should have done (considering the cast and the talent) and I can no longer justify paying $3.99 for the back-up only. Bring on the collected edition! The money saved isn't going back in my wallet though; it'll be hitting the counter in exchange for the various Marvel NOW! titles appearing on Wednesday. Captain America gets added onto the pile due to the creative team (Remender, Romita, Janson & White) and a sense that it'll be more in the realm of the bonkers sci-fi concepts Kirby brought to the title back in the '70s rather than the espionage centric tales of recent times (which were undeniably great, but things needed a shake-up). Then there's the Indestructible Hulk. I'm not the biggest fan of Lenil Yu but Mark Waid's been putting out some top quality reads recently so I'd be a fool not to give this a whirl. Iron Man #2 and Deadpool #2 appear too, only two weeks after their debut issues - with this kind of regularity I'm going to have to be ruthless when it comes to deciding if I'll stick with a book or give it the chop. Of those two Deadpool is in the lead, but that could easily change. Potential book of the week (again) will be, of course, Hawkeye #4, not part of Marvel NOW but the Marvel book everyone should be reading now! Image have two new books I'm interested in: Clone #1 and Comeback #1. I only know vague things about both of them, but again, the quality of Image’s output over the last 12 months has been high enough that I'm prepared to take more risks with their new titles. Even if it can be a rather costly risk at that!
Stewart R: Now where would a Wednesday be these days without a handful of brand spanking new titles to bash you in the eyes and tickle the many lobes of your brain with fresh characters, lively ideas and curious plots? This week I’ll be picking up no less than three #1 issues with the return of Grace Randolph’s Superbia as an ongoing series being the standout for me following on from a strong and steady mini-series offering. I really enjoyed the mix of epic superheroics and everyday suburban familial dramas and I am certainly looking forward to seeing where Miss Randolph takes the infiltration plot thread that threatens to tear the superhero team apart at any moment. The other two debuts of course fly out of the doors of Image’s publishing house and two regularly occurring sci-fi ideas form the basis for them; Comeback #1 looks at the use of time travel to rescue the dearly departed from their near-fatal experience and Clone #1...do I really have to explain? Either way I’d say that Image’s current streak of success should determine that at least one of these series ends up with me invested in the entire run and I look forward to seeing what they can deliver. Elsewhere I of course will be eagerly anticipating another episode of Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force, Kieron Gillen’s second Iron Man issue and Minimum Carnage Omega just so it gives me a reason to go and read the whole mini-event from beginning to end as I’ve been purposefully storing the issues up until I had all of them in my possession. It then just leaves me to mention Amazing Spider-Man #698. Now Dan Slott has been pushing this issue heavily on Twitter for the past couple of months and I’m guessing from that and the little of the buzz that I’ve heard - I’m avoiding spoilers like the plague here - that this issue is likely to be a huge game changer. For better or for worse big Spider-Man related game changers tend to be worth getting invested in purely for the discussion that they stimulate and with Slott being the huge Peter Parker fan that he is, I suspect that whatever the drama and consequences it'll be guaranteed to be a high quality read!
Tom P: This is a heavy week, a little too heavy maybe, so let’s lighten the load. I think it's time to say goodbye to Justice League. What it’s lacked from the start is a real drive to the story and it still feels like it’s achieved very little. Why has it lasted this long on my pull-list? Shazam!, that’s why, but with Marvel and Image putting out so much great stuff I can no longer justify the cost of the book as a whole. Hopefully DC will collect the Shazam! backup because it is excellent. Painful as it may be to cut it, Ultimate Comics: X-Men is also going. It’s not acutely bad, it’s just weaker than most of Wood's other work and hasn't lived up to his brilliant stint on the regular X-Men title. Which brings us rather neatly to the comics I will be getting. First off, Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #17. It’s now the only surviving Ultimate book on my list, I swear Bendis can do no wrong with it! Another delightful Diana double-act with Batwoman #14 and Wonder Woman #14 this week - both of them continue to impress me every time. Sadly nothing from Image for me this Wednesday, but I’d like to point you towards Dark Horse as Baltimore: The Play should be a good slice of gothic horror. As with all Mignola's work I’ll be picking it up in the collected edition as I believe the man’s a true master and his stuff looks sweet on the bookshelf. Never tried Lord Baltimore? Now's your chance! So onto the galaxy of Marvel NOW! titles that will be available to me and let’s start with Captain America #1. It lets the Kick-Ass penciller and colourist loose on the Sentinel of Liberty and has Rick Remender shouting orders - sounds good to me. Indestructible Hulk #1 has me excited. We know from his work on the Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk that Lenil Francis Yu has what it takes and Mark Waid has been on fine form lately. I can't turn that down. Greg Land’s art wasn't too bad last time around so Iron Man #2 makes it home for a second time. Uncanny X-Force #34 sadly keeps racing towards its conclusion but it's been one hell of a ride. I will miss it. Wolverine as a clown? That can only be Wolverine & The X-Men, mad as a bag of snakes, but I trust that Jason Aaron is the only man who can to pull it off. That leaves just one comic left. Hawkeye. One word: magnificent. Matt C: I'm joining Tom in saying "No more!" to Justice League this week. I love the Shazam! backup but bar the odd moment of brilliance the main feature hasn't grabbed me the way it should have done (considering the cast and the talent) and I can no longer justify paying $3.99 for the back-up only. Bring on the collected edition! The money saved isn't going back in my wallet though; it'll be hitting the counter in exchange for the various Marvel NOW! titles appearing on Wednesday. Captain America gets added onto the pile due to the creative team (Remender, Romita, Janson & White) and a sense that it'll be more in the realm of the bonkers sci-fi concepts Kirby brought to the title back in the '70s rather than the espionage centric tales of recent times (which were undeniably great, but things needed a shake-up). Then there's the Indestructible Hulk. I'm not the biggest fan of Lenil Yu but Mark Waid's been putting out some top quality reads recently so I'd be a fool not to give this a whirl. Iron Man #2 and Deadpool #2 appear too, only two weeks after their debut issues - with this kind of regularity I'm going to have to be ruthless when it comes to deciding if I'll stick with a book or give it the chop. Of those two Deadpool is in the lead, but that could easily change. Potential book of the week (again) will be, of course, Hawkeye #4, not part of Marvel NOW but the Marvel book everyone should be reading now! Image have two new books I'm interested in: Clone #1 and Comeback #1. I only know vague things about both of them, but again, the quality of Image’s output over the last 12 months has been high enough that I'm prepared to take more risks with their new titles. Even if it can be a rather costly risk at that!
Stewart R: Now where would a Wednesday be these days without a handful of brand spanking new titles to bash you in the eyes and tickle the many lobes of your brain with fresh characters, lively ideas and curious plots? This week I’ll be picking up no less than three #1 issues with the return of Grace Randolph’s Superbia as an ongoing series being the standout for me following on from a strong and steady mini-series offering. I really enjoyed the mix of epic superheroics and everyday suburban familial dramas and I am certainly looking forward to seeing where Miss Randolph takes the infiltration plot thread that threatens to tear the superhero team apart at any moment. The other two debuts of course fly out of the doors of Image’s publishing house and two regularly occurring sci-fi ideas form the basis for them; Comeback #1 looks at the use of time travel to rescue the dearly departed from their near-fatal experience and Clone #1...do I really have to explain? Either way I’d say that Image’s current streak of success should determine that at least one of these series ends up with me invested in the entire run and I look forward to seeing what they can deliver. Elsewhere I of course will be eagerly anticipating another episode of Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force, Kieron Gillen’s second Iron Man issue and Minimum Carnage Omega just so it gives me a reason to go and read the whole mini-event from beginning to end as I’ve been purposefully storing the issues up until I had all of them in my possession. It then just leaves me to mention Amazing Spider-Man #698. Now Dan Slott has been pushing this issue heavily on Twitter for the past couple of months and I’m guessing from that and the little of the buzz that I’ve heard - I’m avoiding spoilers like the plague here - that this issue is likely to be a huge game changer. For better or for worse big Spider-Man related game changers tend to be worth getting invested in purely for the discussion that they stimulate and with Slott being the huge Peter Parker fan that he is, I suspect that whatever the drama and consequences it'll be guaranteed to be a high quality read!
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