On The Pull 06/02/2013

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.

Matt C: So business as usual this week it seems with... waitaminute, what the heck is that? Is that an issue of Scarlet, Brian Michael Bendis' Icon series that dealt with the beginnings of a contemporary American Revolution, the one where the writer seemed to have rediscovered his creative mojo in a big way?! Is it the issue that was originally scheduled for June 2011?? Will wonders ever cease?!! Obviously the narrative momentum has long gone, and without a refresher I'll find it difficult to recall the finer details of the series, but I was so impressed initially that I'm eager to see where the story's going, and hopefully the following issue will reach us before the year's end! I'm certainly more interested to see Bendis (and Alex Maleev for that matter) pursuing this rather than some of the higher profile projects he's attached to (but that's where the money is I guess, not that I'm saying Bendis is more financially motivated than creatively motivated, of course! *ahem*). From Marvel proper, we get Avengers for the third week in a row along with the latest issue of New Avengers. That may seem like overkill, but if the quality's as high as it has been, I don't mind. One title that seemed like it was coming out every week but now seems to have settled into a monthly schedule is Iron Man, and as it features the start of the first proper story arc ('Godkiller') I'm looking to see if I'll be convinced to keep it on my pull-list. Another Marvel title of note is Winter Soldier #15 which sees the new creative team of Jason Latour and Nick Klein handling Bucky's clandestine adventures, and as I've been following the character since his resurrection it would be foolish to stop now without giving these new guys a shot. Over at Image there's the finale of the Multiple Warheads mini and a welcome return for Think Tank, but it appears that I'm not getting anything from DC (or Vertigo) this week, which seems like the first time that's happened in a while, and with several Vertigo titles having come to an end recently, the Before Watchmen project reaching its conclusion and my general disinterest in the New 52, I can see that becoming more of a regular situation in the months ahead.

Stewart R: Well, this week is once again looking like one bat-shit crazy shootout between Image and Marvel on my pull-list, the younger upstart throwing out some tempting goods to battle the mainstays of the House of Ideas. Great Pacific #4 is a good shout for my first read on Wednesday as I’m eager to see what happens to Chas Worthington in the next chapter of his strange adventures upon his floating plastic continent. Every time I think I know where Joe Harris is going with his plot it takes a left turn, or jinks that way, and while a little bewildering it’s still keeping me entertained! I Love Trouble #3 will be in the spotlight this week following a very promising debut and a reasonable second outing and I’ve got to hope that things don’t continue the slumping trend. I really like the idea of the girl running with the wrong crowd discovering she has teleportation powers, and Mark A. Robinson’s artwork is quite the treat, but in an ever growing collection of Image titles I’ll be desiring a bit more drive from the script. And speaking of that ever-growing catalogue I’ll be checking out the latest creator-owned project from Andy Diggle and Jock, Snapshot #1. I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of Diggle’s previous work, but Jock rarely seems to deliver a less-than-great artistic performance so this thriller has my attention! On the Marvel side of things it becomes clear we’re in the shortest month of the year as we end up with two efforts from Jonathan Hickman this Wednesday in the shape of Avengers #5 and New Avengers #3. I’m not going to complain too much as Hickman has literally been knocking it out of the park on both titles and I’m eager to see where he’s leading us with each of them. However, receiving another issue of Avengers just a week after the last seems a touch over the top, not least when Marvel seem to be pulling the same bit of capitalist mischief with Superior Spider-Man #3 appearing on shelves too!! It’s clear to see that with a twice-monthly title, February proves a little ‘tight’ for some publisher schedules and in return the comic buying public end up with a glorious amount of illustrated love on their pull-lists. The problem lies with that moment where you just start to count how many $3.99 books make up your week’s haul and when you get a bumper kick to the month - 17 titles in total to purchase this week - it can take you, and your wallet, a little by surprise! But then, isn’t that why we do this, for the surprises? And what greater surprise could we ask for than Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev getting their collective asses together and finally getting Scarlet #6 in our hands? I was speaking to Andy H just yesterday and he stated that he’d ordered this issue back in April of 2011(!!!) and a delay of nearly two years is downright ridiculous. It’ll turn out to be a fine read, but I’m beggared if I can remember what happened in the last issue and that may weigh heavily on a lot of reviews around the web this week!