On The Pull 07/10/2015

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.

Stewart R: Following a five Wednesday month (how quiet was last week for your pull-list??) and with the New York Comic Con sweeping into the social media town this weekend it seems that many of the publishers, and in particular Marvel, are going big and bold with this opening New Comic Book Day of October 2015! Of course Secret Wars isn't over yet, and as such it feels to me that much of the fanfare for the 'All-New, All-Different' Marvel seems to have been muted a touch thanks to the slight conflict of status quos. All of these brand new #1s this week mark the beginning of a newly restructured universe, yet the ghosts and echoes of the previous big event are still yet to be put to rest and resolved which leaves things feeling rushed and slightly off kilter. I, having missed much of the main thrust of Secret Wars (I'm waiting to catch up on Hickman's Avengers run before possibly trade-waiting) am heading back to the Marvel books I stepped away from at the beginning of the Summer with some trepidation. Amazing Spider-Man #1 has literally one issue to convince me the new direction for Peter Parker as an international globe-trotting entrepreneur is a solid one before I potentially drop the book for the foreseeable future. Similarly, Avengers #0 appears to be a catalogue showing us snippets of the upcoming books across the spectrum and I'll use this to steer my limited buying scope in the coming weeks. This - outside of two Star Wars titles - leaves Doctor Strange #1 as the only superhero Marvel book that I'm genuinely excited for this week.

Chris Bachalo was, at one time, an artist I would have followed from book to book religiously, such was my love for his work. Even when he joined Brian Michael Bendis on Uncanny X-Men I was willing to stick with the infuriating plot carnage that the writer was crafting to indulge in Bachalo's visuals. I did eventually drift away however, once it became apparent that this terrific artist was starting to speed up - Marvel schedules are not necessarily his friend - and in doing so, appeared to lose some of the quality edge in the rush. Now, combined with arguably the publisher's most on-form writer in Jason Aaron, and given the marvellous mystical realms of the supernatural to illustrate, there's no way I'm missing Bachalo take on Doctor Strange #1. The Sorcerer Supreme is likely to be one of the big focuses of the year ahead with the movie locked in for next autumn and I can't wait to see what this creative team brings to the world of Stephen Strange. Away from Marvel there's the double fun from BOOM! in the shape of Cluster #8 and John Flood #3 to look forward to and I'm even going to be giving a Dynamite title a chance for once with Garth Ennis' A Train Called Love #1 impressing in the previews department.

Matt C: Doctor Strange #1 is the clear frontrunner for me out of the first batch of 'All-New, All-Different' Marvel books. The Sorcerer Supreme hasn't had an ongoing title in many, many years, but I guess if anyone's going to make it work, it arguably the most versatile writer in mainstream comics, Jason Aaron. As proof of his versatility, check out the other two books he has out this week: the shit-kickingly brilliant Southern Bastards #11 and the repeatedly welcome visit to a galaxy far, far away in Star Wars #10 (one of FOUR Star Wars books hitting the stands via Marvel on Wednesday!). Doctor Strange #1, along with the other 'relaunch' titles, should of course be appearing after the conclusion of a certain event - we all know now that Secret Wars is running over schedule though, but damn if its brilliance doesn't make up for the wait! The other new book to look out for is Paper Girls #1 from Image, which sees Brian K. Vaughan team up with Cliff Chang for a tale described as 'Stand By Me meets War Of The Worlds'. I may not have been taken with We Stand On Guard but there's no way I won't try a new title from the man behind Saga, Y: The Last Man and The Private Eye!