The Shipping Forecast: February 2020

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the December issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in February 2020.

BANG! #1

Writer: Matt Kindt

Art: Wilfredo Torres

Dark Horse $3.99

James R: Matt Kindt was responsible for some of the most inventive comics of the last decade - his epic work on MIND MGMT alone showcased what a unique talent he is. I’m thrilled to see him starting the new decade in clearly scintillating form. BANG! boasts a pitch that is simply irresistible: ‘A secret agent with memories he couldn’t possibly possess, a retired mystery writer who solves crimes in her spare time, and a man of action who takes mysterious drugs to keep him ahead of targeted disasters and a seemingly omnipotent terrorist organisation’. SOLD! I would have loved to see Kindt illustrate the series too, but in Wilfredo Torres he has an excellent co-creator, and this is definitely my number one pick for the month.

The Shipping Forecast: April 2019

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the February issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in April 2019.

ASCENDER #1

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Art: Dustin Nguyen

Image $3.99

James R: Descender, from Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, was a sci-fi treat, one that combined both large-scale world building and more intimate, personal stories based around the exploits of boy android Tim-21. The series wrapped up really well, and if the story of Tim had ended there, Descender would have stood as a great series in its own right. Brilliantly enough though, it seems that there’s another part of this epic to tell, and April sees the debut of Ascender: moving the story on a few years, the narrative focuses on magic rather than science, and I can’t wait to see what Lemire and Nguyen do with this.

The Shipping Forecast: June 2018

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the April issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in June 2018.

MAN OF STEEL #1

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Art: Ivan Reis & Joe Prado

DC $3.99

James R: If you've picked up a DC book at all over the last few months, you can't help but have noticed the huge double-page ads proclaiming 'BENDIS IS COMING!' I'm still not quite sure Marvel's long-time lynchpin deserves such fanfare (largely due to his output of the last few years) but the Man Of Steel six-part series is undoubtedly one of the events of the year. DC have opted to make this a weekly event, with a roster of different artists, portraying Superman facing "The biggest threat of all time" - that's quite a boast! We'll see if the series delivers on the hype in June.

The Shipping Forecast: May 2018

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the March issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in May 2018.

AVENGERS #1

Writer: Jason Aaron

Art: Ed McGuiness

Marvel $4.99

Matt C: For the umpteenth time in last couple of decades, we find Avengers #1 appearing on the horizon, and I suppose I could digress onto the whole ‘renumbering’ issue, but that argument’s been done to death and the reasons should be abundantly clear at this stage, if not exactly welcome for when we come to file our comics. The postive is, of course: Jason Aaron writing an Avengers book! There are those who may try and claim that he does his best work on creator-owned stuff, but the counter to that is his run on Mighty Thor, which has been generally exceptional. This ‘debut’ issue has a solid line-up of superheroes (some obvious, some not-so-much) but it will also feature the return of the Caveman Avengers (not their official name) which is a concept with plenty more mileage as far as I’m concerned.

The Shipping Forecast: February 2018

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the December issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in February 2018.

YOUNG MONSTERS IN LOVE #1

Writers: Various

Art: Various

DC $9.99

Jo S: Yes, it’s a shameless pitch for the Valentine Geek dime, with a mid-February anthology featuring all the green, undead, tentacled, assembled-from-spares, twisted, tortured, cursed, gruesome, gothic, psychopathic or just downright unappealing DC unfortunates, all lovingly displayed in a plush box embossed with your sweetheart’s… Actually, there’s no box, but there will definitely be monster-lovin’ goodness, with some adorable talent on the roster: Paul Dini, Jeff Lemire, James Robinson and more will be grabbing their strawberry scented pens and putting little hearts on their ‘i’s, and art from Kelley Jones, Guillem March and Frazer Irving, among others will surely have our geek hearts beating a little faster. The cover is a great start: Swamp Thing has sprouted roses to impress his paranormal paramour, their embrace uninterrupted by the entrance of Frankenstein’s Monster; on seeing his bride in those mangrove root arms, you can almost hear his heart breaking. Or, if not his heart, the heart he happens to be using at the moment.

The Shipping Forecast: November 2017

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the September issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in November 2017.

DOOMSDAY CLOCK #1

Writer: Geoff Johns

Art: Gary Frank

DC $4.99

Matt C: How could they? Why would they?! This shouldn’t be allowed! And so on, ad nauseam. There are legitimate arguments about why Watchmen should be left well alone but there’s also a certain naivety about how the comic book business operates from some more stubborn quarters; the real surprise is it took so long to get here. Look, I love Watchmen; it’s a peerless masterpiece. Before Watchmen was largely a washout, the Darwyn Cooke stuff aside (particularly Minutemen). Bringing the characters into the DC Universe does sound like a terrible idea on paper but I’m heartened substantially by the creative team here. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. When they get together, as they have done on the likes of Superman: Secret Origin and Shazam! (the highlight of the whole New 52 debacle), the results are generally stupendous. If it was any other combination of creators involved I’d probably skip this, but with these two I have a fair amount of optimism. If anyone’s going to make this work, these guys have a better chance of succeeding than most.

Ten Forward: June 2017

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the April issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in June 2017.

WINNEBAGO GRAVEYARD #1

Writer: Steve Niles

Art: Alison Sampson, Stephane Paitreau, Jordie Bellaire & Aditya Bidikar

Image $3.99

Simon M: The first thing that grabbed my attention about this book in Previews was the title. I mean come on: Winnebago Graveyard, how can you not be intrigued! Once you get past the name and see that one of the modern masters of horror comics is writing this tale, then it’s time to seriously take note. Steve Niles (30 Days Of Night) is responsible for getting me back into the horror genre. The story revolves around a family on vacation that gets stuck in a small American town with a dark secret. The premise of the book reminds me a lot of the Jack Starrett film, Race With The Devil from 1975. Now that film scared the you-know-what out of me as a 10 year-old kid and therefore it left an indelible mark on my memory. If Niles can remind me of that feeling even a little bit, then it’s money well spent. There is quite a lot of preview art available and it all looks suitably dark and disturbing. Alison Sampson has done a fantastic job creating the atmosphere that is needed to make this book work. So, load up the RV and let’s head out on the highway to horror!

Ten Forward: May 2017

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the March issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in May 2017.

SECRET EMPIRE #1

Writer: Nick Spencer

Art: Steve McNiven

Marvel $4.99

Matt C: Back in the day I used to be an event junkie; regardless of quality, I HAD to know what happened in the ever-evolving tapestry of the Marvel Universe. These days, with notable exceptions such as Hickman's tremendous Secret Wars, I generally steer clear unless either the high concept is a blinder or the creative team fills me with unbridled confidence. I seem to have inadvertently stumbled into Secret Empire though having followed the 'Cap Is A Hydra!' agent storyline in Captain America: Steve Rogers, which now expands outwards into this miniseries. I've enjoyed the idea, and mostly the execution of it, so I'm willing to give this a go and hope for the best. Again, these days I don't have the completist bug that makes me think I need countless crossovers, but so long as I get an engaging tale that doesn't require me to pick up plot details elsewhere I'm optimistic that this, with it's core Cap/Red Skull dynamic, will be a blast.

Ten Forward: March 2017

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the January issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in March 2017.

ROYAL CITY #1

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Art: Jeff Lemire

Image $4.99

James R: March looks like being a great month for comics, and this for me is the standout book. Jeff Lemire is not only a long-standing, firm favourite of the PCG, but he's arguably in the form of his life at the moment, writing and drawing some of the best books out there. Royal City marks a return to the lo-fi storytelling of Essex County, the book that really established him as a phenomenal talent. It centres around Patrick Pike, a fading novelist who returns to his home town and finds both his family and the town itself struggling to survive. This is the first book that Lemire has written and illustrated since the peerless Sweet Tooth and the terrific Underwater Welder. 'Fevered anticipation' doesn't begin to cover my excitement for this - it may be early days, but I feel this could be the highlight of the year.

Ten Forward: February 2017

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the December issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in February 2017.

FOREVER WAR #1

Writer: Joe Haldeman

Art: Marvano

Titan $3.99

Stewart R: Forever War sits easily in my Top 5 favourite books list. It is simply terrific science fiction. The story follows scientist turned interplanetary infantry man William Mandella as he battles a faraway enemy and the effects of relativity on his life and loved ones as he continuously returns home from distant battle to find a world he no longer recognises and a conflict that has morphed a hundred times during the course of one transit. Haldeman wrote the book during the 1970s as a reflective piece commenting at the time on the Vietnam War, but its insight into feelings of isolation in the face of change and progress still resonates in this 21st century landscape. The book was adapted into a graphic novel in the 1990s, but Titan will be the first to translate and publish in English so it really is time to get on board with one of the truly great sci-fi stories.

Ten Forward: December 2016

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the October issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in December 2016.

LOCKE & KEY: SMALL WORLD

Writer: Joe Hill

Art: Gabriel Rodriguez & Jay Fotos

IDW $4.99

Simon M: Any time anyone asks me to recommend a series to get them into comics, my first suggestion will always be Hill and Rodriguez’s Locke & Key. This is one of my all-time favourite reads and I was left with a slightly empty feeling when it finished in 2013. But all is not lost, IDW have announced that a new one-shot is being released this December. The majority of the books have followed the Locke family during modern times, but Hill has given us glimpses of their history in a couple of other one-shot books (Open The Moon and Grindhouse). The writer has added in a recent interview that there is 250 years of Locke family history, so hopefully the plan is to explore this a little bit more. The Locke & Key series is essentially a supernatural horror based in Lovecraft's Massachusetts, where the Locke family have access to a number of magical keys that allow anything from taking memories from a person’s head to becoming a temporary ghost. Small World focuses on Mary Locke from the early twentieth century and a key that allows her to bring an incredible dollhouse to life. Now this is great news, but that is not all! Five years ago there was a failed TV pilot through Fox. It now looks like IDW are pushing a new pilot this time with Hill penning the script. Hopefully this time it gets off the ground and we can soon be seeing another comics series brought to life on the small screen.

Ten Forward: September 2016

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the July issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in September 2016.

DOOM PATROL #1

Writer: Gerard Way

Art: Nick Derington

DC $3.99

Kenny J: Gerard Way's succession to Grant Morrison's writerly throne is complete. The well documented protégé of the Scottish one's trademark style of comics has made it to the spiritual home penning the very same book Grant did over twenty years ago. As part of DC's new ‘Young Animal’ imprint, with many more Way stories to follow, this is the part of Rebirth that really has me interested. The former My Chemical Romance frontman has already cut his teeth on the similarly toned created-owned Umbrella Academy and the albeit less-similar-but-equally-great True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys at Dark Horse. This new project should hopefully invoke some of what made those so much fun as well as shooting off into the more out there ideas that have made Robotman and the other weirdos that make up the Doom Patrol such fascinating characters in the past.

Ten Forward: August 2016

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the June issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in August 2016.

SUICIDE SQUAD: REBIRTH #1

Writer: Rob Williams

Art: Philip Tan & Jonathan Glapion

DC $2.99

Kenny J: It's a double bill of Suicide Squad this month but it's best to start at the beginning with Suicide Squad: Rebirth setting out where DC’s group of reluctant antiheroes will be going in the near future. If one thing is certain it's that this latest version of the squad will be very similar to that being teased for their upcoming cinematic outing as Jack Flagg heads up the other crew but not necessarily leads them. With that gorgeous Jonathan Glapion and Philip Tan cover depicting the now essential Harley Quinn, holding Polaroids of Killer Croc, Deadshot and Katana, Flagg will have his work cut out trying to control this slew of villains making up the team under the writing stewardship of Rob Williams. Very much a solid DC writer and with the cast soon to be everywhere it remains to be see what surprises Williams has up his sleeve. Let's just say we haven't seen a ‘rebirthed’ Joker yet.

Ten Forward: July 2016

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the May issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in July 2016.

RED TEAM: DOUBLE TAP, CENTER MASS #1

Writer: Garth Ennis

Art: Craig Cermak

Dynamite Entertainment $3.99

Simon M: The original volume of Red Team followed a hardnosed, no-nonsense team from the NYPD that was willing to do whatever it takes to keep the streets of New York City free from the low life criminal element that plagues its underbelly. Following on from the explosive conclusion of the first series, Red Team: Double Tap, Center Mass brings back the two remaining members of the unit: Eddie Mellinger and Trudy Giroux. The story takes place one year later and these two are still struggling to come to terms with the consequences of their actions. Considered a liability, the team has been kept on small scale cases by their suspicious commanding officer. A chance encounter gives them the opportunity to get back in the game, but only if they are willing to take the risks that almost got them killed last time round. Cermak, who did the art on the first volume, is back again to team up with Ennis. His style is a perfect fit for this book and the pair seem to work well as a team. Ennis is a master storyteller and has had some of the most influential runs in modern comics history. If you like the dark and gritty, this will be worth picking up.

Ten Forward: June 2016

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the April issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in June 2016.

SUPERMAN #1

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi

Art: Patrick Gleason & Mick Gray

DC $2.99

Stewart R: Words and art, art and words. First it was beckoning me into their world of Green Lantern Corps and keeping me there. Then it was dragging my eyes and heart willingly through Batman And Robin's emotional father/son drama as they explored Bruce, Damian and Alfred's relationship. So yes, without hesitation, I will be buying and reading Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason's Superman come this new 'Rebirth' as this creative combo have delivered the most consistent and gloriously high calibre DC superhero experiences to me since I've been reading works from the publisher. Doug Mahnke is joining in on the fun as a regular artist (to keep up with DC's challenging/punishing schedule) in tandem with Gleason and that should be a reasonable fit for visual consistency. Tomasi is currently dealing with the mortality of Superman in the current volume so we shall see what sort of rollercoaster he inevitably delivers when the Last Son of Krypton is reborn this June.

Do You Remember The First Time? CAPTAIN AMERICA #260

In Do You Remember The First Time? we take a nostalgic trip back in time to discuss a seminal purchase that introduced us to a character, title, creator, or even a hobby.

Simon M: I can’t tell you how many comics I've read over the last 40 years, but it is many tens of thousands. The number of covers I vividly recall however would be a ridiculously small percentage. There are obviously the iconic covers that everyone remembers (Crisis On Infinite Earths #7, The Dark Knight Returns #1 and Amazing Fantasy #15 just to name a few), but outside of those there are very few I can recall that were associated with what was essentially a throwaway story. Captain America #260, released in 1981, was one of the few.

I remember first setting eyes on this issue as a 9 year-old at the local store with about two bucks of chore money burning a hole in my pocket. After buying the weekly supply of candy I would have enough left to buy two comics. As I perused the racks, I saw the cover you see here. I thought, Captain America in prison? That can’t be right! Although I was aware of Captain America, I had never bought or read an issue prior to that day. It didn’t take long to make the decision to pick this one up.

Ten Forward: March 2016

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the January issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in March 2016.

BLACK WIDOW #1

Writer: Chris Samnee & Mark Waid

Art: Chris Samnee

Marvel $3.99

Stewart R: I quite enjoyed Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto's recent Black Widow series (though some of the later issues remain in that growing pile of unread comics presently), but the prospect of Waid and Samnee picking up Natasha's story after their incredible run on Daredevil is just a reader's dream. It certainly appears that following Scarlett Johansson's successful portrayal of Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the publisher are keen to push the character's profile ever more to the fore - something we can expect of Janet(Hope) Van Dyne in the next few years too I imagine - and from an interview with the pair over at CBR last year it seems that they have a fairly open plan with very few constraints. The interesting thing for me is that where Waid really got to the heart of who Matt Murdock was in Daredevil it seems that Natasha has always been a more mysterious, enigmatic character and I'm excited to see this master writer tackle her motives and emotions.

Ten Forward: February 2016

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the December issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in February 2016.

SPIDER-MAN #1

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Art: Sara Pichelli

Marvel $3.99

Billy P: Those who read the PGC regularly will know I have made no secret of my chagrin about Marvel’s ‘All-New, All-Different’ initiative. Today, you find me less cynical – well, not really, but less negative, certainly. Tom King’s The Vision and Jason Aaron’s Doctor Strange have been firmly solidified on my pull-list, so it’s not all bad. And despite my newfound distaste for relaunches, especially those that continue as if Secret Wars hadn’t happened, I am truly pleased that Miles Morales now inhabits the 616. More than that, I am happy that Brian Michael Bendis returns as writer; but, even more than that, I am ecstatic that Sara Pichelli is back on pencils! I honestly believe that Miles Morales is a wonderful creation, especially given that the Marvel multiverse is populated by numerous so-called ‘Spider-Totems,’ within which Miles is but one of many. But where the Ultimate Universe succeeded in many ways was to scribble in the margins of the main Marvel Universe without affecting the sacrosanctity of continuity. Of course, Peter Parker will always be THE Spider-Man, but the introduction of Morales – a young, Hispanic web-slinger – to replace a deceased Parker as the Spider-Man of Earth-1610 was a spectacular coup de théâtre. But despite Bendis remaining as writer throughout the character’s career since his inauguration in 2011, I found myself jumping-off once Pichelli left the book. I used to believe that a good writer could save bad art, and that the converse was untrue. However, Pichelli forced me to change this viewpoint. Will it be ‘all-new,’ or ‘all-different’? It certainly has the potential: after all, this is a new canvas for Morales, both literally and figuratively. Given my disappointment with the Amazing Spider-Man relaunch and my belief that it is time for Dan Slott to move onto newer pastures – with thanks for his services – Miles Morales may be the Spider-Man I am looking for.

Ten Forward: November 2015

Every month we spend an evening scouring the pages of the latest issue of Previews and pick the ten titles we are looking forward to the most. This month it's the September issue which includes comics scheduled to ship in November 2015.

DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE #1

Writer: Frank Miller & Brian Azzarello

Art: Andy Kubert & Klaus Janson

DC $5.99

James R: This is one of those titles that, as an old school fanboy, you just have to flag up and take a look at. I distinctly recall being sat in a DC panel at the late, lamented Bristol Comics Expo, and being shown the first images from The Dark Knight Strikes Again - back then, there was a genuine sense of excitement that Frank Miller was continuing the story of the aged Batman. It's fair to say that DK2 was a book that divided opinions - some people loved it, others found it indicative of a great talent in decline. The announcement from DC that there would be a third chapter in the Dark Knight saga was a surprising one, as was the news that the series would be co-written by his close friend Brian Azzarello, and illustrated by Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson. I think it's questionable how much this will be Miiler wanting to return to his Batman mythos one more time, and how much it will be DC trading on the Dark Knight Returns name. They're certainly releasing it in formats that will test both the patience and wallets of fans, but the bottom line is this first issue will be a fascinating read, and a required purchase.

Screen Time: RANKING THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE FILMS SO FAR...

Following the release of Ant-Man earlier this month, Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come to a close. It’s been a wild ride since the release of Iron Man in May 2008 and, 12 movies later, we’re in the midst of seeing a game-changing, multi-faceted franchise on the big screen that many old school Marvel fans had previously believed to be an impossible pipe dream. Under the stewardship of Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, we’ve witnessed a succession of films that treated the characters both respectfully and faithfully, utilizing the best elements of their printed-page counterparts to produce some genuinely exciting movie magic that broadened the appeal of creations (some over half a century old) to build a monumental worldwide audience that awaits each release with fervent anticipation.

As we at the PCG know a few things about comics, and have been onboard with the MCU since Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury first appeared after the credits of Iron Man, we figured we should collate our favourites in readiness for the opening chapter of Phase Three, Captain America: Civil War, released next year.

And so here it is, ranked in order, the best of the MCU so far (and click the titles for our original reviews!)…