To Be Filed: March 2008
The last week of every month marks the release of the new copy of Previews, or what I refer to as the retailer book of destiny. Why is this a book of destiny? Well simply put, Previews is a catalogue released by Diamond each month that lists all products available that can possibly ship to a retailer in a few months time. The following are what I feel to be some of the highlights (and lowlights) for product shipping in March 2008.
Remember advance ordering is your friend. Not only does it give you an idea of what your spending will be, it also gives you some insight into where your favourite titles are going and what new creative teams are starting. Most importantly, it helps guarantee that your local shop has what you want.
Dark Horse
Serenity: Better Days . Joss Whedon is back with another 3 issue Serenity mini-series. From the solicitation text and preview images, the story takes place before the movie (Wash is shown in the images). I really can’t remember the previous series, even though I own it in multiple formats. Which either doesn’t speak well of the work or my devotion to Firefly. In any event I’ll be waiting for the eventual trade on this series. The basic premise, is that the crew pulls a heist that actually pays what it promises. As a rare outcome for the Serenity crew, this story does have potential for some interesting character examination. Despite my hesitation to pick up the monthly, I hope this series does well enough that Dark Horse either commissions a Firefly Season two series, or gets to another mini-series telling the origin of Book.
DC
Tangent: Superman’s Reign. Tangent was a good to great fifth week event that DC held several years ago. Revisiting Tangent with the original architect, Dan Jurgens, on board is something I can get behind. Having them interact with the DCU, might be a good idea (which says a lot as I’m not big on the return of the multiverse). Having the whole story being a 12 issue mini-series when the DCU is being flooded with more ‘important’ series relating to the coming ‘final’ crisis, not so much of a good marketing move. I’m going to have to wait for the trade on this, and even then only if something major happens in the series. Now if they did some trades of the original Tangent stuff I might be interested…
New Frontier Special Edition. Coming out in time with the New Frontier DVD special, this special main story is a ‘lost chapter’ written and drawn by Cooke, and two other stories drawn by Bone and Bullock, artists who are similar in style to Cooke. At $4.99 for 48 pages and no ads, is by far not the worst deal out there, but the fact that I’ve bought the New Frontier in the Absolute edition, that is no longer absolute is a bit annoying. At least this will go well with my single issues. What would be best though is if they packed this story with the New Frontier DVD.
Flash 238 marks (for me) the long awaited return of Tom Peyer to the DCU. Peyer the writter of Hourman, one of the many underrated DC series from the mid to late 90’s, has the chops to carry this title. Hourman shares the two biggest elements that are central to the current Flash series; family and legacy. From the text, I’m gathering the plot of the the first arc is about Wally finding ways to make money to support his family, after all a family’s got to eat, especially when three quarters of them have an insanely high metabolism. This seems like a perfect match for Peyer’s strengths. Freddie Williams II stays on as the series artist.
The Trials of Shazam concludes this month. I haven’t been following this series myself, but I keep hearing good things about it. With the amazing characterization that Black Adam has received these past couple of years, my interest in the Fawcett City heroes is at an all-time high. I know there has been a trade of the first half of this series, which I’ve been avoiding so I can read it alongside the second trade. So what is this series all about? From what I’ve gathered the story is strictly following the classic archetype of the hero and the quest. The quest in the case being Freddie (Captian Marvel Jr.) trying to find a set of Gods to be the new source of power behind Shazam. One of my favourite series is Matt Wagner’s Mage, and this book sounds like its doing everything that I thought Mage did right.
Aztek: The Ultimate Man. Like, the aforementioned Hourman, Aztek was another of those short lived DC series that showed a lot of promise, but just didn’t find an audience. The lead, Uno, is the latest in a series of warriors who assume the mantle Aztek. The Azteks were raised and groomed by the secret Q society, in preparation for a prophesied threat that would destroy the world. As one of the final steps of his training, Aztek is sent to the American city, Vanity, to learn how to be a hero. While the concept is fairly generic, it had the benefit of being co-written by Mark Millar and Grant Morrison.
Starman Omnibus 1. This to me is the release of the year. Starman was the perfect DC series. You got legacy, you got DC history, and you got a character that was totally unique. This is a series that rightly earned both critical and fan accolades, but unless you bought the single issue, odds are you never read it the way it was meant to be. Like, Hitman, Hellblazer and other series, DC never finished releasing all the trades, nor did they print what they released in order. The good news is that DC is finally reprinting this classic in the way it should always have been, as a series of thick hardcovers. This is the first volume of what I’m guessing is going to be 5 volumes (averaging 16 issues per volume plus annuals and specials). If you love JSA, you owe yourself to check this out, as they series inspired JSA in many subtle ways. This book is scheduled to ship in May.
Wildstrom has the Absolute League of Extraordinary Gentlemen scheduled to be released in June. Next to being oversized, this edition will ship with a 45 RPM of Alan Moore singing Immortal Love. Also just like the regular sized HC, this book will have all the fold outs, 3D glasses, and other features. And just like the earlier edition, this version will also only be available in the United States of America.
Young Liars debuts from Vertigo and features David Lapham doing both the writing and drawing duties. The question though, if this is going to be the Lapham that gave us the subpar Batman story a few years back, or the Lapham that gave us Stray Bullets? Here’s a bit of the solicitation text: “At the core of Young Liars is the disturbing relationship between Danny Noonan, a habitual liar and crap guitar player from Texas, and Sadie Dawkins, the object of his desire. Sadie was a poor little rich girl until a bullet lodged in her brain turned her into an adrenaline junkie who only listens to Danny” Yeah, it looks like the Lapham of Stray Bullets is back.
Image
Nobel Causes 32 offers a new jumping on point. While I’ve never read this book,the central concept of a family of superheroes and their trials and tribulations seems to take the concept of Fantastic Four to the next level. Not many image books last 5 years + (exception if your book is tied to the names of Kirkman, McFarlane or Larsen), so that alone makes this something of an oddity that should be checked out. I might have to pick up the recently released archive editions.
Marvel
Last Defenders. Joe Casey doing a team book which has a group of heroes that don’t usually get along/seen with each other. I’m in.
Marvel Atlas 2 of 2. I didn’t pick up the first issue, but I did flip through it. This is a very impressive body of work, that tells the history / facts of each country in the Marvel Universe. I can’t wait to pick this issue (The Americas) up and see how messed up the entry for Canada is, and also to see how long the entry for the United States of America is.
Cable #1. I bring you Nomad V2.0. ’nuff said.
Logan #1. I tend to think that Wolverine is a character that is over exposed, and there is not much to do with the character that hasn’t been done, or comes off as a parody of itself. That being said a Marvel Knights series with art by Risso and written by BKV makes me interested. But the solicitation text though, does negate some of my excitement for the series.
Ultimate Iron Man II HC Its more interesting that solicit this collection the same month they solicit the last issue shipping. Is this a test for the future trade releases? If so, with Marvels aggressive trade program, retailers must not be happy about this.
The rest
Echo. Terry Moore returns to the creator owned property world with Echo. This book promises to be a departure from his previous indie work, Strangers In Paradise, as the premise involves a heavier sci-fi element. The main character finds herself attached to a piece of symbiotic technology that is a living bomb. I enjoy Terry’s art and SiP work, I look forward to seeing his return to creator owned work that has a more fantasy bent.
Gravel. Another new regular series coming out from Avatar written by Ellis. I’m starting to wonder if Avatar is an imprint owned by Ellis, Ennis and friends.
Talent. This Trade is offered again, and if you missed it the first time you really should check out this gem. The central concept is that a plan crashes, and all people onboard are found dead except one. As the story progresses the lone survivor slowly realizes that he has the talents and some of the memories of everyone who died on that plan. This was by far one of the best mini-series I read in 2006.
