CSBG Archive
Flippin’ through Previews – April 2007
Yes, it’s time for another sweep through that fine, fine publication – Previews, vol. XVII, #4, with Fear Agent on the cover! Let’s delve!
Speaking of which, Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye #1, which Dark Horse claims is “ongoing,” is offered on page 22 and ships 13 June. The first trade of the regular series is pretty good, but this has been plagued by lateness. Still, it looks pretty darned cool.
On page 27, The Art of Matt Wagner’s Grendel is offered (15 August). It’s 40 bucks, but it sounds really keen. Of course, if you haven’t gotten any Grendel comics before this, you really should start there. And shame on you! Go to page 56 and see what you can order!
DC:
On page 65, the Batman and Son hardcover is solicited (8 August). Far be it from me to criticize DC’s publication schedule, but I sure hope they have the scripts and art for Batman #665-666, which are included in this volume, in their hot little hands right now!
Brian Bolland’s cover for The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen trade (page 72; 5 July) is amazing, as usual. It almost makes me want to buy a book I have almost no interest in.
Here’s what confuses me about the 52 trade paperbacks, the second one of which (#14-26) is offered on page 75 for a 25 July release. There are four trade paperbacks, right? Each costs 20 dollars. That’s 80 dollars for a series that, if you buy it every week, costs $156 (give or take). That’s a HUGE savings. I’ve been puzzled about the price for a while now – that’s a LOT of money to spend on a single title over a year – but is it worth it because of the immediacy of it all? Are these stories not very good and not worth waiting for the trades, despite the gigantic savings? That’s almost half off, after all. So do people not want to wait for the trades because it will mess up the “experience” of reading something in “real time”? I’m curious. Enlighten me!
Every time I see it, that JLA #10 cover (page 81) looks worse and worse. Well done, Michael Turner!
People keep claiming that Eisner’s work on The Spirit was more about the craft of storytelling than the main character, and issue #7 (page 88; 20 June) looks intriguing because it’s three stories written by Kyle Baker, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Walt Simonson. Perhaps they will be in the spirit (hah!) of the original stories. We’ll see.
“Jodi Picoult’s sensational run reaches its gut-wrenching finale!” says the solicitation for Wonder Woman #10 (page 89; 13 June). So: ten issues, three writers? Good job, DC, making Wonder Woman a must-miss book. What exactly was wrong with Greg Rucka?
It’s been mentioned a couple of times in cyberspace recently, but I find it humorous that souped-up hot rods are the new zombies/vampires/ninja/pirates/monkeys. Larry Young has The Black Diamond. Wildstorm offers The Highwaymen #1 (page 106; 20 June). Fox has that new car race thing coming out. Why does stuff like this happen? It’s a weird zeitgeist thing.
Repo #1 (page 140; 20 June) is from Rick Spears and Rob G, who brought us the overrated but fun-to-read Teenagers from Mars and the underrated but not-as-much-fun-to-read Filler, so it’s probably worth checking out. It’s a comedy about repo men hunting down a clone, a clone that everyone else also wants. Clones are the new hot rods!
If you haven’t been buying the two Sam Noir mini-series (and why not?), the six issues are collected on page 147 (13 June). According to the text, it has “20% more stabbing,” so I’m not sure if you can afford to pass it up!
Immortal Iron Fist #7 (page 34) does sound like it’s written for Chris Sims, as Tom Foss pointed out recently. Marvel even solicits it like Sims would: “At long last, America: someone has combined pirates, kicking, girls, and Iron Fist into a single comic book. You’re welcome.” Now, it’s a stand-alone story by Brubaker and Fraction, so I’ll probably check it out, but do we really want comics being written on the Chris Sims template? Maybe one or two, but all of them? Bear in mind that I read the Invincible Super-Blog pretty much every day and love it, but still.
I hate to buy into the hype, but I can describe my feelings about World War Hulk (page 36) in two words: “awe” and “some.”
New Avengers #31 (page 56): “No hype! No BS! The most important last page of any Marvel comic this year! Do not miss it!” First of all, the third sentence directly contradicts the first, and probably the second sentence in that solicitation. Second of all, how does Joey Q actually talk in real life? Is every sentence followed by an exclamation point and needless hype? “Today I woke up and had a shit! No BS: it was the single greatest bowel movement in recorded history! The water in my shower was hotter than Mephisto’s flames! And then, I ate a bowl of Chocolate Lucky Charms! Damn, I never knew a cereal could be so good!” Actually, that sounds like a fun guy to hang out with, even as you’re wondering when he’s going to snap.
So is Ramos going to be the go-to artist for X-Men (page 74) when Bachalo isn’t drawing it? That would suck.
I like how the last Millar/Hitch Ultimates trade paperback is solicited on page 100. I guess Marvel figures if they solicit it, maybe Hitch will actually finish issue #13!
Let’s move on to the back of the book!
Amaze Ink/Slave Labor has the first collection of Rex Libris on page 224. I haven’t been writing about Rex Libris because it took me forever to read the confounded things, but it’s a wildly fun comic about a hard-ass librarian who scours the universe for overdue books. It is one of the densest books you will ever read, which is why it took me so long to read the issues I have. I know someone here has been wondering about a collected edition (Bill Reed, I think), so here it is! Totally worth it for 15 dollars.
If you’ve been skipping The Killer from Archaia Studios Press, the first four issues are collected in a trade on page 232. It’s a very neat psychological profile of an assassin, and features gorgeous art. Check it out!
Warren Ellis will probably get more press for Black Summer from Avatar (page 238), and it looks intriguing, but as a history major, I’m much more interested in the graphic novel Crécy, which tells the story of the battle between England and France in 1346 that changed the way wars were fought. That sounds excellent. Also from Avatar (on page 239) is the trade of Ellis’ four Apparat tales, which are pulp stories updated with modern sensibilities. They’re all pretty good, and the trade is only $12.99.
I spotted an interesting item on page 258, from Checker Books: the third trade of The Path, which was a pretty nifty samurai story that CrossGen published. I own the first two, and although this one doesn’t feature Bart Sears’ very nice art (trust me!), I might have to get it. I mention it more because I would really love to see a El Cazador and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang trade, even though I already own the issues. Talk about fun comics unjustly forgotten in the wake of CrossGen’s implosion!
Dynamite Entertainment brings us The Boys, but I’m not interested. What’s kind of neat is that The Lone Ranger is now ongoing, so pick up issue #7 (page 265) and see why it’s good. You know you want to!
If you haven’t bought the second trade of Action Philosophers! yet, Evil Twin Comics has it on page 295. If you haven’t bought it, of course, you’re not allowed to talk about how you want to read fun comics until you do. For only $8.95, you’ll laugh and get some edumacation. What could be better?
First Second Books has a cool-looking offering from Eddie Campbell, The Black Diamond Detective Agency, on page 300 for $16.95. It’s a story of a man on the run from the eponymous dicks at the turn of the century – presumably the late 1800s/early 1900s. And it’s freaking Eddie Campbell! Also offered on the same page is Campbell’s The Fate of the Artist, which I missed the first time around, so I’ll be getting it this time.
Hey, if you haven’t bought Fun Home yet, the softcover is offered on page 312. You really should read it, you know.
I’m going to buy Fallen Angel #17 (page 317, from IDW), because it’s a very good book, but it’s guest-starring Shi and drawn (partly) by Billy Tucci. That does not fill me with good feelings.
Oni has some neat stuff, as usual. On page 329, Last Call vol. 1 shows up for $11.95. It’s the story of two boys out on a drive who get hit by an “inter-dimensional soul carrier.” That can’t be good! Now they need to escape the creepiness!  Whiteout: Melt is also offered on the same page. It’s the sequel to Whiteout, and is a very good comic. Carrie Stetko on an adventure in Antarctica!
On page 364, Top Shelf has Death by Chocolate: Redux and Less Than Heroes, both by David Yurkovich. They both sound oddly intriguing, as Death by Chocolate is about a FBI agent made out of chocolate investigating food-inspired crimes and Less Than Heroes is about four superpowered Philadelphians who don’t really do a very good job protecting the city, but has anyone read them? Can anyone tell if they’re worth it? I’m just wondering.
Villard Books offers Postcards: True Stories that Never Happened on page 368. Jason Rodriguez has been putting this book together over the past couple of years, and I’m very keen to see it. Creators tell stories based on a postcard from a hundred years ago and what’s written on the back. Groovy.
On the same page (368), Viper Comics has A Dummy’s Guide to Danger in trade, as well as the two volumes of The Middleman. All three are worth your coin, but if you must get only one, get the first volume of The Middleman. Funner comics you will not find!
The trade paperback of 7 Brothers, Garth Ennis’ contribution to Virgin Comics, is on page 375. If you’re a bit sick of the ridiculous violence in most of Ennis’ books, check this out. It’s plenty violent, but it’s not over-the-top, and it’s a cool story.
That’s all I got. Be sure to dig through the book to find the things that make you smile – they’re not going to fall right into your lap!
12 Comments
Ion
April 1, 2007 at 5:14 pm
You could get a 52 subscription from DC for $100, so really you’d only pay $20 to read the books more than a year earlier.
And the trade doesn’t have the backups in it.
Rebis
April 1, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I was going to point out what Ion did about the subscription deal. If you were concerned about saving that money over the course of a year, that would’ve been a way to go.
I’ll tell you why I enjoy reading 52 every week: It’s not the “real time” factor (though the Halloween and Thanksgiving issues were a hoot, and the New Year’s climax was spot-on). I don’t so much care that it’s happening in real time as I care that, hey, it’s a fun comic about characters I mostly either enjoy (Ralph Dibny, Renee Montoya, Black Adam) or actually love (Animal Man, people!) — and it comes out ON TIME EVERY WEEK. I love me some serial storytelling, and 52 delivers. It gives me a good reason to go to the comics store every week! I used to have sad Wednesdays when nothing would arrive that I was interested in. I imagine that will soon be the case again, but for now, I walk out with something that I’m going to enjoy reading!
And besides, if I’d waited more than a year to begin to get the trades, well, for one, I’d still have to wait many more weeks in between each trade (as did the folks who picked up Seven Soldiers that way), which would be irritating. And furthermore, all the plot points would have long since been spoiled.
chdb
April 1, 2007 at 7:32 pm
And the trade doesn’t have the backups in it.
In all sincerity, they could do a better draw than “hey, here’s the origin of the Batman and Superman and everybody for the billionth goddamn time.“
Andrew Collins
April 1, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Part of me is a little annoyed at how much cheaper the trades are than the individual issues, but overall, I don’t regret buying the singles of 52. It’s been a heck of a ride so far. While not every issue has been a winner, it’s been consistantly entertaining enough for me. And like Rebis said, it actually comes out on time! I want to support it almost just for that!
“It’s been mentioned a couple of times in cyberspace recently, but I find it humorous that souped-up hot rods are the new zombies/vampires/ninja/pirates/monkeys. Larry Young has The Black Diamond. Wildstorm offers The Highwaymen #1 (page 106; 20 June). Fox has that new car race thing coming out. Why does stuff like this happen? It’s a weird zeitgeist thing.”
Not to mention that horrible looking Red Line movie, the one where Eddie Griffin wrecked the VERY expensive car while promoting it.
“New Avengers #31 (page 56): “No hype! No BS! The most important last page of any Marvel comic this year! Do not miss it!†First of all, the third sentence directly contradicts the first, and probably the second sentence in that solicitation. Second of all, how does Joey Q actually talk in real life? Is every sentence followed by an exclamation point and needless hype? “Today I woke up and had a shit! No BS: it was the single greatest bowel movement in recorded history! The water in my shower was hotter than Mephisto’s flames! And then, I ate a bowl of Chocolate Lucky Charms! Damn, I never knew a cereal could be so good!†Actually, that sounds like a fun guy to hang out with, even as you’re wondering when he’s going to snap.”
Ha ha ha, good stuff. Though you can interchange Joe Q.’s name for Stan Lee and I think that would work too. From what I’ve been told, Stan snapped sometime around Secret Wars II…
That Iron Fist solicit is just horrible too. I’m sure it’s a great comic and I plan on trying it out when it hits the trades, but that solicit makes the book seem so…trivial…
“I’m going to buy Fallen Angel #17 (page 317, from IDW), because it’s a very good book, but it’s guest-starring Shi and drawn (partly) by Billy Tucci. That does not fill me with good feelings.”
My first though about Lee teaming up with Shi was “Why?” My second thought was “WHY?” My third thought was “Peter David has collateral with me. He can make something like this work better than you ever think it would…” Well, we’ll see…
Steve Flanagan
April 1, 2007 at 11:51 pm
People keep claiming that Eisner’s work on The Spirit was more about the craft of storytelling than the main character…
Guilty as charged, your honour. Baker and Simonson’s work has strong enough character for us to hope that their stories won’t be forced Eisner pastiche. Palmiotti? That’s an odd choice.
And the trade [of 52] doesn’t have the backups in it.
I was wondering about that. The backups are often the best bit (much less gore and angst in them, anyway – plus art by Bolland, Hughes, Chaykin, Nowlan etc): I’d buy a collection of them. I’m not sure I’ll bother the 52 collections though. Who wants to watch last year’s soap opera?
John Seavey
April 2, 2007 at 6:03 am
As others have said. 52. On time. Every week I go into the comic store, I have a comic I’m going to read and advance the story. It’s more addictive than it sounds.
I’m not sure how much I want the trades, though. On the one hand, half the fun was reading it as it came out, and I’m not sure how much I’d want to sit down and read it for its own sake. And I do, after all, have all the issues. On the other hand, I do so very much prefer trades to single-issues that I know that whatever chance I do have of wanting to re-read it is diminished greatly by not having the trades, and I can always eBay my single-issue copies later on.
And yes, I do see similarities in Lee and Quesada’s hype, but I wish Quesada would either do less of it or be a bit more honest about it. Saying, “No, this isn’t just another event, the post-Civil War status quo is permanent,” leaves me with two possible options. One, he actually believes these changes will stick, which makes him more than a little foolish…or two, he knows they won’t stick, but thinks I’ll believe they will, which doesn’t show a lot of respect for my intelligence and comic-history savvy. So, to put it grumpily, either he’s dumb or he thinks I am. It’s not a great advertising package.
Matthew E
April 2, 2007 at 6:59 am
You could get a 52 subscription from DC for $100, so really you’d only pay $20 to read the books more than a year earlier.
You’re not taking into account the fact that you’d still have to go into the store and buy about four or five issues that DC’s subscription service would fail to send you for no reason, and that they would never send you a replacement copy, refund your money, or in fact acknowledge your complaint in any way. So I’d still recommend either picking it up yourself or getting the trades.
McAlice
April 2, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Plus the 52 trades are selected highlights, they are not the complete series
sleeper
April 3, 2007 at 8:28 am
IMMORTAL IRON FIST is a great comic and pretty much what everyone online claims to want in a superhero book. It’s got outstanding action, great characterization, and although it’s tied into the events of CIVIL WAR (just as everything Marvel publishes these days must be tied into CW by obligation) it’s not so interwined that you can’t read it on its own. It’s a surprisingly fresh and enjoyable stand-alone comic that resurrects a cool, underrated character from the past. What else could you possibly ask for? Bonus: it incorporates a unique kung-fu/martial arts sensibility that’s underused in superhero comics today, and it’s written by two of the most creative and enjoyable writers around.
The fact that people have resorted to complaining about the quality of the solicitations leads me to believe that said people just need SOMETHING to whine about. If the Big Two aren’t giving you something worth reading, it needs to be made a point of contention, but even if they are, you have to argue that the solicitations aren’t being written up correctly. In all honesty, I think they chose the wording they did for that particular solicit because Fraction is a pop-culture junkie and finds the concept of re-mixing various “junk culture” tropes to be fun/humorous. If he could throw giant robots into the mix, he probably would, too.
None of that matters, though. As long as the book remains entertaining, well-written, and features great art, I’m there.
Greg Burgas
April 3, 2007 at 10:52 am
I have no problem with the solicitation – I laughed out loud when I read it, BECAUSE it’s written as if Marvel had certain bloggers in mind. I just worry that it’s going to become a trend – “Hey, what’s cool these days? Let’s write a story featuring _______!” That’s no way to write a comic. I’m still going to buy the issue, because it sounds very neat.
J.C.
April 3, 2007 at 6:53 pm
You know if no one bought the weekly, then there wouldn’t be the trades. But I echo the sentiments of the other posters here: the fun part about Wednesdays is going to my shop knowing that 52 will be there and reading the real time stroy play out. Seeing if it will be a big issue with insane stuff happening or a more subdued issue setting up some stuff later. But the real fun is having all the issues now and sitting next to them and reading 40 some odd issues in a row and just marveling at how four writers with such differnt styles and focuses can just…jam and come out with a consistantly fun read.
sleeper
April 3, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Greg – There’s a good chance you’ll like IRON FIST for all the reasons I mentioned above.
Also, after re-reading my post, I realize I might have come off as being snarky. That wasn’t the intent. Sorry about that.