Comic Book Resources

Have you been reading Brubaker's Captain America? All snark about the new Captain's shiny costume aside, it's been pretty damned good.

There's also a part of me that feels really dirty in admitting that I've been enjoying the hell out of 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen. Of course, given that, come Friday, we'll be 5/6ths of the way through the story, you might want to wait until the inevitable trade is released to check it out.

Oh, and between Hulk vs. Fin Fang Foom and the Giant-Size Avengers Special we get two... count 'em, two fists full of giant speedo-wearing Kirby dragon with which to rock our faces this week, and that can't be bad.

Buy Invincible Presents: Atom Eve #1.

Support the Benito!

You can't get more riveting than the Previews Order Guide! Comment on that one!
I have nothing to pick up this week anways

Well, crickey, am I the only one who wants to pick up ASM just to see how exactly royally fucked Spidey's continuity is about to be rendered?

I think I'm going to grab X-Men as well ... as a toe-dip into the Messiah CompleX story. Captain America, Todd? Mayyybeee....

Giant-Size Avengers Special. It's going to have a story by genius author Daniel Merlin Goodbrey. You really shouldn't need much more incentive than that.

(First off, I'm trying to turn off the boldface formatting, though I'm not sure how to do it ... [/b] Did that work? If not, how about ... ?)

OK, moving along: By coincidence I actually just reread Green Lantern #25 last night and, though I'm still skeptical about the impending arrival (sometime in the next two years) of Orange Lanterns and Indigo Lanterns (!!!), it does have a certain Silver Age charm to it, so I'm gonna keep buying GL, a title I only picked up for the Sinestro Corps War because Sinestro has always been one of my favorite villains. So, congrats, DC: You've convinced me to add one, maybe two, monthly titles to my pull list. For now, at least.* (I wonder, in the aftermath of this storyline, how he'd rank if we did another Top 50 DC/Marvel characters? Surely no other villain will touch the Joker, but I think Riddler and Sinestro have a shot at joining Lex somewhere in the lower ends of the rankings. Anyway, as a tangent, I think that poll was one of the very best things CSBG did in '07, and I hope Brian has the enthusiasm to do it every year. It'll be elucidating, if he does, to compare rankings over time.)

I'm also very much enjoying the "Superman and the Legion" arc in Action Comics, so I'll be grabbing that. Also, Blue Beetle and the Crime Bible. And, having happily ignored the Ra's crossover, I somewhat hesitantly will pick Batman back up. Morrison's been so very uneven on this run so far, but ...

* I recently read somewhere — DiDio's year-end interview at Newsarama? — that Morrison and Jones's Final Crisis will NOT be a huge crossover event. Which is encouraging news, if true. Do I dare believe that DC will let the monthly books do their thing? Because I'd really like to enjoy Wonder Woman or Blue Beetle or Green Lantern without those titles getting dragged into a thousand other minis.

Finally, I might drop some Xmas cash on Queen and Country. Good tip, Greg!

Holy codebreaker! I finally mastered the system. Ahhh, small victories.

Not much out this week, have you looked at Proof, yet? I can't recall. There's a new issue of Berlin, I only hear good things about that comic, but I've never read it.

I have the first issue of Garth's The Zombie, and while the story is fairly generic (I'm pretty sure I can outline the rest of the next three issues without any effort), the Hotz artwork is pretty sharp, so you know what you're getting and it's not a bad zombie fix.

I admit I'm intrigued by Hulk vs. Fin Fang Foom, especially since it's written by Peter David, but I also don't want to pay the extra buck for a Foom reprint I already bought in Fin Fang Four.

Also, you should totally get the Spanish edition of Isla de la Muerte. Heheh.

There's Ultimate Power # 9 (final issue), Ultimate Spider-man # 117, Conan # 47, Hellblazer # 239 and Dan Dare # 2.

Go forth and pick up some more comics.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #24 - My pal Dan Parsons is now inking it. Hey, it's as good a reason as any

Death of the New Gods #4 - I'm a long time fan of Kirby's New Gods, and I like Starlin's art. Sorry to see so many great characters get bumped off, but so far it has been an entertaining read.

Legion of Super-Heroes #37 - Definitely want to see if Jim Shooter can bring back some of that old pre-boot Legion magic. Cross your fingers.

Captain America #33 - Okay, Cap is still dead, but under Ed Brubaker this book is the best it has been since Waid & Garney's first run over ten years ago.

Giant Size Avengers Special - It has some good creators on it and sounds like fun.

I might get the Hunk vs Fin Fang Foom special, but I want to see who the creative team is first.

Not sure if I'm buying anything else. I want to save some money fort the long-awaited super-delux Blade Runner DVD set. Oh, yeah, and booze money for New Year's Eve

Legion of Super-Heroes #37 - I usually take advantage of new writers on titles that I'd previously thrown out, if only for an issue or two. I've enjoyed the Legion in Action Comics, so it's clear that with the correct writer I can enjoy this group.

Thor #5 - Yay Thor! Top 5 Marvel book right here and one of the issues I'm really looking forward to for tomorrow.

THERE IS HOPE FOR YOU YET! I can't believe that we didn't even have to recommend Blue Beetle and you already have it on your list! Way to go! Long live Jaime Reyes!

Now that I am over the shock. How about Invincible Presents Atom Eve #1? Or Action Comics since it continues the Legion story? AND now that I think about it, Legion begins a new arc with Shooter as the new writer. What about Legion now that Supergirl is gone?

Well, anyways, you are buying Blue Beetle. In my book, you don't have to pick up anything else and I am happy.

Did I mention that everyone should be buying Blue Beetle? You are such an example to us all!

I'll feel dirty saying this, but you should probably give Countdown Arena 4 a look. It promises a Superman battle and a Monarch versus Captain Atom free for all. Even given the incredible stupidity of the concept, Champagne has been writing the heck out of this miniseries.

Monarch versus Captain Atom

Wait, I thought that the new Monarch was Captain Atom! Damn, I am so confused... again. Suddenly I'm having flashbacks to my teenage years and how Armageddon 2001 was totally ruined by the last-minute change to the ending.

How many series is DC currently publishing that have the word "countdown" in their title?

Here's what I'm getting:

USAGI YOJIMBO #108
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #9
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #4 (OF
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #37
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #545
DAREDEVIL #103
IRON MAN #24
MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 #3 (OF 5)
RED PROPHET TALES OF ALVIN MAKER #11 (OF 12)

Let's see, you are already getting Daredevil and Iron Man, so no need to pimp those. I recall you tried Usagi Yojimbo a few months ago on our recommendations, and while you didn't hate it, you didn't love it. I get the floppies as well as the TPBs (because I like to reward quality indies) but I have to admit the TPBs are the way to read this title.

If you are not a fan of Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series, there's no reson for you to be getting Red Prophet, particularly at this late stage.

I'll assume you are not interested in the lousy ASM One More Day nonsense. Frankly, I don't know why I'm getting it. Maybe I'll even boycott it once I get to the store. (Yeah, right.)

Marvel Zombies is, I find, a fun diversion, with all the "heroes" zombified and eating others and such. But if we're at #3 and you aren't getting it yet, I doubt you will be changing your mind now.

Same with New Gods.... it's Starlin goodness mixed with Kirby ideas -- what can go wrong? I enjoyed Byrne's and Simonson's versions of these characters, Starlin is a natural addition to that group. But there's no point in jumping on with issue 4. Get the inevitable TPB.

Brave and Bold has been really fun, but I would have recommended issue 7 to begin a story, not issue 9.

That just leaves Shooter's Legion. Perfect jumping on (or trying out) point. Give it a try! Personally, I've always found Shooter a facinating figure in the world of comics. I've never read his previous Legion run, but I can't wait to try this out.

Brubaker's run on Captain America lives up to the hype: it's really damn good.

So is Green Lantern. I'll be buying this week's issue to find out what's up with the "Alpha Lanterns". Beyond the fact that they are part of Geoff Johns' two-year leadup to Blackest Night, I know nothing about them.

Since I'm a fan of Stuart Immonen, I've been picking up Ultimate Spidey since he took over the "art chores" and have been loving it so far.

And I have no choice but to pick Death of the New Gods (as well as Countdown to Mystery, but I don't think that's out this week): both Starlin AND Steve Gerber putting out monthly books? I'm in heaven.

Pax finally ships? Rock!

Man, Fantastic Four: Isla de la Muerte looks killer. Juan Doe's pages are outstanding.

But, yeah, Tyree speaks wise. Support Benito...and Nate! Buy Invincible Presents: Atom Eve!

BADGER SAVES THE WORLD #1!!

You know you want it Larry!

Giant Size Avengers looks too good to pass up. The Avengers is really starting to grate on my nerves. I need a shot of old-time Avengers.

this week I'm getting: Action, Batman, Countdown, Crime Bible, Death of the New Gods, Flash, Gothem Underground, Jack of Fables, Uncle Sam, Pax Romana, Daredevil, and X Men.

I would say get Legion and try it out, but you're getting it already, so I don't know.

I believe you may have said something about waiting for the trade on Andy Diggle's HELLBLAZER a month or so back, but I still push it on anybody within shouting distance.

You need to buy Proof #3.

And there's a new Invincible mini: Atom Eve, that should be a good read.

Legion of Super-Heroes has basically cleared the slate. It's essentially an entirely new book.

Pick up Brave and the Bold #9. You know you want to...

Why aren't you reading Marvel Zombies (or Zuvembies)? Even though it has absolutely no right to be good, it actually is very good.

Lastly, I've been quite enjoying Thor, and issue #5 is out today. I'm not as psyched for it as I am these other books, but it leads the rest of the pack.

Rob T.: I've been buying Blue Beetle for a while now. I think my first issue was #15. And I started buying it thanks to everyone in the comments pimping it! And yes, it's very good.

Good week, but you can't pass up the new Acme Novelty Library!

Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)