Super-Powered Comics: Diamond Destinations July 2010 (for September)

p. 48 Billy The Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of London #1 (of 4): The title may be a bit ridiculous length-wise, but Eric Powell and Kyle Hotz have already created one great series starring Billy and his freakshow gang, and this story which takes Billy in to conflict with Jack the Ripper looks equally impressive.

p. 78 New Teen Titans: Games: The fact that this hardcover is even being published is all around amazing. Unfortunately, DC likes to solicit its graphic novel programs months in advance, so this one won’t be out until November. Once it is... well, 144 more pages of the eighties Titans, even Danny “I’m too lame to live” Chase! All by Wolfman and Perez!

p. 17 Deadpool Pulp #1-2: I would show far more interest in Marvel’s new pulp-inspired story if it wasn’t with the already overexposed Deadpool. However, this follows in the tradition of the Marvel Noir books and takes an Elseworlds kick. Too bad the solicits also make it feel more like James Bond than old school pulp.

p. 78 X-23 #1: I am a fan of Marjorie Liu’s writing both in and out of comics. Sadly, her Black Widow run ends this month, but she starts up a new series starring Wolverine’s lady-clone instead. I’m not sure how I feel about the character getting her own ongoing, but Liu does make it more appealing.

p. 85 Incognito Bad Influences #1: I wonder if Marvel will try to advertise Deadpool Pulp somewhere near Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ pulp hero book. The first Incognito limited was nothing short of amazing, so we will see if this one lives up to the first. Oh, and the pulp essays by Jess Nevins in the back matter totally make the single issues well worth buying.

p. 263 Vampirella Archives Volume 1 Hardcover: Call me less than enthused about Dynamite’s lackluster debut for Vampirella with two reprint volumes. The character deserves better, but at least it gives me an excuse to run this classic Frazetta cover.

p. 286 Valhalla Cindermane #1: I know next to nothing about this throwback to the bad girl era. It sounds fun IMHO. Oh, and the character apparently already has her own Myspace and Twitter.

p. 300 Return of the Originals: Battle For L.A.: Moonstone begins its new pulp initiative with this graphic novel by CJ Henderson and Mark Sparacio. The goal seems to be to quickly bring all the public domain pulp characters back in both prose and comic form and this is where it starts. This is by far the book I am most interested in checking out this month.

p. 305 Guerillas Volume 1: I was quite intrigued by Brahm Revel’s tale of an all primate squad active in a very real Viet Nam when Image published the first half of it a few years back. Now those stories are being collected by Oni Press, hopefully with the second half of the story to follow.

p. 378 Scott Pilgrim t-shirts: Bryan Lee O’Malley’s soon to be movie star finally goes hog wild on a whole series of shirts.

p. 382 Iron Man 2: Arc Reactor Glow Accessory: Am I the only one that thinks thorwing htis in the middle of a shirt would be simple and freaking awesome Halloween costume?

Super-Powered Comics: Diamond Destinations April 2010 (for June comics)

p. 35: King Conan Volume One: The five over-sized issues of King Conan in this book are my favorite Conan comic of all time. From a person that once ran a Conan comic website, that is strong praise. Everyone should read it.

p. 79: Batman Beyond #1: Terry McGinnis returns in comic form. I have no idea how good this book will be, but the return of the future Batman is definitely reason to celebrate.

p. 87: The Spirit #3 and Doc Savage #3: It’s Pulp Month here, so I think its would be best to cover these two new pulp-oriented ongoings. The first issues hit in the next couple weeks so be sure to check them out.

p. 107: Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom #1: It is without original co-creator Alan Moore, but Chris Sprouse’s always gorgeous art returns to Tom Strong. Peter Hogan wrote the amazing Terra Obscura for the ABC line, so I think this book has tons of potential to be a really great sleeper hit, Alan Moore or not.

p. 140: Jurassic Park #1: IDW moves to the front of the catalog and this book leads it off. I am not sure how big a deal a new Jurassic Park comic really is, but this will certainly be an interesting read. The concept takes the movie through real time and makes Tim and Lex Murphy the now adult leads. Should be interesting to see how this one plays out. And the Frank Miller dinosaur cover doesn’t hurt either (though I am pretty sure it comes from an old JP card set and isn’t original to this book.)

p. 173: Hack/Slash: My First Maniac #1: Hack/Slash has definitely had its ups and downs as a series, but with a move to Image, this book should be sitting in a lot more solid place for many months to come. If you enjoy slasher movies, you should definitely be reading this book, as it gives an interesting new and heroic twist to the genre.

p. 174: Dynamo 5: Sins of the Father #1: I am a huge fan of Jay Faerber’s little corner of the Image universe. While his artists are now working over at DC, he has teamed with Julio Brilha to bring back Dynamo 5 in limited series form. And to up the fun, he has brought in Invincible’s Omni-Man and Rob Liefeld’s Supreme to up the ante! This one should be a lot of fun and I highly recommend it.

p. 180: Brigade #1: Speaking of Rob Liefeld, here he has the return of Brigade! I always liked the team even through the pains of their original limited series, only to see them all slaughtered in the ongoing book. Here, Liefeld teams with the original artist Marat Mychaels to reboot the concept. Say what you will about Liefeld, but I am on-board for this one.

p. 181: Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark: Let’s just let the cover do the talking for this one.

p. 189: God Complex #7: I don’t think I have mentioned this well-written new book by Daniel Berman, John Broglia, and Mike Oeming yet. The basic concept is simple: Apollo decides to stop being a god and live as a mortal. Zeus and the rest of the family become less than happy about it. And the adventure begins! A great fun book that never takes itself too seriously. Anyone who enjoys fun comics should give this one a try.

p. M19: Deadpool: Wade Wilson’s War #1 & 2: Normally I am not much of a fan of Marvel’s current Deadpool titles. But you get Jason Pearson on art and my opinion can quickly change. This book is sure to be beautiful, even though the solicitations don’t really clear up what it is about. I think it is supposed to be his origin story, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

p. M27: Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special #1: I do not know what is more amazing. Is it the return of Peter Porker, Spider-Ham? Or is it the Joe Jusko cover it is wrapped in?

p. M31: Avengers Academy #1: I have no idea how this book differs from the original concept of Avengers: The Initiative, but I am happy to see it has new characters and excellent art by Mike McKone. Could be a winner.

p. M51: Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1: I am more of an indy comics buyer, but Marvel has guaranteed I will regularly be buying at least two of their regular titles with this book. Atlas was already a guaranteed sell, and I am nothing if not an unrepentant Hawkeye fanboy. Jim McCann wrote a pretty decent limited for these two last year and this one has the potential to be a great book as well. And it has Crossfire and Phantom Rider!

p. 218: The Royal Historian of Oz #1: While I don’t know the names Tommy Kovac or Andy Hirsch, I can’t argue with a new Oz comic for only a buck. Amaze Ink has me for at least one issue with this one.

p. 218: Shadoweyes: Also from Amaze Ink this month is a new graphic novel featuring the beautiful art of Ross Campbell. Campbell has previously drawn the gorgeous Wet Moon and The Abandoned, so I am guessing this future superhero tale will almost certainly be gorgeous.

p. 250: Pale Horse #1: One of my biggest complaints about Boom as a publisher is their lack of previews. While I am curious to learn more about this Western tale of an ex-slave, previews are nowhere to be found. Michael Alan Nelson has been more miss than hit for me as a writer, so I am going to pass it up. Hopefully I am not missing out on a good book do to bad marketing.

p. 252: Darkwing Duck: The Duck Knight Returns #1: On the other hand, Boom’s other new book pretty much sells itself. Darkwing Duck has a definite cult following and should make a big splash at Boom. Now if they can just get the continuance of Greg Weisman’s Gargoyles....

p. 290: Ghostopolis: Doug TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim, has produced some great comics over the last few years like Earthboy Jacobus and Iron West. He has left Image for his latest OGN, a kids book called Ghostopolis. It looks like an interesting dark fantasy, which isn’t typical kiddy fare, but neither was Harry Potter a little over a decade ago.

p. 292: Unfabulous Five: The Greasers From the Black Lagoon #1: Humanoids is back to self-publishing in America and part of the deal is the return of this great series (formerly part of Image’s Lucha Libre anthology) to print. Hilarious pseudo-super hero tales of washed-up luchadores. What more can you ask for?

p. 300: Super Pro K.O.! volume 1: It is an unwritten rule that wrestling comics fail. They fail hard. But this cartoony, over the top series by Oni Press might actually manage to make wrestling comics cool.

p. 324: Battle Smash vs. Saucer Men From Venus: And wrestling may be a them of this month’s previews with this lucha superhero series from Viper Comics.

p. 337: Alter Ego #94 and Back Issue #41: Two new issues of Twomorrow’s great comic history magazines. And they both now feature sixteen color pages, which ups their greatness that much more. Back Issue is a guaranteed buy from me ever six weeks, while this issue of Alter Ego looks good as it continues the magazine’s look at DC’s Earth Two.

p. 369: Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose Minimates boxed set: This may be the officially oddest Minimate set ever.

p. 388: Tonner Tomb Raider: Amanda Evert Doll: I haven’t played a Lara Croft game in years, but when did she get an evil goth enemy? And now that figure has a Barbie-style doll!

That’s it for this month. We will leave you with one last terrifying look at the Tarot minimates.

Super-Powered Comics: Shang-Chi Master of Kung Fu

I gave my review of Rampaging Wolverine a few weeks back. Now its pseudo-sequel has hit the stands. While the previous one-shot was inspired by Marvel’s seventies era magazine Rampaging Hulk, Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu holds its inspiration in the classic martial arts magazine Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. And unlike the previous book, this one proves a bit weaker.

The opening story by up and coming writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Kody Chamberlain (whose last name is missing the second A). You might expect some kind of kung fu masterpiece. Instead we get a Deadpool/Shang-Chi team up involving a motorcycle race against multiple criminal organizations. It features an oddball storytelling style in the vein of Deadpool’s own title. Very little of Shang-Chi’s own personality is allowed to shine through.

The second story by novelist Mike Benson and the Marvel Noir alumni team of Tomm Coker and C.P. Smith takes an interesting track. Set in Hong Kong, the captions are completely in Chinese with English subtitles running along the bottom of the page. This is clearly done to increase the cinematic feel of the story. In it he comes in to conflict with another master warrior. The young fighter wants him dead and much of the next several pages is spent in a brutal kung fu battle. A much more solid update of the Master of Kung Fu.

The final comics story, “The Vaccuum [sic] of Memory”, is by former Moon Knight writer Charlie Huston and Spanish comic artist Enrique Romero. Romero has a knack for channeling a classic Marvel style and it shows here in Shang-Chi’s battle with his old friend Midnight (a.k.a. Midnight Sun). The story handles the history of both characters surprisingly well, as Midnight continues his appearance and enhanced abilities from old issues of Silver Surfer. (Don’t ask me to explain; it would take too long.) The two friends battle before Shang-Chi ultimately embraces his old friend.

The final four pages are devoted to a prose piece by Dark Tower co-writer Robin Furth. Instead of a short piece of prose as in Rampaging Wolverine this is instead anecdotes told by Shang-Chi about his own life. While not much to write home about, it does feature excellent spot illustrations from classic Shang-Chi artist Paul Gulacy.

All in all, I think Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu is much weaker overall than Rampaging Wolverine. Shang-Chi has proven himself a much better character for long form fiction than short pieces like this. That shows quite well here, although the debacle that is the opening story couldn’t be made in to a good Shang-Chi tale with any amount of padding. I understand Deadpool is a hot commodity at Marvel now, but that is no excuse to make Shang-Chi play second fiddle in his own (rare) book. While I hope this doesn’t mark the end of Marvel’s black and white magazine-inspired books, I can only give Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu a Mild Recommendation.