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

Not the cover to Guardians of the Globe

p. 68: Superman Earth One HC: First announced around New Years, DC finally brings one of its two Earth One books to fruition. This hardcover by the team of J. Michael Straczynski (also the regular Superman writer) and Shane Davis promises to recreate the origins of the Man of Steel for the twenty-first century. I don’t know quite what to expect here. We have had at least three different origins of Superman in the last twenty-five years, and that’s not counting Smallville. But we will see how this “Ultimate” Superman takes off in the long run.

p. 87: Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1 (of 3): Outside of surprise to see Elseworlds back at DC, I am excited to see more Cary Bates comic writing. The classic Superman scribe and more recent writer of Marvel’s excellent True Believers has shown that he has really stepped up his A-game in recent years. it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

p. 145: Dungeons & Dragons #0: IDW has picked up the D&D license now and I have no idea how good or bad it will be. But I do know one of the two universes they are debuting is a new Dark Sun book (to tie in to the re-release of the setting this year). Dark Sun is easily the most original (and over-powered) D&D setting ever and I am excited to see it in comic form for the very first time.

p. 168: Guardians of the Globe #1 (of 6): Robert Kirkman finally gives Invincible’s super-team a brand spanking new book of their own. With co-writer Benito Cereno and artist Ransom Getty, I trust these characters are in good hands. Now if we can just get an ongoing....

p. 172: Morning Glories #1: Nick Spencer really impressed me with his recent series Forgetless and this series about a private academy with hidden secrets and the six troubled kids that must unlock them looks to be one of the most promising new comics of the year.

p. M34: Avengers & The Infinity Gauntlet #1 (of 4): Normally a retelling of the Infinity Gauntlet as an all ages title would probably not appeal to me. But when written by Brian Cevinger (Atomic Robo) and drawn by The Anchor’s Brian Churilla, my interest rises. And unlike most Marvel limiteds, this one still runs only $3, so I’ll be sure to pick it up.

p. M44: Shadowland: Power Man #1 (of 4): I know nothing about this new Power Man, though his costume reminds me a little too much of Rocket Racer for my taste. Still the creative team of Fred Van Lente and Dynamo 5’s Mahmud Asrar has potential. Unfortunately for my budget, the book runs $4.

p. M71: Namor: The First Mutant #1: I have been a big Namor fan ever since I discovered John Byrne’s book in 1990, followed shortly by back issues of Invaders. Normally, I would be all fired up for a new book starring the character. But his new X-universe book written by Stuart Moore, a solid but as yet unimpressive writer to this reader, and drawn by Ariel Olivetti, an artist whose current style I am less than fond, dampens my mood a little bit. The $4 price tag doesn’t help much either.

p. 252: Dracula: The Company of Monsters #1: Boom continues its attempts to expand its marketshare with this series developed and plotted by Kurt Busiek. The high concept is that it’s Dracula vs an evil corporation. If actually scripted by Busiek, I would almost certainly give this one a try despite the somewhat tired concept. Instead I’ll probably be giving this 4 buck book a once over at the store first.

p. 264: The Last Phantom #1: Dynamite’s take on Lee Falk’s Phantom debuts this month. And outside a lackluster cover by Alex Ross(!), I see very little to sell me on this book. I’m honestly a little disappointed to see the company let this book’s debut go so unheralded.

My costume is blood! I'm so 90's!

p. 298: Airfighters #2: Just when I was afraid we had seen the last of this great anthology book, Moonstone gives me issue two. Let’s hope it is 72 pages of awesome just like issue one.

p. 360: “Multiple Mang” t-shirt: Is this the first time Madrox has had a t-shirt, at least in this design, the same as the characters regular t-shirt. If so, isn’t that really strange?

p. 436: DC Adventures RPG: Hero’s Handbook: DC returns to table-top RPGs and it does so with the Mutants & Masterminds game system. I still am known to play the occassional game of the classic DC Heroes game from Mayfair, so I am more than interested in this combination of my two favorite super-hero RPGs.

p. 437: Smallville RPG Core Rulebook: And the same month the DCU gets a new RPG, the CW series based on the Superman mythos gets its own game as well... from a completely different publisher. Margaret Weis Productions brings this game to the market. They are known for high production values, and it should be interesting to see how they play out the show’s combination of superheroes and normal mortals.

Super-Powered Comics: Diamond Destinations for December 2009

I always see articles from other bloggers claiming to “valiantly” slog through the latest issue of Previews so comic readers can see what’s nifty coming up without cracking the magazine themselves. I think the notion is silly, as I consider my monthly perusal of the catalog to be a highlight of the comic buying experience. But that doesn’t mean I cannot go through my own recommendations.

Page 77: Milestone Forever is the series that will finally wrap up the dangling plot threads of the classic Milestone titles from the nineties. I loved these comics as a kid until DC decided to push their distribution of them in to the gutter. My local shops stopped carrying them and amazing titles like Icon, Static, and Blood Syndicate vanished. It may be for only two issues, but they are back right here, as the Milestone universe finally comes to a shocking close that will lead in to the Milestone characters arrival in the DCU.

Page 84: Warlord 11 is just another issue of the title, but with writer Mike Grell now on art duties as well, it really is a can’t miss title. More people should be picking this one up before it ends up canceled.


Page 124: Ame-Comi Steel does things to Natasha Irons no man should see. Isn’t she still jailbait in the DCU?

Page 144: Spawn 200 is a milestone for a title outside the big two. Besides Cerebus I know no other title that has made it this far. Sure the creative team changed several times over, but the recent return of Todd McFarlane has revived this title for the first time in years. This issue features art by McFarlane and Capullo and guest art by a half dozen top talents. Sounds like a great place to jump on if you haven’t already!

Page 148: Speaking of good jumping on points, here is Invincible Returns #1. Invincible gets his old costume back, a bunch of guest covers, and the start of the Viltrumite War storyline. Invincible is one of the best titles on the market. Here’s where to start picking it up if you haven’t read it yet.

Page 152: Another underrated series returns with a one shot. Help keep the series alive by picking up a copy of The Perhapanauts: Molly’s Story!

Page 166: I am not quite sure what to expect from Broken Trinity: Pandora’s Box but the opposing forces of Finn and Glori wre definitely interesting characters back in the original Broken Trinity. Top Cow is really pulling out all the stops to make great books in the last year or so, and I would bet that this will continue that trend.

Page 194: Fathom has always been a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, but now I feel a lot less guilty. David Schwartz, writer of a great Image book from a few years ago called Meltdown and original Stormwatch artist Scott Clark are teaming up for the new series, “Blue Destiny”! Sounds like a great line up for the next volume, but you can check out this 0 issue preview for only $2.50.

Page 207: If you haven’t picked up The Anchor yet, Boom has got the first trade out for just shy of $10. That’s a truly great deal. If you have read it, the next issue (#5) is also out and ready for purchase. I cannot say enough times how great this title is!

Page 255: I don’t know if it matters whether the story is good or not, as The Phantom Double Shot #3 teams Phantom up with Buckaroo Banzai. Comics don’t get much crazier than that.

Page 261: The fourth volume of Atomic Robo kicks off, and this time he faces “The Revenge of the Vampire Dimension”. This book oozes zany coolness. Give this issue or one of the three previous trades a try ASAP.

Page 306: I have to point out the Kryptonian at Heart t-shirt just to say that anyone who wears that is a tool. I have seen some ugly shirts, but dang, that one takes the cake.

Page 336: Let’s close things out with a series of amazing looking Usagi Yojimbo Status. I don’t have the kind of money it takes to buy these, but these are some real beauties.

That wraps up the independent superhero goodies coming in February, folks. And if you can’t wait for all that super-goodness, let me just throw out a reminder that my own webcomic Arc continues to update every week for your reading enjoyment!

Super-Powered Comics: All new superheroes!

I often realize that my focus on this site tends to stray far too often to past stories, simply because they are far easier to present in handy trade paperback formats. Today I am going to change that up by focusing on two all new books that you should check out.

Haunt combines the scripting talent of Kirkman, Spawn artist Greg Capullo on layouts, the penciling skills of Invincible artist Ryan Ottley, and McFarlane on digital inks as they create a new superhero I can best describe after one issue as a cross between Brother Voodoo and Venom. The story revolves around two brothers, one alive, one dead, and their ability to take on an ectoplasmic alter ego. While the first issue is a bit heavy on the story and light on the characters, it does offer an intriguing gateway in to what could be a truly great book for all involved.

While Kirkman has firmly entrenched himself as the modern voice of indy superheroics, Phil Hester seems out to match and maybe even one-up him. The former artist of books like Green Arrow and Swamp Thing (and with Kirkman, the canceled too soon Irredeemable Ant-Man) is now writing a plethora of books, most recently the Boom Studios release The Anchor.

The Anchor is a big lug of a man (think a similar build to the Goon) with a bald head and an awesome beard. The book’s tagline calls him God’s legbreaker. That seems to be an apt description as he levels demons both in modern Scandinavia and the gates of hell. Simultaneously. Artist Brian Churilla seems able to lift all the strong points of Mike Mignola’s art without being a copycat. A lot of the page designs do make me wonder if Hester is working layouts for the book though. Some panels look like they could have been lifted straight out of the classic Wretch books Hester wrote and drew. As a standalone book, The Anchor looks like it may very well be a great book to bridge standard superheroics with more mystical fare like Hellboy.

Both books are still a week or two away from their second issues, but I will say I am greatly intrigued by both. I would recommend rounding up seven bucks and giving both a try. Recommended.