It’s the first week of the month again and that means it must be time to talk about indie solicitations.

Okko: The Cycle of Water #2 (Archaia Studios Press): By now, Archaia Studios Press can do no wrong. The company has such a strong track record for quality that I’m committed to reading everything they publish. This issue has pirates and a mysterious island though, so I’d be getting it anyway, no matter who published it.

The Secret History: Book One (Archaia Studios Press): Another ASP book, this one dealing with a couple of other subjects I have weaknesses for: immortals and fictional accounts of what “really” happened with historical events. And like Okko, the art is gorgeous.

Jungle Fantasy Annual #1 (Arcana): God help me, I’m a sucker for jungle stories and I’m feeling adventurous this month. I don’t hold out a lot of hope that this is anything more than a T&A pin-up book, but in the absence of a good Tarzan comic or something, I’m giving this one a flip-through. Now, I just have to decide which of the 46 variant covers I want. 

Sojourn: Volume 5 — A Sorcerer’s Tale (Checker Book Publishing Group): Sojourn was my favorite CrossGen series. Say what you want about Greg Land’s swiping, this was a beautifully illustrated series and it had a great, exciting plot that was mostly left alone by CrossGen’s over-arching, Sigil-bearers storyline. I hadn’t heard about anyone’s picking up the reprint rights to it, so I’m curious about this collected volume and what other rights Checker has to Sojourn, if any. I’m trying not to get my hopes up about new stories in the series, but seeing any kind of Sojourn comic being solicited is exciting.

City of Others #1 (Dark Horse): Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson? Are you kidding me? Bernie Wrightson doing a new project is exciting enough, but having it written by Niles is unbelievable. This is a horror comic fan’s dream come true.

The Secret #1 (Dark Horse): I got to see some of Jason Alexander’s original artwork for this at San Diego this year and without even knowing the story I knew I was going to want it. I’d say that there’s a bit of a Scott Hampton vibe to the art, but that’s not fair to Alexander who really is doing his own thing.

Criminal Macabre: Two Red Eyes #3 (Dark Horse): More Cal McDonald is cause for celebration by itself. Interior art by Kyle Hotz and the coolest damn covers of Tim Bradstreet’s career make me giddy. February is about to become the new October.

Fear Agent: Volume 1 (Dark Horse): I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for the first Fear Agent collection. The fact that it’s coming out from Dark Horse is exciting in that it bodes well for the future of this fun, adventurous series.

30 Days of Night: Spreading the Disease #3 (IDW): While Niles concentrates on Cal McDonald and Bernie Wrightson, he’s left the 30 Days on Night franchise in excellent hands with Dan Wickline. I hope people give it a shot without Niles’ name on the cover because Wickline’s got some awesome stuff planned for this mini.

Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse #6 (IDW): And speaking of 30 Days of Night creators, this series by Ben Templesmith is perfection. Templesmith has a distinct voice in not only his art style, but also his writing. Undiluted by a separate writer, his wry, yet rowdy wit really shines through.

Death, Jr.: Volume 2 (Image): Another collection I’ve been looking forward to. The first Death, Jr. volume was sweet and hilarious, and this one promises the same experience. Even if it was just a bunch of Ted Naifeh pin-ups though, it’d still be worth getting.

Drain #4 (Image): The solicitations for the first three issues of Drain completely slipped past my radar, but Sana Takeda’s artwork recently grabbed my attention and now I’m wanting to check this out. Samurai-vampires don’t interest me, but I learned my lesson from Sea of Red that even the goofiest high-concepts can be executed as legitimate, captivating stories. C.B. Cebulski is no novice writer, so hopefully that’s the case here.

Wasteland #7 (Oni): Carla Speed McNeil joins Antony Johnston to help write this stand-alone story of Johnston’s excellent post-apocalyptic drama/thriller. I didn’t think the series could be improved upon, but this should be very interesting. [Correction: Antony Johnston clarifies in the comments section that Carla is drawing -- not co-writing -- this issue. Thanks, Antony.]

Witchblade #106 (Top Cow): No one listens to me when I say that Ron Marz has succeeded in turning Witchblade from a T&A book into an interesting, bona fide mystery title (albeit with fantasy elements). So I’m gonna keep saying it until someone does.

Elk’s Run (Villard): I can’t hardly type, because all I hear in my head is Etta James’ belting out “At Last.” It’s been a long-time coming, and an eventful journey for the book’s creators and fans alike, but the conclusion to this amazing thriller is almost here. Almost here…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 5th, 2006 at 11:34 pm and is filed under Comic Books, Dark Horse, Features, Fringe Benefits, Graphic Novels, Image, Independent, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.