Age of The Sentry #4: I still can’t believe that the best Superman comics on the shelves at the moment are being published by Marvel Comics. Here’s a fourth helping of Silver Age Superman parody/celebration from Jeff Parker, Paul Tobin, Nick Dragotta, Gary Martin and friends. Wait, I shouldn’t say that. I have no way of knowing whether these guys are all friends or not. Maybe colorist Val Staples hates Jeff Parker’s guts.
Armageddon Now: World War III: Southern California mega church pastor Phil Hotsenpiller pens a 112-page, $24.99 graphic novel about the end of the world that promises to offer “a creative and innovative merger of biblical prophesy, super heroes and ‘ripped from the headlines’ news.” The art comes courtesy of Rob Liefield. Remember that guy? From the ‘90s? With the Cable and the Image Comics and all that? Him. Check out a sizable preview here.
Avengers: The Initiative #19: Secret Invasion may have ended, but the war rages on in the tie-ins. This finishes up the storyline detailing the new Skrull Kill Krew’s assault on the Skrulls who have infiltrated the Initiative program. It’s where all the Skrull-fighting missing from SI proper went. In other Avenging news, the Mighty Avengers deal with the aftermath of Secret Invasion (during which they temporarily lost a member to “death”), and the Marvel Adventure Avengers go to the seaside and run into Namor and, it’s probably safe to assume, hilarity ensues.
Batman: Private Casebook: From DC Direct comes this handsome black leather journal featuring several pages of Batman’s personal diary, and plenty of blank pages to add to it yourself. Comes with a matching pen and a silver lock so you can keep your thoughts—and Batman’s!—private. Oh wait no, nevermind. This is actually the latest collection of Paul Dini and company’s run on Detective Comics, including a story by Peter Milligan, and art by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs. Guest-stars include Zatanna, Catwoman, The Riddler, Mad Hatter, The Tweedles, the al Ghuls and The Ventriloquist II.
The Bluecoats Vol. 1: Robertsonville Prison: This is a humor book starring a pair of Union soldiers who get captured and tossed in Robertsonville prison camp and then repeatedly try to escape. According to publisher Cinebook, Robertsonville is based on the Andersonville prison in Georgia. So, to recap: Humorous. Andersonville. The same book. It must have worked pretty well, however, as this is a reprint of an older story by Belgium creators Raoul Cauvin and Wily Lambdil. Cauvin created the Bluecoats way back in 1969. Should be worth a look anyway. This album will set you back $11.95 for 48-pages. Preview here.
Dark Reign: New Nation #1: This $3.99 Brian Michael Bendis-written one-shot will introduce readers to the new post-Secret Invasion status quo in the Marvel Universe and get them up to speed on upcoming series like Agents of Atlas and—hey, wait a minute, didn’t this just come out last week?
DCU Holiday Special: This $5.99, 80-page giant anthology features a knock-out cover by Frank Quitely, and stories starring Nightwing, Robin, Dr. Light II and the JLA by the likes of Alan Burnett, Art Baltazar, Kevin Maguire, Ian Churchill, Tim Levins and former Superboy co-writer Dan DiDio. For more DC hero holiday cheer, this week’s Super Friends #10 features a Christmas-themed story (look for the cover with Batman wearing earmuffs on it).
Hellblazer #250: Wow. I knew this series has managed to stick around a good long time, but 250 issues? That’s pretty incredible, especially considering that Hellblazer was one of the initial Vertigo series. This special $3.99, 48-page issue boasts five holiday stories written by Brian Azzarello, Jamie Delano, Dave Gibbons, China Miéville and Peter Milligan and illustrated by Eddie Campbell, Rafael Grampá, David Lloyd and Giuseppe Camuncoli. That’s such an impressive creative team that this issue should be well worth a look for just about any comics fan, regardless of their feelings about the character or the series. Preview here.
Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold—The Batman Team-Ups Vol. 3: Back to work, boys! Here’s another 500-plus of Earth-B action as Bob Haney (the brave) and Jim Aparo (the bold) team-up to tell tales of Batman crossing paths with Etrigan The Demon, Mister Miracle, The Joker, Man-Bat, Kamandi and Richard Dragon, plus plenty of returning guest-stars from the previous volumes. Will Brave and the Bold #122, a 1975 issue guest-starring Swamp Thing, be included, or will Batman and Swamp Thing appearing in the same comic at the same time cause some sort of black hole? I can’t wait to find out!
Greatest American Hero #1: Believe it or not? Me, I don’t believe it. The 25-year-old TV show best known for its irritatingly catchy theme song (just typing this sentence is going to end up embedding it in my head for at least a week) gets turned into a three-issue comic book series by the the show’s star William Katt, a trio of writers and pencil artist Clint Hilinski. Preview here.
Wolverine Origins Vol. 5: Deadpool: When this was coming out in singles, it was my understanding that it was totally awesome, and that even readers who wouldn’t normally read an issue of Wolverine Origins unless they were trapped in the bottom of the well with only an issue of it and a Russian translation of Moby Dick would get a kick out of it. Is this true? Any Wolverine Origins readers in the reading audience who can confirm or deny this volume’s awesomeness?
December 16th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
“Wolverine Origins Vol. 5: Deadpool”
I’m assuming that was sarcasm, but if not then avoid this like the plague. It’s by Daniel Way, which automatically makes it awful.
And I think Dark Reign: New Nation is probably going to be nothing more than a glorified previews book.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Bendis isn’t writing Dark Reign: New Nation; his only involvement is coplotting the Secret Warriors section. It’s a collection of teasers and trailers like Civil War: Choosing Sides or Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust?, not another book like SI:DR.
December 16th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
“Age of The Sentry #4: I still can’t believe that the best Superman comics on the shelves at the moment are being published by Marvel Comics. Here’s a fourth helping of Silver Age Superman parody/celebration from Jeff Parker, Paul Tobin, Nick Dragotta, Gary Martin and friends. Wait, I shouldn’t say that. I have no way of knowing whether these guys are all friends or not. Maybe colorist Val Staples hates Jeff Parker’s guts.”
Hardly a surprise a Johns hater turns a blind eye to Action Comics and Superman.
December 16th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Wow… did anyone else actually read the preview for “Armageddon Now”? I’m left speechless just thinking about how such a horribly written book, let alone one that betrays such a moronic view of the world, could be published. By anyone. Ever. And Rob Liefield agreed to illustrate? WTF?
December 16th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
I’m assuming that was sarcasm, but if not then avoid this like the plague
Oh no, I was being serious. I’ve honestly heard this arc was particularly funny.
Bendis isn’t writing Dark Reign: New Nation; his only involvement is coplotting the Secret Warriors section. It’s a collection of teasers and trailers like Civil War: Choosing Sides or Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust?, not another book like SI:DR.
Okay, here I was being sarcastic. Marvel.com has Bendis listed as the first of about a half-dozen writers, though. I thought last week’s SI book also ended with a bunch of ads/samples for these same books.
Hardly a surprise a Johns hater turns a blind eye to Action Comics and Superman.
Err, who’s a Johns hater? Me? ‘Cause I kinda like him. He’s not a genius or anything, but he’s one of the better superhero comics constructors out there at the moment. I’m reading all the books he’s writing (except Rogues Revenge). And I read Action and Superman too. I like ‘em both a lot. It’s just that Age of The Sentry happens to be a lot better than both of them.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Hey, I’m neither a Deadpool nor Wolverine “Fan” and I thought that story arc–specifically the first couple of issues–was just out and out great stuff. I don’t know what most people look for in the super-hero smash-em-up, but that was a solid, funny collection of comics with great Steve Dillon art, a lot of Road Runner style humor (done well) and it didn’t come across anywhere near as overtly serious as the previous stuff in that series. It’s just a big fight that goes on for a long time and maintains a solid tempo. You do have to deal with a bit of that horrible Daken character though, so your tolerance for him has to be firmly in place. Alternatively, just skip the last issue.
And Caleb: no promises on Brave & The Bold, but we may have something in the works for you. In Bob Haney We Trust.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:16 am
I plan on checking out the Armageddon Now book- I wouldn’t consider myself totally religious or anything, but The Previews link looks nice.
Dark Reign- I’m going to flip through these books on the shelf tomorroww and decide then and there. I’m kinda ticked that Secret Invasion ended with another big event, but I’m sure there will eb good stuff and weak stuff in the bunch.
I’m old enough to remember Greatest American hero-I think i will pass.
Wolverine/Deadpool-i picked up the singles so I’m passing on the collection. there were good moments in there. Great covers by Bianchi. Not really into the art, but I’ve been reading this title from the start, and i like deadpool
December 17th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I have Hellblazer #63, which celebrated John’s 40th birthday, and had Zatanna guest-star. It was the first issue under the Vertigo banner, and I think the only book left from that time. It is the rock in that stream. But there are times I wish Constantine could be in the DCU, talking to Batman and apologizing to the JSA for killing Sargon and Zatara.
Cheers,
B
December 21st, 2008 at 8:22 pm
About The Bluecoats, I’ve read that particular book on a brazilian translation long ago and it is brilliantly funny. The whole series is a gem that few people outside the french language countries know. Which is a shame.
Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)