Long-time ensemble cast member Power Girl finally gets a shot at solo star status with this week’s debut of Power Girl #1, a new ongoing featuring the always welcome art of Amanda Conner and scripts by Justin Gray and Blog@ columnist Jimmy Palmiotti.
Will the book manage to find an audience and stick around long, or at least as long as some of the other new superhero ongoings DC has tried out over the last few years? I don’t know, but it sure seems like it will have an uphill battle. Power Girl’s long presence in the DCU and supporting character status in several popular books gives her a fan base, but then, she’s always been a character who played off of other characters and, for the last 20 years or so, has been best known for having big breasts and one of the most confusing and oft-changed origins in the company’s character catalog. Additionally, she hasn’t been up to much lately that would seem to serve as a springboard for a new series; the wake of 2005′s JSA Classified arc (also featuring art by Conner) or 2006′s Infinite Crisis or last year’s Justice Society of America Annual #1 would have seemed like more ideal times to try a Power Girl series.
On the other hand, Palmiotti and Gray have certainly managed to defy market expectations in the past (witness the still surviving Jonah Hex), and Conner’s style is such a strong departure from the bulk of current DCU art that anything she draws automatically stands out. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what this trio can do with the book.
I’m also looking forward to tomorrow, it being new comic book day and all. What will I find awaiting me at the shop? Let’s see what the old direct market has planned for us this week, shall we?
Ace-Face: The Mod With the Metal Arms: Freddie & Me‘s Mike Dawson returns to his superhero character from AdHouse’s Project: Superior anthology. It’s $6.95 for 90 pages. I like how this comic’s title explains the premise so clearly; everything you need to know is right there. You can see a preview here, and read an interview that Chris Arrant conducted with Dawson here.
Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo Shonen Jump Edition Vol. 2: Normally, I’d say this manga has the weirdest name of anything in comics shops this week, but there’s also a manga called Sumomomo Momomo Vol. 1 due in shops this week. Ask for ‘em by name!
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 #25: Wait, #25? This “season” of the series has been going on for over two years now? Wow. I mean, I know monthly comics obviously move a lot more slowly than weekly TV shows, but geez, this really seems to be going on forever at this point, doesn’t it? Anyway, the popular iteration of the BTVS comic reaches #25, and Doug Petrie, who wrote for the show. and Georges Jeanty handle the creative chores. There are a couple covers, but if I were you, I’d get the Jo Chen one, as she rules.
Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #1: DC gets around to publishing a comic following up on Final Crisis, which ended (late) on January 28. If the publishers aren’t exactly excited about this material, it’s hard for a reader to get too worked up about it, you know? This is a six-issue miniseries stars The Human Flame, the obscure villain Grant Morrison chose to use in a bit part in Final Crisis based mainly on the symbolism of his codename, a villain who is now on the run from both the heroes and the villains of the DCU (hence the title). Matthew Sturges is writing, and Freddie E. Williams II is drawing.
The Flash Presents: Mercury Falling: I hate hate hate hate when comics and trade collections get a “(blank) Presents” type of title, as it makes the character or team sound like they’re movie producers or theater owners or something. In this case, I guess the title reflects the fact that the character Impulse doesn’t really exist anymore, having changed his name to Kid Flash. Anyway, this $15 trade collects six issues from writer Todd Dezago’s under-appreciated Impulse run, and deals with the teen speedster’s attempts to save the life of his mentor Max Mercury, “the zen master of the Speed Force.” Art is provided by Flash: Rebirth-er Ethan Van Sciver, working a less detailed, more cartoony style, and others.
The Human Torch Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1: I’ve really enjoyed the previous two specials in this series featuring Namor and Captain America, so I hope this one ends up being just as good. The lead story is by Scotts Snyder and Wegener, and the solicitation promises a ten-page, Golden Age back-up. I really don’t mind Marvel’s exorbitant $3.99 cover price when we get cool Golden Age stories as back-ups.
League of Extraordinary Gentleman: Century #1: It’s the eagerly anticipated third volume of Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s Victorian super-team comic, and the first from new publisher Top Shelf. The format for this volume will be a bit different than that of the previous two, consisting of three 80-page “graphic novellas.” This first one is set in 1910 London, and features the new team of Mina Harker, Allan Quatermain, Carnacki, Anthony Raffles and Orlando. As expected, it’s clever as all hell, falling somewhere between the fairly straightforward first two miniseries and the overly obtuse Black Dossier original graphic novel in the accessibility department. You can check out a preview of it here. For a good review, I’d reccomend Jog’s, as he seems to have got a lot more of the references than I did.
New Mutants #1: The original X-Men spin-off team is back, in a brand-new series by Zeb Wells and Diogenes Neves. I imagine some fans somewhere are very excited about this…? This first issue is $3.99, but that may be because it’s an oversized first issue, rather than one of Marvel’s priced-to-gouge series.
Noble Causes Archives Vol. 2: Archives? Already? But the series isn’t even ten years old yet! At any rate, this whopping 778-page trade collecting writer Jay Faerber’s signature superhero soap opera series will only cost you $25. Combined with the first volume, this will constitute the entire Noble Causes series, start to finish.
Pherone: This $25, 100-page hardcover from Image doesn’t sound all that original or promising (“Armed with a killer body and a killer’s mind, the femme fatale must hunt down clues to rediscover her own troubled past” et cetera), but artist Viktor Kalvachev’s cover looks pretty nice. You can check out a lot more of his art, including some pages from the book, here.
Wallace Wood: Edge of Genius: Publisher Pure Imagination presents the latest in their Edge of Genius series, featuring best comics artists’ not quite best work. This one focuses on Wally Wood, obviously.
May 5th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Anybody surprised by the longevity of Ms. Marvel? If Ms. Marvel can make it to 39 issues (and counting) then I’m of the opinion Power Girl can too. Whether she WILL get to that point or not is another matter. (I enjoyed Blue Beetle more than I did Ms. Marvel and it was still canceled.)
May 5th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Ms. Marvel is an interesting case study since its quality isn’t its main point seeing as how it’s been kind of declining in the last few issues. I think the demand for a strong Marvel heroine series was there and Ms. Marvel was the only title to step up and fill that niche. I know I definitely enjoyed the early issues in the run. DC on the other hand has quite a few heroine books already (well not quite a few but more than one or two) and Power Girl’s creators are definitely going to have to step it up to keep sales steady (which is very likely considering the talent involved.)
Plus, a book about a female Superman with humungous breasts doesn’t sound like it’d do too bad in this industry.
May 5th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I’m still on the ropes with “Power Girl”. I planned on buying it way back when I read the solicitation for the first issue, but the preview in the DC titles a few weeks ago kind of turned me off. The art was beautiful, but the choice of the Ultra-Humanite as this ongoing’s first villainous threat just doesn’t work for me. I guess I’ll have to flip through it tomorrow at my LCS before I make up my mind…
May 5th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Dude, the sample art for Power Girl really fails to impress. :-p
I’m really looking forward to this book.
And the Ultra-Humanite is AWESOME!
May 5th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
In spite of Jimmy, whom I love, I just can’t see myself picking this book up with any regularity or enthusiasm.
May 5th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Y’know, every week the “Night Before Wednesday” rolls around, and its
full of snide comments about the stupid comics the big two or three
are putting out, and a sprinkling of smaller press books that get a
pat on the head for being better than everything else. It’s the kind
of thing that really makes me want to take Blog@ out of my feedreader.
Either find someone to do the column that can be objective when
talking about a big event book, #1 or spin-off or pair the column up
with someone that’s actually excited for them. It feels kind of like a
slap in the face when there’s something you’re interested in and it
gets talked down to.
It’s not just this week, it’s every week. The focus should be on the
books coming out, not just how well you can condescend to them.
May 5th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
russ, if you really loved me, you would give it a shot.
May 6th, 2009 at 1:19 am
Don’t listen to Thatchy. Caleb’s the only reason I come to this site…
May 6th, 2009 at 8:37 am
No, by all means, listen to Thacher. He’s absolutely right. I miss “Can’t Wait For Wednesday”.
May 6th, 2009 at 9:19 am
I’m so excited for Power Girl! I just love the character and Connor’s art is a breath of fresh air. Bring on more and more PG
May 6th, 2009 at 9:47 am
I don’t mind Caleb’s snark so long as it’s aimed at books I’m not reading anyway. And it usually is.
May 6th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Michael – Well, I guess those of us that actually like super-hero comics should just keep our mouths shut, huh?
May 6th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I agree with Thatcher. What is the purpose of putting down some books? Just to make some indy books look better? Caleb is generally a hack anyway so I hope no one takes these things too seriously.
May 6th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
To clarify, I absolutely see the point in highlighting the back of Previews stuff that’s shipping in the current week, as there is a lot of good stuff back there that slips past people’s radar, but pointing out things just so you can put them down (and by association, those that enjoy them) is just kind of a dick move.
May 6th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Thatcher – I like super hero comics an awful lot, but Caleb likes different super hero books than me (mostly DC). I can enjoy him snarking on Flash because I wouldn’t touch Flash with a bargepole. But you are perfectly justified in being offended.
May 6th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Power Girl is different from a number of DC’s more recent new series, most notably the fact that she is an established character with a small but growing more vocal fanbase, and Palmiotti and Gray, who have more than proved their talent with less-than-superstar characters.
Honestly, I compare this new series (not having read it yet due to unforseen circumstances) to Nightwing’s series. Less of a case of “why now” and more “what took you so long?”
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