New comics for 1/24

Bloods End

Dammit Geebs where the hell are you.

ITEM CODE TITLE PRICE

PREVIEWS PUBLICATIONS

DEC060007 PREVIEWS ADULT VOL XVII #2 PI
DEC060003 PREVIEWS VOL XVII #2 PI
DEC060005 PREVIEWS VOL XVII CONSUMER ORDER FORM #2 PI

DARK HORSE COMICS

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NOV060276 WETWORKS #5 $2.99

IMAGE COMICS

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NOV062355 X-FACTOR LIFE AND DEATH MATTERS PREMIERE HC $19.99

WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT

SEP062961 ULTIMATE X-MEN #75 TURNER CVR CGC 9.8 ED PI
DEC063205 WWT 2006 EXC MARVEL ICONS BROWN COSTUME WOLVERINE BUST PI

COMICS

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NOV063815 DRIPS (MR) $7.95
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SEP063445 LEXIAN CHRONICLES FULL CIRCLE MIRANDA CVR A #10 (OF 12) (RES $3.50
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NOV063375 LONE RANGER #1 BALTIMORE COMICON EXCL ALT CVR $10.00
OCT063131 MOUSE GUARD #6 (OF 6) $3.50
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SEP063175 NINJA TALES #1 $6.99
NOV063523 OUR KINGDOM VOL 5 GN (MR) $12.95
NOV063303 PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #109 $3.69
NOV063818 PAPER RAD BJ & DA DOGS GN (MR) $29.95
JUN063269 PHANTOM MAN EATERS GN $12.95
NOV063706 PIERCE #1 (O/A) $2.99
NOV063707 PIERCE #2 (O/A) $2.99
JUL062874 POWER O/T VALKYRIE #1 (OF 4) (MR) $3.95
DEC063745 RAIDER DEAD MENS TALES VOL 3 GN $10.95
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AUG063137 SAVAGE BROTHERS #3 (OF 3) $3.99
AUG063689 SE7EN GREED #2 (OF 7) (MR) $3.99
NOV063521 SEVEN GN (MR) $12.95
NOV063395 SIMPSONS CLASSICS #11 $3.99
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DEC063322 SONIC QUEST DEATH EGG SAGA #2 (O/A) $1.50
DEC063323 SONIC QUEST DEATH EGG SAGA #3 (O/A) $1.50
NOV063305 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #171 $2.25
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JUL062993 TAG #3 (OF 3) $3.99
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NOV063654 TRANSFORMERS ESCALATION #3 $3.99
NOV063548 VAMPIRE BRAT & OTHER TALES OF SUPERNATURAL LAW TP (O/A) (STA $14.95
OCT063098 VAMPIRELLA 2006 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL #1 LTD SGN SUYDAM CVR $29.95
NOV063937 WALK-IN #2 $2.99
DEC063544 WE ARE ON OUR OWN HC (O/A) $19.95
DEC063545 WIMBLEDON GREEN GREATEST COMIC BOOK COLLECTOR I/T WORLD HC $19.95
NOV063986 ZESTY VOL 1 GN $12.95
NOV063690 ZOMBIES ECLIPSE OF THE UNDEAD #3 (MR) $3.99
NOV063692 ZOMBIES VOL 1 TP FEAST $19.99

Garlic Bread

NOV060200 52 WEEK #38 $2.50
NOV060297 FABLES #57 (MR) $2.99
NOV060176 ROBIN #158 $2.99
SEP061821 INVINCIBLE #38 $2.99

I will pick those up tomorrow before class

even though I know 52 is pointless

robosagogo

Why does Marvel Zombies get so many damn reprintings? It wasn't that good!

deadonthestreet

X-Factor.

Always makes me happy.

DJ Eebs

Bloods End wrote:

Dammit Geebs where the hell are you.

I was at work okay

DC COMICS

NOV060200 52 WEEK #38 $2.50

MARVEL COMICS

NOV062268 CIVIL WAR THE RETURN $2.99
NOV062293 DOCTOR STRANGE OATH #4 (OF 5) $2.99
SEP062106 ETERNALS #6 (OF 7) $3.99
SEP062124 MOON KNIGHT #7 CW $2.99
NOV062312 PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #3 CW $2.99
NOV062316 SILENT WAR #1 (OF 6) $2.99
NOV062327 WOLVERINE #50 $3.99
NOV062331 X-FACTOR #15 $2.99

Doctor Strange and X-Factor were fantastic.

Hardtarget

huh. Well I'm just not sure if I'm actually going to buy anything this week.

Arcibi

I'm trying to only stick with one series so I don't spend half my paycheck on comic books

And since there's no Incredible Hulk this week

No comics for me

Iroh

DC COMICS

NOV060294 DMZ #15 (MR) $2.99

MARVEL COMICS

SEP062124 MOON KNIGHT #7 CW $2.99
NOV062327 WOLVERINE #50 $3.99

My requests for Annihilation #4 and Ronan #2-4 also came in today. Too bad I have another week or so to wait for the two Nova books I need.

DMAC

Bloods End wrote:

DARK HORSE COMICS

STAR WARS DARK TIMES #2 (OF 5)

DC COMICS

52 WEEK #38
CONNOR HAWKE DRAGONS BLOOD #3 (OF 6)

IMAGE COMICS

INVINCIBLE #38
OFFICIAL HANDBOOK O/T INVINCIBLE UNIVERSE #2 (OF 2)

MARVEL COMICS

DOCTOR STRANGE OATH #4 (OF 5)
ETERNALS #6 (OF 7)
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #3 CW

Bad Karma

Keith wrote:

NOV060200 52 WEEK #38 $2.50
NOV060297 FABLES #57 (MR) $2.99
NOV060176 ROBIN #158 $2.99
SEP061821 INVINCIBLE #38 $2.99

I will pick those up tomorrow before class

even though I know 52 is pointless

Keith you need a damn job so you can buy more comics.

Hardtarget

Hardtarget wrote:

huh. Well I'm just not sure if I'm actually going to buy anything this week.

I'm a big liar, just got back from the comic shop with!

JUN060044 PENNY ARCADE VOL 3 WARSUN PROPHECIES TP $12.95

Also I picked up Top Ten Trades 1 and 2. I hope they are good!

Iroh

Damn it guys, where is the Moon Knight love?

Marathon

DC:
Fables #57
plus some back issues of Batman, Detective Comics, and Justice

Marvel:
Civil War: The Return
Wolverine #50

Toji Suzuhara

Iroh wrote:

Damn it guys, where is the Moon Knight love?

My sister bought The Essential Moon Knight, if it's any consolation.

I cringe whenever I see David Finch in comics I already enjoy reading. I wouldn't be able to stomach searching him out to read something less familiar. Maybe if they switch artists...


I got...

X-Factor
Doctor Strange: the Oath
Silent War
Robin

That's 50% Frazer Irving!

wwtMask

Bloods End wrote:

CRIMINAL #4 (MR) $2.99
HEROES FOR HIRE #6 $2.99
SILENT WAR #1 (OF 6) $2.99
X-FACTOR #15 $2.99
JOHN WOOS SEVEN BROTHERS AMANO CVR #4 $2.99
Zombies vs. Robots #2

Criminal continues to be brilliant. Seriously, why aren't you guys reading it? Same for Seven Brothers.

Terrorbyte

52 Week #38
Good. Makes up in atmosphere and detail what it lacks in plot progression.

Silent War #1
The political angle was a bit trite, but I loved that Black Bolt and Medusa scene. Less half-assed war on terrorism allegory, more Inhuman badassery please.

X-Factor #15
Bad. Very bad. [SLAP] Very, very bad. [SLAP] Awesome. Very, very, very awesome.

Fables #57
Another solid issue, though Allred's artwork was butchered by terrible inks and some unfortunate design decisions by an artist that I usually LOVE. Pinnochio isn't a cherub, dude.

Civil War: The Return
What a fucking awful idea. Barry Allen called. He wants his overused plot device back.

Doctor Strange: The Oath #4
It's mind-blowing how awesome this series is. If this doesn't branch off into an ongoing, then it's a crime against humanity.

Bought, yet to read:
Checkmate #10
Helmet of Fate: Ibis the Invincible #1
Mystery in Space #5
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #26
Criminal #4
Eternals #6

Terrorbyte

Arcibi wrote:

I'm trying to only stick with one series so I don't spend half my paycheck on comic books

:shock:

deadonthestreet

Terrorbyte wrote:

Doctor Strange: The Oath #4
It's mind-blowing how awesome this series is. If this doesn't branch off into an ongoing, then it's a crime against humanity.

BKV is going to be writing Lost and doing only creator-owned comic stuff starting after his Wolverine series.

So, crime it is.

Terrorbyte

deadonthestreet wrote:

Terrorbyte wrote:

Doctor Strange: The Oath #4
It's mind-blowing how awesome this series is. If this doesn't branch off into an ongoing, then it's a crime against humanity.

BKV is going to be writing Lost and doing only creator-owned comic stuff starting after his Wolverine series.

So, crime it is.

Fuck, I forgot about that. Sigh.

hughtron

Still, I'd rather see Vaughan (I can never spell his name right) doing creator-owned then getting paid to write fanfiction.

Captain Charisma

DARK HORSE COMICS

JUN060044 PENNY ARCADE VOL 3 WARSUN PROPHECIES TP $12.95
SEP060040 STAR WARS DARK TIMES #2 (OF 5) $2.99


DC COMICS

NOV060200 52 WEEK #38 $2.50
NOV060209 CHECKMATE #10 $2.99
NOV060297 FABLES #57 (MR) $2.99
NOV060213 FLASH THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE #8 $2.99
NOV060231 MYSTERY IN SPACE #5 (OF Cool $3.99
NOV060176 ROBIN #158 $2.99

IMAGE COMICS


SEP061821 INVINCIBLE #38 $2.99

MARVEL COMICS

NOV062268 CIVIL WAR THE RETURN $2.99
NOV068140 CIVIL WAR THE RETURN MCGUINNESS VAR $2.99
NOV062344 CRIMINAL #4 (MR) $2.99
NOV062293 DOCTOR STRANGE OATH #4 (OF 5) $2.99
NOV062297 HEROES FOR HIRE #6 $2.99
SEP062124 MOON KNIGHT #7 CW $2.99
NOV062312 PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #3 CW $2.99
NOV062316 SILENT WAR #1 (OF 6) $2.99
NOV062331 X-FACTOR #15 $2.99



SEP063680 FINAL DESTINATION SPRING BREAK #3 (OF 5) (RES) $3.99
OCT063565 TALES OF TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #30 $3.25
NOV063654 TRANSFORMERS ESCALATION #3 $3.99

Bloods End

hughtron wrote:

Still, I'd rather see Vaughan (I can never spell his name right) doing creator-owned then getting paid to write fanfiction.

So most comics are fanfiction then.

hughtron

Bloods End wrote:

hughtron wrote:

Still, I'd rather see Vaughan (I can never spell his name right) doing creator-owned then getting paid to write fanfiction.

So most comics are fanfiction then.

Pretty much yes.

Servo

it's only fanfiction when you aren't getting paid

hughtron

I mean, don't get me wrong, there are some fantastic work-for-hire books out there, and I'm even reading them, but when you get right down to it the only difference between New X-Men and some guy writing X-Men stories on the internet is that Grant Morrison got paid for it.

robosagogo

If Marvel manages to screw up Runaways, then people should just save all their original ideas for when they can self-publish them. The only appeal of letting them own your characters is the possibility that they will outlast you and influence generations and generations of readers, and if they can't even offer that then I just don't see the point.

hughtron

robosagogo wrote:

If Marvel manages to screw up Runaways, then people should just save all their original ideas for when they can self-publish them. The only appeal of letting them own your characters is the possibility that they will outlast you and influence generations and generations of readers, and if they can't even offer that then I just don't see the point.

Given how accessable self-publishing is getting, I'd say you don't even really need the Big Two to get your characters out there.

robosagogo

hughtron wrote:

robosagogo wrote:

If Marvel manages to screw up Runaways, then people should just save all their original ideas for when they can self-publish them. The only appeal of letting them own your characters is the possibility that they will outlast you and influence generations and generations of readers, and if they can't even offer that then I just don't see the point.

Given how accessable self-publishing is getting, I'd say you don't even really need the Big Two to get your characters out there.

On the other hand, wouldn't it be especially hard to get noticed amongst a glut of self-published works?

hughtron

At the same time, there is fun and a certain appeal to playing with the Big Two's stables, and I can understand why people want to do it.

And I'm not any better. Almost everything I read, even if it's not published by Marvel, is decidedly genre-based. To be honest if nothing gets kicked or exploded I don't really want to read it.

hughtron

robosagogo wrote:

hughtron wrote:

robosagogo wrote:

If Marvel manages to screw up Runaways, then people should just save all their original ideas for when they can self-publish them. The only appeal of letting them own your characters is the possibility that they will outlast you and influence generations and generations of readers, and if they can't even offer that then I just don't see the point.

Given how accessable self-publishing is getting, I'd say you don't even really need the Big Two to get your characters out there.

On the other hand, wouldn't it be especially hard to get noticed amongst a glut of self-published works?

If the quality's there, I think it'll find an audiance. I mean, we're typing this now on the Penny-Arcade message board, the poster boys for webcomics and DIY in the (ugh) "dot com" era.

Iroh

Don't Marvel and DC own all the character IPs? I really enjoy the fact that they both have a pool of talent to assign to a stable of characters that I'm already invested in. Without the shuffling/rotation of writers and artists that goes on with major publishers, I could see DIY books getting stale really quickly. It's good to get someone else's take on an IP once in awhile, and you just don't get that with two guys and a website.

hughtron

I guess that's the difference right there. I'm not particularly 'invested' in any of Marvel or DC's characters, and would much rather see writers and artists I like creating thier own books and making their own characters then working on Batman for the rest of their life.

Iroh

hughtron wrote:

would much rather see writers and artists I like creating thier own books and making their own characters then working on Batman for the rest of their life.

That's just what I'm saying, though. Independent creators are more likely to stick to a single series with repeat characters once they hit on success, since they'll be far less equipped to take risks on new properties. With publishers, you have a stable group of properties that will pretty much bring in money regardless of what creative team is on it, so there is more wiggle room to branch out and develop new ones. Not only that, but I think we get some quality control from publishers, and reading something in nice print is a much better experience for me than it would be on a computer monitor.

Everyone hates it when something they love changes, but sometimes it's worth that to see other series' popularity/quality jumpstarted by a great team. I would hate to see the industry stagnate because of inability to take risks.

hughtron

The industry is pretty much stagnating right now, all it's all because of the big two publishers.

If you look at any of the sales analysis on any of the major blogs or news sites, you see that while sales overall are up, it's only because of these huge 'tentpole' events that they keep throwing at the readers, and then tieing into every single title they publish. Once the tie-ins stop, the titles drop. Outside of a few huge books like New Avengers, JLA, Astonishing X-Men and 52, the overall sales on most books are dropping, and the publishers don't know how to fix it, so they're just going from one BIG EVENT to the next. Being a big publisher might mean that there's more room to take risks, except that nobodys actually taking any except the smaller publishers.

Super-heroes is a niche market, and its getting smaller.

robosagogo

Super-heroes is a niche market, and its getting smaller.

Don't you mean the comics are a niche market? Or are the sales of non-superhero comics any better?

Terrorbyte

hughtron wrote:

The industry is pretty much stagnating right now, all it's all because of the big two publishers.

Wait, what? DC and Marvel are putting out tons of quality books right now, with a stable of fantastic writers and artists on both sides. If anything, 2001-2006 probably has the best good:bad ratio of books from the Big Two than any other five year period in their respective publishing histories.

Comic books are experiencing a perceptual, financial and creative rennaisance. I strongly, strongly disagree with your diagnosis of the industry.

hughtron

Terrorbyte wrote:

Comic books are experiencing a perceptual, financial and creative rennaisance. I strongly, strongly disagree with your diagnosis of the industry.

At least as far as I can tell, most of the perceptual gains are coming from books like 'American Born Chinese' and 'Fun Home', which aren't being put out by Marvel and DC. Most of the press they get consists of 'Batwoman's a lesbian?!' or 'Spider-Man Unmasked Himself!', which to me looks more like desperate grabs at press than any sort of critical or mainstream acclaim.

Financially, yes, sales are up across the board, but why? Not because people are rushing out to pick up 'American Born Chinese' or even books like 'New Frontier.' They're up because the last two years have been nothing but massive crossovers or 'events', Indetity Crisis, Infinte Crisis, House of M, Civil War. Look at Brian Hibbs talking here. While, yeah, 52 is doing gangbusters, almost all of the One Year Later books are tanking. Hibbs' experience seems to be the standard for the OYL books. Or look at Paul O'Brian here, discussing Marvel's December sales. Once Civil War is done, sales are likely to drop back down on most of these titles. "Long term declie" comes up on quite a few titles in there, including both Spider-Man and the X-Men titles. This sort of model doesn't seem to be sustainable long-term.

To quote Darwyn Cooke:

Q: It’s been said before, but it just seems to me with the mainstream superheros, the big two just seem to be focusing in on one audience that keeps getting older and older and demanding certain types of stories and it’s a smaller and smaller audience.

A: They have no way out of this box. The commitment it would take for them to reclaim mainstream ground, it’s insurmountable. We’ve basically got a cottage industry here now where the people who create the product are creating it for themselves or their friends. It’s created in a way so it’s inscrutable to anybody else. And it doesn’t reflect any social trends. There’s nothing of interest to bring a consumer in.

...Q: The superhero books are obviously aimed at the 25 and up crowd and meantime, manga has pretty much taken over the kids.

A: This is the most interesting thing. The bookstores every month publish a list of the top 100 graphic novels or top 150 selling books. You’ll see manga trades in there all the time. “Naruto” places high on that list every month.

Q: Yeah, it’s pretty much the “Naruto” list.

A: Exactly. Now try to imagine an industry where for 20 years your market shrinks every year and right down the street you can see all this growth, all this activity, all these sales. And you just completely ignore it and continue to allow your own market to contract as you stick to the thing that’s contracting it. It’s almost impossible to imagine any vital business taking this approach.

Anyway, to bring this back to the original topic, I love comic books. I love super-heroes. I think that comic books are an amazing medium. They take the best parts of books and the best parts of movies and combine them into this fantastic medium with more possibility than either books or film. They are particularily well suited to tell super-hero stories, much more than movies, which is, I think, one of the main contributing factors to their dominance over the medium.

What I would like to see more is for talented creators to step outside the Marvel/DC box. To tell their own stories. To be able to own these things. To give them credit, DC does publish Vertigo, which is all creator owned. I just wish they'd do more. I want them to be seen as a viable medium the same way television is. I want the range and diversity that Japan has. Comics about basketball players. Comics about housewives.

To paraphrase Conditional Axe, basically what I want is an industry where everybody wants what I want, and likes what I like.

Iroh

So you tell me the medium is stagnating under Marvel and DC, and almost in the same breath say you wish creators were free to write about completely ordinary people? I don't know about you, but I prefer reading things that stimulate my imagination. If I wanted stories about a basketball player or a housewife, I'd pick up a Family Circle or watch ESPN, just like thousands of other people do already. How does that help the comics industry?

You're right that they need to broaden the spectrum a little, but that is a little absurd. I think the key to competing with manga, if that really is where the market is moving, is more exposure in other media. More superhero cartoons and television shows would definitely be a start, since I suspect the prevalence of Anime is a huge boon to manga sales in America.

Edit: Thought of something else. I know firsthand that lack of accessibility may be crippling the medium also, since it really is difficult for a first time reader to find a point to jump in at in any series. I was lucky that Civil War was just kicking off when I decided to get back into it, so I was given a lot of general primer in those books and the tie ins. Normally though, that's just not available to people.

robosagogo

More creator owned work isn't going to attract kids when the best writers in the medium either want to write works people their own age can enjoy or, in some cases, are drug-addled psychopaths with visions of decapitated virgins and snake gods in their heads.

Iroh

That's why you hire authors and artists who can and will do kid's books. You don't have to be a prolific writer or anything to create something kids can enjoy. You can have your cake and eat it too here, since creation of youth and adult books doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.

Terrorbyte

Moving away from 'kids' was probably the best thing to ever happen to the comic book industry, creatively speaking. Let manga have the wee ones' little Hello Kitty wallets, and sell the Absolute New Frontier to us 20-somethings. Stories and arcs are more robust than they've ever been, since its written for a considerably more literate market that doesn't need a hand-holding expository recap every three pages.

The perceptual gains are across the board and massive. You have a Rising Stars influenced television series tearing up the ratings board. You have comic book blockbuster after blockbuster still drawing people in with these characters. People are noticing that, hey, these are pretty interesting characters. They may or may not go out and get a comic book, but their perception of Spider-Man or Batman or whoever will be that much more informed. Plus, you have titles like Y and Fables getting rave reviews, recommendations and accolades from plenty of serious sites, magazines and newspapers. The publishing industry, whether we're talking books, comics or whatever has always been somewhat insular. Just because it isn't getting headlines doesn't mean that it hasn't entered the public consciousness in a serious manner.

Also, why is it so bad that events are driving demand? 52, Civil War and Infinite Crisis were universe-effecting events. You had to read them to get the whole picture of what was going on with the Big Two. I find it hilarious that dudes pretend like this is a bad thing. "Oh, it's just a money grab!" they say. No, it's business as usual - they're stories that people want to read and are willing to pay for. That there is this much interest in the DCU and MU as a whole is nothing but a good thing. Sales for individual books are always hit or miss and OYL had lots of stumbling blocks. But, really, name a five year period that eclipses these past five years (2001-2006) in quality compared to mass market drivel. I dare you.