It’s not a crime story, it’s a love story.  Just a really, really messed up one.

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J. Michael Straczynski returns to his Cup of Joe imprint, this time through Image Comics, for his first new ongoing series, Ten Grand.  JMS brings Ben Templesmith (Fell, Choker, 30 Days of Night) with him on art duties, with Templesmith lending his normal gloomy, hazy, atmospheric quality to the tale.  And this is a tale that cries for it.  Former mob muscle Joe Fitzgerald lost his beloved wife during his “last job” many years ago.  However, on that same night, Joe himself lost his life, but also received a special deal on his entrance into hell.  Joe was allowed to return to Earth, in order to complete assignments from below, with the benefit that each time he dies in the line of duty, he gets to spend five minutes in heaven with his wife.  A noir burnt to a crisp, fans of Fell who’ve been aching for more since the series ended years ago need to pick up a copy of Ten Grand #1.

Tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street #1!

For all the kids in the audience, all your favorite friends are showing up at the comic store next Wednesday.  That’s Big Bird, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Elmo, Bert, and Ernie, all in one special issue.  And because it’s a comic book you’ve got to have a superhero story.  But when it’s Elmo, who has no superpowers, trying to be the hero, there may be trouble.  Don’t worry, though, because he’s got all his friends and imagination on his side.  Any parent looking to get their kid into comics, need look no further than Sesame Street #1.

With last week’s Jupiter’s Legacy we saw the birth of an alternate world’s super beings.  This week we see the origins of our world’s superhumans with Suicide Risk.  Set in San Diego during the arrival of the world’s first wave of super beings, Suicide Risk focuses on a police officer out-of-his-depth as these new arrivals being to discover their powers in bad ways.  Because, of course, in our world, when you’re given the ability to shoot lasers out of your eyes you use it to melt your obnoxious boss’ car.  With the world going to hell around him, officer Leo Winters is left to wrangle up the madness with a bulletproof vest, a shotgun, and some stamina.  From Unwitten, X-Men Legacy, and Lucifer writer Mike Carey, Suicide Risk #1 is a taught cop thriller laced with capes and cowls.

Gail Simone funnels her recent “firing” by “The Man” into a new series from DC called The Movement.  The series will focus on the underprivileged of the superhero community.  These super-poor are out to take down the social elite, the 1%, protecting the other disadvantaged in the process.  And in a world where Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen are the equivalent of Bernie Madoff, you can expect some major fisticuffs as the series progresses.  And who better to draw some shenanigans than local artist Freddie Williams III (JSA All Stars, Captain Atom, Green Arrow).  Given that Gail Simone has been killing it on Batgirl lately, and wrote one of DC‘s best series of the last ten years, Secret Six, The Movement is on my must-read radar.

 

Regular-sized Batman is cool and all, but Li’l Batman is where it’s really at!

Dustin Nguyen, artist extraordinaire known for his covers and interiors on Batgirl and Batman: Streets of Gotham, brings his painterly pencils and ability to cute the reader out of existence to the Batman universe.  Batman:  Li’l Gotham #1 is the beginning of a new ongoing series featuring short stories packed to the brim with tiny versions of every famous Gotham resident.  Think Charlie Brown noir.  The first issue is a cavalcade of holiday tales featuring Batman, Robin, The Penguin, and more.  If you’re kids having been begging for some Batman, but you’ve kept them away from Scott Snyder’s recent run for obvious reasons, Li’l Gotham is the answer.

Zombies.  Robots.  Aliens.

Generally, a combination of the above three creatures would be a bad thing.  In the case of IDW‘s The Colonized miniseries, it is actually a very good thing.  Written by Chris Ryall, the creator of Zombies vs. Robots, and graced with covers by the reclusive Dave Sim (Cerebus), The Colonized blends horror and sci-fi by dropping aliens into the middle of a zombie apocalypse.  A surviving member of a zombie resistance camp has his hands full when a spacecraft lands in the middle of town and a government agent begins pulling tricks in order to nab the compounds gun stash.  What follows is when there’s no leader for the martians to be take too.

Your mind is not your own.

Matt Kindt, the ingenious comic creator behind Revolver, 3 Story, and the Justice League of America back-up stories, has been writing one of the most unusual, inventive comics being published for the last year and few have noticed.  Now, that may be because one of the agents from the books has been blocking your interest to hide its secrets or it may be because it’s far outside the norm of mainstream comics.  Basically, Kindt has constructed an intricate world of espionage based around the Mind MGMT agency, a secret organization that uses mental powers to control the ebb and flow of history.  They can wipe your mind, insert memories, make you hate your lover, stop you (or themselves) from feeling pain, or plant subconscious suggestions in the media, and there’s nothing you can do about it.  Kindt uses every last inch of the comic page to tell his story, even writing secret code in the margins and on the back cover of each issue.  This first hardcover collection includes the first six issues of the series…or maybe that’s just what it wants you to think?

The Fantastic Four have always been my least favorite Marvel team.

That is, until Matt Fraction took over the series with Marvel NOW!  For the last six issues, Fantastic Four has proven to be one of the best Marvel series on the stands right now.  And if you’ve missed these first issues, don’t fret because Fantastic Four v.1:  New Departure, New Arrivals comes out Wednesday.  Not only does this volume contain the first three issues of the  main Fantastic Four series, but also the first two issues of FF, the companion series.  This first arc involves the departure of Marvel‘s first family, as  Reed and Sue take their kids on a cosmic field trip, and their replacement by four stand-in Fantastics.  Fraction balances classic Marvel storytelling in Fantastic Four and post-modern wackiness in FF beautifully, offering two entirely different reads in one great package.

 

The best team is the one that doesn’t know it’s a team.

That’s the premise of Nick Spencer’s (Morning Glories, Thunder Agents, Thief of Thieves) new run on Secret Avengers.  Joining the Marvel NOW! line, Secret Avengers #1 builds the extremely covert team of Hawkeye, Hulk, Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Winter Soldier to send them on their mission.  And it does it with only one word.  Basically, every member of the team becomes activated by a single word, completes their mission, is told the word again, and walks off into the sunset blissfully ignorant of everything they just did.  It’s covert ops at it’s most covert.  And when it’s drawn by a master of the dark and gritty like Luke Ross, it’s practically so covert it’s not even there.  Or if you want a little more boisterous version, maybe the Skottie Young variant cover will suit you.

As Magneto said, villains it is then.

Uncanny X-Men #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo is all about the baddies.  Serving as the companion book to Bendis’ other X-Men title, All-New X-Men, Uncanny stars Cyclops, Magneto, Emma Frost, and a bunch of other good-for-nothings.  Unlike any other X-Men book before it, this time around it’s the Brotherhood of (Evil) Mutants in the limelight.  Now that Cyclops has assembled his team he’s on a mission to enact his vision of mutant dominance, one which he’s willing to carry out by whatever means necessary.

Since tonight’s list seems all about murdery murder, it seems only fair to let a female master assassin in on the mix.  Katana #1, spinning out of the soon-to-be-released Justice League of America, stars the widowed sword-wielding hired killer of the same name.  With her family’s souls residing in the very sword she uses to slay her enemies, the Soultaker, Katana has to be careful not to let its power and conscience forestall her mission.  Anyone reading Birds of Prey should be familiar with Katana‘s character and mission, as well as fans of the classic Outsiders series.  

Finally, for those who have been hanging on the edge of their seat since the release of the first New 52 Batman hardcover, the wait is over!  Batman: Night of the Owls continues the onslaught of The Court as they descend on Gotham in an effort to purge it of the social elite.  But Nightwing, Batgirl, Batman, Robin, and the rest of the Bat-Family may have something to say about that.  This thick hardcover edition comes packed with the entire Court of the Owls crossover, which includes Batman #8-9, the Batman Annual, Detective Comics #9, Dark Knight #9, Batwing #9, Batman and Robin #9, Red Hood and the Outlaws #9, Birds of Prey #9, Batgirl #9, Nightwing #8-9, and All-Star Western #9.  That’s a lot of Batman punching Talon action for a minimal price.

 

We’re going to start off with a little personal appeal tonight.

This trade paperback I’m going to mention is, one, the third volume, two, from a series that no longer exists in this form, and, three, stars a character you may not know.  Now that I’ve seriously stacked the deck against myself, allow me to continue.

So, yes, Batgirl: The Lesson tpb is the third volume in the series, so it may seem you are coming in at the end of things, but I’m here to tell you that won’t effect your enjoyment of this book at all (that and we can always order volumes one and two).  This was the Batgirl series before the DC 52 relaunch and it starred Stephanie Brown, a C-Level character, as Batgirl.  Stephanie, though a minor character, has been one of the most lovable, enjoyable-to-read characters in the DCU of late; she offered a fresh perspective to the Batgirl mantle in that she enjoyed the job to an obsessive degree but wasn’t always perfect at it.  The dialog crackled, the action was well illustrated, and Stephanie had some of the best team-ups ever with the likes of Supergirl, Klarion the Witch Boy, and Damien (Robin), all of which should be in this volume.  If you’re looking for that rare comic book that stars an intelligent, interesting female character, but doesn’t pander with lots of excessive T&A shots, this is that rare book. 

We’ll take a variety of currency options up here at Pulp Fiction, but one thing we will not take is World of Warcraft coinage.  That doesn’t mean we won’t sell it, though.

Which brings me to the fact that this Wednesday we will be receiving two limited edition, collector’s coin sets for World of Warcraft, one Alliance, one Horde.  Each of these sets includes three coins related to their respected factions, all displayed in a dapper glass display case.  Every coin is pressed with a key faction leader on one side and that faction leader’s home city on the other.  Again, these sets are limited to 1000 printings (tiny, tiny for things like this), so grab them now or cry yourself to sleep later.

Any self-respecting Lovecraft fan knows that Arkham is not just an asylum in Batman.  Well, now anyone else can learn about this thanks to the new Lovecraft Library volume 1: Horror Out of Arkham HC.  Collecting a vast amount Lovecraft’s most popular stories, accompanied by gorgeous full-page painted illustrations.  To name a few, there is “The Dunwich Horror”, “The Dreams of the Witch House”, and “The Shadow Out of Time”.  The collection is also edited by noted author Robert Weinberg.  That’s so much Lovecraft you’ll be speaking R’lyehian to yo momma!

Past their expiration date and still causing all kinds of mayhem, Milk and Cheese are back and bigger than ever!  Milk and Cheese: Dairy Products Gone Bad HC collects every single appearance of the destructive duo ever published!

Oh, and a crap ton of extra crap!  That’s sketches!  That’s script stuff!  That’s pure craziness!

Evan Dorkin rules all dairy!

 

If it’s Comic List Highlights and it’s Pulp Fiction, then it’s time for your New 52 Update (just go with it, it’s gonna be a thing for a bit).  In the New 52 Update we, the comicly nerdy, employees of Pulp Fiction tell you, the hungry for information, customers which DC Relaunch books ship this week with a one word description of each.

*Action Comics – Kneepads  *Animal Man – Aardvark  *Batgirl – Walking  *OMAC – Mohawk

*Batwing – Incorporated  *Detective Comics – Dolls  *Green Arrow – Liberal

*Hawk & Dove – Feet  *Justice League International – Skeets  *Men of War – Napalm

*Static Shock – McDuffie  *Stormwatch – Mysterious  *Swamp Thing – Plant

Can you handle the epic amount of epic-dipped epicness contained in the epic slipcase of epic that is the Dark Tower Omnibus Slipcase hardcover?  I’m afraid the answer is “no”, but I also know that such a fact will not divert you from purchasing such an epic edition.  How do I know this?  Allow me to tell you what is held within its crisp, clean pages and you, too, will know.  In short, every single Dark Tower related miniseries printed up to this point.  That’s six different series!  All of which expand, deepen, and advance the backstory of Stephen King’s classic epic.  But wait, you claim you can handle that amount of epic sauce.  Well, what about the second included volume which holds the vast library of back matter that every issue of the series has contained to this point?  What’s that page count total, Johnny?  Oh yeah, 296 pages!!!!!!  All encased in a beautiful slipcover.  Mmm, mmm, thas good epic.

X-Men: First Class (The BEST superhero movie of this past summer!) is coming out in the next couple of weeks and you don’t want to be caught without a copy.  Like, seriously, bad things.  But even more than that, you don’t want to be caught without friends with which to watch it.  None better than the new X-Men First Class Minimates.  Now, to be clear, these are not the characters from the First Class movie.  No, these are the original team of X-Men.  That’s Angel, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Ice Man, for the uninitiated.  At this point in the paragraph, you might be asking yourself, “Did he just make a link with the movie for no other reason than they share the same name?”.  Yes.  That and these minimates are freakin’ sweet, as is X-Men:  First Class.

Do you like tin cans and can openers?  I guess no one really “likes” these objects, per say, but if you’re comfortably indifferent to them, then these new Iron Man and Wolverine Vinyl figures should cause you to tingle.  The newest releases in the immensely cuddly Pop Vinyl! line of Marvel big headed thingies, these two fan favorites share an equal level of cuteness with the previous releases.  Oh, and they’re bobble-heads.
So…yeah…tin can…can opener…get it?

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