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Comic List Highlights (2/13/2013)

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Feb 092013

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.

Comic List Highlights (2/6/2013)

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Feb 022013

Andy Diggle and Jock, the superstar creative team behind Green Arrow Year One and The Losers (which is a thousand times better than the film, by the way), lend their talents to a new creator owned series from Image Comics this Wednesday. Blending political thrillers, Clerks, and gritty noir storytelling, Snapshot is a four issue miniseries bound to thrill you more than once. When an lifelong nerd employee of a comic store (this is sounding familiar…) finds a cellphone full of grisly images of someone’s murder, he has no other option than to run as fast and as far as he can. But it’s never that easy is it? If you’ve been enjoying the sketchy, moody artwork of Jock in the Batman back-up stories or in Scott Snyder’s previous Detective Comics run, The Black Mirror, then Snapshot is your cup of tea.

Sorcery receives a modern update in Top Cow‘s Son of Merlin miniseries.

Building off of the classic Arthurian figures of myth, Son of Merlin picks up when a respected professor of science finds out he’s actually the descendant of the famous wizard, Merlin. And, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but science and magic don’t exactly see eye-to-eye. However, before the good doctor can think through his new predicament, he’s being hounded by the immortal Morgan le Fay. But there’s a whole secret underground society of ancient magic users that might just be willing to come to his aid. Drawn in the gorgeous, expressive tradition of the famous Top Cow books to come before it like Fathom, Charismagic, and Witchblade, Son of Merlin will cast its spell over you.

I say, my dear Watson, the zombie is a foot!

Though not strictly a Sherlock Holmes versus zombies story, The New Deadwardians is about the closest to it you’ll ever get. Written by cult favorite author and comic legend Dan Abnett, this post-Victorian England horror/mystery yarn takes places in an alternate reality where, after a zombie infection spread throughout the population, the majority of the remaining English citizens had to submit to becoming vampires in order to fight them off. Now, it’s the vampires who’ve becoming the upper-class aristocracy while the zombie population are cordoned off on the outskirts of town. Chief Inspector Suttle, a forever young himself, is tasked with solving a grisly crime, the first in nearly a decade, during a growing zombie uprising. It’s all elementary from there.

Love is in air for the DC Universe this Wednesday.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day a week early, DC releases its most romantic anthology yet, the Young Romance DC New 52 Special. Containing six unique stories of famous DC couples like Aquaman and Mera, Midnighter and Apollo, and Catwoman and Batman spending their special day together in the only way superpowered crime fighters can, as well as stories of Wonder Woman, Dick Grayson, and others coming to terms with the relationships they’ve entered into. Each of the stories is written and drawn by a talented creator, like Andy Diggle, Gene Ha, Ann Nocenti, Kyle Higgins, Becky Cloonan, and Peter Milligan. And for those old school romantics, the issue comes with usable Valentine’s Day cards. Oh, amore!

Comic List Highlights (9/5/2012)

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Sep 012012

Marvel and DC may be the big two, but, over this last year, they’ve lost some considerable ground to Image Comics. Largely that’s due to Image publishing The Walking Dead, but the publisher has also been gaining ground in “among of books published”. What’s most shocking is that, with this rise in titles, the quality of each book has not faltered from any where below excellent. Two of the books that have contributed to these two factors are coming out in trade paperback form this Wednesday. Allow me to introduce you.

Thief of Thieves is the best heist movie you’ve never seen. It also happens not to be a movie, but a comic. And it’s created by Robert Kirkman (Walking Dead). And it’s written by Nick Spencer (Morning Glories). Not surprisingly it is a quick-witted, snappy, twisty read that uses pacing and panel arrangement to the full effect of the medium. The first collection comes out this Wednesday and contains the first six issues.

Manhattan Projects is what everyone wishes history was like. An alternate retelling of the experimentation that lead to the creation of the atomic bomb, Manhattan Projects (written by Jonathon Hickman (Fantastic Four)) stars the likes of Albert Einstein, Joseph Oppenheimer, FDR, Harry Truman, and a bunch of other famous people you thought were scientists but are actually psychopaths. Plus, the atomic bomb isn’t all these geniuses are playing with; inter-dimensional gateways, robot samurai, aliens, and alternate realities all make an appearance. Each issue will have you picking your jaw off the floor repeatedly as shock after shock keeps the story moving.

Alan Moore has never had kind words for those who’ve adapted his work to film, but there was a time when he wrote his own movie. During 1985, only a year before Watchmen hit the shelves, Moore wrote a sprawling modernization of Beauty and the Beast, dubbed Fashion Beast, with the intention of it being produced as a movie. This never happened. But now, Avatar Press has acquired Moore’s approval and oversight to adapted his script into a ten issue comic series. So, if you want to read a fairy tale as only Alan Moore can tell it, you need to stop by Wednesday and grab yourself a copy of Fashion Beast.

Let’s get one thing clear: He does not talk to fish!

The “he” in that sentence is, of course, Aquaman. There are few other characters in the DC universe (or Marvel, for that matter) who are ridiculed and satirized as much as Aquaman. Well, Geoff Johns is here to make anyone who’s ever made a “Hello, little fish” joke eat crow. This first collection of the New 52 Aquaman series brims with intelligent retooling of the character’s backstory, now focusing on character moments instead of broad strokes, as Aquaman and his wife Mera attempt to control an invasion of undersea creatures known as The Trench. These creatures are not simple fishies, they’re more like walking piranhas. If Johns is good at anything, he’s good at giving readers reasons to love his protagonists and fear his villains, traits that he brings to play in this exceptional first volume of everyone’s favorite punching bag, Aquaman.

Comic List Highlights/New Game Stuff (5/12/2012)

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May 122012

Tonight you’re all getting a two-fer, the chocolate and peanut butter, the Bert and Ernie, the Penn and Teller of Comic List Highlights. Because not only are you receiving highlights of comics, but games, too (mostly because we didn’t have time to write a post last night).

To start things off, lets recite the oath: In brightest day, in blackest night… Yup, the first hardcover collection of the New 52 Green Lantern comes out Wednesday. Easily one of the best ongoing series of the relaunch, Green Lantern has focused more on Sinestro than regular protagonist Hal Jordan, which has enlivened the book. And the reason for the shift in hero is due to Sinestro being allowed to wield the ring again, while Hal cools his jets on Earth. Until, that is, Sinestro comes a’knockin’. Geoff Johns has been writing some of the best Green Lantern stories ever since he got on the book around eight years ago, but this new volume offers a perfect jumping on point for anyone who’s wanted to read up on the character.

Keeping the superhero/comic base at a boil, but mixing in a smidge of gaming, next up is the second volume of Mutants and Masterminds DC Adventures: Heroes & Villains. As the first volume contained all characters ranging from A to K, this second edition picks up with L and runs it all the way to Z. That means you’re going to get classic characters like Lex Luthor, Superman, and Plastic Man, plus icon teams like the Justice League and the Secret Six. Offering gamers a shortcut into the DC Universe, these volumes contain all the stats, histories, and information you’ll need to BAM BIFF POW your way through the DCU.

Re-releasing in a new swanky graphic novel collection is BOOM Studio‘s 7 Psychopaths. A greater hook has never been created: what do you do when you want to kill Hitler and end WWII? Send in seven of the worst human beings ever to hunt down and murder the bastich. Of course, not everything always goes as planned. A grim, gritty spy series with artwork from exceptional Criminal and Incognito artist, Sean Phillips, 7 Psychopaths makes for a great, moody read.

As deck building games boldly go where no game has gone before they reach the Star Trek the Next Generation game. Using the base premise of deck building developed in games like Ascension, Dominion, and Resident Evil, Star Trek puts players into the role of a star ship captain, commanding their meager crew toward victory. Do you recruit further crewmen? Develop your ship’s equipment? Conquer worlds or make peace with them? These are the choices you will need to make in either the base version of the game or its Next Phase expansion. Both are stand alone and both go boldly yadda yadda blah blah.

Comic List Highlights (4/28/2012)

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Apr 282012

52 titles apparently are not enough for DC Comics.

Starting this week, a new wave of DC comics is cropping up to fill the spots left by the canceled New 52 books. Each of these new books flesh out the universe by bringing in characters previously unmentioned by the first wave.

Primary among the second wave is Earth 2. Written by legendary comic author James Robinson (Starman, The Shade), Earth 2 will focus on an alternate version of the DC Universe where the major superheroes faced off a cataclysmic event and were permanently changed forever. Following, not only these versions of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, but also the Alan Scott Green Lantern and Jay Garrick Flash. For those who’ve missed JSA will find that familiar itch scratched with this series.

The other two DC series to launch this week will be Dial H and World’s Finest. Dial H will be the first comic written by popular crime novelist China Mieville. A reworking of a cult classic series, Dial H will follow different individuals as they encounter a special dial with gives them random superpowers each time they turn it on. Gaining buzz as the underdog favorite of the new batch, Dial H should be picked up by anyone who loves off-kilter series like Xombi, BPRD, and Resurrection Man. World’s Finest, on the other hand, is a classic team-up book starring the Power Girl and Huntress of Earth 2.

Speaking of the New 52, the first group of hardcovers and trade paperbacks ship this Wednesday. Personally, I am making it a mission to sell every single copy of the first volume of Animal Man by Wednesday night. And I don’t plan to do this out of any greedy desire, but instead because this is the best book being released from DC right now. A wonderful blend of family drama and horrific, otherworldly creatures and adventures, Animal Man delivers sympathy and scares all in one twisted package. A wholly unique read, this series should not be ignored.

Lastly, because I’m tired, here’s a cool picture of a cool Doctor Who item coming in this Wednesday.

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Comic List Highlights (2/13/2013)

Comic List Highlights (2/6/2013)

Comic List Highlights (9/5/2012)

Comic List Highlights/New Game Stuff (5/12/2012)

Comic List Highlights (4/28/2012)

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Comic List Highlights (2/13/2013)

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Comic List Highlights/New Game Stuff (5/12/2012)

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