If your question is “What kind of badass comic awesomeness will Dennis Hopeless unleash on the world next?”, the answer is The Answer.  In the works for a number of years, Dark Horse Comics is finally releasing Dennis’ next miniseries which, as a series released independent of the big two comic companies, means anything goes.  The Answer, himself, is the hero of a standard metropolitan city who crosses paths with a punky librarian chick.  Together the two begin to uncover a conspiracy that sends them running for their lives.  As usual, because it’s Dennis, they do so while spouting some of the quickest, wittiest dialog on the block.  Oh, and if you’re a fan of the horror series Revival or the great web comic Battlepug, you’ll be glad to know The Answer was created in conjunction with Mike Norton.  Any more questions?

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It’s a young hero’s world out there.

One of my most anticipated Marvel NOW! series launches this next Wednesday and it is Young Avengers.  Written by the too-cool-for-school Kieron Gillen (Journey in MysteryPhonogram) and drawn by X-Men: Season One‘s Jamie McKelvie, this version of Young Avengers is all about partying, music, partying, dancing, drinking, and partying.  Oh, but with superpowers.  The child version of Loki last seen in Gillen’s Journey into Mystery run has set out to improve his image and become a “good guy”, finding the best way to do this is to assemble a team of young heroes.  We’ll see how that goes.  If you loved the two official Young Avengers series of recent years, then you be happy to see many of those character popping back up in a book that continues to grow them as characters, mostly by seeing them through their stupid, irrational teenage years.  Oh, and did I mention the partying.

Countdown to Darkness may be a goofy title that elicits images of someone standing by a light switch yelling that they’ll turn it off in any moment, but the fact that Star Trek precedes it makes it noteworthy.  This new four issue miniseries from IDW is the prequel to this summer’s sequel to J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot, filling in the gaps between the last movie and the new one.  Written and overseen by Robert Orci, one of the screenwriters of the film, what happens here is the official continuity of the film universe.  For instance, you’ll see Klingons here before they appear in the film.  And if you read the previous Countdown miniseries for the last film, you’ll know that this one will enrich the story rather than  simply paddle in one place only to make money and not mess with the film.

Finally, tonight’s last shoutout is going to be a simple one, because it can be.

Deadpool

Versus.

Classic literary characters.

That’s Deadpool vs. Moby Dick, Deadpool vs. Tom Sawyer, Deadpool vs. Ebeneezer Scrooge, and so on.

Deadpool Killustrated.  Buy it.

 

Close, close in a gaming store not so far away…

STAR WARS CARD SLEEVES!!!!!

Yes, hum the theme song in your head if you must. Fantasy Flight has released an exceptional limited run of specialty Star Wars backed card sleeves. So, play Magic with the man who shot first or catch’em all with Lord Vader or throw them on any other card game that needs some sci-fi spice. But whatever you do, pick them up before an X-Wing comes along and vaporizes them because there will not be any prequels here.

Of course, if space battles and laser swords aren’t your thing, maybe the other limited edition Lord of the Rings sleeves will be. Slip them over your favorite standard sized cards to give them a Samwise Gamgee to their Frodo Baggins. Or grasp the One Ring to rule all other swag-less individuals. Whatever you choose, wield them responsibly.

You want to kick your Warhammer Fantasy RPG game up to level 4? How about level 5? Then let Hero’s Call be Fantasy’s version of the Spinal Tap speaker! Chocked full of new hero and GM options for careers, action cards, talents, spells, and region options, this player’s resource is loaded with must-have ingredients for kicking your game up a couple levels.

Bringing Cthulhu to the deck-building party, Penny Arcade: Rumble in R’Lyeh is both a standalone game and an expansion for last year’s Penny Arcade: The Game, Gamers vs. Evil! So, players can enjoy Eldar God gaming goodness in the base 2-4 player version of the game or combine it with the previous game for excessive nerd overload. Rumble in R’Lyeh specifically adds Gold cards to the gameplay, which must be acquired through the use of Token and Power cards. Totally worth it when they have names like Gunhorse (a horse made of guns, duh!), Sad Zombie, and Gabe’s Gross Mouth.

Bridging books and board games, the Where the Wild Things Are board game from the Tales to Play series, lets families take control of Max’s journey to the land of the Wild Things. Each player controls a different Max miniature game piece on his trek through the becoming king of the Wild Things. Players draw cards and roll dice to decide their success or failure across the illustrated game board. Great gameplay and Wild Thing miniatures for the whole family.

Gamers have been waiting for this next exapnsion since somewhere around the dawn of man. Yes,  has finally arrived. Adding not only a fifth player ability to the game, but a new item dubbed decoration. Players may now trade their resources for this item in an effort to gain further points. Club someone if you have too, fight a t-rex, do whatever you have to for a copy of this valued expansion.

 

Take your wallet out of your pocket. Look at it. Compare it to the picture on the left. Now cry.

Don’t worry, I’m crying, too.

But there’s no reason to be crying after Wednesday, because that Batman Wallet ships along with many other Super Wallet options. For instance, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and more. Trust me, no will ever mug you with a wallet like this.

And when your money is carried in a wallet like the above it’s going to beg to be spent on a Batman comic. Luckily, a new miniseries called Batman: Arkham Unhinged launches this week. Tying into last year’s extremely successful Arkham City game, this miniseries will follow events leading up to the game’s storyline, focusing on Two-Face and Catwoman‘s rivalry.

Did you see who got voted off last night?

Probably not, because America’s newest popular reality show hasn’t launched yet.

But it does this Wednesday.

America’s Got Powers is a new creator-owned series from Jonathon Ross and Bryan Hitch (Ultimates, The Authority) that takes full advantage of America’s fascination with reality television and applies it to the superhero genre. Think The Hunger Games meets Running Man meets Survivor meets Teen Titans. Hundreds of teenage super powered kids will compete. One will win. All will cause property damage. Judging from the last couple of Image miniseries, this is a book you’ll want to pick up quick, because they will be gone soon after their release.

There has been a vast influx of horror comics over the last year, but none have been better than Scott Snyder’s Severed. A period book set during the Great Depression, Severed follows a young, musically-inclined boy who’s taken to the open road in search of his father. Along the way he runs into some very, very bad people. If you’ve been reading Swamp Thing or Batman by Scott Snyder, you understand how well Scott Snyder can write horror, as he posses a unique talent for pacing scares on the page. Back that up with extremely expressive artwork from Attilla Futaki and you’ve got the spookiest book of 2011.

Monster hunting can be a messy business. All sorts of fluids and grisley bits. Find out just how messy in the new Dark Horse miniseries, Alabaster Wolves. Based off of Catilin R. Kiernan’s best selling fantasy series, Alabaster Wolves stars a young girl named Dancy Flammarion who’s hunted creepy crawlies since she could walk. But she’s about to meet her match. Fans of Whiteout will be happy to see Steve Leiber’s gorgeous artwork return to comic pages, especially with a series that contains so much vivid imagery. Add to that the gorgeous painterly covers and you’ve got the whole package.

Finally, with so much horror and spookieness going about it’s only proper to end on a like-minded book for youngsters. Oni Press, after garner much acclaim for previous series, is launching an ongoing, color series for Courtney Crumrin. If you’re unfamiliar, Courtney’s adventures involve the dark, demonic, and nasty things of the world, making for a young readers book with a bit of bite to it. These new color issues look amazing and continue the series beloved by many. If you like the Series of Unfortunate Events novels, you’ll fall right into step with Courtney Crumrin.

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