Take two ticks to tinker with the thought of trying the Terrifyingly Tragic Treasury Edition of Joe Hill’s terrific terse tales.

That’s a fair share of Ts, folks.  You’ll notice that one of the above T words is not “terrible”.  I would shudder at the idea of associating that word anywhere near Joe Hill’s work, as he is one of the most gifted writers in comics today.  Having made a name for himself on his masterpiece, Locke & Key, as well as The Cape miniseries, Hill has quickly become a respected name in the industry.  The fact that he’s Stephen King’s son also helps.  If you’ve devoured the five hardcover volumes of Locke & Key and are looking to fill the void in your life until volume six comes out, the TTTE special is a perfect option.  Containing his Kodiak one-shot, The Cape stand alone issue, and his Locke & Key short story “Open the Moon”, all of which are nominated or won industry awards.   

Fantasy adventure comics have been on the rise lately, what with Pathfinder, the Dungeons and Dragons series, Demon Knights, Conan, and, now, Amala’s Blade.  Striking a tone somewhere between humor and action, Amala’s Blade #1 is the first part of a four part miniseries following the titular assassin hero.  Amala is the head assassin in the kingdom of Naamaron, but has fallen out of favor due to her brash, boastful ways.  So, the emperor does the only logic thing:  send her on a mission that will likely result in her death.  Now, Amala’s skills are put to the test, with a failing grade equaling an end most fowl.  Illustrated in a style that bridges sketchy Indy artists like Becky Cloonan and cartoony pop like Avatar the Last Airbender, Amala’s Blade is feisty fantasy.

If you’re daughter’s ever tried to run past the rebel blockade in a giant spaceship shaped like a fist, Vader’s Little Princess might warm your heart.  You might also enjoy it if you and your daughter are huge Star Wars fans.  Jeffery Brown releases his second Star Wars children’s book detailing the awkward difficulties of raising a daughter who is your worst enemy.  Drawn in the same simplistically charming style of Brown’s Incredible Changebots, Cats Are Weird, and Vader and Son, Vader’s Little Princess is made up of vignettes detailing Vader’s struggle with common fatherly duties.  Tea parties, teaching Leia how to fly TIE fighters, and keeping her from leaving the house in only her slave girl bikini are the tasks of the day for Papa Skywalker.  Grab a copy and bond with your daughter over your shared geekiness.

A legacy can be an awful burden.

The legendary duo of Mark Millar and Frank Quietly (The Authority, WE3, New X-Men) reteam for the first time in years to bring you Jupiter’s Legacy.  This soon-to-be-hit series from Image Comics begins in the far future when all of Earth’s heroes have given up and left the world’s protection to their kids.  But being a better superhero  than your parents can be a demanding task.  Trust us when we say that this series will bring the violence, sexuality, and cinematic action unlike anything else out there (except maybe Saga, that book’s pretty raunchy).  Grab the hit comic of this year before it vanishes from the shelves.

 

Image Comics has been turning out bold, inventive series after bold, inventive series this last year and it shows no sign of stopping. However, when you have that many great series coming out at one time, some get lost in the shuffle. Pigs is one of those series.

An espionage book at its core, Pigs revolves around a sleeper cell of Cuban assassins who were assigned to positions in America during the Cold War. None of them have received word from their supervisors…until now. A mysterious notice awakens each member of the team, but for what nefarious purpose? Lovers of The Losers or Sleeper should definitely take a stab at this intriguing thriller.

What’s with all this Avengers merchandise lately? It’s like there’s a movie or something. But that’d be crazy, no one could ever make an Avengers…what? They’re what? Ohhhhhhh.

Well, in that case, gear up for the Avengers movie by reading the first thirty issues of the original series, created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. These thirty issues contain some of the most important, classic moments in Avengers history. Can you say, thawed Captain America? There is no better way to collect these key issues, in color, in hardcover, than in the first volume of the Avengers Omnibus. ASSEMBLE!!!!

Speaking of the Sentinel of Liberty, there’s no better way to light your Avengers Omnibus as you read it than with the new Captain America Neon Sign.

Glowing hot with justice and freedom, this sign, shaped as Cap’s classic shield, can be hung from a wall or placed, upright on a special dispaly stand that comes with the sign. Lighten up your man cave with this symbol of truth, justice, and nerdom.

You’ve read The Stand. You’ve read The Shinning. You’ve read Locke & Key. You’ve loved them. You’ve craved more.

Now, read the mind meld of these two horror geniuses. Yes, folks, father and son, Stephen King and Joe Hill, have combined talents for a new comic series based off a short story the two co-wrote. This comic is called Road Rage and it is made of awesome. A group of rough and tumble bikers are taken to their limit by a crazy truck driver leads them on a made chase across the open road. Sound a little familiar to Duel? That’s probably becasue Richard Matheson’s short story was an inspiration for this tale, oh, and the fact that Matheson himself is working on the title too. This powerhouse of writing talent must be read to be believed!

 

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?

 

COOOOMMMMMIICCCC LLIIIIIIISSSSSTTTT!!!!

That’s what I like to imagine this new Atrocitus Blackest Night mini-bust is screaming at the top of his lungs.  It could also be COOKIES or, the ever popular, KHAN.

Or it could just be a primal scream over the fact that the Green Lantern movie kinda sucked.

The idea here is, if you make this nifty mini-bust your new shelf buddy, you can imagine him screaming whatever you want.

Oh, and if we’re conversating about Atrocitus, it’s also important to note that the Red Lantern Light-up Prop Lantern and Ring is also coming in this week.  If you’ve been up to the store recently, you’ve probably seen the Green Lantern and Orange Lantern versions of these.  They rock the casbah.

Up, up, and destroy!  If you picked up The Cape one-shot from last year, you probably understand how that paraphrasing of the famous line fits in here.  A devilishly twisted superhero book, the new The Cape four issue mini-series is a must buy thanks to Joe Hill‘s talented penmanship.  Some of you might have heard us Pulp folk spouting off about Hill‘s incredibly brilliant series Locke & Key and that’s because this guy knows how to write a comic.  His grasp of panel usage, character, dialog, and theme prove that a his papa’s (Stephen King) writing talent seeped into his gene pool.  So, The Cape is basically Hill taking that same talent and applying it to the superhero genre the only way he knows how:  gory, dark, and sinister.

Will you open The Vault?  I’d leave it to the professionals, frankly.  Luckily, that’s exactly what The Vault #1 is about.  In the tradition of The Abyss, Sphere, and Alien, The Vault involves a crack team of archaeologists and treasure hunters who travel to the bottom of the ocean in search of a lost item that they believe will bring them fortune and glory.

That’s never the way, is it?  No, the item is a veritable “Pandora’s Box” that will bring about untold destruction and death.  So, it’s for kids.

So, you’ve got David Tennant‘s screwdriver and Matt Smith‘s (which is an actual screwdriver, by the way), but something’s missing.  The future, that’s what!  Next Wednesday the Future Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver travels back to the past and lands on the shelves of Pulp Fiction.  First seen in the “Silence in the Library” episode being wielded by River Song, this screwdriver is a perfect replica of the one seen in the show!  That level of detail includes a break-away panel that reveals a switch that changes the screwdriver’s LED color from blue to red.  Oh, and each color makes different sounds.

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