ON THE SHELF IN APRIL
by Craig Reade

ADHOUSE BOOKS
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Page 207 – Superior Showcase #1, $2.95. By Nick Bertozzi, Mike Dawson, and Dean Trippe. It is tough to find good indie comics. Let’s face it – it is true. We all support the little guy, but out of the hundreds of issues released every month from companies outside the “big four,” there are only so many that are truly good, and worth the time and effort to find. Some, like Strangers in Paradise, get the attention they deserve, and manage to gain enough of a following to stay afloat in a tough market. Others, like the Symbiotes, deserve that audience but don’t manage to get it in time. This month, I will make it easy for you. Pick this issue up. Order it ahead of time, so you don’t forget. Some of you might recall the Superior Showcase effort put out by Adhouse for last year’s Free Comic Book Day (one of the best of the year), and some of you might have been lucky enough to get the Project: Superior trade, also released last year. Write yourself a note – I am serious. This book will be worth the extra effort. 32 Pages.

DARK HORSE
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Page 22 – Star Wars: Rebellion #1, $2.99. Written by Rob Williams, Art by Brandon Badeaux. Another in Dark Horse’s new Star Wars line, this one set in between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back (Definite Shadows of the Empire territory). This series looks to focus on the machinations within the Empire itself following the destruction of the Death Star. It looks like the main character is going to be an Imperial officer recruited as an agent by Darth Vader to work against the rebellion. Once again, an ideal issue to pick up if you are at all curious about the Star Wars comics. 32 Pages.

Page 24 – Star Wars: Tag & Bink Episode I – Revenge of the Clone Menace, $2.99. Written by Kevin Rubio, Art by Lucas Marangon. On the lighter side of Star Wars comic, the much anticipated Tag & Bink prequel! Well, maybe not much anticipated, but it should certainly be a humorous read. This issue takes Tag and Bink all the way back to the prequel trilogy as a pair of young Jedi potentials who bumble their way in and out of training. Better for the Star Wars fan rather than a newcomer to Star Wars comics, but likely an entertaining read for anyone who picks it up. 32 Pages.

Page 26 – ArchEnemies #1 (of 4), $2.99. Written by Drew Melbourne, Art by Yvel Guichet, Joe Rubinstein, and Rick Hiltbrunner. They are billing this as a genre blending of Superhero and “Odd Couple Roomate hyjinx.” That is probably over thinking it too much, especially since odd-couple roommates can’t even really be considered a genre! You’ve got to hype a new book somehow, and the genre focus aside, this book looks like it could be clever. It revolves around a pair of roommates who just happen to be each other’s super-powered arch nemesis. But don’t expect a “I can’t fight my best friend” moment, they can’t stand each other in civilian life either. A short four issue mini that should be a pretty good read. Worth checking out! 32 Pages.

Page 36 – B.P.R.D.: The Universal Machine #1 (of 5), $2.99. Written by John Arcudi, Art by Guy Davis and Dave Stewart.A new year, another new BPRD mini. One has to wonder why Dark Horse just doesn’t do this as an ongoing – the fans would enjoy it! This series is set to deal with the aftermath of the group’s encounter with Katha Hem. Clearly a good issue to get for Hellboy fans coming off of the short two-parter. 32 Pages.

DC COMICS
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Page 62 – Man-Bat #1 (of 5), $2.50. Written by Bruce Jones, Art by Mike Huddleston. Took a couple months to really get rolling, but Bruce Jones is really starting to make his mark on the DCU. This month he starts a brand new 5 issue mini that is going to bring the Man-Bat character to more basic ground. Unlike a lot of Batman minis, this one looks like it could be pretty good. Most of the time, Batman minis tend to be average at best, typically ending up being nothing that wouldn’t be anything more than an average arc in an ongoing title. Minis that focus on a facet of Batman’s universe, something that wouldn’t really be suited for the ongoing title since Batman might not be the main focus – that is something worth of a mini of its own. Hopefully this lives up to expectations. 32 Pages.

Page 73 – Superman/Batman #26, $3.99. By Sam Loeb, Jeph Loeb, Allan Heinburg, Joss Whedon, Joe Kelly, Brad Meltzer, Mark Verheiden, Brian K. Vaughan, Geoff Johns, Joe Casey, and Paul Levitz, Art by John Cassaday, Joe Madureira, Jeff Matsuda, Ian Churchill, Ed McGuiness, Rob Liefeld, Jim Lee, Tim Sale, Arthur Adams, Joyce Chin, Mike Kunkel, Duncan Rouleau, Carlos Pacheco, Michael Turner, and Pat Lee. Kind of a special issue, written in part by Jeph Loeb’s son Sam, who died last year at the age of 17. Jeph teamed up with 24 other notables in the comic industry to take his son’s idea and finish it, the end result being this issue. Each of the artists and writers have donated their fees and royalties for the issue to go to go to a scholarship fund in Sam’s name, and the original art for the issue will be auctioned at a convention this summer for the same cause. Not only is this a good chance to see one of the most unlikely collaborations in comic history, it does go to help some kids go to college who might not have had the money. Definitely one to look for, even if you don’t normally read this title. 40 Pages.

Page 78 – Infinite Crisis #7, $3.99. Written by Geoff Johns, Art by Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning. The end! Whew! Talk about exhausting! These past two years about have been all about the mega event series, and as enjoyable as they have been, hopefully this is the beginning of the end of them for a while. At least for DC. Marvel is just turning it up on theirs, quite probably in response to the overwhelming success of this series. Unfortunately they might experience a little weariness on the part of readers who are totally exhausted by this event, and aren’t quite ready to take on another. On the whole, this whole event has been great for comics, hopefully DC will handle the aftermath just as well as they did the build-up and the event itself. 40 Pages.

Page 79 – Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special, $4.99. Written by Gail Simone, Art by Dale Eaglesham & Art Thibert. Admittedly, these Infinite Crisis Specials don’t make a whole lot of sense to me. If there was enough material on each of the Countdown minis for an entire special each, why didn’t they just make them one issue longer? If anything, it is just an excuse now not to pick up the Special if you were kind of luke warm on the mini itself. Villains United was one of the better ones, so this special should do well, but the Rann/Thanagar one is a different story all together. 48 Pages.

Page 82 – Checkmate #1, $2.99. Written by Greg Rucka, Art by Jesus Saiz. Another post Infinite Crisis ongoing, and another one with some potential. Sasha Bordeaux as a character had a lot of potential, and it was a shame to see her vanish so quickly after Bruce Wayne: Murderer?. While it was nice to see her in OMAC again, it is gratifying that it was not a one time deal. This one has the potential to be a pretty intriguing series. 32 Pages.

Page 83 – Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Bludhaven #1 (of 6), $2.99. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, Art by Dan Jurgens and Jimmy Palmiotti. Speaking of overdoing it – this is one series that might just be a little too much to handle. What happened to Bludhaven is still fresh in everyone’s mind, and while there is no denying that there is a story to tell there with the aftermath, does it have to be so soon? With the wash of new books right after an almost excessive amount of event series, some readers on tighter budgets might finally start to draw the line here. Hopefully not, and hopefully this isn’t just the first in a long line of “Crisis Aftermath” minis. It’s time to move on and settle down a bit here! 32 Pages.

Page 86 – Ion #1, $2.99. Written by Ron Marz, Art by Greg Tocchini. Another great new series following Infinite Crisis, quite possibly the best yet. Ever since Green Lantern: Rebirth, Kyle Rayner fans have been a little uneasy about DC’s plans for him. One of the worst rumors was that they were planning to kill him off – this series is more than enough proof that this is not to be the case. Rayner will once again take on his ION persona, what that means for his relationship with the Green Lantern Corps will no doubt be a major part of the opening arc for this new title. 32 Pages.

Page 96 – Seven Soldiers #1, $2.99. Written by Grant Morrison, Art by J.H. Williams III. The finale of the Seven Soldiers epic has arrived – and once again, it is amazing how this seemed to start and end right in pace with the whole Countdown/Infinite Crisis event. In any case, Morrison once again deserves all the credit in the world for delivering on this event, even after what many considered to be a less than thrilling starting issue. With any luck, he will close this one off strong. And hopefully, some of these characters (The Guardian especially!) make their way into the DCU on a regular basis after this is all said and done. 32 Pages.

Page 118 – Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit #1 (of 5), $2.99. Written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman, Art by David Hahn. The first Bite Club series had everything going against it. The covers were disturbing and almost completely irrelevant. Chaykin, while talented, is often a writer who you have to read very guarded, as he will jump at any opportunity to lapse into a political soapboxing session. Add to that the vampire element – great if you are a fan, but sometimes it feels like vampire stories have been done to death these days. Still, it got some good reviews, so I tried it anyway. And thank goodness I did! It was a fantastic read, quite the surprise. Wasn’t so sure there was anything left to explore in a sequel, but we have one nonetheless. With any luck, it will live up to the original. 32 Pages.

IMAGE COMICS
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Page 138 – Astro, $6.99. By Nilson. This book is ideally suited for fans of painted stories. Not sure if there is going to be any dialogue, the preview pages didn’t include any, but then, it doesn’t look like it will really need it. This story is all about the art, and Nilson probably has the skill to carry it off. The story revolves around an astronaut who crash lands on a planet (could be Earth, no way to really tell), and basically the story of his journey across the planet and beyond. Tough to describe, and certainly not a book for everyone. If you like painted comics, and are up for something just a little different, give Astro a peak. 38 pages.

Page 156 – Invincible #33, $2.99. Written by Robert Kirkman, Art by Ryan Ottley and Bill Crabtree. Are you a Marvel reader who picked up Marvel Team-Up #14 and wondered just who that Invincible guy was? Well, this is the issue to get. Picking up the story from that issue, Invincible is being sent from dimension to dimension by Angstrom Levy, in an effort to weaken him for the kill. Find out what happened after Invincible met Spider-Man in this issue. A great marketing ploy – as surprising as it is that Marvel went along with it, thank goodness they did! Invincible really is the best thing going in superhero comics today. 32 Pages.

MARVEL COMICS
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Page M6 – Ultimate Spider-Man #93, $2.99. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Mark Bagley. The cover to this month’s Ultimate Spider-Man gives us our first look at the long promised Ultimate Deadpool. As a Deadpool fan, a part of me was looking forward to this, though as a rule one more UItimized Marvel character is pretty well always a bad thing. Take the ridiculous sleeve things off his wrists and the costume almost looks decent. The mask is different, but you knew it would be. Will have to see it in action to really know for sure if the look works or not. 32 Pages.

Page M16 – Marvel Knights Fantastic Four #29, $2.99. Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Art by Valentine De Landro. Guess they finally decided to drop the “4” as a title – shame: that was really the best thing about this book. Now Marvel has confirmed that a lot of Marvel Knights books are finally moving back to the regular Marvel imprint, which is a fantastic idea. If you want the book to be for a more mature audience, you can slap a higher rating on it and still have it just be a Marvel book – so the move makes a lot of sense. But the future of 4/Fantastic Four seems to be in doubt. 4 was not among one of the titles set to make the move, and since moving it to the regular Marvel Universe would necessitate another title change (there already is a Fantastic Four), it seems unlikely. This has the feel of something that hasn’t yet been announced when it comes to this title – something to keep your ear to the ground for if you are a fan of this book. 32 Pages.

Page M19 – Moon Knight #1, $2.99. Written by Charlie Huston, Art by David Finch. Hey! An honest to goodness Moon Knight ongoing! Wow! Moon Knight is one of those characters that could be so much more with a little effort on Marvel’s part – and maybe we are getting that. Something else worth mentioning – last month I pointed out the possibility that Marvel was starting to move away from Spider-Man/X-Men/Avengers centered titles, and on to a more diverse line-up. The addition of this title starts to add a little to that observation. We are starting to see more and more characters like this getting their own book, and I couldn’t be happier. In such a short time, Moon Knight has gone from a laughing stock to getting an Ultimate version and an ongoing series. I guess any hope I had of seeing a return of the satirical mopey, suicidal Moon Knight in Popped Culture are pretty much out the door! 32 Pages.

Page M25 – Nova #1 (of 4), $2.99. Written by Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett, Art by Kev Walker. Well, the bad news is that Marvel is dishing out Annihilation as four minis (Nova, Super-Skrull, Silver Surfer, and Ronan) that will go through July, then a monthly six issue mini (with a handbook) that will start up in August. On the one hand, Infinite Crisis is wrapping up this month, as is Seven Soldiers, and House of M aftermath is starting to wind down, so the wallets of many comic readers are starting to get a little weary. On the other hand – this could be way worse. These minis are quite probably warm-ups, and there is no apparent reason why you can’t just pick one or two that you are interested in, and still follow the main event once it starts up. For my money, the Nova is the series of choice – I am a long-time fan of the character, and as much fun as it is to see him make the occasional New Warriors appearance, his character really needs something like this to shine. And, of course, it will be penned by the stellar team of Abnett and Lanning, who have actually made me a fan of an ongoing Wildstorm book with their work on Majestic. But Nova isn’t the only book with interesting writers on board. Viper Comics followers should recognize the name Javier Grillo-Marxuach, the creator and writer of the Middle Man minis, who will be writing Super-Skrull. Keith Giffen who got a lot of attention for the “Super-Buddies” stories, and will be doing work on DC’s 52 series handling the Silver Surfer, and Simon Furman, a name familiar to any Transformers reader, taking on Ronan. Marvel has a good team of imaginative writers putting together Annihilation. Hopefully they are given the freedom they need to make this event a success. 32 Pages.

Page M33 – Avengers and Power Pack Assemble! #1 (of 4), $2.99. Written by Marc Summerak, Art by Gurihiru. This is probably a tough sell in the comic shops, who aren’t really frequented by kids as much as they could be, but it is great that Summerak’s take on Power Pack is back for a third go-round. Last time they teamed up with the X-Men, and this time, as the title suggests, the Avengers are guesting. Clearly these books aren’t intended for the vast majority of comic readers, but it is really important that comics for the younger kids are out there and available to read. I still wish that they were pushed a little more heavily outside the direct market, but to be fair – Marvel could be pushing these books in a lot of places I wouldn’t normally see. Still – it would be nice to see some digests with content like this in the Supermarket aisles. That would be a great start! 32 Pages.

Page M47 – New Avengers Annual #1, $3.99. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Oliver Copiel. Maybe I am the only one, but isn’t the wedding supposed to come before the children? It isn’t always the way it happens, no, but it at least is generally considered to be a better idea. In any case, this is a Marvel wedding that makes way more sense than the Black Panther/Storm one. These two have history – the relationship has been an essential part of their story for quite some time. And it is natural. A little mix-up on the order of things aside, this is the way wedding should happen in comics. As a natural progression of character development. 32 Pages.

Page M67 – Wolverine: Origins #1, $2.99. Written by Daniel Way, Art by Steve Dillon. Well, there is a lot to say about this series, both good and bad. There is a lot to cover in a series like this – Wolverine’s past being such a fertile ground for storytelling. But on the other hand, part of the very core of who Wolverine is had to do with the fact that the memories of his past were at best a jumbled mess and at worst totally gone. Wolverine having access to an exploring his past is a huge development, but it is almost a character ending one. Even if Marvel changed its mind later and made him lose his memory again, putting it all out there for the readers is something you can’t just take away. And since this is an ongoing, well, they are clearly planning on putting it all out there. A really risky thing to do with such an important character in the Marvel Universe – it is tough to say whether it is admirably bold or just plain nuts. We will find out soon enough. 32 Pages.

VIPER COMICS
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Page 353 – Villains #1 (of 4), $3.25. Written by Adam Cogan, Art by Ryan Cody. A brand new Viper series is always a good thing to take notice of. This series, like all of their books, looks like it could be pretty good. It follows the story of a man down on his luck – without a job and recently dumped by his girlfriend, who discovers that his neighbor is a retired super villain. So, seeing that as the answer to his problems, he blackmails his neighbor into showing him the ropes. One to put on your list for sure. 32 Pages.

Craig’s Top Five of the Month

#5 – Seven Soldiers #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Another event ending, and like Infinite Crisis, hopefully the payoff is worth it.

#4 – Infinite Crisis #7, $3.99, DC Comics. All indications point to this being a most successful ending. Hoping for a huge payoff.

#3 – Nova #1 (of 4), $2.99, Marvel. My pick for the best of the four Annihilation minis. But there is bound to be readers for all of them. Marvel is building this well.

#2 – Ion #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Big hand for DC on this series. They could have just killed Kyle Rayner, but instead they gave something to the fans who didn’t like the idea of Hal coming back. Great move.

#1 – Moon Knight #1, $2.99, Marvel. It was getting to the point where I never thought I would see the day Moon Knight would have his own book again.

Craig’s Collection of the Month

Page 278 – The Complete Peanuts Volume 5: 1959-1960, $28.95, Fantagraphics Books. By Charles Schultz. Its time for another volume of the Peanuts collection! This series is coming out a little slower than would be preferred (only twice a year instead of quarterly), but as long as they finish it, and don’t make us wait any longer between volumes, there isn’t much to complain about! This volume includes several notable Peanuts firsts, including the Lucy’s first psychiatric counseling session, the first all-night vigil for the Great Pumpkin, and the first appearance of Sally. For many of us, our first real exposure to comics was the strip format, and Peanuts is arguably the best comic strip of all time. If you are a fan of comics in general, you need to be getting this series. 344 Pages.

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