If this is your first time reading the $40 Pull List, I invite you to see how it works by reading the first edition. Therin you will find all the rules governing the list, and the selection of titles. It isn’t too complicated, though, so just dive right in if you don’t feel like reading back issues! In addition, this column contains Spoilers, so if you are waiting for the trade, read at your own risk!

Three months down, and the list has really coalesced into something solid, Just about every book on it is a keeper now, and we are finally getting to the point where we will be faced with those tough choices that every comic reader on a budget has to face. How do you manage when a new, awesome-looking comic comes out, and you can bear to cancel any of the titles on your list?

MARCH’S PICKS

The Brave and the Bold #2, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 03/21/07. ON TIME Ug! I am sorry, there isn’t a middle-aged man on this planet that would have to try that hard to resist the cheap flirtations of a 17 year old. At least not one with a shred of integrity, and it stands to reason that a Green Lantern would have at least that much. The whole intro to this issue was terrible. As I feared when hearing that it was Supergirl and not Superman that would be the “partner” for this issue, Supergirl dragged this issue down hard. Just what is DC trying to accomplish here? No one thinks Supergirl needs to be perfect, but one would expect a hero with the S Shield on to be someone that kids could ultimately look up to. Bratty? I can live with that. But is DC honestly ok with saying that it is perfectly ok for 17 year old girls to hit on 40+ year old men? I will admit the “gamblers” version of “It’s a bird, it’s a plane” was seriously clever. It was the first panel that snapped my out of my complete annoyance with Supergirl. The scenes with Batman and the Blue Beetle were very interesting – that is going to be make for a good story next month.

In the end, I have to admit this issue was well written. But Supergirl is a horrible character, no matter who writes her it seems. You know who would have been good in this issue? Stargirl. Or any other young female hero who needs experience, who’s character basis isn’t how sexy she is, and what a spoiled brat she is. It is getting to the point where I would rather read X-23 than this version of Supergirl. Come on – bring back Linda Danvers! This issue squeaks by this month, and this title remains on the pull list based on strong writing and a good story. If Supergirl was going to be a regular fixture in this title though, the book probably wouldn’t have held out this month.

Status: SAFE

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Silent War #3, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 03/21/07. RELEASED 03/28/07. Just a wee bit late, but another great read. I think that the lack of Quicksilver is what made this series a little less awesome in the first issue. Boy, who knew he could be that compelling of a character? More cameos this month – of note Jaime Madrox made an appearance. Of course, Multiple Man doesn’t suffer from the same character deficiency that Sentry does, so his appearance wasn’t quite as impactful. But it was entertaining nonetheless. It is pretty well a forgone conclusion that this book is safe through its entire run.

Status: SAFE

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Buffy The Vampire Slayer #1, $2.99, Dark Horse. Due out 03/14/07. ON TIME SOLD OUT. This is one a lot of you might have had a really hard time tracking down. Overwhelming media coverage and fan demand made this issue impossible to find just hours after stores opened on the 14th. Dark Horse thankfully speeded out a second printing which hit the shelves this past Wednesday.

So was it worth all the hype? In a word – no. Now this isn’t saying the book was terrible – but as fast as it sold out, as much as people buzzed and chattered about it, you would think this was the second coming. But it just wasn’t that impressive. It was a decent read, and it did pick up pretty quickly after the end of the season. But that is part of the problem. The whole cast was uber at that point. They fought the First and won, and activated all of the slayers all over the world. For this comic book series to work at all, they are either going to have to have god-like opponents (even MORE powerful than the First), or suffer utter devastation. Since neither was really hinted at in this first issue, we are left wondering exactly where Whedon plans to go with this.

#1 was a decent issue, but it did little more than re-establish a couple of the characters. It was decent enough to give another try next month, though.

Status: SAFE

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Wyrms #2, $2.99, Marvel/Dabel Brothers. Due out 03/21/07. ON TIME. Still early on, but this has been a pretty faithful adaptation. I am becoming increasingly curious as to how one fairly X-Rated scene in this story is going to be handled down the road. The temptation will be to draw it quite graphically, hopefully they resist that temptation and keep it a little more metaphorical. Hopefully those of you who aren’t familiar with the novel are enjoying this as much as I am.

Status: SAFE

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Hellblazer #230, $2.99, DC Comics/Vertigo. Due out 03/21/07. ON TIME. Andy Diggle has arrived. And it was a pretty darned good start. It is just a LITTLE bit padded, and if I were to be really critical, I think the flashback structure wasn’t really suited to this story, but those are really technical complaints. I am interested enough to want to keep reading, and that is precisely what you are supposed to accomplish with an issue like this. An interesting start – definitely on board for another issue.

Status: SAFE

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Noble Causes #28, $3.50, Image Comics. Due out 03/21/07. ON TIME. Still amazed at how much better this title is after a simple artist change. Cinar’s work really did make all the difference in the world. I really like what is being done with Celeste – she has grown so much as a character since this title’s earliest days, and it looks like she is definitely going to factor very heavily in upcoming issues. This title is just plain too good to drop right now.

Status: SAFE

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Dynamo 5 #1, $3.50, Image Comics. Due out 03/07/07. ON TIME. To be totally honest, if it weren’t for the little twist at the end of this issue, it wouldn’t have a prayer of lasting the month. This issue was really rough – the whole scenario seemed so forced. For some reason, Faerber decided to spend the entire issue setting up what had already been set up in the solicit. A few negatives were exected – the 5 members of the team were bound to be really generic character types. But the story itself was really generic to boot, and until the last couple of pages, there wasn’t really anything of substance. This title was basic fun, and if we already didn’t have a Jay Faerber book pretty solidly safe on the list, it might be worth keeping. But unfortunately, with a limited budget, you have to spread it around a little. Sadly, this one has to go.

Status: DROPPED

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Spider-man Loves Mary Jane #16, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/21/07. ON TIME. Oiy talk about cheese! OK, so this was the “romance issue.” And of course, when your lead characters are high school students, there is all kinds of angst and discomfort to go along with it. And hormones – McKeever did a pretty good job with the banter between Flash and Harry I think. This title isn’t for everyone, but the story is interesting (if a bit soapy) and well-written, and really helps to break up the monotony and seriousness of the list. For another month, this one is safe.

Status: SAFE

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Sam Noir: Ronin Holiday #2. $2.99, Image Comics. Due out 03/07/07. RELEASED 03/14/07. Sam Noir: Ronin Holiday #3. $2.99, Image Comics. Due out in April. RELEASED 03/28/07. Wow, here was a surprise. After issue #2 was released a week late, issue #3 came out early, just two weeks later. Fortunately we weren’t faced with a budgeting crisis, as we had almost $4 in the bank, and Blade of the Immortal #123 still hasn’t come out. Much like the first issue, the art was a little heavy for the material, but the final two issues of this series were an outstanding read. And the Haiku recap page? Outstanding. They definitely left things open for a third series here – that is definitely one we will be looking for when it arrives.

Status: MINI SERIES – COMPLETE

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The Helmet of Fate: Zauriel #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 03/07/07. ON TIME. The final Helmet of Fate one-shot, and it looks like we got a clean sweep of good reads. The story on this issue was actually a little weak, but the character was great. If anything, this “series” made me long for a good DC anthology book all the more. These minor characters might not be good subjects for books of their own, but having somewhere where a writer can occasionally tell a story that features them – that would go a long way towards keeping these characters alive. An occasional Zauriel back-up story would be a great bonus. The lead up was interesting – looks like it might be time to see what the Doctor Fate ongoing has to offer.

Status: ONE SHOT

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Jonah Hex #17, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 03/07/07. ON TIME. This one was surprisingly enjoyable. Not that Palmiotti and Grey have ever been a let down on this title, but the idea of a “Jonah Hex-ette” isn’t exactly something that sounds like the best, most creative idea in the world. They made it work though, and now the trouble is – what happens to Tallulah? Are we going to get a mini? Man, once again, the pain at not having decent anthology books is keenly felt! It is probably going to take cancellation or a total creative-team switch for this book to get knocked off the list at this point. Hope you like Westerns.

Status: SAFE

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LATE OR UNRELEASED PULL LIST ISSUES

All Star Superman #7, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 04/11/07.
Rex Libris #9, $2.95, Slave Labor. Due out in May.
Blade of the Immortal #123, $2.99, Dark Horse.. Due Out 03/14/07 – LATE

As you can see, Blade of the Immortal #123 remains unreleased. The Dark Horse site reports it as released, as do several online sites, but it is nowhere to be found, and all the LCSs in this area report it as late. Issue #124 is due out in 2 weeks, so we are already looking at a back-up for this book. While it would be interesting to see how a late book would play out in this little experiment, I would hate for it to happen right after picking a title up. For now we budget – and wait.

-=APRIL PULL LIST:=-
Titles carrying over:

Silent War #4, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 04/25/07.
The Brave and the Bold #3, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 04/18/07.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #2, $2.99, Dark Horse. Due out 04/04/07.
Blade of the Immortal #123, $2.99, Dark Horse. Due out 03/14/07 LATE.
Blade of the Immortal #124, $2.99, Dark Horse. Due out 04/11/07.
Wyrms #3, $2.99, Marvel/Dabel Brothers. Due out 04/18/07.
Hellblazer #231, $2.99, DC Comics/Vertigo. Due out 04/18/07.
Noble Causes #29, $3.50, Image Comics. Due out 04/18/07.
Spider-man Loves Mary Jane #17, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 04/11/07
Jonah Hex #18, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 04/04/07.
All Star Superman #7, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 04/11/07.

New Titles:

Doctor Fate #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 04/18/07. The Five Helmet of Fate one-shots were all quite good, so it only makes sense to see what happens next. This is a great time for a new #1 to boot – DC finally stopped releasing several a month, and now the import of a #1 is starting to return. Hope this one is at least as good as the one-shots ended up being.

Nova #1, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 04/11/07. Who didn’t see this one coming a mile away? Annihilation was the surprise event of the year, and the best in recent memory (even beating out the much hailed Infinite Crisis for some readers) – it is entirely likely that Marvel didn’t expect fans to react to it like they did. And the best news? The Human Rocket is finally big-time. Nova ongoings have never traditionally done well – hopefully this one will fare better than at least the last two did. It is already off to a much better start. Should be good to see him wipe the smirk of Tony Stark’s face…

TOTAL: $39.38

Budget = $40.00 + $3.88 (Banked) + $3.22 (LATE books) – $3.22 (Early books) = $43.88

$43.88 (Budget) – $39.38 (New Books) – $3.05 (tax) = $1.45 banked for May

No complaints about the math this month, so I kept it the same. Hopefully it is still easy to follow.

Cutting the budget much tighter this month! For those who are reading this just to see the list evolve and develop, in May we may be faced with an interesting situation. We have no more minis and one-shots on the list, and it is finally stabilized to the point where we aren’t necessarily expecting dropped titles. Assuming Nova and Doctor Fate satisfy, Blade of the Immortal gets caught up, and the rest of the books don’t totally take a quality nose-dive, the list will be under-budget by a mere $2.24. If you will recall, it is required that at least one new title be sampled each and every month. So it is entirely possible that at least one otherwise good book will need to be sacrificed in order to make room.

Should that eventuality come to pass – which book do you think should be dropped from this list, and why?

This month’s contest? How about trivia! Since the hot item of last month was Buffy, how about a Buffy Question!

- In the episode “Hush,” what is the only thing that can defeat “The Gentlemen?”

The first three people to email or PM me with the correct answer will receive one of the titles from the April Pull-List. If you post the correct answer in the thread, however, you will be forever banned from the contest, and Brandon will steal your pants. Be warned!

As always, I have made a list to print out a list to take with you to the store: Here you go! Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view the file – I am sure most of you have that though. If not, you can download the latest version for free at Adobe.com.

Thanks for reading – see you next month!

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