DARK HORSE COMICS
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Page 40 – The Amazon #1, $3.50, 32 Pages
Written by Steven T. Seagle, Art by Tim Sale and Matt Hollingsworth

Reprints of old titles don’t often sell great, and aren’t usually something to recommend. Something like this, however, is a different matter entirely. The Amazon was originally published in 1989 by the now defunct Comico company, and was created by Steven T. Seagle (American Virgin, It’s a Bird) and Tim Sale. This is being called a “remastered” edition, with new scans from the original art, and new coloring from Matt Hollingsworth – considering the general quality of books in the late 80s (especially indie books), this was a smart move on the part of Dark Horse. If you are a particular fan of either of these creators, and haven’t read The Amazon, this is a great chance to see some of their early efforts.

Page 56 – The Goon #32, $3.99, 48 Pages
By Eric Powell, Colors by Dave Stewart

It might seem strange that it would take ten years to release a mere 32 issues, but this series has seen two major hiatuses. The first occurred early on, and lasted until Powell took the title to Dark Horse in 2003 (unhappy with Avatar), and the second occurred after issue #18, and lasted until July of 2007. It has been fairly regular since then.

Despite the decidedly unprolific nature of this book, it is one of Dark Horse’s best books, and one of those that you just have to try at least once. A tenth anniversary issue seems to be a very good place to start. As with most anniversary books, this one is chock full of extras – featuring some sketches from some guest artists (including Mike Mignola), in addition to the full-size story. Goon fans are going to pick this up either way, but it is a title of note, and those of you who haven’t sampled this one yet should consider giving it a shot this month. It didn’t win an Eisner for no reason, after all…

DC COMICS
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Page 25 – Blackest Night #0, FREE, 32 Pages (Free Comic Book Day, May ‘09)
Written by Geoff Johns, Art by Ivan Reis and Ethan Van Sciver

I don’t often mention the Free Comic Book Day solicitations here, but this one is definitely worth mentioning. It is still five months out, but it is a brilliant move on the part of DC to release something like this on Free Comic Book Day. Marvel has been ahead of the curve the last couple days in their FCBD outings, making DC’s route reprints look a little more than silly. Finally DC has decided to take advantage of the outstanding marketing opportunity Free Comic Book Day presents, and will be putting out this issue to promote the upcoming Blackest Night event. Of course, there won’t be any real new material here – Marvel still has the edge on them there, but it will be an outstanding recap of the Sinestro Corps War and beyond, complete with some informative tidbits about each of the power colors and their role in the upcoming conflict. A “Saga”-style issue is far better than a reprint, and DC should be applauded for taking this step in the right direction.

Page 75 – Batman: The Battle For the Cowl #1, $3.99, 40 Pages
Written by Tony Daniel, Art by Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea

The near-future of Batman begins here, as the much touted “Battle for the Cowl” gets started in March. Perhaps this is looking too much into a simple cover, but it looks like DC is telegraphing that it will indeed be Dick Grayson, if anyone, who takes over for Batman. The list of possible “candidates” seems to grow and grow, but unless they want a fan revolt, it seems pretty clear that fans will only accept a former Robin as Batman, and that leaves 3. On this cover, Jason Todd is nowhere to be seen, Tim Drake is hiding in a corner looking like a tiny little kid, and Dick Grayson is standing tall, proud, and defiant – front and center. Sure, it could be a bait and switch, but way to kill the mystery early on, eh?

Not that Dick isn’t a good choice mind you. Most people don’t believe that Bruce Wayne is gone for good – especially with Warner’s interest in Batman’s marketability. Still, many have wondered what it would be like for one of Bruce’s heir-apparent to take up the mantle, and if anything this event is enormous fan service. And in a sense it is a great move. Assuming Bruce Wayne will eventually be back, it is a chance for readers to have their cake and eat it too. Should be fun.

Page 77 – Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead? #1, $2.99, 32 Pages
Written by Fabian Nicieza, Art by Various

As you might imagine, DC is going to throw a ton of this “Battle for the Cowl” stuff at us over the next couple months. Outside the completists who will pick up everything, most readers will have to pick and choose what is really worth it, and what is fluff. This one seems to be a good candidate for “something good.” Nicieza is an outstanding writer, and I doubt he would phone this one in. This issue is going to take a look at Gotham and some key people in Bruce Wayne’s life in the wake of his disappearance, and how they have been affected by his loss. It seems that there are “Various” artists assigned to this issue, which makes me think that we are going to get a series of shorts. That’s a good way to handle this subject matter. This should be a decent issue.

Page 79 – Oracle #1, $2.99, 32 Pages
Written by Kevin VanHook, Art by Don Kramer and Jay Leisten

There was talk of an Oracle series when Birds of Prey was first cancelled – it would seem that this is it. Instead of an ongoing, this one is a three issue mini – it is unlikely that we will see a new ongoing to replace any of the Bat-titles until the Battle for the Cowl wraps up. Hints of the plot of this mini were seen recently in Teen Titans, as Wendy’s father is revealed to be The Calculator, a recent antagonist of Barbara’s. This series will find him on the hunt for the remnants of the Anti-Life Equation, which he believes will help save his daughter’s life. It isn’t Gail Simone or Tony Bedard, but this should at the very least provide a fix until a new ongoing gets going.

Page 83 – Action Comics #875, $2.99, 32 Pages
Written by Greg Rucka, Art by Eddy Barrows and Ruy José

Hrm – both Batman and Superman missing. Add Wonder Woman to that mix, and you have a 52-type situation. Final Crisis hasn’t been anywhere near as good as Infinite Crisis is, but the aftermath has the potential to be far better than 52 ended up being. With Superman gone, Action Comics and Superman have shifted focus to a few allies – Superman featuring Mon-El and the Guardian, and this title, the new Nightwing and Flamebird. Of the two, this one likely has the most potential. The Guardian is a great character, but these two have attracted considerable interest from fans. New Krypton has been one heck of a story- it isn’t a stretch to suggest that this has been the best the Superman family titles have been in a long time. At least in terms of long-term consistency.

Page 84 – Superman: World of New Krypton #1, $2.99, 32 Pages
Written by Andrew Kreisberg, Art by Pete Woods

Unlike Batman, Superman will still be around, after a fashion. This 12 part series finds Superman in New Krypton. No idea if Superman will be missing from his regular titles for an entire year or not, but this will be one more series for Superman fans to pick up this year. Not sure how Kreisberg will handle a full blown Superman story – Robinson and Rucka’s credentials on the character are unquestioned at this point, but Kreisburg really only has a few television credits, Batman Confidential and Green Arrow/Black Canary to his name. This is certainly a huge step-up from that. Time will tell on this series.

Page 93 – Solomon Grundy #1, $2.99, 32 Pages
By Scott Kolins

Of course, he has worked with some outstanding writers of late, but Scott Kolins is generally more well known for his art than his story skills. Both will be on display in this seven issue series about the Monday-born Solomon Grundy. Each of the seven issues are supposed to represent a day of the week, and will loosely follow the old nursery rhyme. I suppose that means this issue will feature his “birth.” The character hasn’t really hotten this kind of treatment in a very long time – most of his appearances have just been that of the typical brutish antagonist and nothing more than a generic villain. It will be nice to finally see some of his real back story come into play.

Page 94 – Strange Adventures #1, $3.99, 40 Pages
Written by Jim Starlin, Art by Manuel Garcia and Al Milgrom

Any time Jim Starlin pens a far-flung cosmic superhero adventure, it is work checking out. There are few writers that handle that kind of story as well as he does. This series will be an 8 issue mini, and will feature Adam Strange (of course), Comet, Bizarro, and several other interesting characters. Recent similar minis have been hit or miss, but Starlin deserves a chance here. Handled properly, this could be a fun diversion from the upcoming summer events.

IMAGE COMICS
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Page 154 – Invincible #60, $3.99, 40 Pages
Written by Robert Kirkman, Art by Ryan Ottley and FCO Plascencia

OK, this one is a giant issue – a 60th issue crossover spectacular, I suppose, featuring a bunch of Image mainstays inclusing PITT, Dragon, Shadowhawk, Witchblade, and even Ultra (it will be nice to see her once again – the Lunas really need to do a sequel). Should be a lot of fun – still a solid book, and a mega fight like this should be exciting.

The first issue of 2009 is set to come out in just under a week – The Walking Dead #57. Let the vigil begin in earnest!

Solicited Robert Kirkman Issues for 2009
The Walking Dead #57, January 7th
Invincible #58, January 14th
The Astounding Wolf-Man #12, January 21st
Brit #12, January 28th
The Walking Dead #58, February 11th
Invincible #59, February 18th
The Astounding Wolf-Man #13, February 25th
The Walking Dead #59, March 11th
Invincible #60, March 18th
The Astounding Wolf-Man #14, March 25th

Page 180 – Black Vault #1, $2.99, 32 Pages
Written by B. Clay Moore, Art by Nelson Blake II

Space has become so boring these days – at least in terms of pop culture. The romance has left, and so has the horror. Just one big reason a title like this makes me smile – a space story that doesn’t have to do with an alien invasion of Earth necessarily – just a story of helpless astronauts in the void of space, with so little to work with, having to deal with a threat – any threat. It’s a kind of sci-fi you don’t see too much of anymore. If course, given the somewhat realistic description, it might not really be actual sci-fi (being in space alone doesn’t make something sci-fi, just space fiction), but that is really beside the point. It looks like an interesting series, and a full color, full-size book from Image at $2.99 is an even bigger reason to check it out.

MARVEL COMICS
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Page M26 – Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #1, $2.99, 32 Pages
Written by Jonathan Hickman, Art by Sean Chen

One of many “Dark Reign” minis, this one a five parter that finds the Baxter Building under assault by Norman Osborne’s HAMMER Agents. Yeah – I kind of fear that card being played a little too often. Naturally the point is to see how bad things could be if a villain gained control like this, but for the sake of believability, you would think they would have to have him show at least a little restraint. Of course, there is probably more to this story than the solicit would make it seem. Outside Osborne, it appears that this series will have a lot of Fantastic Four mainstays – could turn out to be a solid run-of-the-mill first family story.

Page M27 – New Avengers: The Reunion #1, $3.99, 32 Pages
Written by Jim McCann, Art by David Lopez

It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if we didn’t start seeing many of these type of titles in the near future – this four issue mini focuses on the return of Mockingbird, one of the many who were captured and replaced by Skrulls over the course of the last couple events. Hawkeye (well, Ronin) is supposed to serve a fairly major role in this mini as well, so that should be some added appeal for those of you who are fans of that character. The Marvel universe is a little messy after Secret Invasion, but that does sometimes lend itself to some good stories. This could be one of them.

Page M28 – Deadpool #8, $2.99, 32 Pages
Written by Daniel Way, Art by Paco Medina

This issue starts a four issue crossover with Thunderbolts, in which Wade decides he is going to take out Norman Osborne all on his own. You know, this could be interesting. There was a time that many thought Deadpool would be a good addition to the Thunderbolts team (back when he was without his own ongoing), and this crossover should provide some interesting interaction. While Way is doing a passable job on this title, this very crossover introduces a very interesting possibility – an Andy Diggle penned Deadpool. He is writing the Thunderbolts portions of this event – I wonder how he will handle Wade? Definitely an intriguing idea…

Page M38 – Avengers: The Initiative Featuring Reptil #1, $3.99, 48 Pages
Written by Christos N. Gage, Art by Steve Uy

Well then, this is a little odd, but Gage deserves the benefit of the doubt here. This title is outstanding, and there is little reason to believe that it won’t continue to be that way. Seems like this might be a one-shot, but we will see. Anything that gets Prodigy a little more face time has to be good, doesn’t it? No idea who this Reptil is supposed to be – or if he will even be around after this issue, but with this title you can never really tell. This title is too good to die, so hopefully they aren’t trying anything too wacky here…

Page M39 – Amazing Spider-Girl #30, $3.99, 40 Pages
Written by Tom DeFalco, Art by Ron Frenz

Final issue! No, really this time! It actually looks like it is going to end this time. Rumor has it that Spider-Girl will instead become a regular feature in the new Amazing Spider-Man Family title – really not a terrible marketing move, Spider-Girl has a built in very loyal fanbase that will help that title succeed – so she really isn’t going anywhere. Sure, it is sad to see her own ongoing finally come to an end, but it has gotten to the point where it would be tough to get rid of MC2 all together – anytime a character lasts ten years in publication, it is safe to assume that she won’t be slipping into obscurity anytime soon. Of course, the cancellation of the longest running Marvel book (if you count Spider-Girl and Amazing Spider-Girl as one title, as they should be) featuring a female lead makes this issue a little more important, but that isn’t something that gets talked about too often.

Spider-Girl has definitely had her ups and downs over the years, but one thing is indisputable – DeFalco and Frenz really managed to capture an old-school Spider-Man feel with this book that was missing for a very long time, and made this book at several points during its run the best “Spider-Man”-type title on the shelves. Ultimate Spider-Man really got Peter Parker back to his roots, but in a more modern way – somehow DeFalco did a better job of capturing the old-feel that Spider-Man used to have, and I really appreciated that. Even at its worst this title was fun and something I looked forward to reading, and that is something very few titles can say – especially over this long period of time. Spider-Girl was just launching soon after I got back into comics again, and seeing it finally die is sad on a lot of levels. Hopefully she has a nice long run in Amazing Spider-Man Family, because Marvel just wouldn’t be the same without Mayday Parker in print somewhere.

Page M52 – Marvel Apes: Speedball Special, $3.99, 48 Pages
Written by Karl Kesel, Art by Ramon Bachs

Well, Marvel did promise that Speedball would be returning to the Marvel Universe, but in simian form – looks like that promise has been kept. This one-shot follows up on the Marvel Apes series, and explores what happens with this alternate Speedball now that he has crossed over to the regular Marvel Universe. It really is nearly impossible to find a reason to be excited about this – sure, having some kind of Speedball is nice, but Marvel Apes really didn’t have much lasting appeal, and bringing a beloved character back as a monkey isn’t going to make Speedball fans all that happy, especially with Penance still running around. It will be tough to really sell this story – hopefully Kesel is up to the task.

Page M58 – War of Kings #1, $3.99, 32 Pages
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Art by Paul Pelletier

The latest cosmic Marvel event begins in earnest this month, with the first of 6 issues. War of Kings might end up being an example of going to the well too many times – on the surface it doesn’t have the same appeal as either Annihilation event, but DnA hasn’t had a dud yet, so this series more than deserves a chance. The different character mix should liven things up a big, and the inclusion of Darkhawk and the Shi’ar will attract a few more fans. Marvel’s cosmic universe has remained consistently excellent since Abnett & Lanning turned things around – it seems a safe bet that this will be a good read as well.

Page M66 – Deadpool: Games of Death. $3.99, 48 Pages
Written by Mike Benson, Art by Sean Crystal

Wow – an actual Deadpool one-shot? In addition to the ongoing? They are releasing a bunch of Deadpool stuff this month, including a hardcover and several scattershot appearances. Of course, the reason for this almost certainly has to do with Deadpool’s role in the upcoming Wolverine movie. This has got to be an exciting time for Deadpool fans (and myself as well, being the biggest Deadpool fanboy I know) – it wasn’t that long ago that the idea of a Deadpool movie was little more than a dream, and a major role in a Wolverine film is close enough for most. Fantastic to see Wade getting this kind of exposure – these are good times indeed for Wade Wilson fans. Hopefully it keeps coming throughout the summer.

INDEPENDENT COMICS
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Page 239 – Incredibles #1, $2.99, 24 Pages, BOOM! Studios
Written by Mark Waid, Art by Marcio Takara

OK – this kind of thing would normally scare me. But Mark Waid writing it – and it is completely new story – and only $2.99 to boot? Sure, it is only 24 pages, but of anything to nitpick about, that is relatively minor. If ever there was a Disney property that demanded a comic book, it is The Incredibles. It is only a shame that it took this long to get there. Heck, this even has an “incentive cover” by Mike Mignola. Generally multiple covers are a bad thing, but that just seems cool. Seems like all the elements are in place for a really fun comic. Pray that Boom! Pulls this one off!

Page 241 – Farscape: Strange Detractors #1, $3.99, 24 Pages, BOOM! Studios
Written by Rockne S. O’Bannon, and Keith R.A. DeCandido, Art by Will Sliney

Boy – Boom! is really on the ball with this Farscape series. The first issue just came out, and in March’s solicits the hardcover for the first 4 issue mini is listed, as well as this issue, the first of the second mini. On the whole, I have to say that the first issue of the current series was very good. The characters sounded as they should in my head, the dynamic was spot on – and the art wasn’t terrible. Not a bad start at all. The only downer is the price point – $4 for only 24 pages. However, with a smaller publisher, sometimes that is a necessary evil. Better a good 24 pages for a little more than a horrible 32 for a little less. It’s worth the cost, especially if you are a Farscape fan.

Craig’s Top Five of the Month

#5 – Deadpool #8, $2.99, 32 Pages, Marvel – Lot’s of interesting possibilities in this crossover – a great time for Deadpool fans.

#4 – Incredibles #1, $2.99, 24 Pages, BOOM! Studios – This comic should have come out years ago.

#3 – Batman: The Battle For the Cowl #1, $3.99, 40 Pages, DC Comics – DC’s been building this one for a long while. Curious to see how it turns out.

#2 – War of Kings #1, $3.99, 32 Pages, Marvel – Another cosmic event from Abnett and Lanning – should be excellent.

#1 – Amazing Spider-Girl #30, $3.99, 40 Pages, Marvel – Might seem strange to put this at 31, but the honest-to-goodness end of Spider-Girl is very much worth commemorating.

The opinions in this article are the writer’s alone, and no not necessarily reflect the views of X-World Comics or comiXtreme.com.

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