Every month I pre-order comics, trades and other related items from Previews magazine. Even though there is information online for just about everything, I still find the Previews catalog to be the simplest way to scan through the different items and to get some inspiration on what I want to buy.
There’s lots of stuff being offered by Diamond this month: Plenty of great stuff and plenty of crap too… So I will try to sort the wheat from the chaff and hopefully point out some good items that you might order or buy from your LCS or Online Retailer. Our taste may differ– so if you buy something and I hate it… Don’t blame me. I did my best to warn you!
The STATUS in the description of each product indicates the likelihood of whether I’m going to order it ranging from Firm Order as the most likely to POS (Piece of Shit)– with everything else being somewhere in between. I’m sure you can figure it out!
To Hell You Ride #1 (of 5)
32 pages
$3.99Status – Trade-Waiting
Additional Notes – Co-written by Lance (Aliens/Millennium) Henriksen and Joseph Maddry, this horror western looks to have an interesting premise. It also has one of my favourite old DC artists, Tom Mandrake— which sells it for me.
Rotten Apple (One-shot)
40 pages
$2.99Status – Firm Order
Additional Notes – The cover caught my attention and the art looks really appealing. The story is a collection of episodes from Dark Horse Presents– which is handy for those of us who don’t regularly buy that title.
Black Beetle Night Shift #0 (One-shot)
32 pages
$2.99Status – Firm Order
Additional Notes – Another collection from the pages of DHP, this has writing and art from Francesco Francavilla. Need I to say any more?
King Conan The Phoenix on the Sword
96 pages
$14.99Status – Recommended
Additional Notes – Timothy Truman and Tom Giorello are THE writer/artist pair that all other modern Conan comics writer/artist pairs need to live up to. Giorello especially has developed into an epic Conan artist– one to rival Barry Windsor-Smith and John Buscema.
The Manara Library Vol 4
224 pages
$59.99Status – Firm Order
Additional Notes – This volume encompasses Manara’s Giuseppe Bergman adventure stories. Simply put, if you love comics, you love Manara… Or at least someday you will.
Justice League #15
32 pages
$2.99Status – POS
Additional Notes – Just look at the cover. Everybody’s so angry! RARRRGHHH!!!!!!!
Wonder Woman #15
32 pages each
$2.99 eachStatus – Firm Order
Additional Notes – Ok, I’m buying this title anyway– but this issue has Wonder Woman vs Orion! How the Nu52 deals with the reintroduction of the New Gods to the DCU could very well affect my view of DC comics in general– so this is a significant issue. Don’t fuck it up, Azzarello!
Human Bomb #1 (of 4)
32 pages
$2.99Status – Trade-Waiting
Additional Notes – Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti writing. Jerry Ordway on art. I am so getting the trade collection of this! It’s just a pity DC doesn’t seem to be promoting this comic at all.
Batman The Night of the Owls HC
360 pages
$29.99Status – POS
Additional Notes – What I want is a hardcover of Snyder and Capullo’s story from Batman 1-12. I don’t give a flying fuck what happens in Batwing, Birds of Prey, Red Hood and the Outlaws or any of the other titles they’ve shoehorned into this thing.
Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer
Artist’s Edition
Please Enquire
140 pagesStatus – Tempted
Additional Notes – This is the second printing of this Artists Edition, but considering these things sell out tout suite– I’m guessing a lot of people missed out the first time around.
Mara #1 (of 6)
32 pages
$2.99Status – Trade-waiting
Additional Notes – Brian Wood is doing a lot of work for different publishers at the moment and thankfully much of it is creator-owned. I have little doubt this will be a quality book.
Blackacre #1
32 pages
$2.99Status – Trade-Waiting
Additional Notes – This is a thriller set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future (is there any future that isn’t post-apocalyptic or dystopian?). The Preview pages for this look excellent.
Change #1 (of 4)
32 pages
$2.99Status – Trade-Waiting
Additional Notes – I loved Ales Kots recent Wild Children one-shot. This time he’s writing a mini-series with art by Morgan Jeske.
The Legend of Luther Strode #1 (of 6)
32 pages
$3.50Status – Trade-Waiting
Additional Notes – The sequel to The Strange Talent of Luther Strode… Do you really need to know more? As Jack Kirby used to say “Don’t ask! Just buy it! “
Siegfried Vol 1 HC
144 pages
$24.95Status – Firm Order
Additional Notes – This is one of the most successful European graphic albums of the last few years and there’s a reason for that. Its bloody beautiful.
Spooks Vol 1 The Fall of Babylon
48 pages
$11.95Status – Cheaper on Amazon
Additional Notes – More Euro-goodness, The Spooks are a band of Victorian Adventurers gathered by Ulysses S. Grant to solve mysterious crimes.
Vampirella Archives Vol 6 HC
392 pages
$49.99Status – Firm Order
Additional Notes – This collection finds the Vampirella magazine hitting a real high quality period in its run– with stories by the likes of Archie Goodwin, Doug Moench, Jose Gonzalez, Luis Bermejo, Esteban Maroto, Jose Ortiz, Paul Neary and others.
The Black Incal Deluxe HC
48 pages
$79.95Status – Severely Tempted
Additional Notes – This is the first book of The Incal by Alexandro Jodorowsky and Moebius. It’s possibly my favourite comic book of all time. Its printed in a 12 inch x 16 inch format– so this will be BEAUTIFUL… But it is SO expensive!
Avengers Arena #1 & #2
32 pages
$2.99Status – POS
Additional Notes – So the cover for this is a “homage” to Battle Royale… In other words, it completely rips the film off. But then the whole book is a rip-off– as even the logo is a rip-off, FFS. I’m disappointed to see Kev Walker be associated with such a piece of hackery.
Kick Ass 2 Prelude – Hit Girl Premiere HC
120 pages
$24.99Status – POS
Additional Notes – Oh John Romita Jr, what has become of you?
Judge Dredd The Garth Ennis Collection
160 pages
$19.99Status – POS
Additional Notes – This book is obviously being put out to capitalise on Garth Ennis being a “name” in the US market. I felt his stories were decidedly meh (although not nearly as awful as Mark Millar’s Dredd work).
Shako GN
96 pages
$17.99Status – Already have it & I love it.
Others may not.Additional Notes – This story of a homicidal polar bear ripping various CIA agents to shreds and eating them is from the very early days of 2000AD– when it hadn’t quite found its feet yet. Writers John Wagner and Pat Mills had their tongues very firmly embedded in their cheeks with this one!
Breathless Homicidal Slime Mutants – The Art of the Paperback SC
304 pages
$7.98Status – Firm Order
Additional Notes – With a title like this, how could I NOT be interested? I love sleazy trash culture anyway– so this should be really good.
The James Bond Archives 4
600 pages
$200.00Status – Tempted
(not much though)Additional Notes – I love the James Bond Series, so this book should be right up my street– but this is 200 fucking dollars! $75, $85 maybe, but $200? No fucking way!
Marvel Kawaii Deadpool and Cable T-Shirt
$18.99 – $20.99Status – POS
Additional Notes – Note to Marvel – Kawaii does NOT mean “big-bobble head”.
Assassins Creed 3 Latex Tomahawk
$49.99Status – POS
Additional Notes – For anyone who actually wants to buy this, you can purchase a REAL hatchet for about $20 in a hardware store. You can then impale it in your fucking head for no cost at all, thus immediately making the human race less stupid!
Doctor Who Tardis
3D Ceramic Teapot
$49.99Status – POS
Additional Notes – If I saw this in someone’s house, I’d walk straight out again.
Evangelion 2.0 Eva-01 Ran Figure
$349.99Status – Tempted
Additional Notes – This is a gorgeous figure but I think the price just started to make my eyes bleed. The Asuka figure is awesome too.
Doctor Who Fourth Doctor Scarf
$27.99 – $54.99Status – Tempted
Additional Notes – Now I know I usually rag on clothing selections in Previews, but you have no idea how hard it is to find a good long scarf– especially in a country as cold and damp as this one.
Star Wars Jedi Hooded Bathrobe
$65.99 – $75.99Status – POS
Additional Notes – This is just a BROWN robe!
Grave of the Fireflies
Blu ray
$29.98Status – Firm order (Cheaper on Amazon)
Additional Notes – This is one of the greatest anime of all time. I used to have it on VHS tape, so it’ll be great to see it on Blu ray.
Masters of the Universe
30th Anniversary DVD Collection
$99.99Status – Tempted
Additional Notes – Ok, I know it was sort of garbage, but I still feel rather nostalgic towards it. I try to only buy Blu ray these days– so I’ll probably give it a miss.
To Hell You Ride #1 (of 5)
Rotten Apple (One-shot)
Black Beetle Night Shift #0 (One-shot)
King Conan The Phoenix on the Sword
The Manara Library
Wonder Woman #15
Human Bomb #1 (of 4
Batman The Night of the Owls HC
Mara #1 (of 6)
Blackacre #1
Change #1 (of 4)
The Legend of Luther Strode #1 (of 6)
Kick Ass 2 Prelude – Hit Girl Premiere HC
Shako GN
The James Bond Archives 4
Evangelion 2.0 Eva-01 Ran Figure
Star Wars Jedi Hooded Bathrobe
Some really good offerings from Dark Horse and Image this month, which makes up for all the crud coming from Marvel and DC. There’s a lack of good new Manga at the moment as well, but hopefully that will improve. Let us know if there’s anything coming up that you think is worth looking at.
