Each week hundreds of new comics hit the stands, each with potential. Some live up to that potential. Here are our picks of the week for delivery 6/29/16:
Returning Favorites
4 Kids Walk Into A Bank 2 – This Black Mask book had a strong start. Hasn’t done the numbers that We Can Never Go Home did a few weeks out of the first issue, but still popular. The cover on this issue is fantastic and looks like a box from a 1980’s TSR game.
Black Hood 11 – Proof that Archie can do things other than teen comics. This Crime Noir superhero book is a great read.
Captain America 2 – Need to see where this goes. Will have a much smaller print run than issue 1. Follow up to the “Hail Hydra” ending of last issue.
Haunted Mansion 4 – One of the best send ups to a classic Disney ride. Fun, all ages read. Joshua Williamson is one of my current favorite writers and this book shows his chops.
One for the conspiracy fans
Cryptocracy 1 – A blend of The X-Files and Marvel’s A.I.M.. Dark Horse puts out great paranormal/shadowy books and this seems to be another one.
For time beyond memory, the Nine Families watched from the shadows, believing themselves shepherds and manipulating whole societies as they saw fit. Nothing happened that they didn’t observe or control. Outsiders knew naught of the Families, much less threatened them. Until now.
One for the Grown-Ups
Ravening 1 – An adult book, or more geared towards adults. Boundless, an imprint of Avatar, puts out small batch books and because of the price could be hard to find. Couple it in with their loyal fan base and this could be a sleeper for a while. People pass over adult books all the time but there is a big market for them. This may not be “Adult” but would rank as “adult”.
Small Press Gems
Indoctrination 1 – Michael Moreci is a great writer. He has had a couple books optioned. Makes sense to me to pick up a book by a writer that is well written and has potential for optioning.
Hillbilly 1 – Goon’s Eric Powell doing what he does best, self-published work. Powell has a huge fan base that go crazy for his work, and his small press stuff is of value.
Jade Street Protection Service 1 – Sailor Moon meets The Breakfast Club, a school for magical girls with the punk rock sensibility of Black Mask. I am sold.
Small Press Pick of the Week
Sweetness 1 – New Z2 series about alien drug addiction, the drug of choice? Sugar! Small print run and quirky, fun book, could be a big score.
The Pick of the Week
Inhumans 11 – Hard to stop a juggernaut. With regular issue copies selling for $15 and the 1:25 variant selling for $170, you cannot pass this one up. Will Mosaic be a lasting character, who knows, but the heat is there currently.
will have to hunt for the sweatness #1 sounds fun
I’ve actually found most of the new Boundless titles campy and hokey good fun. It’s a bunch of gore and T&A with the occasional clever commentary thrown in. Basically this imprint allows Avatar to bring back their older, “Bad Girl-Art,” series while keep the slightly-classier reputation they’ve gained through getting some stellar big-name writers over the years on their titles. “Ember,” was a terrible pilot that didn’t go anywhere, but “Webwitch,” had its moments, and the zero issues for, “Belladonna,” and, “Lookers,” were both good fun. Here’s hoping, “The Ravening,” is zany too.
Webwitch has stories by Tim Vigil so I picked it up plus he has a big following.
I almost bought Lookers which would have been my first Boundless book. I wanted to but the high price and not knowing if it was disguised porn made me pass. I did inquire with my local shop if anyone orders boundless books with them and the answer was a no (of course they offered to get me whatever I wanted from Boundless). . I would have ordered it at $3.99…Yeah, I’m cheap.
Lookers was a weird mixture of fighting-action, a bit of soft-core styled imagery, and some surprisingly smart commentary on the media and the digitalization of sexualization–it brings up the concept of the, “Male Gaze,” which I didn’t learn about until Communication Courses in college.
Sounds like an interesting read.
It actually is. I mean, there is no doubt it is having its cake and eating it too, considering it talks about how people like to ogle women while filling the pages with raunchy artwork, but is it admittedly much more clever than straight-up softcore stuff.
I would have liked to read it. It sounds fun. Just too expensive for my taste to take a chance on a new book I really wasn’t sure of.