Poyo's Picks for Oct, 4th 2017

NYCC is upon us. Come and find me if you can, probably hanging with Anthony for the most part. What? People give him free stuff, I like free stuff. 🙂
This week is a pretty good week I think for comics, lots of pulls and readers, lots of potential specs as well. We can spec all we want but we truly never know until the books hit the stands. What we thought could be a good spec could turn dud while the one we thought was going to be a reader copy turns out to be the book everyone wants.

DC/Vertigo
Batman #32 (DC) – We might get some answers in this book. If she says yes, it’s going to be a winner for the most part. It will probably make headlines not just on comic sites. If she says no, life will move on as usual. Anthony got us some spoilers ahead of time so we can be prepared come Wednesday.
Marvel
Darth Vader #6 (Marvel) – Meet the INQUISITORIUS! I do believe this character(s) are from Star Wars Rebels story lines but I think this might be the first appearance in comic form. I might be wrong though as I couldn’t find anything worthy of comic related appearance, so please do correct me someone. Nevertheless, could be a good spec play if it is the first appearance in comics. With Star Wars being owned by Disney and likely more and more spin off movies and shows, can’t go wrong with a good Star Wars book that could introduce characters. And unless Vader kills him off, if they stick around, could be a long term pick. Gamble some, pick up an extra copy, I know I am.
My honorable mention is Punisher Platoon #1, written by Garth Ennis. Being an Ennis fan, just sweetens the deal being a Punisher fan as well. I don’t expect this to heat up or anything, I’m picking up for some great Punisher story and art. Chip Zdarsky has a hilarious variant for this book as well, how to draw cover.
Small Publisher
Slots #1 (Image) – I love a good crime drama story. A definite check out and it could be a spec book as well, as most Image books can start out strong.
Also noteworthy, Walking Dead #172 is out. From the description we might not get more of this new character they call the Princess but you can’t go wrong with a WD book, show is still a hit with viewers, people seek out the books when the show catches up in the storyline. It’d be a great story if Carl just slipped right off that roof, breaks his neck and turns into a zombie. That’s what I’d do if I was Kirkman, just totally throw everyone off with a surprise major character death and rebirth as a zombie.
Indie Pick
Weed Magic #1(Bliss on Tap) – Anthony picked this one in his spec but I had this one on my list as well. Already sold out online for the most part (where available). It’s gonna be a ghost for most people. And you know what that means, if there’s demand for something that’s hard to find, that equals a potential great flip.
Seems there are two other this week as well on my list and those are Last Hunt #2 and #3, hitting stands at the same time from Amigo comics. At least according to Midtown they are and they’re already sold out as well. I still need to read #1 (which was hard enough to find in my area) so #2 and #3 might be just as hard to come by, we all know most shops order less of #2 and #3 before more readers start pushing more orders through demand.
Those are some great picks right? Well, Shawn B. will come back in a year and rip them apart more than likely so enjoy them while they last. Now we move on to the best part of my picks, the non picks, the avoid if you can books. Yes, what ever publisher, writer and artist has nightmares about, some comic book nerd telling the masses to not buy their stuff. So here they are, in all their glory.
So, I love Batman but has anyone noticed that Shadow Batman #1 from Dynamite has 16 covers? Yeah, 16 covers available at Midtown. Dynamite has 4 titles coming out this week. They got 1 book with 5 covers, another with 2 covers and then the last one with 3 covers. Frison fans will go after the Hack Slash cover. Francavilla fans will go for the Centipede cover but I’m gonna tell everyone to pick their favorite Batman Shadow cover and stay at 1 cover or you’re just throwing your money away. And by all means, do not pay over cover for the other higher ratio variants they have. Patience will land you one if you really like the art and artist later on the secondary market where you’ll likely get the better deal.
My other avoid this week goes out to Archies #1. Pick it up if you actually enjoy reading Archie and the gang but do not pick this up thinking it will ever be valuable one day.
That’s all folks.. See you all in NYCC if you’re attending