Welcome to this weeks spec and drek. This is where we pick the winners each week we (or shall I say myself) think will be spec worthy, a great read or just cool looking art on the cover. I also dive into the pesky drek, the book you should probably avoid if you can or perhaps not invest so heavily into.
Marvel Picks
Alien #2 (2nd Ptg) is just an awesome cover for this second printing.
Iron Fist Heart of the Dragon #6 ends this mini-series. Saw some love with a new Iron Fist in issue #5 so it’ll be interesting to see where Marvel takes this character and title next.
Savage Avengers #21 has an awesome regular cover. This is a title I’ve been intending to read but just haven’t had the time to fit it in. I’ve been enjoying the covers though and as a Ghost Rider fan, this one is pickup for me.
Star Wars War of the Bounty Hunters #1 officially kicks off this Star Wars event. Lots of covers for this one:
Star Wars War of the Bounty Hunters #1 (of 5)
Star Wars War of the Bounty Hunters #1 (of 5) (Yu Variant)
Star Wars War of the Bounty Hunters #1 (of 5) (Pichelli Variant)
Star Wars War of the Bounty Hunters #1 (of 5) (Camuncoli Wraparound Variant)
Star Wars War of the Bounty Hunters #1 (of 5) (Tarr Pride Variant)
Star Wars War of the Bounty Hunters #1 (of 5) (JTC Action Figure Variant)
Star Wars War of the Bounty Hunters #1 (of 5) (Trading Card Variant)
For all you Moon Knight fans out there, I highly suggest this new printing of Moon Knight Epic Collection TPB Bad Moon Rising.
DC Picks
The book there will be a bazillion of with all the exclusives out there but you’re still gonna buy it to check it out.
Nice House On The Lake #1 is a new DC Black Label title from Tynion.
Nice House on the Lake #1 (of 12) (Cover B – Martin Simmonds)
Nice House on the Lake #1 (of 12) (Francavilla TFAW Exclusive Variant) (Still available at TFAW is their very own Francavilla Exclusive).
Getting a new volume or shall I say, new Season with Batman the Adventures Continue Season II #1 (Cover A – Riley Rossmo). There’s also the Maclean Cover B – Card Stock Variant and the Team Cover – Kamome Shirahama Card Stock Variant which I really like as a Kamome Shirahama fan after her Wonder Woman #63 cover a while back.
DC Horror The Conjuring: The Lover #1 is a tie-in to the movie. Could be worthy of a check out for you horror fans out there. There is also a pretty cool VHS Ryan Browne variant. TFAW is already sold out (unless you want to take your chances buying the Dynamic Force editions), Midtown has some but I expect a lot of shops might not have gone too heavy on these.
Only got good things to say about this Swamp Thing #4 (of 10) title. A must for any Swamp Thing fan. This is one of the few titles that has been hard to find the back issues on at my own local shop. The covers have been top notch as well I think.
Swamp Thing #4 (of 10) (Cover B – Gerardo Zaffino Card Stock Variant)
Indie and Small Publisher Picks
The Worst Dudes #1 sounds great.
The book so dirty it’ll turn your other comics yellow! A dirty cop, a drugged-up back-up dancer, and an angsty adolescent god; the absolute worst dudes in the galaxy are on a raunch-filled hunt for a missing pop star.
The great new series Nocterra #4 continues. I didn’t expect to still be on the wagon this many issues in but here we are.
There’s also the Frison B Variant and a pretty cool Daniel C Variant as well for this one.
Basilisk #1 is yet another Cullen Bunn book. Of course we should pick it up to read. There’s also a pretty cool Ward Variant B as well.
Black Jack Demon #1 is a book I mentioned and put on my own list a few months back. True indie book, already sold out at most online retailers who already listed them for sale. This one might be a ghost as a lot of shops don’t even bother with the less known publishers out there.
Another super small publisher making their way into this big bad world of comics comes Blood Skull and Chrome #1. I really like the biker gang stories so this one is a must check out for me.
This one started off with a kickstarter as well.
The title I’ve been really anticipating is Out of Body #1. Peter Milligan writes and we get art from one of the Miranda brothers, who’s latest hit We Live has taken off in popularity.
Other notables this week for the smaller guys/gals is Tankers #2 from Bad Idea. I thought the first issue was rather fun. Predictable but still fun.
Proctor Valley Road #1 has a second printing that has a pretty cool cover as well. We’ve seen some past BOOM! additional prints for current titles go for some mad cash months down the line, so might not be a bad gamble snagging at cover price now.
Now on with the dreaded “drek” pick, every writer and artists worst nightmare when it comes to selling their hard work.
The book(s) to avoid or not fall victim to in buying at inflated prices, whether it’s false demand, pump and dump or out of FOMO.
Why do they keep putting his work on covers? I never seem to recall anyone saying they’re rushing out to get that Liefeld cover for any of the titles he does.
I’ve heard all kinds of good things about Savage Avengers but for some reason, Marvel Unlimited only has issue 15 on it with 16 “coming soon”. I’ve been waiting for that series for a year. What gives?