Happy Halloween, CHU Nation! But before the little goblins are running around the neighborhood in the dark scarfing down candy, let’s run through this week’s FOC list. Once again, Foil variants, and even facsimiles, are ghosts this week (I still say NYCC created a shortage of foil materials). But that’s not all this list is about. There are still some pretty nice covers and maybe even a potential first appearance here or there to talk about.
Judge These Books by Their Cover
Alpha Flight #5 (of 5) (Peach Momoko Variant)
Most Peach covers I feel are “meh”, but sometimes she hits a home run. I feel like this is one of those. Very elegant, snowy cover. Dirty D’s Cover-of-the-Week.
Batman Off-World #1 (of 6) (Cover B – Lesley Leirix Li Variant)
I’m not up on my Titans characters, but I believe this is Starfire? What I do know is this would have made a GREAT foil…I mean, it practically looks like a foil cover as it is.
Batman Off-World #1 (of 6) (LCSD 2023 Variant)
Same book as above, but a Local Comic Shop Day variant. It looks to be Cover A, but a virgin variant? Either way, solicitation promises Batman will be “confronted with a sort of foe he’s never faced before–one from beyond the stars! ” So possible first appearance of an antangonist or something.
Harley Quinn Black White Redder #5 (Cover B – Warren Louw Variant)
This cover will be on a lot of people’s list.
Subsequent Printings
Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #1 (2nd Ptg)
No real “spec” “here. Just a cool wrap around cover that may be under-ordered most places, as it’s a second print of a web-comic. The best part of the cover unfortunately will be wrapped around the spine.
2nd Print of a low print book. There was some buzz when this series first started, and it’s only 3 issues. Might be worth grabbing a copy.
Possible Firsts
Green Lantern War Journal #3 (Cover A – Montos)
Who is the powerful young Green Lantern from within the Multiverse, Lantern Shepherd?
Possible new Lantern?
WHO WILL BE THE NEW SENTRY? The Sentry is dead, but ordinary people all over the world are suddenly manifesting his powers and experiencing snippets of Bob Reynolds’ memories. Will one of them survive long enough to emerge as the new Sentry? Or will their newfound power destroy them?
I wasn’t going to talk to this book originally, and even considered it as a Drek of the week. I don’t get the hype around Sentry, and it seems like the MCU isn’t in a big hurry to put him front and center either…so what kinda of spec is another one lower in the pecking order really going to muster? Not much for a while.
However…I think the solicitation makes for an interesting plot. So this is more of a read book than a first character spec. And Cover A is pretty sweet, which features several “variants” of Sentry coming at you. If it’s the girl front and center, could be a hit early on.
Dirty D’s Pick-of-the-Week
ENTER: DOOM’S X-MEN!
With the X-Men at their lowest point, yet another group has moved to claim their title…patriotic Latverian mutants loyal only to the great and terrible Doctor Doom! Beloved and celebrated by the nation they are bound to protect, this is one squad of X-Men for whom the Fall of X has given way to glorious summer.
Going to go out on a limb here. Maybe it’ll just be existing x-men teamed together. Nothing is offered up in issue 28 solicitation, and we won’t know if there’s a cameo of what’s to come until Wednesday. And the cover of issue 30 looks like the X-Pets are coming (animals with mutant powers?). I don’t think that’s what Dr. D is putting together.
So yeah…may be a complete bust here…But you can’t hit it over the fence without taking a big cut here and there. X-men is ordered plentiful so you can probably wait until at least Wednesday to know whether to get excited.
Dirty D’s Drek-of-the-Week
This was cool when it was just a Wolverine, Punisher and Ghost Rider thing…but I think Marvel must’ve gotten some bad intel here…Because it seems like they’re dropping foil variants for these “insignia” variants.
These would be really cool…except they put the damn bar code at the bottom left. And the only other option is a 1-100 variant (if it’s offered). Oh, and good luck getting these black covers without being riddled with spine ticks up and down with Marvel’s $hi++y cover paper quality. BOOO!!! (and that’s not the scary kind of boo, mind you).
Stop it, Marvel. You’re embarrassing yourself.
Parting Words
On that note, have a great week. If you’re going trick or treating be safe out there!