Hello CHU Nation and Comic Book Enthusiasts! August is flying by and soon the kiddies will be back in school, if they are not already. And another FOC is upon us.
Started out the week thinking there wasn’t much to write about, but as the week went on more books kept catching my eye. Mostly potential good reads, or cool covers. I don’t think I’ll be picking up much this week, myself, but there is much temptation out there…so let’s talk about them.
Judge These Book By Their Covers
Superman #6 (Cover F – Costume Acetate Variant)
It’s been a while since we talked acetate covers. Last year around this time acetate was synonymous with “drama.” But DC is thinking these can make a comeback, so its testing the waters with Superman. Personally, I don’t care much for acetates, but at least this one comes with a cover price of $6.99, and that’s not too bad.
Note: Because this is a special cover, this variant is on FOC a week earlier than the other covers for this book (release date is 9/19), so plan accordingly.
Star Wars Darth Vader #38 (Casanovas Droids Connect Variant)
The Gist cover isn’t doing it for me this week (and that is rare), but thankfully we have the cool connecting variants of the droids. Obviously a Dark Droids tie-in as well.
Micronauts #1 (Facsimile Edition Foil Variant)
Normally I’ll have a separate sub-section for facsimiles, but only one stands out this week. I am somewhat baffled by the choices in what gets “facsimilied” sometimes…so many better and more historically significant books that deserve a facsimile, and even some others that already have a facsimile recently should get another shot with a foil variant. But here we are with the Micronauts, a book that you can get a decent reader copy of the original for the price of the foil.
So the foil is the one to get here. Marvel does not give dealers a discount, so it’s best to order these pre-FOC to save a little money.
Note: Release date for this book is 9/27/23. So a few weeks out from the norm for this weeks books.
Batman #137 (Cover D – Rose Besch Variant)
Batman along with most regular DC titles have been on hiatus while Knight Terrors played out. But Batman returns in September with Zdarsky writing again. The A cover is pretty sweet Catwoman cover, but I figured I’d point out this Rose Besch variant. A little bit different than her usual work, almost has a Scottie Young feel to it.
Batman Day 2023 – Batman #608 (Foil Variant) Special Edition
A reprint of Batman 608 2nd Print Jim Lee cover came with the Batman Page Punchers action figures not too long ago. Now it’s coming out foiled for the 10th anniversary of Batman Day!
Lights please….
Batman Day is an annual event organised by DC Entertainment to celebrate and promote Batman. The first Batman Day was July 23, 2014. This was the year of the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Batman in Detective Comics in 1939. The day was chosen to coincide with San Diego Comic-Con. Subsequent Batman Days have been on the third Saturday in September.
And that is what Batman Day is all about, Charlie Brown.
There are a lot of Barends covers that could make this list each week. He is hitting it out of the park with Ghost Rider, though.
This issue also promises more background on Talia Warroadn (former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, reassigned to the F.B.I’s Paranormal Unit) who first appeared in issue #1, possibly an origin story.
Death of Venomverse #4 (Niimura Design Variant)
Necroko is hot as of this moment. I expect this cover to be popular. Likely a long term hold, if anything. It may be a design cover, but check out how her hair style resembles venom’s eyes.
New #1’s
Batman Gargoyle of Gotham #1 (of 4) (Cover A – Rafael Grampa)
Everyone knows about this book by now, so I don’t need to go into specifics. Lots of covers, though. I’m sticking with Cover A (for the read).
… what lurks in the shadows of Blue Beetle’s new home and what does it mean for the Blue Beetle legacy?
The Blue Beetle has a new series, just in time to capitalize on the movie. Some are speculating the Red Beetle will make its first appearance in this book. And it also appears as if it’s on the Grant variant. Cover A does have a character in the shadows with a red-ish reflection……
This pick is more for the cover than being issue #1. Scottie Young is more known for his “kiddie” covers, but this looks more like old school Scottie… Non-Incentive Cover of the week!!
Pick of the Week
This should not come as much surprise. First The Mandalorian, now Obi-Wan. My guess is that Marvel is desperate to write about new characters that appeared on the small screen, but Disney is not a fan of having comics tell new stories using characters from their recent shows. So they’re throwing Marvel a bone and saying “Just adapt the Disney+ series into a comic!” And Marvel is chewing that bone.
One thing this ensures is that we know when new characters are going to appear in these books. And that brings us to Reva. One of the more popular characters from the Obi-Wan series, and one that many fans want to see more of. She has had covers prior, but this will be her story debut.
She is on cover A, although somewhat in the background. The 1:25 incentive has her more featured, basically a head shot with the inquisitor. I have hopes for a better second print cover. For for now, this is it.
Incentive Variant of the Week
Werewolf By Night #1 – 1:25 Sienkiewicz Hidden Gem Variant
Every so often I highlight an incentive that just deserves a mention. Sienkiewicz is just a natural at drawing werewolf by night. Given this is issue #1 of a new series, this probably will have a decent print run. But it wouldn’t surprise me if demand ended up winning over supply for this book upon release.
Parting Words
No Drek this week. Have a great rest of your weekend and happing hunting this Wednesday!