On The Shelves: 12/13/06

Reading is fundamental. Don’t waste your time reading bad comics out of habit!

My weekly, semi-informed look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 12/13/06 follows. The full shipping is list available at ComicList.

[NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com]

Curious about this title? Hope not because there’s no sign of it anywhere online. Googling the publisher and the title comes up empty; not even a blog! Marketing 101, people.

DARK HORSE COMICS
Star Wars Legacy (New Ptg) #1, $2.99

Dark Horse is doing everything they can to get people into the monthly habit with this excellent series. Don’t wait for the trade, because it’s not due out until next April.

DC COMICS
Batman #660, $2.99
Firestorm The Nuclear Man #32, $2.99
Green Lantern Corps #7, $2.99
Robin #157, $2.99

Ostrander + Mandrake + Batman = Happiness. Grant, take as much time off as you need. *** Stuart Moore and Jamal Igle wrap up a commendable run on Firestorm with this issue, and while I’m looking forward to Dwayne McDuffie’s take on the character, it’s still disappointing to see such a solid creative team move on. Curious to see which way the sales figures move on the next issue. *** GLC is a fun read, but it’s not an essential one for me so it might be headed to trade-only status. *** Adam Beechen’s Robin has been an entertaining read, and possibly the most consistently solid Batbook to come out of the OYL jump.

IDW PUBLISHING
Fallen Angel Idw #11, $3.99

I’m two issues behind in reading this series and it’s on the verge of moving to trade-only status as a result. It’s good, but at $3.99/issue, it lives on the chopping block.

IMAGE COMICS
Fear Agent #9, $2.99
Strange Girl #12, $2.99

Fear Agent moves to Dark Horse in February, so I’m looking forward to being able to follow it regularly in TPB. *** I wish Strange Girl was switching publishers, too, as it’s one of the few Image titles I’m still buying single issues for as I’m not convinced they’ll collect its full run if/when it ultimately ends. It’s one of the most underrated titles on the shelves, and in the comics blogiverse, overshadowed by the overrated likes of Girls and Godland.

MARVEL COMICS
X-Factor #14, $2.99

An off week for Marvel and I…could a breakup be imminent? Not unless Peter David and Ed Brubaker succumb to whatever makes Bendis and Millar’s work so unappealing.

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS
Lone Racer GN, $12.95

As my random selection of the week, Lone Racer sounds intriguing: “After a misguided attempt at bank robbery, where he is supposed to drive the getaway car, Lone Racer decides that the days of going downhill are over.”

Magazines
Write Now #14, $6.95

Write Now always features a couple of solid interviews and features focusing on process, and this issue includes Jim Starlin and John Ostrander, among others. There’s also the script and artwork from CIVIL WAR #1 in the Nuts & Bolts section, which should be good for a laugh or two.

About Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez works in publishing by day, world domination by night. Over the years he’s lived in Staten Island and South Beach Miami; served in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, US Army, and Dennis Kucinich’s ‘04 Presidential Campaign; won poetry slams, founded a reading series, co-authored a book of poetry, and self-published another; prefers Pumpkin and India Pale Ales, Buffalo Trace and Four Roses Bourbons, and Dona Paula Shiraz Malbec. He’s a devout Mets fan from the Bronx now living in New Jersey, and has a beautiful wife and two amazing kids.

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