On the Shelves: 2/7/07

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

My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 2/7/07. The full shipping list, as always, is 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]

PICK OF THE WEEK

The American WayBOOM! STUDIOS
Cthulhu Tales Rising One Shot, $6.99
Tag Cursed #1 (Of 5), $3.99

I’m not a Cthulu fan, but Boom!’s previous effort seems to have worked for those who are, and it’s nice to see them sticking with the anthology format. *** The first Tag mini-series ended rather abruptly but set up an interesting enough premise that I’ll probably check out the sequel if I don’t gag on the too-steep $3.99 cover price.

DC COMICS
American Way TPB, $19.99
Batman Year One Deluxe SC, $14.99
Detective Comics #828, $2.99
Helmet Of Fate Sargon The Sorcerer #1, $2.99
Jonah Hex #16, $2.99
Shazam The Monster Society Of Evil #1 (Of 4), $5.99

American Way narrowly missed making my Best of 2006 list, but it was an excellent read and one of the most underrated titles of the year. Hopefully more people check it out in TPB form. *** I’m up to the 5th volume of Jeff Smith’s colorized Bone series from Scholastic and am completely and utterly hooked. As a result, I’m curious to check out his take on the Big Red Cheese.

DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
GI Joe Americas Elite #20, $3.50

When did the cover price go up?!?! [checks…] Ah, as of this issue, the conclusion of two-issue transitional arc. Not cool! $3 is my tipping point for comics, when I think a little bit harder about whether or not I really need to buy a particular title. I’ve been enjoying this latest version of G.I. Joe, but with a new creative team coming onboard, a price increase is like a “Jump-off Point” neon sign.

HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS
Lucky At Cards MMPB, $6.99
Peddler MMPB, $6.99
Shards Of Crimson MMPB, $7.99

I’m a bit confused as to why, a) these novels are listed with in the comic book section; and b) why they’re listed under Harper Collins when in fact the first two are published by Hard Case Crime, and the other by Dorchester Publishing, which claims to be “the oldest independent mass market publisher in America,” and of whom Hard Case is an imprint. Confusion aside, Hard Case’s author list is like my personal Who’s Who list of “Writers I Wish Would Tackle Batman”, including my absolute favorite, Lawrence Block.

IMAGE COMICS
Fell #7 (resolicited), $1.99

I vaguely remember really liking this comic book. Hopefully absence has made the heart grow fonder.

MARVEL COMICS
Dark Tower Gunslinger Born #1 (Of 7), $3.99
Ghost Rider Team-Up TPB, $15.99
Incredible Hulk #103, $2.99
Spider-Man And Power Pack #4 (Of 4), $2.99

Am I not a team player because I’m not the least bit jazzed about Dark Tower? I’ll give Marvel credit for pulling off the midnight release PR stunt, though. They’re already downplaying the pre-order sales, so I’ll be curious to see what kind of response it gets in media, and how far, if at all, it carries over. *** What is the Ghost Rider Team-Up TPB? Sounds like it might be fun! *** Spider-Man And Power Pack has been the epitome of fun and I’m thrilled that Marvel keeps cranking them out.

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS
Regards From Serbia GN, $19.95

This sounds very interesting: “This volume includes Zograf’s entire e-mail correspondence to his friends throughout the world during the bombing of his hometown of Pancevo, as well as all of his comic strips produced over the decade Bosnian/Serbian war.”

VERY DYNAMIC COMICS
Books With Pictures #1, $2.95

Interesting title, interest piqued [Googles…] and that interest is now gone completely because there’s no web presence where I can get more information about it. Not very dynamic at all, unfortunately.

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