On the Shelves: 7/12/06

Support GOOD Comics! Try something new EVERY month.

My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 7/12/06. 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]

I love how much attention this comic has received, a genuine sleeper hit that’s unfortunately also caught the attention of speculators. Kudos to Archaia for continuing to meet demand with reprints.

DARK HORSE COMICS
Star Wars Legacy #2, $2.99

I’m still not sure if I actually liked the first issue, or just wanted to, but it piqued my interest enough for me to want to check out the second issue. Doesn’t help that I finally popped Knights of the Old Republic into my Xbox last week and was totally hooked. Last thing I need is another obsession.

DC COMICS
Firestorm The Nuclear Man #27, $2.99
Green Lantern Corps #2, $2.99

Well, here’s two comics that, if you’d told me six months ago would be the only two I’d be picking up from DC in any given week, I’d have laughed at you. Heartily and derisively. But I have to admit that Firestorm is doing a solid job with the fun superheroics and GLC #1 was a pleasant surprise.

DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
GI Joe Americas Elite Caselli Cvr A #13, $2.95

Cobra Commander Returns…and he’s in the White House! What what?!? If Joe Casey plays his cards right, he may be a guest on the O’Reilly Factor soon.

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS
Left Bank Gang GN, $12.95

Last week I wrote this whole missive about brands and Jason and not knowing Left Bank Gang was coming out next month…and then I walk into Midtown Comics the next day and there it was on the shelves! Haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but Why Are You Doing This? made me a fan, so I’m looking forward to it.

IMAGE COMICS
Cobblers Monster GN, $14.99
Hawaiian Dick The Last Resort #4 (Of 4)(resolicited), $2.99
Strange Girl #9, $2.99

The Cobbler’s Monster, the Beckett gang’s latest intriguing mash-up, a combination of Frankenstein and Pinnocchio, finally hits the shelves and should be a good read. *** Back when I used to frequent the Image message boards more often, their former PR guy (and Hawaiian Dick creator/writer) B. Clay Moore had a tendency to come off as the grumpy old man who’d seen it all and hated most of it, so I thought it was pretty funny to see him say in a recent interview that the one thing he learned “from dealing with comic retailers [was] to ‘get the whole thing done before you solicit.'” Well, duh! Is that really a lesson anyone in comics for more than a week doesn’t quickly realize? And which of Image’s many ridiculously delayed projects, including several of his own, finally taught him that lesson? *** Are you reading Strange Girl? You should be, because it’s one of the best series Image publishes and one of the very few I don’t wait for the trade on, even when it doesn’t ship on time.

MARVEL COMICS
Thunderbolts #104 Cw, $2.99

Et tu, Marvel? A light week from the Big Two for me generally means I do a bit more sampling which is a dangerous thing for some of their marginal titles that are already on the chopping block. Thunderbolts, however, is not one of those titles, currently neck-and-neck with X-Factor for my favorite team book from either publisher. Last issue, Fabian Nicieza managed to make Civil War much more interesting than Mark Millar has in his first two issues. Maybe if any of the main Spider-Man titles were any good, the big reveal would have had more impact for me.

MOONSTONE
Night Driver Teaser Edition, $0.99

The solicit for this piqued my interest so I’ll definitely be picking up the cheapo preview. Smart move, Moonstone.

VIPER COMICS
Emily Edison GN, $12.95
Oddly Normal Vol 1 TPB, $11.95

Viper puts out some quality product, even when it’s not necessarily to my taste, and I enjoyed David Hopkins’ twisted Karma Incorporated mini-series from last year, so I’ll be checking out his latest effort, Emily Edison. *** Oddly Normal, on the other hand, didn’t really click with me the first time around when I read the preview in the back of another of their titles, but I’ll give it a flip-through to see how it feels as a full story.

VIRGIN COMICS LLC
Snakewoman #1, $2.99

After their free preview issue two weeks ago, and last week’s premiere issue of Devi, Virgin seems like they could be the new Image (or CrossGen?), with talented creators working on not-so-original concepts, the big difference being that they’re pulling from, and aiming for, a culture for whom Spider-Man and Superman are not the end-all, be-all when it comes to comics. With Snakewoman (the first title from their “Director’s Cut” line), they debut their first American creative team, with Zeb Wells and Michael Gaydos working from movie director Shekhar Kapur’s concept based (very loosely, I presume) on “India’s ancient Snake (Naga) legends, in which the soul of the serpent reptile is reborn in the form of a sexy and unsuspecting heroine.” Pretty convenient that the legends specified “sexy”, no?

Written by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is the Chief Content Officer for LibraryPass, and former publisher & marketing director for Writer’s Digest. Previously, he was also project lead for the Panorama Project; director, content strategy & audience development for Library Journal & School Library Journal; and founding director of programming & business development for the original Digital Book World.