On the Shelves: 8/23/06

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

The drought continues as I am now three weeks behind in picking up my stash from Midtown Comics. Here’s my weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 8/23/06. 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]

Matt Wagner perfectly nailed the whole Batman milieu in Batman And The Monster Men, so I’m really looking forward to The Mad Monk. *** Blue Beetle is still working for me solely on the strength of its appealing cast. The story itself is unfolding achingly slow, though. *** I’m three volumes into the main Fables series and enjoying it more and more as the depth of Willingham’s premise becomes clearer with each story. Jack Of Fables #1 was a solid enough read that I’ll probably follow it in floppy form. *** So after the Justice League of America‘s over-priced zero issue’s non-story, what in the world could possibly get me to pay $3.99 for #1? Not the ugly Turner cover; not Ed *master of the ass shot* Benes; and certainly not the boring lineup that does nothing for me.

DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
Eberron Eye Of The Wolf Lie Cvr A, $4.95
Forgotten Realms Crystal Shard Seeley Cvr A #1 (Of 3), $4.95
GI Joe Declassified Manapul Cvr A #2 (Of 3), $4.95

When Eberron first debuted as D&D’s newest campaign setting a few years back, I noticed the very comic book-style artwork that accompanied it and figured it would be a shoo-in for a comics adaptation at some point. Kudos to Devil’s Due for taking the chance on some original work instead of simply sticking to the safer road of Salvatore and Weis adaptations, which have been amazing. *** Not sure if G.I. Joe: DeClassified is delayed or just on a bi-monthly schedule, but I can’t remember anything about the first issue. Still, since the America’s Elite relaunch, all of the spinoffs have been solid reads.

EVIL TWIN COMICS
Action Philosophers The Peoples Choice, $2.95

Is this a new issue? I’m starting to feel really out of the loop when it comes to my indie darlings.

IDW PUBLISHING
Supermarket #4 (Of 4), $3.99

The first Brian Wood comic to really click for me concludes, and I’m guessing the over-the-top tone of the previous three issues will kick into overdrive here.

MARVEL COMICS
Daredevil #88, $2.99
Heroes For Hire #1 CW, $2.99
Spider-Man Kravens Last Hunt Premiere HC, $19.99

Ed Brubaker is officially my favorite superhero comics writer, and his Daredevil has been as entertaining a monthly read as anything on the shelves. This issue is a Foggy Nelson standalone, something he did in Captain America with Nomad to good effect. That the series is staying away from Civil War is a nice bonus. *** I enjoyed the Daughters of the Dragon mini-series a lot, but the combination of Tucci on art and a direct connection to Civil War makes me leery of Heroes for Hire. *** I picked up the original Kraven’s Last Hunt hardcover on eBay a couple of months ago for $13 (including shipping) and the story holds up well nearly 20 years later. There’s a great text piece that talks about the perception that the story was too mature for comics and glorified suicide, which will hopefully be included in this new release, a must-own for comics fans.

VIPER COMICS
Middleman Vol 2 TPB, $9.95

Fun, fun, fun. Buy it.

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.

3 comments