Image solicitations for APRIL

Okay, so the Image solicits for April are on the internet, and here I am looking through them.

EDIT: Looks like DC and Marvel are both up now, too.

FRANK CHO WOMEN: SELECTED DRAWINGS AND ILLUSTRATIONS HC
Nice coffee table sort of thing, isn't it? It's out of my casual price range, but I'm sure this'll be gorgeous.

ASTRO GN
Hmm. The solicit text is kinda dry and uninspired, as I read it, but the cover looks awfully nice. A couple hints here for solicitation writers: telling me a book is "beautifully painted" doesn't really mean anything to me. The adjective is an obvious choice, and you're trying to sell it to me so I'm not just gonna take everything you say at face value. Use that word space to tell me something specific about this book, something that makes it different from, say, the beautifully painted Kingdom Come. Y'see what I'm saying? Anyway, the cover certainly is a pretty wee thing:



LOADED BIBLE: JESUS vs. VAMPIRES ONE-SHOT
Wow: this really sounds like an AiT/PlanetLar book. Even the solicit text sounds like someone who's been studying Larry's style - brings to mind the recent "If the phrase 'gorilla with a jetpack' doesn't do it for you, I don't know what we gotta do." I'll take a look at this, as it's sometimes interesting to see people bring a new take to the Jesus persona, but if this is basically straight-faced Battle Pope, I'll probably put it back down.

NOBLE CAUSES #19
This book gets better all the time. Probably the best superhero team book on the market. And Faerber's been including extra story pages to offset the $3.50 price tag, so the miser in me is even happy.

SIGHT UNSEEN HC
*sigh* Boy, the solicits writing at Image really needs a shot in the arm. (The creators all write their own stuff, right? Maybe we could just get Robert Kirkman on the job or something, eh?) I'm supposed to drop twenty bucks because "[t]he tension can be cut with a straight-razor in this brooding tale of supernatural terror"? That's all you can tell me? Come on, guys.

THE TOURIST GN
Brian Wood described this a year or so back (!) as being a combination of the action-heavy style of The Couriers and the more emotional, character-based writing of Demo. Plus, that cover image has been haunting me for a while now. This is surely worth ten bucks.



HELLSPAWN: THE ASHLEY WOOD COLLECTION TP
Normally wouldn't give this a second look, but are all ten of the issues included here written by either Brian Michael Bendis or Steve Niles? Hmm. That would be right around the point in Bendis' career when I liked his stuff best. Might have to give this one a look.

FREAK SHOW SC
The hardcover edition of this was too pricey for my blood, but I'll definitely give it a shot for six bucks. The solicit text for this one is pretty damn good - gives me a good idea of what the story will be like, and just enough personality in it to make me curious. Take a cue from this one, everybody.

AGE OF BRONZE #23
God, I love this series. I just can't tease myself by reading it in the serials. But man, those collections are priceless treasures.

BOMB QUEEN #3
Interesting premise here, with a lot of potential. I'm waiting on the first issue to see how we get along.

FELL #7
I think I'm pretty close to being Ellis-ed out for a while, but this is so cool just for the format that I'm gonna hang on. Still can't wait to see the next book coming in this format, Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba's Cassanova. That's coming in May, right?

HYSTERIA: ONE MAN GANG #2
Again, waiting on the first issue of artist Mike Hawthorne's personal baby. Fingers crossed, beecause I loved his work on Queen & Country so much.

INVINCIBLE #33
Ah, what a wonderful book. But wait - should I have bought the Marvel Team-Up with Invincible in it? The solicit text here says this issue continues that story.

SUPERPATRIOT: WAR ON TERROR #4
Uh, wow. This is actually finishing? I remember picking up the last issue of this when Isotope was still on Noriega, for Christ's sake. Well, it was fun reading, at any rate, so I'll be sure to get it when it comes.