PREVIEWS for March

Here's my take on the Big Four solicitations for March. I'll be looking at the "back of the book" section tomorrow, giving the indie love with all my might.


Dark Horse

Conan: Book of Thoth #1 (of 4), p.22
Yeah, I'm on Conan as long as Busiek is, minis included. The Thoth-Amon stories in the main series have been kinda weird so far - feels like we've been thrown into the middle of the story - so I'm hoping the origin mini will fill out the character a bit.

Concrete: The Human Dilemma TPB, p.29
Just started reading Conrete a week or two ago, after some hearty efforts from good aul Franck Mars. Not sure if it's really hitting me as hard as it's hit its serious fanbase, but I'm curious to see what kind of stories Chadwick's telling recently.

Hellboy: Makoma, or... #2 (of 2), p.30
I'll follow artist Richard Corben to most projects, as long as the price is right. Corben on Hellboy? That's a big-assed Hell Yeah from me, and I'm not even much of a Hellboy fan.

The Cool Green Goon T-shirt, p.49
Ooh, I didn't know they made these. That green one looks pretty rad... might have to put it on the wish list.


DC Comics

Batman: Secrets #1 (of 5), p.61
Sam Kieth's last Batman-related mini - Scratch, which was really more about an awkward pre-adolescent werewolf - was a real disappointment for me, but how the hell can I resist Kieth drawing The Joker? I'll try this out for the eye candy and see what happens, but I really wish Kieth would work with another writer, 'cause since The Maxx it's all been pretty embarassingly immature writing.

Gotham Central: Unresolved Targets TP, p.69
The two story arcs collected here were so good I might have to double-buy. Not right away, but I'll pick this puppy up at Green Apple for sure. Those who've been tradewaiting have had a hell of a wait (and fuck you guys, anyway), but this is a mighty strong payoff.

All-Star Superman #3, p.71
Wasn't sure if I'd follow this in the serial format or tradewait. Issue #2 convinced me to stick with it.

Hard Time Season Two #4, p.84
This is a hell of a series, and the idea of an issue all about Cindy, the "girl" of the cellblock, actually intrigues me more than I thought it would.

Supergirl and the Legion of the Super-Heroes #16, p.88
Even as people have been complaining that the uber-plot is moving too slowly for their taste, I've been loving this book more and more with every issue. Which is why this marketing gimmick has me nervous. Still, there's some material there to be mined, bringing in Supergirl and all, and Waid could be the guy to do it. My fingers are crossed.

Seven Soldiers of Victory Vol. 2 TP, p.91
I was wondering how they'd handle the collections of the Seven Soldiers event, being seven four-issue minis and two "bookend" one-shots, and it looks like they're mimicking the experience of the serial - which is intriguing. Was the project designed to be read this way? At any rate, it'll be interesting to see how the whole thing holds together in the end.

American Virgin #1, p. 113
This really doesn't look like my kind of book, but Becky Cloonan was so spectacular on Demo that I'm gonna give her a shot here, too.


Image Comics

Hector Plasm: De Mortuis One-Shot, p.141
Written by Benito Cereno, who did that clever Tales From the Bully Pulpit one-shot last year. I enjoyed that one enough to try this out, even though it doesn't feature Teddy Roosevelt in the solicit.

Hysteria: One Man Gang #1, p.142
Artist Mike Hawthorne really knocked my eyes out with his Queen & Country arc, so I'll give this a shot, too.

Small Gods #1 (of 2), p.147
Fuck. Yeah.

Colossus GN, p.148
I was at the Isotope a month or two back when these guys came by to hand-sell the book. James got some copies for the store and everyone told me it was a great book, so I'll give this a second look when it hits the stands.


Marvel Comics

Annihilation: Prologue
Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos TPB
The Thanos trade finally reprints The Thanos Quest, which was basically the prologue to the Infinity Gauntlet crossover. It also reprints some Silver Surfer issues from around that time, which at the time was my favorite super-hero book on the stands. All this has me pretty excited, and I've been hearing good things about Kieth Giffen's Drax The Destroyer mini-series, so the Annihilation Prologue actually sounds good to me. I find that a little surprising, honestly, but I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. I'm just in.

Fantastic Four: First Family #1 (of 6)
Joe Casey and Chris Weston on a Fantastic Four story sounds good to me, but I'm a little burnt out on "revisiting their early days" super-hero stories lately. This'll probably be good and I'll probably get the trade, though.

X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl #3 (of 5)
James pointed this one out to me: best Marvel solicit text ever:

Of the many secrets that Doctor Strange holds in his extremely well-manicured head, perhaps the greatest is this: why do some characters return from the dead, while others continue to languish in obscurity? Is it just a question of circulation? Or is there a more mysterious, harder-to-quantify-with-an-Excel-spreadsheet force at work?

Well, the evil Pitiful One and four of his deceased cohorts are going to find out! They know that Doctor Strange holds the mystery to cold beer, warm sandwiches, and Sunday afternoon naps in his head, and they'll do anything to get that one-way ticket back to the land o' the living! Even if it means killing everyone in their path...

Good thing Doctor Strange and Dead Girl are gathering an all-star team of dead heroes to best them! Featuring Dead Ant-Man, Dead Mysterio, Dead Anarchist, Dead Mister Sensitive, and a host more!