Previews August 2012

Hello everyone, 


Just was flipping through the latest copy of Previews that is available at 1up Collectibles this past Wednesday.


For those of the unaware of what Previews is, it is a monthly Magazine oh what is going to be available in the near future.  It is usually a look at 3 months into the future, so don't expect to see any of the products in the store right away.(common misconception)  Anything that is in the magazine is available for pre-order through the order form located in the book. You must then take the form to 1up where they will place the order for you and then you are guaranteed the item unless it is canceled. In that case any money deposited towards it can be transferred or refunded.


So now that the long drawn out explanation is out of the way lets get to the goods.

Marvel

A+X # 1 - $3.99 - Digital Copy Included - T

So this is part of the Marvel Now series and it looks like will include some pretty writers Like Jeff Loeb and Warren Ellis.  The series is going to entail two stories per issue, with team-ups featuring members of the X-Men and Avengers. This looks like it might be another way for writers to tell funny one-off stories.  The thing that caught me eye about the art work was DOOP! I am hoping for a Doop / Spider-Man team up. So this should just be a fun guilty pleasure for most.

Thanos: Son of Titan # 1 (of 5) - $2.99 - T+

This looks like it will be giving more history to Thanos, everyones favorite cameo from the Avengers. From the bullet points it sounds like it will tie into the Marvel Movie universe or maybe it will more likely be able to wet peoples appetite while answering, who is Thanos? Series is going to be written by Joe Keatinge of Glory and Hell Yeah comics, so if you like those stories check out his first work for Marvel.

According to IGN this series was canceled

Punisher: War Zone #1 (of 5)

This is a series written by current Punisher writer Greg Rucka, who is writing a pretty well consistently.  It looks like it will be everyones favorite Anti-Hero vs the Avengers. And no it has nothing to do with the last movie. I wonder if this has t do with the End of an Era (see below) story arch.

Dexter #1 (of 5)

This is a limited series based on forensic scientist, Dexter Morgan, who is also a vigilante serieal killer. Written by the New York Times Best Selling author Jeff Lindsay (Dexter book series.) This looks like all new material of Dexter at his High School Reunion. Sounds like it should be fun if your a fan of the series or the macabre.

FINAL ISSUE WARNING!!!

These issues are listed as their last issues under the heading of End of An Era. There are special Variants being offered for all final issues except for New Mutants, if that's you kind of thing. Curious to see why this is happening.

Incredible Hulk #15
Uncanny X-Men #20X-Men Legacy #275
Captain America #19
Mighty Thor #22
Invincible Iron Man #527
Fantastic Four #611
FF #23
New Mutants #50
You have been warned.

Quick Shots!

Marvel Universe Vs. The Avengers #1 (of 4)

Minimum Carnage: Alpha #1 

Red She-Hulk #58

Daredevil: End of Days #1 (of 8)

SUSAN G. KOMEN FOR THE CURE VARIENT COVERS

While flipping through Marvel Previews, I saw this pink page which made me stop to read it. Marvel Entrainment is going Pink this October in a month long campaign to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This is during breast cancer awareness month and select titles will come with variant Pink covers to purches. Each cover will have special redesigned costumes and all issues this month will feature special 1 page inserts to inform readers about breast cancer. For more info please visit Komen.org

DC

DC Universe Presents #13 - $2.99 - T

This is the first New 52 introduction of Black Lightning and Blue Devil and they are teaming up.  Written by Marc Andreyko (Manhunter) this should be an interesting story arch just because its two C maybe even D list characters for DC and with the reboot there should be nothing held back.

Action Comics #13 - $3.99 - T

Grant Morrison is bringing Krypto back, but not without a major change to Action Comics. I can't wait to see what happens, but hopefully nothing to the Kryptonian pooch.  The art is going to be by Travel Foreman (Animal Man.)

Batman #13 - $3.99 - T

The Joker is back in a story arch entitled "Death of the Family."  Written by perennial home run hitter Scott Snyder, this is the first time since before the reboot that the Snyder has gotten to use such a demented character, so this should be brutal and delightful. Come for the Joker, stay for the anarchy!

Detective Comics #13 - $3.99 - T

This is something I have been looking forward to, the issue where John Layman takes over!  Layman is best known for his creation Chew, if you haven't heard of it go pick up the first trade for $10. Why are you still here? Go! ... Okay now that your back this new story has Emperor Penguin and guest stars Nightwing.

Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating The DC Universe Omnibus HC - $75.00

The series is back in print! I know this maybe a lot of money for some people but if you enjoyed it the first time around but didn't have all of them here is your chance to buy them all in one shot.  Its a set of stories from 2001 that what if Stan Lee made the DC characters. So Batman may resemble Man Bat and Green Lantern would look more like Dr. Manhattan. Its in interesting concept written and illustrated by some of DC's top talent.

Quick Shots!

Green Lantern #13

Flash #13

Animal Man #13

Joe Kubert Presents #1

INDY's (Independents)

IDW

Gil Kane's Amazing Spider-Man Artist's Edition - TBD

This is an artist's edition, that means these are the comic art pages from the comics with no color. It's inks and texts. It is as close to the original art as possible. The book is the size of the art panels 12" x 17" so its a nice piece for an art aficionado.  This encompasses art from issues 96 - 102 & 121, which includes the non Comics Code approved issue and the six armed Spidey. Others were around the $125 price range so look for this to be no exception.

IMAGE

Bedlam #1 - $3.50 - Mature

This is by Nick Spencer (Morning Glories) about a homicidal maniac who used to terrorize the town of Bedlam, but now is better. Now this is what happens next. My assumption is either its going to be a reason to show chaos and carnage or its going to be a decent psychologic character study. 

The Walking Dead #103

Another issue into the tale of the survivors and Rick Grimes. The description was a little lack lust and made it sound like its just trudging along. Hopefully its because they don;t want to ruin the story.

The Walking Dead: Michonne Special

If you have been watching the TV show and wondered who the lady is with the two zombies on chains well this is her and her story. This features a reprint of issue #19 and whats was originally published in Playboy about her backstory. So if you like me and don't buy smut or download comics illegally then pick this up. This should be out around the time of the show so buy it to show all your friends, who watch the show and don't read comics, where she came from.

Saga Vol. 1 TPB

If you haven't read Saga yet or couldn't find the issues because you were late to the party then pick this up. The story of saga has been described as Lord of the Rings meets Star Wars. It is written by Brian K Vaughan( Lost, Y the Last Man, Ex Machina) and drawn by Fiona Staples whose artwork is pretty phenomenal.

Quick Shots

The Walking Dead Compendium Vol. 2 TP - IMAGE (Finally!!!)

Happy #2(of 4) - IMAGE (Grant Morrison)

Ex Sanguine #1 - Dark Horse (Tim Seeley)
Ghost #1

Action Figures

Justice League New 52 7-Pack - DC Direct - $99.99

This box set is going to include Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Cyborg, and Flash. 10% of the every set bought goes to Save the Children International to help feed kids in need all around the world.

Statues

Batman Black and White: Batman Beyond - DC Direct - $79.99

This is one I know fans have been waiting for so its good to see it finally being made. It will be about 8" x 4.5" x 4.5" and designed byDustin Nguyen.

Deadpool Mini-Bust - Gentle Giant - $89.00

This statue features the Merc with a Mouth with gun drawn. The bust is 1/6th scale so it should be about 6 - 8" tall.

Hawkeye Mini-Bust - Gentle Giant - $89.00

This bust feature Clint Barton with arrow at the ready. This bust is also 1/6th scale as well so it should be around 6-8" tall.

Batman: Arkham City - Batarang Full Size Replica - TriForce - TBD

This is a full size scale replica of Batman's forearm and hand holding a batarang. This is from one of the best selling comic video games of all time.  It will be 22" in height and 20 pounds heavy with full working LEDs on the base. The batarang itself is fully detachable. only 750 are going to be produced. This could very well fetch a $300-400 $750 price tag. Shipping December 2012.

Comic Reviews - July 11th & 18th part duex.

Back to Part two! So much time and so little to do...Strike that. Reverse it.

Action Comics #11  -  $3.99  -  T

This is a series written by one of my favorite writers, Grant Morrison. In this issue Superman changes his disguise after a bomb went off in the last issue. His new identity as Johnny Clark, a fire fighter in Metropolis on engine 1938. Which was nice visual nod to the year Superman joined DC Comics. Superman chose this new identity so he can save people while being both people, which I feel was a good and smart enough explanation for the new identity to justify it. It's an amusing side note seeing him getting life advise from Batman. In an interesting twist Superman hypothesis that Braniac may have been saving these 204 galaxies from the Multitude. In climax of the issue, Clark Kent Johnny Clark's fire truck turns into a Metalek that hits Lois. The space man the Susie has been seeing in her dreams takes her by hand and flys off with her while he makes citizens turn on Superman.

This is a solid story by Morrison. Its a good start to a new era for the new 52 Superman.  It has a few story lines that are intertwined that Morrison is good at doing. The Art of the story is done by Rags Morales, Rick Bryant, and Brad Walker. It was interesting seeing three artists working on the book all of which are great and they get the story told with great action and pacing. The interesting fact is that all the art looks similar and it works. Only if you scrutinize the work will you be able to see the differences in figures, gestures, and layouts. It is a good issue and I will continue to read this book.

Story - 4/5

Art - 4/5

Amazing Spider-Man #689  -  $3.99  -  Includes Digital Copy  -  T 

When we last saw Dan Slott's Spider-Man he was able to turn Lizard back into Curt Connors with the help of New Horizons and Morbius.  Connors is genetically back to normal, but sets off Spider-Man's spider sense but he blames it on Morbius. Connors wants to see his son er... what's left of him anyway, and makes a scene so everyone leaves them alone. This allows Connors to grab blood and sets it in the vents which makes Morbius go all kookoo-for-cocoa-puffs. Morbius gets all bitey on Sanjani from Horizon. This sends Spider-Man after Morbius in a good fight. Meanwhile, the new Madame web gets a vision of the great web being torn, and she has to warn Peter. Finally alone at Horizon Labs, Connors plugs himself with the lizard formula, which only makes him grow his own arm back, but then injects Max with the formula which changes him into a Lizard.


This story line has had its fair share of cool moments, like Morbius stealing Billy's body and Conners using the serum on Max. It feels like it's leading to a big amalgamation of events. I hope this is worth payoff. The story isn't as deep as the latter comic but for me the history of these characters make it interesting enough to stay to see what comes next. Also the banter isn't where it use to be, which reflects the tonality of the story. The art in this issue is by Guseppe Camuncoli, which again is pretty good, but his figures look a little stiff. He is really good at drawing these high-on-bath-salt esque faces for Dr. Connor symbolizing his inner struggle. The colors by Klaus Janson need to be a little darker to add better contrast and depth to Camuncoli's art. Hopefully we see where all this is going next issue.


Story - 3/5
Art - 3/5

Batman #11  -  $3.99  -  T

In this the conclusion of the Court of the Owls, Batman found out that he had a brother he never knew about.  Lincoln March, our villain, who was born with birth defects, was left in a hospital as sickly mute who was visited by Martha Wayne on several occasions. Then the Court of Owls visited him while he was in the hospital telling him he is Thomas Wayne Jr.  While these two fight, March explains to Batman how lucky Batman is to have this city and now needs to share with his brother. In the end of the fight, the building collapsed from an explosion that trapped March but no body was found. This leaves Bruce Wayne questioning his parents and if they would really hid this from them. There are records of a John Doe but without DNA Bruce won't know for sure.  The story ends with Bruce not giving up on the city he loves both as Bruce and as Batman.


This was a good ending to the story, by Scott Snyder, that leaves this little inkling of doubt in Bruce's head.  There are some parallels that run in the end of the story that Snyder does well, like Batman giving up because of this life changing news of a brother, but then Batman vows to fight for the city while Bruce vows to rebuild the destroyed tower as a sign of hope for the city.  The art in book is by Greg Capullo who knows how to add mood and tension very well to his art.  He fits the tone and mood of this book really well. After this story arch I am very intrigued to see what comes next for Bats.


Story - 4/5
Art - 4/5

Captain America #14  -  $3.99  -  Includes Digital Copy  -  T

Ed Brubaker has another story on his hands here. We first Captain America protecting Porcupine from a new Scourge, a brain washed henchmen working for the New Hydra. It is revealed in the fight that the Scourage he is fighting is Demolition Man, Dennis Dunphy. Sharon Carter tries to make it to Cap in time to tell him who is really fighting, but when she arrives she has to do something that Cap will never forgive her for. With Steve Rogers dealing with these events, while trying to unearth who is behind a Super Villain Witness Protection Program. The worst part about it, Bravo just made this all public.


Brubaker does a great job of adding emotion and including some history involved with Cap and his villain.  It seems to make this whole thing cannon fodder for the Bravo to use against him, so he is not only attacking Cap physically and emotionally but as well as politically.  This Single story has several different layers to it that Brubaker does well.  The art Patch Zircher with Mike Deodato are good with drawing the figures and gestures along with story telling. The place where the ball is dropped in the art is the background, most of which are basic or just bland. I guess that to keep the reader more focusing in on the gravity of the story. All-in-all it is a good issue. I say pick it up if your into your comics history from the 80's.


Story - 4/5
Art - 3/5




That's it for now guys. Look out for new reviews from this weeks comics coming soon!

News FLASH

Hey Guys I just want to bring up two things this late at night.

First thing and I know many of these photos are floating around the internet and tv news shows now. Christian Bale who played Batman in the new film went to go visit the survivors and families of those effected to by the shooting in Aurora Colorado. This is a great deal of respect shown by Bale to these people. I am sure it touched so many and helped the healing process.

Christian Bale and Survivor Carey Rottman

Here is some coverage written on Comic Book Resources.

The second thing for tonight is the news that Batman Incorporated #3 will be postponed for a month.  This comes after the recent events in Colorado. The issue has been printed, but contains subject material that is considered inappropriate following the events. Sources say it has to do with a gun in a classroom. I am not sure how true this is but I am sure we will find out when the issue comes out August 22. So check your subs and the wall for this one in a month. 

Grant Morrison

Finally, according to Examiner.com that Grant Morrison will be leaving both Action Comics and Batman Inc.  Batman Inc, which is different then the previous book mentioned, will have it's last Morrison book with issue 12.  His Action Comics run will end at issue 16. Find more details at the link.


There you have it folks 3 short new snipts to help keep you informed, and knowing is half the battle!

Comic Reviews - July 11th & 18th part one.

In this my inaugural review post I am going to be giving reviews on a smattering of comics that I read while on vacation in OCNJ. These comics are a week to two weeks old. If any of them strike your fancy please check them out at 1up Collectibles. 

LET THE GAMES BEGIN! 

Avenging Spider-Man #9  -  $3.99  -   Includes Digital Copy  -  T+

This series has been a bit of fun. For anyone who hasn’t picked it up this is a series where Spider-Man individually teams up with members of the Avengers. In this one he teams up with the new Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers (f.k.a. Ms. Marvel.) Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick (the new Captain Marvel writer), the story is full of decent banter you expect from a Spider-Man story, but nothing ground breaking. It is the first part of an arch that sets up Spider-Man and Capt. Marvel vs. Robyn Hood vs. The Police and Hired Security team. Everything in this story is decent except for this new character Robyn Hood, which is weak. The name tells you her story, but she also absorbs then uses the damage dealt to her. It should be interesting to see where this little tiff goes.

Read it for the banter and the great artwork from Terry and Rachel Dodson. If you haven’t seen much of their work, look them up, it’s a unique comic book style. Terry who does the pencils does a great job of storytelling with great figures andgestures, while Rachel inks his work perfectly. Edgar Delgado does a great job of coloring this work and makes it all seem to come together just right.

Story – 2/5

Art – 4/5

Animal Man #11  -  $2.99  -  T+

This series has been well written and the art at times has been disturbing.  Jeff Lamire, known for his writing on Sweet Tooth, has written a long interwoven interesting story so far. This issue is no disappointment. It starts off where Buddy Baker is meeting Totems of the Hire Flesh to form a new body for him.  Since it has been taken over by a hunter of the Rot. There is a great sequence that is really well written and illustrated, it is where Buddy forms his way from a speck of consciousness to a nanobe and from there he reaches out to different animals until he finds his body and can go find his son.

Buddy finds his son who was being protected by Sox from the hunter with Buddy's body. After a warning that the Rot is coming, the hunter looses his head in a gruesome fight with Buddy. To see what I mean go pick it up, this is a great couple of pages.  After that there is also a pretty awesome visual nod to John Carpenter's The Thing. Finally Cliff passes out while spouting on about the avatar of the Rot, Anton Arcane. Leading to a cross over with Swamp Thing. The art in this book is great the style fits the tone and mood of the story perfectly. There are a few visual miscues that do hinder some of the story telling but Alberto Ponticelli does a great job, and I can’t wait to see this crossover.

Story – 4/5

Art – 3/5

Swamp Thing #11  -  $2.99  -  T+

Lets pick up where the Animal Man #11 led us to, Swamp Thing. This has been written by current Batman writer Scott Snyder (got to meet him at my past job and is a good guy btw.)  This issue picks up right where the last one left off. Arcane, the avatar of the Rot is here to get his daughter Abigail. In a kinda hokey and cheesy way the Green has saved Alec because he saved them and supplanted them. Just thinking aloud, I am wondering if this was an intentional parallel between this and Animal Man. So after that Arcane tries to take Abigail with him into the Rot, but Swamp Thing comes out of nowhere and punches Arcane straight in the jaw. In a decent fight they learn things have changed with one another and Abigail intervenes sending Arcane back into the Rot portal by himself.  Abigail then tries to get him to run away, but Animal Man shows up with his family. Animal Man informs Swamp Thing that they both need to team up to take down the Rot.

This was a good back story building issue that was illustrated by Marco Rudy. Marco’s art is hit and miss in this issue. Certain panels are beautifully illustrated then they get bland and not detailed like when the Arcane is shown. The panels and story telling of the art is great where the action and other visual elements break up the normal panel structure. The color is something to be desired by Val Staples. It’s the same five colors used again and the colors are muted nothing is overly bright and bold just a little better contrast would be nice. Overall a good build up to an interesting team up.

Story – 3/5

Art – 3/5

Avengers Vs. X-Men #7  -  $3.99  -  Includes Digital Copy  -  T+

On this weeks AVX….More of the same. Okay sorry for being facetious. Seriously though the series is boring and lack lust for me. Hope flinches and doesn’t get the Phoenix Force instead some of the more agitating X-Men do. The only things that change in this issue is that Vision is gone, Hawkeye is burnt badly, Avengers go to Wakanda , Cyclops gets more aggressive, and Emma Frost tells Namor (behind Cyclops’s back) where they are and he shows up. Boom end of issue. I would have been more interested if they explained more about Iron Fist’s role in all this and if Scarlet Witch hurt Magik more for presumably killing Vision. Instead Cyclops becomes a hypocrite wanting to end the Avengers and the Avengers have to get Hope to K’un Lun to learn how to fight the Phoenix force.

The art by Oliver Coipel is great. I am glad to see they put him on this book. It made this story bearable enough to finish. Well I am not saying it wasn’t bad just boring, nothing big happens so when this happens I tend to focus on the art of the figures, gestures, and the artists ability to move the story along. Coipel does this wonderfully. Some of his actual characters don’t look right like after the Blank Panther smacks the crazy out of Stark, Starks face doesn’t appear even. I wish this issue was better, maybe I missed something somewhere. What do you guys think?

Story – 2/5

Art – 4/5

The Avengers VS The X-Men #4 of 6  -  $3.99  -  Includes Digital Copy  T+

This is a guilty pleasure of mine. For those who don’t know this is a book where one member from each side wallops on one another created by two different creative teams.  This issue is Daredevil vs. Psylocke and Thor vs. Phoenix’ed out Emma Frost.  The Daredevil vs. Psylocke was the better of the two fights. The story was written by Rick Remender who seemed to get the characters right. In this fight both characters had a moment in the fight that played to their strengths.  The art by Brandon Peterson was well done it made the action and their powers work.  The best part of the first fight was when Daredevil reminded Psylocke that with all their power now the Avengers will soon be on their own island, leaving Psylocke speechless.

In the next fight, which seems more odd, Thor takes on Emma Frost in a knock down drag-out fight. The story was written and illustrated by Kaare Andrews, who while wearing both hats manages to make this work.  Thor and Emma go shot for shot. One of the best scenes is when Thor upper cuts Emma with Mjolnir while she is in her diamond form and shatters her in to tiny pieces. Shutting her smug face up, but of course that’s not the end of her. I won’t spoil how it ends but it was a disappointment to me, but given the situation I guess that’s how these things go. Check it out and let me know what you guys think.

Story – 3/5

Art – 3/5

Punisher #13  -  $2.99  -  Parental Advisory

This issue of the Punisher by Greg Rucka is one of the better issues I have read this week. It is written in such way that it feels like a spy thriller. The Punisher and Marine Sergeant Rachel Cole – Alves are sneaking onto a black market weapons auction on a yacht. Frank gets caught which was his plan, and Alves seduces the boats owner. This gets her into the engine room, where she plants charges and stops the yacht. While all the guests are trying to leave Alves tries to exact revenge on the Exchange’s leader Stefanie Gerard, but Frank stops her to keep her on task.

This story reads and feels like an secret agent film. It was highly entertaining and was done right. Granted, this type of story has been done before but it is done so well that it works. The pacing of the story helps it move along and makes me want to find out what piece of tech they took that belong to Doc Ock. The art by Mico Suayan works for the tone of the story. It looks a little rough at times, but it adds to the Pulp-ishness of the story and the storytelling ability of the art helps solidify this as a solid issue.

Story – 4/5

Art – 3/5

BONUS ROUND

Have you seen this? Thoughts?

!!! WARNING MATURE AUDIENCE ONLY!!! 

You have been warned

That’s it for now. I wanna hear your thoughts on any of these issues and video so please feel free to comment.  If you anyone wants to talk shop please stop by 1up Collectibles on Wednesday for new releases I’ll more than likely be there!

If you love 1up Collectibles let everyone know!!!

The New Guy

Yup, that's me and Kevin Smith

Hey what’s going on internet? My name is Chris Z and I am the new review around these parts. 

First off I want to give a thanks to 1up Collectibles for this chance to review for Once Upon a Wednesday. 

A brief background on me: 

I have been a fan of comics since I can remember. Grew up with the 90’s X-Men and Spider-man TV shows, which led me to read the comics. I really stopped reading comics in High School, but then got back into them in college. After college, I worked in comic book retail for a major company in the middle of NYC.  After spending almost 2 years there, I came back home in PA and accepted this job writing reviews. 

So there ya have it folks. That's the cliff notes of my life.

I hope my reviews help inform customers on what to look for and what to flip through. I also want to continue the sense of community this site has so please if you have any suggestions or comments, please speak up. I won’t just post reviews here, I’ll also post interesting articles, snippets, photos, and anything comic related.

So please stop by and join in! 

BTW any one what to share their *SPOILER FREE* thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises?

I personally loved it. A great ending to the trilogy. I'll tackle the full review after the movie is out for awhile.