Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 2/24/2o1o!

A late edition of Looking Forward to Wednesday!

I wasn't really planning on doing a "Looking Forward to" post for a little while, as they are pretty depressing for someone who can't really afford to buy weekly comics right now. But this week has a pretty special comic coming out, that's special for reasons you probably aren't anticipating:

"the Amazing Spider-Man" #622

This issue features writer Greg Weisman. (Although, it's not clear whether he's writing the main story or the back-up...)

Greg Weisman was the guiding hand behind "Gargoyles". So he basically created an entire fictional universe that incorporated elements of Shakespeare, Norse mythology, WWII history, conspiracy theories... I could go on. Then he fought for the better part of a decade to bring that universe back after cancellation. He eventually succeeded in the form of a comic-book from Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) and told some excellent stories in the comics medium after a bit of a shaky start.

Simultaneous with the return to life of his beautiful baby "Gargoyles" he got the plum job of head writer on Marvel's latest attempt at an animated Spider-Man TV show. Lo and behold after six attempts at an animated show of varying degrees of quality us Spidey fans finally have a Spider-Man animated show that gets it right.

So now the man who shaped a multi-faceted tapestry of fiction, who clearly understands the character of Spidey, who has just these past few years gotten to stretch his legs in the comics medium, is writing an issue of the flagship Spider-Man comic-book!

I have high hopes.

Now I just need $2.99.
Oh wait... $3.99. 40 pages. Probably because of a back-up story. Oy.

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 2/10/2o1o!

At the time of this writing I still haven't picked up all the issues from last week I intend to, and I am still reading the comics from 2oo9 for my Year-End review post, and I don't really have money for buying comics, but here I am doing another Looking Forward To... post anyway.

"Spider-Man & the Secret Wars" #3 is the book I was most looking forward to this week. The first issue fits in quite well with the events as originally related in the "Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars" mini-series from 1984. It is pretty light fare, but nearly unique in that it adds material to a really strange and quickly done with moment of Marvel Universe history.

This third issues embellishes the story of the acquisition of the symbiotic Spider-Man costume which was originally seen in "Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars" #8 and had far-reaching consequences that could never have been foreseen by Jim Shooter at the time! So we now get a version of the story with embellishments that connect it with the stories that take place later. Will this 'untold tales series' become canon? That is up to the fans and the scholars, i.e. to all of us!

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 2/3/2o1o!

Hello true believers!

On this upcoming Wednesday, when I take a trip to my local comic-book shop to pick up my comics I'm most definitely going to buy:

"Invincible Iron Man" #23

Wow. That was actually quite hard this week! Considering that "Siege" #2 comes out this week and apparently "The Siege has begun and it claims its first victim as AN AVENGER WILL DIE!!" Who could it be? Who could it be?! Oh I may not lay my head down to rest until I know!!! I'm assuming that based on what I picked as my top choice of the week... you can tell that's sarcasm.

On top of that, a graphic novel I've been waiting for since it was announced at the MoCCA Festival way back in June is coming out! I urge you to take a look at Raina Telgemeier's "Smile". It looks human and sweet and funny and sad. All the things good autobiographical comics should be. It's available in both a hardcover and softcover edition tomorrow at considerable difference in cost!

Plus the second volume of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan's "Demo" starts up this week. That can't NOT be good.

And that is pretty much my whole pull-list, actually. Light week, thank goodness!

Check back to see what becomes a part of the Gorga-Cave!
Don't worry I don't actually call my home that...

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 1/27/2o1o!

Okay, I'm going to follow Josh's lead on these posts because something has to change for them to still have a point, don't they?

If Josh and I are both wrong and you really enjoy these posts as just simple lists let us know! Post a comment and let us know how wrong we are! But from here on in, I am going to name one book, the big book, the one book that I am most excited about and am most likely to buy (similar to what Josh is doing) and then I am going to write an update to the post in which I show you a picture of all the things I bought for the week, whether they're this week's books or not.

So my big book for this week is: "the Amazing Spider-Man" #619

I am finally catching up on this series and I'm getting a lot of great surprises along the way. I'm only three issues behind! This idea of throwing all of Spidey's old major villains from Kaine to Electro at him in a short period of time and calling it "The Gauntlet" is just spine-tingly good. Check back to see what I pick up!

UPDATE: 1/29/2o1o
So, still being short on cash (fingers crossed on a few job prospects), I'm limiting my purchasing again big time.

So I just got the aforementioned "Amazing Spider-Man" #619 and "New Avengers" #61, which I feel the need to point out looks to have almost nothing to do with "Siege". I seriously, seriously WANTED to pick up "Green Lantern" #50 because it looks like another big turning point in the "Blackest Night" event storyline. Sigh.

Back to "Siege", both "New Avengers" and "Dark Avengers" aren't so much tying into "Siege" as they are wrapping up their respective stories (I'd be surprised if the "Mighty" tie-in issues don't do the same). Which figures as all the Avengers titles are about to be canceled and we will finally have one single story in a comic titled "Avengers" which Josh posted about earlier this month and upon which there will be more to come soon.

However, if you really want to see a fleshing-out of the story in "Siege" #1, I'd recommend reading "Dark Wolverine" #82 and "Avengers: The Initiative" #32. So far, those two titles have actually showed us some more of the events leading up to the siege of Asgard. (And Josh and my respective thoughts about the current ongoing "Iron Man" story and the just completed "Thor" story being lead-ins to "Siege" turned out to be pretty much right on the button.)

We shall see what time and the Marvel executives have in store for the characters.

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 1/20/2o1o!

Hellooooooo.

And thus follows the perfunctory pull-list post of what I'm thinking of getting this Wednesday in my weekly comic-book store visit:

"the Amazing Spider-Man" #618
"Amazing" has been consistently good for about four months now. And that means a lot more than usual because it comes out three times a month. That's really more like a year's worth of stories from any other title. I ain't complaining.

"Web of Spider-Man" #4
It's the Spider-Man title that doesn't really feel like a Spider-Man title. Yeah his name's on it and yeah he shows up sometimes, but basically it's the villain of the month book now. I'll probably pass on this again.

"Avengers vs. Agents of Atlas" #1 of 4
I think this looks delightful. I haven't read much of Agents of Atlas, but Josh speaks well of it and I'm really getting even more into the Avengers as "Siege" ramps up.

"Incredible Hercules" #140
Continuation of "Assault on New Olympus", Marvel's other-other-other crossover 'event'.

"Spider-Woman" #5
So the new Avengers might be in here... or they might be more skrulls or whatever. We'll see.

"Dark Avengers" #13
Like Josh, I feel the siren song of the crossover 'event'. I want to know what Bendis will feel the need to hide in "Dark Avengers" that he doesn't put in "Siege".

"The Brave and the Bold" #31
The idea of the Atom and the Joker quote-unquote teaming-up makes little to no sense, but since JMS is writing it that actually means it's probably going to be remarkable.

"Cowboy Ninja Viking" #3
or
"Cowboy Ninja Viking" #4?
Or nothing. Both issues have been solicited for this week. Between the erratic release schedule and erratic tone of this title I'm falling further and further out of love with it.

"RASL" #6
"RASL" #6 might be coming out. This is another series that arrives when it feels like although it's far more worth the wait than "Cowboy Ninja Viking".

"Joe the Barbarian" #1 of 8
I can't help thinking "neato!" Because I'm sure twelve-year-old Jon Gorga would be absolutely enthralled by this title. We shall see what twenty-three-year-old Jon Gorga thinks of it.

Mind you I have no idea what I will really be able to afford... Check back here to find out!


UPDATE: 1/22/2o1o
So... this past Wednesday was a job searching day. I went to some of the comic-book shops in NYC I hadn't been to yet and as I wanted to make it clear that I read comics and love comics I bought a few at every store I visited while I dropped off resumes.

Long story short I'd spent more than I usually do on a Wednesday before I even got around to buying my new books. Mind you, I got some good deals. But money being tight I scaled back my purchases for the week to:

"the Amazing Spider-Man" #618

It was really the only essential buy for me this week anyway. Next week perhaps will be more exciting.

Already Tired of Tuesday...Cap is Back!

Hey guys! Big week this week, so let's jump right into it, shall we?

So....

You can tell why I'm excited, right? With issue #602, CAPTAIN AMERICA IS BACK- and I don't mean Steve Rogers- I mean his comic book. Reborn has come and gone (ok, not really, but it's supposed to be over), so we get to go back to reading the adventures of Captain America. I was pretty happy with the end result of Who Will Wield The Shield?, so seeing Ed Brubaker get back to telling the sort of relatively down to earth Cap stories that I've become so fond of is, well, kind of like a really cool Independence Day present (or something). Anyway, the tale looks to be the best sort of Captain America tale; the kind that's about what it means to wear the Flag, what it means to represent America. This is exactly the kind of story I'm a sucker for- and I'm ready for them to be back.

I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to pony up for Dark Avengers #13. I want to get the full picture of Siege and, while I'm not made of money, buying the books that Bendis is writing (along with those titles I would buy anyway, like Thor) will probably give me the best idea of what he thinks I need to see- it is his story, after all.

With that said, Incredible Hercules #140, Uncanny X-Men #520, Starman #81, Joe the Barbarian #1 and Fables #92 are all definite pick ups. A couple of notes on the last three: 1) I haven't been reading Blackest Night, but it's hard for me to pass up on an issue of Starman, even if I'm not sure it really counts, 2) Grant Morrison is writing Joe the Barbarian, which makes it automatic pick-up (this puts the Scottish Scribe in some very exclusive company) and 3) a Fables story about baseball and murder? What could be bad?

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 1/13/2o1o!

Okay, in light of the epic kinda-sorta-defeat of last week I really should/will buy something this week. But I still need to finish some reviews for stuff from the end of last year, not to mention the 2oo9 year in review posts all three of us are working on!


The weeklies...
"the Amazing Spider-Man" #617
"The Gauntlet" moves on to revamping the Rhino.

"Batman: Wydening Gyre" #4
This Batman mini penned by Kevin Smith has been good fun so far. If the cover is to be taken as a real indication of the contents I think we're finally going to see a lot of the Joker in this title.

"Daytripper" #2
Issue #1 might be on all three of our personal best of 2oo9 lists. That should tell you everything you need to know.

"the Invincible Iron Man" #22
This series might just be the best in mainstream superhero comics right now.

"X-Men Origins: Cyclops" one-shot
Again, these "Origins" one-shots are hit or miss to me. I'll take a look and make a full report of my opinions to you, the consumer.

"Spider-Man and the Secret Wars" #2 of 4
Still haven't read ish #1, but it looks like the comics equivalent of french fries drowned in ketchup, salt, and vinegar. Smells a bit sour, tastes totally sweet, goes down easy.

The books...
"Ed Hannigan: Covered"
I've never heard this man's name but I do know that there were some awesome covers wrapped around some issues of "Peter Parker: the Spectacular Spider-Man" back in the 70s and 80s. So when you combine this with the fact that there's some money going to a guy in bad health who gave something to the industry and the medium, it is something we should all really pick up.

"Rocketbots: Trouble in Time"
This looks like good fun. Sounds like something Pixar would dream up, right?


Okay, the truth? Although I didn't buy anything out of the new material this past week, I ended up breaking and buying some ridiculously good deals yesterday.

I bought: "MySpace Dark Horse Presents" Vol. 3 (which includes an excellent "Serenity" story) and "Acme Novelty Library" #19 for $16.30! That would have been $36 at full retail price. Both were things I'd wanted and planned to get for a while, so I did good.


UPDATE: 1/14/2o1o
There are those weeks when I just think comics are getting better across the board and I'm just lucky enough to be along for the ride.

I picked up the "Ed Hannigan" booklet. It's nice to learn about someone in the industry who I'd never heard of before. I hope that if the day comes when I'm a professional on in years without pension that something like this would happen to give me some badly needed money and recognition.

I picked up "Daytripper" #2, "Widening Gyre" #4, "Amazing" #617, and "Iron Man" #22 because they are excellent comics. All of them.

I picked up "Spider-Man and the Secret Wars" #2 because it's continuing to flesh out one of my favorite stories from 80s Marvel history: "The Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars".

I passed on "Origins: Cyclops" because it just seemed to be running over territory we'd seen a billion times and trying to tie it into the current stories. I'm sure those current stories are great, but I don't see the point in structuring an origin revamping one-shot to lead-into ongoing stuff. Unless I missed something, I thought these "X-Men Origins" one-shots were supposed to be cool, timeless re-presentations of X-Men characters in their youth. Why can't they all be like "X-Men Orgins: Jean Grey"? Timeless and of high quality.

I also passed on "Rocketbots". Mainly because I couldn't find it to decide if I wanted to buy it or not.

When are the reviews coming, I could not tell you. But come they will. And they will be good.

We are all three really hard at work on whipping up year-end review posts for you. So be patient!

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 1/6/2o1o!

So, as 2o1o begins and I read my huge pile of unread comics from 2oo9 and re-read my almost equally huge number of bought and read comics of 2oo9 here's my quick first 'Looking Forward To...' post of the new year!

This week of the Wednesday, the sixth of January in the year two-thousand-and-ten we have:

The books...
"The Chill" (maybe)
The idea of a series of crime graphic novels from Vertigo, the 'HBO of comics', is really awesome, but the first two failed to really grab my loins, if you know what I mean...

"Town of Evening Calm Country of Cherry Blossoms" (maybe)
This looks beautiful.

"The Box Man" (maybe)
Well... that sounds crazy, right?

The weeklies...
"Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Jackpot" #1 (maybe)
The chances that this won't leave me feeling lukewarm are slim, but you never know!

"Cable" #22 (maybe)
The last issue wasn't bad. I took a chance on it. I like Hope as a character and I really enjoy the way she interacts with Cable. It's kind of a 'Lone Wolf and Cub'-thing, but it's also a kind of a 'Leon, The Professional'-thing.

"Siege" #1 (definitely)
It's a story that's been seeded as far back as "Secret Invasion" in 2oo8, if not "Avengers: Disassembled" waaaay back in 2oo3. And it's only a commitment of four issues. Why not buy it?

"Siege: Embedded" #1 (maybe)
Well, I don't know if this one will turn out to be one of the titles I'll regret not buying when the event is over and done with so I'll at least look at the damn thing.

Right now, you're thinkin' "Damn that's a lot of maybes." And you're right. What can I say? I'm doing sporadic file clerk work now for cripe's sake! And reading all the comics from 2oo9 I bought and DIDN'T read is making me think hard about the way I spend my money.

Check back and see who wins: the Gorga or the Wallet!


UPDATE: 1/10/2o1o

The Wallet doesn't pull its punches and achieves a knockout folks, he weaved left, he weaved right, he...
I didn't pick up anything this week.

"Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms" turned out to be 2 stories in one and left me confused as to its publishing history, which has left me burned a few too many times lately for me to pick it up and get disappointed that there was a cheaper, earlier version out there.

Quick Amazon.com research shows that there was indeed a cheaper paperback version published in 2007.

"The Box Man" looked like a damn mess of pop-surrealism. That's all I gots ta say about that.

The first issue of the new "Jackpot" mini looked like so much crap. So much rigamarole just to introduce the actual character of Jackpot and not someone pretending to be Jackpot, only to have her be someone who doesn't want to be Jackpot. And now the writers change their minds, have her change her mind and now she's Jackpot.

"Siege: Embedded" looks like something I wouldn't mind reading, but it's not a must read.

And "Siege" itself? Yeah, it's really good. But do I need it?
I read Clare's copy like a Moochie McMoocherstein.

Next week... I'll probably buy something.

Already Tired of Tuesday...Siege!

Hey guys!

After an extended holiday break, it's good to be back- although I had a nice time sitting around and doing nothing, it's time to get back in the game.

The book of the week is, of course, the first issue of Marvel's new event book- Siege! I'm something of a Marvel fanboy, so it's no surprise that I'm picking this up, particularly because it looks to be the conclusion of the publisher's almost decade long macrostory. Trying to figure out where we go from here (and what exactly the promised Heroic Age is all about) is definitly part of the appeal here. Icing on the cake is the art of Oliver Copiel who, at the very least, drew the best Thor of the decade and is one of the best comic book artists at the House of Ideas. Needless to say, it's going to be a lot of fun, if not necessarily great comics.

I've decided that, although I'm not going to buy all of the tie-ins, Siege: Embedded #1 will be on my pull-list for a couple of issues, at least. I've always liked Ben Urich and, inasmuch as I think Embedded will be able to deal with the consequences of the event for the real people of Broxton, it'll have some interesting stories to tell.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to Sweet Tooth #5, which is the end of the book's first arc.

Finally, I just wanted to thank all of you fine readers for stopping by in the first few months of the site. Hopefully, in the new year, our readership will only continue to grow.

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 12/23/2oo9

A few items of interest upon my LARGE pull-list for this week:

"the Amazing Spider-Man" #616 (definitely)
Continuation of "The Gauntlet", which I'm behind on.

"Incredible Hercules" #139 (probably)
Continuation of "Assault on New Olympus", which I'm behind on.

"New Avengers" #60 (definitely)
I'm behind on everything that's coming out this week...

"Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield?" one-shot (maybe)
Everyone's behind on this one because "Captain America Reborn" isn't over and they're giving us a story that takes place after its conclusion. Thanks Marvel!

"Fantastic Four" #574 (probably)
An adorable-sounding story of young Franklin Richards' birthday party with guest stars!

"Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man" #58 (maybe)
A nice-looking out-of-continuity Spidey story.

"WALL-E" #1 (maybe)
Who can resist this little guy? The silence-thing should work even better in sequential art than it did in animation. We'll find out.

Already Tired of Tuesday... Late Edition

I know its Wednesday folks, sorry about that. I'm in the midst of Finals, so I'm afraid blogging gets short shrift, but in return for my being unable to fall asleep, you get new posts.

Which I guess is a fair trade.


This week's featured issue is Fables #91, the conclusion to the Witches storyline. Witches, on the whole, has been pretty unbelievably cool, with just the right level of intrigue, adventure and butt-kicking flying monkey. That's right, Bufkin, the flying monkey, has been playing a major role in Fables for the past five months and, in my humble opinion, it's one of the most satisfying character arcs that Bill Willingham has ever written. Furthermore, in between Frau Totenkinder's quest to discover the origin of Mr. Dark, Ozma's take over of the Fable spellcasters and Gepetto's quest to regain a little power, there's a lot going on here- and it's all building up to something huge. If you haven't been reading Fables, this is not a very good place to jump on- but, as the book is by far one of the best currently on the stands, you really should wait until next month, when a brand new storyline starts.

Also on the pull list for this week is Captain America Reborn #5, which may or may not be the last issue of a mini that I had high hopes for, but has been incredibly inconsistent, as well as Daredevil #503 and possibly Brave and the Bold #30. Daredevil is, I think, one of the most underrated comics on the stands these days, and if you aren't picking it up you should at least take a flip through. I haven't heard great things about JMS' Brave and the Bold run, however, the cover caught my eye, so maybe Dr. Fate is enough to bring me on, if for just one issue. We'll have to see, I guess.

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 12/16/2oo9

I'ma lookin' forward tah:

"Amazing Spider-Man" #615 (definitely)
Well... someday I'll read this series instead of just buy them and plan to read them. I still need to read #602.

"Ex Machina" #47 (definitely)
I'm not going to NOT read this. The last issues of this series (we're leading up to the final one, #50) have to go out with a bang.

"Cowboy Ninja Viking" #3 (probably)
Jeez read that solicit. How can I not buy this? It is my intention to re-read the first issue with the understanding that it is a comedy and then review it for this site. Then buy and read #2.

"Chimichanga" #1 (maybe)

Huh.

"X-Factor" #200 (maybe)
THIS looks interesting.

"Cable" #21 (maybe)

I must admit the idea that Marvel is doing an X-Men crossover event named "Second Coming" about the red-haired baby-girl who was the first mutant born since the events of the "House of M" crossover returning to the present after escaping to the future and becoming a fully-grown lady is... remarkable. For many reasons.

"Captain America: Reborn" #5 (maybe)

Hey, I'm a sucker for alternate past world stories. Read the preview pages. See what I mean. So cool!

NOTE: The collected paperback edition of "The Life and Times of Savior 28" is solicited to come out this week (earlier than we'd gotten word previously). Although I almost certainly won't be buying this since I have all five issues of the mini-series, I highly recommend the series to all fans of superhero comics. If you 'waited for trade' on this one, you really, really should stick to your guns now.

Well, that's all he wrote.... for now! Be sure to check back in this space to see what I buy!

UPDATE: 12/20/2oo9

Once AGAIN this week some comics could simply not be located: "Chimichanga" #1 and "Cowboy Ninja Viking" #3 are either delayed or got lost in a shipment or something.

Cap Reborn #4 didn't look very good. The preview pages are kind of misleading and... dammit, I don't care about this series anymore. We'll have to see how the last issue is.

"X-Factor" #200 turned out to be an expensive book with a lot of reprints in the back. Short story, bunch of pages of reprints, 5 bucks. Does not compute.

Seeing "The Brave and the Bold" #30 on Josh's pull-list made me curious and when I flipped though it I decided it looked awesome and so I picked it up. It is wonderful.

"Cable" #21 was surprisingly good and you will probably see a review of it from me in the coming weeks.

You will definitely see a review of "Ex Machina" #47 from me soon.

And I picked up Amazing Spidey #615. No surprise there.

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 12/9/2oo9

My thoughts on the comics that interest moi this week!

BIG week:

"the Amazing Spider-Man" #614 (definitely)
Still only beginning to catch up with this book...

"Spider-Man and the Secret Wars" #1 of 4 (probably)

The "Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars" was one of my favorite comics to dig through boxes for in comic shops (sometimes all around the world) when I was a kid, so the idea of dropping in at the BEST moment of the series (the opening of issue #4) and depicting it from my favorite character's POV? I don't even care if this turns out to be out-of-continuity I think I will buy all four!

"Web of Spider-Man" #3 (maybe)

So far I didn't buy #1 and then I bought #2, but mainly only because it was a sale weekend at St. Mark's Comics... Spider-Man never seems to actually show up in these, but I get the feeling they really need to be read to follow the story-line "The Gauntlet" currently going through "Amazing".

"New Avengers Annual" #3 (maybe)
I loved the first annual from a few years ago, felt kind of lukewarm about the second one. Depends on whether the Web-Head shows up. We shall see.

"the Invincible Iron Man" #21 (probably)

Well, the first part of "Stark: Disassembled" in last issue was great (as can be seen in Josh's review here), so we'll see how things move along here. Considering the connections this story should have to the upcoming 'events' from Marvel I should read all of it just to best appreciate "Siege" and whatever the hell "The Heroic Age" will be.

"Daytripper" #1 (probably)
A completely original work from the remarkable team of twins Fabio Moon and Gabriel Bá? Why wouldn't I pick this up?

"Ghostbusters: Past Present Future" (maybe)
The Ghostbusters take on the mythical ghosts of Charles Dickens' classic story "A Christmas Carol"! Deeeeee-lightful!

"God Complex" #1 (maybe)

This looks pretty good to me. Fun, cool, smart.

UPDATE: 12/10/2oo9

So Spidey appears in the "New Avengers Annual". Also? It looks like Bendis is finally going to make sense of the muck he has made out of the character of Hawkeye in this issue. Exciting!

"Web of Spider-Man" by comparison looked okay, but had no Spidey... His name is in the title, right?

"Invincible Iron Man" is really about as excellent as superhero comics get.

"Daytripper" is equally excellent. I can't wait for this series to be complete! It could be truly brilliant.

"God Complex" and the Ghostbusters one-shot? Well, they just seemed a bit too rote, you know? Standard choices being made.

I also took a long and hard look at "Wolverine: Under the Boardwalk" and seriously considered it. Looked very good, but I have TOO MANY COMICS. I passed on it.

"Spider-Man and the Secret Wars" #1? I bought it. I make no apologies.

Already Tired of Tuesday- Daytripper #1

So, I've decided to try a new format for Already Tired of Tuesday, and that format is this- I'm going to pick one book each week, talk about why I'm going to pull it in excruciating detail, and then just list everything else I'm going to take a look at. The old format was getting boring, and it was actually pretty difficult to write, which is why I've been kind of lax about this lately. So, we're going to start this new format with....


Gabriel Ba's and Fabio Moon's Daytripper #1, which I'm almost hysterically excited about. Two of the best artists in comics today, artists who have worked with both rising stars like Matt Fraction and industry stalwarts like Mike Mignola, Bá and Moon do work that is distinctive, moody, smooth and, most importantly, consistently awesome. I have no idea what their abilities as writers are, although they certainly seem to be pretty good from the Daytripper previews I've seen, but I think that the concept (the life of Brazilian obit writer Brás de Oliva Domingos, told non-linearly but in a presumably illuminating way) is interesting enough to support the book even if the writing isn't all there. Make no mistake, though- if you're buying this book, you're buying it for that art. I'm hoping to pleasantly surprised by the writing- Vertigo seems pretty high on it, anyway- but I'll be disappointed if the drawing doesn't blow me away. Did I mention it's set in the twins' home country of Brazil? Beautiful Brazil drawn by artists with bountiful brilliance? What could be better?

Other Things Worth A Peek This Week:
S.W.O.R.D #2
Invincible Iron Man #21

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 12/2/2oo9

Sorry to those (any?) of you who follow us weekly and have been missing my weekly pull-list posts. Starting my new seasonal position at a museum's gift shop has made my schedule a little too hectic to be regular...

weeklies:

"Jonah Hex" #50
Darwyn Cooke is such a genius that the comics he makes are rarely NOT worth looking at. This week a double-sized issue of Jonah Hex arrives drawn by him.

"Siege: The Cabal"
jesus... Read the preview pages.

"Supergod" #2
Haven't finished ish #1, but I am intrigued.
Disgusted, but intrigued.

Books:

"Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary"
This sounds wonderful...

"365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice"

This looks like genius, right here.

A nice light week.

Last week I bought a huge number of things at the two Black Friday sales in Manhattan: one at Jim Hanley's Universe and another at St. Mark's Comics. (The St. Mark's sale doesn't end until this Wednesday, which means you can get your weeklies there for 10% off! Shhh!) To list everything would be stupid and a waste of your time.

The two things I will mention are two graphic novels that I had been very excited about for a long while: "Asterios Polyp" by David Mazzucchelli and "Monsters" by Ken Dahl.

Who knows? You may see a review pop up on the latter from me eventually!

UPDATE: 12/2/2oo9

Right. Because of Thanksgiving the schedule was pulled back, so the new books will be out on Thursday the 3rd. Sorry about that.

UPDATE: 12/5/2oo9

I just picked up "Siege: The Cabal" and "365 Samurai And A Few Bowls of Rice" this week.

I passed on "Binky Brown" because it's a giant commemorative over-sized reprint of what was originally a tiny mini-comic. It's also a reproduction of the original art, white-out strokes and all, not the comic-as-printed in 1972. Not my bag, man.

I couldn't find "Supergod" #2 anywhere...

By the way, I've learned that "Monsters" isn't really a graphic novel. It was a mini-series. (See: #1, #2, and #3.)

Already Tired of Tuesday 11/24/09

AHA! Finally a big week of things for me to report on Already Tired of Tuesday!

First off we've got the final story in JMS's fantastic run on Thor- its sad to see the writer leave the God of Thunder as the stories he's told have been unbelievable. He's taken Thor and Asgard to entirely new places and while many of the comics that the Big Two produce seem to be recycling themselves Thor has been blazing its own trail for as long as JMS has been writing it. I did, however, really enjoy Kieron Gillen's first issue of SWORD, so I'm hopeful that the series will remain fantastic, although I'm certainly invested enough in it that I'll probably keep pulling it, even if it blows.

Staying in the realm of the divine, the second of part of Assault on New Olympus comes out tomorrow too- if you're interested, check out this interview over at CBR- and, seeing as I've been digging Incredible Herc so much recently I'm excited to see where Pak and Van Lente take this.

Matt Fraction is keeping the trouble coming for the X-Men in Uncanny #517, Tracy Lawless is sure to find some of his own in Criminal: The Sinners #2 and the JSA is going to tear itself to shreds in #33, the last issue before Matt Sturges takes his team and splits it off into JSA: All Stars.

Additionally, there are two more things I'm going to take a good look at: the new trade dress for The Invincible Iron Man is fantastic, and I've been waiting for a good point to jump on Fraction's Tony Stark story, so I'm going to try it out for a few issues and see what happens. Also, I've been hearing really good things about Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four, so I might be picking that up as well.

Anything else I should take a flip through?

Meanwhile, at the Pull List of Clare!- 11/04/09

Another hefty week for me, but hey that's okay by me! The more comics I read the happier I am. So, let's see what's in store for me this week:

From DC this week comes a bunch of great titles. I was really interested by the first part of Leviathan so I'm looking forward to picking up Batman: Streets of Gotham #6. While I much prefer Dini, Yost is telling a great story with one of my favorite characters- Huntress. Then there's Tiny Titans #22, which we all know I'm quite fond of. Then there are the Blackest Night tie-ins! I'm totally excited for Adventure Comics #4. Not only do I love this book like crazy but it also marks the return of Superboy Prime after the events of Legion of 3 Worlds. Plus it comes with the Blue Lantern ring! The Blue Lanterns are my favorite so I'm psyched about that. Outsiders #24 is a continuation from Blackest Night: Titans and it comes with the Star Sapphire ring. Then there's Superman/Batman #66, I don't exactly get how an out of continuity book ties in but it's got Bizzaro and Solomon Grundy so I'll give it a shot.

It's one of those weeks where I have more Marvel books this week. From the Other Company I've got a few good ones. Amazing Spider-Man #612 has been solidly good since American Son. I'm not sure what Gauntlet is exactly going to be but I'll give it a shot. However, I know I'm going to enjoy Dark Reign- The List: Amazing Spider-Man. Let's be honest, this is the moment of Dark Reign that we've all been waiting for-- Norman versus Peter. Bring it on! says I. Dark Avengers #11 and Mighty Avengers #31 have been two books I've solidly enjoyed. Dark Avengers just started a new story arch and Mighty Avengers is wrapping up something pretty epic. Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #5 is one of those books that I can't help myself with. Funny, stupid, mindless violence, hot chick with underwear showing (satirically, of course), and sweet movie-parody covers. What's not to like? Spider-Woman #3 is one of those books where I like where it's going but I'm not sure I'm in love yet. We will see! And wrapping up Marvel is X-Men Legacy #229, a book I believe to be highly overrated.

And let's top it all off with a nice cherry-- a Dr. Horrible one-shot explaining everyone's favorite villian's backstory. Nice!

Have a happy Wednesday, my loves! This weekend should hold a review of the first issue of Mark Waid's "Strange" from myself.

Aw yeah Wednesday!

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 11/18/2oo9

I'm going to start including collections and graphic novels in these pull-lists because they're comics too dagnabit! You're just not going to see a review from me on one of them for SIX MONTHS. I'm slow.

The weeklies:

The usual Spideys!
"the Amazing Spider-Man" #612 (definitely)
I'm not too keen on any experimental re-envisioning of classic characters. So... apprehension is the word.

"Dark Reign: The List - Amazing Spider-Man" one-shot (definitely)
Dan Slott himself told me in person how excited he was to write this. I can't NOT buy it!

"Dr. Horrible" one-shot (probably)
I loved the web-video (or IPTV series) to which this is a prequel. Who doesn't right!?

"Cowboy Ninja Viking" #2 of 4 (probably)
This got pushed back. STILL haven't read issue #1...

"Drone" #1 of 4 (maybe)
This sounds smart and disturbing. A good combination.

"Tiny Titans" #22 (maybe)
Clare's editorial of last month made a big impression on me about this series.

The books:

"Pictures That Tick" (maybe)
I'm really fascinated by experimental comics, although I've rarely been able to handle a whole collection of them. I usually end up trying to take it slow to absorb each piece because they can and will be SO different. As a result... I never finish the damn things.

Strange week. We'll see...

Already Tired of Tuesday...

I know I've had some slow weeks recently, but this one takes the cake- the only book I had been planning to pick up this week is Punisher #11- you know, the one with FRANKENCASTLE written in big letters on the top. I'm interested to see what its going to be like and, as Jon and I discussed awhile ago, I think its a pretty clever idea.

Other than that, though, I've got nothing- anyone have a recommendation for me?

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 11/11/2oo9

This week, new comic-book day is the day before my birfday! Huuray!

From the week's new books I'm...

Snapping up:
The usual...
"the Amazing Spider-Man" #611

"Comic Book Comics" #4
A continuing graphic ''text-book' history of the comic-book industry! I love stuff like this.

"Luke Cage: Noir" #4 of 4
I'm VERY much looking forward to this. See my two previous reviews of issues 2 and 3 to see why.

Considering:
"Supergod" #1 of 5
I've bought Warren Ellis' past two superhero mini-series and the man is a genius.

"Cowboy Ninja Viking" #2 of 4
Well... considering that I just bought the first one and haven't read it I dunno.

"Blackbeard: The Legend of the Pyrate King" #2 of 3
Another one I haven't had the time to read the first issue of. Yeesh.

"The Ghoul" #1
Unfortunately, I really can't afford to pick this one up too... but it looks very cool! Who knows...