Since the computer seems to work - at least for the moment - I want to start the first part of my usual unqualified commentary track about the newest solicitations.
Or at least that is what I usually do. Now it has been quite a while since my last installment so the months have piled up.
One of the problems with that is that in some instances I have no idea what I initially wanted to write to that particular image. Which is the reason that I am going to change my usual modus operandi. Normally I´m going through the titels in alphabetical order devided into the different comic companies. I will still do seperate posts on the different comic companies but I´m going to shake up the alphabetical order a bit.
Since I´m not always sure what I wanted to write to each image I´m going to comment on the ones I do remember. Which means there might be something in a later post that should have been in the first one according to the alphabetical order. But this time I´m going to be a bit less anal in that departement.
Speaking of different comic companies the first thing that caught my eye was that while Marvel seems to have made the 3.99 jump in most books DC is still trying to stay at 2.99 with most books. Going through the Marvel solicitations all the first books are at 3.99 and it takes a long time till the first 2.99 book appears. On the other side you have to really search for 3.99 books in the DC solicitations. The other difference is that almost all 3.99 books at Marvel have 22 pages while ALL 3.99 books from DC have 40 pages. Another thing I want to mention is that the co star stories are now definitely going to be 10 pages.
But let´s start the first part of the solicitaion discussion ( as I´m sure I´m not going to warp this up in one post ) with the DC books :
NO FINAL CRISIS - LEGION OF THREE WORLDS TILL MAY
Yes, we have to wait till May for another issue of this. Now on one side that is devastating. Usually I wait till something really worthwhile is in my comic bag till I go to the comic shop. And with issue 11 of HULK taking it´s time I´m not sure when I will visit my comic shop the next time.
On the other side I don´t want George Perez to risk his health and get carpal tunnel syndrome. He got it when he did the cover to JLA / AVENGERS 3 and because I have the same thing since last July I know how painful that can be. So I want George Perez to take his time, no matter how long it takes. I can wait till the issue comes out and like always I´m sure the wait will be worth it.
BATMAN MAD LOVE
Being a big fan of the whole Batman Adventures franchise I still have to say I was a bit disappointed with this. Don´t get me wrong, it´s not a bad comic, but there have been other stories of far higher quality in the Batman Adventures lore that never got the special treatment this one did. One of my brothers was especially surprised that this comic won an Eisner Award but in that year it just was the best comic in that category. It was a slow year.
Nevertheless, if you haven´t read it ( and don´t have a problem with a Batman who laughs ) you should check it out. One of the best things that has come from the cartoon version of the Batuniverse is the character of Harley Quinn. Even if the comic version of her in the normal universe is only a tenth as scary and funny as the original cartoon version she´s hilarious every time she´s together with her pudding. And of course the beautiful art by Bruce Timm ( who doesn´t do enough interior work ) alone is worth the price of admission.
BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 26 - 28
This is one of the titles that SHOULD be on my pull list but isn´t. The reason why it isn´t on my pull list is that usually titles with rotating art teams don´t make it on my pull list. I´m pretty art conscious and because of a rather eclectic taste fine honed by a steady diet of only the best comic artists I have held over the years I prefer to pick and choose which issues I buy.
And usually that works fine for me but somehow I always draw a blank in the comic shop where BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL is concerned. I missed the end of the Wrath storyline so I had to leave the issues I had in the comic bag in the comic shop. I also missed the first issues of the THE BAT AND THE CAT story because I overlooked it when I did my orders in Spain.
Thankfully this is going to be collected in a trade ( at least according to amazon although at the moment you can only pre - order it ) so I can finally experience such great bat moments like this one.
Now with the Wrath story and the one that starts in BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 26 - of which I´m not sure how it is called and if it even has a special title - I´m not sure if it´s going to be collected. With four or three issues it is either going to be a very thin trade or there is going to be a lot of older filler material to bump up to the six issue volume that´s standard for a trade.
That´s one of the downsides of shorter stories. You get a lot of filler. So, this story written by Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFilippis is all about the introduction of King Tut into the DC universe proper. I´m not that big a follower of the Adam West and Burt Ward Batman tv show so I have no idea who he is. But the Batman teaming up with the Riddler ? In a story drawn by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez ? You can´t miss with that one.
Jose Luis Garcia Lopez is one of my favorite artists who drew a lot of Superman comics I read in my youth. He was one of the regular artists in the pages of SUPERMAN BATMAN, which was the german edition of the DC comics, together with Jim Aparo, Ernie Chan, Joe Staton and of course Curt Swan. One of these days I really have to get around to continue the CLASSICOS DC : THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD series with the special about Jose Luis Garcia Lopez hypno time travel Batman story.
The inks are done by Kevin Nolan which, I guess, is better than when Klaus Janson inked him on JLA CLASSIFIED. Nothing against Klaus Janson but I have always leaned to inkers who have a slicker style like Josef Rubinstein, Brett Breeding or Mark Farmer for Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. But judging from the preview pages Kevin Nolan does seem to fit rather good and it never hurts to include hot chicks in lingerie.
Interview with writers Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFilippisNow it´s once again time to wrap up the first part ( like always the research took longer than expected but naked Batgirl is much too important ) but since I have already mentioned Kevin Maguire I should also include the next item. Like I said, I´m bending the alphabetical order I normally apply on this one.
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL 2
If Kevin Maguire is known for one thing it´s probably this. This is the best JLA series ever. Forget Grant Morrison or Brad Melzer. Never have superheroes been more realistic than on this one. Now there may be people out there who dismiss this incarnation of the league as the " Bwha Ha Ha League " trying to tell you it was all fun and games.
Well, that´s because most people forget that during this run the world and the universe was on the brink of destruction a few times, a zombie plague endangered the free world, there were several nuclear almost disasters, Power Girl was beaten into a coma and Mister Miracle was killed in action. But maybe that´s some people´s idea of fun.
If you have already read this issues here´s your chance to add the trade to your collection since the old issues are probably worn out from multiple reading. So far there was one trade......well, officially two. There was the first trade that was even reprinted and there have been rumors of a second collection called THE SECRET GOSPEL OF MAXWELL LORD. Although as far as I know it´s just an urban comic legend. Everybody has heard of it but nobody has ever held on in his hand.
Well, I´m glad that DC is finally doing a new edition of this. I mean it´s the least they can do after slaughtering almost the entire Giffen League. There are few comics on which I give out recommendations but if ýou don´t laugh out loud while reading this one.....well, you´re probably dead.
There are four volumes so far in hardcover but with the second one available in softcover the other will surely follow.
And that´s the end of the first part. In the next part : more DC, more Giffen League and more Justice League.
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