Post-Crisis Comic Book Previews for 12/26/12

Merry Christmas, everyone!  It's the last week of 2012, so although we have comic books coming out on Wednesday, there won't be a lot of them.  Most companies got the remainder of their comics for the year on stands last week, so today's Post-Crisis Comic Book Previews has what could charitably be called a pittance to choose from.   That being the case, we'll expand the picks beyond what I'll be picking up and take a gander at most of what you'll be able to find at your local comic book shop the next time you stop by.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #700

Written by Dan Slott

Art by Humberto Ramos

LAST ISSUE!

Grant: Century issues are always a big deal, and with Amazing Spider-Man ending (at least for now) at issue #700, this is definitely a book worth checking out.  It also helps that Dan Slott has really turned things up to 11 over the past few issues of ASM, with the book's status quo being thrown completely out of whack in #698.  This really looks like it will be the best book to choose from tomorrow.  It's 104 pages for $7.99, which sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #15.1

Written by Christopher Yost

Art by Paco Medina

• Coinciding with the end of Amazing Spider-Man, a look back at the greatest conflict in comics history: Spider-Man vs. Doctor Octopus!

Grant: Dan Slott has also repeatedly said that this issue will spin out of Amazing Spider-Man #700 in a big way, providing the true epilogue to the current (and final) storyline.  It's hard to say how much of that is hype versus reality, but if you're still jonesing for more Spider-Man, Avenging looks to be a good bet for quenching that urge - even if the numbering scheme continues to make absolutely zero sense.

AQUAMAN #15

Written by Geoff Johns

Art by Ardian Syaf

Crossover with JUSTICE LEAGUE!

Part 2 of 'THRONE OF ATLANTIS!'

Atlantis invades the surface world!

Grant: It appears as if DC's response to Marvel putting all their eggs in the Spider-Man basket this week is to release a two-part story starring  Aquaman and their flagship superteam, the Justice League.  Unsurprisingly, part one of this initiative will be found in Justice League #15 (which you can check out below).  This also marks Ardian Syaf's first issue as the new Aquaman artist, so for you Aquaman or Ardian Syaf fans, this book is definitely worth looking into.

DEATHMATCH #1

Written by Paul Jenkins

Art by Carlos Magno

THE SUPERHERO BATTLE ROYALE YOU CAN'T GET FROM MARVEL OR DC!

A powerful and mysterious supervillain has imprisoned the world's greatest superheroes, forcing them to fight to the death until there is but one victor. It's kill or be killed as we settle the score on all those hypothetical superhero match-ups in the ultimate DEATHMATCH.

DEATHMATCH is a dark, psychological deconstruction of the superhero genre that can't be missed.

Grant: Meanwhile, Boom! is hoping to take advantage of the dearth of comics book this week and the recent popularity of Battle Royal-esque properties to launch their entry into the genre: Deathmatch.  There will be 32 brand new characters introduced in this comic book, and by the end of things, all but one of them will be dead.  Or at least that's the way Boom! is selling things.  Considering that the majority of these characters are literally being created to die, I'm curious to see if Paul Jenkins and Carlos Magno will be able to make readers care about them in any way, shape, or form.  Killing superheroes has long been a sales-gimmick, so it'll be interesting to see how Boom! fares with their attempt at the trope.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #15

Written by Geoff Johns

Art by Ivan Reis & Joe Prado

Part 1 of 'THRONE OF ATLANTIS,' crossing over with AQUAMAN!

Don't miss the debut of IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO (AQUAMAN) as the new JUSTICE LEAGUE art team!

Can the Justice League band together to battle the forces of Atlantis? And in the backup feature, Shazam comes face to face with Black Adam, and Billy makes a decision that will shock his friends!

Grant: Man, I still have a bit of a hard time believing and / or understanding why DC is so desperate to make Aquaman popular.  Like, it's cool that you want people to like him, but do you have to beat us over the head with how much you want us to adore him?  I dunno, maybe I'm still bitter that DC decided to nix Captain Marvel in favour of Shazam, which I don't think I'll ever fuller get over.  All of this to say, here's part one of that Aquaman crossover DC's turning out on the morrow.  Maybe you'd like to check it out?

MARA #1

Written by Brian Wood

Art by Ming Doyle

Acclaimed creator BRIAN WOOD (The Massive, DMZ, Demo, Northlanders) and brilliant newcomer MING DOYLE (The Loneliest Astronaut, Fantastic Four, Girl Comics) bring you MARA, the story of an especially gifted woman in a sports-and war-obsessed future.

Young Mara Prince is at the top of the world, a global celebrity in a culture that prizes physical achievement above all else. After she manifests supernatural abilities on live TV, she becomes famous all over again but for the worst reasons. Integrating themes of superpowers, celebrity worship, corporate power, feminism, and political brinksmanship, MARA takes a classic genre to new places.

Grant: I like Brian Wood as much as the next guy, but I'm not really certain what Mara is supposed to be about.  There's an awful lot going on in that solicitation above me, but when it claims that "MARA takes a classic genre to new places" it's taking about the superhero genre?  It's hard to say, but I'll definitely tune in to see what the story is.

So here's a good chunk of your options comics-wise for the week.  Which of these six issues are you most interested in?  Let us know in the comments below!

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