The solicits have all trickled out now, which means it's time for us here
at the Weekly Crisis to offer our solicitation picks for May. Hit
the jump to see what the crew recommends, what's grinding our gears, or
is just something neat to be on the look out for that doesn't get a lot
of notice.
Grant's Thoughts
The Best Thing in May
Batwoman Doing Her Own Thing
While
all the Bat-titles are getting caught up in the "Court of Owls"
crossover storyline, I'm glad to see that at least one of them can
maintain their independence. It's especially gratifying to see that the
lone title is perhaps the best one happening right now, Batwoman. When
you think about it, it's kind of ridiculous that a book starring such
an incredibly derivative character is this good, but if that's the case,
it's better to not think about it and just roll with it. And that's
exactly what I'm going to do.
The Worst Things in May
Owlin' for You (Batman)
I'm
not a big fan of crossover storylines. In fact, I think it's safe to
say that I'm pretty close to despising them. The act of connecting the
one or two titles I actually follow to the plethora that I've already
decided aren't worth my comic buying dollars is really frustrating to me
and feels like an attack on my intelligence. If you want me to buy
your comic books, make them good, don't make them gimmicky. Another big
strike against this is that I'm still not sold on the whole "inserting
an evil and arcane secret society that's existed forever but somehow
Batman's never found out about them until now". Even granted that we're
in the new 52, it really feels like it's throwing Batman under the bus
to put over how great these new bad guys are, which doesn't sit right
with me.
The Dubious Double-Ship
Marvel
is double shipping all of their books and this type of business plan
infuriates me. I like it with Amazing Spider-Man because of the type of
book it is. I do not want this to happen with every single book I
follow. Unlike what the people at Marvel seem to think, I am not made
of money, and I cannot follow a gazillion series that ship twice a
month. With all the wacky stuff they pull, I'm sometimes at a loss for
why their books sell so much better than DC's.
Are Zombies Still Cool?
Marvel
Zombies was fun and all, but do we really need another one of these
guys? What is this, the zillionth Marvel Zombies series? Haven't they
killed everyone off yet? Aren't people tired of this concept? Do I
have anything to offer but cynicism and questions? WHO KNOWS?!
The Coolest Things in May
Avenging Spider-Man?!
I'm
not following this book at all, but the promise of Kathryn and Stuart
Immonen teaming up for a big ol' smashfest with Spider-Man and She-Hulk
is more than enough to lure me in. I love one-shots as much as the next
guy (okay, probably more), and this one sounds like music to my ears.
Even the solicitation sounds great - "All the thwipping and quipping
and none of the calories!". I know I'm usually pretty down on Marvel's
(often terrible) solicits, but that's awesome.
Batman Incorporated is Back!
I'm
terribly excited to have Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham's Batman Inc.
back in my monthly rotation. I will admit to being a little
apprehensive about it being set in the DCnU (can't you just give them
their own universe to play in?), but if anyone can make this work,
Morrison can. His Batman epic is too great to be thrown off by
something as insignificant as rebooting an entire universe, right? (it
does make you wonder where characters like Stephanie are going to fit in
though...)
Comic Book History of Comics
Okay,
I did not read the original run of Fred van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey's
Comic Book Comics, but this sounds pretty amazing. What more could a
guy want than a comic book retelling of the history of comic books?
It's a concept that is both so simple and complex that thinking about
it too hard is making my head hurt, but I'm excited as hell nonetheless.
Ryan's Thoughts
The Best Things In May
David Mazzucchelli's Daredevil Born Again: Artist's Edition
Hot
damn, this thing will be worth every penny. I'm a Daredevil completist,
I hate to admit at times, but this one is just a no brainer. This one
will be mine. I own all the original issues of Born Again and so
displaying them next to this mammoth compilation of all the original
art should be fun. I've seen the other Artist's Editions come and go and
knew I could not afford them. Now, it's my turn. I really cannot wait -
this is some of the best news of the year.
Chris Samnee Draws Daredevil
I
surely don't even need to explain this one, right? I'm looking forward
to Daredevil continuing to be one of the prettiest titles on the stands.
New Image Titles To Crush
Man,
Image just won't give it up. Here they lay out a new slew of titles we
all want to read. Jum McCann's Mind the Gap looks and sounds pretty damn
cool. Dancer from Nathan Edmondson and Nic Klein is also going to be a
must buy, and then there's Grim Leaper (which we all know I'm going to
be invested in ) and I really think (hell, I've read the first issue, I
know) this is Wiebe's next big thing. I loved Green Wake and this is
going to be the book that stands behind it in quality.
The Coolest Things In May
Swierczynski To Write Godzilla
Another
goddamn Godzilla comic. Man, who needs....---...wait, Duane
Swierczynski is writing it. SOLD. Man, this is a crazy idea and it just
might work. I'm on, so hard.
The Cape TPB
No,
not the show. This is the mini I kept telling you all about all this
past year. Based on a story by Joe Hill, written by Jason Ciaramella,
drawn by Zack Howard, this book is phenomenal. If you missed the issues
then you MUST get this trade. It's hyper-golddust.
OG TMNT Not B&W
The
very original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles books are being rerelased
and now in colour. This would be in the Best section were it not for the
$3.99 price tag. I could have gone for something cheaper, more
attainable for the entry level kids in the room.
Justin Jordan on Hack/Slash
This just looks like fun. A damn good writer on a very quirky title for a guest one-shot. Yeah, comics needs more of this.
Dial H #1
I think I might just pick this one up...what do you think?
Ken's Thoughts
The Best Things in May
Batman Inc. Returns
Or
would it be better to brand the book Batman Inc. Rises? Part of me
wonders how the book will work in the DCnU, if it works well or if a
square peg gets mashed into a round hole, but Chris Burnham returns to
deliver the art, so we've got a lot of good things going with the book,
to the point that we might have a legitimate contender to Snyder and
Capullo's dominance of the Bat-family for the past 9 months.
The Worst Things in May
Ravagers
Howard
Mackie has had a very rough career in terms of quality stories, much of
it deserved. So it really was a shock to realize he has returned to write a Teen
Titans spinoff. Well, the Harras connection is the obvious point, but
being dragged down in this story is Ian Churchill, an artist who I like
and has to carry on the extreme 90's feel the cover implies. Even worse,
Churchill's lovely new style that we saw in Marineman seems to be gone.
Double the Double-Ship Discussion
A
topic so important I'll double ship my disappointment along with Grant.
Double shipping works when spread out over the year on a title.
Avengers double ships one month, New Avengers the next, Secret Avengers
the next, etc. That's a nice gradual way to increase books and not be a
burden to the customer. I can't shake the feeling that because of all
these double ships, the books will simply be one half of a normal story,
and be filler just to get another four dollars out of us during AvX. At
the very least, if Marvel was insisting on double shipping so much,
they could have lowered the price for the books down to three bucks, and
buy a bit of goodwill.
The Coolest Things in May
Superman Family Adventures
The
Tiny Titans creative team working on an all ages book that stars the
Superman family of characters, including the super pets? That is exactly
what I want to read, and can only hope it has a feeling of being an
80's family sitcom along the way.
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10 comments:
Wow surprised no one here is pumped for the court of owls. I truly don't believe you have to buy all of the titles. it's just a small cross-over.
No, the "Court of Owls" tie ins are all supposed to be self contained, more or less. Still, I don't get why Detective Comics is tying into it, we don't need TWO issues focusing on Batman.
You don't have to collect every title of Night of the Owls; the guy writing Batman and DC said dozens of times it's all self-contained and that he was writing it for Batman, saw that others could tie it, and told them they could be part of it if they WANTED to be. At first most turned him down (Detective, Dark Knight). Then a few of them that did came up with ideas and then decided to do something with it. Dark Knight doing a Tim Drake story during it, Batman and Robin focusing on Robin.
The guy literally just had a neat idea and asked others if they wanted to be part of it. Batwoman's writer didn't, for example.
I for one LOVE the court of owls. I disagree that they are throwing Batman under the bus, I see it as making the court SO good that even Batman couldn't find them, so that makes them pretty cool in my book.
Batman Inc., woooooooooo!!!
I feel like they're putting batman over with how powerful and ancient the court is.
Does anyone know if Batman Inc will be 12 more issues or a real on-going?
Gosh, just when I peg Ian Churchill's style.... well, I just hope he does what he's most comfortable with.
I think Inc. is 12 issues, after that who knows what Grant has in store. I've loved Morrison's Batman work, so I hope he stays with the character.
Yeah, the Court of Owls crossover is so bogus!
So how many books tie into Avengers VS XMen?
Not following AvX thank goodness. The main book (twice a month), the Vs book, Avengers tie in, New Avengers tie in, Secret Avengers tie in, Avengers Academy tie in, Uncanny X-men tie, Wolverine and the X-men tie in, X-men Legacy tie in and Marvel double shipping half or most of their popular books twice every other month. No thank you, I'm not made of money.
Court of Owls is nothing to fear. You only have to read the main Batman book. All the other books are tie ins if you are curious what happens to all your other favorite bat characters during Court of Owls.
Its following the R.I.P format where you just have to follow the main Batman book and all the rest are tie ins that are not necessary. Don't force yourself to buy everything just because it has the Court of Owls banner and it ties in. It's not that essential to following this Bat-event.
Finally Morrison can finish his last 12 issues. Been invested for 6 yrs not to know how it's gonna end.
Chris Samnee on DD. Another one of my favorites. Paolo Rivera, Marcos Martin, and now Chris Samnee on DD. Thank you!!!
I appreciate where you are all coming from, and while my weekly pull list might lead you to think otherwise, I do understand that I don't have to buy every issue a company puts out just because it's a tie-in. My beef with comic book crossovers is the implication on the company's part that the consumer will be willing to pick up the tie-in issues simply because they relate to the main title that people are already buying. I think that's insulting to readers' intelligence, and the practice doesn't sit well with me. As I said above, if you want me to buy your comic, make a good comic. It's as simple as that.
Don't get me wrong; I'm still going to be buying Batman. But as you've seen here and in my reviews, I've yet to be completely won over by the Court of Owls storyline.
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