The Weekly Crisis vs. Solicits for September 2013

The September comic book solicitations are now available for all to see, and so we at The Weekly Crisis have pored through them so that you don't have to.  As always, there are plenty of books that could very well be the best and coolest ones come this Fall, and we're happy to talk more about them behind the cut.  The worst things of the month is a slightly different story, but you'll see what we mean by that.

Hansel's Thoughts

Best Things in September

Creator OWNED

Month two of a Jeff Lemire ongoing. I hope Trillium wins my heart over just to dash it to pieces (in a good way) like Sweet Tooth.

SEX CRIMINALS and RAT QUEENS are looking like fun comics, too.  Good! I need something to take the edge off.

Worst Things in September

DC's Shoe Horn.

Cripes, DC! Give it a rest will you? Titles have to be allowed to sell on their own merit. Maybe there is a reason your books are dropping like flies? Look, I'm sure some of us will pick up these books and maybe think about buying them. The collectors will buy all of them, but at what cost?

If your writers were allowed to let their stories run their course, I'm sure villains would crop up at some point. This is DC. You have some iconic villains. This abrupt halt to the ongoing stories for a marketing ploy is tiring.

Coolest Things in September

Infinity

Marvel's Infinity event looks interesting. Age of Ultron was okay at best for me, so I sincerely hope this one knocks my socks off.

Ken's Thoughts

Best Things in September

Fables: Fairest In All The Land

A collected work similar to 1001 Nights of Snowfall, this is the Magic Mirror telling tales around the fairest fables in the land. 1001 Nights was the perfect companion piece that fleshed out backstories without being crucial to the main story, and as always the artists bring their A-game. 

Buzzkill

A hero who can only have powers by getting drunk, who finally decides to give up the alcohol? That's an interesting premise and really puts the power vs. responsibility thing in a whole new light.

God Is Dead

Hickman takes his talent to Avatar, launching a new series that shows what would happen when old deities return to the earth and divide the planet up for them to rule. It's something that's been lightly toyed with in his Avengers works, now lets see what happens when he doesn't have the oversight of a big superhero company to reign him in.

Worst Things in September

Forever Evil

Last year DC did a villain centric month, but this year they decide to go even further. Some books aren't being published so that multiple issues of other books will be published with DC copying the .1 idea that Marvel started. On top of that, all the books are $3.99 because of fancy 3D covers. I just do not get DC at the moment, the only thing that's still coherent is their ever dwindling Vertigo line.

Coolest Things in September

Spider-Man vs. Spider-Man

Last month it was Scarlet Spider vs Superior Spider-Man, this month sees Spidey 2099 arriving to punch an Octopus int he face. It might not have the same flair as Kaine vs. Ock, but it is something that seems just fine for a two issue story.

Eternal Warrior

This is a Valiant character that I never knew existed, but it has Greg Pak and Trevor Hairsine doing the creative work, so it's got my interest. I'm thinking a bloodier, more worldy version of Kung-Fu, and if the team can deliver that, we should be cool.

Grant's Thoughts

Best Things in September

Jock-eying for Position

I don't currently read Savage Wolverine, but it looks like I'll have to at least give it a gander come September.  This series is apparently all about out of continuity adventures featuring everyone's favourite superhero who goes 'snikt!', which is already pretty appealing to my delicate sensibilities.  I'll read pretty much anything Jock draws, so hearing that he'll be drawing and writing a story in this book as of issue #9 piques my interest.  Especially considering the story's pitch: Wolverine ends up on an alien planet so far into the future that, comparatively, he's a neanderthal.  It sounds a little Planet of the Apes-y, but that's not a bad thing in my books!

A Rodent Monarchy

Kurtis J. Wiebe seems to have new books with exciting ideas dropping like it's nobody's business.  His latest series, Rat Queens, looks to be one of the most interesting yet.  A comedic fantasy series starring four deadly women with attitude to spare, I really look forward to seeing what he and Roc Upchurch will come up with.

Worst Things in September

Forever Disappointing

I'm with Hansel and Ken here.  While my main interest in reading comics is getting good stories, I will freely admit that in the past few years, when it comes to the Big 2, I've looked towards DC far more often than Marvel for my superhero fix.  Part of that has to do with a stronger affinity for DC's characters, but a far bigger part has been due to Marvel's practice of charging $3.99 for 20 page comic books.  The idea that they simply take their highest selling books and slap an extra dollar onto the cover price without adding anything else seems like a slap to the face of their fans.  I understand the business sense behind such a move - it's like printing money - but still.

Therefore, DC's old rallying cry of "Holding the Line at $2.99" greatly appealed to me.  While I still miss those two pages that their comics have lost, at least I'm only paying three dollars for 20 pages worth of story.  Or at least, I was.  DC has been quietly introducing books they expect to sell like gangbusters with $3.99 price tags for those same 20 pages you can get elsewhere for $2.99.  And come September, thanks to their stupid "3D covers", every single one of DC's books will cost $3.99.  An extra dollar for a hokey cover?  That feels like a straight up punch to the face.

The New 52 has been suffering some growing pains of late, but there have still been many titles that I've thoroughly enjoyed.  Come September, I will not be buying a single one of them due to that gross price hike.  And frankly, I don't see much of a reason to return come October.  It's been real DC, but it looks like we should take a break.

Coolest Things in September

Nothing!  I mean Zero!

Ales Kot's new Image book, Zero, drops come September.  My understanding of the book is that it stars Edward Zero, a superspy type character who gets up to the type of crazy adventures that only Ales Kot can whip up.  If memory serves, each issue will run with a different artist, and while when I originally heard about the book it was going to be a double-sized issue with two artists, running a regular sized issue with Michael Walsh and Jordie Bellaire is about the best alternative I can think of.  I want any book featuring Walsh's art, and the fact that the concept sounds wicked cool is a solid bonus.

Sexual Crimes

At the moment, Matt Fraction is pretty much the definition of blowing up when it comes to the comic book world, and I'm mighty interested to see what he'll be getting up to with Sex Criminals.  Two people who stop time whenever they have sex decide to go rob banks.  What's not to love there?  I'm also thrilled to see that Fraction will be working with Chip Zdarsky, who I think is an incredibly under-rated artist.  I can't wait to see him getting a bit more spotlight and I feel like he has the perfect comedic sensibilities to match a concept as harebrained as this one.

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