This week In Comics: 11/01/2006

[Clayface]

Welcome to This Week in Comics for November 1st, 2006 - Novemeber 7th, 2006!

This is the place to discuss the comics you've bought this week, whether it be a brand new title or old back-issues. We also welcome and encourage talk about comics in general - news you've read on comic news sites, the state of the industry in general, upcoming issues you're excited about, etc. All we ask is that you please use spoiler brackets in the event that your comments get too detailed concerning a particular storyline. This way the book won't be ruined for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

For a list of the new items shipping this week, please consult Diamond Comics' Shipping List (http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/shipping_110106.txt).

To find a comic book store near you, check out the Comic Shop Locator Service (http://csls.diamondcomics.com/).


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Highlights of the Week!



Clayface's Picks:

http://www.marvel.com/comics/onsale/covers/1106/crim002_sm.jpg (http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?book_id=5471)......http://www.idwpublishing.com/solicit/oct06/FallenAngel10_coverDiamondsm.jpg (http://www.idwpublishing.com/solicit/oct06.shtml)
....Criminial #2............Fallen Angel #10



wonderfly's Pick:

http://www.marvel.com/comics/onsale/covers/1106/whatifdis001_cov_sm.jpg
What If: Avengers Disassembled #1, (one-shot)

Ace the Bathound's Pick:

http://www.davidpetersen.net/mouseguard/coverwrap5sm.jpg (http://www.davidpetersen.net/mouseguard/index.htm)
Mouse Guard #5




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[wonderfly]

Comic Book Culture talkback fans, I've got a really busy day ahead of me, so no updating of threads for me till tonight or tomorrow. So maybe if somebody else would care to update the existing talkback threads for this week, (all of which can be found here) (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=165515)?

The following new issues come out today, and need updated talkback threads, (for those who wish to discuss these comics):

Justice League of America #3
Incredible Hulk #100
Uncanny X-Men #480
X-Men: Phoenix-Warsong #3
"52" #26
Detective Comics #825
Star Wars: Legacy #5

Also, if you guys wish to start up some new talkback threads, go right ahead! The following comics came out today, and may warrant a talkback thread, if you so choose:

Fantastic Four: The End #1, (of 6)
What If: Avengers Disassembled, (one-shot)
Superman Confidential #1
Or any other comic you wish to discuss! :)

[Stuckey]

All New Atom #5
Justice League of America #3
Superman Confidential #1
Agents of Atlas #4
Incredible Hulk #100
Irredeemable Ant-Man #2

I also picked up FING FANG FOUR and the WHERE THE MONSTERS DWELL.

[Moto Pete]

Justice League of America #3
Incredible Hulk #100
"52" #26
DC Bluhaven 1-6

[Ed Liu]

Details, folks! We know what you bought, but did you like it? Did you hate it? Should we all be buying it? Let us know :).

A nice big shipment arrived yesterday from Discount Comic Book Service, containing a bunch of books, but the belle of the ball had to be Absolute Sandman Vol. 1. It is huge and beautiful, and the fact that it collects the first 3 TPBs worth of stories AND contains scripts and pencils from the "Midsummer Night's Dream" issue make it a real volume for the ages. The much ballyhooed recoloring of the early issues makes them really stunning, and the larger page size lets the artwork really shine. Easily worth every penny if you can afford it, and I'm looking forward to drinking in the series again in this new format.

From the biggest to the smallest, the same shipment also included the Marvel Adventures Avengers Vol. 1 digest, which is a hoot and a half for those of us who view the current Civil War shenanigans as rather unnecessary. The digest contains 4 tales by Jeff Parker and Manuel Garcia that start of a bit shaky with an Avengers vs. Ultron fight, but get stronger as they go. Issue #3 is a barrel of laughs, as Captain America is kidnapped by a giant robot controlled by Baron Zemo. They're rather like Batman the Animated Series or the Batman Adventures comics, in that corporate mandate says that they are for kids, but they're so well done that they're really easy for readers of all ages to enjoy.

I freely admit that I stole that last bit from Action Philosophers scribe Fred Van Lente as he talks about his run on Marvel Adventures Spider-Man (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=89691). While the bulk of the interview is about MA: Spider-Man, he also mentions Super-Villain Team-Up: Modok's 11, which sounds like fun even if it is tied in to Civil War, and also talks about the possibility of more comics starring the new Scorpion and teases about a possible licensing deal for superheroes-meet-the-Sopranos title The Silencers (both of which I liked quite a bit (http://forums.toonzone.net/showpost.php?p=2005555&postcount=7)).

There was more stuff in the shipment, too, but those were the ones I've been able to look at so far. Osamu Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito was in there, too, but that's going to get a review for Toon Zone News.

-- Ed

[Stuckey]

Details, folks! We know what you bought, but did you like it? Did you hate it? Should we all be buying it? Let us know :).


You should all be buying everything I buy.

[ThePeterNetwork]

What is this "Discount Comic Book Service" of which you speak, and how do I get in on this racket? Is it better than schlepping all the way to the comic shop to pick up my stuff?

[Ed Liu]

What is this "Discount Comic Book Service" of which you speak, and how do I get in on this racket? Is it better than schlepping all the way to the comic shop to pick up my stuff?

DCBS (http://www.dcbservice.com/) is a mail-order comic service that often offers pretty massive discounts on pre-ordered comics and ships them to your door periodically. I pre-ordered Absolute Sandman v1 and Absolute DC the New Frontier from them at a 45% discount, along with a bunch of other 40-50% off TPBs. Can save a pretty hefty chunk of change in the comic bill every month, depending on how much you buy and assuming you're willing to wait for stuff to get shipped to you.

Both Clayface and I use DCBS and are pretty happy with them. I use G-Mart (http://www.g-mart.com/) for most of my normal comics, since they give free shipping once you have $85 or more in comics in your "out" box and that can sometimes balance out the bigger discounts DCBS offers.

-- Ed

[Ed Liu]

So, Tom Spurgeon just reviewed the Guiding Light episode "She's a Marvel." (http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/cr_reviews/6715/) Apparently, the writers took the 60's Batman show as a guide, which will probably tell you a lot right there. Still, Spurge's review is pretty funny and worth a read. Also read the backup story in the Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man comic I picked up over the weekend, and thought it was a perfectly good reprint of a comic from 1972.

It's new? Oh. Well. Hm.

As I think I've said before, the Marvel/GL crossover gets full credit for effort, but zero for execution. I'm still puzzled why anybody thought either audience would dig into the other side's product.

As for MA: Spider-Man, it came up with a neat way to introduce the black, symbiotic costume without requiring Venom or the Secret Wars. Nice Spidey-riffic comfort food. This will probably go into next year's Halloween pile. Haven't quite decided whether I'll buy the digest, though.

-- Ed