This Week In Comics: 11/22/2006

[Clayface]

Welcome to This Week in Comics for November 22nd, 2006 - November 28th, 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_112206.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 Pick:

http://www.marvel.com/comics/onsale/covers/1106/xfact013cov_col_sm.jpg (http://www.marvel.com/catalog/?book_id=5594)
X-Factor #13



wonderfly's Pick:

http://www.marvel.com/comics/onsale/covers/1106/dd091_covcol_sm.jpg
Daredevil #91



Ace the Bathound's Pick:

http://www.edwick.com/comics/samnoir_03.jpg (http://pandaxpress.com/samnoir.php)......http://www.edwick.com/comics/banzai3MS.jpg (http://www.moonstonebooks.com/banzai.asp)
Sam Noir: Samurai Detective #3.............Buckaroo Banzai #3.........



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[Terminatah]

I haven't posted my purchases in recent weeks because my reading has been rather sporadic. I recently acquired:

THE IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN #2 -- Definitely builds on the promise of the first issue. This really is the world's most unlikeable superhero. I'm enjoying not only the story, but the oddly appropriate tiny panel format. At the moment, I'm in for the long run on this one.
DR. STRANGE: THE OATH #2 -- Well, haven't read a bad Vaughan book yet. My only complaint is that I wish I was reading this as a TP instead of a monthly title. Which I guess is the case with every book I read. I don't know why I put myself through this.
ESCAPISTS #5 -- Haven't read it yet.

I'm out of town this week, but as soon as I get back, I will most definitely be purchasing the following:

WIZARD #183 -- Wizard has been really terrible with my subscription. When I moved, it took them months to respond to my re-address requests, and after a couple issues, they have seemingly stopped coming. For all I know, the subscription ran out without them telling me. I bought #182 at the store, so I guess I'll be buying this one the same way. At least now I can pick which of the variant covers I want each month. Whatever.
Y: THE LAST MAN VOL 8 TP -- One of my favorite books, but I only read it in TP form, so this one's long-awaited.
SUPERMAN/BATMAN VOL 3 TP -- Also very much long-awaited, because I prefer the soft covers, and it seems this book has been out on hard cover for eons.

-Terminatah

[ManicWebb]

52 #29 - Would've been a mostly forgettable issue, if not for the last page.

X-Men First Class #3 of 6 - I'm loving this miniseries. Good, old fashioned superhero fun.

Wonder Woman #3 - When I was a lad, some fifteen years ago, Wonder Woman #2 came out. They all said I was crazy when I told them a third issue might come out, but who's laughing, now?

X-Factor #13 - The pick of the litter. I want to have Peter David's children.

[ThePeterNetwork]

Today was a big comics haul for me:

This week's 52 - The comics equivalent of good crack. Once you start on issue 1, you've just got to find out what's next.
Wonder Woman #3 - At long last, it's finally out! It reads like a true DC comic.
Superman/Batman Vol 3: Absolute Power - I've been waiting for a while for this to come out on softcover.
Wizard #183 (Iron Man Capt America Civil War Cover) - Another crack-like comics purchase.

And finally...
Haunted Mansion #5 - It's Disney. It's cute. What more needs to be said. I can't wait for Gargoyles #2 though.

And the best part about my haul is I got a credit on my personal account. Thanks, Midtown Comics West! :D

[Ed Liu]

Newsarama.com has previews of upcoming DC books (http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/Nov06/previews/nov28.html). The one that I'm going to guess will draw the most interest is the new Mark Waid/George Perez Brave and the Bold title, but the one that gets me bouncing up and down with an unreasonable, childish glee is the one for Jeff Smith's Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil mini-series.

Those last two pages in the preview? Pure, concentrated, unadulterated kickass in so many ways. The way those pages build up to the big panel at the end is spectacular. Those pages crackle with energy, and not just because of the lightning bolts drawn on the page.

I never cared much for Shazam one way or the other, but after reading that preview, February can't come fast enough.

-- Ed

[ThePeterNetwork]

but the one that gets me bouncing up and down with an unreasonable, childish glee is the one for Jeff Smith's Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil mini-series.

Those last two pages in the preview? Pure, concentrated, unadulterated kickass in so many ways. The way those pages build up to the big panel at the end is spectacular. Those pages crackle with energy, and not just because of the lightning bolts drawn on the page.

I never cared much for Shazam one way or the other, but after reading that preview, February can't come fast enough.

Is it Freddy Freeman summoning the magic lightning bolts in this miniseries? I would assume so if it's riding along the cape :anime: of the Trials of Shazam miniseries.

[Stuckey]

I picked up WONDER WOMAN #3 and THE NEW EXACLIBUR #13 on my way out of town. I don't remember anything about either, which I guess is kinda telling.

[Ed Liu]

Is it Freddy Freeman summoning the magic lightning bolts in this miniseries? I would assume so if it's riding along the cape :anime: of the Trials of Shazam miniseries.

Nope. Preview clearly names him as Billy Batson, though if you want Freddy Freeman, there's a Trials of Shazam preview right underneath it. The Jeff Smith Shazam! project has been in the works for a few years (pretty much since Bone ended), and was always pegged as "not-in-continuity." Someone did comment that DC seems to want to eat its cake and have it too by publishing both series at the same time, which is probably true but also kind of irrelevant.

Really, go read the preview. Didn't provide the link just for my health :D.

-- Ed

[Ed Liu]

Still more on the Jeff Smith Shazam, as Smith provides some panel-to-panel comparisons (http://www.boneville.com/2006/11/28/shazam-production-journal-the-seven-deadly-enemies-of-man/) between his story and the original story published waaay back in the stone ages when comics cost a nickel and "don't you know there's a war on?" or thereabouts. Note that the post contains a minor spoiler if you've never read the original Shazam story.

The wizard...dies? How'd they retcon THAT away, I wonder. I'm also a bit disappointed that Smith removed the wizard foot sticking out from underneath the giant stone block.

Also, month-to-month sales numbers for Marvel (http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2006/11/28/marvel-month-to-month-sales-october-2006/) and DC/Everyone Else (http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2006/11/29/dc-comics-month-to-month-sales-october-2006/) for October 2006. And an expansion to Scott McCloud's Making Comics chapter 5 (http://www.scottmccloud.com/makingcomics/five_half/00.html). I'm terribly behind in my latest comics stack, since I've had this for about 2-3 weeks and even heard McCloud speak on his 50-state tour, but haven't even cracked it open yet.

-- Ed