The New Comics 6 - Updated!

Hey-ho, read on for comics on my pull list...

BATMAN STRIKES #10: Another issue of the only batman book I bother to buy. It has single issue storylines, is out of regular Bat continuity, is never connected to giant company-wide cross-overs and has nothing to do with the death of Blue Beetle.

This issue looks like another Penguin story (Matheny never seems to tire of those) but spotlights Alfred whom I never tire of, so I guess I can meet Bill somewhere in the middle.


STARDUST KID #1: If you, like I, was a reader of Abadazad then you're pleased as punch to have DeMatteis and Ploog working together again - this time to be putting something out that won't disappear after 3 measly issues! These two creators collaborated so well together on Abadazad - mixing DeMatteis' wonderful prose with Ploog's fairy-talesque linework - that I can hardly wait until Wednesday to see what they've cooked up for The Stardust Kid.

The idea for the series is not a new one for DeMatteis - seeing as he's being working on it in one form or another for the last 20 years - but it will be a real treat for us readers who will be able to step into this world for the first time. You can check out a preview of the first issue if you click through here.

Bring on the fun guys!

BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #192: Well, it looks like Seth Fisher has made a liar out of me because I said I only buy one Bat-Book a month and here I am eyeing the very impressive looking LOTDK #192. I guess I can make an exception for the few issues this story will run.

The story pits an early Batman against Mr. Freeze (one of my favourite Bat villains thanks to Paul Dini and Bruce Timm) as D. Curtis Johnson and J.H. Williams tell the origin of Freeze from a new perspective (or so the copy reads). It sounds like there's a lot of potential for fun here, too, as writer Johnson recently related in an interview that Bats isn't quite sure how to handle himself yet as he copes with the menace of Victor Fries.

I loved Johnson's and J.H. Williams' series Chase and I pick up anything done by Fisher so I have a feeling that it will be a fairly enjoyable 5-issue run for these guys. I mean, with five issues to carry, it's entirely possible that they could drop the proverbial ball, but they'd have to drop the ball pretty damn far, I think, before anything they did could be considered truly bad.

Time will tell, I'm sure.

NEGATIVE BURN WINTER 2005: This is a pricy book but I just might pick it up for the great creative talent assembled inside. Some of my favourite short stories are in old issues of Negative Burn from back when it was a Caliber book (I think it was a Caliber book, anyways), so I don't see whay this new incarnation should be any different. Pruett is still in charge, after all.

I swiped this list of who all's inside: ”Milk and Cheese” by Evan Dorkin; “Thoughts On A Winter Morning” by Kurt Busiek and Steve Lieber; “Years” by Darko Macan; “Hawaiian Dick” by B. Clay Moore and Shawn Crystal; “Angel and Mr. Glum” by Erik Larsen; plus Brian Bolland, Bob Burden, Zander Cannon, Amanda Conner, Phil Hester, Jim Mahfood, Ron Marz, Ben McCool, John McCrea, Fabian Nicieza, Jimmy Palmiotti, Mike Raicht, Eric Stephenson, Chaz Truog, and others.

Sounds like it could be worth the hefty cover price ($8.95 US).


X-MEN #171 might also make the list but I'm still catching up on Milligan and Larroca's issues (which are...okay, but nothing spectacular) so I only mention it now in passing.

And that's it for this week. Nice to actually have a list of books for a change rather than one or two or nothing, like in the last few weeks. Take care!

mike