• March 2026
    S M T W T F S
    1234567
    891011121314
    15161718192021
    22232425262728
    293031  

  • On Facebook

    On Facebook

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Comic Blog Elite

    Comic Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

The Weekly Haul: Week of March 6, 2019…and Fantasticon Toledo 2019

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Walt

This was another small-ish week for new comics–single issues, anyway. But a much bigger week with other stuff!

weeklyhaul_20190306a

The week has the new issue of Batman with #66, resuming Tom King‘s run after the 2-issue Flash crossover. We’re "already" at the 3rd issue of Young Justice (time’s flying!). And we’re now 2/3 through this 12-issue Super Sons series.

On strength of Hama‘s stuff and the longevity of the series, I opted to also snag this GI Joe Yearbook issue rather than try to hunt it down later.

And though I had not planned on it for the week, the new issue of Back Issue was out, and had my attention from the Alex Ross Earth X cover.Though I somehow have not managed to finish previous issues, I can attest to the strength and value of this magazine, that I’ve quite enjoyed issues I’ve managed to get!

I’m not sure what to think of the notion, even, of Savage Avengers…but that’s what Comic Shop News chooses to spotlight this week.

80_years_of_Batman_and_Superman_books

As new comics stuff at the comic shop goes, though, the real gem for me is the Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman Deluxe Edition. Much like last year’s Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman Deluxe Edition, this is a huge volume with a number of stories from throughout the history of the title, and I love that the trade dress was maintained to make the two books visually quite complimentary!

Along with new comics, this week also had a couple of conventions. Wizard World: Cleveland was held this weekend (I live close enough that if you’re not local, I can claim "Cleveland-area" geographically). However, where I’d’ve adored having a local Wizard World show 15, 20, definitely 25 years ago, I haven’t yet been to a Cleveland iteration.

Admission is just too high, with too many extra/hidden "fees" and such tacked on to manipulate the actual price, and too few comics dealers and comics-related things for me to justify the massive expense!

That said…I attended Fantasticon in Toledo, Ohio, with a couple of friends, and had quite a good time of it! And the admission price for that convention was under $10–I’m pretty sure a good 75% cheaper than WW and probably more comics in the room!

weeklyhaul_20190306b

Going into the con, my two main "goals" were to pick up the Plume Omnibus by K. Lynn Smith, as well as the new issue of Haunted High-Ons from Dirk Manning.

As it worked out…that was a complete success!

Manning has got to be one of the most personable, friendly creators I’ve ever met, and he’s honestly been "the" draw for me with several shows (or at least the deciding factor). And through his work, I’ve "discovered" Smith, as well as a number of others. But while I couldn’t justify the omnibus the last time I was at an appearance, this time I went in with it as the #1 thing on my list.

Manning has become a definite "exception" in my eyes–akin to my TMNT "exception"–such as my willingness to purchase a variant cover, or to find enjoyment in some "exclusive edition" of something.

The creators have a joint project in Hope, the first issue having been out in an early edition last year, and getting a wide, improved release this upcoming May for Free Comic Book Day. And they’ve (as of this writing) got a Kickstarter project that’s already fully-funded (so if you "back" it, it’s basically a "given" that you’re getting the book, no coming down to the wire and wondering if the thing will squeak across a fundling goal).

I’m quite judicious in my opting to back any such projects…but this was one I backed immediately. It’s for a collected edition of the first six issues of Hope, and though it’s not due til sometime next year, I’m happy to pay for it now and know it’ll be coming!

weeklyhaul_20190306c

The convention was a bit less successful in terms of other comics. I did get a print of this Firestorm cover from (and signed by) Gerry Conway. I found the Amazing Adventures issue and the Flash #1/2 in a 50%-off-marked-prices bin (so, cheaper than any contemporary new comic!). And for the heckuvit at another booth, saw this Aquaman #1 for $1, and decided to go for broke and buy it.

weeklyhaul_20190306d

At another booth, I came across this Rafiki with Simba Pop vinyl figure. I’d seen this at Toys R Us back in 2016, I think, maybe earlier, maybe later–but obviously some time prior to the chain’s closure. And I couldn’t find it again after that, so when I saw it for a "standard" price (as opposed to some jacked-up stupid price) I went ahead and got it.

At a Gamestop after the convention, saw some Captain Marvel Pop figures and remarked to my friend that if they had Goose the Cat I’d probably get it. Well, she had a keener eye than I did, and long story short…I got the figure. I’d hoped with it being a bit smaller it MIGHT be an "exception" to the "all-Marvel Pops are bobble-heads" but unfortunately that’s not the case. I’d be interested in a lot more of the Marvel figures if they were NOT bobbles..!

As another not-exactly-the-convention purchase, someone had a small table set up selling Girl Scout Cookies, so I snagged a couple boxes, as I missed out last year, and possibly the year before.

And I’d had another toy arrive that I’d ordered the week before…and which will likely be detailed in an upcoming post. But including that, and some other stuff, it’s been an incredibly expensive couple weeks.

weeklyhaul_20190306_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of February 27, 2019

Posted on March 1, 2019 by Walt

February ends with a rather small-ish comics week…but we have the ending of The Price, the newest Batman/Flash crossover (after 2017’s The Button) as well as the final triple-digit issue of Detective Comics!

weeklyhaul_20190227a

Detective Comics #999 is out…leaving us just a handful of weeks away from the second DC* title to hit the coveted #1000**.

(* you do recall that DC Comics takes its name from this title, right?)

(** albeit with a 52-issue gap for the New 52 run slotted into place)

The Price wraps up, and I feel like the first three chapters of this–in under a month–have covered more ground than Heroes in Crisis itself! And I have got to get my Action Comics issues pulled together and catch up on my reading, with this Leviathan Rising story that apparently spills into a huge special issue and a couple of spin-off titles later this year.

It’s the completist in me that keeps me getting Heroes in Crisis. Plus, wanting to be able to speak of it from experience and not just take issues with it because of clickbait-articles and such at Bleeding Cool. I’m grudgingly interested in where it winds up, and the true fate of Wally, and to see if there’s really anything to the story, as I do feel like so far it’s basically a ton of flashback, random talking, and hardly any PLOT. It’s also been relatively contained…I know several other comics have tied in but I don’t recall seeing any "logoed" issues with the Heroes in Crisis "branding" or ones that take their identity FROM being a tie-in. The Flash/Batman crossover this month seems to be the largest "tie-in" so far, and a Green Arrow issue last year dealing with Roy’s memorial. I may have missed something earlier in The Flash as I opted out on the post-Flash War stuff with the various Forces.

Like Action Comics, I need to get my issues of Die!Die!Die! pulled together and read. Yet another month where I thought I would have gotten to it, and so I get another issue rather than fall behind if a binge-catchup really does it for me. That said…I’m much more willing to buy like this for something from Image than I would be from say, Marvel, on principle.

Finally, I won’t pass up a 25-cent Aspen sampler. Or most any brand-new 25-cent comic, for that matter.

walmart_100_page_giants_0225

I posted this photo to Twitter the other day, but with so few new comics, how about an extra photo for this post?

Here’s what all the Walmart DC 100-Page Giant*** issues look like, brought together!

(*** That I’m aware of existing as of end of February, 2019.)

There are also some of the double-the-price-of-100-pagers 80-page specials that I’ve gotten over the past couple years. The Target-exclusive DC Primal Age and more recent Man and Superman issues are not here, though.

Somehow, it’s already the end of February/start of March 2019! Time is flying…

weeklyhaul_20190227_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of February 20, 2018

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Walt

The week of February 20th wound up being a pretty small week for me for new comics…though a bit bigger on other stuff! Let’s get to ’em!

weeklyhaul_20190220a

We’ve got the third chapter of The Price, in Batman #65. And somehow we’re already (seems like it just started!) at #10 for TMNT: Urban Legends!

Then there’s the second issue of Naomi…and the first issue of Sharkey The Bounty Hunter.

I’ve generally enjoyed Millar‘s stuff, so figured I’d give another of his #1s a shot, though we’ll see if I get to READING it or going beyond this first issue.

I’ve "thrown in" on the Wonder Comics line for the moment…it has a lotta promise, and I’m all for Young Justice and Tim Drake being (a) ROBIN again, and we’ll see on these others.

weeklyhaul_20190220b

Given the week was "only" 4 issues, I browsed a bit more and came across this Nexus graphic novel from First for $5…a far superior value to "just" yet another Marvel #1 or #10 or #11 or #12 or such. My earliest conscious recognition of Steve Rude was a pinup image he did for Rune back in the ’90s for the Ultraverse. One random pinup image INSIDE a comic, and his work’s been on my radar for over 20 years as a result. No variant covers, even!

dc_primal_age_batman_and_mr_freeze_loose

At the weekend, I did "finally" wind up picking up Mr. Freeze from the DC Primal Age figures at Target. I find I’m a bit MORE interested in these figures since watching the Masters of the Universe episode of The Toys That Made Us a week or two back.

I’ve noticed the last few weeks that Aquaman, Scarecrow, and Joker are the main "peg warmers" of the line, though Mr. Freeze as a runner-up (I’m not certain if I would have gotten him, or Green Lantern, given choice between the two).

I also find myself with an increasing interest in tracking down Raiden, Sub Zero, and Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat line in this scale/style.

Several comics and an action figure wouldn’t seem to be all that much.

Where my opening comment about bigger stuff comes in is in regard to another TMNT purchase from the NECA line of quarter-scale figures!

THAT particular purchase will be covered tomorrow or later this week!

weeklyhaul_20190220_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of February 13, 2019

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Walt

This week proved to be rather huge for new comics…at least for me, by my own standards! One might even say it was a Giant-Size week!

weeklyhaul_20190213a

Double dose Batman this week with Detective Comics and the Flash crossover. We also have the debut issue of Wonder Twins, which I opted to check out as I’m pretty much giving this whole Wonder Comics thing a chance.

Then there’s the newest issue of Superman as well as the newest Supergirl. And TMNT is into the "final countdown" to issue #100, as #91 hits!

weeklyhaul_20190213b

Marvel actually got me on MULTIPLE issues this week! The usual with Mr. & Mrs. X #8. I "gave in" on Savage Sword of Conan #1…though I’ve no conscious intention of getting #2 and onward. There’s a nostalgia factor here, and I’m willing to "sample" the thing and get the #1 because it IS Conan, and I want to at least have "tried" one issue if I’m gonna be down on Marvel with it. If I’ve never bought so much as one issue, where do I have any authenticity to criticize?

I didn’t even know about Marvels Annotated until the last second. I’m a sucker for this sorta thing…and as a "key" series from my youth, I’m more than willing to "double-dip" with getting this series again, with notes from the creators. Given the story AND visual quality–and this issue has both the original first issue AND the later-published #0 issue–along with the notes, it feels to me like an EXCELLENT (by Marvel standards) value!

Criminal is back and I realize I have yet to read #1. Though I have all the TPBs (I believe) of the series thus far, with this new iteration, I figured I’d give it a few issues as single issues to see if/how it grabs me, AND see what any collected volume may look like, if it’ll be in line with the others, and so on.

And Alien 3 (the William Gibson adaptation) comes to a close. Unless Tristan Jones is doing further covers of the newest Aliens mini, I’m pretty much done with the property as single issues and will opt for the collected volumes.

weeklyhaul_20190213c

And then DC and/or the vendor that handles these at Walmart opted to drop ALL SIX of their MONTHLY 100-Page Comic Giant issues in the SAME WEEK. Even though these are a solid value at only $5 apiece for their size (these’d be $10 through Diamond to regular comic shops)…SIX of them at $5/each still stacks up to a whopping $30!

A mere 8 months into the "experiment" and we already have TWO re-titled/re-numbered books with the Teen Titans book switching to the Titans title, presumably to capitalize on the DC Universe app/service show but other than the logo on the front and a #1 instead of #8, I believe it’s otherwise exactly what we’ve BEEN getting. The same thing with Justice League being retitled to Wonder Woman.

Then we have the new additions of The Flash and Swamp Thing, after "experiment" issues in a Swamp Thing issue last October and a holiday special in December.

Of the original four, only Superman and Batman continue on with their title and numbering.

I’ve a bit of mental "sticker shock" as I look all these over and tally up the costs–seven $5 issues, an $8 issue, and everything else $3.99. At least the Walmart issues don’t have six out every week; and the Conan and Alien3 issues are one-offs at this point. I’m only getting a couple issues of The Flash for this particular crossover with Batman. I jumped back onto Detective Comics for the run-up to #1000, but have yet to decide if or how far beyond #1000 I’m going to go. At the least, I am NOT impressed with the "Decades Variants" and so expect to simply get a single copy of the regular cover edition and let that be that. (Where last year, I got the standard cover, decades variants AND a couple other retailer covers for Action Comics‘ 1000th issue).

Though I’ve been "mid-life crisis-ing" with some purchasing recently…that cannot and will not extend to comics, at least NOT long-term. Huge weeks like this remind me just what a poor value comics truly are, and will push me to all the more drastic decisions regarding what I’ll buy regularly.

weeklyhaul_20190213_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of February 06, 2019

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Walt

February starts out with a medium week. Not huge, not tiny. Though it’s another with an issue missing from the week before, picked up amidst the bunch!

weeklyhaul_20190206a

While I despise the $3.99 price point AND that DC is NOT doing digital codes with the books regularly/predictably, I think I’m pretty much ‘sold" on the Wonder Comics stuff, at least for checking out the first issue or two for each of the titles. This week had Young Justice #2, which was a no-brainer for me, given the way I enjoyed the first issue. This one didn’t hit me quite the same way, but was still enjoyable in itself!

We get the first chapter of The Price [of Justice] in Batman #64, beginning a 4-issue 2-per-title crossover with The Flash, written by the writer of The Flash (rather than Tom King, the regular on Batman).

From the previous week is the $9.99 Mysteries (of love) in Space, a giant-size special playing off the classic Mysteries in Space title. As a sucker for these giant-size issues, I snagged it. Where I’m "ok" with DC doing $10 issues and NOT OK with Marvel is that DC has the decency to have them be standalone issues and NOT part of a regular series. Get the special, don’t get the special…one isn’t "penalized" by a gap in their collection or feeling "forced" to buy the issues!

Adventures of the Super Sons is over the halfway point of its run; GI Joe: A Real American Hero sports one of THE highest-numbers in American comics (coming behind Spawn‘s #294 or so) and I’m giving these Marvel Action books a chance, if only for the "novelty" of being major Marvel properties published by IDW (and thus semi-immune to gated/ratioed/EXCESSIVE variants and crappy continuity stuff).

Finally, I tend to follow Blake Northcott‘s work, so of course snagged her Aspen Visions: Fathom issue. I think this is a one-shot, but time’ll bear that out, I suppose.

I missed the Man and Superman giant-size special, but hopefully it’ll be back in stock this upcoming Wednesday.

…Which will itself hopefully not be too huge a week, as I’ve had a couple other huge non-comics purchases within the current paycheck, and another planned for the next!

weeklyhaul_20190206_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: Week of January 30, 2019

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Walt

So after a few weeks of doubling up on what could easily be a weekly post, I’m getting to this prior to the following week’s new releases!

weeklyhaul_20190130a

This was a small-ish week of new comics. Detective Comics has a mere 2 more chapters for the current story arc, and then the big 1,000th issue. Action Comics begins a new arc, and this one "headlines" the cover in a way that I feel like I haven’t seen in too long! (Though perhaps I’m just neglecting to remember something from within a few weeks). And while I believe Heroes in Crisis was slated to be 7 issues and got expanded to 9…here I am at 5 issues in and not much has really happened, other than some characters killed off, only a couple of which seem to even have any real effect on anything outside of this title (Flash and Green Arrow due to Wally and Roy).

At "only" (and simultaneously "already at" #9, TMNT: Urban Legends puts us at about the 1/3 mark for this series.

I was only going to get the TMNT issue of the IDW 20/20 stuff, but picked up Jem on a whim, and the nostalgia of the Star Trek: The Next Generation logo here hit me such that I went ahead and grabbed that 20/20 issue. It proved a too-quick read but not horrible–written by Peter David, after all–and I REALLY dug the art!

Finally, missed out on Naomi #1 the previous week, but was able to snag a copy of it this week, to check out. While I’m loathe to add titles to what I’m buying in general, I’m beginning to wonder if I might actually enjoy this Wonder Comics imprint. I’m at least seriously considering giving the other #1s a shot. We’ll see what happens!

weeklyhaul_20190130bb

Comic Shop News is a staple.

The week also saw the "physical" release of Reign of the Supermen, after it having a theatrical engagement and then a stupid "digital-only" "window" of release such that I honestly nearly forgot it was due out!

weeklyhaul_20190130_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul: Weeks of January 16 & 23, 2019

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Walt

Looks like these Weekly Haul posts are becoming more of a biweekly thing than weekly, despite best of intentions otherwise. And broken record as I feel on saying that.

Here are the previous couple of weeks’ worth of new comics…with another new week now just a couple days away!

Week of January 16, 2019

weeklyhaul_20190116a

Detective Comics is really ramping up toward the 1,000th issue! I was amazed at how quickly the first two chapters of this story read, and this one itself seemed a pretty fast read. Loving the art, but the story makes it seem like it’s going to be so much better as a singular "graphic novel" in collected form.

Superman finally–about nine months in–gives us the story of the "missing" time and we now have a mid to late teens Superboy in Jon…which really is not my cup of tea. Perhaps it’ll be undone by the end of this current arc, but I doubt it…we’ll see where it goes, though!

Then we have Supergirl and the TMNT issue of IDW‘s series of 20/20 special issues celebrating the publisher’s 20th anniversary. This TMNT 20/20 jumps forward 20 years, and proved a too-quick read with too little space to really do any justice to the story…and there’s loads of potential here!

weeklyhaul_20190116b

The DC Walmart-exclusive 100-page giants seem to have thrown the 2-every-2-weeks schedule out the window, and are landing all-4-at-once again…right about the 4 week mark since the #6s! And it turns out that #7 is the final issue for both the Justice League of America and Teen Titans iterations…they’re being replaced with Wonder Woman and Titans respectively, starting with new #1s while adding Swamp Thing and Flash to the lineup (apparently Batman and Superman get to continue with their existing numbering.

Week of January 23, 2019

weeklyhaul_20190123a

The most recent week of new comics brings us a non-Black-Label issue with Batman and Constantine; I need to catch up on reading this title, and really look forward to reading this issue! I snagged the second issue of Geoff Johns‘ Shazam! title, even though it’s several weeks late. I have yet to read the first issue, and as my usual trap seems to be…I get a subsequent issue so when/if I finally get to reading one issue, I’m not "stuck" having to "hunt down" another issue.

I lucked out and the local Target had the DC Primal Age exclusive issue. I had a rude surprise in thinking it was going to be like the Walmart issues at $5, but this one was $10! Still, that’s in line with DC‘s own non-Walmart such issues, so…c’est la vie. At least it’s DC and not Marvel…

TMNT hits its 90th issue; and we get the third issue of GI Joe: A Real American Hero – Silent Option. And for the heckuvit, I opted to try the IDW 20/20 issue of Jem and the Holograms. It’s a one-shot, and given my own age, I figure it might be interesting to read about the characters 20 years older than "usual," as it puts them into my own real, current age range.

weeklyhaul_20190123b

Despite swearing off of the latest Uncanny X-Men iteration due to pricing, frequency, and event-orientation (with Age of X-Man and such) I couldn’t quite bring myself to pass up this Annual given the focus on–and return of–Cyclops. And I was firmly set on NO MORE DARK HORSE Aliens minis due to variants and the like…but when I recognized Tristan Jones‘ art on this variant…I gave in and got it, since it IS #1, so at least it’s not just another variant-on-any-old-issue-nothing-special. Maybe I’ll suck it up and buy the rest of the mini…especially or at least if he’s got variants on the whole thing.

I snagged this free Isola Prologue issue cuz hey…"free." And we have the weekly Comic Shop News, this one focusing on Age of X-Man: Alpha…something playing on nostalgia (1995’s X-Men: Alpha). If Marvel does some sort of omnibus for the event, has a single-volume of Uncanny X-Men 1-10 and such and I can get then for a decent price…I might snag ’em. Otherwise I’ll wait for conventions later in the year and see if the singles can be had for half price for standard covers…if reviews and word of mouth bear ’em out as worthwhile.

weeklyhaul_20190123c

I’m not actually sure anymore what IDW‘s schedule is for print and digital releases as it almost seems like they’re releasing stuff early digitally with print coming the following week. And I’m not sure how I feel about Spawn Kills Everyone 2 being $3.99 an issue for a 4-issue mini-series…but I threw in with Spawn several years ago, and have decided to at least "stick it out" through the 300th issue. And that includes this mini, given the original special a year or two ago, whenever it was.

All in all, not a huge haul for new comics for the couple weeks…though some other stuff I bought more than made up for the comics spending. Buuuut I’ll get into those as the week progresses!

And as usual…here’s to hoping the new week of new comics is small-ish…

weeklyhaul_20190123_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Weekly Haul: Weeks of January 02 & January 09, 2019

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Walt

weekly_haul_draft

Despite my best intentions, starting 2019 out with doubling up on the "Weekly Haul" posting. Some planned changes/updates with logos and such also hasn’t happened yet for the blog, so rather than a hard break with the year, stuff’ll just roll out as it rolls out! Even this post’s "logo" above is not the final version, but I was messing with stuff the other day and decided I’d toss it up, whether it gets used just this once, or becomes a regular. If you’ve any thoughts on it, feel free to leave a comment!

Week of January 2nd, 2019

weeklyhaul_20190102a

The first week of the year started out pretty small, with only a handful of issues. I don’t recall, nor do I care to check back, but I’m not sure if we had an issue of Heroes in Crisis in December, even–of course, this is only by a week, so negligible, but whatever. Much as I’ve liked this writer’s Batman stuff, I’m really not caring for this event…it doesn’t feel like anything’s really HAPPENING. Or not enough per issue. But 4 issues in, and it NOT being $4.99, nor has it slipped to some bi-monthly (or less-frequent) schedule, so I’m probably in for the entire thing at this point…if only to see what comes of it.

It also seems that Action Comics slipped slightly…with #1001 having come out in July, January should see #1007.

While it’s fitting that Marvel (in particular!) honor Stan Lee…it appears to me that they’re only doing so by removing the logos but keeping regular images for covers. To me, that just makes these look like DC variants, and since the cover images don’t incorporate his likeness in any way or such, and it’s not like they’re putting the black memorial band OVER a logo. And given his own large/over-the-top/grandiose-ness…it seems to me a disservice to hide the big, bold logos and such of the characters that directly or tangentially are here because of him.

And Marvel sure wasted NO TIME rushing a ton of Conan stuff out. Much as they did four years ago with Star Wars. And frankly, that really puts me off quite a bit; as well as apparently having a couple more series debuting soon, and just…flooding the market. I opted to get this first issue just to try, but haven’t gotten around to reading it, and have yet to hear anything all that good about it.

Week of January 09, 2019

weeklyhaul_20190109a

This week was definitely a bigger week with more stuff out…though it also annoyed me to a certain degree.

Firstly, we get the premiere of the new Young Justice series with the new Young Justice #1. I quite enjoyed the issue, and look forward already to the next!

This is a Batman week, with both Batman and Nightwing out. I need to catch up on READING Nightwing OR just cut my losses and drop the title. Time’ll tell on that.

We’ve got the premiere of the new iteration of Brubaker and Phillips‘ Criminal title. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read of this title in the past (and particularly remember the 10th anniversary issue!) so definitely giving this issue a shot…though I’ll likely trail off and wind up going with the collected editions. Again…time’ll tell.

The week had TWO issues of Aliens stuff. The conclusion of the 4-issue Dust to Dust mini. and the 3rd of (I believe) 4-issue adaptation of Gibson‘s screenplay for Alien3. I’m pretty sure I’ve wound up with variant covers for both series, just trying to get issues, and Dark Horse is back to the seemingly-rigid 4-issue cycles, so I’ve pretty much decided that for the multiple variant covers every issues and preferring the full(er) stories I’ll get the final issue of this Alien3 thing and then I’m done with the single issues. "Nostalgia" might prompt me to go against this if they do another Fire and Stone or Life and Death-style saga, but otherwise, at least collected volumes don’t USUALLY come with a bunch of variants!

And finally, we’re halfway through Adventures of the Super Sons now, and I have got to get the previous series and all 6 of these pulled together to get caught up on my reading.

I’m really looking forward to the new TMNT: Shredder in Hell mini that starts with the week of January 16th; as well as getting Bendis‘ "backstory" filled in on Jon Kent’s missing time between the end of the Rebirth stuff and his run (or the flashbacks, technically, from Bendis‘ Man of Steel).

And depending on how the week shakes out, I may do a couple other posts soon for some other acquisitions of "stuff." As I’m repeating through this post, though…time will tell!

weeklyhaul_20190109_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2019 Non-Review posts, 2019 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: Weeks of December 19 & December 26, 2018

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Walt

Final post of 2018!

Let’s catch up on the final two "Weekly Hauls" at least as comics go.

(I had planned to do a more introspective/retrospective post to end the year, but time’s gotten away from me…so perhaps I’ll do something early-ish in the NEW year. Time will certainly tell!)

December 19, 2018

weeklyhaul_12192018a

The Wednesday before Christmas was a pretty small week, at least for me. We had the newest issues of Batman and Nightwing. I’ve unfortunately fallen several issues behind on reading both titles again, which is definitely a bad sign for Nightwing. And after stuff with shifting creative teams apparently, conflicting intended arcs/direction and so on…where I’d viewed #50 and the post-shot-in-the-head stuff as a jumping-ON point…I’m leaning toward letting the title go and see where it "winds up" and backtracking via collected volumes "eventually" or some such. Batman itself should be a decent mini-binge-read early in the new year.

I also need to catch up on GI Joe: A Real American Hero reading again. With the multiple continuities/reboots/etc since the Marvel series, but this picking back up from the Marvel #155 and being the continuation of that, by the original creator Larry Hama…I truly view this as THE actual, real, true GI Joe series. The fact that IDW has now put out at least 103 sequentially-numbered issues speaks to a willingness to actually allow the longevity, as sell as respect for the legacy of this particular "run" and the creator and such…and actually gives me hope that TMNT might also be afforded a similar thing. Tie-in specials, mini-series, etc. give plenty of chance for #1s, and the Hasbro-verse rebooting/renumbering/whatever (I’ve not been following closely) would seem to do the same.

Then there’s the latest issues of TMNT and TMNT: Urban Legends. The TMNT issue is a "Christmas" issue, both set within ongoing continuity and yet a somewhat standalone issue, a Christmas special within the regular, actual numbering. I don’t remember if they did one last year, but I believe it was two years ago that they did…and I’m liking that. Urban Legends continues to be cool because it’s old/"classic" (-ish!) TMNT material that I’ve long been aware of but never had a chance to check out myself firsthand. Having it in color is cool, though I’d still like to someday track down the originals.

December 26, 2018

weeklyhaul_12262018a

December 26th being the day after Christmas, and being the Wednesday between Christmas and the start of the New Year, made for a very small week. I ended up just getting the Marvel Action: Avengers #1 and Die!Die!Die! #6. As with the previous issue of the latter, I need to pull my issues together; I should have checked to see what the first collecgted volume would contain, at least.

On the Avengers issue, I have the same logic as the Marvel Action: Spider-Man: I’ll support this IDW-published thing in part for being "only" $3.99 for a first issue, as well as NOT having a ton of variant covers! Also, it’s a bit of a curiosity.

Wit

Ollie’s apparently got more shipments of cheap cast-offs from Marvel and DC (January 2018 started with a big haul, and expanded into February just before I was laid off. Now we’re ending the year with even more.

christmas_self_haul_b

Not quite the haul the year started with, but still quite the haul for the prices! In typical fashion–even away from Diamond, though–the Marvel stuff was "premium-priced" several dollars each over what similarly-sized DC books were!

A bit discouraging, though, as the prices are great, but this non-Comics-specialty-store chain gets stuff at prices that actual comic shops can’t really touch in most cases. And comic shops likely would NOT be putting permanent stickers on the volumes. Buuuut you get what you pay for!

weeklyhaul_12262018_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul: More From the Weeks of December 5 & 12, 2018

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Walt

I thought I was missing something! But I second-guessed myself and thought I was off by a week or so, and didn’t actually "research" myself so…there you go!

Several things that escaped notice/mention from the other day as well as last week:

weeklyhaul_12122018_and_1205_misseda

From the week of the 5th, I’d wound up picking up Prodigy. #1, though I’ve yet to read it, unfortunately.

And from the week of the 12th, Superman #6 and Magic the GDathering: Chandra #1.

I ended up binge-reading Superman #s 2-6, which probably made it a lot more enjoyable than chunk by chunk as an issue came out; though I’m "curious" about where things go from here, feeling a distinct ’90s vibe…but not in a good way, despite my usual love of ’90s stuff.

And Chandra #1 I was curious about, and though this thing wasn’t horrible, it mostly felt like it was just simply "Look! Look! Chandra does stuff!" without much of a driving plot or setup…and no real context for where this story is supposed to take place within Magic lore.

weeklyhaul_12122018_and_1205_missedb

Going back also to the weekend between the 5th and 12th…a visit with friends prompted some purchasing. Firstly, we stumbled across Marvel Rising (the animated pieces) that we ended up watching in full. That prompted me to be interested in actually (finally?) checking out this Ms. Marvel character based on actual exposure rather than "hype."

Some survey/binging of anime and discussion of same (as well as curiosity thanks to some reviews of figures over at FigureFan Zero) led to these other purchases.

First volumes for four manga series…My Hero Academia, as well as its anime series. We watched and discussed some rather disturbing stuff from Goblin Slayer, and one friend also specifically pointed out Kill la Kill, so since I saw the first volume for half price, grabbed that. And thanks to those figure reviews mentioned above, and this first volume being available for half-off, One Piece.

I have no idea when I’ll get around to actually reading these manga volumes or even Ms. Marvel; though the latter might happen sooner. I’ve also discovered that my nook app can now handle graphic novels and such bought through Barnes & Noble, and on a strong recommendation purchased the 3-issue War Bears series from Dark Horse that I’m reading amidst other reading.

So we’ll see.

But as these posts are part sharing with everyone else what I’m getting and part "documenting" for myself…this post is largely for me to have record of approximately when I actually got these.

I’ll likely cover some of this later in some form.

Until then…

weeklyhaul_12122018_and_1205_missed_blogtrailer

Filed under: 2018 Non-Review Posts, 2018 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »