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The Weekly Haul: Week of December 1, 2021

Posted on December 6, 2021 by Walt

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Another week, another post, and…holy crap was this another ridiculously-huge week!

Let’s get into it…

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Three X-books. Trial of Magneto, Marauders, and New Mutants. All in one week.

Then the nearly-weekly Amazing Spider-Man, which despite a major shift in status quo, creative team, frequency, and even logo somehow managed to keep its "original numbering" for THIS volume. (Probably cuz someone at Marvel has their eye on the first #100 in YEARS!).

Speaking of "someone at Marvel," the Phoenix seems to have been "stolen" from the X-Realm…but I’m still getting this Phoenix Song Echo because of the Phoenix being an X-thing, even though I SHOULD–by rights–ignore it as an Avengers family title. But speaking of the big A…giant issue. And with some others of late…and getting much more back into Marvel in general as I’m increasingly disgusted with DC…well, I bit with the huge anniversary #50/#750.

I’ve got high "hopes" for The Marvels despite not having actually READ any of the issues yet. I tracked down the early issues "recently" so now it’s a "keep up and wait" game.

And somehow I got myself tangled up in Darkhold as well as The Death of Dr. Strange, so a couple tie-ins there.

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…and STILL another Marvel in Darkhawk, which I’m getting solely because of Kyle Higgins‘ name.

While I should just cut my losses, I still wound up grabbing the Hardware issue. Maybe I’ll just finish out these "season one" minis and let that be that. Of course, that assumes they even come out reliably with all the shenanigans with DC and Lunar and the whole printing/paper and supply chain crap at present.

New issue of Spawn. McFarlane publishes this title A DOLLAR CHEAPER than pretty much any other American comics publisher (outside of a couple of DC Scooby-Doo and maybe Looney Tunes and such titles). Not only that, but accompanying titles I believe are all $2.99. AND the Spawn titles all have these quality cardstock-y covers! I continue to vote with my dollar(s) buying these on principle for the price point!

IDW gives us a new issue of TMNT as well as some sort of one-shot behind-the-scenes Snake-Eyes: Deadgame thing. I’d gotten the mini in the Long Ago so grabbed this as well for completionary value.

New issue of Fire Power (I need to catch up on my reading). Snagged "the next issue" for The Magic Order 2, which means I have followed this second series an issue longer than the first. And while thinking of it like that, I’m kinda kicking myself for grabbing this issue. But being in a hurry on a lunch break…well, there ya go.

Also grabbed first issues for whatever King of Spies is (I think I grabbed this for Millar‘s name) and Maniacs of New York was snagged on strength of the publisher name. With my feelings against Boom and Valiant I’m glad to let Aftershock take their place…at least in MY buying. Even if I haven’t totally figured out what they’re all about, if they have a shared universe or if they’re just an Image "clone" or sorts.

This was a single-shop week; a one-shot purchase, with no collected volumes, no holiday spirit, nothing particularly special…but EIGHTEEN BOOKS..! That is absolutely NOT "sustainable" even for me, so I’ve GOT to figure out what I’m doing on that. Especially as I "try to support" some titles. I’m just one person, and weeks like this leave me (re) contemplating DCBS at least for some stuff. Current distribution/supply-chain woes being what they are, though, it’s hard to figure out which would be the better way to go.

December is a 5-Wednesday month…but one of those falls between Christmas and New Year which is traditionally an "off week." BUT as that STILL LEAVES the "normal" FOUR Wednesdays…this sure seemed like an awfully big one. C’est la vie I guess.

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The Weekly Haul: Week of July 14, 2021

Posted on July 19, 2021 by Walt

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Annnnnnnnd we’re back to covering a single week’s haul in a single post!

This time out, looking at stuff from the week of July 14!

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Starting with the X-stuff, we’ve got three for the week: Way of X #4, Excalibur #22 (and officially a "senior book" over the adjective-less X-Men now), and X-Corp #3. Can’t say I’m thrilled at the prospect of this latter one…and definitely not a fan of the "whitespace" and "minimalistic" look to it. It also makes the title logo look all the more like a "fon" in a way that I am not keen on and why I initially was not thrilled with this style. The other two at least look interesting and the Excalibur cover makes it look like something actually happens in the issue.

Then we have Sinister War #1, kicking off this ‘event’ in Amazing Spider-Man at least (I think). The logo "font" draws from the ’90s Spider-style, and definitely prompts a bit of nostalgia for me. We also have the 4th issue of Carnage Black White & Blood. And then Aliens: Aftermath #1 which I’m not entirely sure if this is a mini-series or one-shot…but it certainly looks more interesting than the other Alien (singular) comics Marvel has published to date!

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We have a new issue of TMNT and yet again, I’m buying far more out of "habit" and such than anything else. I’ve bought the title monthly since #1 in 2011 nearly 10 years ago…but I don’t think there’s been as relatively DRY a stretch as 101-119 here otherwise. Even as "slow" and weird as I initially found the first few issues post-#50, stuff picked up again pretty quickly. We’re nearly 5 arcs into this "Mutant-Town" era and other than an Annual, what have we REALLY gotten to move the story forward from #100? Feels like next to nothing, to me, at least.

This Savage Hearts #1 caught me for its title logo. This is also a #1, so in-the-moment I figured why not? I’m not keen on the art on the cover…but the strength of the LOGO grabbed me. (Minimalistic-logo/trade-dress/design folks, it’s a comic book…the more stylized and bold and BIG the logo, the more it looks like a comic book and likely will grab my attention over blending into every OTHER minimalistic thing…!)

The Batman/Scooby-Doo Mysteries continues to get my $2.99 in support of the price point and lack of variant covers!

Mouse Guard is an interesting title–and size/format for its issues–and coming "back" after (I think years) too long, I was all about getting this issue. It (barely) gets a "pass" being Archaia–I realize the brand is owned by Boom but I believe it’s still its own thing overall, and the issue lacks a Boom LOGO so that gets this around my no-Boom-single-issues thing.

And the Vampiverse thing on Comic Shop News gives me mixed feelings…given the TONS of variant covers Dynamite does, it seems like they already have LOADS of Vampi titles; they probably publish more COVERS for one title than many smaller publishers publish titles!

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Next up is the second issue of Skybound X, which I’m hearing mixed things on and have yet to read myself, but kinda bought in on multiple fronts, though it’s sounding less "celebration" and more "extended ad the buyer pays for"…

Bunny Mask is an odd title for me, but I’d bought the first issue, saw this second one, and decided to get it. Plus the Aftershock brand is growing on me a bit. Helm Greycastle‘s 3rd issue puts this at or over halfway through the series, I believe/hope. The title puts me in mind of Masters of the Universe stuff, while knowing it’s not that. Some stuff I saw with solicitation for the series bugged me a bit, but I’ll ignore that for an ok-at-least story, and already have 2 issues, so might as well keep on (contradictory as that is to my lamenting mini-series finishing before I’ve read a #1 and might as well have waited for the collected volume).

GI Joe: A Real American Hero #284 puts us with a mere 16 issues to the big #300. And with getting stuff at multiple shops, the regular cover of TMNT (if I’m double-dipping, might as well get a different cover. I’m not buying multiples FOR the cover). Same with Batman/Scooby-Doo.

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And then just because it arrived and was handy when I was getting photos for the blog…I fiiiiiinally pulled the trigger on ordering this metallic Fugitoid figurine from Mirage (it’s a Playmates figure, some sort of thing not sold in regular stores, that I ordered from Mirage itself). I actually forgot that I’d ordered this (it was that much of a whimsical order) but now having it, I’m quite glad to have it.

This week definitely skewed a bit Marvel-heavy. That’s fairly "incidental" in terms of the X-books, though: I’m getting them for being X, not for being Marvel. The Black/White/Blood thing caught me with Wolverine so the Carnage mini I’ve treated as a bit of an extension; and Sinister War is a Spider-thing…and while I’ll probably suck it up with the inevitable $10 ginormous thing that’s likely to be the 75th issue of Amazing Spider-Man, I’m looking at winding back down on the title. Especially if they’re looking to sideline Peter Parker for awhile. I’m really not interested in a non-Peter ASM title right now.

I think the new Blue Beetle/Booster Gold book starts next week, which will get me back to general-ish DC…on strength of the title and creator (Dan Jurgens)’s involvement. For wanting such a title for so long, I can’t NOT support it, though my support is still going to be grudgingly given, just for it being DC at this point.

But that’s stuff for next week, methinks.

This is it for this coverage of a single week’s new comics…let’s see if I can get back to at least doing this much with the blog on a regular basis!

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The Weekly Haul: Week of April 7, 2021

Posted on April 9, 2021 by Walt

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Another week, another haul. AND no DC stuff!

  • 4 Marvel
  • 3 Image
  • 1 Aftershock
  • 1 IDW

Marvel‘s got the X-stuff. Image has new stuff; as does Aftershock; and IDW with a hefty, thick reprint volume.

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Geiger I bought for names alone: Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. No idea what the comic’s supposed to be about, but with these creators involved…certainly something to take a look at! Especially for NOT being something published by DC, particularly given Johns‘ history with DC.

Project Patron caught my eye somehow and seemed like an interesting enough concept at the time for me to decide to give its #1 a chance. We’ll see if it goes further, as I REALLY do NOT like $5 comics. I’ll accept ’em a bit more from a small publisher like this (compared to, say, Marvel or DC), of course.

Fire Power is definitely truckin’ along. And unlike most other recent "new series," it’s one I’ve actually kept up on, at least in buying. It’s an enjoyable enough title, though I may opt out on the singles and switch to the paperbacks. The initial hype has worn off, for me. Then again…it’s not DC and so more of a worthwhile book of late.

Nocterra is another exception: I’d picked up #1 on creator name (Scott Snyder) and though I’ve yet to read #1, snagged #2. Similar boat: creator(s) I know from DC but on a book that’s…(you guessed it!) not from DC!

Both Marauders #19 and Excalibur #20 are here by virtue simply of being current X ongoings. I’m into the #8s of the "first wave" of Dawn of X stuff…apparently up to right about a year ago just ahead of The Hiatus. So a bit to go, yet, and then the first third of X of Swords and then "catching up" from there to current, and hopefully STAY current. I suppose I now need to aim to catch up in time for the Hellfire Gala stuff…

Amazing Spider-Man is a definite "morbid curiosity" thing at this point–I’ve been "starved" for Spider-Man stuff and it’s at least "the main/traditional title" over stunt minis and such. I need to find a point for a good, clean break I think. Or keep watching it FOR the aforementioned morbid curiosity…

I have NOT been all over the Marvel Tales books the way I’ve tried to be the facsimile editions. That said, I got it into my head to get this one…though I’m more looking forward to the upcoming Thanos Quest one. Squadron Supreme is primarily a blind spot for me in Marvel stuff; so things like this offer to fill in that gap a tiny bit. IF I ever get around to reading it!

And finally, Tranformers ’84: Legends & Rumors. $7.99 for "100 pages" (not sure if ads and such are included in that page count or not). But still, for the price of two skinny comics with maybe 40-44 pages (let’s say even 60 between them with ads), this is like a third issue "free" and the Transformers are another relative blind spot for me, so the would-be nostalgia gets me.

All in all, not a bad week. Still pretty darned expensive…but a good third of that is the two $8 reprints issues. If I factored out reprints, "new stuff," and X-stuff, that’d leave me with Fire Power for the week. And that wouldn’t even really justify going to the comic shop!

Next week looks to be a decent-sized week as well. Until then…

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The Weekly Haul: Week of March 17, 2021

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Walt

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Another week, another haul. AND…another week with NO DC stuff (for me)!

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First off is the new Ultramega #1. I’m curious about it, and something about it put me in mind of Radiant Black…and hey, it’s Skybound, so…should be interesting at least. And I certainly hope so, for the price.

And speaking of Radiant Black, #2 is also out this week.

Then, much as I dislike hype, even I have to admit certain marketing really does work. I was curious about BeQuest #1 thanks to a cover feature of it on Comic Shop News some weeks back; and the issue itself looks even better. We’ll see how it reads, though…assuming I actually get that far with it.

The newest issue–#115–of TMNT is out; and part of me is still surprised they didn’t renumber such that this would just be a #15. Sometimes feels like I’m supporting for the long numbering–while TMNT are my "exception" on stuff, I don’t know if I’d really WANT to continue with a renumbered-for-renumbering’s-sake series. The Tokka/Rahzar stuff has me a bit more engaged again and I do wonder if the cycle (for me) is gonna be 30-some issues of feeling like this series is good and something to look forward to, a big climactic thing, followed by 12-18 issues "off" for it to get is groove back.

Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #3 is here…I’m not sure if I read #2 yet, so I’ve some catching up to do. This being a Larry Hama book, though, sells it for me.

X-Force #18 is "the next issue" of the X-titles.

And then we have a reprint of Invincible #1. This one’s "in honor of" the new (upcoming?) animated series. It’s not a "facsimile" edition or such, but I think being treated simply as a new printing? I’d willingly accept an alternating schedule Invincible Deluxe book to go with The Walking Dead, though. Sure, it’s re-presenting content, but it’s still something I’ll enjoy more than the likes of DC at this point…

Finally, the weeks-old Black Knight #1 facsimile edition (finally!) and a "Director’s Cut" edition of The Lat Ronin #1. As said…the TMNT are my exception, and I’m willing to get multiple editrions like this–as opposed to variant COVERS.

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Then on the back-issue front, snagged the Uncanny X-Men (2018) #9 which I believe completes my series there, unless there’s an annual I’m not aware of.

And while I don’t have much good to say for DC lately…the imagery for Batman ’89 and Superman ’78 (the former spotlighted here on the cover of Comic Shop News this week) are quite appealing. I’m not sure where I stand on these or how I’ll opt to get them–I believe they’re "digital-first" which means they’ll be available as digital chapters, then multiple such chapters will be combined as a single print issue, and then so many print issues will be gathered into a collected edition. I suppose it’d be WAAAAAYYYYY too much to ask DC to do a "deluxe-edition"-sized hardcover of Batman ’89 to go with the adaptation of the film, though.

As of this typing, reading-wise, I’m on the X-books’ #7s…so I’m "catching up" albeit a bit slower than I’d expected. AND reading those has caused more of a backlog of my reading current issues of everything.

First world issues, right?

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The Weekly Haul: Week of February 24, 2021

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Walt

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Well…

This wound up being a huge week! So huge that I passed on a book I’d been considering–the Spawn Compendium. As-is I spent significantly more than I’d planned, for NOT having any collected volumes in the mix!

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New issue of Spawn–#315–putting us deeper into the 300+ territory. And if I’m recalling correctly, starting with #256…this puts me 60 issues (or 5 years, half-a-decade, more than 1/6 of the entire existence of the book) deep myself!

Crossover #4 puts us into the back-half of the mini-series (at least, I assume it’s a 6-issue mini-series as most such Image books seem to be?!?).

Amazing Spider-Man #60 marks 7 issues I’ve been along for the ride. This should be the 3rd chapter of this particular arc…and it was a combination of the cover in solicitation or preview somewhere and an issue being in my pulls recently that I decided to at least go through to this issue to check things out. Though I’m already more than tired of the Kindred character and tone and not entirely sure what I’m reading in terms of issue-to-issue stuff.

Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar #5 marks the conclusion of this mini-series, I believe. I hope. I’d snagged the first issue to try; then the 2nd-3rd when I realized two more were out in case I liked the first issue enough…and then #4 and now 5 to complete the series/story. Still have to read the issues. And probably need to stay OUT of such minis…depending on if/how Marvel and/or Games Workshop decide to (allow) stuff like this to be collected.

A couple of X-books this week in Wolverine #10, and X-Men #18. These get to be added to "the stack" for eventual reading once I catch up one way or the other–from the #2s in the first wave of Dawn of X or scooting forward from the X of Swords crossover.

Usagi Yojimbo: The Wanderer’s Road #4 marks 4 issues into the next arc of the classic iteration of the character, colorized here.

Kaiju Score benefits from a friend’s recommendation–this is now the 4th issue I’ve bought, with #s 1-3 still in the to-be-read pile. And I’m guessing this will be a 5-6-issue mini-series.

And then–while I’ve no real intention of sticking with DC into its new initiative (Infinite Frontier, is it? I’m blanking at the moment of typing and don’t feel like Googling it)–I’d picked up several of the other giant-size specials out of Death Metal so figured why not get this Generations Forged? Having bought those others, and DC being what it’s been of late, not keen on their collected volumes nor in double-dipping for already-graphic-novel-ish squarebound/title-on-the-spine issues…and my OCD would demand this eventually anyway. Plus…Dan Jurgens was a name I saw with it, so…yeah.

Whew…nine issues!

…What?

Nope, we’re not done yet!

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Stray Dogs #1 appealed to me (apparently) in browsing new comics for the week on League of Comic Geeks, so I’d clicked to have it appear in the "checklist" that gets emailed to me every Tuesday/Wednesday. And since the issue was available with the actual/main/"A"/standard/NON-variant cover…I snagged it. To add to the ever-growing pile of stuff yet-to-be-read and all that. Something I read about it, though made it sound different and interesting, and something I’d enjoy, so time will tell!

Nuclear Family #1 simply caught my attention sitting there, and the cover showing apparently an entire family…well, I’ll check it out. Not keen on the $4.99 price point, but already spending $4.99+ on other issues and it already being a huge week, I figured what’s another few dollars? And it’s at least for a comic from a publisher that’s perhaps a bit more warranted to have $4.99 issues–cardstock-ish covers, and NOT owned by Disney nor AT&T. So another issue that I have to shrug at, toss on the pile, and who knows.

And that wraps up another week’s haul. Well, I also bought another "art box" of the Jim Lee X-Men (1991) #1 art. (A shortbox featuring the cover of the deluxe edition). Whether I’ll add it in with shuffling my ’90s X-stuff, or more likely use it to house my Dawn of X to present X-stuff…I dig it. Perhaps I’ll look into an actual Dawn of X or see if there was a House of X/Powers of X such box.

Here’s hoping next week isn’t nearly as huge!

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(Mighty Morphin’) Power Rangers on Home Media

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Walt

The new Power Rangers movie hit home media this week, and as it stood, was one of the movies that I knew I definitely had an interest in purchasing, despite having seen it in the theater.

I opted to go with the Target steelbook edition…largely as it was supposed to come with a “graphic novel,” and I recall stuff like an X-Men one that came with a box set, or the Mask of the Phantasm one that came with a VHS back in the day, or even the full-sized Avengers Season One that came with the first MCU Avengers movie.

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The case itself looks good, and I find that I much prefer these costumes’ appearance in stills like this or in action on the screen…but something about the toys just does not work for me–they look like dollar-store generics to me and don’t have the nostalgia that the classic costumes’ design would have.

As I’m not expecting much of a series here and don’t expect to have much to line this up with on a shelf, I was also more open to the steelbook as it won’t be a weird item amidst others for me. The title and such is still on the side, and I like this image, and even the lightning symbol on the back works well; though I may try to cut down the cardboard that came with it to have the “specs” of the release with the case, since that was not itself duplicated on the steelbook.

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Strictly on the surfacey, technical level, my only real disappointment here is that the so-called “graphic novel” is nothing more than a comic! It is just a differently-sized comic book, essentially a “single issue” (though it may have more pages). [Edit: Power Rangers: Aftershock apparently was a 96-page original graphic novel published in standard edition for $14.99.]

This booklet has 60 pages of story…so either the graphic novel has something else, or this is severely truncated!

I’m also–despite this being “free”–not happy with it as sold. “Sequel comic” or “free comic” or a number of other terms could be used. But to me, a “graphic novel” indicates squarebound and a sturdier cover and such–something “prestige format” perhaps. This most certainly is not that!

I guess this just strikes a chord with me, as it looks (to me) like blatant misuse of the term “graphic novel” to get around the term “comic” or “comic book”–as if either is a bad word.

Had this edition of the release been more expensive for including the comic, I’d be quite miffed. As the non-Target-exclusive version was the same price…this IS still “bonus” and 60 pages, so it’s not like it’s “nothing” was done.

I do look forward to re-watching this, as well as the “extras,” despite seeing too many online pieces already as folks scramble all over themselves to make “news stories” of stuff that’s revealed in comments in the extras and such.

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