Comic Reviews by Walt

Looks like when I last posted, I’d speculated on covering a second week in the same week.

How laughably wrong I was!

Now it’s been nearly FIVE WEEKS with zero new posts in this blog.

Soooo…here’s four weeks’ worth of weekly hauls…so I can at least still shoot for "covering" the entire year of hauls, eventually…

Week of May 19, 2021

It’s also been a weird several weeks, with some stuff getting jumbled across multiple purchases. Stuff from May 19th was indeed–as I’d expected–a huge week, though!

With the X books, we had Way of X #2 and Wolverine #12…then continuing on with Marvel, also had Amazing Spider-Man #66 and Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 (The ‘60s)! I’d thought I was staying out of Marvel but they’re simply offering a LOT more of actual interest to me than DC at this point…though most of that is my holding my nose and taking the plunge to be "all-in" on the X-books, and deciding to hang onto Amazing Spider-Man in case something gets good beyond my daliance with the story (forgettable enough for the moment) that was going on when I grabbed that issue awhile back for the cover!

Branching outward to Image, there was Ultramega #3 which is yet another title I want to support but have yet to get around to the actual reading yet. It’s a huge book, but I’m sucking it up and paying the price for it being huge.

Then getting into a mix from picking up 5/19 and 6/2 stuff from another shop together, we have X-Men #20–which is the penultimate issue of this iteration of the series before another reboot in numbering in July.

Alien #3 marks the 2nd issue I’ve not read, and with the hassle I’m having even getting the omnibus and lack of WORTHWHILE "buzz" on the series, I’m considering just dropping the title. Maybe when I catch up on my reading of it, I’ll feel differently?

Spawn #318 is interesting…that’s 18 issues beyond the 300th issue. We’re also getting very close to the title being at the point that Uncanny X-Men was number-wise at the start of the Age of Apocalypse…which makes me feel rather old to consider!

Walking Dead Deluxe #15 seems too high a number to already be at…I suppose the series is shipping a couple times a month, and for that I won’t actually complain! We’re getting close to Michonne’s first appearance…and I wonder how many variants THAT is gonna spawn?

Against much better judgment, I ended up grabbing Milestone Returns #0 as I was picking up a bunch of other random stuff to "try." And I remember the original Milestone launch from 1994 or so and had a bout of nostalgia prompting the purchase.

TMNT: Best of Splinter #1 is the latest "Best of ____" issue from IDW‘s TMNT line. While I don’t think any of these are reprinting anything I don’t already have, I still like the idea of them, AND the completist/OCD in me still counts these as "TMNT single issues" since they’re not squarebound TPBs or such, and I’ve bought 1 of every single issue since the series kicked off in 2011. (Shame they’re not doing a 10th anniversary special or some such..!)

Even though I’ve tried to stay away from mini-series and such and had been passing on random titles…The BeQuest is another series I ended up getting the first issue…and then subsequent issues so I don’t have orphaned issues if I read and enjoy the thing. #3 is the latest issue here.

Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters #3 is another of a recent "class" of titles including BeQuest that I’m getting lately and hoping will actually be a good read…and continuing to buy so I don’t have to hunt the issues later or miss out or such.

A third title in this "class" of titles is Stray Dogs, already at issue #4 and I think rapidly approaching its conclusion.

Playing catch-up the other week, I also snagged a bunch of "random" issues that I’d either forgotten I missed or hadn’t known of and decided to "try" in addition to several months’ worth of those other series like BeQuest, Stray Dogs, and Jonna.

Looks like I missed photographing Radiant Black in the mix, but had that in there.

Then there’s Stillwater #7 which was a slight "surprise" to me that it existed…I’d thought the series was a 6-issue mini…but apparently it’s continuing on, albeit with a "hiatus" between arcs. Which is something I’m quite fine with…better a gap of several months between arcs than delays plaguing the thing mid-arc!

Possibly in the vein of World of Warcraft, we have Helm of Greycastle, which actually caught my attention initially for its title…and the similarity to "Greyskull" from He-Man/Masters of the Universe. Seeing a single cover image it’s CLEARLY absolutely NOT that property…but a fantasy property and I’d been curious about it when the first issue got ready to come out…but apparently then missed it. So coming across it, I snagged both #1-2 and we’ll see if I notice subsequent issues.

Red Sonja: The Superpowers #1-3 caught my attention for the covers, AND there being 3 issues available at once. Turned out it’s apparently a 5-issue series, so I decided to give it a shot, and mildly cheaper/simpler to get the single issues than paying the publisher’s price on a TPB and such.

Catching my attention for being something to do with "kaiju," Jenny Zero #1 was another that something had happened where I missed out on the first issue initially…but spotting it when I did, went ahead and grabbed it.

Finally for the week, another issue that caught my attention on a whim was The Girls of Dimension 13 #1. This being another $4.99 Aftershock book, I’m not entirely keen on it. But I’m liking stuff from the publisher, not seeing variants to a degree that cheeses me off, and with my wanting nothing to do with the likes of Boom, I think I’m seeing this publisher as a "replacement" for me.

Week of May 26, 2021

May 26 made for a smaller than usual week for me…though that also allowed the purchase of a tpb which is out of character for me of late!

The Last Ronin #3 finally came out. While the series itself was initially delayed quite a bit I believe over art stuff, I feel like they should have delayed it further and waited til everything was ready to go monthly instead if it being something between "quarterly" and "thirdly" or whatever that word would be.

Getting the Dawn of X vol. 16 TPB "completes" the "first act" of the Krakoan-era X-stuff for me in collected volume. I’m tempted to "drop" these BUT still feel like I need to "support" the format–the "anthology-style" TPBs for an entire line. That said…having giant hardcovers of House of X/Powers of X and then 16 of these paperbacks for stuff between and then X of Swords…but other "mini-events" already like the Hellfire Gala and Trial of Magneto and Inferno (or is that a TITLE or mini?) coming up it sort of busts my notion of having a long run of paperbacks periodically interrupted by huge event. Time will tell.

New Mutants #18 was another "just the next issue" for the week, for getting all the X-stuff.

I apparently duplicated on Spawn #318 which could be worse, I guess…though I’ll be happier to get multiple titles entirely than the variants. As long as this stays at $2.99 for a pricepoint, though, I’ll overlook variants in general.

Finally for the week, had Summoner War: Legacy #2 that I know nothing about but looks like a fantasy title and based on a game or such…yet I got the first issue to try and opted to get the second here.

Week of June 2, 2021

This week was another big one that got split due to unavailability of some issues, and ended up "trying" a couple things I normally wouldn’t go for.

Marauders #22 was my first issue of the Hellfire Gala, I believe…and the only X-issue still in stock when I got to the shop, having forgotten to message ahead for holds.

While I think I only read #1, I’ve continued buying issues of Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon, which concludes here with #6. I’ve heard mixed things but will judge for myself. It’s Larry Hama, which "sold" me on the book at all, so we’ll see.

Amazing Spider-Man #67 is another "the latest issue" pickup.

I’d nearly forgotten entirely about Batman/Catwoman as a series…and #5 here was a surprise of sorts. I have mixed feelings on the thing at this point but I’m "invested" already and might as well "support" it as I don’t care for OTHER stuff DC is doing, and this series is supposed to wrap up stuff from King‘s run on Batman from when I was all-in on the publisher’s Rebirth stuff five years ago when they had regained loads of goodwill.

I’m not keen on variants, but for the heckuvit, decided to pick up North Force #0, which is technically a variant of Savage Dragon #259, as while I’m not buying Savage Dragon in singles, I might be tempted to try a spin-off title, and this would seem a decent starting point. I also appreciated the novelty of the thing, rather than being a straight up reprint of #259. I think it reminded e a bit of Spider-GIrl #0 from back in 1998 (?) that reprinted a What If..? issue but with cover dress to fit the new series..

Vampirella 1992 is not my normal fare, but I believe it’s a one-shot, and set in 1992, and something about it put me in mind of the year-specific titles playing up nostalgia…and hey, 1992 has its share of nostalgia for me, so I snagged the issue.

With several issues sold-out/not available on the 2nd, I ended up placing an order online to shore things up for the week.

X-Force #20 and Hellions #12 are chapters of the Hellfire Gala mini-event.

It didn’t register for me that I had a variant of Fire Power #12 so I ordered the proper cover, sucking it up on getting stuck with a variant. I suppose I have to decide if I’ll continue double-dipping on single issues while getting the TPBs or not, or just shift to the TPBs.

Then to wrap things up, I’d noticed Jenny Zero #2 and decided to get that after all–I had #1 by then and needed something extra to pad out the order to better justify the price of shipping.

Week of June 9, 2021

Coming current with the most recent week June 9 was a decent size and included a couple of back-issues.

X-Men #21 and Excalibur #21 are both chapters of the Hellfire Gala. Children of the Atom #4, however, is not…but I believe this series was intended to be out last year, so it’s not exactly "in sync" with the rest of the X-line.

Amazing Spider-Man #68 is the second issue of the series in as many weeks…but also "the latest issue."

TMNT #117 is another "latest issue," and I’m not sure where I stand with this title anymore. 3 more issues and #120 will mark 10 years of IDW‘s series and I think THE longest I’ve consistently, unbrokenly followed any series/title with no gaps. That said…it’s time for the title to pick up again, as it just hasn’t been holding me as previous chunks of the run have; though it took a few issues after #50 to re-engage me where it had felt like a new title, but by the run-up to #75 I was really enjoying it again (and we had the Krang trial stuff). I’m not really getting that feeling at this point over a year-and-a-half post-#100 and the series just hasn’t been all that engaging or interesting and thus has–for me–been rather forgettable and blurred into a single slog that I read out of obligation, OCD, and continuity.

I vaguely remember many years ago when I’d followed a few issues of Savage Dragon, the series guest-starred some character from another series…and there was something about Larsen having either bought that character or was taking stuff on in support…but if I recall correctly, that character was Ant. And here/now seeing Ant #12 that supposedly wraps up the long-unfinished initial run and sets up a new run (?) or such, I decided to grab the issue…much like North Force #0 the previous week.

Geiger #3 is the latest issue, and I still haven’t read the first. It’s another that I may not have the purest motives to support: It’s Johns and Frank while NOT being DC and thus I’m wanting to support it out of spite. Plus, I’ve generally enjoyed the creators’ collaborations…they’ve at least been good themselves and pretty to look at, even if I didn’t care for their impact on continuity. As a creator-owned thing from Image I expect to quite enjoy the book!

And as with previously…Batman Scooby-Doo! Mysteries #3 is a $2.99 book and I feel the "need" to "support" a $2.99 book from DC when they’ve jacked most of their other titles to $4.99 and $5.99. I’ll buy for $2.99. I won’t for $5.99 and the publisher can pound sand at those higher price points!

I blame Chris Sheehan for bringing the Curse of the Man-Thing mini-event back to my radar, and I wound up snagging the 2nd and 3rd (of 3?) chapters that were presented as one-shots initially in Amazing Spider-Man: Curse of the Man-Thing #1 and X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing #1. Now that I have these, I’m bound by OCD to seek out the Avengers issue that serves as chapter 1 of the mess. I’m NOT keen on the $4.99 price point NOR Marvel‘s publishing these all as #1 issues without even anything to clearly indicate on the cover that they’re chapters 2 and 3 of a larger story. I’d initially passed on the Spidey issue that was put in with my pulls a few weeks back. I guess I should’ve gotten it then and grabbed the Avengers issue when/while I could!

I’ve snagged some other stuff of note recently, and maybe I’ll show stuff off in another post soon. Or maybe it’ll be AUGUST now before I post again. Or something in-between.

Time–and some health stuff in my personal life and family–will largely guide that, I suppose.

Filed under: 2021 Non-Review Posts, 2021 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: Alien, Amazing Spider-Man, Ant, Batman Catwoman, Batman Scooby-Doo Mysteries, BeQuest, Chameleon Conspiracy, Children of the Atom, Dawn of X, Excalibur, Fantastic Four Life Story, Fire Power, Geiger, GIrls of Dimension 13, Heart of the Dragon, Hellfire Gala, Hellions, Helm of Greycastle, Iron Fist, Jenny Zero, Jonna, Last Ronin, Marauders, Milestone Returns, New utants, North Force, Red SOnja The Superpowers, Spawn, Stillwater, Stray Dogs, Summoners War, TMNT, Ultramega, Unpossible Monsters, Vampirella, Vampirella 1992, Walking Dead Deluxe, Way of X, Wolverine, x-force, x-men | Leave a comment »