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The Weekly Haul – Week of September 24th, 2014

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Walt

Finally’ve reached the end of what has been a ridiculously-expensive month of comics with DC’s September ‘event’ done with this week’s batch of books.

weekly_haul_september_24th_2014a

I’m not even sure if there’s a Booster Gold series in the works, or if he’s truly just got a one-shot here, given Futures End is a time-travel thing…but while $3.99 will tick me off and probably discourage it, I’d like to think I’d consider an ongoing again. I picked up Sinestro and Harley Quinn just ‘cuz they were there…figured I could at least check ’em out like this. And Red Lanterns since I got the other Lantern books, might as well get the whole “set.” Next to the Booster Gold cover, that Superman cover is probably my favorite of the bunch, and I’m hoping the issue deals with the “origin” of the mask and such–at least in that I don’t recall it being dealt with in the Futures End series itself while I was reading.

weekly_haul_september_24th_2014b

I figured I’d already checked out the Prometheus issue, I’d get the first Aliens issue of this new Fire and Stone thing. However, finding out it’s essentially just a big 4-mini-series “event” leaves me thinking I may pass on the single issues in favor of collected editions…and the “hope” of one big single collection of the entire thing, whether hardcover or the standard Dark Horse Omnibus size in paperback.

Doomed #2 finally makes its appearance at least a month late. And Armor Hunters concluded “officially” despite an aftermath issue next month and the (presumable) longer-term after-effects it leaves on the X-O Manowar book at minimum.

Definitely looking forward to getting back to smaller weeks again…this was the second week I didn’t even DARE look at the quarter-bins…those DC books really ate up a lot more than I “bargained” for this month.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Weekly Haul – Week of August 27th, 2014

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Walt

A fairly small week. I think I’ve dropped Batman Eternal, passing on it this week. (or at least, maybe I’ll be done with the weekly buying and catch up every few weeks or so).

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Given Valiant has about 9 titles, two in one week is a nice balance: Rai by itself, and X-O Manowar as the week’s Armor Hunters tie-in.

New issue of TMNT: Turtles in Time, and newest Letter 44 address the rest, with Superman as the lone DC/Marvel representative.

All in all a good week’s worth of comics. Best of all, kept things in the $20 range…

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

The Weekly Haul – Week of July 23rd, 2014

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Walt

As new comics go, this week is definitely one of the biggest in quite awhile, with a pretty significant haul just FOR the new-this-week comics!

batman_day_free_stuff

This was ‘Batman Day’, so there’s a free special edition of Detective Comics #27, reprinting the original first appearance of Batman, as well as a couple other features/reimaginings/retellings of the story, it looks like. The Vertigo Preview is the way I prefer my “previews”–a separate comic-sized thing, rather than several pages of “padding” in regular issues. The Portfolio of upcoming action figures and statues is interesting…and if I had the space/finances I’d definitely be interested in several of the statues!

masks_of_the_bat

While I was content to go simply with the Adam West mask, the store owner told me to go ahead and take one of each, so…got all four of the masks offered. Dark Knight, Original, New 52, and Adam West.

doctor_who_premieres

Two new Doctor Who series have begun, one focused on the Tenth Doctor, one on the Eleventh. I haven’t been particularly enamored with other Doctor Who comics, but was certainly interested enough to give these both at least a try for the first issue. And continuing my collection of the new Valiant chromium covers…

valiant_stuff

Two new Valiant issues including the regular edition of Armor Hunters: Bloodshot. And though the Gold Key line from Dynamite is not Valiant, they’re in the same vein and I’m filing them in my Current Valiant box.

tmnt_stuff

Latest Letter 44 and two new TMNT issues this week…

dc_stuff

And the latest of both of DC‘s current weeklies and the new issue of Superman. While I still loathe the Superman title moving to $3.99, I’m tentatively (case-by-case/issue-by-issue) onboard for the current arc with Johns on the writing.

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

Catching Up A Bit

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Walt

Unfortunately, I’ve managed to get quite a ways behind on some of my reading the last few months, with a number of personal things going on in life. This week’s been a bit of a catch-up week as I work on resolving the issue…I don’t like being behind, especially when it means I’m buying stuff “just because I’ve BEEN buying it” rather than an actual interest…and typically, once I’ve gotten to about 6 issues of anything built up that I’ve not read, that’s usually a sign it’s time to drop the title and move along.

catching_up_serenity_leaves_on_the_wind

I’d read the first three issues of this year’s Serenity: Leaves on the Wind mini as they came out. I then got backed up on them due to not getting to #4 the week it was out, then misplacing that so it created a bit of a ripple effect until I was able to get all the issues back into one stack. Now I’m looking forward to the hardcover, though I don’t think it’s due out until December or so…and of course looking forward to further Serenity story(ies).

catching_up_letter_44_dream_police

In the same sitting with Serenity, I also read the first issue of JMS’ Dream Police. This was a series that–not having gotten around to the first issue, I didn’t buy any further issues. I’ll probably wait for a collected volume, as it was juuust interesting enough I’m curious what comes next.

With the next issue of Letter 44 due out this week, that’ll put me exactly at 6 issues I’m behind on, so hopefully I’ll get caught up, or at least read enough to determine if it’s time to cut this title. After all, a $1 first issue thoroughly impressed me into immediately adding the series to my pulls…but having trailed off since then and gotten so backed up, obviously I haven’t missed it exactly, even if it’s good.

Of course, along with the various single issues I’ve amassed, I still have a couple “$10 Volume Ones” to get to that I’ve already bought, and there are quite a few others that have come out the last several months that I’ve yet to acquire. And those tend to be a much better value than single issues, even if I never buy a later volume.

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This Week’s Comics Haul (Week of 2/12)

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Walt

This was another large-ish week for me…

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My standing hold of “all $1 books” holds, and has now resulted in my actually owning a My Little Pony comic.

Letter 44 is on the chopping block for me…much as I enjoyed the first issue and the overall premise…I haven’t read the previous issue yet, and here’s the next, so…we’ll see.

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From the quarter-bin, I snagged a mere 4 issues this week. I believe I’m now just missing Hulk 2099 #1 to have a full set of the main 2099 #1s from the quarter bins. I snagged the Wolverine and the X-Men Annual cuz hey…25-cents for the digital code!

I’m all about seeing as many digital codes as I can NOT go to waste…and snagging issues like this then make future 99-cent Comixology sales that much more likely to hook me, as it’s that many fewer issues to buy, and at 25 cents rather than “even” 99 cents.

Filed under: 2014, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Weekly Haul | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Letter 44 #1 [Review]

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Walt

letter44001Written by: Charles Soule
Illustrated by: Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque
Colored by: Guy Major
Lettered by: Shawn DePasquale
Edited by: Jill Beaton
Designed by: Jason Storey
Published by: Oni Press
Cover Price: $1.00

I have a “standing order” at my comic shop: in addition to my “regular” pull-list titles, pretty much anything priced at $1 or less (single-issues) also get pulled. Whether it’s “just” a reprint like the IDW Hundred-Penny Press books, or the Image Firsts or DC What’s Next or a genuine premiere or special issue.

So along with my usual stuff, got a handful of $1 issues today…including this Letter 44 #1. Looking at the cover, and it being from Oni Press (where I stick with DC, Marvel, Image, IDW, Dark Horse, and Valiant, typically) means this almost certainly would not have come to my attention, except that $1 price point.

Only once home and having already read my Valiants for the week, did I look with any interest at the $1 issues…and noticed Soule‘s name on this…a name that came to my attention during DC‘s Villains Month. So I figured this’d be a good issue to “start with”…and it pulled me in.

There’s a new president, who–upon taking office–learns that there’s a LOT going on that renders Earth-bound politics pointless except as a cover for actually preparing the country–if not the world–for potential disaster. Not one day into his presidency, this new president begins to see the tip of the proverbial iceberg as his life–and the way he sees the world around him–is irrevocably changed. The title itself comes from the letter–left from the 43rd president to the incoming 44th–letting him in on the Big Secret..

This very concept plays very well with thoughts I’ve (personally) had in the past, reconciling reality with “comic book reality.” Namely, that while we read about all these huge world-wide/universal threats in (primarily super-hero) comics, since the world has NOT been destroyed and the universe has NOT (that we know of) ended, there’s untold potential of what’s gone on to maintain that. For lack of better phrasing and explanation…this comic immediately fits into what is probably the core “conspiracy theory” I’ll buy into (conceptually, if not the specific situation).

In short…the story grabbed me, kept me reading, anticipating the final page reveal, and I’m very interested to learn what comes next. I was actually so impressed by this issue that–for something I hadn’t even known about seven hours ago–I emailed the comic shop to request it for my pulls, to make sure I don’t miss out on the next issue.

Visually, I’m not blown away by the art, but I’m by no means let down…as this is something I’d not heard of and had no frame of reference for, and is a new property, I have nothing to compare it to, so it just simply looks like it looks; it’s about humans, and they look human, if slightly stylistic and they’re obviously drawings (as opposed to some ultra-realistic/photographic-looking paintings or such, a la Alex Ross).

In short…this surprise issue does what any great #1 issue should do: introduced me to characters and concept, the premise of the series…gave me questions, built anticipation, reveals something of what’s hinted at throughout…and leaves me interested in continuing with the story. Not because it’s some cheesey cliffhanger but because I’m genuinely curious at further development of the characters and the world they live in. It also lets one clearly know the reasoning for the title itself…in this series’ case, the letter left for the new president that changes his perception of the world.

For only $1…I definitely recommend checking this out, if you like non-superhero stories, or want a change of pace. Worst case, you’re out 1/4 of the cost of another full-size issue; best case, you find a new title to follow, having experienced an issue itself and not just some hype.

Filed under: INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Letter 44 (Oni Press) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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