Dark Horse and IDW June 2011 solicitations (collected editions)

Will be picking up: Nothing. Sorry, IDW and Dark Horse! It’s not your fault I have provincial tastes!

Might pick up eventually:

• Dungeons & Dragons, v. 1: Shadowplague (hardcover): Comic adaptations of D&D are generally, well, crap. (Sorry, DC and everyone who worked on their ‘90s D&D comics!) Still, the idea of fantasy comics is a worthwhile one, as the various Conan comics point out and CrossGen noticed. So I might manage to pick this one up eventually and see if it’s a good story or if it’s awkwardly adapted game mechanics and traditions. ($24.99, 9781600109225; IDW)

Might pick up if the price is right:

• Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of London, v. 2 ($15.99; Dark Horse)
• Next Men, v. 1 (hardcover): This is the new series rather than a reprint of the series in the ‘90s. For those of us who didn’t read the original, IDW is also reprinting Next Men, v. 1, #1 for $1 under their 100 Penny Press banner. ($21.99, 9781600109249; IDW)

Competing 1940s Archie collections!:

• Archie Archives, v. 2 (hardcover) ($49.99; Dark Horse)
• Archie: Americana, v. 1: The '40s (hardcover): Which to choose? The IDW book is a compilation of two “Best of the Forties” books, according to the solicitations, and the Dark Horse book reprints material in chronological order. For the casual Archie enthusiast — and you know who you are; yes, you, sir, in the back of the Nebraska — Americana is probably the best idea, but the hard-core Archie fan (the ones who like their malteds double strong) will look forward to the Archives. ($24.99; 9781600109317; IDW)

Manga:

• Drifters, v. 1 ($$12.99; Dark Horse)
• Eden: It’s an Endless World!, v. 13 ($12.99; Dark Horse)
• Gantz, v. 18 ($12.99; Dark Horse)
• Oh My Goddess!, v. 39 ($10.99; Dark Horse)

The Rest:

• 30 Days of Night Prestige Edition: For those who want prestige in their horror comics. ($50, 9781600109560; IDW)
• Angel, v. 3: The Wolf, the Ram, and the Heart ($24.99, 9781600109447; IDW)
• B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth, v. 1: New World: Tough to go wrong with Guy Davis art — I mean, if you can’t have Mignola, Davis would be in my top three choices — but for some reason I resist the BPRD books. Perhaps I’m recalling gradually getting sucked into auxiliary X-titles in ‘90s and transferring the dislike to all spinoff titles. ($19.99; Dark Horse)
• Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Archives, v. 6 (hardcover) ($49.99; Dark Horse)
• Caniff ($49.99, 9781600109201; IDW)
• Danger Girl Campbell Sketchbook (hardcover): There are people out there that still want this? Really? When did the last Danger Girl come out? (*checks notes*) OK, a mini in 2007, but J. Scott Campbell hasn’t drawn the book since a one-shot in 2004, and he hasn’t worked on more than Danger Girl issue in a year since last century. And why isn’t this coming out from Wildstorm / DC or Image, which are the companies that published Danger Girl in the first place? ($19.99; 9781600109218; IDW)
• Deadworld Classics, v. 2 ($24.99, 9781600109256; IDW)
• Flash Gordon Comic Book Archives, v. 4 (hardcover) ($49.99; Dark Horse)
• G.I. Joe: Cobra, v. 4: Death of Cobra Commander ($17.99, 9781600109881; IDW)
• Jericho: Season Three: Somewhere there is a Venn diagram that shows the overlap between Jericho fans and comic book readers, and I suspect that overlap is pretty tiny. ($19.99, 9781600109393; IDW)
• Jurassic Park: The Devils in the Desert: I realize IDW is making a John Byrne push this month, but this is the best Byrne property it could find? ($17.99, 9781600109232; IDW)
• Little Lulu, v. 28: The Prize Winner and Other Stories: Twenty-eight volumes of Little Lulu? Huh. ($14.99; Dark Horse)
• Locke & Key, v. 4: Keys to the Kingdom (hardcover) ($24.99, 9781600108860; IDW)
• Something Monstrous! ($17.99, 9781600109287; IDW)
• Space Family Robinson Archives, v. 1 (hardcover): Collecting issues from Gold Key Comics … of an idea more famously adapted as Lost in Space. I ask this sarcastically sometimes, but I truly wonder who the audience for this collection is: comics historians? Nostalgic 40- or 50-somethings? Is this a lost gem that I just don’t know about? ($49.99; Dark Horse)
• Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago..., v. 4: I’m not interested in this, but I have to admit, $25 for eighteen full-color issues is an excellent deal, even when you take the non-standard size into account. ($24.99; Dark Horse)
• Star Wars: Knight Errant—Aflame ($17.99; Dark Horse)
• Suicide Forest: Not to be confused with IDW’s Suicide Girls series. This sounds more like an American attempt at J-horror. ($17.99, 9781600109478; IDW)
• Transformers Classics, v. 1 ($24.99, 9781600109355; IDW)
• Transformers Prime, v. 3 ($7.99, 9781600109607; IDW)
• Transformers: The Complete All Hail Megatron (hardcover) ($75, 9781600109553; IDW)

DC June 2011 solicitations (collected editions)

Will be picking up: Nothing. Sorry, DC!

Might pick up eventually:

• Showcase Presents: The Trial of the Flash: I won’t say that DC is more adventuresome with their choices of Showcases than Marvel is with Essentials — really, how do you choose between Bat Lash / The War that Time Forgot and Killraven / Godzilla? — but I can’t see Marvel doing anything like this: jumping ahead in a character’s history to present an extended storyline. I understand it ties in with the May crossover storyline in the DC books, which involves Zoom changing the DC universe, but I have a fondness and curiosity for this story … the first Flash I ever read (and one of the first comics I ever read) was Flash #274, which teased the death of Iris Allen, and I’m curious to see what happens when Flash gets his chance at revenge. ($19.99)

Might pick up if the price is right:

• The Steve Ditko Omnibus, v. 1 Starring Shade the Changing Man (hardcover): I’m a big Ditko fan, but I’m not sure I’m that big of a Ditko fan, if you catch my drift. ($59.99)
• Welcome to Tranquility: One Foot in the Grave: Well, I was slightly amused by the first Welcome to Tranquility volume; I might try the second. ($17.99)

Already got one (earlier collection or original comics):

• Fables Deluxe Edition, v. 3 (hardcover) ($29.99)
• Gotham Central, v. 2: Jokers and Madmen: Hey! This time they’re reprinting all the stories! Find out what happened in #16-8 that DC didn’t want us to know about when they released Gotham Central, v. 3: Unresolved Targets in 2006. Also, it’s a twelve-issue trade for an affordable price; the creative team is top-notch, and there’s no reason not to buy this series. ($19.99)

Blackest Night:

• Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps, v. 1 ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps, v. 2 ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Green Lantern ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps ($19.99)
• Blackest Night: Seven Blackest Night books in one month! That’s $140 retail; supposing a 40 percent discount, that’s still a bill of $86. If you’re planning to buy all of these books in May, you fill me with both wonder and dismay. ($19.99)

The Rest:

• The Absolute Sandman, Book Five (hardcover): Bits and bobs of Sandman after the series’s end. ($99.99)
• DC Universe: Legacies ($34.99)
• Firestorm: The Nuclear Man: I’ll admit to some curiosity about this, but the chances of me buying a TPB that features Bronze Age backups from Flash is slim. Also: too much of a possibility this will be like Essential Nova. ($17.99)
• Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit (hardcover) ($22.99)
• Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors, v. 1 (hardcover) ($22.99)
• Hellblazer: Bloody Carnations ($19.99)
• Jack of Fables, v. 9: The End ($17.99)
• Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse (hardcover) ($49.99)
• The New Teen Titans Omnibus, v. 1 (hardcover): DC catches omnibus fever, and I have to say this is a more worthy choice than Atlantis Attacks, Acts of Vengeance, or Evolutionary War. On the other hand, seventeen issues for $75 is insane. Sometimes, I’d like to have it explained to me how DC prices its collections; although I like to think a dartboard and a blindfold are involved, I have a feeling payments to creators has a great deal to do with it the vast differences. Still, there are five more issues in this omnibus than in this month’s Gotham Central, v. 2 and the omnibus goes for $55 more. Yes, New Teen Titans is a more revered title, but that, a hard cover, and five more issues are not worth $55. ($75)
• Northlanders, v. 5: Metal ($17.99)
• Outsiders: The Great Divide ($14.99)
• Return to Perdition (hardcover): Max Allan Collins returns to Perdition, updating the setting to the ‘70s and a new generation. DC helpfully reprints two volumes of the previous stories. ($19.99)
• Revolver ($19.99)
• Road to Perdition ($14.99)
• Road to Perdition 2: On the Road ($14.99)
• The Secret Society of Super-Villains (hardcover): And this has more issues than the New Teen Titans Omnibus and a hard cover and goes for $35 less. Of course, I have no idea what the story is with this collection; the solicitation just mentions that there are supervillains (including Sinestro, Grodd, and Captain Cold) starring in this story. Hardly a compelling reason to buy it. ($39.99)
• Superman: Grounded, v. 1 (hardcover): The train wreck begins (and ends) here! ($22.99)
• X-Files / 30 Days of Night: Wait, did this slip through a wormhole from 2002? ($17.99)

Marvel June 2011 solicitations (collected editions)

Will be picking up:

• X-Factor, v. 11: Happenings in Vegas ($14.99, ISBN: 9780785146551): The “No More Mutant” crap has really driven this title in weird ways, in directions I am not really fond of. Still, I keep reading the trades. Perhaps the re-emergence of mutants will get this book back on a track I am happier with; perhaps not.

Might pick up eventually:

• Mystique by Sean McKeever Ultimate Collection ($24.99, 9780785155218): Another “Ultimate Collection” for Mystique, this time by Sean McKeever, another very good writer. It’s odd that this series is forgotten, despite work from Brian K. Vaughn and McKeever; if it weren’t for the X-Men: First Class movie coming out, who knows how long it would have taken to get these stories back in print?

Might pick up if the price is right:

• Captain Britain, v. 2: Siege of Camelot (hardcover) ($39.99, 9780785156765): Two $40 Captain Britain hardcover collections in as many months? Perhaps Marvel is loading its audience with more Captain Britain than it can bear.
• Fantastic Four: The Overthrow of Doom (hardcover) ($29.99, 9780785156055): Classic Fantastic Four, and by “classic,” I mean Bronze Age stuff that not many people remember. Still, I am fond of the story that follows this one — the team’s capture by the Skrulls and execution by accelerated aging — so perhaps I’ll pick this one up. On one hand, this collection has four writers for nine issues; on the other hand, it has art by George Perez and Keith Pollard, and I’m fond of all four of the writers (Len Wein, Roger Stern, Marv Wolfman, and Bill Mantlo).

Already got one (earlier collection or original comics):

• Essential Spider-Man, v. 10 ($19.99, ISBN: 9780785157472): I have all the Amazing Spider-Man I want from this point forward, which is a little sad; I’d like to reward Marvel for getting into an outstanding part of Spider-Man’s history. I’d also like to give kudos to Marvel for getting their first Essential series to volume 10.
• Essential X-Factor, v. 1 ($19.99, ISBN: 9780785118862): Solid but not exciting stuff — except for the Mutant Massacre, of course.
• Essential X-Factor, v. 2 ($19.99, ISBN: 9780785120995): Not exciting stuff, unless you really like Warren as Death.
• New X-Men by Grant Morrison, Book 2 ($14.99, 9780785155188): Excellent stories; you should read it.
• Runaways, v. 5: Escape to New York (digest) ($9.99, ISBN: 9780785157397): Reissuing two Runaways digests. How curious … I figured once the digests were gone, they’d be gone for good.
• Runaways, v. 6: Parental Guidance Digest (digest) ($9.99, ISBN: 9780785157458): Deceptive cover.

Masterworks:

• Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics, v. 6 (hardcover) ($59.99, ISBN: 9780785142041): I’m sure the target audience will be very happy with this one, but I think the rest of us are wondering why anyone would pick this up.
• Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man, v. 7 (hardcover) ($54.99, ISBN: 9780785150442)
• Marvel Masterworks: the Mighty Thor, v. 3 ($24.99, ISBN: 9780785150664)

The Rest:

• Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Circus of the Damned, Book 1 — The Charmer ($16.99, ISBN: 9780785146896): Someone is buying these. I want to know who, so I can personally avoid them.
• Ant-Man & Wasp: Small World ($14.99, ISBN: 9780785155676)
• Avengers vs. Pet Avengers ($14.99, ISBN: 9780785151852)
• Avengers: Assault on Olympus (hardcover) ($29.99, 9780785155348)
• Black Widow: The Name of the Rose ($16.99, ISBN: 9780785147008)
• Captain America by Dan Jurgens, v. 1 ($29.99, 9780785155171): Hey, does anyone here have a movie coming out during the summer … oh, yes, Captain America. Carry on with your six collections …
• Captain America: Fighting Avenger ($14.99, 9780785151982)
• Captain America: First Vengeance ($978078515725-0, 14.99)
• Captain America: No Escape ($15.99, 9780785145134)
• Captain America: Red Menace Ultimate Collection ($19.99, 9780785156178)
• Captain America: The Art of Captain America, the First Avenger (hardcover) ($49.99, 9780785155096): … including a shameless picture book, giving fans an “insider’s look” into the making of the movie. Justifiable if the movie is very good overall or visually; robbery if the movie is mediocre.
• Daredevil: Reborn (hardcover) $19.99, ISBN: 9780785151326)
• Daredevil: Yellow ($19.99, ISBN: 97807851-09693): The first of the two colorful Jeph Loeb / Tim Sale collections, produced when Marvel wanted to catch a bit of that Long Halloween / Dark Victory heat for themselves …
• Dark Tower Omnibus (hardcover) ($150.00, ISBN: 9780785155416): The solicitation says this collection has 296 pages, but that can’t be right; there are 30 issues here. Still, $150 for 600 pages seems a bit steep. How big of a kickback is King getting for this?
• Dark Tower Omnibus — Companion (hardcover) (no price or ISBN)
• Dark Tower: The Gunslinger — The Little Sisters of Eluria (hardcover) ($24.99, ISBN: 9780785149316)
• Deadpool Classic, v. 5 ($29.99, ISBN: 9780785155195): Four Deadpool books again! Still no movie! This really drives home how much Deadpool Marvel is churning out these days.
• Deadpool Team-Up, v. 2: Special Relationship ($15.99, ISBN: 9780785147121)
• Deadpool, v. 7: Space Oddity (hardcover) ($19.99, ISBN: 9780785151388)
• Deadpool: Dead Head Redemption ($15.99, ISBN: 9780785156499)
• Evolutionary War Omnibus ($74.99, 9780785155478): The Evolutionary War. Really. This storyline, which was an ‘80s summer annual crossover, isn’t reviled; it’s never mentioned. By anyone. On the Internet, where everything is discussed at some point or another.
• Fantastic Four by Waid & Wieringo: Ultimate Collection, Book 1 ($24.99, ISBN: 9780785156550)
• Fantastic Four: The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine (hardcover) ($34.99, 9780785156079)
• Generation Hope: The Future’s a Four Letter Word ($14.99, 9780785147190)
• Halo: Blood Line ($19.99, ISBN: 9780785140504)
• Hulk: Gray ($19.99, ISBN: 9780785113461): … and it was right about here that it became obvious that the Loeb / Sale magic wasn’t going to happen at the House of Ideas.
• Impossible Man ($34.99, 9780785155201): Intriguing choice, but grab-bag collections rarely motivate me enough to pick them up.
• Marvel Adventures Avengers: Captain America Digest ($9.99, 9780785145622)
• Marvel Adventures Avengers: Hulk Digest ($9.99, ISBN: 9780785155836)
• Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher ($14.99, ISBN: 9780785145950)
• Nyx: Wannabe ($19.99, ISBN: 9780785157403)
• One Month to Live ($14.99, ISBN: 9780785149040)
• Osborn: Evil Incarcerated ($16.99, ISBN: 9780785151753)
• Secret Avengers, v. 2: Eyes of the Dragon (hardcover) ($24.99, ISBN: 9780785146018)
• Secret Warriors, v. 5: Night (hardcover) ($19.99, ISBN: 9780785148029)
• She-Hulks: Hunt for the Intelligencia ($14.99, ISBN: 9780785150008)
• Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga ($39.99, ISBN: 9780785155232): Marvel loves reprinting these issues to prove that the second Clone Saga wasn’t a stupid idea — stupid execution, perhaps, but there was a good reason for it. This collection includes a few Spectacular Spider-Man issues from the ‘80s that wrapped up some loose ends / made things more complicated under the guise of correcting plot flaws.
• Thor: Blood & Thunder ($34.99, 9780785150947): The post-movie hangover includes only three collections. I don’t remember much good being said about Blood & Thunder, but it’s certainly a Thor story …
• Thor: Gods on Earth ($29.99, 9780785150886)
• Thor: Thunderstrike ($24.99, 9780785156383): … as is this one, as Tom DeFalco’s pet Thor gets booted to the curb.
• Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man Prelude (hardcover) ($24.99, ISBN: 9780785158165): That title has a lot of words that don’t add up to much. Like most of Bendis’s writing. Zing!
• Ultimate Six (hardcover) ($24.99, ISBN: 9780785157465)
• Uncanny X-Force: Deathlok Nation (hardcover) ($19.99, ISBN: 9780785148562)
• Uncanny X-Men: Quarantine ($16.99, 9780785152255)
• Wolverine and Jubilee: Curse of the Mutants (hardcover) ($19.99, 9780785157755): Vampire Jubilee. I just wanted to warn you. I haven’t read it, but I suspect it’s just about as good an idea as “Vampire Jubilee” sounds.
• X-Force: Sex & Violence ($14.99, ISBN: 9780785144342)
• X-Men: Age of X (hardcover) ($29.99, 9780785152897)
• X-Men: Great Power (hardcover) ($24.99, 9780785148487)
• X-Men: Second Coming ($24.99, 9780785155218)
• X-Men: Second Coming: Revelations ($19.99, 9780785157069)
• X-Men: To Serve and Protect ($14.99, 9780785152286)