Coming This Week: Cowboys, Lesbians, and Vikings, Oh My

Every week I review Diamond's “New Releases” to determine what I’ll definitely be buying sight unseen, what I’m interested in enough to do a quick scan of at the LCS to see if it can win me over, and note any other items that catch my eye. Here’s a look…

Buying:

The Lone Ranger #17 (Dynamite Entertainment): It’s nice to see this title get back up on the saddle after just putting out the third hardcover collection. It’s still a quietly confident, entertaining, and clever reimaging, courtesy of Brett Matthews, Sergio Cariello, and John Cassaday.

Detective Comics #855 (DC): It’s Greg Rucka and JH Williams III getting after it in a big way. This book is already eagerly anticipated and a joy to take in.

Northlanders #19 (DC/Vertigo): Brian Wood and Danijel Zezelj. What more do you need to know? If you think it’s “just” about Vikings, then you’re just being silly.

Wednesday Comics #4 (DC): After seeing the panel at the con, I’ve got an even deeper appreciation for how innovative and challenging this has been for creators. Thanks again to Mark Chiarello for getting this off the ground, really looking forward to Pope’s Strange Adventures, Gibbons & Sook’s Kamandi, and what Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred have up their sleeves for Metamorpho. Allred said to be on the lookout for a full page periodic table of elements before it’s all said and done(!)

Considering:

Fear Agent #27 (Dark Horse): Oh, is this title still being published? I tuned out an arc or two back. I also heard that Rick Remender has put the series of mini-series on indefinite hiatus to do… other stuff.

Noting:

Northlanders: Volume 2 TPB (DC/Vertigo): Had I not picked this up from Brian Wood at SDCC, I’d be all over it. The Ryan Kelly arc is right where my LCS started getting unpredictable, so there’s actually new material in here (for me) that I’m looking forward to. Random aside, but has anyone else noticed the overly descriptive adjectives and use of banner laden lingo in the solicited titles? DC’s not so bad with just a Blackest Night this or Final Crisis that, but nearly half of Marvel’s offerings are prefaced with Civil War something, Dark Reign so and so, Marvel Master Works hoo-ha, Essential somebody, Ultimate something, or War of Kings event shenanigans. Kind of annoying. What happened to just being able to buy something called "X-Men," "Young Avengers," or "Hawkeye" without all of the superfluous words and shit all over it? Are audiences’ attention spans really that slack that we have to tell them what’s going on in a book with these story descriptions before they’ll crack it open or buy it?