Coming This Week: Of Bat-People, Injuns, and Experiments

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:

Detective Comics #856 (DC): The Question back-up story still does absolutely nothing for me, but that’s hardly the main reason to be buying this book. Look at that art!

Batman & Robin #3 (DC): With issue #2 coming out July 1st, I guess this is still technically on time with an August cover date, but it sure gives the impression of being late. The perceived lateness isn’t helping matters much considering Quitely isn’t even on board for the entire run (two different artists is really going to bother the obsessive-compulsive in me when it comes time to collect this in handsome hardcovers), but it is off to a great start.

Scalped #31 (DC): If this book gets cancelled because not enough people are reading it, I will actually scalp some muthafuckas. Random digression triggered due to Hmong gangs, but I saw Gran Torino recently and really enjoyed the performances.

Wednesday Comics #8 (DC): I realized that I was already starting to get sad because it feels like this is almost over. Aww, tear.

Considering:

X-Force #18 (Marvel): This is one of those books that’s really on the bubble. It started strong and there’s a few choice moments here and there, but for the most part it’s been a disappointment for the last six months or so. I think I might be buying it out of sheer inertia and that's gotta' stop.

Buck Rogers #3 (Dynamite Entertainment): This book is nowhere near as good as the praise it receives, but damn those Cassady covers are a confectionary delight.

Noting:

Oh well, so much for Archaia getting the second hardcover volume of The Killer out in August; according to Diamond's list, the window for that little parlor trick has now elapsed. As long as they get it out this year though, I think I’ll be satisfied at this point. New Mutants #4 (Marvel) and Secret Warriors #7 (Marvel) are both books I want to read, but I just can’t will myself to purchase them. They seem like suitable bathroom reading material, and they’re both still $2.99 which helps, but I don’t picture myself actually wanting to keep them or upgrade to collected editions eventually, which is really a part of my new criteria for buying something in the first place. X-Force/Cable: Messiah War HC also ships this week. There are some cool individual moments to be found in this mess, but overall there isn’t much in the way of actual story progression or resolution, and for a $39.99 book I’d expect something along those lines. At this point, I think I’d sell all of my single issues that comprise this book for like $10 if anyone cared to plunk down a crisp Alexander Hamilton. It looks like some stores are also getting I Am Legion #5 (DDP/Humanoids) this week (depending on distributor), but no idea if I'll see it at my LCS or not (which usually means no).