Coming This Week: An Artist Named Jim, The End of Wednesday, Returning to The Big Wet

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:

Wasteland #26 (Oni Press): It’s great to see this title and the world of The Big Wet back in action after the stunning double-tap of con season entertainment that was the full color, double sized, painted 25th Anniversary issue and the oversized, deluxe, hardcover Apocalyptic Edition.

Detective Comics #857 (DC): Greg Rucka and JH Williams III (we called him “Jim” in high school) continue their lauded run, and until Cameron Stewart or Frazer Irving replace Philip Tan on Batman & Robin, this is probably the best Bat-book on the stands at the moment, even with the horrible and unnecessary Question back-up story.

Wednesday Comics #12 (DC): I think taking my daughter swimming one last time and the end of Wednesday Comics (for now?) officially signifies the end of summer in these parts. How will it be collected? How long until the follow up is announced? How long until bloggers start reviewing the thing in its entirety?

Uncanny X-Men #515 (Marvel): While Matt Fraction has shown mastery delivering a single-character (with strong supporting cast, sure) epic over in Invincible Iron Man, his Uncanny work isn’t as strong; evidence of a good writer being brought down from the weight of crossovers? Or evidence of a good writer just not so good on an unwieldy team book?

Echo #15 (Abstract Studio): Terry Moore continues his flawless series of Marvel Silver Age atomic paranoia coupled with expertly crafted dialogue and believable relationships. This one doesn’t disappoint.

Considering:

Underground #1 (Image): Jeff “Interman” Parker and Steve “Whiteout” Lieber seem like a match made in heaven, and if this passes the casual flip test at the LCS it will undoubtedly make the trip home.

Noting:

No Hero #7 (Avatar Press): Hey, if Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp had only waited one more week, they could have, almost to the day (#1 showed up on 10/1/08), taken an entire year to deliver seven issues. I stopped picking up single issues of this around #3 or so, in favor of the inevitable collected edition. Looks like this final issue is intended to be quite shocking, and I’ll be anxious to see how the whole saga fits into the Ellis’ trifecta (Black Summer, No Hero, and the forthcoming Supergod) of Avatar work, as noted by the lads at Paradox.