5.18.11 Releases

There’s lots of odds and ends this week, but by far I’m most anticipating DMZ #65 (DC/Vertigo), which wraps up the Free States Rising arc and will officially mean that there are only 7 issues of the series remaining. Rocketeer Adventures #1 (IDW) looks like it could be interesting, a four issue mini-series featuring original stories by Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Kurt Busiek, Michael Kaluta, etc. To complement the offering, IDW also has Rocketeer #1: Hundred Penny Edition, which is a classic for just $1. It seems that Image Comics is jumping on the $1 bandwagon, also offering Image Firsts: Jack Staff #1 and Image Firsts: Orc Stain #1, among others, all for only $1. Between Invincible Iron Man #504 (Marvel) and Uncanny X-Force #10 (Marvel), it looks like I’ll be getting my superhero fix in. The House of Ideas is also offering Alpha Flight #0.1 (Marvel), which actually stands a decent chance of making it home. I think this is also the first time a Point One issue is landing prior to the official start of the series, so that could be interesting. I don’t know how it happened, but for some reason I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Alpha Flight, despite numerous atrocious relaunches. On the graphic novel front, Paying For It HC (Drawn & Quarterly) by Chester Brown is finally out, chronicling his adventures in the world of prostitution in high sociological fashion. It promises to be “the most talked about graphic novel of 2011,” and I’d sure like to validate that claim.