6.27.12 Releases

Scalped #59 (DC/Vertigo) promises a Mexican Stand-Off for its penultimate issue, and I’m curious to see how that will be tied to (what I’m assuming is going to be) a flash forward issue for the finale in #60. For me, this is the last hurrah of Vertigo. With DMZ, Northlanders, etc. all gone, there really isn’t a long-running flagship title for the imprint any longer. DC is also offering Batman Incorporated #2 (DC) which, if I were still buying company-owned properties, I’d probably check out for the Chris Burnham art alone, so I’ll give this a flip. I’d also be lying if I said I wouldn’t at least thumb through Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #1 (DC). I’ve enjoyed JMS work in the past (namely the first run of Supreme Power), but I can’t say anything else has really moved me; it’ll also be interesting to see what the Kubert boys associated themselves with. On the GN front, I’m really excited to check out Get Jiro! (DC/Vertigo) from wise-ass foodie turned culture snob, Anthony Bourdain. Image Comics continues their run at Best Publisher Of The Year, with Manhattan Projects #4 (Image) from Hickman and Pitarra, as well as Prophet #26 (Image), the all Brandon Graham issue(!), reason enough to celebrate. I’ve basically been catching up on this title in trades, but BPRD: Hell On Earth:  Exorcism #1 (Dark Horse) is something I’ll definitely consider because of the Cameron Stewart art. I suppose life just wouldn’t be complete without a Brian Wood book up in this mother, so let’s have X-Men #31 (Marvel), one of my new favorites. For my money, it’s Wood doing an old-school WildStorm/Planetary tale right in the middle of the present-day Marvel U. Lastly, in the Pigs Are Flying department, we have League of Extraordinary Gentlemen III: Century #3: 2009 (Top Shelf). Good luck making any sense out of that titling nomenclature. I’ve really been underwhelmed with this incarnation of LOEG (really only the first two volumes are any good, this is actually the fourth despite the naming convention, but here I go digressing into the stupid title idiocy...), but I’ll probably see this thing through since I picked up the first two, provided it passes the casual flip test. Overall, this looks like a very strong week with 4 sure buys and a couple of maybes.