On The Shelves: 03/21/07, by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Reprinted courtesy of Comic Book Commentary.
Reading is fundamental. Read what you like; don’t waste your time reading bad comics out of habit!
My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 3/21/07. The full shipping list, as always, is available at ComicList.
[NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com]
Blokhedz, Vol. 1
DARK HORSE COMICS
Conan #38, $2.99
Since Tim Truman took over writing Conan from Kurt Busiek, despite telling solid stories so far, it has been edging into dangerous territory for me, no longer a must-read and drifting towards the bottom of my to-read pile each month. I’ve picked up and put down #37, with its rare misstep of an ugly cover from Cary Nord, several times without finishing it. Powers was in a similar boat for the last six or seven issues before picking up steam again, so I’m not thinking about waiting for the trade just yet, but with the spinoffs maintaining such a high level of quality, it’s something I may consider soon.
Man, it must be tough to be in Dan Didio’s shoes these days. After a few years of running in full court press, Crisis-mode hype that saw them unable to overtake the rival House of Ideas on the sales charts, Marvel absolutely ate their lunch in February, snagging an impressive 42.35% market share ($$$) to DC’s 32.8%, largely on the strength of Civil War and The Dark Tower. Brave and the Bold — a fun, irreverant team-up that hits all the right nostalgic notes without feeling like cultural necrophilia (I love that term, Dick!) — found DC’s sweet spot, launching to solid numbers (92k) and easily outselling the primary titles of its two lead characters, Batman and Green Lantern. If they can keep sales steady on this one, it could be a great platform to boost the profile (and sales) of some of their many, many B- and C-list titles, preferably the ones that have a similar tone, like Blue Beetle, who appears in this issue.
IMAGE COMICS
Hero By Night #1 (Of 4), $2.99
D.J. Coffman’s Hero By Night, winner of last year’s Comic Book Challenge, sponsored by Platinum Studios, debuts on the heels of this year’s contest being announced, and judging by the web site they’ve put together for it, they’re seemingly serious about supporting the titles they publish. Ironic that they’re distributed via Image, a publisher who does as little as necessary, if that, to support the titles they publish directly. Creator’s rights are a double-edged sword and Image walks right on the razor’s edge that separates back-end deals from vanity publishing.
MARVEL COMICS
Daily Bugle April Newspaper, AR
Marvel Adventures Avengers #11, $2.99
X-Factor #17, $2.99
The Daily Bugle freebies are always a fun read, and a smart marketing effort by Marvel that generally doesn’t receive the credit it deserves. *** I picked up the first digest-sized volume of Marvel Adventures: Avengers because I’d read a number of bloggers praising Jeff Parker’s snappy writing and was pleasantly surprised by how good it actually was. Really, really good. Anyone turned off by the angsty “non-Avengers” Bendis has been putting through their paces the past couple of years would be wise to look past the “for kids” angle of the Marvel Adventures line because this is “All-Ages Superhero Action” done right. *** X-Factor #16 was quite possibly Peter David’s best issue yet, cementing its status as one of the best titles Marvel’s currently publishing.
MIRAGE STUDIOS
TMNT Movie Prequel 1 Raphael, $3.25
TMNT Movie Prequel 2 Michelangelo, $3.25
Judging by my 6-year-old son’s reaction to the movie trailers, the Turtles are about to come back in a big way. Hopefully the comics are up to the task of leveraging the heightened attention.
POCKET BOOKS
Blokhedz Vol 1 TPB, $12.95
One of a handful of recent/upcoming examples of persistence, commitment and life beyond the direct market, Blokhedz makes its mainstream publisher debut and appears to have big things ahead for it.
VIZ LLC
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Ginjis Rescue Team GN, $7.99
Yeah, I’m a Pokémon fan. What of it? While Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team has been my least favorite game in the long-toothed franchise, the concept might actually work better in comics form as it focuses more on the Pokémon themselves instead of the trainers and the whole shaky concept of Pokémon battles, which appear a bit too similar to illegal dog and cock-fighting when thought about too deeply.
