Crappy Comics in My Collection

-swinebread

Wilma, Rogers, and Bears OH MY!

Dynamite Entertainment has built up quite a successful reputation reviving dormant franchises and characters so it came as no surprise that they secured the rights to publish a new take on Buck Rogers. DE's Buck comic looked interesting from the press releases but I have been cutting down on the new titles (that's part of the reason you haven't seen a "My New Comics" in awhile) and so I wasn't so sure I really want to pick up a another monthly. But after stopping by the comics shop this last weekend and flipping though Buck Rogers #1, I came across this Panel:


Needless to say, they had me at this image of a ferocious cyborg Bear. A flashback to Gamma World maybe? Anyhoo, I enjoyed reading this comic so if the next issue is as fun as this one, I'll add Buck Rogers to my box. Seeing as how I've totally bailed on marvel this won't hit my pocket too hard.

-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is The Amazing Spider-Monkey #1.


Last Reign #5, Boom Studios. The ending lest you know there will be more mini-series for Last Reign but at four bucks a pop I won’t be picking them up.

Warlord #1 DC Comics. On the fence with this one. I like The Warlord a lot so we'll see if the get any better.

Marvel Apes: The Amazing Spider-Monkey #1 Marvel Comics. I had sworn off $3.99 titles… but this is just a one-shot so I couldn’t resist.

Army of Darkness #18, Dynamite Entertainment.

Army of Darkness #19, Dynamite Entertainment. Two this week hmmmmm....


You’ll notice that I didn’t pick up Marvel Zombies 4….

Also I dropped Doctor Who Classic, it’s just too expensive per issue plus the collected trade will be cheaper anyway. I deduced that I rather get Astounding Wolf-Man instead.


-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is The Amazing Spider-Girl #30.


Fall of Cthulhu: Apocalypse #4, Boom Studios.

Red Sonja #42, Dynamite Entertainment.

Kull #5, Dark Horse.

The Amazing Spider-Girl #30, Marvel Comics. The final issue. I picked this up because, in a way, it’s the last 80s comic book. Think about it. Tom Defalco, Ron Frenz, & Sal Buscema… Plus, Peter and Mary Jane have a baby boy… how could I not get this one. The end of an era.

And last week I picked up
Walking Dead #59, Image Comics.


-Swinebread

My New Comics... From Last Week

Swinebread Jr's Grandma has been in town, so I've been busy but here is last week's list.



This last week’s best cover is The Age of Sentry #6.


Jonah Hex #41, Marvel Comics. I’m getting a latter-day Conan/Red Sonja vibe going on between Jonah and Tallulah Black. This comic hasn’t let me down yet.

Last Reign #4, Boom Studios. I wonder if they realize that the plot in this issue is stolen right out of TMNT RPG After the Bomb.

Doctor Who Classics Series 2 #4, IDW.

Army of Darkness #37, Dynamite Entertainment.

The Age of Sentry #6, Marvel. The End of another mini-series, and thus my box list gets smaller.

Trade Paperbacks:
Savage Sword of Conan Volume 5 Dark Horse. Yeah Baby!

Books:
With all the money I’ve been saving I went ahead and picked up the paperback of Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman. I can’t wait to dive into this one, but I gotta’ finish the paperback version of The Ten Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America first. The Ten Cent Plague is must read for anybody that wants to understand how pop was culture negatively transformed and how the comic book medium’s potential was basically destroyed for the next 40 to 50 years. A chilling and sadly forgotten chapter (outside of comicdom) in US history... until now.


-Swinebread

Dean's New Comics

Dean's cover of the week.

Cthulhu Tales #12, Boom Studios.

You can read the entire first series of this title online here.,

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #23, Dark Horse - these books are pretty much for fans of the show. There's a lot of inside stuff from the seven years of the series. I love them.

Army of Darkness #17, Dynamite Entertainment- Consistently a strong title.


Sonic Universe #1, Archie Comics - Sigh.

Conan the Cimmerian #8, Dark Horse.

Sgt. Rock The Lost Battalion #4, DC Comics.

The Haunted Tank #4 , DC Comics.


I'm enjoying the hell out of this very adult take on a comic I loved in my childhood. The ghost of Jeb Stuart is forever condemned to help his ancestors if they bear his surname and they're soldiers. His modern ancestor is the commander of an Abrams tank during the Iraq war who just happens to be black. The writers don't shy away from the racial conflict this engenders. The tank action is pretty good as well.

War That Time Forgot #10, DC Comics.

- Dean Wormer

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Solomon Kane #5.


Star Trek The Next Generation: The Last Generation #4, IDW

Solomon Kane #5, Dark Horse Comics.

Red Sonja Annual #2, Dynamite Entertainment.

Jungle Girl: Season 3 #2, Dynamite Entertainment.


-Swinebread

Battlefields: Dear Billy

Just a quick mini comic review right out of the gate. I picked up "Battlefields: Dear Billy" on a lark, mostly because of the evocative cover pictured above. Without any idea about the history of the title I pictured a throwback story to the old Sgt. Rock comics. I was pleasantly surprised to find something completely different within it's covers.

This is a well written war story told from a woman's perspective. It's 1942 British nurse Carrie Sutton finds herself suffering unspeakable horrors at the hands of the Japanese when she's caught behind enemy lines. The emotional baggage she packs once she's rescued is considerable and very moving. Nevertheless, in British stiff upper lip fashion she hides her scars from the "Billy" of the title. Of course he has scars of his own...

The only complaint I had about this title (other than the horrible cursive font they use for her letters to Billy) was that the Japanese were written as very one-dimensional bastards, bordering on monsters . The last page of the book changed my perspective on this. If this story goes where I think it's going than this setup is going to pay off big time.

This comic is worth reading.

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Cthulhu Tales #11.


Fall of Cthulhu: Apocalypse #3, Boom Studios

Man with No Name #7, Dynamite Entertainment

Kull #4, Dark Horse Comics

Cthulhu Tales #11, Boom Studios

The Age of the Sentry #5, Marvel Comics

Red Sonja #41, Dynamite Entertainment

Jonah Hex #40, DC Comics



Trade Paperbacks:
Avengers: Nights of Wundagore, Marvel Comics.




-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Crossed #3.


Dark Tower: Treachery #5, Marvel Comics

Conan the Cimmerian #7, Dark Horse Comics

She-Hulk #37, Marvel Comics

The War That Time Forgot #9, DC Comics

Xena/Army of Darkness: What Again? #4, Dynamite Entertainment

Terminator Revolution #2, Dynamite Entertainment

Northlanders #40, DC Comics




-Swinebread

Atomic Romance Awards

It’s the Second Annual Atomic Romance Awards! This is my special tribute to the comic books of 2008 that have earned fame or infamy in my little corner of comic fandom. The Atomic Romance Awards reflect my personal preferences so that's why some obvious choices may not appear. But before we begin I'd like to take a moment to thank She-Hulk, my Co-presenter this time around. Also, I'd like to thank all of you, my net buddies, for stopping-by Atomic Romance this last year. It's been one hell of a ride.

Now on with the show!


Best Overall Title: The Astounding Wolf-Man, Image Comics

Runner-up: Conan the Cimmerian

Best Writer: Robert Kirkman for both Astounding Wolf-Man and Walking Dead (and probably Invincible too, but I'm nont reading it right now), IDW


Runner-up: J. Michael Stryzinski for The Twelve, Marvel Comics (He could have won top honors if he had finished this series)


Best mini-series: Star Trek: Assignment Earth, IDW

Runner-up: The Age of Sentry


Best Adventure Comic: Tor, DC Comics

Runner Up: The War That Time forgot,DC Comics


Best Sword and Sorcery Title: Conan the Cimmerian, Dark Horse Comics
Runner-up: Wolf-Skin, Avatar


Best Sci-Fi: North Wind, Boom Studios

Runner Up: Star Trek: The Hollow Crown, IDW


Best Art: Chris Weston, The Twelve. Marvel Comics

Runner-up: John Byrne, Star Trek: The Hollow Crown. IDW


Best Horror: Necronimicon

Runner-up: The Crossed


Best Death: Rebecca gets accidentally slapped to death by Zecheriah the vampire, The Astounding Wolf-Man #7, Image Comics

Runner-up: Drunk Officer pulped by a propeller in Phantom Eagle #1, Marvel Comics


Best Cover: Army@Love: The Art of War #3, Vertigo

Runner-up: Amazing Spiderman #560


Worst Cover: 1985 #4, Marvel Comics

Runner Up: The Man With No Name #2, one of the greatest western characters ever is drawn to look like Bush


Best Dramatic Moment: Dynamic Man (from the 1940s) discovers interracial marriage, The Twelve #2

Runner-up: Captain Wonder at his wife’s grave, The Twelve #2


Best Butt: She-Hulk on King Size Hulk #1

Runner-up: damsel in distress on cover of Conan the Cimmerian #2


Best Animal Hero: Monkey Speedball, Marvel Apes
Rocket Raccoon, Guardians of the Galaxy


Best Geekout: Reading how Mirror Kirk assassinated Mirror Pike in Star Trek Mirror Images 1-5


Worst Costume: THE BLUE BLAAAADE!
Oh come on, could there possibly be any other choice from 2008!?

Runner-up: Jack Pot


Best Costume: Female Starhawk, Guardians of the Galaxy #5

Runner-up: The Crimson Reporter, The Twelve, Marvel Comics


Favorite Hero: Ambush Bug (If you can call him a hero)



Favorite Villain: Cranio, The Man with the Tri-Level Mind! The Age of the Sentry

Runner-up: Catman, Secret Six


Horniest Villain: King Crimson, Dark Tower, Marvel Comics



Best New Character: Ape X, Marvel Apes


Worst New Character: Jackpot


Best Fake Covers: Marvel Apes


Best Essential or Showcase Presents: Savage Sword of Conan… Ha!



Most Likely To Piss Off PETA Badger Saves the world


Best Gunfight: Brothers in Arms#4

Runner-up: Bat Lash #6


Best Formerly Ugly Aliens that Are Now Sexpots: Skrulls


Best Sword Fight: Wolfskin Annual, Avatar


Best Reprint: Dr. Who Classics, IDW


Best Cross of Hellraiser Cenobites with Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality: Army of Darkness: Home Sweet Hell


Lamest Series I’m glad I didn’t read: It is a Tie
Secret Invasion/Final Crisis and all of the spin offs


Best Single Issue: Fantastic Comics #24 Image

Runner-up; Jonah Hex #33, DC Comics


Best Comedic Moment: Ambush Bug, it turns out, is responsible for the death of Sue Dibney, Ambush Bug Year None #1

Runner-up: A Medieval wizard buys a shit-load of goods at S-mart, AoD/Xena #1


Best Free Comic Book Day Comic: Gumby… of course


Best Trade Paperback: Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987-1991
Runner-up: Captain Carrot and the Final Ark!


Biggest Warm Fuzzy: The Medieval Silent Knight is revealed to be an ancestor of Superman’s adopted Family, Brave and The Bold #10, DC Comics.


Best Collection of Older Comics: I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets
Runner-up: The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics



Best Cameo: ‘Mazing Man: Ambush Bug: Year None. #1
Nazi Super Villains in the entrance way in Berlin Building The Twelve #1


Coolest Country in Marvel Atlas Volume 2: Boca Caliente (doesn’t that mean spicy hot mouth?)


Dumbest Moment: New Gods, New Gods New Gods!



Best Monster: Giant Eyeball Demon, Iron Man Legacy of Doom #4, Marvel Comics

Runner-up: Ursus the Ultra Bear, The Age of The Sentry #2, Marvel Comics



Biggest Surprise: Ambush Bug Marries Dumb Bunny, Ambush Bug #3,


Best Golden Age Retcon: The Twelve, Marvel Comics
Runner-up: Fantastic Comics #24 Image


Worst Golden Age Retcon: Project Superpowers, Dynamite Entertainment


Worst Retcon Period: Red Sonja #29, her own Goddess set’s her up to get raped and have her family murdered.


Best Pimp Scene: Star Trek: Mirror Images #2, IDW



Best Terrorist Acronym: NACHO (Nihilist Anti-Capitalist Hate Organization) Badger Saves the World IDW


Best New Trick for an Old Dog: John Byrne doing Star Trek Comics
Runner-up: DC Fontana doing Star Trek comics


Most Ruined Character: Red Sonja
Runner-Up: The Wasp… because she’s like dead


Best Supporting Character: Cheeks the Toy Wonder (Of course)

Runner Up: Abdul Alhazred, Fall of Cthulhu, Boom Studios


Best Western: Jonah Hex


Best Nonfiction Comic: Comic Book Comics, Evil Twin


Biggest Yawn: The Flash is coming Back!!!!! Zzzzzz


Best Revival from Suspended Animation: The Creature Commandos in Action Comics #872


Best Origin Story: The Black Widow, Twelve #8
Runner-up: Ungrounded Super Agent The Twelve #6


Lamest Promotion: Those Skrull "Who Do You Trust" ads
Runner-up: What were you doing final crisis


Best Crossover: The Army of Darkness/Xena: Why Not, Dynamite Entertainment


Title I would Have Liked To Try from the Beginning But It Was Always Sold Out: Guardians of the Galaxy


Favorite Lesbian: Golden Age Black Widow, The Twelve, Marvel Comics
She was Goth before there was Goth...



Best One Liner: “Hi Lois! I’ve got a weenie with your name one it” Earth 2 Superman. Ambush Bug: Year None # 3


Best Meh Ending: Y: The Last Man.


Best Capturing of the Spirit of 1980s Comics: Amazing Spider-Girl


Best Corporate Foot-Stepping: Moonstone vs. Dynamite over the publishing rights to The Phantom.


Biggest Disappointment: Project Superpowers, The heroes have been stuffed in a jar all these years? ...give me a break...
Runner Up: What... No Poo flinging in Marvel Apes?


Congratulations to all the winners!

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Army of Darkness #16.

Amazing Spiderman #583, Marvel Comics. 2nd Printing of the Obama issue. Marvel just flipped the image on the cover to make it fake new cover.

Army of Darkness #16, Dynamite Entertainment.

Conan the Cimmerian #7, Dark Horse Comics.


Trade Paperbacks:
Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne Volume 0, Marvel Comics.

Magazine:
Back Issue #36 TwoMorrows Publishing.


-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Kull #3.


Xena/Army of Darkness #3, Dynamite Entertainment.

Last Reign #2, Boom Studios.

Jonah Hex #39, DC Comics.

Secret Six #3, DC Comcis.

Marvel Zombies 3 #4, Marvel Comics.

The Walking Dead #57, Image Comics.

Guardians of The Galaxy #8, Marvel Comics.

SGT Rock: The Lost Battalion #3, DC Comics.

Kull #3, Dark Horse Comics.

War of Kings: Saga #1, Marvel Comics. Free giveaway


-Swinebread

My Sorta New Comics... Again

Here's the comics from two weeks ago. The comics from last week won't be at the shop until this week because of both the winter storm and Christmas.

Whatever week’s best cover is The Walking Dead #56.


Terminator: Revolution #1, Dynamite Entertainment.

Star Trek The Next Generation: The Last Generation #2, IDW. This is basically a "What If" for Star Trek. Part of the Myriad Universe line.

The Walking Dead #56, Image. Five Years!

Cthulhu Tales #9, Boom Studios.

The Age of the Sentry #4, Marvel Comics.

Conan the Cimmerian #6, Dark Horse Comics.


Trade Paperbacks:
Invaders Classic Vol 2 Marvel Comics. I was feeling a little blue about my friend Josh so I picked this up. There’s just something life affirming about Captain America and crew kicking Nazi butt.



-Swinebread

My Sorta New Comics

This is just a formality at this point.


Last week’s best cover is Action Comics #872. You Gotta’ Love the Return of the Creature Commandos.


Marvel Apes #0, Marvel Comics.

Army of Darkness #15, Dynamite Entertainment.

Action Comics #872, DC Comics.

Ambush Bug: Year None #5, DC Comics.

The Man with No Name #6, Dynamite Entertainment.

Secret Six #4, DC Comics.

Fall of Cthulhu: GodWar #4, Boom Studios.

Doctor Who Classics Series 2 #1, IDW.



Trade Paperbacks:
I also picked a trade of the first Marvel Zombies.



-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Marvel Zombies 3 #3. Love the Evil Dead tribute


She-Hulk: the Cosmic Collision #3, Marvel Comics.

Crossed #2, Avatar.

Jonah Hex #38, DC Comics.

Necronomicon #3, Boom Studios.

Marvel Zombies 3 #3, Marvel.

The Astounding Wolf-Man #10, Image Comics.

SGT Rock: The Lost Battalion #2, DC Comics.

Kull #2, Dark Horse Comics.

Solomon Kane #3, Dark Horse Comics.

Jungle Girl: Season 2 #2, Dynamite Entertainment.

Hulk Family #1, Marvel Comics.

Trade Paperbacks:
Wasteland Book 3: Black Steel in the Hour of chaos Oni Press.


-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is The Man With No Name #5.


The Walking Dead #55, Image.

The Man with No Name #5, Dynamite Entertainment.

Hulk #8, Marvel Comics.

She-Hulk #35, Marvel Comics.

Northlanders #12, DC Comics/Vertigo.

The War that Time Forgot #7, DC Comics.

Trade Paperbacks:
The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics Running Press. My Store had a great Black Friday sale and I got a good deal on this book.


Magazine:
Previews


Dropped:
The Stand: Captain Trips, I read the book and watched the Miniseries so it’s hard to justify reading this when I already know the story… that art is good though…

Zorro, It’s well done but I realized I’m just not as interested as I thought I would be.

Gigantic Not my bag of chips…




-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Back Issue #31. Howard's barbarian look kinda reminds me of Runequest.


Ambush Bug #3, DC Comics.

Red Sonja #39, Dynamite Entertainment.

Conan the Cimmerian #5, Dark Horse.

The Age of the Sentry #1, Marvel.


Magazine:
Back Issue #31 TwoMorrows Publishing. The Steve Gerber tribute issue. Great articles on Howard the Duck, Omega the Unknown, Man-Thing, Destroyer Duck, and Thundarr (yeah!).

-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Secret Six #3.


Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion #1, DC.

Jonah Hex #37 DC/Vertigo.

Marvel Zombies 3 #2, Marvel Comics.

The Secret Six #3, DC.

Kull #1, Dark Horse Comics.

Gigantic #1, Dark Horse Comics.

Jungle Girl Season 2 #1, Dynamite Entertainment.




-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is The Astounding Wolf-Man #9.


The War That Time Forgot #6, DC.

Solomon Kane #2 Dark Horse Comics.

Guardians of the Galaxy #6, Marvel Comics.

Marvel Apes #4, Marvel Comics.

The Astounding Wolf-Man #9, Image Comics.

Northlanders #11, DC/Vertigo.

Cthulhu Tales #7, Boom Studios.

Red Sonja #38, Dynamite Entertainment.


-Swinebread