Leap Day Comics - 2/29/12

On the day the Earth shall Leap, new comics shall be released. Avengers shall clash, zombies shall run amok, and slayers shall struggle. Thus it is written.

Pick of the Week goes to Unwritten. The Avengers issues look fun, and like something may finally happen, and Angel & Faith is certainly intriguing with it's family reunions, but not many things on the stands, or even in bookstores for that matter, can compare to the ambition and creativity of Mike Carey's ongoing story. Click on, o traveller among the Net, for the full list (it ain't a long one.)

Recommended Reading

A few novels for your consideration.

Avengers Previews

On sale this week, Avengers #23 and New Avengers #21, in which Captain America is held hostage ("You don't negotiate with terrorists." but Obama might) and the New Avengers continue their long streak of losing battles, overreacting monosyllabically, and dropping members through shameful defeat. Enjoy.

Good Gay Webcomic

ComicsAlliance has a nice little post up today called "American Yaoi", though I'm unclear why they say the three webcomics they discuss are for Women. I thought the definition of Yaoi was simply a genre dealing with male-male relationships, but I guess it's defined by being specifically intended for women. Which is as ridiculous as saying children can't watch R-rated movies and adults can't read the Hunger Games.

Regardless, I'm usually not a big fan of Japanese-style cartoon/comics, but it must be admitted that the frequency with which they tell stories about gay men far outstrips their western counterparts. The ones profiled by CA are examples of that rarity. Due to my aesthetic inclinations, I skipped their first sample and clicked on Artifice, written by Alex Woolfson and drawn by Winona Nelson.

And it is very good. It has elements I appreciate and think generally make comics, and webcomics, successful, such as a simplicity of presentation, clear lines and colors, and an intelligent writer. Artifice itself draws you in instantly, containing both a sense of humor and high stakes. It contains a science fiction/future setting, an astute and aggressive psychiatrist, an endearing, believable young man, and handsome android struggling with issues of love, existence and purpose.

Even if it were just a story of love being stronger than anything else (programming, threats, common sense, etc) I would be into it, but the fact that it does so with skill, compassion, wisdom and whimsy just makes me like it all the more. There are only 78 or so installments as of yet, but they are certainly engrossing and the best part of a webcomic is that there are more to come. Highly recommended. In fact, I think I'll go find more of Mr. Woolfson's work. Not during work hours of course, that would just be...unprofessional. Happy Friday.

This Week's Comics - 2/22/12

My Pull List this week is exclusively Marvel...as has happened before. What can I say, I like my mutants. Behold the Pick of the Week:

X-Men Legacy #262 takes the cake, not just because others are weaker (don't love Jubilee as a vampire, X-Force may be getting too weird for me, Academy has a too-large cast, etc) but because it's the first time post-Schism that Wolverine's X-Men and Cyclops come face to face. Considering the Schism may not last all that long, what with Avengers vs. X-Men starting in a little over a month, I expect this will be interesting.

Previews: Uncanny X-Force #22 and Wolverine & The X-Men #6

Previews for two quality X-comics on sale tomorrow. In Uncanny X-Force, the battle in the omniverse (or whatever it's called) continues, with Wolverine, alterNightcrawler and Deadpool trying to save medieval peasant civilians from an evil magic goat, and Betsy trying to save Fantomex. Sounds hokey but it's pretty fantastic (though I miss the artist who was usually on Uncanny.) Wolverine & The X-Men brings us Wolverine and Quentin Quire, the headmaster and the kid sociopath, venturing out into the galaxy in an attempt to cheat and gamble until they have enough money to bankroll the Jean Grey School.

Turns out there's a place at the end of the Milky Way galaxy called Planet Sin. Feels like I should have known about that. Would have been convenient setting in many cosmic stories. One day I sure hope to see Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning write a story where Drax (he's not really dead), Nova (he's not really dead), Rocket Racoon and Gamora check out the Sin sights as well.

TV Reviews: Justified, Revenge & The River

A few brief reviews of new and recently returned television shows. Read on for comments on Revenge and The River.

Justified

   I definitely have a soft spot for this show. It's given us some truly great episodes before, and the slow burn of plot lines during the season always pays off in a thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing climax/finale.  However, there is one huge complaint I have about this show, and it involves the magnetic, charming, talented lead Timothy Olyphant, whom I could watch in just about anything.

DnA on New Mutants, with a Preview of #38

CBR's latest X-Position installment has DnA answering questions about their work on New Mutants.  As usual, especially with a big event such as Avengers vs. X-Men coming up, they're fairly cagey in terms of possibly revealing any spoilers.

Still, some things come out, such as the fact that they intend to keep Dani powerless (and see her as a "stand-out" Captain America-leader type character), Nate Grey will probably regain the full extent of his own powers eventually, and that they are more than willing to get back to writing cosmic comics so long as Marvel offers the opportunity. So wake up, Marvel execs, cause their cosmic work was about ten times better than their current 'street level' superheroics.

Read the article at CBR and read on here for the preview of New Mutants #38, which brings us to our final sneaky spoiler of the day: the return of Bird Brain!! The one and only Ani-Mate who was present, and in part responsible, for the death of Doug Ramsey. Talk about unfinished business.

This Week's Comics - 2/15/12

This week brings me a solid Marvel line-up (including some titles showing impressive regularity) and even a couple choice DC titles, the cream of the New 52 crop.

Pick of the Week, despite some stellar competition, is X-Factor, owing to the the personally much-anticipated conclusion to They Keep Killing Madrox.

More Avengers vs. X-Men Covers

As the weeks roll by and we get closer to the April beginning of the AvX epic, Marvel continues to release covers that reveal some hints as to future plot developments as well as please the eye. Check out all the newest ones below, with some mild speculation.

Flaming Hope on the run, looking like she's lost all her allies by Round 4.

Avengers vs. X-Men #1 Preview and Variant Covers

All AvX! All the time! Despite being about 2 months away from release, Marvel is stepping up what has already been an intense promotional campaign. And I for one do not mind in the least. Most of us have a sense of the tone this major Marvel event will be striking, and while it's probably not going to be a deep, multifaceted, quiet character study, it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun.

Check out some variant covers Marvel has released, followed by a 7 page preview of Avengers vs. X-Men #1! See how it all begins.

This Week's Comics - 2/8/12

Between a busy work week, canine responsibilities and the Super Bowl, I haven't had much time to think of new posts. However, I it seems to have been pretty slow in the comic-news department these days so I haven't missed much, except perhaps for some new superhero movie trailers (Avengers, Spidey) and a recently revealed AvX cover that shows us Thor battling a very yonic Phoenix force.

So let's just get right to the meat of the week; Wednesday's new comics. As usual my Pull List is Marvel-heavy, though streamlined, but we've got some more publishing houses in the mix this time around, and the competition for Pick of the Week is not in Marvel at all. It's between the best title DC has, The Unwritten, and Dark Horse's newest Buffy issue, which may not be my favorite comic but this week has a fantastic cover and a story to tell about our old friend Nikki Wood, the NYC Slayer and single mom from the 80s. Read on for the full list and Buffy preview.

Next Week's Previews

Today I'm just gonna put up some purty and colorful previews of next week's new comics. Life is good and busy and my sweet dog has moved into my own apartment. If you scroll down and read all the previews, perhaps you will find a picture of her radiant canine self sleeping in her new home (yes, I have taken her in and will never let her go.)

On the comics front, big news this week is the announcement of more Watchmen comics, either prologues or sequels I forget. Either way, I'm not terribly invested. Everyone goes on and on about Watchmen and Alan Moore and I can see that it did a lot for comics in general when it was released, but I was never the biggest fan of the story itself. Besides, even if it were the greatest thing ever released in comics form, doesn't that make rehashing it with new writers some 30 years later an idiotic and purely financial idea?

So, preview-wise, we'll be sticking with some tried and true Marvel comics as well as the new Angel & Faith, featuring the return of Drusilla, a character I'm looking forward to reading on account of some recently viewed Buffy reruns that featured her. (Often at the end of her episodes she just slinks away into the shadows while Buffy makes a pun instead of, say, killing her and saving countless future lives. I've always felt Drusilla is one of Buffy's biggest slay-fails.)

This Week's Comics - 2/1/12

The first day of February and already there are new comics which I will read (and store and read again) being unloaded out of cardboard boxes mere blocks away. It's a good way to start the month, even though this week brings a thin pull list.

Uncanny X-Men #6

Considering the stacks I used to carry out of the comic store when I had no semblance of restraint, it's a downright emaciated pull list. Five comics, just five, and all Marvel. And yes, most of them are X-Men related. I gone done shocked ya now, didn't I?