Flipping Through Previews...

Yes, it's that time again... time for "Things in Previews That Look Interesting But I Can't Afford To Get (with a list of things I am getting just for contrast)". I'm going with last month's method, starting with the bulk of the book, and listing the "big four" at the end. Please remember, I'm listing what looks interesting. My actual purchase list is going to be much smaller.

First off is the Splash Page (8-9). First article is about the Hellboy tie-in wave about to start. With the movie coming out in April, expect to see much more Hellboy stuff in the next month. The neatest item though is the the 25 cent Hellboy comic. Yes, it's a reprint, yes, I've read that story twice now, but it's not a bad story at all, and I'll always support comics coming out for 25 cents. Also of interest is a small article about Cerebus ending. There's a larger article later in the mag. Also on the Splash page is the news that Supreme Power is being collected. The first collection will have the first six issues.

Skipping over the big four, and jumping into Wizard's section, I see that Wizard #150 is due out in March (180). I find the description of DC's upcoming series Identity Crisis a little unnerving. I'm kind of tired of big events hitting the DCU. I wouldn't look twice at most of the Wizard section, but Wizard Edge caught my eye. I'm not happy about it, either. There's an exclusive 8-page Powers story in Edge. Now, is 8 pages of Powers mixed with other Wizard stuff worth $4.99 to me?

The Cerebus farewell is on pages 194-195, and is a bit rambling, but worth reading for sure. It's hard to believe that the fellow who brought Cerebus to fans is really as humble as he seems to be in the essay, but I'm sure even he didn't really expect to make it all the way to issue 300.

AIT/Planet Lar is still putting out new issues of a now critically acclaimed series of one-shot issues about normal people dealing with superpowers. Demo #5 (202) is about a woman who is whatever people think she is. That could be a very interesting issue. I keep wanting to try this book, but it just hasn't made the list yet.

Another book that jumps out at me this month is Farewell, Georgia #1 (206) which is apparently from Amaze Ink/Slave Labor. It's a STAR, so I apparently missed it when it came out before. But then, I've noticed that I'm catching more books when I do this "Flipping Through Previews" exercise. Anyway, Farewell, Georgia appears to be a collection of folk legends and tall tales, which I'm always interested in.

Antarctic Press has a new book out called I Hunt Monsters #1 (207). The solicit is a different read, as you usually don't get first-person narrative from a fictional character in a comic book listing.

Mike Hall has written a guide to the world of small press with Make Your Own Comics Vol 1 TP (212). If I were only a decent artist with enough creative thoughts to make my own comic, I might consider getting this. As it is, I think I'll pass.

The cover to The Dreamland Chronicles #2 (216) jumped out at me. Incredible work for 3D graphic artwork. I'm actually quite curious about this book.

Avatar press is putting out a book called Nightjar #1 (217) that's based on something by Alan Moore, but isn't written by him. Without an art sample, I wouldn't touch the book. There is a website, though, www.avatarpress.com/nightjar, so maybe I'll check that out.

Blind Wolf Studios is putting out Patrick the Wolf Boy: Giant-Size Collection (223). I'm sorely tempted to get it just to see this series from the beginning. What little I've seen of Patrick has been funny.

Bloodfire Studios has the second issue of Kindergoth (224), the book that I found very disturbing because of the mature readers label. No, I didn't get it, but it's such a funny concept that it's worth mentioning again.

And suddenly I'm into CrossGen (239). Joy. Let's see... there's Archard's Agents: Deadly Dare despite the fact that Ruse has been cancelled. Not sure what to think of this, but we'll probably get it. El Cazador: Blackjack Tom #1 seems a little less likely. What do I want with another spin-off? Lastly for this month is Way of the Rat #23. The rat is still going strong, so we'll stay with it. Missing from this month's list is Abadazad and the regular El Cazador. Both should be back next month.

Moving on, Dork Storm Press is putting out PS238 #7 (270). I shouldn't have to explain why this one will make the list no matter what. I think I may have already made it abundantly clear that PS238 is one of the best books out right now.

88MPH Studios is putting out the second issues of Ghostbusters: Legion and Tron: Derezzed (284). Again, they look like neat concepts, but without a better idea of what the art looks like, they won't make the list.

Evolve Publishing has a book called Julia Cruz: Evolution Cop #1 (285) which involves time travel and DNA. Don't know if it's any good, but it did jump out at me. You couldn't pay me enough to go back to 1979, though.

Fantagraphics is putting out The Complete Peanuts Volume 1: 1950-1952 HC (285), and although I'm not fond of the cover, the contents are something that I wouldn't mind having in my collection at all. The books are apparently going to come out twice a year, and there will be 25 volumes. 352 pages for $28.95 doesn't seem like a bad deal when you are talking about something as classic as this. And if the solicit isn't enough information, pages 286-287 in Previews has a couple of articles about it. The sidebar is very difficult to read, though. Whoever did the design for the article has as poor color sense as whoever did the cover for the book. Ugly and brown. Yuck.

I've never been a big Felix the Cat fan, but the solicit for Felix's Totally Wacky News (289) is pretty cool. Putting tabloid reporters after fictional characters is a funny concept.

Penny Farthing Press has a mystery thriller coming out called Para #1 (315). I wish I had some more art samples... what I see isn't enough to judge whether or not I'll like it.

Renaissance Press has Amelia Rules!: Superheroes #3 (316). We'll certainly continue to get this book, which may be all ages but has both funny and serious moments.

Sirius Entertainment is putting out Akiko Volume 7: The Battle For Boach's Keep (318), which I just loaned to my little sister in individual issues. I'm kind of behind on the trades of Akiko.

Another book of interest to me is Stonehaven (320) from Stickman Graphics. There's a small sample of artwork on the next page, and it looks ok. The premise is of a world where fantasy creatures live alongside humans in a modern city, and a girl goes missing.

And so we move out of the comics section... on page 394 there's a very cool Green Lantern shirt that I would mind getting for my hubby. Not the flame logo one, the one right underneath it. Well, I thought it was cool.

I am going to try hard not to ever mention again the Care Bears Beanies (413). Nope. Not at all.

I've not seen many episodes of Buffy, but one I did see was "Hush", and because of that the bust on page 420 freaks me out quite adequately. Eeeeeuuuwwww.

I'm really glad that there's no Aquaman "Headstrong Heroes" (450). I hope they never put an Aquaman one out.

I have to admit that the "Magneto Desktop Helmet Magnet" (453) is pretty dang funny. I like the paperclips illustrating how it works.

I want the plush polyhedral dice on page 469. Particularly the icosahedron (20-sided).

Wizkids are putting out another DC Heroclix expansion (476). So not only will I be hunting for Mariners from Sportclix, I also have to keep an eye on this new expansion in case it includes any Aqua-character. I know that hubby already wants the Hal Jordan Green Lantern, who can be clearly seen in the promotional shots. I wouldn't mind the Kingdom Come figures, either. I hope they aren't uniques.

Ok... hit the end of the book, so now it's time to bounce back and visit the big four publishers.

Let's start with Dark Horse. Now that I know who the characters are, I'm interested in B.P.R.D.: A Plague of Frogs (18), but I'm going to hold off on buying Hellboy related books for a bit. Well, except for Hellboy: The Corpse (20), which we'll be getting because it's only 25 cents.

I'm also very happy to see Castle Waiting: The Lucky Road (27) at Dark Horse. I already have the individual issues, but if I had enough money I would buy the trade for my sister. The news that Castle Waiting will return, with Dark Horse as a new home, is good news any day.

While I won't be getting Conan #2 (28) for myself, my buddy plans on buying it, and like Phantom I'll be reading his copy. Another book I don't really want to spend so much money on is The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #2 (30), but it's not really overpriced for an 80-page book in today's market, so we'll probably get it. I kind of would like to see the first issue before we make the decision, though. We'll definitely be getting Usagi Yojimbo #74 (31).

On to the big one, DC Comics. At least, the big one for our order form. In the promotion section, the first thing that jumps out at me is the return of Swamp Thing (54-55). I'm slightly tempted, but will probably pass on it. I would like to pass on JLA, also, but since GL is in it, we'll continue to get it. Moving on, the It's A Bird... hardcover (64-67) looks intriguing, and more like something you would get from an indy publisher than from DC. I notice that it's a Vertigo book, despite being about Superman. Smallville (89) is trying to pull a crossover event, but since two of the three parts are in the comic and the other is on-line, it's not going to be noticed by anyone but us nerds.

Into the main DC listings, here's what will be on the list. Batman Adventures (92), Birds of Prey #65 (93), Superman: Birthright #8 (94), Superman: Secret Identity #3 (95), Smallville #7, Aquaman #16, DC: The New Frontier #3 (96), Fallen Angel #9, Green Arrow #36 (97), Green Lantern #175, H-E-R-O #14 (98), JLA #94, JLA #95, JSA #59, Justice League Adventures #29, Outsiders #10 (100), and Plastic Man #4. There's also a mini-maquette of Aquaman in the DC Direct section.

Moving on to Image Comics... Powers Vol 2 #1 (153) is the first thing on the list. Yeah, I'm sticking with this book. The only other Image book for the month will be Common Grounds #3 (162), which is already a critically acclaimed hit series according to Previews, despite the fact that the first issue hasn't shipped yet (to the best of my knowledge). I'm guessing that sales are good? I'm not surprised, as the concept is just wonderful.

And lastly... Marvel. The extra Marvel section didn't ship to our shop, so none of the Previews subscribers got it. Sure, charge us extra then don't bother to ship the thing! Diamond isn't too popular at my shop right now. Oh well. It's not like I personally care, since I've been just using the shipping list (174) to order, and I've got on-line resources if I really need to check on a writer or artist for a book. So here's what we'll be getting from Marvel: Supreme Power #8, Amazing Spider-Man #505, 1602 #8, and Amazing Spider-Man #506.

So that's it for this month's "Things in Previews That Look Interesting But I Can't Afford To Get (with a list of things I am getting just for contrast)". Comments? Questions? Do you want to point out a book I missed? Please feel free. I'll even answer if you really want me to.