Watch my Photos / Sound video showcasing the covers of the best new comics out this week.
DC
“Watchmen” 10 Year Anniversary
10 Years Ago on March 6, 2009, the Zack Snyder (“Man of Steel“, “Batman v. Superman“) directed “Watchmen” released into theaters. Now that movie was very long at well over 2 hours and the reception was divisive. However, the source material is very well regarded. It was a commercial and critical success to say the least.
Alan Moore, who also wrote “V For Vendetta,” wrote the original “Watchmen” comic series which was published by DC Comics from September 1986 to October 1987. It has since been collected in a single volume edition which I got for Christmas 2 years ago. I wanted to finally read it after hearing about it so much. I also wanted to read it because DC Comics recently launched Doomsday Clock, a new 12-issue series that is meant to be a direct sequel to the original “Watchmen.” Doomsday Clock is still ongoing and “Doomsday Clock #9” hits your local comic store today.
In addition to Doomsday Clock, HBO is set to premiere a “Watchmen” TV show later this year. HBO hasn’t released much at all about the show so far. I have no idea how much it will pull from the original story, but I’m excited for it. Unlike some networks/services, I think HBO does a good job prioritizing quality over quantity. “Watchmen” is my most anticipated new TV show of 2019. I hope it lives up to the properties’ history.
It’s NCBD 3/6/19
So I chose “Prisoner X #1” as my Marvel pick of the week. I partly chose it since well I had to. It’s the only new Marvel comic this week I’ve read yet. I also chose it because it was really good, and I’m not sure I expected it to be so good? I would put it up there with “The Amazing Nightcrawler #1” as my favorite first issues of these Age of X-Man series. There’s still one more Age of X-Man series yet to launch, Apocalypse & The X-Tracts next week.
There are so many great DC titles out this week, but I think I have to shine some light on the biggest of them all “Batman #66.” It was only a matter of time until I mentioned a Batman issue in one of these NCBD posts. This series is absolutely required reading. I am invested, and I will stick with it no matter what. Tom King is back as the writer on this issue now that the Flash crossover event is over.
Visit your local comic store to check out these titles and many more.
It’s NCBD 2/27/19
My Marvel pick of the week is “Daredevil #2.” This new Matt Murdock ongoing series launched earlier this month, so you won’t have much to catch up on. This series is a great reminder that although Netflix cancelled a great TV adaptation of Daredevil and his world, we’ll always have the comics to read for more of Daredevil’s story. Also, Netflix really sucks for cancelling all of its Marvel shows, but that’s the streaming wars (Netflix v. Disney +) for you.
My DC choice of the week is “Shazam! #3.” I have read the first two issues of this series, and I have been very impressed. I was so impressed that I eagerly checked for this issue at my comic store last week just to find out that it wasn’t out until this week…It’s a very great move for DC to have an ongoing Shazam! series in stores now because I’m sure the interest in these characters will skyrocket once the feature film adaptation premieres on April 5th. I really hope that movie lives up to the source material because this series is off to a great start.
It’s NCBD 2/20/19
My Marvel comics choice of the week is “The Amazing Nightcrawler #1.” It it is the first issue out of five for this series. It is the 3rd Age of X-Man limited series to launch after The Marvelous X-Men and NextGen. I love Nightcrawler as a character so this was a must read for me. I’ve read the first issues of the other two series too, and I was surprisingly more into NextGen than The Marvelous X-Men. Remember, you don’t have to read all of the Age of X-Man series that come out because they are not dependent on each other.
My DC pick of the week is “Justice League #18.” This issue is one of the Legion of Doom issues. The Justice League series has major impact on the DC universe right now, so it’s a good series to be mindful of. I love the special Legion of Doom issues, and I really like the cover for this issue. Brainiac is featured on it. You might be familiar with him if you watched Season 1 of the SYFY series “Krypton.”
Locate your local comic store using the Comic Shop Locator.
It’s NCBD 2/13/19
This week’s new Marvel issue that I am going to highlight is “Captain Marvel #2.” This series is written by Kelly Thompson, who also wrote “Mr. and Mrs. X #8” out this week. Marvel, like DC with Aquaman, has strategically launched a new ongoing comic series about Captain Marvel whose upcoming solo movie hits theaters on 3/8. This series has just started, so it’s a great time to introduce yourself with the character and her story before you go see the movie.
For the DC Comics pick of the week I went with something much darker than my Marvel pick, “The Batman Who Laughs #3.” This is the third issue of Scott Snyder’s six issue miniseries. The Batman Who Laughs is a villain who was recently introduced in Dark Nights: Metal, and this miniseries is the continuation of the character post-Metal. The blog’s first podcast will be coming up soon and will shed some light on where The Batman Who Laughs might be going next once this miniseries concludes.
Head to your local comic store this Wednesday to check out these new comics and more.
Join In On Bendis’ Reddit AMA
This Tuesday, February 19th, Brian Michael Bendis will be doing a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything).
Bendis is currently writing multiple series at DC, including Action Comics and his multiple Jinxworld series. He is also curator of the recently launched Wonder Comics imprint, which has been off to a great start with Young Justice, Naomi and Wonder Twins.
If you have questions for him or want to see what others might ask of him, the AMA starts at 4 PM on the DC Comics Reddit.
Reviewing “Female Furies #1”
This past New Comic Book Day (2/6/19) I visited my local Gallatin comic store, Heroes Wanted, and bought “Female Furies #1.” This first issue is the start of a 6-issue miniseries focused on the Female Furies, an elite fighting force of Apokolips led by Granny Goodness. These characters were created by Jack Kirby and belong to DC Comics’ Fourth World.
I decided to buy this issue this week because I absolutely loved Tom King’s Mister Miracle series that recently ended its 12 issue run. The characters, story, art, etc. of that series totally pulled me in and when I heard that there would be a Female Furies series I knew I had to at least check it out.
Going into this miniseries I really had no idea what to expect in regards to what the story or anything would be like. Having read it, I was kind of surprised at just how timely the story is. This first issue deals with Granny Goodness in the past and present trying to earn the respect of the male characters she fights alongside. It is shown in the past that Darkseid and his followers don’t respect Granny because she is a woman. She is taken advantage of and relegated to a job that she sees as below her worth.
The scenes in the present show that the toxic culture between the characters from the past has persisted and even grown worse. Granny, who is now the leader of the Furies, wants them to join Darkseid’s inner circle. The Furies are made up of female fighters Granny has trained at her Orphanage: Aurelie, Big Barda, Mad Harriet, Lashina, Stompa, and Bernadeth. In this issue the Furies are subjected to multiple forms of degrading *tests* to prove their worthiness. Of course, in the end they are rejected.
Overall, I’m really impressed with the direction and message this series has started with. It is progressive and bold. It doesn’t beat around the bush, and it does a great job representing different forms of discrimination women face today, in comics and the real world. Beyond the social implications, there is also great art and action depicted in this issue. The ending is really going to complicate things for two members of the Furies. I’ll leave it at that because I don’t want to get into specific spoilers here since you need to go out and get it for yourself at your local comic store. Issue #2 will be out on March 6th.
It’s NCBD 2/6/19
Another Wednesday means another New Comic Book Day. Looking at the releases, this is a fantastic week for new comics. Even aside from superhero comics, there’s mega popular releases like “The Walking Dead #188” by Image Comics. I’m here to highlight the superhero titles, so let’s dig into it.
Starting off with a new Marvel release this week, there are some great new X-Men related issues. I’ve been reading the X-23 series which follows Laura Kinney (X-23) and her little sister/clone Gabby (Honey Badger). This was the first X-Men related series I started reading, and I got into it because it had just started its run so I didn’t have a lot to catch up on at the time. There’s not really an overload of characters or events going on in this series so it’s pretty new reader friendly. “X-23 #9” is out this week and a new issue comes out every month. By the way, if you’ve seen the movie “Logan” (2017), Logan’s clone/daughter in that is a version of this character, X-23/Laura Kinney.
As for a new DC releases this week, I’d like to highlight “Young Justice #2.” This series was the first new series under the Wonder Comics imprint for DC. It’s curated by Brian Michael Bendis and is kinda teen/young adult focused, but honestly anyone of any age would enjoy these. Young Justice had its series launch last month and the next Wonder Comics imprint series, Naomi launched last week. I would recommend checking out both of these series as they both just started, and I personally enjoyed both of them. The art has stood out the most to me so far since it’s still very early on in their runs and the story hasn’t really had much time to develop in either series yet. As for the Wonder Comics imprint, there are two more announced series set to launch coming up, Wonder Twins next Wednesday and Dial H For Hero on March 27th (“Detective Comics #1000” day!).
These are just a couple of the great new issues out this week. Make sure to visit your local comic shop to pick up these or other new releases.
Dive Into Aquaman #43
In case you’ve been living under a rock lately, the most recent DC Comics movie to hit the silver screen was “Aquaman,” which swam into theaters stateside back on December 21st (my 20th birthday!). That film has gone on to become the highest globally grossing DC movie EVER released, surpassing 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Now that the movie is a huge success, Warner Bros. are very excited to push forward with a sequel. In the meantime, you might want to consider familiarizing yourself more with the characters and world they exist in. A great opportunity for you to get your foot in the door starts with “Aquaman #43.”
You may wonder why I’m singling out this issue instead of say “Aquaman #1.” First of all, to start back at issue #1 would be a huge commitment. Second of all, you don’t need to start back at #1 because issue #43 is a reset for this ongoing Aquaman series. The creative team has switched over, so you can start from this issue without necessarily having read the previous issues. This new run has Kelly Sue DeConnick writing and Robson Rocha illustrating.
I would recommend heading to your local comic shop to pick up “Aquaman #43” if it’s in stock. You can also request they order it if it isn’t. Issue #43 just came out back on December 19, 2018 so it was strategically placed near the release of the movie for anyone looking to find more Aquaman content. “Aquaman #44” also just became available back on January 23rd, so you can check that out next, and the next issue in this run to release will be out in local comic stores on February 20th (this series releases monthly).
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