Down the Line is our monthly look at Previews, and what titles are coming out a few months, well, “down the line.”

This installment covers the October Previews for comics due to ship out in December 2006. Remember, especially with the indy books, that pre-ordering is your friend, and the best way to make sure you get the books you want. I should mention, thanks to the increasing prevalence of advance solicitation, that several of the books here won’t actually ship until next year, but the preorders are still due by the end of October.

As always, the Previews rundown is in alphabetical order, rather than the Continue Reading »

Episode number three of the Comic Pants podcast is now live. This time out, a bit of a change-up as we discuss not a comic book but a TV show, NBC’s new Heroes, a superhero genre show with comic geek cred thanks to involvement from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Dave Farabee, David Martindale, Nick Budd, and Randy Lander discuss their general take on the show, favorite characters and plenty more in this discussion about the newest entry into superhero fiction on the TV. Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen the show, you might want to check it out before listening to the podcast.

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Wednesday Number Ones is a weekly feature here at Comic Pants. We take the books that are premiering a first issue from that week and give a quick opinion on them. From time to time we may also include more than issue number ones in this feature. If a noteworthy one-shot or the first issue of a new story arc is released, we may talk about it in this feature.

This week we will cover Red Sonja: Monster Isle, Dracula vs Capone #1 of 3, True Story Swear to God #1, Stan Lee Meets The Amazing Spider-Man #1 of 1, DDP Quarterly #1 #1, Ninja Scroll #1, Spike Asylum #1, Ramayan 3392 A.D., Sock Monkey: The Inches Incident #1 of 4, and Zombie #1 of 4.

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Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Phillips
Company: Marvel Comics/Icon

The only book even remotely in contention with Criminal #1 for the title of “Best Debut of 2006″ is Escapists #1, and I’m not sure even a Vaughan-written first issue can top the return of Brubaker and Phillips to the pure crime genre. OK, you got me… I’m a true believer on this one. But even a skeptic is going to have a Continue Reading »

Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
Company: DC Comics

The second book to bear DC’s All Star logo, All Star Superman is easily the best so far. A throw back to the Silver Age era, a time where Superman books could be hokey and far-fetched, where in one issue Jimmy could be Superman himself or where Lois can change into a black woman for a day to better write a column for the Daily Planet. Grant Morrison (Seaguy/New X-Men) has taken these outlandish and fantastical ideas, these lighter days of super heroism, and has re-imagined what Superman and Clark Kent can be. So far, he’s saved the world, probably offed himself by extreme sun exposure, given Continue Reading »

Writer: Jamie S. Rich
Artist: Joelle Jones
Company: Oni Press

When it comes to romance comics, manga pretty much has the market locked up right now. That’s where the girls are, and romance is a chick genre, right? Wrong. Well-written romance is the purview of both sexes, and there’s plenty of room for differences within the genre, from the teen sex comedy of many shojo to the romantic comedy of True Story Swear to God to the mature exploration of relationships that is found in 12 Reasons Why I Love Her. Oni Press has tackled the romance genre memorably before, from Christine Norrie’s Continue Reading »

What is a “Hot Pants” pick? Quite simply, it’s a book that all four reviewers on this site believe is worthy of your time. It might not be one of our favorite books, but it’s that rare breed of comic that struck all four of us, with our different tastes, as a good read. Losers is our latest “Hot Pants” pick.

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Writer: Phil Hester, Jason Caskey & Colin Wales
Artists: Phil Hester, Ande Parks, Rich Faber, Bruce McCorkindale, Mike Worley, Jim Woodyard, Greg Paulsen & Aaron Gillespie
Company: Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics

Phil Hester is known for his artwork on books like Green Arrow and Nightwing, and he’s the artist on the upcoming Irredeemable Ant-Man with Robert Kirkman. Fewer people know him from his writing on independent series like Deep Sleeper, The Coffin and The Atheist, but they are the lucky ones, because they know what I know: Phil Hester is the most underrated storyteller in comics. Not only is he a talented artist, he’s got writing chops that put him right up there with the best. The projects he has written generally have a weirdness element to them, and some of Continue Reading »

Writers: Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges
Pencils: Tony Akins
Company: Vertigo

I’m a huge fan of Fables, and it is easily my favorite monthly title. I also really enjoyed reading issues #1, #2 and #3 of the spin-off book, Jack of Fables, but unfortunately, my enthusiasm for the new title is beginning to ease off. It is still a very solid book and one that I will continue to look forward to reading for the foreseeable future, but the problem is that I have gotten so accustomed to the stellar quality level of the main Fables title, that a very solid Fables related book is still quite a disappointment in comparison. Check this article out to learn more about the main Fables title and its shared universe Continue Reading »

What is a Bell Bottom Pick? At Comic Pants, we love the new, but sometimes we get nostalgic to talk up an older book or series and remember some greatness from “back in the day.” That “day” could be the extreme 90’s, the socially relevant 70’s, or the guys-wore-hats 50’s. Who knows? All we can tell you is that a Bell Bottom Pick is worth rifling though back issue bins for or even braving the wilds of Ebay. Our latest “Bell Bottom Pick” is Deathlok #1-4 (1990).
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