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 August Previews for comics due to ship out in October 2007. 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 November or later, but the pre-orders are still due by the end of August.

As always, the Previews rundown is in alphabetical order, rather than the order used in the catalog. To facilitate those seeking more information, each entry will include the page number of the solicitation. I’m going to offer up my “Top Five Shiny New Things to Watch Out For,” which is in a 1-5 order of what I’m most looking forward to (the first item is my “pick of the month,” as it were.) Then I’ll provide a rundown of “Other Stuff That Caught My Eye.” The focus in this column is always going to be on jumping-on points and new stuff, so if you’re wondering “Where’s DMZ?” or something along those lines, I still love it, I just don’t want to keep harping on it. I’m also going to do my best to provide links to art and other preview material, or at the very least official websites, so you can track down more information.

As always, Dan Grendell will be chiming in, mainly for a manga viewpoint but also to give another voice.

Randy’s Top Five Shiny Things To Watch Out For:

American Virgin Vol 3: Wet TP (DC/Vertigo):
Randy: I love this book, and wish more people were paying attention to it. Cloonan’s art, ably assisted by Jim Rugg and Ryan Kelly, is beautiful to behold, and Seagle’s storytelling creates a strange, unpredictable and compelling narrative. I believe this arc is the one where the death of Adam’s true love is given a nice twist that sends the story spinning off into a new and interesting direction. (page 118)

Dan: I need to read this. I figured I knew everything once I knew the guy was American and a virgin, but apparently there’s more going on.

Brawl #1 (Image):
Randy: Another feature (actually two) of the online comics collective Act-i-Vate makes its way to print via Image. In this case, it’s Dean Haspiel’s terrific surreal superhero epic Billy Dogma and Michael Fiffe’s equally odd tale of a teenage runaways with powers. Both are great reads, you can check them out for free online and see why you’d want to have them in a more enduring print format. Or maybe not, maybe I’m just old fashioned, but I’m glad to have the opportunity to have such good comics for my bookshelf as well as my LCD monitor. (page 140)

Dan: There’s a ton of great stuff over at Act-I-Vate, and it’s cool to see more and more of it flowing over to print. There are plenty of people who don’t read webcomics that are missing out.

Chiaroscuro HC (IDW):
Randy: I could seriously kiss IDW E-i-C Chris Ryall for this one. Chiaroscuro was a charming, well-illustrated and fascinating self-published book that came out a few years and then vanished. I kind of thought we’d never see it again, and then IDW comes out with plans to print the entire story by Troy Little in a deluxe hardcover volume that runs $25 for 234 pages. Chiaroscuro is hard to describe, it looks at first glance like your standard indy slacker slice-of-life but it’s got a lot more to it. Trust me, pick this up, you will not be disappointed. (page 312)

Dynamo 5 Vol. 1: Post-Nuclear Family TP (Image):
Randy: I’d be recommending this trade just on the basis of how great the concept is (philandering superhero dies, leaving behind illegitimate super-powered children and a pissed off widow who organizes them into a team), how good Jay Faerber’s writing is, how great the art by Mahumd A. Asrar and Ron Riley is, and how much it will be enjoyed by those digging Image’s superhero fare like Invincible. But it’s also $10 for 7 issues… you can’t beat that! No matter what else you have on your order for this month, if you like superheroes, add this trade to your order… it’s worth it. (page 146)

Dan: This has been a great new series, and to see such a big trade for such a low price is amazing. Take advantage of Jay Faerber’s madness here, folks, and steal every last penny from him by buying tons of these. Or, uh, buy one. I dunno.

Red 5 Comics (Red 5 Comics):
Randy: New publishers in comics have to be either really bold, really delusional or commercially suicidal to enter this rough market. Often all three. But Red 5, which offers up three books this month, looks like a potential winner. Very sharp art, a couple recognizable names (notably Kevin Rubio and Lucas Marangon of Star Wars:Tag and Bink fame) and some very strong concepts. Atomic Robo is a period pulp adventure in 1938 featuring a robotic protagonist versus Nazis, Abyss is about the unlucky son who inherits the fortune, killer robot and infamous legacy of the world’s greatest super-villain when he dies (Rubio and Marangon should bring the funny) and Neozoic is about a sci-fi/fantasy world where humans co-exist with dinosaurs and the story focuses on a dino hunter who helps keep humanity safe. Promising stuff, make sure and investigate the website and place a pre-order if you’re interested. (page 334-336)

Dan: These are some strong concepts to kick off with, and I’ve seen some of the initial artwork on these and it looks excellent. I have high hopes for all three of these titles, and for Red 5 in general. Plus, Star Wars reference, which is always a bonus.

Dan’s Top Five Shiny Things To Watch Out For:

Showcase Presents: Suicide Squad Vol 1 TP (DC Comics):
Randy: The only DC Universe publication I’m legitimately excited by this month, I’m still not 100% sure I’ll buy it, since I have all the issues (in color), but I might want to have it in trade just for convenience sake. At any rate, if you’ve never read Ostrander’s Suicide Squad, I can’t recommend this highly enough. It’s got dark elements and espionage alongside super-villainy and is basically everything that Identity Crisis wanted to be without unnecessary rape and murder, shoddy plotting or a writer who felt the need to show off how much he loved the characters by over-writing narrative captions. (page 98)

Dan: I’m not so morbid as Randy, as there are a few other things this month that have my blood flowing, but they are few and far between, and this is definitely the highlight. Like you, I have these issues, but I’m buying this anyway, because I want the ease of reading that a trade provides. And if you’ve never read Suicide Squad, well, you should. That’s all I’m gonna say. I don’t wanna over-hype it.

Randy: When you read Suicide Squad, any old wounds you have will heal and you will be filled with the glowing light of eternal bliss. Or Dan will give you your money back.

Dan: This offer not valid on Earth.

Randy: How about on Earth-2?

The Vinyl Underground #1 (DC/Vertigo):
Randy: One of these bizarre Vertigo series that is impossible to sum up, which can be good (Morrison’s work on Doom Patrol or The Invisibles) or bad (The Exterminators, Testament, etc.) Or at least, stuff I’m interested in (the former) and stuff I’m not (the latter). The unifying factor that tends to make this kind of thing good is Morrison, so British writer Si Spencer has his work cut out for him, but he’s got a talented art team, gorgeous covers by Sean Phillips and an intriguing pitch (Invisibles meets CSI) to help him out. I’ll at least check out the first issue. (page 119)

Dan: Occult detectives solving crimes in London’s dark side. I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories. I am sooo in. Plus, yeah, that art looks awesome.

Courtney Crumrin and the Prince of Nowhere (Oni Press):
Dan: The second of two one-shots focusing on Courtney’s European vacation with her Uncle Aloysius. I’m always down for more Courtney Crumrin- the spunky goth with the attitude has my number, and so does Ted Naifeh. (page 325)

Bookhunter GN (Sparkplug Comic Books):
Dan: It’s the concept that sold me here. A book has been stolen from the public library, and the Bookhunters- the library police- have three days to track it down using every tool at their disposal. Library police. That’s just off-kilter enough to ring my cool bell. (page 339)

Randy: Shiga’s a cool mini-comics guy, and it seems worth noting that if you’re not as instantly sold on the premise as Dan, you can sample the whole comic at Shiga’s site online.

Vampire Hunter D V.1 (Digital Manga Publishing):
Dan: During the mid-80’s, a fan base for anime in the United States was just beginning to establish itself, and one of the first full-length movies to hit big alongside Akira was Vampire Hunter D, based on a series of novels. Since then eight of those novels have been released in English by Dark Horse, but this is the first time a manga adaptation of a novel has been released, and I’m stoked. I cut my anime teeth on Vampire Hunter D, and I can’t wait to see it in manga format. (page 283)

Other stuff that caught our eye:

The 3-Minute Sketchbook (The HERO Initiative):
Randy: I love sketchbooks, I’m always happy to contribute to the HERO Initiative, so that makes ordering this one a no-brainer. Even without the charity tie-in, the list of artists who sketched in the book, not to mention a clever high-concept (3 minutes or less to do a sketch) would probably get me to pick it up. (page 304)

Dan: I’m not such a sketchbook guy, but HERO is a great cause, and it won’t be wasted cash- these will be cool sketches, no doubt about it.

Annihilation and Immortal Iron Fist TP (Marvel):
Randy: Seems worth noting that the excellent Annihilation series and the entertaining Immortal Iron Fist graduate from hardcover to more affordable trade editions this month. It’s a bit of a downgrade for Annihilation, which goes from oversized hardcover to regular sized trade, but an upgrade for Iron Fist, which is the exact same material in softback. Both are $5 less than their hardcover versions. (pages M100-101 & M107)

Avengers Assemble Vol 5 HC (Marvel):
Randy: Wow, I never thought they’d actually keep these going. The best the Avengers has been since Roger Stern left, this concludes the Kurt Busiek run with a huge invasion of the Earth by Kang. Good stuff, and the even better news are rumors that there will be a sixth volume collecting the Busiek/Pacheco Avengers time travel epic Avengers Forever in this glorious oversized hardcover format. (page M92)

Dan: I’ve been picking these up as they come out, and they are well worth the money. There’s some great Avengers stories here.

Awesome Indie Spinner Rack Anthology Vol. 1 TP (Evil Twin Comics):
Randy: Lots of things to like here. Some good indie names, like Sam (”Fist-a-Cuffs”) Hiti, GB (”Content“) Tran, Josh (”Skyscrapers of the Midwest“) Cotter and plenty more. The debut of the next series from the Action Philosophers creators. And a good cause, as half the profits go to the Indie Spinner Rack podcast who put it all together, and the other half to a scholarship for the Center Of Cartoon Studies. (page 291)

Dan: I haven’t seen stuff from a lot of these creators, as Randy is more savvy about small press indy work than I, but the idea of creators doing work to benefit good causes always does it for me, and this is as good a way as any to get acquainted with their material.

The Badlander #1 (Dark Horse):
Randy: I have to admit, I’m a bit tired of zombies, but Badlander seems like more than your average zombie tale, either a western or a post-apocalyptic tale about an undead gunslinger controlled by a witch trying to escape his circumstances. Has a touch of Stephen King about it, and promises artwork in the Wrightson/Frazetta tradition. Despite not knowing the name of writer/artist Kevin Ferrara, I’m intrigued. (page 23)

Batman #670 (DC Comics):
Dan: The only thing that really draws my attention to this issue is that it’s a prelude to the upcoming Bat event, “The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul.” To which I say, it’s about time. (page 79)

Randy: And to which I say, “Ra’s al Ghul was dead?” I kid, of course… I knew he was dead. But I bet most didn’t. Still, bringing him back is almost as good an idea as not pointlessly killing him off in the first place.

Batman and the Outsiders #1 (DC Comics):
Dan: Well, Batman’s back with the Outsiders, and I must admit I’m curious to see how this will go. Writer Tony Bedard has an uneven track record with me, and Koi Turnbull (Fathom) seems like an odd art choice for a book like this, but my interest in the concept is such that I’m willing to give it a chance for a while. (page 67)

Randy: Like you, I like the concept but I’m not entirely sold on that creative team. Bedard can be good or bad, but a Michael Turner knock-off on art? Eh. If variant cover artist Ryan Sook was in, I would be too.

Batman/Grendel (Dark Horse):
Randy: You know, I think I might actually still have these originals somewhere, but I’ll probably buy the trade anyway, just to have them in one volume. Matt Wagner’s original Batman/Grendel is honestly some of the best Grendel there is, and the second story, featuring the post-apocalypse warrior Grendel instead of the suave criminal who’s a natural match for Batman, is pretty good as well. (page 40)

The Brave and the Bold Vol. 1 HC: Lords of Luck (DC Comics):
Randy: I’ve really enjoyed the Waid/Perez Brave and the Bold story so far, but more to the tune of a $14.95 trade than a $25 hardcover. Odds are that when the trade finally comes out, my interest will have wavered, just as it did with the Green Lantern series I would have bought if it hadn’t come out in pricey hardcover format first. Same is true of the Superman Confidential HC, also solicited this month. If they were oversized or something, given the artists, I’d be tempted, but same size as an eventual trade, no extras? Pass. (page 95)

Dan: Yeah, I have no interest in a standard hardcover. I’ll be waiting for the basic trade here. I am quite interested in the next arc of the book, also solicited this month, which pairs Wonder Woman and Power Girl. There’s a fun combo.

Captain Carrot and the Final Ark #1 (DC Comics):
Dan: I’ve never read the Captain Carrot stories (I’m looking forward to getting caught up via the upcoming Showcase), so I don’t know if this three-issue mini-series is for me or not, but I did notice that it’s by Bill Morrison, taking over writing duties for Roy Thomas, and starts at the “Sandy Eggo Comic-Con”, which is fitting as Scott Shaw! was one of the original founders of the San Diego Comic Con. (page 66)

Chronicles of Wormwood TP (Avatar Press):
Randy: Folks seem to be digging this take on the anti-Christ by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows, so I might give it a read. I haven’t been real big on the Avatar Press stuff in general, but the buzz has been good and the books sold out before I could even give them a read. (page 240)

The Complete Persepolis TP (Pantheon Books):
Randy: Once again, my procrastination pays off. I haven’t yet gotten around to reading Marjane Satrapi’s tales of life in Iran, and now it looks like there’s going to be a trade collecting Persepolis and Persepolis 2 into one volume. No doubt tying in to the film’s release after its strong performance at Cannes. (page 329)

Dan: Once again, I’m screwed for buying stuff as it came out. Well, not screwed really, because I got to enjoy these excellent looks at Satrapi’s childhood in Iran long before slacker Randy, but this is doubtless a bit cheaper than the two separate volumes were. Meh. I’m so cutting edge.

Cory Doctorow’s Futuristic Tales of Here and Now #1 (IDW):
Randy: I’ve never read any of Cory Doctorow’s fiction, but I do dig what he does with the blog Boing-Boing, and the story here, about a 12-year-old “character assassin” who kills online cheaters’ characters, is interesting. Throw in that it’s adapted by the talented Dara Naraghi, whose self-published efforts I’ve really enjoyed, and I’ll check it out. (page 312)

Dan: The premise here is very promising, and merits at least a look. I’m curious where it will go beyond the obvious, though.

Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists (DC Comics):
Randy: This may be the least asked-for of the ton of ill-advised Countdown tie-ins DC is putting out this month, so it seems a good place to make the point others are making: If DC actually follows through on Countdown all the way to the end, and pumps out spinoff miniseries and ties it into all of their books, their already brutal beating in the direct market will only get worse. You know in the movie Independence Day, when the fighters are barreling towards the alien ship, and somebody realizes it’s a force field and they all try to pull up, but a few unlucky souls who can’t turn away smash right into the force field, so committed were they to an obviously unwise course?

That’s kinda where DC is right now, except the force field is glowing bright blue from 50 miles away, telling them “Cut out of Countdown now and regroup, and while you’re at it, you might want to drop 50 or so of your 52 Earths. And maybe not cross over the sinking ship Wildstorm universe with the popular characters in the DC Universe. And maybe stop killing off all the characters you do manage to make interesting.” Seriously, it’s like Didio lost a bet with Quesada after Identity Crisis came out, and he and his editorial team now have to crash DC Comics as a result. (page 65)

Dan: What you said. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket, except it’s only one egg, laid by an ostrich, and it’s rotten. And the basket has a hole in it. And it’s floating in lava. On Mars.

Crawl Space: XXXombies #1 (Image):
Randy: As mentioned before, I’m weary of zombies in general, but that doesn’t mean a zombie project automatically gets ignored. It just means it needs a hook, and this book has got plenty of those. First, it promises “zombiesploitation” set in 1977. Second, the talent includes Rick Remender (Fear Agent), Kieron Dwyer (Remains) and Tony Moore (Walking Dead, Fear Agent), all of whom seem like the right guys for this kind of project. Remender described the opening scenes to me in San Diego, and I gotta say, I think this is going to be disturbing and hilarious. (page 141)

Crime Bible: The Five Lessons of Blood #1 (DC Comics):
Dan: Fallout from 52 handled by Greg Rucka. The new Question tangles with a follower of the Crime Bible. I’m much more interested in the Question angle here than the Crime Bible, really, but both parts have my interest enough that I’m anxious to see where this goes. (page 72)

Daredevil Annual #1 (Marvel Comics):
Randy: For this story that follows up on a thread from Brubaker’s Daredevil jail-time arc, Marvel has brought in Ande Parks to co-write and script. Parks wrote the excellent true crime graphic novels Union Station and Capote in Kansas for Oni, so he seems to be in his element here, and I was curious to see the fallout from some of Matt’s prison goings-on, so I’m looking forward to this. (page M21)

Dan: Ande Parks doing prison? That guy does awesome work, but his stuff is so true to life, you can bet someone’s gonna get raped.

Death Jr. V.1: Pandora GN (Seven Seas Entertainment):
Dan: I very much enjoyed the two Death Jr. comic miniseries that Image put out, so I’m onboard for this manga take on those same characters. It’s a different creative team, and focuses on DJ’s girlfriend Pandora this time, but I’m still more than happy to give it a go. (page 338)

Death of the New Gods #1-2 (DC Comics):
Randy: While you’re in the business of making huge mistakes like tying everything into an unpopular miniseries, why not get Jim Starlin, whose marquee name faded in the industry long ago, to kill off some of Jack Kirby’s characters? I’m not even the biggest fan of the New Gods, and I can still tell you that a snuff miniseries is the wrong way to go with them. (page 69)

Dan: I can’t even tell you how irritated this makes me. If you want the New Gods out of the DC Universe, write them out to have their eternal struggle somewhere else somehow. Don’t give them to Jim Starlin, whose interview on Newsarama showed that he has little respect for them. Throwing around phrases like “half mercy killing” and “this is the part that really fanatical Kirby fans are going to hate” doesn’t leave me much hope for this.

The Disappearance Diary GN (Fanfare/Ponent Mon):
Dan: Fanfare/Ponent Mon is a rising force in the intellectual manga publishing industry, steadily releasing a pretty stellar lineup of work from some amazing alternative manga creators. This is just one example, an autobiographical look at Hideo Azuma’s fall into despair, failed suicide, and battle with alcohol, confronted with the sense of humor that only time and the outlook of a cartoonist can provide. (page 291)

Eduardo Risso’s Tales of Terror TP (Dynamite Entertainment):
Dan: 100 Bullets has gotten Argentinian Eduardo Risso a lot of attention, deservedly, and some of his back catalog is seeing print. IDW published 8 issues of Chicanos, written by Carlos Trillo, and now these short horror tales (also scripted by Trillo) are appearing in English for the first time. I’m a big fan of Risso’s funky, distorted style, and I dug Trillo’s writing on Chicanos, so I expect these stories to be just as good. (page 259)

El Cazador Vol 1 TP (Disney Press):
Randy: Disney reprints the six issues produced of Crossgen’s aborted pirate book by Chuck Dixon and Steve Epting. Despite it being unfinished, I’m very tempted by this trade, if only for the beautiful pirate action that Dixon and Epting unleashed in those six issues. $12.99 for six issues of comics that look this good isn’t a bad price at all. (page 285)

Dan: If I didn’t know that this was just going to abruptly end, I’d be all over this. I loved this book.

Foolkiller #1 (Marvel/MAX):
Randy: I have fond memories of the ’90s Foolkiller miniseries written by Steve Gerber, which leads me to remember that something interesting can be done with the seemingly too weird character of Foolkiller, who is basically a snobby vigilante who kills people he considers too stupid to live. Written by a novelist, art by Fables‘ Lan Medina, this could be a solid entry in the vein of the MAX Hellstorm book. Which I believe was another Steve Gerber creation. Given how much Marvel is benefiting from his creations (three minis this month alone), you’d think maybe they could offer him some work by way of thanks since he’s probably not gonna get any richly deserved royalties. (page M74)

Dan: Yup, it’s Steve Gerber series month at Marvel. That’s pretty odd, actually. On his blog he says there’s a possibility of a Man-Thing graphic novel from twenty years ago with Kevin Nowlan finally being finished and published, so he may get some work, though things are rocky at Marvel because of Omega.

Graveslinger #1 (Image):
Randy: In the Old West, a former soldier, lawman and undertaker has to hunt down the 117 souls he accidentally released from Hell. Now that’s a high concept I can get behind, especially when it’s co-written by Jeff Mariotte, creator of the supernatural western comic Desperadoes. (page 142)

Dan: Wait, he’s a former soldier, lawman, AND undertaker? And now he hunts souls? Wow. There was no job security in the Old West.

Green Arrow/Black Canary #1 (DC Comics):
Randy: I like the Green Arrow/Black Canary pairing, even if it’s Connor and Canary, as long as isn’t set up by some ill-advised “Ollie’s dead again!” story. I’m also a huge fan of Cliff Chiang, and can’t wait to see him drawing something that should be as action-heavy as this. The weak link is Judd Winick, whose DC work has been underwhelming for the last year or two. However, I remember back to the early days of his Green Arrow run with Phil Hester and Ande Parks, which was great, and hope that he can recapture that magic with Chiang providing no-doubt excellent art. (page 68)

Howard the Duck #1 (Marvel Comics):
Randy: I’ve gotta be honest, I don’t have the crazy Howard the Duck love, and I generally think a Howard miniseries is a mistake. But Ty Templeton is a great writer with good comedic chops, and Juan Bobillo’s distinctive style, last seen on She-Hulk, has been greatly missed, and so I’ll be giving this one a look. Plus: The MODOK revolution continues! How many books is the big-headed one in these days, anyway? (page M25)

Dan: Honestly, I have a hard time buying Howard the Duck now. The book was an ironic commentary on all sorts of things of its time, and if it just gets played for laughs, it loses its meaning. Plus, without Steve Gerber writing, it just doesn’t feel right.

JLA: Ultramarine Corps TP (DC Comics):
Randy: The good news? DC is finally collecting Grant Morrison and Ed McGuinness’s fun three issue JLA story that kicked off JLA Classified. The bad? In order to get it in trade, you’ve got to also get the JLA/Wildcats crossover, which, while written by Morrison, is pretty dire stuff. Wish they’d tagged it into the Seven Soldiers collections instead. (page 96)

Dan: I was never that impressed with the Morrison arc on JLA Classified, and you’re right, that JLA/Wildcats story was awful. I’ll be skipping this.

Justice Society of America #10 (DC Comics):
Dan: Alex Ross co-writes with Geoff Johns as Kingdom Come ties into the series and a new member joins- the Kingdom Come Superman! Wait, doesn’t he have a wife and baby? Dude, that’s not cool… (page 89)

Randy: Now, Dan, this is modern DC. I’m sure his wife and baby will be tortured and murdered on panel, to leave the way clear for him to join the Justice Society.

Kimmie66 (DC/Minx):
Randy: Minx had it’s first stumble for me with Clubbing, but the overall strike rate is pretty good, and the premise on this one sounds like fun. It concerns a 23rd century teen dealing with the ghost of her friend on a virtual reality Internet, and sounds pretty far afield of what Minx has offered up so far. Creator is Aaron Alexovich, whose work I don’t know at all, but whose credits (Avatar the Last Airbender, Invader Zim) seem interesting enough. (page 117)

Dan: It’s true that Clubbing was just bad, but Re-Gifters was a thing of beauty, so I’m game for more. Bring it on, Minx, I can take it! I’m as tough as a teen girl! Maybe.

Legends of the Dark Crystal V.1: The Garthim Wars (Tokyopop):
Dan: The Dark Crystal was the movie that scared the hell out of and enchanted an entire generation of kids in the early 80s, thanks to Brian Froud’s awesome designs and Jim Henson’s puppetry. This manga trilogy is a prequel to the movie, taking place 100 years before and presumably involving the killing of the Gelflings by the Garthim, though I can’t say that for sure. It’s written by Barbara Randall Kesel, a comics veteran well-versed in fantasy (she did Meridian and First for CrossGen). (page 344)

Marvel Zombies 2 #1 (Marvel Comics):
Randy: You’d think it would have gotten old by now, but there’s still some fun to be had in the Marvel Zombies concept, and a zombie riff on Civil War sounds about right. The original creative team of Robert Kirkman, Sean Phillips and Arthur Suydam on covers reunites… I don’t know if I can really see it sustaining another five issues, but then, I was surprised to enjoy the first miniseries as much as I did. (page M42)

Dan: Man, with Ultimate Fantastic Four, the original mini, the one-shot, the Army of Darkness crossover mini, and the Black Panther story arc, I am beyond Marvel Zombied out. Count me out.

Mercenaries #1 (Dynamite Entertainment):
Randy: Another strong license acquisition from Dynamite, Mercenaries was a really fun open-ended videogame, like Grand Theft Auto but with a military setting. I can see it being either really good or really mediocre. (page 256)

Necessary Evil #1 (Desperado Publishing):
Randy: Interesting premise here, basically the super-villain equivalent of superhero school as seen in PS238 or it’s inferior Disney film clone, Sky High. It seems weird to me that the anarchic super-villains would have an official school, but maybe the creators can make it work. Honestly, I was a little disappointed that this had nothing to do with the Necessary Evil role-playing game, where the premise is an alien invasion wipes out the heroes and the super-villains have to take up the defense of Earth. Now there’s a premise I can get excited about. (page 265)

Dan: Super-villain school? So, basically, it’s Cromartie High played straight? Cool.

The Official Handbook of the Invincible Universe TP (Image):
Randy: A loving homage to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and a great guide to the increasingly broad world that Kirkman and his co-creators have built in Invincible, this is a must-have for fans of Invincible. Some terrific artists contributed, and there’s a lovely sense of humor at work in the write-ups as well as a true love for the characters you can feel. (page 146)

Dan: I have the two prestige format issue that make up this trade, and they were well worth my money. There’s some very cool stuff in here including diagrams by original OHOTMU technical guy Eliot R. Brown. If you read Invincible (and you really should, it’s a fantastic book), you’ll enjoy this.

Omega the Unknown #1 (Marvel Comics):
Randy: My interest in Omega is lower than in Howard the Duck, but this weird, retro indy take has me curious, and I know that if nothing else, the Farel Dalrymple art is going to be drop dead gorgeous. (page M49)

Dan: Another Steve Gerber creation being redone, but this one feels more like an homage, and I’m curious to see how it turns out. I am irritated that despite Gerber not wanting this project to be done (he has strong views about other creators working on characters someone else created without permission), Marvel did it anyway.

The Palette of 12 Secret Colors V.1 (DC/CMX):
Dan: This looks to be a charmingly fun manga, about a school for magicians who can borrow colors from one thing and paint them onto another. The school is on an island filled with colorful birds, and each student bonds with one. Cello has a lot of potential, but can’t get it together, and needs all the help her bird Yoyo can give her. My only question is, how well does a story about color come across in a black and white manga? Guess I’ll find out. (page 106)

Proof #1 (Image):
Randy: I can’t improve on the solicitation, which reads thusly: “When FBI agent Ginger Brown got a promotion, she didn’t expect her new duties would involve tracking down the world’s most mysterious creatures. The Loch Ness Monster, Mothman and El Chupacabra are now on her “most wanted” list and her new partner looks an awful lot like — Bigfoot!” Great high concept. (page 144)

Dan: That is a pretty damn cool idea. It’s like Harry and the Hendersons, with more shooting and less annoying family.

The Ride: Halloween Special (Image):
Randy: The Ride, a loose collection of one-shots and short minis that usually tangentially involve a car, has been pretty uneven. But this one gets my attention because it’s written and drawn by Tomm Coker, a thoroughly underrated and very impressive artist. I don’t know how his writing chops are, but I know the book will look great, at the very least. (page 145)

Savage Sword of Conan TP (Dark Horse):
Randy: Ever since I started working in a comic shop, I don’t think a week has gone by when someone, usually a lapsed comics reader, hasn’t waxed rhapsodic about how much they used to love Savage Sword of Conan. With the return of the Conan license, that pining has grown even more frequent. Now, finally, Dark Horse is collecting the more violent, mature readers, long out of print work into trades. Even better, they’re doing it in a new format, similar to Marvel’s Essentials and DC’s Showcase volumes, $18 for 500+ pages, called Dark Horse Presents. If we could get actual Dark Horse Presents material in this new format, I’d be in heaven. But I’ll settle for finally getting to read the “adult” Conan everyone’s been talking about for so long. (page 37)

Dan: Honestly, I used to read Savage Sword off and on, and I think their memories are making the book better than it was. It was good, but not any better than current Conan material. Still, it’s very cool to see it available.

Shooting War GN (Grand Central Publishing):
Randy: Fans of DMZ, take note. Shooting War is about a “citizen journalist” who witnesses a terrorist attack in near-future New York and finds the tale taking him into the Iraq War, American politics and more. This was first serialized online to much acclaim, and should make a handsome little hardcover. (page 302)

The Sword #1 (Image):
Randy: The Luna Brothers, fresh of their horror/cheesecake book Girls, are tackling modern fantasy with The Sword, in which a college girl gets embroiled in a search for a magic sword. Maybe… it’s kinda non-specific. But The Luna Brothers like to do unusual stuff, and I’m curious to see where they go with this one. Even if secretly I really just wish they’d give us another volume of Ultra, which was just loaded with potential. (page 138)

Dan: This looks very cool, and I definitely dig the style of the Luna brothers, even if Girls did lose me about halfway through. I’m looking forward to their take on fantasy.

Spiral V.1: Bonds of Reasoning TP and Black God V.1(Yen Press):
Dan: New manga publisher Yen Press is leading off with several strong titles. I mentioned With the Light from them in last month’s column. This month they have Spiral, about a teenager investigating his brother’s death and finding out a whole lot more than he bargained for, including ties to a group called the Blade Children. Just as cool is Black God, which features a game programmer who gets caught up in an existential battle and loses his arm. When he wakes up, his arm has been replaced with someone else’s- but whose? And do they want it back? (page 375)

Tales of the Batman: Tim Sale HC (DC Comics):
Randy: I’m a big fan of Tim Sale’s artwork, and a big fan of hardcovers, but I don’t know that I’ll pick this one up, as I already have all the stories contained within. That said, these are good stories, especially the James Robinson-penned “Blades” from early in the Legends of the Dark Knight that pits Batman against a Zorro-style vigilante. It’s poignant and effective, and even though it’s relatively early in Sale’s career, his art even then indicated he was going to be a superstar. Also promising for the Tim Sale fan is the Superman: Kryptonite hardcover, collecting the 6-issue Cooke/Sale collaboration from Superman Confidential. (page 94)

The Transformers Premiere Edition HC (IDW):
Randy: IDW tests the limits of my format whoredom this month with this $100, super-deluxe hardcover collecting Transformers: Infiltration, Escalation, Stormbringer and Spotlight. The trades would cost about $80 to buy, so this actually isn’t a bad idea, and I do love what they’ve been doing with Transformers, but I’m not sure I love it enough to buy a super-deluxe hardcover. Then again, given how nice the Fallen Angel Premiere hardcover was, I’m not sure I don’t, either. (page 308)

Dan: Yeah, this is really tempting. They are doing the same thing with the 30 Days of Night trilogy, and while I’m not anywhere near as tempted there, you just know that Ben Templesmith art will look dead sexy in a deluxe hardcover.

Wonder Woman #13 (DC Comics):
Dan: For the first time since it relaunched, Wonder Woman looks like it’s gonna be good again. Gail Simone joins the team as writer, and the solicit promises monkey assassins. No sign anywhere of Amazons attacking anything. I dare you to tell me this will suck like it has been. (page 92)

Randy: The aborted Heinberg relaunch has left me a little gun-shy with a character I never had much fondness for in the first place, but Simone on Wonder Woman is a great match. Really, though, DC should have given her a new number one, to distance her from the two failed arcs that defined the last series. Call it “Wonder Woman: We Call A Do-Over” #1 or something.