If
you don’t know, Previews
is the catalogue that Diamond Comic Distributors use to offer the
products they distribute to comic book stores around the country.
This is where you can view and order (through your favorite Local
Comic Book Shop) comic books, trade paperback collections, t-shirts,
books, media, and toys and other collectibles from hundreds of
different vendors that deal in geek-oriented merchandise. The genius
part is that you actually have to pay for your copy of Previews
for the privilege of ordering other things to pay for. It’s like
the Ren Fest except without the horse poo smell.
So
every month a new edition of Previews
is sent out to comic book stores. Contained in the pages within are
products that might be currently available or could be released
anytime in the next year; but typically about two months away.
Grab your copy of Previews and let's look at a few of the
weird and/or wonderful items offered in this month’s edition.
The order form was super easy to pull out this month. It took no more effort than pulling a tissue out of a box. The stupid glossy paper still doesn’t want to accept ink from a pen, though.
I
Hate Fairyland – Image (Front Cover,188-189)
Everyone
should be excited about Skottie Young doing a creator-owned comic
book. I think this thing is going to be a lot of fun and you can tell
from this cover that it’s going to be a visual treat.
Notice,
if you will, the “Kids Comic Month” tab at the top corner there:
I
haven’t read I
Hate Fairyland
yet, but it has an “M” (mature readers) rating and a variant
cover that is referred to as “Fuck Fairyland”. I get that the art
is colorful and cute, but maybe the folks at Diamond should look into
things a tad before their book goes to press. Because some folks –
not me – might see the “Kids Comics Month” on this cover and
look no further than that and buy this mature comic and give it to
their kids. I used to work in retail and way dumber things have
happened.
And
yeah – the gore-covered ax and pools of blood should be a tip-off,
but believe me when I tell you that your average Joe and Nancy
America do not examine things for their kids that closely.
I’m
in. Despite my expectations, Batman
Eternal was
pretty awesome. It kept me in good Bat-comics while “Zero Year”
was slogging along. I do think that Dick’s Robin suit looks stupid,
though. Let’s just put him back in the Batsuit.
Seriously
– can we give Bruce Wayne a rest for a while? We barely scratched
the surface of Dick as Batman and Damian as Robin before the New 52
came tromping in like an unwelcome, mentally deficient pachyderm and
ruined everything. Let’s revisit that formula. I loved it.
This
is a heck of an eye-catching splash page. Creepy googly eyes with
clutching hands, dude in a tube, and spider with a lady head? Yes –
I feel compelled to check this out.
These
insane figures are very cool. I have a couple of Play Arts Kai
figures from before they jumped up over a hundred bucks and I can
verify that they’re quite nice. I’ve noticed that they’re in
the front of every Previews
lately and I wonder if that has helped them to blow up like they seem
to have done.
Anyway,
I love this Venom. The artist appears to have worked elements
reminiscent of the xenomorphs from Alien
into the design, and it works really well for the symbiote. I usually
prefer Venom to be less detail-heavy, but this look definitely works
for a variant, What
If?/Elseworlds
kind of thing. I’d be ordering this one for eighty bucks or less.
Keep in mind – these average around nine inches tall. This one’s
ten. But these are not twelfth scale figures.
Our
pal, Mike
Gordon,
gives out comics instead of candy on Halloween and I think that’s a
fine idea. This year on Halloween, comic shops are being invited to
participate in a sort of mini-Free Comic Book Day where kids can come
in and get free comics. There are a ton of fun titles in here, though
you might want to keep Vampblade
Featuring Zombie Tramp
on the higher shelves.
I
have to give DC props for putting out a kids book and a teen book. I
feel like all-ages titles (though not necessarily “kids” books)
are very important to keeping the industry alive. If we don’t have
books appropriate for our kids, how are we supposed to ensure there’s
a next generation to buy comics?
This
is a beautiful cover – one of those that looks like it could be a
classic remembered for years. It’s not the final cover, but it is
by the same guy that’s doing the interior art – Paulo Siqueria.
It looks good. Dan Abnett is writing, so that’s solid. I even dig
the plot outline – a young precog is driven to seek out what we
know to be the original, pre-New 52 Titans. Everything sounds good.
But
I have utterly lost my faith in DC to consistently provide
entertaining and interesting comics and to produce them for any
extended amount of time. I want to check this out and I want it to be
great, but there are too many variables involving DC’s reactionary
publishing decisions and utter lack of direction. It seems like the
best you can hope for out of any non-top tier title is six or twelve
solid issues before the creative team leaves or it just gets
cancelled. Why invest in that sort of story?
That
is a fantastic cover and
Wonder Woman isn’t in her stupid new costume. Or this isn’t that
Wonder Woman. Whatever. I don’t know that I’ll ever recover from
the wretched first arc of this book enough to give it another chance.
I
like the sound of pretty much all of these and they’re all limited,
so I don’t have to worry about premature cancellation or anything.
But there are six of them - Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, Lex Luthor, and Shazam!. I’m not adding six comics to my pull
list. I’ll wait and see how they’re received and pick up the
trades if I need to.
I
dropped this. The art is nice and the story was solid, but it didn’t
excite me. I think it’s a good concept and I hope people dig it and
it does well, but this Black
Canary
just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Nothing
new to report – I just wanted to mention how consistently awesome
and fun these books are. Starfire
is
great, too.
This
was a first issue that did excite me. From the opening pages I was
engaged in the characters and compelled to discover what was
happening to them. It immediately felt like the Green
Lantern Corps comics
from a few years ago that I enjoyed so much.
I’ve
been wanting to read this for a while. I’ve never really read many
Flash comics, but when Mrs. Troublemaker talks about great runs on
comic books, she always brings this up. I’m glad DC is collecting
it.
Side
Note: Man, I just had an intense
flashback
(pun intended, I guess) to reading a Flash
comic book when I was a kid. He was fighting Grodd; possibly a whole
army of apes. I remember being really caught up in the conflict and
concerned that Flash wasn’t going to win, even though I really
didn’t care much about Flash. I doubt there’s any way I’ll ever
figure out which issue it was with details that vague, but maybe I’ll
see the cover someday.
I
read everything in this collection back when the issues were coming
out, but I lost them to flooding or the need for money. I’m not
sure which. Most of the time I feel like Tim is my favorite Robin,
and I definitely loved Chuck Dixon’s work with the character. I’m
excited to revisit these stories. I remember when the first Robin
miniseries came out I was hesitant to buy a book that was just about
Robin, but for whatever reason I picked it up and was hooked. I want
to say I bought the first two or three issues all at once.
A
book about the people that lived through analogs for the classic
horror movies of the 80s? YES. This sounds great. I’m not familiar
with the writer, but a quick Google search reveals that I dig the
artist’s style. I’ll check this out and let you guys know.
I’m
not a cars/motorcycles/mechanical things guy, but this is a very cool
statue. Here’s the thing – DCC offered another version a couple
of months ago that didn’t have the hyenas in the sidecar. If I had
ordered that, I would be pissed
that they turned around and offered a better version later on. Not
everybody would want the hyenas, but I definitely would have.
NOTE:
These are being resolicited and all previous orders have been
cancelled. So if you ordered them before, you’re going to have to
do it again.
I
don’t know what’s going on with this line – unless they’re
desperately trying to get Quality Control… well, under control. I’m
excited about Mad Hatter and Nightwing and will be passing on Bane
and Scarecrow because I don’t like these versions of either of
them.
Limited to 5200. I see what you did, there.
If
I was a more devoted fan of these characters I would totally get
this. It’s awesome. I love Cliff Chiang’s art and this piece has
captured it perfectly. We have a statue of Darth Tyranus and Asajj
Ventress that’s almost the same pose. But with lightsabers.
NOTE:
This replaces the original set offered in April.
I
didn’t bother ordering this set the first time it was offered even
though I thought it was a good idea. Originally it featured Joker in
a black suit and a mere repaint of Harley. Now I find it appealing
because I love the shiny, purple suit and because I still find racy
hornball Harley so surprising for an afternoon children’s cartoon.
If
I could just wave my hands and magically replace my massive DC
Universe Classics collection with this line, I totally would. These
figures are beautiful. Atomica including the other Atoms is great,
Superman looks so Supermanly, and this is the best classic Harley
I’ve seen. AND LOOK AT AQUAMAN’S OCEAN BRAIN TELEPATHY POWER!:
That is so awesome. I wouldn’t be so high on these figures if not for the absolutely incredible releases I’ve been getting from DCC lately. They have me really excited for action figures – not the Animated line, sadly, but the recent comic-based stuff. They’re really doing great stuff with those. Next time you’re in your Local Comic Shop you should find a character you like and pick it up just to see what DCC is doing now.
That is so awesome. I wouldn’t be so high on these figures if not for the absolutely incredible releases I’ve been getting from DCC lately. They have me really excited for action figures – not the Animated line, sadly, but the recent comic-based stuff. They’re really doing great stuff with those. Next time you’re in your Local Comic Shop you should find a character you like and pick it up just to see what DCC is doing now.
I’ve
already got an Azrael, but this one looks cooler and has far better
articulation. Man-Bat has some fugly
joints, but he’s the scariest and most hideous Man-Bat ever. Plus,
I bet the final figure will look better. Professor Pyg is awesome and
a must-have. Thank you for Professor Pyg, DC Collectibles.
Bob
Gale is involved with this title and I’m interested in the concepts
– Marty and Doc meeting for the first time, Doc working on the
Manhattan Project – but I need to see a few pages interior art.
After what happened with the silly-looking Big
Trouble in Little China
and Escape
From New York
books, I don’t want to be disappointed again. The covers on display
are by the artists, but I don’t trust cover art.
Obviously
this is going to be great and probably important. Brian K. Vaughan
and Cliff Chiang have yet to disappoint me in the world of comic
books and the story of four girls uncovering some sort of
Earth-shattering mystery sounds intriguing.
I wrote this about We Stand on Guard on Instagram:
I have read and subsequently dropped quite a few #1 issues lately. They just didn't grab me. As a matter of fact, just about every new book I've tried over the last few months has been underwhelming. I was starting to worry that maybe I'm not enjoying comics as much or that the medium was making some sort of shift that I wasn't into.
Then I read this and loved it. And read it again. Brian K. Vaughan is building another rich, fascinating world, and this one isn't even in outer space. It's ours, but different. And Steve Skroce, Matt Hollingsworth, and Fonografik's artistic collaboration demands close inspection. Every page is beautiful - from backgrounds to character design to expressiveness to the distinctly wintery color pallette.
I'm delighted that this one got me, and got me good. Go and buy it now.
Then I read this and loved it. And read it again. Brian K. Vaughan is building another rich, fascinating world, and this one isn't even in outer space. It's ours, but different. And Steve Skroce, Matt Hollingsworth, and Fonografik's artistic collaboration demands close inspection. Every page is beautiful - from backgrounds to character design to expressiveness to the distinctly wintery color pallette.
I'm delighted that this one got me, and got me good. Go and buy it now.
I
have been absolutely in love with this book. Reading it fills me with
the same wonder and inspirational delight that I got from reading
Sandman
back in the late 90s. It’s not the same kind of comic, at all, but
it’s smart and reality-bending and unique.
I
was devastated when I opened the twelfth issue and saw extremely
Manga-influenced
artwork. I felt like I had been slapped. That style is my least
favorite style of sequential storytelling ever.
I understand that millions of people love it and that’s fine, but
just like I don’t like Crocs or Pepsi, I don’t like Manga. I
flipped through the issue several times because I couldn’t believe
it. I had a tough time reading that one.
It
turns out they’re doing an arc with all guest artists for the next
several issues. While I am bummed that any WicDev
will feature art from people that are not Jamie McKelvie, I am glad
that at least this isn’t a permanent situation. I’d have to drop
the book. So far the announced lineup is Kate Brown on 12 (the one I
didn’t like) and Tula Lotay on 13 (who I had to Google, but I think
I dig her work).
I
want to be clear – Kate Brown is extremely talented and good at
what she does. It just isn’t my thing. I’m not trying to speak
poorly about her or about the creative team’s decision to use her.
Art is subjective and everybody likes their own thing.
I
can’t even keep track of how late which titles are, but I’m still
enjoying Secret
Wars
and the tie-ins that I’m buying. They’re offering a hardcover
collection of the main book this month (page 80 in the Marvel book)
and I recommend it.
This
is Marvel charging you six bucks a pop to buy advertisements for
their new comic books. It’s smart and I’ll probably end up buying
at least the Marvel one, but let’s not kid ourselves. I’d love to
pretend I’m above it, but I usually can’t resist a “Let’s sum
up how everything is now” book.
I
am a little suspicious of the “#1” designation for the Point
One
book. Really? You’re going to need multiple issues to explain this
new status quo?
Well
this certainly has stirred up an all-new, not-so-different internet
poopstorm. First you have the people that feel like because Peter
Parker is doing a different thing, he’s not Peter Parker anymore.
These are different from the people that feel like Miles Morales (who
I almost just referred to as “Milo Manara”, who is a whole other
controversy) is not Spider-Man. Or the ones that think he should be
the only
Spider-Man. Or the ones that want the marriage back. Or the ones that
think that Peter Parker should only ever be a teenager in high
school.
Wait
– those are the first ones I mentioned.
Anyway,
this book features Peter Parker in a position similar to Tony Stark’s
and I couldn’t be more excited because it just sounds like a lot of
fun. Peter is still going to be guilty and miserable and have
problems. But now they’re going to be fresh, new problems that we
actually haven’t seen him have before. Wow! I’m in.
The
other poopstorm is about Marvel doing variant covers inspired by
classic hip-hop albums. I think this is awesome and the cover to
Amazing
#1 is A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight
Marauders,
which is one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. Artist Mike
del Mundo was doubly ingenious, because the expressions on the comic
characters faces are similar to the artists’ on the album art. It’s
awesome.
The
problem is that Marvel reportedly doesn’t employ a whole lot of
non-white people and some folks are questioning the integrity of
their using hip-hop as inspiration for their variant covers (making
lots more money than just publishing a comic with one cover).
I
don’t know how many brown folks Marvel employs. I can’t speak to
that. But if that number is low, then I think I might actually have
to agree with the folks that think Marvel producing hip-hop covers
might not be the most legit thing ever.
Maybe
they’re at least hiring not-Caucasians to do the covers?
I’ve
read some Doctor Strange books and I’ve read some books with Doctor
Strange in them. I tend to find the former impenetrable and the
latter fun. I like the character and the concept and would love to
read more. I want to see what Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo do with
the Sorcerer Supreme (if he still is that, which I’m not sure
about).
The
The
Chronic
cover is hilarious. It’s by Juan Doe, who is always great and whose
name leads me to believe may not be white. Also, I’m not sure if
the outrage is a “black people” thing or a more all-inclusive
“not-white-people” thing.
Much
like DC’s Gods
and Men
series, there’s just too much here. I used to love What
If?
(although to be honest I loved What
The!?!
more), even when the stories were about characters I didn’t care
about. This is because the writers usually managed to work a large
portion of the Marvel Universe into the narrative. If these were
one-shots, I would pick up a few and might even get them all just for
the fun of it. But the five of these are all
listed as number ones, which is silly. Another part of the charm of
what If?
was that they were usually one-and-done. You could pick up any old
issue and get a story. Very rarely were they multi-parters.
Looks
like Marvel accidentally published an ad for an old 90s Image comic.
Oops.
Of
course I’m buying this. All of Marvel’s Star Wars books so far
have been excellent, except for Princess
Leia,
which didn’t really do it for me and didn’t blend as smoothly
into the mythology as the rest have. I don’t know that I’ve read
anything by Gerry Duggan, but I know he’s one of Marvel’s top
guys. I love
Phil Noto’s artwork, though, so I’m definitely excited.
The
Superior Foes of Spider-Man Omnibus HC – Marvel (M100)
Needless
Things’ Head of Research Ryan Schweck has been on me to read this
for months. I guess I will since it’s all in one book now.
Month
after month I put over how beautiful these banks (cheaper than busts
and statues busts and statues, really) are. I seriously recommend you
find a character you like – whether it be a Godzilla or one of
Universal’s Monsters or a superhero – and buy one. They’re so
good. And such a great value.
Yeah,
you read that right. And even more surprising than the fact that this
comic even exists is the fact that I think I’m going to endorse it.
While I would normally never support an internet meme evolving into
anything more than maybe a t-shirt, I can see the potential of a
Grumpy Cat comic book.
Just
imagine – a moody cat that hates everything and condescends to
everyone around it. Hey – they could even come up with a food for
it to love! Maybe, I dunno, ravioli?
I
haven’t been reading this book, but I have of course noticed the
related art. The final cover features Purgatori putting Vampirella in
a modified Dragon Sleeper and that is one of the coolest things I
have ever seen.
I’m
not a huge fan of mash-ups, but these are rad. If you grew up in the
80s you know what’s going on here and you’re probably going to
have to have one of these. I really like Venom, but I think Spidey is
my favorite. Thor is too
weird.
This
figure looks incredible. It’s not going to be in scale with
anything else I have, but Liv is kind of a standalone character.
Apparently
this is going to be a regular thing now (which is not a bad move).
Starting last month, Previews grouped all of the various Star Wars
vendors’ merchandise into one big section. Here are my favorite
pieces:
Darth
Vader Lightsaber Pizza Cutter
– With sound effects! I might actually get one of these. While
nothing will ever be better than the aesthetically pleasing USS
Enterprise pizza cutter, this one makes noises!
Boba
Fett Pizza Cutter
– As much as I love Boba Fett and tend to buy anything related to
Mandalorians, this is kind of dumb. It’s not his blaster or even a
cool sculpt of a mythosaur skull. It’s just a crappy graphic of
Fett’s chest.
Death
Star Kitchen Timer
– This looks super neat, but you have to be some kind of lunatic to
spend twenty-seven dollars on a kitchen timer (which is how I feel
about a
lot of
the nerd-themed houseware items).
Hooded
Jedi Robe
– Yes, the description says “Jedi Hooded Robe”, but that sounds
awkward and weird. I’d like to have one of these, but that
embroidered symbol on it bugs me because Jedi do not have those on
their robes. But maybe they do on their bathrobes? I dunno. I don’t
think we’ve seen Jedi bathrobes.
Star
Wars Bi-Fold Wallets
– Available in Rebel Alliance or Galactic Empire. It would be nice
if they showed both, but I only wanted the Alliance one, anyway.
Gary’s
Pick of the Month (that he doesn’t know about)!
3.75”
action figures for twenty bucks apiece? CHECK
A
twelve inch action figure for eighty bucks? CHECK
A
collector kit that looks slightly less worthwhile than your average
Loot Crate that might cost forty or fifty bucks depending on which
listing you believe, Diamond’s or Warpo’s? CHECK
It’s
enough to drive one MAD!
Gary,
I’m sorry your stuff costs so much this month. If any of these
items were half as much I would buy them all, but these prices are
ri-gosh-darn-diculous. I can’t even imagine rational human beings
coming up with twenty dollars for a four inch retro style action
figure.
As
discussed with Figures’ marketing rep, Chris DePetrillo on Friday’s
episode 66 of the Needless Things Podcast, there’s a lot of
awesome stuff coming up. I can’t help but get excited about these
toys. Series 4 of their Batman 66 figures includes Alfred, Bookworm,
the Otto Preminger Mr. Freeze, and one of my favorites – King Tut!
They’re also releasing reproductions of Mego’s Batcave playset
and the elusive and awesome Aquaman vs. Great White Shark set!
Finally,
Figures is introducing a line of Mego-inspired figures based on the
Superfriends! They look incredible.
And keep in mind – Figures does larger scale stuff, too, so a
gigantic Apache Chief is a distinct possibility.
If
you don’t get some kind of thrill just from looking at this stuff,
then I don’t think we can be friends.
Be
sure to tune in to this Friday’s Needless Thigs Podcast for more
news from Figures Toy Company, including their new wrestling lines.
Of
course I’m ordering a glow-in-the-dark action figure from my
favorite movie of all time. I’m just not sure it will ever arrive.
The Pop! version never did. And believe me – I am quite irritated
about that.
I
don’t know what kind of person could resist owning a talking
Ghostface.
Sheer
genius. I want this so bad. But the listing doesn’t say anything
about dimensions and thirty bucks does not seem like a possible price
for a licensed, full-size lava lamp.
Okay,
I did some research – which I hate – because I had to know.
Apparently this thing is 13” tall, which is a pretty reasonable
lava lamp size. Now the problem is that I don’t trust Diamond to
get it to my Local Comic Shop without breaking it. I gotta think
about this one.
Side
Note: My Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Jack used to have a lava lamp
prominently displayed in their home – a big ol’ for-real 1970s
model. I used to be absolutely fascinated by that thing. But it also
got so hot that it would literally blister you if you touched it. I
would like for my son to enjoy the magic of the lamp of lava, but I’d
also like to avoid blisters.
This
is a hideous little nightmare. I’m not sure what my brain finds
more surprising – a Ghoulies statue or a Ghostface Killah doll.
A
Very Special Message From Phantom Troublemaker
It
has come to my attention recently that people illegally downloading
comic books is a thing that happens more than I thought. If you
illegally download comics, you are a shitbag. You are stealing
from hardworking, creative people. Yes – if it’s the Big Two then
it’s corporations, but if you think that doesn’t trickle down to
the creators then you’re an ignorant slut.
If
you don’t like that, unfollow me or stop reading or whatever.
Unaffiliated
Thoughts
There
were a
lot of
great-sounding comics offered this month that I simply can’t check
out. I am doing a very good job of limiting what I get right now
(compared to how I have been in the past, anyway) and want to stay
that way.
*****
That’s
all I’ve got for this month. Start putting your pennies in your
Diamond Select figural bank and remember to drop your order form off
at your Local Comic Book Shop!
The DC Animated toys are delayed because they went in to try and redesign the bases and their feet so that their might be a way to make them stand. I have a Creeper and a ManBat that are too top heavy to even be supported by the stand that comes with the toys.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. So far I haven't had problems getting any of them to stay upright, with or without stands. Keeping Man-Bat's arms on is a different story, though.
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