By
Phantom Troublemaker
If you don’t know, Previews is the catalog 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 are typically about two months away. Most of this
month’s offerings are scheduled to ship in July.
Now it’s time to discuss a few of the weird and/or
wonderful items offered in this month’s edition!
It’s almost always rewarding – or at least
character-building – to be faced with something you haven’t dealt with before. I’ve
been writing this column for a couple of years now and this is the first time
that I have had zero interest in what’s on the front cover. It happens with the
back cover frequently, and I have no problem just skipping that, but I didn’t
feel like I could skip the front cover.
The fact that Moonstruck
doesn’t do anything for me isn’t a poor reflection on the book. Not everything
is for everyone and that’s okay. I think the art is cute and the story sounds
good. Grace Ellis – the writer – created Lumberjanes,
which I know is a huge thing. I’m sure Moonstruck
will be equally adored and that’s cool.
The Lumberjaniacs out there might be outraged at my
dismissal, but this one doesn’t do anything for me.
This is slightly more up my alley. I was way into
everything Image back in the day and bought at least the first five or so
issues of pretty much everything they published for a while. It worked out
because that’s usually how many issues it took before the creators gave up or
left the book (huge props to Todd McFarlane and especially Erik Larsen for being the exceptions).
WildStorm was a corner of Image that seemed to have a
little more longevity than others. I loved Wetworks,
WildC.A.T.s, and Gen13 until they started meandering and losing direction. Or too
much time passed between issues. I honestly couldn’t tell you what happened
with each title or why I stopped buying them, but I enjoyed them at the time.
I think WildStorm should be celebrated, but I’ll be
honest – I don’t have much more interest in this than I do in Moonstruck. If DC was launching new
ongoing books with reliable creative teams, I’d lose my mind. But a bunch of
short stories and pinup galleries with no greater significance doesn’t do much
for me.
This figure looks phenomenal. I’ve always enjoyed looking
at these expensive import figures that Squenix pays to feature in the very
front of Previews, but this one
really stands out. If I was going to spend a hundred and fifty bucks on a
figure(!), Magneto might be it. From the armored costume to the magnetic
effects to his cape, which looks like it’s sculpted to resemble thousands of
shards of metal, this figure is impressive as heck. As our pal Gary might say,
“Me wanty”.
Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday, May 6th!
Contact your Local Comic Shops to see what they’re doing and visit FREECOMICBOOKDAY.COM
for more details!
Frank Miller, Geoff Darrow, and Dave Stewart are comic
book royalty as far as I’m concerned. But I haven’t read Hard Boiled. As I’ve said so many times before, there’s a lot of
stuff out there and I can’t read it all!
Francesco Francavilla is one of my favorite artists
working today. His first Black Beetle series was excellent fun and I can’t wait
to read this new collection from Dark
Horse Presents. If you haven’t checked out Francavilla’s original work, I
highly recommend it. The first Black
Beetle collection is also available to order.
If you only know the Mask from the Jim Carrey movie, you
are missing out. The original comic books are insane and violent and insanely
violent. I don’t know if these DC crossover stories hold up that standard or
not because I didn’t even know they existed until just now. I’m definitely
curious to read them, especially seeing John Arcudi and Doug Mahnke’s names on
the cover, as they were involved in the original books.
I am wary of events and crossovers and I’m not crazy
about the “dark” theme because I want my comics action-packed and exciting and
not necessarily “dark”. But DC has won my trust back with the Rebirth
initiative, so I’m going along with them on this ride.
I’ve been reading recaps of
what’s been going on in the Superman comics and it sounds pretty awesome. I’m
tempted to jump in or at least pick up the trades. But mainly I just wanted to
say that this Clay Mann cover is super.
The closest I’ve come to being a fan of the Legion is the
Superboy and The Legion of Superheroes
cartoon. I like the concept, but I’ve just never gone down that rabbit hole.
It’s odd considering how much I respect Jim Shooter that I haven’t even sought
out his run.
But throw in the Allreds, Batman ’66, and Egghead as the main
villain(!) and I’m in!
I love Tom King’s interpretation of Batman. This Bane
story ties into the larger narrative he’s writing, but works as a freestanding
arc, as well. The end got me weepy.
If you need a fancy, hardcover collection of the first
fifteen (plus one) issues of Tom King’s Batman, here it is. I wouldn’t mind
owning this edition, but I’ve got the single issues and can’t justify buying
this, too. I assumed “Deluxe Edition” meant there would be some kind of extra
content, but the description suggests that isn’t the case.
A collection of stories starring that loveable lump and
star of Detective Comics, Clayface! But
back when he wasn’t so loveable.
One great thing about Rebirth was the return of Stephanie
Brown, though I’m still waiting to see how her arc plays out. She’s back as
Spoiler and not Batgirl and is on a very different path from the one Bryan Q.
Miller had her on.
This collects the first twelve issues of Miller’s run on
Stephanie’s solo book, which is one of my all-time favorite comics. For the
record, I don’t like this cover. It utterly fails to capture the fun of this series.
I have never followed an event with as much enthusiasm
and excitement as I did “Knightfall”. It’s been at least a decade since I last
read it and I don’t know how well it holds up, but in my mind it’s a truly epic
story. I still have all of the single issues, so I won’t be buying these
omnibuses, but I do want to revisit it.
No ifs, ands, or buts – this belongs on the shelf of
every horror comic fan. This is the collection that made me fall in love with
Boston Brand and with Kelley Jones. I had read Doug Moench and Jones’ Batman/Dracula prior to this, but these
Deadman stories blew me away. Of course, Mike Baron deserves plenty of credit too,
for making me like a character that I had barely even heard of before.
When I picture Batman in my head, I picture Jim Aparo’s
work. I love plenty of artists’ interpretations and all kinds of Batmans, but
Aparo’s version is my headcanon default.
In my opinion this limited series was the very best of
why Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti are the best at writing Harley Quinn.
Seeing her interact with the various heroes and villains of the DCU is the best
way to experience her. This was a fun series of stories that I recommend to any
fan of Ms. Quinzel.
Believe it or not, I haven’t read these comics. My Harley
Quinn fandom didn’t really start until Conner and Palmiotti got ahold of her,
so these earlier books escaped my attention. I need to brush up on classic
Harley and discover her (comic book) roots.
Baltazar and Franco’s miniseries collected in one handy
book – aw, yeah!.
This is one heck of a collection. I’ve read some of the
classic Wein/Wrightson comics and it sure would be nice to own 928 pages of Swampy
action. I just have trouble pulling the trigger on these hundred dollar
collections, even though I know they’re totally worth it.
I’m happy that DCC is continuing this line. After they
cancelled the movie line I was a little concerned, mostly because I don’t have
my Supergirl and White Canary figures yet.
Wally needs a full head mask. I know it would go against
the comics, but the head sock looks terrible in real life.
I’m ready for Ray to leave Legends, but Sarah is easily my favorite character on the show. I’m
glad we’re finally getting a figure of her. Even though I don’t really collect
these, she’s on my order form.
If you love Batman and Superman but didn’t want to buy
that Justice League box set (which is a heck of a deal and still available to
order, by the way), DCC is offering single figures of these two. But you’d be
much better off buying the box set and selling the figures you don’t want.
I realize there’s not much DCC could have done about
this, but it’s a shame this isn’t Superman’s newest costume. I think that would
be a much better seller.
The Turtles and the samurai rabbit are old pals and it’s
good to see them back together again, especially with Stan Sakai at the helm!
I’m opting for the hardcover edition with all of the extra stuff.
Becky Cloonan is effing awesome. Buy this.
With Matt Wagner’s prolific and impressive body of work
it’s easy to forget about his hero, Kevin Matchstick. Mage was a unique and compelling book at a time when creator-owned
superhero comics were starting to all look alike. This is another one I need to
revisit.
Neat-o!
Despite my best efforts I have become somewhat caught up
in the hobby of collecting enamel pins. They’re fairly inexpensive ways to
display your interests and they perk up a suit nicely. I actually have this
Ghus pin already – it’s great!
If I had to put money on it, I’d bet that this won’t be
out in July. More like October.
Oh! Also - *makes
fart noise*
I’m sorry. I might be too harsh here. I’ve been reading
recaps of the first wave of issues and tie-ins and Secret Empire honestly doesn’t sound that bad as far as the story
goes. There are hints that the execution is lacking, but I honestly can’t speak
to that without having read the comics themselves. I hope it’s great and that
the people that are buying it love it.
Astonishing X-Men #1 - Marvel (Back Cover, M24-25)
I like this team and I’d be on board with Charles Soule writing the X-Men, but I don’t like the idea of rotating artists. If it was something like Harley’s Little Black Book with self-contained stories each issue, sure. But not for an ongoing story. I bet by issue #6 they’ll have to drop “superstar” from the artist portion of the solicitation.
I want toys of everything in this picture.
Except Bishop.
No, wait – I want Bishop, too. That Toy Biz Bishop is horrendous.
Writer Robbie Thompson was responsible for my favorite
Spider-Man book in over a decade with his work on Spidey. It’s a shame this is only a one-shot, but hopefully it will
lead to more wall-crawling work for Thompson.
Centipede is
one of my favorite classic video games. As a matter of fact, the tabletop
version is my favorite arcade game. I don’t know what these guys have planned
for the comic book, but I certainly am curious to find out.
COMING IN 2020: From Lion’s Gate, the Atari Shared
Cinematic Universe! Combat, River Raid, and the ultimate weapon, PONG unite to
battle Space Invaders, Centipede, and those weird floating things from
Superman!
Ugh. I got halfway through my bad joke before realizing
it was sort of what they did with Pixels.
I quit.
Listen to me when I tell you to buy things with Kyle
Starks’ name on them. He might be the only creator whose original work I will
buy, no questions asked.
Another very cool D&D t-shirt.
Also, Stylistic Ampersand is the name of my next album.
Also, Stylistic Ampersand is the name of my next album.
I like simple logo shirts. I would be far more likely to
wear this than a shirt with actual art from Tales
from the Crypt or whatever on it. That stuff is for the wall. Logos are for
muh bod.
You guys may or may not know this, but I love Cartoon
Network’s We Bare Bears. I think
stackable plush Bears are a fantastic idea, but not for $24 apiece. Get me some
smaller bears for six or seven bucks each and I’ll buy.
I have a decision to make here.
I don’t necessarily love the original Old Man Logan. It’s fine, but I don’t
like it enough to be super excited about a figure from it. And I don’t like
that Old Man Logan has supplanted Normal Age Logan and Laura in all of the books. I was disappointed that the current
series ended his original mission so quickly and that he just got assimilated
into the status quo.
But this figure looks fantastic and that little baby Hulk
is great.
I think I’ll end up skipping this one, but it really does
look excellent.
MUST HAVE.
I almost caved
and bought Scream Factory’s special Blu-ray set with the Good Guy doll figure,
but it was really pricey and as creepy as the Good Guy doll is, if I’m paying
that I’d rather have an actual Chucky. I figured one was on the way, and I was
right.
The only reason to have this puppet appear on Ash vs. Evil Dead was because obviously
it was great and hilarious to have an Evil Ash puppet on television. Otherwise
it made zero sense (and I’m fine with that).
As soon as it showed up on screen I turned to my wife and
said, “Someone had better make a prop replica of that”. Thank you, NECA. You’re
wonderful.
We saw these back at Toy Fair, but I still can’t believe
they’re actually happening. This Batman might end up being one of the best
Batman figures ever and the Joker Alien appears to be mostly new tooling. It’s
a great time to be alive.
Evil Ed looks fantastic and I would love to add him to my
shelf, but I already have a lot of
Ash figures. If this set was $35 or less I’d probably get it, but fifty bucks
for one figure that I want isn’t happening. I understand the need to sweeten up
the deal with Ash because on his own Evil Ed probably isn’t going to move the
needle any more than a Marvel artist, but they could have at least given us a
super gory Ash or something.
I’ve got the retro Pretty Lady Leatherface in the suit,
but I like the third movie a lot. Throw in the insane “The Saw is Family”
chainsaw and Leatherface’s leg brace and I can’t resist this one. I’m still
holding out hope for a Lefty Enright figure from Chainsaw 2.
After seeing several boxed Donatellos in person I finally
broke down and decided I had to have one. I gave it a glowing
review and immediately asked my Local Comic Shop to order Raphael for
me. I’m addicted. It’s a good thing there are only four. Unless they do
Shredder and Splinter, which I hope they do.
And April and Casey.
These look incredible. If I were super rich I’d buy them
for sure.
Weird. They made a figure of Mojo Nixon’s character from Super Mario Bros.
Back during the New 52 days I used to talk some serious
shit about DC’s section. Marvel had all of this gorgeous cover art on display
and the majority of DC’s art was questionable at best. The Distinguished
Competition has seriously upped their game. Looking through their section of Previews is now a delight, with tons of
compelling pieces that make me want to buy their comics. Good work, DC.
This last season of Legends
was shockingly good. There was still stupid stuff going on, but overall the fun
and entertainment value outweighed it by a wide margin. With Arrow putting me to sleep, Flash being overwhelmingly depressing and dumb, and Supergirl deciding to double down on CW relationship bullshit, Legends has won the award for best show
of the 2016-17 DCTV season.
Unless we’re counting Gotham
and iZombie. Then I’m leaning
towards Gotham, but only because the
latter show is focusing way too much on Blaine, Major, and Liv’s friend that
has inexplicably turned into a jerkbag. The DA whose name I can’t remember.
Marvel should be really
embarrassed about the Jim Lee trading card covers. It’s kind of like if Van
Halen had put David Lee Roth on the cover of Van Halen III.
Let me know what you’re looking forward to in the
comments, or join the discussion in the Needless Things Podcast Facebook Group!
*****
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!
Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for
all of the latest toy news and live reports from the stores that carry them!
If you enjoy comic books, toys, or Needless Things, you
might enjoy SupportPhantom.com.
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