Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for June 6 2012

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APR120663 AGE OF APOCALYPSE #4 $2.99

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APR120596 AVENGERS BLACK WIDOW STRIKES #3 (OF 3) $2.99

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MAR120657 CIVIL WAR PROSE NOVEL HC $24.99

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APR120648 DEFENDERS #7 $3.99

APR120679 FURY MAX #3 (MR) $3.99

APR120637 HULK #53 $2.99

APR120646 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #518 $3.99

APR120634 JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #639 $2.99

APR120629 MIGHTY THOR ANNUAL #1 $4.99

MAR120673 MOON KNIGHT BY BENDIS AND MALEEV TP VOL 01 $19.99

MAR120678 SPIDER-MAN BIG TIME ULTIMATE COLLECTION TP $39.99

APR120662 TOY STORY #4 (OF 4) $2.99

APR120600 ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #11 $3.99

APR120588 UNCANNY X-MEN #13 AVX $3.99

MAR120667 UNCANNY X-MEN BY KIERON GILLEN PREM HC VOL 02 $24.99

APR120626 WINTER SOLDIER #6 $2.99

APR120672 X-FACTOR #237 $2.99

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for May 16 2012

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MAR128095 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #683 2ND PTG DELLOTTO VAR (PP #1019) $3.99

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MAR120538 AVENGERS #26 AVX $3.99

MAR120545 AVENGERS ACADEMY #30 AVX $2.99

MAR120582 AVENGERS BLACK WIDOW STRIKES #2 (OF 3) $2.99

MAR120647 AVENGERS CONTEST TP $16.99

MAR128092 AVENGERS VS X-MEN #0 (OF 12) 3RD PTG CHO VAR (PP #1019) $3.99

MAR120534 AVENGERS VS X-MEN #4 (OF 12) AVX $3.99

MAR120528 AVX VS #2 (OF 6) $3.99

MAR120609 DAREDEVIL #13 $2.99

MAR120663 DEADPOOL MAX PREM HC SECOND CUT $24.99

MAR120596 FANTASTIC FOUR #605.1 $2.99

MAR120630 FURY MAX #2 (MR) $3.99

MAR120676 GENERATION HOPE END OF A GENERATION TP $15.99

MAR120552 HULK SMASH AVENGERS #3 (OF 5) $2.99

MAR120591 INCREDIBLE HULK #7.1 $2.99

MAR120590 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #517 $3.99

MAR120578 JOHN CARTER GODS OF MARS #3 (OF 5) $2.99

MAR120682 MARVEL UNIVERSE VS WOLVERINE TP $14.99

MAR120664 MOON KNIGHT BY BENDIS AND MALEEV PREM HC VOL 02 $24.99

MAR128096 NEW AVENGERS #24 2ND PTG DEODATO AVX (PP #1019) $3.99

MAR120643 NEW AVENGERS BY BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS PREM HC VOL 03 $29.99

MAR120603 NEW MUTANTS #42 EXILED $2.99

MAR120692 NEW MUTANTS CLASSIC TP VOL 07 $29.99

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MAR120613 THUNDERBOLTS #174 $2.99

MAR120539 UNCANNY X-MEN #12 AVX $3.99

MAR120567 VENOM #18 $2.99

MAR120587 WINTER SOLDIER #5 $2.99

MAR120681 WOLVERINE AND BLACK CAT CLAWS 2 TP $14.99

MAR120622 X-FACTOR #236 $2.99

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 14 2011

MARVEL COMICS

OCT110601 AVENGERS 1959 #4 (OF 5) $2.99

OCT110593 AVENGERS ACADEMY #23 $2.99

OCT110606 AVENGERS X-SANCTION #1 (OF 4) $3.99

OCT110745 AVENGERS X-SANCTION BY ED MCGUINNESS POSTER $8.99

OCT110582 BATTLE SCARS #2 (OF 6) $2.99

OCT110641 BLACK PANTHER MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE #526 $2.99

OCT110632 CARNAGE USA #1 (OF 5) $3.99

OCT110746 CARNAGE USA BY CLAYTON CRAIN POSTER $8.99

OCT110616 DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER WAY STATION #1 (OF 5) $3.99

OCT110722 DEADPOOL MAX TP NUTJOB (MR) $19.99

OCT110742 ESSENTIAL RAWHIDE KID TP VOL 01 $19.99

AUG110736 ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 06 NEW ED $19.99

SEP118119 FEAR ITSELF FEARLESS #1 (OF 12) 2ND PTG VAR A (PP #996) $2.99

SEP118120 FEAR ITSELF FEARLESS #1 (OF 12) 2ND PTG VAR B (PP #996) $2.99

OCT110647 GHOST RIDER #7 $2.99

SEP118121 INCREDIBLE HULK #1 2ND PTG SILVESTRI VAR (PP #996) $3.99

SEP110564 IRON MAN 2.0 #11 $2.99

OCT110618 JOHN CARTER OF MARS WORLD OF MARS #3 (OF 5) $3.99

OCT110592 JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #632 $2.99

OCT110691 MAGNETO NOT A HERO #2 (OF 4) $2.99

OCT110665 MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2011 $3.99

JUL110711 MMW NICK FURY AGENT OF SHIELD HC VOL 03 $59.99

JUL110712 MMW NICK FURY AGENT OF SHIELD HC VOL 03 DM VAR ED 171 $59.99

OCT110714 MOON KNIGHT BY BENDIS AND MALEEV PREM HC VOL 01 $24.99

OCT110604 NEW AVENGERS #19 $3.99

OCT110717 NEW X-MEN BY GRANT MORRISON GN TP BOOK 08 $14.99

OCT110613 NORTHANGER ABBEY #2 (OF 5) $3.99

OCT110730 SECRET WARRIORS TP VOL 05 NIGHT $14.99

OCT110736 SECRET WARS 2 TP $29.99

OCT110735 SECRET WARS TP NEW PTG $34.99

OCT110658 SHIELD #4 (OF 6) $2.99

OCT110731 SPIDER-MAN BY MARK MILLAR ULTIMATE COLLECTION TP $34.99

OCT110615 STAND NIGHT HAS COME #5 (OF 6) $3.99

OCT110663 SUPER HEROES #21 $2.99

OCT110625 ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #4 $3.99

OCT110676 UNCANNY X-FORCE #18 $3.99

OCT110728 WOLVERINE AND JUBILEE CURSE OF MUTANTS TP $14.99

SEP118122 WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #1 2ND PTG BACHALO VAR XREGG (PP #996) $3.99

SEP110615 WOLVERINE BEST THERE IS #12 $2.99

Leroy Douresseaux on DAMAGED #1

DAMAGED #1 (OF 6)
RADICAL PUBLISHING

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Sam Worthington
CREATORS: Michael Schwarz and John Schwarz
WRITER: David Lapham
ARTIST: Leonardo Manco
COLORS: Kinsun Loh, Jerry Choo, Sansan Saw
LETTERS: Todd Klein
COVER: Alex Maleev
ALTERNATE COVERS: Leonardo Manco with Kinsun Loh (Cover B) and Leonardo Manco (Incentive Cover)
32pp, Color, $3.99

Actor Sam Worthington, whose career exploded a few years ago after appearing in Terminator: Salvation and Avatar, is now in the comic book game. Worthington and his friends, Michael Schwarz and John Schwarz, have formed a graphic novel and intellectual property company called Full Clip Productions.

Michael and John have created the venture’s first comic book, Damaged. This crime comic book from Radical Publishing is written by David Lapham (Stray Bullets) and drawn by Leonardo Manco (Driver for the Dead). Damaged focuses on two brothers committed to justice in different ways. One is a commander with the San Francisco Police Department and works inside the law. The other is a vigilante who works violently beyond it.

In Damaged #1, Captain Frank Lincoln is three weeks from retirement, and the powers that be in San Fran have already appointed his successor as head of the Special Task Force on Organized Crime, a youngster named Lt. Jack Cassidy. A massacre at the home of Dimitri Oloaf, the most powerful man in the Russian mafiya, brings Lincoln and Cassidy together. Frank immediately recognizes that the crime scene relates to his past, and now he has to clean up the past without Cassidy or the rest of the SFPD finding out.

I am annoyed that Damaged seems to be in part a non-Marvel Punisher comic book. Half of the comic book is literally a police drama and the other half is The Punisher, complete with a grizzled veteran cop (the drama) and a scarred, rampaging maniac slash one-man army (The Punisher).

But I like this. I think the story’s strength will lie in a kind of love/hate triangle. There is Frank trying to fend off his by-the-book successor, Jack. Frank will also have to deal with Henry, which will be a hot mess. Henry will likely have to take on the SFPD, especially Jack. Hopefully, it turns out that way, because this does have a lot of potential.

Leroy Douresseaux on EARP: SAINTS FOR SINNERS #4

EARP: SAINTS FOR SINNERS #4 (OF 4)
RADICAL PUBLISHING

CREATORS: Matt Cirulnick and David Manpearl
STORY: Matt Cirulnick
WRITER: M. Zachary Sherman
ARTIST: Colin Lorimer
COLORS: Kyushik Shin
LETTERS: Rus Wooton
COVER: Alex Maleev
28pp, Color, $3.50

Writers Matt Cirulnick and David Manpearl have created Earp: Saints for Sinners, a comic book miniseries from Radical Publishing. This science fiction with a Western flair takes the classic Western hero, Wyatt Earp, and puts him in a near-future, dystopian setting. With a story by Matt Cirulnick, a script by M. Zachary Sherman, and art by Colin Lorimer and Kyushik Shin (colors), Earp: Saints for Sinners turns out to be a good, violent action graphic novel.

This re-imagined Wyatt Earp rides rough after an event called “Black Thirty,” which sets off a second Great Depression. Out of the chaos rose a new type of bank robber, and Earp was the man who brought them in to justice or shot down the ones he didn’t bring in. After his brother, Virgil Earp, was killed in a train robbery, Wyatt retired and became a businessman, opening the AOK Saloon in the only boomtown left in America, Las Vegas.

As Earp: Saints for Sinners #4 opens, Morgan Earp is dead. Morgan is dead by the hand of Alan Pinkerton and his private security group, Pinkerton Security, in the service of Mayor John Flynn, owner of Flynn Casino and Mayor of Las Vegas. Now, Wyatt Earp is coming for Pinkerton and he’s bringing Hell with him. That’s Hell in the form of Jesse James, a modern day Robin Hood, and the Jesse James Gang, and, of course, Earp’s old pal, Doc Holliday.

Newly reappointed U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp and his deputized army race through the desert to the Pinkerton compound. Earp and Doc Holliday also have scores to settle, and a woman, Josephine “Josie” Marcus, to rescue.

Earp: Saints for Sinners saves its best for last in this fourth issue. This science fiction and crime comic book is part Michael Mann urban action and part John Ford Western. Its finale delivers the gun smoke, the rat-a-tat, and the cap-popping action. Ultimately, Earp: Saints for Sinners does what a book should usually do – leave us wanting more.

A-

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for June 22 2011

MARVEL COMICS

APR110720 AVENGERS VS PET AVENGERS GN TP $14.99

APR110611 BLACK PANTHER MAN WITHOUT FEAR #520 $2.99

APR110728 BLACK WIDOW TP NAME OF ROSE $16.99

APR110577 CAPTAIN AMERICA #619 $3.99

APR110744 CAPTAIN AMERICA BY STEVE MCNIVEN POSTER $8.99

APR110594 CARNAGE #5 (OF 5) $3.99

APR110560 CARS 2 #1 (OF 2) $3.99

APR110634 DEADPOOL #39 $2.99

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APR110614 FANTASTIC FOUR LAST STAND #1 $4.99

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APR110709 IMPOSSIBLE MAN TP $34.99

APR110591 INCREDIBLE HULKS #631 $2.99

APR110551 IRON MAN 2.0 #6 FEAR $2.99

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MAR110696 MARVEL ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS CAROL #2 (OF 5) $3.99

APR118013 MIGHTY THOR #1 2ND PTG VAR (PP #972) $3.99

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APR118062 MOON KNIGHT #1 2ND PTG MALEEV VAR (PP #972) $3.99

APR110621 MYSTERY MEN #2 (OF 5) $2.99

APR110699 MYSTIQUE BY SEAN MCKEEVER ULTIMATE COLLECTION TP $24.99

APR110656 NAMOR FIRST MUTANT #11 $2.99

APR110661 NEW MUTANTS #26 $2.99

APR110730 NYX TP VOL 01 WANNABE TP NEW PTG $19.99

APR110742 RUNAWAYS TP VOL 06 PARENTAL GUIDANCE DIGEST NEW PTG $9.99

APR110549 SECRET AVENGERS #14 FEAR $3.99

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APR110556 SIGIL #4 (OF 4) $2.99

APR110623 SILVER SURFER #5 (OF 5) $2.99

APR110602 SPIDER-MAN #15 $2.99

JAN110826 THING PREM HC LIBERTY LEGION $24.99

APR110555 THUNDERBOLTS #159 FEAR $4.99

APR110715 ULT COMICS SPIDER-MAN PREM HC DEATH PRELUDE $24.99

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APR110567 ULTIMATE AVENGERS VS NEW ULTIMATES #5 (OF 6) DOSM $3.99

APR110569 ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #160 DOSM $3.99

APR118011 VENOM #1 3RD PTG QUESADA VAR (PP #972) $3.99

APR110640 WOLVERINE #11 $3.99

APR110731 X-FACTOR TP VOL 11 HAPPENINGS IN VEGAS $14.99

APR110693 X-MEN AGE OF X HC $29.99

APR110692 X-MEN GREAT POWER PREM HC $24.99

APR110653 X-MEN LEGACY #251 $2.99

APR110695 X-MEN SECOND COMING REVELATIONS TP $19.99

APR110694 X-MEN SECOND COMING TP $34.99

Leroy Douresseaux on EARP: SAINTS FOR SINNERS #3

EARP: SAINTS FOR SINNERS #3
RADICAL PUBLISHING

CREATORS: Matt Cirulnick and David Manpearl
STORY: Matt Cirulnick
WRITER: M. Zachary Sherman
ARTIST: Colin Lorimer
COLORS: Kyushik Shin
LETTERS: Rus Wooton
COVER: Alex Maleev
28pp, Color, $3.50

Matt Cirulnick and David Manpearl have re-imagined classic Western hero, Wyatt Earp in Earp: Saints for Sinners. Published by Radical Comics, it is a four-issue miniseries.

Earp: Saints for Sinners is set in a near future after an event called “Black Thirty” sets off a second Great Depression. Out of the chaos rose a new type of bank robber, and Wyatt Earp was the man who brought them in to justice or shot down the ones he didn’t bring in. Earp collared more most-wanted men than anyone in history, but after a violent assignment claimed the life of his brother, Virgil Earp, Wyatt became a businessman. He opened AOK Saloon in the only boomtown left in America, Las Vegas.

As Earp: Saints for Sinners #3 opens, tensions rise between John Flynn, billionaire owner of the Flynn Casino, and Wyatt – all over a woman. Josephine, a gorgeous lounge singer at Flynn Casino, ran to Wyatt for safety after Flynn tried to rape her. With Allan Pinkerton and his private security group, the Pinkertons, at his side, Flynn tries to bully Wyatt and his pal, Doc Holliday. Meanwhile, Wyatt’s younger brother, Morgan Earp, makes a dangerous move on his own.

It has taken three issues, but Earp: Saints for Sinners comes into its own as a kind of science fiction, action, and crime comic book. The flashbacks settle in with the sustained narrative, so this colorful mismatch of Michael Mann urban action and John Ford Western starts to deliver better character drama. The brassy colors over Colin Lorimer’s art are perfect for this series’ flashy setting, and it makes the violence look real purty and perfect for this story.

A-

Leroy Douresseaux on EARP: SAINTS FOR SINNERS #2

EARP: SAINTS FOR SINNERS #2

RADICAL PUBLISHING

 

CREATORS: Matt Cirulnick and David Manpearl

WRITERS: M. Zachary Sherman and Matt Cirulnick
ARTIST: Colin Lorimer
COLORS: Kyushik Shin
LETTERS: Rus Wooton
COVER: Alex Maleev
28pp, Color, $3.50

Hollywood types Matt Cirulnick and David Manpearl have created a new comic book miniseries for Radical Publishing. Earp: Saints for Sinners is a modern-day re-imagining of the classic Western hero, Wyatt Earp.

It is set in the near future and takes place after an event called “Black Thirty” sets off a second Great Depression. Out of the chaos of that economic meltdown, there arose a new type of bank robber. Wyatt Earp was the man who brought this new breed to justice. He shot down the ones he didn’t bring in. Earp collared more most-wanted men than anyone in history. After a violent assignment claimed the life of his brother, Virgil Earp, Wyatt became a businessman in the only boomtown left in America, Las Vegas.

In Earp: Saints for Sinners #2, the tension rises as Robin Hood takes on John Flynn, billionaire owner of the Flynn Casino. Allan Pinkerton and his private security group, the Pinkertons want Wyatt Earp to pay them protection money for his business, AOK Saloon. A woman named Josie Marcus enters the stage, where she will become a reason for conflict between the men.

If you still aren’t confused by the constant use of flashback in Earp: Saints for Sinners, you will love this violent modern-day, quasi-science fiction twist on Wyatt Earp. Full of tough guys, hardened criminals, and scantily clad women, however, this Earp comic book is more Michael Mann than it is John Ford. Colorful and fast-paced, one minor thing wrong with this is that it doesn’t seem fit the floppy, standard-sized comic book format. This is a graphic novel and should be published as one hardcover graphic novel.

B+

Leroy Douresseaux on Earp: Saints for Sinners #1

EARP: SAINTS FOR SINNERS #1

RADICAL PUBLISHING

CREATORS: Matt Cirulnick and David Manpearl

WRITERS: M. Zachary Sherman and Matt Cirulnick
LAYOUTS: Joe Benitez, Rod Pereira, and J.K. Woodward
ARTISTS: Mack Chater, Martin Montiel, and Colin Lorimer
COLORS: Kyushik Shin
LETTERS: Rus Wooton
COVER: Alex Maleev
72pp, Color, $5.99

Created by Hollywood types, Matt Cirulnick and David Manpearl, Earp: Saints for Sinners is a modern-day re-imagining of a classic Western hero, Wyatt Earp. This new Earp story is set in a new future where an event called “Black Thirty” sets off a second Great Depression.

Out of the chaos rises the celebrity bank robber, a kind of Robin Hood meets John Dillinger. There was, however, one man who brought them in to justice and shot down the ones he didn’t bring in, and that was Wyatt Earp. Earp collared more most-wanted men than anyone in history, but after a violent assignment claimed the life of his brother, Virgil Earp, Wyatt became a businessman in the only boomtown left in America, Las Vegas.

In Earp: Saints for Sinners #1, Wyatt’s younger, brother, Morgan Earp, shows up bloodied and beaten. That sets off Wyatt’s memories of the last several years, recounting how he went from NYPD to the U.S. Marshals. Now, Morgan is wanted by the only law that matters in Las Vegas, the Pinkertons, and their leader, Allan Pinkerton will use this opportunity to get rid of the Earps, once and for all. Will Doc Holliday arrive in time?

If you don’t get confused by the constant use of flashback in this first issue, you will love this shoot ‘em up as comic book, Earp: Saints for Sinners. It is a bit longish, and the characters seem as if they’re not quite out of the development stage. The art with shimmering, watercolor-like colors is perfect for the series lovely violence. Not only does the color make the violence pulsate, but it also makes the various cities and locales seem exotic. This comic, however, owes more to modern crime films (like Heat) than it does Western cinema.

I’d like to read more of this.

B

Leroy Douresseaux on Radical Premiere's" Damaged/Hollow Point"

DAMAGED/HOLLOW POINT FLIPBOOK

RADICAL PUBLISHING

DAMAGED
CREATORS: Michael Schwarz and John Schwarz
WRITER: David Lapham
ARTIST: Denis Calero
COVER: Alex Maleev

HOLLOW POINT
CREATOR: Ron L. Brinkerhoff
WRITER: David Hine
ARTIST: Elia Bonetti
PAINTS: Ong Chew Peng
COVER: Tamas Gaspar
28pp, Color, $1.00

Radical Publishing has published a preview of two upcoming series as a “flipbook” under the Radical Premiere imprint. Damaged is a crime comic created by Michael Schwarz and John Schwarz of Full Clip Productions, a venture with actor Sam Worthington (Avatar).

According to Radical, Damaged focuses on “two brothers committed to justice in different ways – one inside the law, one violently beyond it.” The 12-page preview of Damaged introduces Capt. Frank Lincoln, who, while investigating a slaughter of Russian mobsters, discovers that a ghost from his past may be behind the massacre.

The second preview is of Hollow Point, a crime comic created by screenwriter Ron L. Brinkerhoff (the Kevin Costner-Ashton Kutcher film, The Guardian). Hollow Point focuses on an assassin who survives a near fatal gunshot and according to Radical, “…begins to experience disturbing visions from beyond the grave. He soon realizes the bullet meant to kill him has opened a third eye into the spirit realm.” None of that happens in this 12-page preview.

Both series are intriguing, which I think is the whole point of these “Radical Premiere” comic books – pique the interest of as many readers as possible. At the cover price of $1, readers can discover a title they might like, especially if they are fans of a previewed title’s genre, for little financial risk. Radical Publishing is certainly good at genre, for instance, matching a quality crime writer with an artist whose graphic style and storytelling is ideal for crime comics.

Honestly, I will probably read Hollow Point… because I’ll probably get a review copy. I wouldn’t seek it out otherwise, although I am intrigued by what I read. Damaged, however, I am ready to read now (although it isn’t due until next summer). It looks like a gritty, brutal, violent tale with some elements similar to The Punisher. I like how the dialogue colors some of the characters as cruel and cynical. The art by Dennis Calero is solid, but I like how Calero twists and distorts the faces and figures to embellish mood and character.

In the final analysis, Damage/Hollow Point successfully previews two new crime series that intrigue.

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