Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for September 21 2011

IMAGE COMICS

JUL110510 ALL NIGHTER #4 (OF 5) $2.99

APR110500 ARTIFACTS #6 (OF 13) C2E2 EXCLUSIVE VAR CVR $10.00

FEB110491 ARTIFACTS TP VOL 02 $14.99

MAY110447 CHEW TP VOL 04 FLAMBE (MR) $12.99

MAR110578 DARKNESS #90 ECCC VAR CVR (MR) $10.00

MAR110577 DARKNESS #93 $2.99

JUL110468 GREEN WAKE TP VOL 01 (MR) $16.99

JUL118081 INFINITE #2 CVR K JAY COMPANY FOIL EXC $2.99

JUN110483 MORNING GLORIES TP VOL 02 $12.99

JUL110537 MYSTERIOUS WAYS #3 (OF 6) (MR) $3.99

JUL110404 NEAR DEATH #1 $2.99

JUL110539 RED WING #3 (OF 4) $3.50

JUL110541 SAMURAIS BLOOD #4 (OF 6) $2.99

JUL110434 TEEN WOLF BITE ME #1 (OF 3) $3.99

JUL110552 WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #38 (MR) $2.99

JUN110568 WITCH DOCTOR #3 (OF 4) $2.99

Comics and Magazines from Diamond Distributors for September 21 2011

PREVIEWS PUBLICATIONS
JUL110011 ARCHIE LAUGH COMIC MINI COMIC PI
JUL110013 BOOM SNARKED HALLOWEEN MINI COMIC PI
JUL110010 CASPER/STRAWBERRY HALLOWEEN MINI COMIC PI
JUL110009 DH SCARY GODMOTHER HALLOWEEN MINI COMIC PI
JUL110015 DONALD DUCK HALLOWEEN MINI COMIC PI
JUL110012 FRAGGLE ROCK HALLOWEEN MINI COMIC PI
JUL110016 MAMESHIBA ON THE LOOSE MINI COMIC PI
JUL110014 NBM SMURFS HALLOWEEN MINI COMIC PI

COMICS
APR111049 A ZOO IN WINTER HC $23.00

JUN111282 ARATA THE LEGEND TP VOL 07 $9.99

JUL110855 ARCHIE CHRISTMAS CLASSICS TP VOL 01 $14.95

JUL110841 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #222 $3.99

APR111038 ARMED GARDEN & OTHER STORIES HC $19.99

JUN110858 ASTONISHING SECRET OF AWESOME MAN YR GN $17.99

JUL111299 BAMBOO BLADE TP VOL 10 $11.99

JUL110923 BART SIMPSON COMICS #63 $2.99

JUL111012 BOYS BUTCHER BAKER CANDLESTICKMAKER #3 (MR) $3.99

JUL111323 BRIMSTONE #5 (MR) $3.25

JUL110865 BROKEN PIECES #1 CVR A KANESHIRO $3.50

JUL110866 BROKEN PIECES #1 CVR B KUBERT $3.50

JUL111300 BUNNY DROP GN VOL 04 $12.99

JUN110803 CAVEWOMAN ALL NATURAL SPEC ED ONE SHOT (MR) PI

JUL111220 DAMAGED #2 (OF 6) (MR) $3.50

JUL110960 DARKWING DUCK #16 $3.99

JUN111290 DETROIT METAL CITY GN VOL 10 (MR) $12.99

APR111020 DF FF & FRIENDS 50TH ANN STARTER SET $49.99

JUN111081 DF KEVIN SMITH BIONIC MAN #1 ROSS VIRGIN EXC $10.00

JUN111091 DF MARVELOUS SUMMER READING SET $50.00

JUL110877 EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT LOTUS #3 (OF 3) CVR A NOME $3.50

APR110814 FATHOM VOL 4 #2 CVR A KONAT $2.99

APR110815 FATHOM VOL 4 #2 CVR B RYAN $2.99

JUL110990 GAME OF THRONES #1 $3.99

JUL111180 GARFIELD & CO HC VOL 03 CATZILLA $7.99

JUN110817 GOBS #2 (OF 4) $3.99

JUN110812 GOLD DIGGER #132 $3.99

MAY111019 GREEN HORNET #18 $3.99

JUN111283 HAYATE COMBAT BUTLER TP VOL 18 $9.99

JUN111197 HELLRAISER PINHEAD DOUG BRADLEY SGN NDC EX ED $39.99

JUL110928 HELLRAISER TP VOL 01 (MR) $9.99

JUN111307 INFERNO GFT DREAM EATER ONE SHOT $2.99

JUN111308 INFERNO GFT DREAM EATER ONE SHOT $2.99

JUN111100 IT WAS WAR O/T TRENCHES HC (O/A) $24.99

JUL110994 KEVIN SMITH BIONIC MAN #2 $3.99

JUN111284 KUROZAKURO GN VOL 06 $9.99

JUN110811 LITTLE GREEN MEN GN (O/A) $9.95

APR111035 MAN WHO GREW HIS BEARD GN $19.99

JUN111096 MARK TWAINS AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1910-2010 HC $19.99

SEP100801 MINDFIELD #6 COVER B PHIL NOTO $2.99

JUL111182 MONSTER CHRISTMAS HC $9.99

JUL111301 MY GIRLFRIENDS A GEEK GN VOL 04 $11.99

JUL110947 PLANET OF THE APES #6 $3.99

JUL111085 PRISON PIT GN BOOK 03 (MR) $12.99

JUL111302 RAIDERS GN VOL 07 $11.99

JUN110807 RICHIE RICH #4 (OF 4) $3.95

JUL111245 ROBERT JORDAN EYE OF THE WORLD HC VOL 01 $24.99

JUL110925 SIMPSONS TREEHOUSE OF HORROR #17 $4.99

JUL110849 SONIC UNIVERSE #32 $2.99

JUL110870 SOULFIRE VOL 3 #4 CVR A FABOK $3.50

JUL110871 SOULFIRE VOL 3 #4 CVR B ODAGAWA $3.50

JUL111191 SPONTANEOUS #4 (OF 5) $3.99

JUL110949 STAN LEE SOLDIER ZERO #12 $3.99

JUN111242 STUFF OF LEGEND JESTERS TALE #2 (OF 4) $3.99

JUN110982 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE HC VOL 01 SGN 10TH ANN ED (O/A $49.99

JUL111295 UNFORGIVING #1 $3.99

JUN111024 VAMPIRELLA SCARLET LEGION #4 $3.99

JUL111298 WITCH & WIZARD MANGA VOL 01 $12.99

JUL111303 WITH THE LIGHT RAISING AUTISTIC CHILD GN VOL 08 $11.99

APR111150 WIZARD OF ID HC DAILIES & SUNDAYS 1970-1971 (RES) $19.95

JUL111112 ZAHRAS PARADISE GN $19.99

JUL111304 ZOMBIE LOAN TP VOL 12 $11.99

JUL110957 ZOMBIE TALES OMNIBUS OUTBREAK $19.99

JUL111016 ZORRO RIDES AGAIN #3 $3.99

MAGAZINES
JUN111350 BACK ISSUE #51 $7.95
JUN111359 COMICS BUYERS GUIDE #1682 OCT 2011 $5.99
JUN111377 DR WHO INSIDER #6 $6.99
JUL111335 JUXTAPOZ #129 $5.99
JUL111234 STAR WARS CLONE WARS MAGAZINE #7 $4.99
JUL111436 STAR WARS INSIDER #128 SPECIAL NEWSSTAND ED $7.99
JUL111437 STAR WARS INSIDER #128 SPECIAL PX ED $7.99
JUN111407 VIDEO WATCHDOG #164 (MR) $8.95

The New 52 Review: O.M.A.C. #1

O.M.A.C. #1
DC COMICS

WRITERS: Keith Giffen and Dan DiDio
PENCILS: Keith Giffen
INKS: Scott Koblish
COLORS: Hi-Fi
LETTERS: Travis Lanham
32pp, Color, $2.99

OMAC is a superhero comic book created by Jack Kirby in 1974. The series was set in a near future where OMAC was a corporate nobody named Buddy Blank. An A.I. satellite called “Brother Eye” changed Buddy, via a “computer-hormonal operation done by remote control,” into the super-powered One-Man Army Corps (OMAC).

DC Comics is currently re-launching its superhero comic book line. Produced by Keith Giffen and Dan DiDio, a new O.M.A.C. series is part of that launch. O.M.A.C. #1 opens on a peaceful afternoon at the headquarters of Cadmus Industries, the corporate leader in genetic research and cutting edge medical technologies.

Jody Robbins is fretting over her boyfriend, Kevin Kho, also works at Cadmus, but is missing. Suddenly, O.M.A.C., a powerful behemoth of a creature, assaults the complex and begins tearing his way down through the lower levels. What is he seeking? And where is Kevin?

Over the course of his four-decade career, Keith Giffen has often showed the influence of Jack Kirby on his work. In O.M.A.C., Giffen blends the powerful compositions and graphic design of Kirby with his own sharp line work to create some of the best comic book art to come out of “The New 52.” Giffen captures the raw power of a creature like O.M.A.C. by depicting destruction on massive scale in panels both small and big and especially in a double-page spread that is… awesome. I think this is a book worth a second and third look.

A-

August 31st
FLASHPOINT #5
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/flashpoint-5.html
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/justice-league-1.html

September 7th
ACTION COMICS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/action-comics-1.html
ANIMAL MAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/animal-man-1.html
BATGIRL #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batgirl-1.html
BATWING #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batwing-1.html
DETECTIVE COMICS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/detective-comics-1-2011.html
HAWK AND DOVE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/hawk-dove-1.html
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/justice-league-international-1.html
MEN OF WAR #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/men-of-war-1.html
STATIC SHOCK #1 2.99
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/static-shock-1.html
STORMWATCH #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/stormwatch-1.html
SWAMP THING #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/swamp-thing-1.html

The New 52 Review: SUPERBOY #1

SUPERBOY #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Scott Lobdell
PENCILS: R.B. Silva
INKS: Rob Lean
COLORS: The Hories
LETTERS: Carlos M. Mangual
COVER: Eric Canete with Guy Major
32pp, Color, $2.99

Rated “T” for “Teen”

Superboy first appeared in More Fun Comics #101 (January-February 1945). The character was meant to be Superman as a boy and a teenager. Later, Superboy was reinvented as a clone of Superman and Lex Luthor. With the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero comics line, “The New 52,” Superboy (the clone) is back.

Superboy #1 opens with Superboy in a glass tank of neonatal amniotic fluid and subjected to various virtual reality programs. Who is Superboy? What is Superboy? Why does the female doctor known as “Red” care for him? Who or what is N.O.W.H.E.R.E.?

What to make of Superboy? It is a mildly enjoyable read. A veteran scribe, Superboy writer Scott Lobdell is a master of dragging out a narrative over several months (or even over a year or two if necessary). That would be just fine and dandy if the characters weren’t so stiff here, although Superboy is interesting.

The art (pencils, inks, and colors) is pretty, but is so stiff and mechanical. If clip art fucked Dilbert, artist R.B. Silva’s style would be the result. Still, I’m curious enough to try at least one more issue.

C+

September 14th

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batman-and-robin-1.html
FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/frankenstein-agent-of-shade-1.html

The New 52 Review: BATMAN AND ROBIN #1

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Peter J. Tomasi
PENCILS: Patrick Gleason
INKS: Mick Gray
COLORS: John Kalisz
LETTERS: Patrick Brosseau
32pp, Color, $2.99

Rated “T” for “Teen”

Remember that Batman and Robin comic book that had the original Robin, Dick (Richard) Grayson, as Batman and Bruce Wayne’s son, Damian Wayne, as the latest Robin? Of course, you do; it was only launched two years ago to great fanfare – as the Batman comic book line was then being revamped… again.

With DC Comics’ re-launch of its superhero comic book line, “The New 52,” Batman and Robin is also re-launched, with Bruce Wayne back as Batman and Damian back as Robin. The team that produced the “Tree of Blood” storyline in the 2009 Batman and Robin, writer Peter J. Tomasi and artist Patrick Gleason, is the creative team of The New 52 Batman and Robin.

Batman and Robin #1 (“Born to Kill”) opens in Moscow where one of the Batmen of Batman Incorporated gets Bat-manhandled. Meanwhile, Batman/Bruce Wayne is ready to reconcile and to put a defining moment in his life behind him, so he takes his bratty son to Crime Alley. But the irascible new Boy Wonder is more interested in stomping some bad guy ass than being kind of sentimental.

After reading the first issue of 2009 Batman and Robin by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, I was very impressed. It was a start reminiscent of their opening storyline for New X-Men (“E is for Extinction”). Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s own first Batman and Robin issue is close to being as good as Morrison/Quitely, and I’m equally impressed. I so want to share with you the fun I had reading it, but I’d unleash too many spoilers. What I’ll say is that this is one of “The New 52” you should keep reading past the first issue.

A

The New 52 Review: FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #1

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Jeff Lemire
ARTIST: Alberto Ponticelli
COLORS: Jose Villarrubia
LETTERS: Pat Brosseau
COVER: J.G. Jones with Hi-Fi
32pp, Color, $2.99

War of the Monsters Pt. 1: Monster Town, USA

DC Comics has a version of Frankenstein’s monster that is similar to the Boris Karloff monster in Universal Picture’s 1931 film, Frankenstein (directed by James Whale). The character first appeared in Detective Comics #135 (cover date May 1948) and was created by Edmond Hamilton and Bob Kane, based upon the character in Frankenstein, the novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

DC’s Frankenstein has been revamped a few times, the most recent being a version writer Grant Morrison made a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. As part of DC’s re-launch of its superhero comics line, “The New 52,” the Seven Soldiers version of Frankenstein is the star of a new comic book series, Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

As Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1 opens, the demonic invasion of Bone Lake, Washington (population 4,500) begins. At S.H.A.D.E. (Super Human Advanced Defense Executive), Agent Frankenstein gets his marching orders… and a field team, although he insists he works alone. Not anymore, big fella! Meet the Creature Commandos: the amphibian/human hybrid, Dr. Nina Mazursky; the werewolf, Warren Griffith; the vampire Vincent Velcoro; and the mummy and medic, Khalis. But can even this uber-motley crew stop an invasion that doesn’t die, it multiplies?

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. can come across as DC Comics’ version of the B.P.R.D. (Dark Horse Comics), Mike Mignola’s troubleshooters from his Hellboy franchise. Even if S.H.A.D.E. is a riff on B.P.R.D., Jeff Lemire, so far, can’t touch the inventive madness of Mignola and the writers that collaborate with him. If anyone on this S.H.A.D.E. creative team is close to Mignola and company’s lovely madness, it’s artist Alberto Ponticelli. He gives Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. a decidedly Eurocomics vibe, and the scenes in which he draws sci-fi tech, his art recalls legendary artist, Moebius, and that legendary manga, Akira.

Considering what Lemire did with Animal Man, I want to give Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. a chance because this could be a really inventive title. Ponticelli’s art will certainly be a joy to scrutinize.

B+

House of Five Leaves: Ginta

I read House of Five Leaves, Vol. 4

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).