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Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Comic Books

Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

It’s Monday morning, which means it’s time for us to pick the best comics coming out this Wednesday based on their covers alone. Iron Man’s new suit is on display, Marvel Babies make an appearance and there’s even a touch of the psychedelic. A visual feast awaits. Are you ready?

Dave’s Cover of the Week


Ultimate Comics Iron Man #1 (Variant)


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Gabrielle Dell’Otto

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Dave: The new costume is on point here and it probably wouldn’t look as good by any other hand. Dell’Otto gives it some life with the incurved stomach plating and the beautiful glow coming from the lights. The blaster smoke is a nice touch and the phoenix-resembling fire in the background is goosebump inducing.

Brendan: I enjoy this cover a lot. Iron Man is beautifully depicted as this vengeful spirit being forged within this intense heat and flame. I think the pose, while standard, is beautifully executed and I am just in love with the colors. These red-hots give the impression of 10,000 degree heat and Stark’s lights are only given the lightest of blues to outline the white-hot centers, much like a flame. I suppose, with cheesiness intended, you could say this cover is hot.

Brendan’s Cover of the Week


A-Babies Vs X-Babies #1


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Skottie Young

Brendan: Sign. Me. Up. I am 100% on board for this marketing ploy and I hope you are too. Is this cover amazing? Maybe not. But it sure is fun. There are some really great character interactions taking place, and everything gels together well while still maintaining that required bit of chaos that would come naturally from throwing several infants with superpowers into the same space. GOD THEY’RE SO CUTE I JUST CAN’T STAND IT.

Dave: These covers are always fun because you can scan the page and pick out your favorite. Then show a friend and confer. Skottie Young has a few variants on the way for Marvel with these babies and they’re always enjoyable.

Russ: All we need to do is throw Muppet Babies into the mix and indeed, like the theme song says, “All our dreams can come true.”

Dave’s Honorable Mentions


Michael Avon Oeming’s The Victories #3


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Michael Avon Oeming

Dave: I loved the last issue’s cover, the one with all the bodies falling from the sky, and I love this cover too. Said bodies didn’t have anything to do with the story, so these falling body parts probably don’t either; that being said, the blood splatter on the cape is sickeningly sweet and I do love me that yellow sky.

Brendan: I like this cover around a dozen times more than I enjoyed its predecessor. The skewed angles from last issue’s cityscape are less prevalent. Also, our hero – who remains a simple silhouette – is embellished with carefully designed red highlights to give him a depth that was missing from before. The fallings limbs are fairly creepy, but as Dave said I feel like with no attachment to the actual story, they’re just added to entice. Sadly the fact that they are superfluous gives them the opposite effect.


Batwoman #13


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

J. H. Williams

Dave: Williams can draw one mean cover. Hell, he can draw a mean two page spread, largely because he knows his way around composition. He hit our WTF section last months, mostly because it was too chaotic even if the quality of that chaos was gorgeous. This cover is sweet due to the composition, as we see the figures being wrapped up in centipedes and placed inside the silhouette of an even bigger one.

Brendan: The overlapping silhouettes are pretty sweet. Also, nothing creeps me out like nightmare creatures with one thousand prickly limbs, so this cover delivers its desired effect. Honestly, if I saw this cover in the shop I would only whisper “ew” to myself before moving on to something more enticing.


Cyber Force #1


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Marc Silvestri

Dave: These stacked team member covers are hit and miss generally. Usually they don’t look like they belong in the same image, or the balance is off. I think Silvestri knocks this one out of the park though, as your eyes naturally move from left to right and bottom to top (or vice versa). Each character has their own style their own and their body language is such that you get a sense of their character as well.

Brendan: As Dave said, I think you can really feel with a team cover isn’t drawn as a single thought. Characters either float off the page or their composition doesn’t gel properly. This cover, on the other hand, looks as if it were a cohesive thought before they ever put the pencil to the paper. The entire cover is used to either display characters or to set up concepts. There is nothing to dislike about this cover.

Brendan’s Honorable Mentions


Avengers Assemble #8


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Mark Bagley

Brendan: One of the things I have always enjoyed about Thanos is that he will whup your ass and he will do it with a smile. This cover has great action. The captured motion is as if they simply took a single frame from an animation and threw it onto the page. Most importantly, you have to enjoy Hulk’s “What is this sensation… is this pain?” expression. I like any cover that takes the green man down a peg or two.

Dave: I was close to add this to my honorable mention because, as Brendan says, it’s always awesome to see Thanos whoop the ass of heroes who you thought were super strong. Composition is a little lacking here, but it aids in the viewer wanting to crack this puppy open and see some exciting action sequences.


Untold Tales of Punisher Max #5


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Nic Klein

Brendan: Sure, this cover is a bit Phantom Menace but that’s alright. I think it is incredibly well executed and remarkably poignant. The solicit reads “vigilantism only breeds more vigilantes” and this cover perfectly depicts that.

Dave: Cool concept: boy with water guns is on the track of becoming a killer, and it’s done in a clear way that’ll catch the eye.


Walking Dead #103


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Charlie Adlard

Brendan: I love how such a simple image can tell us so much. There is great use of negative space here that instills a sense of empty hopelessness. Also, the gentle splattered gradient from white to red reminds us that, yes, this is a Walking Dead comic and yes, it’s going to be violent.

Dave: Somebody has a crush on the Walking Dead! The best thing about this cover is the inability to tell if that’s Rick on his knees or not. If it is, you’re going to want to read this book; if it isn’t, you’re going to want to make sure he’s okay.


Walking Dead #103 (Variant)


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Chris Giarrusso

Brendan: Hello, my name is Brendan and I have a problem. I am addicted to adorable representations of bad-ass comic characters. Chris Giarruso (of Mini Marvels fame) really makes my day with his vision of the now-classic first cover of Walking Dead. It should be mentioned that, despite it being in a most adorable style, this composition and content of this cover still gives off a dreary sensation. We all can tell that Rick is in trouble, no matter how cute he is.

Dave: So Image Comics goes and gives Spawn #223 the homage treatment:

Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

which is an homage to the amazing Walking Dead #1 cover:

Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

The fact that it’s a Walking Dead homage to a Walking Dead cover is a little redundant, but I dig it. As long as the publishers don’t inundate us with babe-ified covers, because really how much can we take before it’s boring again? I think it’s a smart move.

WTF? Category

Where we don’t understand, are insulted by or would rather stab our eyes with acid pops than look at these covers for various reasons.


Justice League #13


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Alex Garner

Dave: I know what you’re thinking, “Wtf is this doing in the wtf section this shit is pretty!?” The answer? Why the F do comic heroes have to do this stupid crossing arm missed punch thing? If you follow the path of these characters they’re going to go face first into each other’s…well faces. They certainly won’t be blocking the blows with their free arms which are sort of just posing there.

Painted covers are always cool, even if they don’t hit their mark, and nearly all the figures here strike an interesting pose (except Cyborg who looks like he came off a trading card). I also dig the digital lens flare. That said… I really hate a pose that makes you realize they’ll be face planting into each other.

Brendan: Have you ever tried punching someone, Dave? That shit is actually really fucking hard. Everyone always goes for the head which happens to be this tiny, incredibly mobile target. Whenever I see this super-generic pose I assume that the creators are simply trying to communicate that this issue is going to be an all-out-brawl, where rational sense and proper technique have been forgotten in favor of “Mother Eff Ineedtopunchthatbitchintheface”.


Zaucer of Zilk #1


Comic Book Preview: 10/17/12

Brendan McCarthy

Brendan: I don’t know what is happening on this cover and I’m not sure I want to know. There have been some damned interesting color choices made here and I don’t think anyone benefits. Every time I take a closer look at this cover, I find something new that is increasingly jarring. It can be assumed that this is fully McCarthy’s intention with this cover. To that I say, well done, sir.

Dave: This is some kind of H.R. Pufnstuf superhero madness! I’m not familiar with this series even though it’s a reprint, but I kind of like the zaniness of it. The orange paint that’s dripping down the page at top is a cool effect, as if it will wipe away the page which adds a sense of dilemma to this already chaotic cover.

Russ: Note to self: I’m tripping balls right now.


Comics Being Released This Week


This is a cleaned up list via ComicList.com. Prices in USD. “AR” = Ask Retailer. Comic availability subject to change.

  • DARK HORSE COMICS
  • B.P.R.D. 1948 #1 (Of 5)(Dave Johnson Regular Cover), $3.50
  • Billy The Kid’s Old Timey Oddities And The Orm Of Loch Ness #1 (Of 4)
  • Ex Sanguine #1 (OF 5), $3.99
  • Michael Avon Oeming’s The Victories #3 (Of 5), $3.99
  • Orchid #10, $3.50
  • Star Wars Agent Of The Empire Hard Targets #1 (Of 5), $2.99

  • DC COMICS
  • American Vampire Lord Of Nightmares #5 (Of 5) , $2.99
  • Batwoman #13, $2.99
  • Before Watchmen Minutemen #4 (Of 6)(Darwyn Cooke Regular Cover), $3.99
  • Birds Of Prey #13 , $2.99
  • Blue Beetle #13 , $2.99
  • Catwoman #13 , $2.99
  • DC Universe Presents #13 , $2.99
  • Green Lantern New Guardians #13, $2.99
  • Hellblazer #296 , $2.99
  • He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe #3 (Of 6), $2.99
  • Justice League #13, $3.99
  • Legion Of Super-Heroes #13 , $2.99
  • Nightwing #13 , $2.99
  • Red Hood And The Outlaws #13 , $2.99
  • Saucer Country #8 , $2.99
  • Supergirl #13 , $2.99
  • Sword Of Sorcery #1 (Aaron Lopresti Regular Cover), $3.99
  • Wonder Woman #13, $2.99
  • Young Justice #21 , $2.99

  • IDW PUBLISHING
  • Cape 1969 #4 (Of 4)(Cover A Zach Howard), $3.99
  • Classic Popeye #3 (Cover A Bud Sagendorf), $3.99
  • Dungeons And Dragons Forgotten Realms #4, $3.99
  • G.I. JOE A Real American Hero #183, $3.99
  • Godzilla Half-Century War #3 (Of 5), $3.99
  • Snake Eyes And Storm Shadow #18, $3.99
  • Womanthology Space #2, $3.99
  • Zaucer Of Zilk #1 (Of 2), $3.99

    • IMAGE COMICS
    • Activity #9, $3.50
    • Chew #29 (Rob Guillory Regular Cover), $2.99
    • Cyber Force #1
    • Darkness #107, $2.99
    • Glory #29, $3.99
    • It Girl And The Atomics #3, $2.99
    • No Place Like Home #5, $2.99
    • Savage Dragon #182, $3.50
    • Shinku #5 , $2.99
    • Walking Dead #103, $2.99

    • MARVEL COMICS
    • A-Babies Vs X-Babies #1, $2.99
    • Avengers Assemble #8, $3.99
    • AvX Consequences #2 (Of 5), $3.99
    • Captain Marvel #5 (Terry Dodson Regular Cover), $2.99
    • Daredevil #19, $2.99
    • Dark Avengers #182, $2.99
    • Dark Tower The Gunslinger The Man In Black #5 (Of 5), $3.99
    • Hawkeye #3, $2.99
    • Marvel Now Point One #1, $5.99
    • Marvel Zombies Halloween #1, $3.99
    • Mighty Thor #21, $3.99
    • New Avengers #31, $3.99
    • Ultimate Comics Iron Man #1 (Of 4), $3.99
    • Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16, $3.99
    • Uncanny X-Men #20(Final Issue), $3.99
    • Untold Tales Of The Punisher MAX #5 (Of 5), $3.99
    • Venom #26, $2.99
    • X-Factor #245, $2.99

    • VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT
    • Harbinger #5, $3.99
    • X-O Manowar #6, $3.99

    • ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT
    • Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Sleepy Hollow #1, $2.99
    • Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Godstorm #1 (Of 5), $2.99

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