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The Longbox Short-List - Week of January 6, 2016
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Submitted by Mike 'Ace' Maillaro on Tue, 01/05/2016 - 07:03
Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week. Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that. Let's get to it!
Quick programming note: Last week, Marvel had shipped out several books that were not supposed to be released until this week. This included Amazing Spider-Man #6, Howard The Duck #3, Nova #3, Obi-Wan and Anakin #1, Rocket Raccoon and Groot #1, and Spider-Man 2099 #5. So if anyone went to the shop last week looking for these comics at our recommendation, we apologize.
A-FORCE #1 - Considering Fearless Defenders only lasted 12 issues, I am not sure this book has any chance of surviving. But, I like the creative team, and I think a book of all female heroes can be great. Hell, I loved Fearless Defenders before it ended. I am hoping that since this book has some higher profile characters that will help it's chances of survival, but I will admit I don't have a lot of faith here.
OBI-WAN AND ANAKIN #1 - I have been enjoying Marvel's Star Wars comics quite a bit. But most of them have been set during the events of the original trilogy. It is nice to see them expanding a little more, though Clone Wars seemed like it told us pretty much everything we could ever need to know about Obi-Wan and Anakin. But I am looking forward to this series anyway.
ROCKET RACCOON AND GROOT #1 - Looks like this is the only new #1 I am buying this week (other than Obi-Wan and Anakin). While I do think Marvel has been doing a little too many Guardians of the Galaxy series lately, I have been enjoying the Groot and Rocket Raccoon solo series. Skottie Young has really brought some new life to these characters. Right now this is the only Guardians series I am buying. Guardians has not been faring well since All-New All-Different Marvel. It's pretty much the only Marvel line I don't care about.
DOCTOR STRANGE #4 - This is my sleeper pick for 2015. I didn't know what to expect from a Doctor Strange book, but with Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo, I was willing to give it a shot. I'm glad I did. It has been one of Marvel's most entertaining titles every month. Some real creative use of art style and color has really made Doctor Strange stand out in a crowded superhero market. It also helps that the preview pictures of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange in the upcoming movie look terrific. 2016 is shaping up to be the year of Doctor Strange.
UNCANNY X-MEN #1 - To be honest, I am still not 100% sure what I think of the mutant line in Marvel All-New, All-Different. I like All-New X-Men, but Extraordinary X-Men has been real hit or miss. I like a lot of the ideas there, but not too sure of the execution. Uncanny X-Men is by Cullen Bunn and Greg Land, which should be a great creative team. I don't have the Greg Land hate some people do. But the team seems more like X-Force than the X-Men. "Magneto has gathered together the deadliest team of mutants ever assembled for one goal – to proactively eliminate any and all threats to their species. They’re not afraid to get blood on their hands. And if you see them coming, you should run the other way." I will give this book a fair shot, but I don't have a lot of expectations.
DARTH VADER #15 and STAR WARS #14 - Vader Down is the first crossover of the Star Wars line. It started off promising with Vader causing some serious destruction to the Rebel Fleet. But, the biggest problem with the Star Wars line is that since most of the books are set during the original trilogy, it's hard for me to feel a lot of anxiety about the fate of the characters. When Leia faces off against Vader calling for a bombing strike that could kill them both, you know neither character is going to die or even be seriously hurt. That really kills any cliffhangers these books try to set up.
SURVIVORS' CLUB #4 - Another book that has sort of flown under the radar. Vertigo made a big push this year to release several new titles, but to be honest, they haven't done a real good job promoting them. Survivors' Club takes a look at the survivors of several horror movies and shows what their lives would be like. It's a really cool book, and I love Lauren Beukes. She's easily in my top five novelists right now.
TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #2 - One of the biggest problems with being a comic book journalist is that for the most part, I have to buy all of the books that I review. There are some companies that do a great job getting review copies out, but Marvel and DC are not on that list. A few weeks ago, I decided to pick up Totally Awesome Hulk to cover in our Open Mike Night column. I really enjoyed the book, but not so much the $5 cover price. Still, it's a good comic and definitely worth checking out.
Another quick comment, you might notice that when I do these lists, I don't typically cover a lot of DC books. This is not because I have any aversion to DC. In fact, I have about 30 DC books on my pull list. I don't know what it is, but DC always does a terrible job getting me excited about their books. When I read Grayson, Batman and Robin Eternal, Secret Six, Flash, Sinestro, Titans Hunt, and many, many DC books, I always enjoy them, but when I see them listed on a solicitation list, I just don't feel all that hyped for them.
Part of me thinks that is because it is such a pain to get their cover images. It may sound petty, but when companies make it hard for me to promote their books (DC with the lack of good cover images on their website, IDW not making their Disney line available digitally), it makes me far more inclined to give the attention to companies and books who make my life easier.
