The Longbox Short-List - Week of December 13, 2017

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Submitted by Mike 'Ace' Maillaro on Tue, 12/12/2017 - 09:32

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s long-running 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!

Comics shipping this week

BUG THE ADVENTURES OF FORAGER #6 – I hate that this series is just a mini-series. One of my favorite comics each and every month…but I would pretty much buy anything Mike Allred is involved in anyway. Hopefully we can get another BUG mini-series next year.

DUCKTALES #4 – While a little formulaic (story starts with Donald suffering some horrible result because of Scrooge and Della’s actions, then we get the whole story), I have really enjoyed seeing stories of Scrooge, Della, and Donald’s past adventures. I thought this was just going to be new stories with Scrooge and the kids, but this comic is something else entirely and it’s been great.

ACTION COMICS #993 – Continuing the countdown to the 1000th issue. Making a prediction here. As much as I love Jurgens work here, I am thinking it’s very likely Bendis will be taking over this book after 1000. I would be very curious what a Bendis Superman book would be like. As for this issue itself, BOOSTER GOLD IS BACK!!! Dan Jurgens writing Booster Gold again is always a good thing.

PUNISHER #219 – While I still don’t know how I feel about Punisher as War Machine, I really enjoyed the first issue of this run. It’s a very different take on the Punisher, and I am real curious where the series goes from here. Definitely one of the most interesting books to come out of Marvel Legacy.

MONSTRO MECHANICA #1 – Another crazy new book coming from Aftershock Comics. Loved the solicit for this one: A new series starring Leonardo da Vinci, his female apprentice, Isabel, and their wooden robot! At the height of the Renaissance, warring factions vie for control of Leonardo da Vinci’s destructive arsenal. The only thing standing in their way is Leonardo’s young apprentice and her nine-foot tall mechanical bodyguard. Together, they navigate a world of wicked men and war machines, determined to save Leonardo from the world—and the world from Leonardo.

MISTER MIRACLE #5 – Tom King is a great fit on this book. Nothing at all what I expected, and that makes for one of the best comics DC is putting out right now. Definitely worth checking out..and re-reading over and over again to put all the piece together.

RUNAWAYS #4 – Man, this series is moving so damn slow. It’s well written and a great addition to RUNAWAYS story, but I keep finding myself hoping that it picks up the pace.

JUGHEAD THE HUNGER #2 – Last week, Archie announced that we will be getting a new “Veronica as a vampire” series. It seems like instead of working to get the horror line books back on some kind of reasonable schedule, they are just going to pump out new books. Not sure that is the best solution. That said, I’ve really enjoyed JUGHEAD THE HUNGER. Like AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE, it is a very different take on the characters, but it works really well.

WONDER WOMAN #36 – I know a lot of people have been down on James Robinson’s WONDER WOMAN, but I have really enjoyed it so far. I loved that we even got a Times Past issue. The last year or so, Robinson has been producing his best work since STARMAN.