Who’s gonna be more worthy? Thor? Gotham Academy? PLUS! Captain America! Charlie Wormwood! So much more! Good week comin’ folks!
Scott Tipton, Co-Owner, Blastoff Comics, North Hollywood, Calif.
Thor #1, Marvel. It got all the headlines awhile back, and now the issue is finally here. Who is the new female Thor? How will the rest of the Marvel Universe react to her? It all starts here, and people will want to get in on the ground floor.
Gotham Academy #1, DC. This new teen-targeted high-school drama looks to add a little bit of youthful fun to DC’s line of Batbooks. Very excited about it!
Star Trek Gold Key Archives Vol. 2, IDW Publishing. Gold Key’s line of Star Trek comics were the first to hit the stands back in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and though the first few issues were a little rough, it soon matured into a source for great classic Trek tales. Recolored and restored here so they look better than ever, and there’s even an introduction by some guy who writes Star Trek comics nowadays.
—
Menachem Luchins, owner, Escape Pod Comics, Huntington, L.I.
Bucky Barnes: Winter Soldier #1, Marvel. I have no interest in this character. Even the new direction Marvel has taken him in at the end of the Original Sin series can’t make me care. But Ales Kot and Marcos Rudy?! Combining one of my favorite “hot young writers” with a painter who makes every single panel and page he draws pop into your head and take hold is the way to get me to try a book. And when the two of them say the book will be very “Philip K. Dick” in exploration of identity? I’m there.
Southern Bastards Vol. 1, Image. Collecting the first story story arc of Jason Aaron and Jason Latour’s masterful story of rage, redemption, and football (oh, and ribs!) in the Deep South. This new Image $10 trade gives an intense story about a man returning to the podunk town he left long ago only to find it steeped in corruption and vice. Aaron’s writing and Latour’s art blend so perfectly, you’ll cringe at every blow and salivate at every shot of the ubiquitous ribs.
Gotham Academy #1, DC. Playing catch-up, DC has finally remembered that there is a huge market for YA non-superhero comics out there and have assembled an amazing team to give us just that. Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher write a spooky, complicated story set in Gotham’s most prestigious prep school while Karl Kerschl gives the perfect atmosphere for this mystery/horror piece set in the shadow of the Batman. Oh, did I forget to mention that we’ve got the WHOLE TEAM coming here next week and, since Fletcher is ALSO the co-writer on the new Batgirl run, we’ll also be selling that book a day early! More info here.
—
Mark Waid, Alter Ego Comics, Muncie, Ind.
This week, I sound totally like I’m shilling, but my Hot Picks map to the store signing we’re having this Saturday afternoon (if you’re in the area on 10/4, come by!) with Jason Aaron and our own Christina Blanch.
Christy will be signing The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood #1 by the team of Blanch, Chris Carr and Chee, ripped from the pixels of Thrillbent.com and in print for the first time, from Dynamite.
Francavilla cover!
Jason will be signing two of this week’s hottest releases — Thor #1 and Men of Wrath #1, both from Marvel (and Marvel Icon), and while we obviously ordered heavily because of the signing, my hand to God, we would have ordered heavily anyway — Jason’s an amazing talent.
—
Aimee LoSecco, JHU Comic Books, Manhattan
This is the “I’m stuck in bed with a chestburster” edition of Hot Picks. Someone please send Puffs Plus and Mucinex to slay this beast.
Thor #1, Marvel Comics. I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of this (so were we) and WOW! No spoilers here though. I haven’t read Thor regularly since the Straczynski reboot (and before that, Uncle Walt’s stuff) but this is just as engaging and compelling. I think we’re all pretty much over the “Thor can’t have bewbs” argument because guess what? Thor done f###ed up. And that hammer’s got a strap on it. Just sayin’. Not thrilled with the new logo, but Jason Aaron has not steered us wrong yet and Russell Dauterman‘s artwork is friggin’ gorgeous. If I’m crawling out of bed for one book this week, this is it.
—
Tim Finn, Hub Comics, Somerville, Mass.
Captain America #25, Marvel. The bigger story of the week is Thor #1, but I’m including this instead because as compelling as Jason Aaron’s Thor run is, and Hub Comics sells a few, vs. zero of the Rick Remender Captain America, there’s a lot of love out there for Sam Wilson, even before the Winter Soldier film, and he’s an established character, whereas the new Thor is all new. And Cap getting replaced a few years ago led to several years of great stories. Add to that Carlos Pacheco, and that this is a prologue to the new Captain America, which will have art by the always-amazing Stuart Immonen and Marte Gracia, and I’m sold.
Gotham Academy #1, DC. Aaaaaand it only took DC three years, between this and next week’s Batgirl #35, to figure out that the linewide tone of the New 52 is monotonous. Someone else here surely has already written eloquently about Gotham Academy. But it looks lovely, fun, and different.
Moon Knight Vol. 1: From the Dead, Marvel. Sales plummeted at Issue #7 with the departure of writer Warren Ellis — no offense to Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood, the book still looks great. I hope we can sell this with a volume number on it. People stay away from Ellis’ Secret Avengers arc, one of the best books Marvel has published this decade, because it has a Volume 3 on the spine, even though it’s self-contained. But this first arc was also one of the best books Marvel has published this decade. Moody, innovative, entertaining, funny.
Honorable Mention from two weeks ago: I use my Diamond list to make this list, and often forget my Baker and Taylor list. Did you know Charles Burns finished his hardcover trilogy begun in The Hive and X’ed Out? Sugar Skull, now on sale. These sell slowly but steadily, and when Pantheon inevitably puts them together in one book, it will sell like Black Hole, which is to say, forever.
—
Ted Alexander, manager, Midtown Comics’ Downtown location, Manhattan
Sherlock Holmes vs. Harry Houdini #1, Dynamite. From the writers of Kill Shakespeare comes a new book that pits the greatest escapist with the greatest detective. I had a chance to talk one half of the team, Anthony Del Col, about this series on the Midtown Comics Podcast a couple episodes ago and it sounds like a riot. He teased a villain that we’ll all know when we see it. It will be on top of my pile!
