Scott and Dan pick the comics they’re most looking forward to…
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Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension
Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-51 Facsimile Edition, DC. Without hyperbole, this just might be the best week of comics we’ll get this year. At least from where I sit. There’s a ton of really groovy stuff, but at the very top is this full-on, full-size reprint of the 1977 treasury edition highlighting the best of the original Ra’s al Ghul saga, including Batman #232, #242, #243 and #244. Amazing storytelling and incredible art by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, with strong assists from Irv Novick and Dick Giordano.
This has long deserved a reprint in exactly this format and I’m incredibly overjoyed that it’s here. The main version is $15, which is a flat out bargain, and there’s a foil-cover edition for $5 bucks more. I’ll be getting both, to be sure, because seeing one of the greatest covers in comics history — and one with this color scheme and visual effects — get that fancy, shiny treatment is impossible to pass up. I’m among those who’d love to see a hardcover version of this, but to me, this format is really the only one that matters. I’m about as enthusiastic as I can be about getting this. I’ve had the date circled on my calendar for months — and I hope it’s so successful, we’ll get more treasury Facsimile Editions.
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Nightwing #112, DC. It’s nice seeing Batman and Nightwing teaming up for an arc before Taylor, Redondo and co. leave Bludhaven (and Gotham) later this year. They’re not bitching and moaning. They’re supportive of one another and this is how it should be. Bruce and Dick — greatest team in comics history.
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Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #25, DC. This may surprise you, but even as a died-in-the-cowl Batman fanatic, I think Superman should always get top billing. I mean, I accept it for the 1960s Batmania, but that’s pretty much it. C’mon, he’s Superman. Anyway, this oversize ish gives us yet another incarnation of Luthor and the Joker’s first meeting. The difference is that it’s by Waid, Mora and Pugh, which means it’ll still be fab. Plus, a glimpse at the next, Mite-centric arc.
Oh, also: There are a bunch of variants, but I’ll take Mora’s William Shatner cover. I’ve always wanted Captain Kirk to team up with Superman and Batman. (Take a peek at his undershirt!)
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Catwoman #63 Variant Cover, DC. A lovely Women’s History Month cover, starring Catwoman and other Gotham women, by the recently departed Ramona Fradon.
There’s also a similar one for this week’s Wonder Woman #7…
… and there’s one for next week’s Power Girl #7:
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Titans #9, DC. More Beast World fallout, with Trigon lurking in the wings. (If a giant, red, four eyed, antlered, barely clothed demon can “lurk.”)
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Amazing Spider-Man #254 Facsimile Edition, Marvel. Having never read them before, I’ve been enjoying the early black-suit Spidey stories by Tom DeFalco. Rick Leonardi is on art chores this ish.
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Beware the Planet of the Apes #3, Marvel. This is just plain fun. Don’t overthink it, folks. Just enjoy some classic Apes.
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Mark Brooks Variant Covers, Marvel. Artist Mark Brooks has been producing big-head covers for Marvel this month. They’re a groove. Here are this week’s:
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Web of Spider-Man #1, Marvel. This one-shot basically previews what’s ahead in the Spider-Verse this year. It’s $7.99 but I’m not sure I’ll be able to pass up this 1967 cartoon-inspired variant by E.J. Su. (I SO want a comic book that takes place in that world. Preferably one with a sound card that plays all that groovy music as you read. How cool would that be?)
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Wolverine #1 Facsimile Edition, Marvel. A new printing of the Chris Claremont/Sal Buscema classic.
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Back Issue #150, TwoMorrows. The fantastic “Batmen of the 1970s” ish is shipping from TwoMorrows as we speak and just may make it into your comics shop this week. Or maybe next week. Either way: Get it. Get it. Get it. (Click here, here and here for SNEAK PEEKS.) I’m even quoted in the Irv Novick piece by Ed Catto. That’s worth the price of admission alone!
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Scott Tipton, columnist, 13th Dimension
Ape-Ril Special #1, DC. No comics publisher was ever more enamored of monkeys and gorillas than DC, so this all-ape special makes me endlessly happy.
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Justice Society of America #9, DC. So many delays on this series, but the Tony Harris variant covers are worth the wait.
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Astro City Metrobook 5, Image. I love that the entirety of Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson’s wonderful series is being collected in affordable paperbacks.
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Fantastic Four Epic Collection: Atlantis Rising, Marvel. I don’t think anyone would call this ’90s-era FF period a classic, but I must admit to a morbid curiosity to go give it a fresh look.
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Star Wars: Jango Fett #1, Marvel. A Jango Fett solo series? You have my attention.
