Archie, Southern Bastards and a bunch of Idiots …
Scott Tipton, Co-Owner, Blastoff Comics, North Hollywood, Calif.
Mad’s Original Idiots: Wally Wood, DC Comics. Any opportunity to get classic Wally Wood stories back in print is all right by me.
Batman: The Animated Series action figures: Penguin & Poison Ivy, DC Collectibles. It’s been way too long since some of these have hit the market. Bring on Roxy Rocket and the Batmobile!
Greenberg the Vampire, Marvel. I can’t believe this is back in print. From J.M. DeMatteis and Mark Badger, Greenberg is funny, scary and a little bit sexy, and nearly completely forgotten, I had thought. Good stuff.
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Aimee LoSecco, JHU Comic Books, Manhattan
Archie #3, Archie Comics. Hot on the heels of Jughead’s origin story, a hotshot mogul comes to town and the new girl at Riverdale High is getting attention in a big way. Who are they? My money’s on the Lodge family makin’ it rain in Riverdale!
Wonder Woman ’77 Special #2, DC Comics. More retro Wondey action! More bad guys!! More Lyle Waggoner!!! (Check out the EXCLUSIVE preview here.)
Mad’s Original Idiots Complete Collection, DC Comics. Why buy the single trades when you can get them all in one shot? This set is massive, collecting all of the work of Wally Wood, Will Elder and Jack Davis from the first 23 issues of Mad. Get ready for classic Mad parodies at their finest: comics, movies, TV, sports, poetry… Nothing is sacred to these three masters of the craft. And thank Jebus for that!
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Ted Alexander, manager, Midtown Comics’ Downtown location, Manhattan
Archie #3, Archie Comics. This is the comic that is perfect for everyone. Reintroducing Archie and his pals for a whole new generation has been tried before, but this time it really works. The last issue had some great storytelling that stuck with me. I’m still trying to figure out how Archie set fire to an ice-cream stand.
Southern Bastards Vol 1 HC, Image Comics. Even though I have the issues, I’m going to get this just so I can have it on my bookcase. “Hey Ted, what is Southern Bastards about?” my friends will say and I’ll get to once again say how great this series is to someone. It’s the perfect plan!
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Dimitrios Fragiskatos, manager, Midtown Comics’ Grand Central location, Manhattan
Grayson Annual #2, DC Comics. I’m not much into the big names. I feel most of the stories we can tell have been told, or are otherwise repetitive. But one of the things I’m a fan of is the interplay between Superman and Robin. These guys know each other through Batman yet seem to have more in common with each other than him. What’s even cooler to me is that Grayson’s Nightwing persona came from Kryptonian mythology. Anyway, so now we have Grayson, the superspy, and Superman, the identity-less, super-civilian. Really different setting, but will it be the same personalities?
Book of Death: Fall of Harbinger #1, Valiant Comics. Probably the best adversarial relationship (and the most ‘shipped, for you Faith fans) is young, reckless Peter Stanchek, and immortal, businessman Toyo Harada. Both are the most powerful psiots on Earth and this book should show us the end of the decades-long feud! I can’t wait, but also don’t know who to root for. They’re both assholes, honestly!
