The First Page
It’s the final days before Christmas and I hope that everyone ended up on the nice list and gets what they want for the holidays, no matter what you celebrate.
I’m looking back on some of the great comic books and series that I’ve read this year and I want to sincerely thank the owners of my local comic shop, Comic Force, for being so helpful, friendly and downright amazing with their suggestions and friendly advice.
With large chain stores seemingly taking over the landscape, it seems that the local comic shop is one of the last havens for my fellow nerds and me. The beautiful thing about most local shops is that they get to know you and your likes so they can make suggestions and help you find just what you want.
What am I hoping to see under the tree this year? Besides a big gift certificate to comic force and a crossbow (totally unrelated to comics), I have my eye on a Gamora and Rocket statue at the shop and anything Deadpool is usually a good choice.
Also, I’m a huge fan of 1940’s era pinup art, so the DC Bombshells is a series I absolutely love and go back to read every once in a while. There are some Bombshell collectables I wouldn’t mind having either. If you know anyone who knows me, throw in a good word, please.
In true Santa form, I too have been making a list, only this list is of the new series I want to read that are coming out in early 2019. You can see a listing of a lot of new series below.
I’m taking that list and having Comic Force add these new series to my pull list. Some of these series feature characters I already know and enjoy and some with new characters I’m interested in checking out.
May your holiday season be filled with the comic books you love and may you find the quiet time to read and enjoy each and every one of them.
Happy Holidays.
New This Week
Red Sonja #24 Dynamite
John Wick #4 Dynamite
James Bond 007 #2 Dynamite
Burnouts #4 Image
Gideon Falls #9 Image
Hardcore #1 Image
Middlewest #2 Image
Crimson Lotus #2 (of 5) Dark Horse
Witcher #1 of Flesh & Fame Dark Horse
Disney Afternoon Giant #2 IDW
Impossible #3 (of 5) IDW
Aquaman #43 DC
Batman Kings of Fear #5 (of 6) DC
Catwoman #6 DC
Freedom Fighters #1 (of 12) DC
Harley Quinn #56 DC
Teen Titans #25 DC
Amazing Spider-Man #12 Marvel
Black Panther VS. Deadpool #3 (of 5) Marvel
Captain America #6 Marvel
Exiles #11 Marvel
Iceman #4 (of 5) Marvel
Infinity Wars #6 (of 6) Marvel
Domino #9 Marvel
Runaways #16 Marvel
Seasons Beatings #1 Marvel
Firefly #2 Boom!
Lumberjanes #57 Boom!
Sparrowhawk #3 Boom!
New Series Hitting Shelves in 2019
Peter Cannon Thunderbolt #1 Dynamite
Elvira Shape of Elvira #1 Dynamite
Turok #1 Dynamite
Criminal #1 Image
Gunning For Hits #1 Image
Oliver #1 Image
Vindication #1 (of 4) Image
Aliens Resistance #1 Dark Horse
Fight Club 3 #1 Dark Horse
Starcraft Soldiers #1 (of 4) Dark Horse
Wyrd #1 Dark Horse
Star Trek Q Conflict #1 (of 6) IDW
Young Justice #1 DC
Naomi #1 DC
Guardians of the Galaxy #1 Marvel
Black Widow #1 Marvel
Captain Marvel #1 Marvel
Crypt of Shadows #1 Marvel
Invaders #1 Marvel
Robyn Hood Outlaw #1 Zenescope
Zodiac #1 Zenescope
J.R.’s Weekly Pull List
Aquaman #43 DC
Catwoman #6 DC
Justice League #14 DC
Batman Kings of Fear #5 (of 6) DC
Red Sonja #24 Dynamite
Black Panther VS. Deadpool #3 Marvel
Captain America #6 Marvel
The Life of Captain Marvel #5 (of 5) Marvel
Iceman #4 Marvel
Review
Catwoman #1
If you had told me that I would be reading a series based on a villain, I would have said that sounded a bit far-fetched. Sure there are some great villains out there with books, but from all the chatter I picked up on the grapevine, this Catwoman series, written by amazing comic book writer and illustrator Joelle Jones.
Selina Kyle was to get married to Batman, but after that fell through on the wedding night, she left Gotham and headed to Villa Hermosa to start a new crime-free life.
Unfortunately for Selina, someone else had other plans and she immediately starts getting harassed by a certain Villa Hermosa detective, which does not suit the Catwoman’s tastes at all.
Doing her best to save her reputation, Selina runs into a copycat Catwoman (pun completely intended) and from there, things start getting better. Well, better for us as the reader, not so much better for Selina.
This is a series I am now really enjoying and six issues into the series, I am looking forward to issue #7 on January 19. My suggestion to you is to get to your local shop and take a look at #1 or get a digital copy at DC Comics and check out the great writing and amazing art from Joelle Jones.
Character Profile
Skye Mathers, Guardian of the Nexus.
From the pages of Zenescope’s Grimm Fairy Tales comes Skye Mathers, Guardian of the Nexus. What is the Nexus? Well, it’s five worlds put together under the watch of one small group of protectors with Skye doing all the heavy lifting what with fighting magical creatures and all.
The lands of Oz, Neverland, Wonderland, Myst and Earth are under Skye’s protection and she defends her realms with every last breath. From time to time Skye gets help from other Zenescope comics characters, Liesel van Helsing, Robyn Locksley (Robyn Hood), the Black Knight and the Musketeers.
One thing I love about Skye’s comic, Grimm Fairy Tales, is that it can be a one issue story about an evil blond circus performer with three bears, titled Goldilocks and the Three Bears or it can be a many book arc, as is the current situation with Skye battling Merlin as he tries to assemble the Holy Grail and bring the hidden Camelot back to modern earth.
After Skye’s mother dies, she finds out that she is to take over the mantle as Guardian, but Skye has no clue what that really means. As the series moves forward she becomes more and more comfortable in her role and learns how to kick some serious booty.
As with many of Zenescope’s female main characters, Skye is not hard on the eyes but there’s more to her than just good looks. Easily becoming one of my favorite characters, if you’re the kind of person who likes good storytelling and the old classic Grimm Fairy Tales with a new twist, then Skye Mathers and Grimm Fairy Tales is definitely a series you will love.
The Back Cover
This time of year is usually good for readers of comic books and 2018 is no exception. We’ve seen the end of some great series, such as three different Green Lantern series, but then we had a brand new Green Lantern series debut in November to make it all better.
Several other series ended their runs, be they long or short, near the end of 2018 and as you probably noticed above, there are some great new series hitting shelves in 2019. Believe me, the list above is far from complete. I would need a few pages to list all the new series starting between January 1 and March 31.
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So Dark Horse has a Fight Club 3 series in January, which makes me wonder something. If the first rule of Fight Club is to never talk about Fight Club, then isn’t a comic book breaking that first rule by talking about it monthly?
It’s just an observation and I honestly don’t know anything about this series, so it may be worth checking out in January. Maybe we could ask Brad Pitt or Ed Norton about it.
Other than that, it’s been a great week where I had ten new books, including a previous Catwoman book I was missing. I’ve gotten to most of them, but after a bit more writing, I’m planting my rear in my reading chair in my office, grabbing a beverage and getting to the stack of comic books on the table.
Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Festivus (my favorite) or anything else, may you have a happy and blessed season.
I’ll be back with a year in review issue next week, so be prepared!
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Photo credit: Aquaman, Catwoman, Bombshells photos, courtesy DC Comics. Peter Cannon & Red Sonja courtesy Dynamite Entertainment. Skye Mathers courtesy Zenescope. Superman & Supergirl ship photo courtesy Unsplash. Reading area courtesy J.R. Reed
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