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Issue #4
The First Page
Since the first comic book to feature a superhero back in 1939, we have been fascinated by these fictional characters brought to life on newsprint. We marvel at their powers (pun intended) and celebrate their victories, but how many of us think about what kind of life they come home to when the holiday season comes around?
These heroes have secret identities to think about and if we’ve read even a handful of comic books, we know the bad guys don’t take the day off just because the Black Friday sales start on Thursday. So where does that leave our favorite characters on Thanksgiving?
It leaves them in a tough spot is where it leaves them. They go to Thanksgiving dinner with their families and significant others, most who don’t know about the whole superhero side gig, and then, almost as if on cue, some signal or alert goes off to let the hero know they’re needed.
Maybe Spider-Man’s spidey sense starts rockin off the charts or maybe Superman’s super hearing picks up trouble that needs to be dealt with. Simply getting out of this mess is far from heroic. Any coward can cut and run. They don’t all possess the ability to get out of the situation gracefully, but it’s a skill they work on constantly.
“Sorry, Aunt May, I can’t stay and eat because Doctor Octopus is tearing up the city and I’m Spider-Man, so I need to go save it.” Is NOT something Peter Parker can just blurt out without blowing his cover and ruining that sweet new gig Tony Stark scored him with The Avengers.
You see, there’s more to being a hero than doing badass things to bad people. You have to consider your lifestyle choice when becoming a superhero. Will you have friends? Will you let them in on your secret? What about your family? Where do they fit in?
These are questions that we, as the nerdy comic book loving community want to know. We also have a few more questions, such as decisions on costumes and the like, but we’ll save those for another issue.
FYI, the best superhero for a holiday is, without a doubt, Batman. He’s a rich, brooding loner without a lot of friends who is probably spending the holiday alone anyway, so if he gets called away it’s not like anyone will notice. Except for Alfred the butler, who has to clean up the dishes and re-heat the food later.
New This Week
Bettie Page Vol 2 #1 Dynamite
Mars Attacks #2 Dynamite
Game of Thrones Clash of Kings #14 Dynamite
Burnouts #3 Image
Black Hammer Age of Doom #7 Dark Horse
Dick Tracy Dead or Alive #2 IDW
Go Bots #1 IDW
Aquaman #42 DC
Batman #59 DC
Cover #3 DC
Harley Quinn #54 DC
Justice League #12 DC
Justice League Dark #5 DC
Sideways #10 DC
Doctor Strange #8 Marvel
Immortal Hulk #9 Marvel
Star Wars #57 Marvel
Robyn Hood The Curse (TP)* Zenescope
*Trade paperback, covers 1ssues 1-6 in the series
Hitting Shelves Soon
Rainbow Brite #4 Dynamite
Red Sonja #1 Dynamite
Hit Girl Season Two #1 Image
Sharkey Bounty Hunter #1 Image
Girl in the Bay #1 Dark Horse
Crimson Lotus #4 of 5 Dark Horse
Duck Tales #18 IDW
G.I. Joe Sierra Muerte #1 IDW
Avengers No Road Home #1 Marvel
Black Widow #2 Marvel
Black Panther vs Deadpool #5 of 5 Marvel
Daredevil #1 Marvel
Battlestar Galactica Classic #4 Dynamite
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #2 Boom!
Empty Man #4 Boom!
Wonder Twins #1 of 6 DC
Detective Comics #998 DC
Shazam #3 DC
Young Justice #2 DC
J.R.’s Weekly Pull List
Aquaman #42 DC
Justice League #12 DC
Justice League Dark #5 DC
Doctor Strange #8 Marvel
Mr & Mrs X #5 Marvel
Review
Van Helsing Sword of Heaven #1 November 7, 2018, Zenescope Part 1 of 6
As a writer, I’m big on backstory, so here are a couple of paragraphs to get you caught up.
Liesel Van Helsing is the last in her line of world-famous vampire hunters. She’s hard to miss with her steampunk look including top hat, welding glasses, fishnets, high heels, long duster coat and a corset. Let’s face it, when you’re fighting vampires, looking good is important, right?
Her father is Professor Abraham Van Helsing, who you may remember from the 1897 horror novel Dracula. After Liesel’s mother was killed by a vampire, Abraham took Liesel to London where he trained her to be the baddest vampire hunter on both sides of the Atlantic.
In Sword of Heaven #1, a short six-episode series, Liesel takes an adventure across India to retrieve a legendary sword that could bring an end to vampirism altogether. Of course, the bloodsuckers want her to avoid getting her hands on the Sword of Heaven at all costs.
She first encounters a rather obese vampire, I’ve never actually seen one of those before, and he mocks Liesel who shoots him with a wooden stake where his heart should be. Unfortunately for her, the stake hits fat instead of the heart muscle. Fortunately for her, she has a full magazine and while one may not penetrate, multiple projectiles certainly will.
Throughout the rest of the first book Liesel encounters werewolves, more vampires, gets thrown in jail is sprung from the pokey and manages to do it all while keeping her eyes on the prize—the Sword of Heaven.
Look for Sword of Heaven #2 at your local comic book store in early December.
Character Profile
Batgirl A.K.A. Barbara Gordon A.K.A. Babs
Throughout Barbara Gordon’s comic book career, which saw her take the mantle of Batgirl in 1967, Babs has fought alongside Batman and Robin and for most of her comic book career she’s flown on her own.
In the current version of the Batgirl comics, Batgirl Rebirth, which started back in 2016 and which I collect, Barbara is on her own in the hip, trendy Burnside neighborhood of Gotham.
Her partnership with Batman and Robin is over and in fact, Robin has gone on and become a superhero in his own right, Nightwing. Though Barbara often laments that her lifestyle isn’t easy for a relationship, she wants to find a nice girl to settle down with.
Playing the role of superhero with a chip implanted in your spine to help you walk takes a lot of guts and that’s what this Barbara Gordon has. That and a lot of tech at her disposal. Batman may have his utility belt but Batgirl has her tech.
Beginning with issue #25, Batgirl got a new creative team in Mairgrhead Scott and Paul Pelletier and in issue #27, she got a snazzy new costume. Things are looking up for Barbara Gordon.
Batgirl #29 comes out this week.
The Back Cover
Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, we’re officially in the holiday season. My local comic book store is having a Black Friday sale and chances are good that at some point today I’ll head to Comic Force to see what’s on sale.
That brings me to what I wanted to talk about here on the Back Cover. Yes, the Internet is amazing, stupendous, fabulous and all kinds of cool. And yes, you have the ability to go online at 3 am and find a comic book on a large website and have it shipped to you, just as you have the ability to buy one of those slap chopper things off a TV infomercial at 3 am.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you necessarily should. I believe wholeheartedly in supporting your local mom and pop (or small chain) comic book store. These people care about the same thing you do and made the decision to invest their money and knowledge to open a nosiness catering to us, the comic book lovin’ nerds out there.
My local shop is owned and run by a family and over the fifteen months that I’ve lived here we’ve built a relationship. They’ve gotten to know what I like and don’t like. They’ll make suggestions about things I may not have heard of and usually, they’re right on the money. They know I don’t get out a lot and encourage me to come out and play in the weekly Magic the Gathering tournament on Wednesdays or come out to what I call, Friday Nerd Game Night, a gathering of people in the back of the store playing D & D, Magic, Pathfinder or any number of assorted games.
Yes, I do recognize that there are good shops as well as ones that aren’t quite up to snuff, but overall, the people that open these nerdy establishments do so because of a desire to serve a community.
I also give them credit because even in my small community of close to 15,000 in the Ozarks, Comic Force still has over 100 people who have what are called Pull Lists.
You can see mine above.
These are lists of comic book series that we subscribe to and when new comics come out on Wednesday, they take the newly arrived books from their cases and find who gets what and puts it in their box. I don’t even want to tell you how many different series I subscribe to, but with some ending and others beginning, it’s probably not as bad as I think.
Please, during this holiday season and throughout the rest of the year, give your local comic book store a try. If you don’t see what you want in stock, give them the opportunity to order it for you.
Hopefully, your local shop is trying to build a community and not just push product out the door. If your local shop is doing a great job and making a difference. Let it be known in the comments section so we can recognize them in a future issue.
Coming next week! A preview from Dark Horse Comics. You won’t want to miss this.
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Photo credit: Batgirl photo courtesy DC Comics. Bettie Page and Rainbow Brite covers courtesy Dynamite Entertainment. Van Helsing cover courtesy Zenescope.
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