Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Pull List (11-04-08): Robert E. Howard keeps taking my money

I am mightily distracted today, so this week's pull list is going to be short and sweet. "Yeah, yeah," you say. "So what's new?"

Er ... look, comics!


Kull #1: The folks at Dark Horse seem determined to sack and pillage my wallet by reviving almost everything Robert E. Howard ever wrote. It's a strategy I can't find fault with, honestly, and I salute their shrewdness. I'm looking forward to reading a comic based on the exile from Atlantis and self-made king, and it doesn't hurt that it's written by Arvid Nelson — the person behind Rex Mundi. It's even got artwork that seems to fit with what I can't help but think of as Dark Horse's "Conan-style." I haven't decided whether that feeling of sameness (even though this, Conan and Solomon Kane are all done by different artists) bugs me or not, but I guess it helps pull all the Howard-based books together visually. Either way, the preview hooked me, and the title character isn't even featured; that's a good sign, so check it out for yourself and see what you think.


Also getting ...

Army @ Love: The Art of War #4

El Diablo #3


Maybe ...

Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1: This could be interesting, or it could be more of what we first got with the Sentry. And nobody wants that.

Adventure Comics Special Featuring Guardian #1: I'm going to get suckered into all of these "New Krypton" books, aren't I? Dammit.

Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion #1 (of 6):
I'm a sucker for the sarge, and this one manages to be based on actual events and features both Johnny Cloud and the Haunted Tank. And there's no denying writer and artist Billy Tucci is a talented creator — I just don't know if I can wrap my mind around a good-lookin' Sgt. Rock. I'm sure I'll get over it, though — Joe Kubert can't draw the character all the time, right?


Trading up ...
(Titles I either am, or will be, picking up in trade)

Booster Gold Vol. 2: Blue and Gold (hardcover): Worth getting if you're a hardcore Booster or Ted Kord/Blue Beetle fan, especially since this has been good ol' fashioned superhero fun — but don't feel bad if you want to wait for the softcover.


Recommended ...

E.C. Segar's Popeye Vol. 3: Let's You and Him Fight (hardcover): This is the third in a series of six, and I dream of having the complete set on my bookshelf someday. Beautifully designed over-sized books give you page after page of daily and Sunday Popeye newspaper strips from when it was still Thimble Theater, and it's great stuff. If you think you know Popeye from the cartoons, you deserve to get these books; if you consider yourself a fan of the brawling sailor-man, you need to get these books. As a bonus, this volume also has two weeks worth of extra-large strips from Popeye and Wimpy's 1933 trip to the Chicago World's Fair. Funny, odd and somehow timeless, these collections are a rediscovery of an iconic character. To get a better look at the book itself, check out the preview video.

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