The Pull List (12-17-08): Wait, I'm getting Sentry and Supergirl now?

Man! A minute ago it was 11 a.m. and now it's more than five hours later! Damn this "getting work done" (not that I blog from work ... because that would be wrong). I don't know where the time goes, but I do know it's time for the list!

Getting ...

Age of the Sentry #4 (of 6): In spite of my hatred for this character, it only took one issue to make me fall in love with this ode to Silver Age silliness. Nifty, appropriately cartoony art and breezy writing make this one of the most fun books currently on the stands and leaves me feeling like that guy from the Hotels[dot]com commercial: Aagh, it's working! They got me!

Cthulhu Tales #9: Fun fact: If a book has "Cthulhu" in the title, there's an 86 percent chance I'm going to want to buy it. It doesn't hurt that this series is fairly well-done as far as anthologies go; some stories wind up being duds here and there, but the quality stuff is consistent enough to make it worth picking up.

Fall Of Cthulhu: Godwar #4: Along with Cthulhu Tales, this horror comic is consistently good, and writer Michael Alan Nelson is bringing together all the pieces he's put in place for a story that's become suddenly tense and menacing. It's a fine homage to Lovecraft while remaining neatly original.

Manhunter #37: A new storyline begins with this issue — too bad the series ends with the next one.

Supergirl #36: Generally speaking, I try to avoid getting sucked into all the crossover, here's-your-checklist-complete-with-index, "event" books ... but an interesting story that's establishing a new status quo for the Superman family has grabbed me. I credit the coordination between writers Geoff Johns, James Robinson and Sterling Gates for producing separate chapters that read as one cohesive story.


Maybe ...

DCU Holiday Special 2008

Thor God-Sized #1

Wormwood Gentleman Corpse: Down The Pub (one-shot)


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

Conan the Cimmerian #6

Ex Machina #40

Fables #79


Recommended ...

Vagabond Vol 2 (VIZBIG Edition)

Welcome To Dingburg: A Zippy Collection

Hey, you got your Muerto in my Baldo!

I meant to mention this a couple of days ago, but when I was reading through my local paper's funny pages, guess who made an appearance in Baldo? None other than El Muerto!

It's a neat little bit of crossover between two Latino characters, and hopefully the exposure will help El Muerto creator Javier Hernandez get some new readers.

OK, some background on who I'm talking about: Baldo is a daily newspaper comic strip following the everyday trials of a teenage Mexican-American kid named Baldo (spoiler alert!) and his close-knit family. Baldo is a typical teen, and really, really wants to own a custom lowrider someday (which, seriously, reminds me a lot of the neighborhood I grew up in). Just for the record, I have never in my life heard of anyone actually named Baldo. I did, however, know a Smiley.

El Muerto used to be a guy named Diego who was on his way to a Dia de los Muertos festival when he was snatched by Aztec gods, who promptly sacrificed him. Now those gods of death and destiny use him as their agent on Earth in the form of — this is awesome — an Aztec zombie! Also, he dresses as a mariachi. (And as an aside, Dia de los Muertos is not the same as Halloween. Thank you.)

El Muerto's sudden appearance in Baldo's barrio starts here, and you can find out more about the characters and their creators at their respective Web sites. Orale — que mas quieres?!

The Pull List (5-14-08): You had me at 'Rocket Racoon'

Free time has been scarce the past couple of days, but there sure seem to be plenty of interesting comics hitting the shelves so let's do this quick-and-dirty — to the list!

This week ...

Guardians of the Galaxy #1: This is the book I'm most looking forward to this week. The folks who put the Annihilation storylines together took all the elements of Marvel's trippy history with the cosmic, entertainingly and intelligently wrapped a couple of massive space-opera style adventure stories around it all, and reintroduced characters that readers fell in love with all over again. And blew stuff up. And brought back a beloved, gun-toting, talking space-raccoon. And now it's all together in a regular monthly with the express intent of forming not a peace-keeping force, but "an ass-kicking force?" Sign me up. You go check out the preview.

Booster Gold #9: This slice of time-traveling hoo-hah continues to be fun, even if I get the feeling Ted's not going to be sticking around much longer. Or is it just me? Either way, I'm enjoying the current storyline but will be glad when it drops the revisit to 52 and gets back to Booster hanging out with Jonah Hex and rear-ending Flash in the time-stream. Geez, that still sounds dirty. Hey look, a preview!

Cthulhu Tales #2: The first issue in this new monthly anthology wasn't the strongest debut, but it was interesting enough to bring me back for the second. Plus I've got strong love for the Cthulhu Mythos so I'm willing to give it time to find its rhythm.

North Wind #5 (of 5): Is it me, or did this start feeling a little rushed? I really like the concept — a post-apocalyptic world that includes a frozen Los Angeles and a man riding a white bison — but it smacks of a slam-bang action movie that decided to ignore the middle of the script in favor of getting to the explosions already. The final issue will either redeem this title for me and match the promise of the first few issues, or will really piss me off. Fingers crossed.

Wonder Woman #20: Where do you go after Wonder Woman in Space? I don't know, but as long as Gail Simone is leading, I'll follow. Simone has reinvigorated this title since she took over as writer, and it's gone from a book I managed to ignore for years to one that is something I look forward to each month. Go read the preview and you'll see what I mean.

Zorro #3: I've always loved the Zorro character, and it's nice to see him getting the Matt Wagner treatment, but here's hoping the story picks up a little. It's interesting, and the art is OK, but I'm still not convinced it won't work better in trade. This issue will be the one that decides whether or not it stays on the monthly list.


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

Casanova #14

Green Lantern Vol. 1: No Fear

Green Lantern Corps #24

Life Sucks (hardcover): First Second is one of my favorite publishers and consistently puts out better-than-average books that I'm always eager to read — the fact they've somehow made me interested in yet another book about vampires should be proof of that. Vampires!


Maybe ...

All-New Iron Manual #1: It's obviously pandering and an attempt to manipulate people excited by the movie ... but I do still love that Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Book of Weapons, Hardware and Paraphernalia ... dammit!

Batman #676: Urgh — Grant Morrison on the one hand, a "comic book event" spinning off into a handful of different titles on the other ... why don't you guys look at the preview and let me know what you think.

Giant-Size Incredible Hulk: A super-sized special highlighting past Hulk stories sounds awesome, but using the plot device of someone writing a book and interviewing "Hulk survivors" sounds a little bit too much like a Front Line thing. Hopefully the interview scenes are used to bridge the older stories, but if they're not then this one will probably be staying on the shelf.

The Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs #1 (of 4): Ha ha ha haaa! No, not really! The art's humdrum, the writing feels forced and it's really just a bald marketing effort to get attention for the sequel to a movie that's taken more than 20 years to make. Tighten up your mullet-perm and download the preview if you've got the strength, but forget vampires — it's nostalgia that's deadly.

Sky Doll #1: I really want to support this comic (and the other comics Marvel is planning to republish from French publisher Soleil), but at twice the cover price of the average comic I think this one might have to wait until it's in trade. This might totally change once I see it in the shop though, 'cause I'm fickle that way.


Recommended ...

Booster Gold Vol. 1: 52 Pick-Up (hardcover)

Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace Vol. 1, 1951-1952

What's on your list this week?

Friday Night Fights: And disaster walked right up and kissed him

Thanks to the musical, the movie and the legions of maniacally plucky young girls belting out "Tomorrow" over the years, it's easy to forget a couple of things about Little Orphan Annie:

1. She's an orphan.

2. She's an orphan from the streets.

What does that mean? It means Annie will hard-knock the life right out of you.





Oh, Annie — you're adorable! (Even Bahlactus would think so!)

Following a link? Read more of Great Caesar's Post here.

Panels from Comic Strip Masterpieces sampler
Harold Gray, writer/artist