by Paul
With the overwhelming, three-roll blockbuster1 success of last week’s Ultimate Spider-Man #1, what lessons will Marvel take away? Was it the beard (not Mary Jane, the beard of hair on his face)? Will bearded superheroes become the next hot trend in comics? Sure, you’ve seen Batman fight the Joker a million times… but you’ve never seen him do it with a beard! Be on the lookout for the first bearded cover appearance of your favorite characters and get ready to sit on them until Key Collector sounds the Slab Alert. In the meantime… there’s always next week!
AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #1
Art: Daniel Acuña | Story: Chip Zdarsky (Marvel Comics, $5.99)
In the weird world of tomorrow’s Marvel Universe, an aging but still clean-shaven Steve Rogers (who would definitely have been drawn with a beard if this had been commissioned a few months later) struggles to find his place in a world that hates and fears him. (TBD if anyone calls him out for this mutant appropriation.) The preview I read looks like an Old Man Logan-style story crossed with the mall scene from Minority Report, so who knows where it will lead? There’s a lot of buzz around this book because readers are hip to Chip and Alex Ross is providing covers, so get in on the ground floor here at Ash Ave Comics.
PRE-ORDER IT: Alex Ross Main Cover | Daniel Acuña Variant | Daniel Acuña Foil Variant | Felipe Massafera Variant | Leinil Yu Twilight Character Variant | Skottie Young Variant
JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER—DEAD IN AMERICA #1
Art: Aaron Campbell | Story: Si Spurrier (DC Comics, $4.99)
I didn’t realize until I went to fetch the updated cover art with the trade dress that this was a Sandman Universe thing. No doubt DC is hewing to the comics industry superstition, dating back to the 20s (when Krazy Kat Presents: World of Krazy Kat—Mrs. Kwakk Wakk’s Revenge [The Death of Officer Pupp] bombed and tanked the circulation of dozens of Hearst papers), that a book with three titles is box office but a book with four titles is commercial suicide. Campbell and Spurrier bring John Constantine here to America to tell us what’s what (or, more accurately, wot’s wot) and rub elbows with some of his Vertigo buddies from the old days like Sandman and Swamp Thing. They had the magic (or should I say magick) touch with Hellblazer a few years ago so it seems a cinch they’ll do it again.
PRE-ORDER IT: Aaron Campbell Main Cover | Jock Variant | Sean Phillips Variant
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: FANG THE HUNTER #1
Art: Mauro Fonseca | Story: Ian Flynn (IDW Publishing, $3.99)
I was a Nintendo kid so I only ever played Sonic the Hedgehog when I went to visit my cousin, who was brand-loyal to Sega for one reason or another and had both the Sega Master System and the Genesis. It was always like visiting a parallel universe where the guy who invented Super Mario went into greeting cards or something instead, setting in motion a chain of events leading to Sega dominating the earth. I relate this to you because the only two things I know about Sonic the Hedgehog are that my cousin had his game (and I was terrible at it), and we sell the 1:10 Sonic incentive cover every month like clockwork. There is a dedicated audience for this series, and if you’re part of it, we at Ash Avenue Comics salute you. This Fang the Hunter spin-off bills itself as “the first Classic-era Sonic the Hedgehog miniseries from IDW” (which I take to mean it’s related to his Archie Comics days and stars a fedora-wearing jerboa, a thing I never heard of before that looks like a cute little pocket-sized kangaroo and is probably an absolute terror. Jerboas, your ship has come in.
PRE-ORDER IT: Aaron Hammerstrom Main Cover | Mark Hughes Variant | 1:10 Mauro Fonseca Variant
COLONIZED (ONE-SHOT)
Art: Drew Moss | Story: Chris Ryall (Image Comics, $9.99)
This caught my eye because it’s a spin-off of Zombies Vs. Robots, the Ashley Wood book that was written by Chris Ryall that I was really into about 15-20 years ago. This time it’s zombies vs. aliens, a struggle in which I don’t have any particular rooting interest (aliens, I guess), but it may be wise to read this in the event that a real-life zombie/alien conflict ever breaks out. I mean, knock on wood. I pray to god it never happens.
PRE-ORDER IT: Francesco Francavilla Main Cover
COBRA COMMANDER #1 (OF 5)
Art: Andrea Milana | Story: Joshua Williamson (Image Comics, $4.99)
For my money, Cobra Commander was the best comic book villain when I was a kid. Sure, maybe your Magnetos or your Doctor Dooms had more sympathetic back stories or convincing reasons for their evildoing, but they didn’t make me laugh. In supervillainy, as in so many other things, that goes a long way. He also features in one of my favorite comic panels of all time:
Now that is one evil chap. I have doubts that CC will be funny this time around. In fact, I suspect we’ll probably see him wreak some kind of sensational ultra-violence in the name of Seriousness and Sophistication. But all the other Energon Universe books have been winners so far to one degree or another, so this one deserves a look too.
PRE-ORDER IT: Andrea Milana Main Cover | David Aja Variant | 1:10 Tyler Boss Variant | 1:25 Steve Epting Variant | 1:50 Andrea Sorrentino Variant | Blank Sketch Variant
JACKPOT #1
Art: Joey Vasquez | Story: Celeste Bronfman (Marvel Comics, $4.99)
Can we all be happy that Ultimate Spider-Man is here to band-aid that Spider-Man marriage wound for people? This way we get to see mainstream Mary Jane do stuff like this or Betty and Veronica around with Black Cat, while Ultimate Mary Jane can sit at home with the rolling pin when Spider-Man stays out too late or have Mary Worth-style subplots that interrupt the main action, which are the two things I remember her doing when I was a kid. Also, point of interest: Is writer Celeste Bronfman related to the Bronfman heiresses who were in the thick of the NXIVM cult we all read about in the news a few years ago? Is that a tasteless question to ask? I’m just saying, if she is, we might be seeing Mary Jane say and do some things we’ve never seen her say and do before. If you want my advice, my friends, you should buy this comic and find out.
PRE-ORDER IT: Pablo Villalobos Main Cover | Ejikure Jackpot Variant | Elizabeth Torque Variant | Nicoletta Baldari Variant
ON FOC THIS WEEK
THUNDERCATS #1
Art: Drew Moss | Story: Declan Shalvey (Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99) | FOC: 1/15
David Nakayama Main Cover
Lucio Parrillo Variant
Declan Shalvey Variant
Jae Lee Variant
Ivan Tao Variant
Action Figure Variant
David Nakayama Foil Variant
Lucio Parrillo Foil Variant
Thundercats Symbol Foil Gold Variant
Blank Authentix Variant
David Nakayama Foil Virgin Variant
Lucio Parrillo Foil Virgin Variant
Shalvey & Moss Signed Atlas Edition Variant
David Nakayama Metal Premium Variant
David Nakayama Limited Edition Virgin Variant
SPIDER-PUNK: ARMS RACE #1
Art: Justin Mason | Story: Cody Ziglar (Marvel Comics, $4.99) | FOC: 1/15
Takasi Okazaki Main Cover
Ian Bertram Foil Variant
Kaare Andrews Variant
Olivier Coipel Variant
Todd Nauck Windowshades Variant
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: THE RETURN #1
Art: Nico Leon | Story: Amy Jo Johnson & Matt Hotson (Boom! Studios, $4.99) | FOC: 1/15
Goni Montes Main Cover
Dan Mora Variant
Dan Mora Unlockable Variant
- A three-roll blockbuster is what we boys of the comics-by-mail game call a book for which we needed three rolls of packing tape to wrap up all the orders we shipped out. ↩︎