Weekly Pull List: July 30

Lots of comic book goodness on the New Releases table this week!

Another Wednesday, another great New Comic Book Day!

For the uninitiated, new comic books are released for purchase every Wednesday, and in order to insure being able to purchase a copy of any given comic book, collectors will establish a "pull list" with their shop of choice. This means that the retailer orders you a copy of the books you prefer, and sets it aside (pulls it) for you to pick up at your convenience. During the summer, I have the great luxury of arriving at the comic shop at open (11 a.m.) every Wednesday, have my books pulled for me, and even have time to check out titles I did not ask for but may choose to purchase on a lark.

This week's pull list consisted of a number of new titles and the return of some older favorites who have been sidelined for a while:

• The Goon: Occasion of Revenge #1 (Dark Horse), written and illustrated by Eric Powell and Baltimore: Witch of Harju #1 (Dark Horse), written by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden with art by Peter Bergting. Two of Dark Horses supernatural hunters return in mini-series this week. Yes, Goon was published last week, I neglected to pick it up then, so it made this week's pull list. Both titles do not require a reader having read past issues featuring either character, so in addition to beginning new storylines, each also serves as a goo jumping on point.
• I did not realize it until I got home, but both the Shadow Over Innsmouth One-Shot (Dynamite Publishing) and In the House of the Worm #1 (Avatar) feature art by Ivan Rodriguez. Working with very different settings, a fantastic imaginary world from the mind of Game of Thrones writer George R. R. Martin and the grounded real-world of Ron Marz's Shadow story, Rodriguez does a solid job switching genres (slightly) while maintaining a realistic (though thankfully NOT photo referenced) style that is clean and colorful. Even Shadow Over Innsmouth, set in a Lovecraftian seaside community, has a lively feel to it as presented by Rodriguez. I'm on board for at least the first arc of Worm, so I look forward to seeing more of what this artist has to offer.
• Not surprisingly, the prolific Marz (he also wrote this week's The Adventures of Superman #15 featuring art by Declan Shavley, making it a likely pickup next week) also wrote this week's Witchblade #177. During his return to the adventures of Sara Pezinni, Marz continues tweaking the character he wrote for many issues prior to Tim Seeley's too-short run. Though at first blush, the bright, anime style of artist Laura Braga may seem odd for what has traditionally been a "dark" book, I quite enjoy her work on this title so far. Braga's style makes new some ideas that have honestly been visited previously (Sara loses the Witchblade--again, Sara is given a new partner who dies with a likely resurrection very likely next issue, again) new and fresh.

Not a disappointing book in the bunch this week... and I haven't even mentioned the continued awesomeness of Marvel's All-New Ghost Rider written by Felipe Smith with art by Tradd Moore. As long as this creative team stays with this title they'll get my cash--it's that good and the first title I read when it comes out. This week's issue concludes the series' opening arc and moves the new character closer to being part of the Marvel mainstream. (The villainous Mr. Hyde, who has previously battled the traditional Ghost Rider character, notes that protagonist Robbie Reyes is "not the Ghost Rider" because he "smells different.") I am a little afraid to become to attached to this title as it seems like one that will be cancelled should it not prove profitable quickly. This is a great title for new comers to comic books.

It's week's like that remind me that we as collectors are in the midst of a genre renaissance--it's a great time to be a fanboy!

New Comic Book Wednesday: August 21

The second-to-last New Comic Book Wednesday before I return to school full time (I'm only coaching in morning's now), and my excellent run of early morning comic pick-ups will be over for another school year.

As is too often the case, I find myself returning to a character for whom I have not collected a title in a lo-o-o-ong time, this time due to her kicking off a miniseries that kind-of-sort-of dips its toes in the Western genre. When Vampirella: Southern Gothic came out last week, I made the mistake of spending a couple bones on two issue of her main title just to get a taste. Though (at least initially) not as satisfying as my last experience with the character in Harris' 1997 title Vampirella Monthly, it was promising enough to convince me to dig through the racks for a couple of back issues and to request a pull of this week's Vampirella #32.

Given the recent addition of Gale Simone's Red Sonja to my pull list, I am rounding out my comic collection with newly reinvigorated pulp heroines to go along with Warlord of Mars, The Lone Ranger and Lady Rawhide (who was not a pulp-era creation but certainly fits the bill creatively). These types of characters offer the classic narrative that is so often missing (in my estimation) from the majority of the Big Two's titles. These smaller presses also just seem intent on being entertaining action and adventure and not so concerned with aligning every past depiction of a character or serving another market like action figures and movies. Even Dynamite's The Lone Ranger, with a new issue out this week, has stayed true to the character, even going so far as to offer superior storytelling to what was offered up this past summer by Disney.

This week also saw the release of two of my very favorite comic books reading experiences: 2-3 times monthly Dark Horse Mignola-Verse titles (this week B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth # 110 and Lobster Johnson: Scent of a Lotus #2) and the wonderful (and occasional) Bela Lugosi's Tales From The Grave from Monsterverse Entertainment.

Happy reading!

New Comic Wednesday: August 14

Somethings new and a few things old(er).

Even more so than the weekend, Wednesday continues to be my favorite day of any week. There is something exciting about heading out to my local comic shop (lcs) on Wednesday afternoon (or Wednesday morning if I'm real lucky) and retrieving a stack of freshly pulled (saved) publications for reading. When a week is lighter-than-expected (translation: not as many issues that are automatically pulled from the fresh table) there is that wonderful extra time spent pouring through back issue bins.

And then there are Wednesdays like today: a New Comic Day where what I've requested my lcs friends to pull includes recent issues by classic characters that I have either never followed before or have not done so for many moons, Red Sonja, by Gail Simone and Walter Geovanni, and Vampirella: Southern Gothic, by Nathan Cosby and José Luis. Both are from the fantastic publisher, Dynamite.

As I've posted about previously (here and here), my own collecting habits have moved quite a ways away from where they were 30+ years ago when I began reading comic books. Like most, I grew up a "Big Two" (DC and Marvel) fanboy, but in the past decade my interest in those characters and the universes they exist within has ebbed and flowed until finally becoming merely a trickle. My traditional super-heroic collecting tendencies have been replaced by zombies, westerns, Cthulu-esque tales, noir and pulp. Stepping back from my longboxes, I've also recently noted that many of the comics I collect feature strong female leads (Lazarus, Sixth Gun, Sheltered and Revival, to name a few).

This week's haul is very representative of that change. In addition to sampling the aforementioned Red Sonja and Vampirella series, I also finally picked up the three issue miniseries Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem by Steve Niles, Matt Santoro and Dave Wachter from Dark Horse. I've read great things about it, and while having previously scanned issues as they were released, I waited until I could read the entire miniseries before  purchasing. My lcs had one copy of issues 1 and 2, so the waiting game worked out in my favor this time.

Happy reading!