JANUARY PREVIEWS

I can’t believe I’m reviewing books arriving in January 2008 already. Time indeed flies when you’re having fun, and despite occasional rants and complaints, I have to admit I still love what I do here and wouldn’t trade my job for anything.( well, playboy billionaire would be a pretty good alternative)

DARK HORSE starts out strong with a new B.P.R.D. 5 issue mini set in 1946.Travel back to the beginnings of the team that discovered Hellboy, Abe Sapien and the rest.

Bruce Campbell has a new movie coming up, appropriately titled They Call Me Bruce, and you can check it out with the 1-shot movie adaptation arriving mid-January. Starting about then will be the newly expanded 4 –issue version of the original Evil Dead adaptation, with new painted art by John Bolton.
The 3rd Classic Harvey volume is coming, and this one is devoted to that cute little devil Hot Stuff. If you haven’t seen them, these books are beautiful glossy collections featuring close to 500 pages of pure joy. Most of the book is B&W with only about 60 pages in full colour, but the reproduction quality is fantastic. I can’t tell you how much I miss the whole Harvey universe and really wish someone could get them back in stores on a monthly basis. Every day I see more and more parents coming in with young children, and Casper, Richie and friends would be perfect starter material for this new crop of readers. If Dark Horse were smart, they would produce a Free Comic Day issue for release next May, and help me sell a ton of these.

Originally solicited for earlier this year, the

Dark Horse 20th Anniversary hardcover

has been relisted to go on sale in January of ’08. It may be a year or more late but it’ll be worth the wait. This beauty will feature over 400 pages of classic story and art from the publisher’s 20 year history including work by some of the biggest names in comics, Miller, Mignola, Hughes, Kubert, Eisner and more. In celebration of my own 20 year anniversary, I will be offering this book at the special price of $15.00, or roughly 40 % off the U.S. cover price. Quantities may be limited so add it to your list as soon as possible.

DC Comics is scaring me lately with their new previews. They haven’t had any real big first issue launches for a couple months now, and I can only assume they’ll be making up for lost time sooner or later. They seem to have more books wrapping up than beginning. Probably clearing the path for the huge launch of Final Crisis in the spring.

A couple of Titans projects being launched the same month seems odd, especially as neither one looks all that great. Teen Titans Year One #1 of 6 could be good although the art isn’t really to my taste. A little more interesting is the Titans Lost Annual, a one-shot special set in the ‘60’s, written by Bob Haney before his death, making it a true “lost” annual. The Titans must race into space to rescue JFK from aliens. Classic Haney.

Spirit #14 enters a new age as Sergio Aragones comes on as writer with art by Mike Ploog. I think Darwyn Cooke fans will be missing out if they write this one off their list.

DC gives us a 20th anniversary present with the release of the Killing Joke Special Edition hardcover. Probably one of the most famous and recognized comic covers of all time wraps this newly re-coloured version which includes an extra story “An Innocent Guy”, originally printed in Batman Black and White. I’ll be offering this book at a special price of $12.00 to members as well,(see Dark Horse Preview section) And don’t miss out on the Killing Joke Box Set, a beautiful new sculpt of Batman and Bermuda shorts Joker figures, it includes a copy of the original format Killing Joke.

Alas poor Yorick we knew you well. Y-The Last Man#60 wraps up probably one of the finest Vertigo titles I've ever read, and it will indeed be sorely missed. If you've never experienced the joy of this excellent book, don't fret. I'm sure you'll be seeing all 10 volumes of this series in print on shelves for years to come.