Hello, comic friends! I am here to discuss comics that will be released this Wednesday, October 9th, 2013. If you want to hear my reviews on the comics I picked up last week, you can check them out on the Ant On Podcast on iTunes!
Now, if I had the wallet of guys like Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark… I would honestly buy one copy of every comic book that comes out. But, alas, I’m not a jewel thief like Catwoman and can’t phase through the floor of my local comic book store like Kitty Pryde to grab every comic book created. So instead I look through the list every week and pull the ones that interest me the most.
All book premises are in quotes and brought to you by TFAW.com. The rest is all me, friends! For a complete list of releases you can visit comiclist.com.
THIS WEEK’S PICKS:
Afterlife With Archie #1
“New Ongoing Series! ‘Escape From Riverdale.’ This is how the end of the world begins! Harvey Award-winning writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Archie Meets Glee) and Eisner-winning artist Francesco Francavilla (Batman) take Archie and the gang where they’ve never been before – to the grave and back! A horrific accident sets off a series of grim events and Sabrina the Teenage Witch must try to repair the unspeakable evil her spell has unleashed. Gasp in horror as Riverdale faces an impending zombie Arch-pocalypse in this brand-new, spine-tingling ongoing series – but be warned, kiddies, this one’s not for the faint of heart!”
The title of this book immediately sells me. Growing up, Archie Comics seem to be a lot of people’s introduction into reading comics. When you go to the grocery store and beg your guardian for the Archie Digest at the checkout as an impulse buy, it’s one of the most accessible pieces into comics. As I got older, I became less interested in Archie until at the beginning of this year when they announced “Glee Meets Archie.” I am a die-hard Glee fan since the first episode, and it has become one of my favorite shows of all time. They released a four issue mini-series, and it was the perfect way to get me back into this world to see what those darn Riverdale kids were up to. Now with the idea of them being infected by zombies, I am extremely intrigued, and it’s very welcoming to see the writer of Glee Meets Archie also writing this new series. With Archie, I am expecting good laughs, and I definitely got that with the previous mini-series I picked up. I am hoping to be roped in yet again!
Superman/Wonder Woman #1
“Beginning a bold new series that details the relationship between The Man of Steel and the Warrior Princess as rising star writer Charles Soule is joined by fan favorite artist Tony S. Daniel to tell the tale of a romance that will shake the stars themselves. These two super-beings love each other, but not everyone shares their joy. Some fear it, some test it-and some will try to kill for it. Some say love is a battlefield, but where Superman and Wonder Woman are concerned it spells Doomsday! This issue features an amazing wraparound gatefold cover that opens up to a triptych with Superman and Wonder Woman in the center!”
If you have been checking out this column the past few weeks, you will have realized I do not jump into too many books from DC. I’ve always been more of a Marvel fan at heart but definitely don’t shun DC. I am always open to trying new things to find a DC book to collect for a long period of time, and a few months ago that kicked off with the new series Batman/Superman. Now, with the introduction of this new ongoing series I was quick to jump on board to give it a shot. If you are a hardcore DC reader, please comment below on your thoughts on the announcement of this title. With many Superman books out there and the Wonder Woman title, does it excite you that you have yet another to get into? For example, I do get pretty excited when a new X-Men series comes out even though I have more than enough to follow already.
Cryptozoic Man #1 (of 4)
“You watched Stan ‘The Man’ Lee pitch it on Season II of AMC TV’s ‘Comic Book Men’; Now, from CBM cast members Walt Flanagan & Bryan Johnson comes Cryptozoic Man. Alan Ostman, a middle-aged husband/father, sees his life quickly unravel when his daughter goes missing on a camping trip in the Pacific Northwest…Bigfoot country. After Gray aliens abduct him from a roadside bar, he learns that the fate of the world is dependent on trapping the world’s most legendary cryptids…not to mention defeating a psychopath in a pig-shaped leather bondage mask. Alan knows he has his work cut out for him. The storyline revolving around this four issue series will be revisited in Comic Book Men Season III.”
Now THIS is the comic book that I have been waiting for since Spring. I spoke of this a few weeks back when previewing The Accelerators #2, and I stated I subscribed to this series exclusively through Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash located in Red Bank, New Jersey. This is Kevin Smith’s comic book store in which his television reality show, Comic Book Men, takes place. Walt & Bryan, the creators of this comic, have collaborated in the past with the comic book series Karney and War of the Undead. Since I have been following their excitement for the launch of this book through their weekly podcast, Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave, I will be impatiently waiting for the arrival of issue 1 at the post office. Through the special limited time offer, I will receive all four issues signed by the creators, as well as bonus goodies previously advertised on their podcast. At the time of this posting, you can still order your Cryptozoic Man Booty Time Bundle from Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash.
Red Sonja #4
“The she-devil is just inches from death when voices from the past call her away from digging her own grave to fight possibly the last battle of her life, against the woman who taught her everything she knows about combat!”
Red Sonja was in a life or death battle against a former friend she was imprisoned with, and as a result, she has been cast out from her land and was sent to the mountains to die. As she struggles for survival on her own without any means of food or water, she is visited by the voice of her father represented through a deer. The third issue was mostly a flashback showing just how Red Sonja became the warrior she is at the beginning of this new series. We see the brutal slaughter of her family as she was the sole survivor, left to get revenge on her family’s killers at such a young age. Back in the present, Red Sonja was ready to accept her death by being attacked by wolves until she was saved by her young bodyguards equipped with bow and arrows as they traveled to the mountains to stay loyal to their leader.
Issue three completely saved me from dropping this series. I never read Red Sonja before, but I figured Gail Simone’s new series was the perfect time to correct that. While it was entertaining, I still wasn’t on board 100% until that amazing third issue.
Sidekick #3
“Flyboy finds himself increasingly under the seductive spell of one of the Moonglow Twins, who leaves no memory of her actions the next morning. Driven by a subconscious memory of their dangerous affair, and by his abject failure to get anyone in his home town to take him seriously, Flyboy decides to leave behind his current heroic identity and reinvent himself as a totally different hero in another part of the country. But everything that can go wrong, does go wrong, and he must face an even more humiliating defeat before the eyes of the world.”
Writer J. Michael Straczynski is creating his own line of creator-owned comics under the name Joe’s Comics. His other series, Ten Grand, was so entertaining that I was willing to give every debut issue of upcoming series written by him a chance. Sidekick #1 opened up with the murder of superhero The Red Cowl, leaving his sidekick, Flyboy, left to grieve, wondering what his worth is.
I have only read the first issue and haven’t yet gotten to the second, but I have good promise that I will continue to enjoy this new series. There are a few books that I will let pile up to read as a whole so the initial wait between issues isn’t so painful. This series reminds you of the classic Adam West Batman television show from the 1960’s until the brutal murder happens, and then it does a complete 180.
Infinity #4 (of 6)
“Negotiating the fall of worlds. The Illuminati versus Thanos. Thor, God of War. ”
The Infinity event from Marvel is a very complex story. Though the initial story takes place over the course of six issues, there are numerous tie-in books from a lot of the other Marvel titles. You will probably enjoy this a lot more if you are picking up the other books, a mistake that I made. But, since it’s a big event involving Thanos searching for his son, looking for sacrifices along the way, I am struggling through this anyway as I try and fill in the gaps by reading the reviews of the other titles that I am not purchasing. In the end, I think it will be a great read as a whole, but right now it’s very complex for me to keep up with month by month. If I completely disliked it, I wouldn’t be keeping up with it, but I am holding onto faith that it will pay off in the end for my overall enjoyment.
X-Men #6 (Battle of the Atom Chapter 7 of 10)
“CHAOS AT THE JEAN GREY SCHOOL as the X-Men and Future X-Men are attacked! Rachel Grey is the only X-Man qualified to defeat the mystery opponents!”
This event is my favorite event of the year, if not of the past ten years. Chapter 6 last week (All New X-Men 17) opens up with the future where Dazzler was just elected the first mutant President of the United States. She is immediately blasted by a stream of fire as the Future X-Men are in a panic and basically the apocalypse engulfs the two pages before we are immediately jumping forward to an even further in the future where Magik, Young Beast and Young Iceman have traveled from the present to see just how bad the future is and realize that they have been telling a lie.
When arriving into the distant future, they are actually greeted by Sentinels, asking if they needed an escort somewhere. Confused by the beautiful future they came upon, they are interrupted by yet another future set of X-Men, telling them to leave. After much arguing between the groups, we cut back to the present where Cyclops and his X-Men are recovering from the defeat of their latest battle. They are interrupted by the REAL future X-Men, along with Magik, Young Beast and Young Iceman, as they are eager to introduce them to the true future X-Men team.
Confused? Well, it’s easier to read than it is to talk about. There are even a few jokes about how the characters are trying to keep all of these timelines straight. So, in recap, this is who all exists in the present time period leading into Chapter 7 this week. We have the original X-Men from the past, the present X-Men team led by Wolverine and Kitty Pryde, Cyclops’ rebellious X-Men team (also from the present), and two sets of future X-Men claiming to be the real future team.
If you haven’t picked this up yet, you may still be able to collect the previous 6 chapters which have been released over the past 6 weeks. Also, at this point you may want to wait for a trade paperback release which probably won’t be that far off because Marvel is quick to release their collections after the initial individual issue releases.
I love this event. So much.
Conclusion:
Out of this entire list, I am most excited for Cryptozoic Man because it’s created by some of my favorite people in the world thanks to Kevin Smith. Also, Battle of the Atom has been the first book that I start reading as soon as I pick these up because this event trumps all other on-going stories no matter what company is telling them.
My new podcast, Ant On, is available on iTunes (with links above and below this post), and there are currently two episodes about comic books at your convenience. Both cover their respective week’s releases as I go in depth even more with what is happening in all of these series.
I will also be releasing part 1 of my conversation about Wizard World Ohio with a few special guests that joined me on the trip a few weeks ago. I still continue to do a comic book segment on my first podcast, AB Conversation, in which I will highlight just a few of the books, leaving reason to check out the Ant On Comics podcast as well for the full feature.
I always like to support my local comic book shop. Pre-orders are key. If you purchase the monthly Previews guide located at your store, you can browse upcoming titles and set up an order and/or a pull-list with your store so they order the items that you are interested in.
There are several online sites to shop from too. Things From Another World and Midtown Comics are two that I like to frequent.
If you are into digital comics, then simply go to Comixology or the individual websites and apps for the publishers you purchase from.
Are there any titles that you are excited for that I didn’t talk about? Contact me and share your non-spoiler suggestions! If you don’t agree with what I have to say, I apologize and hope you are enjoying the comics you read, because I am definitely loving mine.
This is the Ant-Man signing off… I’ll see you between the panels!
My podcasts on iTunes: “AB Conversation” & “Ant On”
My podcast websites: http://www.abconversation.net & http://www.antonpodcast.podomatic.com
My film-making website: http://www.bartonheights.4t.com
My Twitter: @anthonylaatsch
———-
Like it? Tell your friends to spread the word!
***The views expressed above are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Nerdy Minds (Magazine) as a whole. But they might.***
So that we are able to better understand our viewers and give you more of what you want and less of what you don’t, please rate this post and leave a comment (positive or negative). Care to offer another perspective on something?
Contact Us!
New content Monday-Friday (& some weekends too)! Like us on Facebook & follow on Twitter to be sure you’re in the know!
Nerdy Minds Magazine 
Comments? Questions?