Hello, comic friends! I am here to discuss comics that will be released this Wednesday, October 23rd, 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. The rest is all me, friends! For a complete list of releases you can visit Comic List.
THIS WEEK’S PICKS:
Clone #11
“Following the events of last issue, Luke Taylor’s life has spun off in a startling new direction. Hounded by a new enemy, can he save himself, one clone at a time?”
With Clone, I jumped on immediately when the debut issue came out, mostly because it was a number one issue for a brand new series from Image Comics. With this series, I usually let a few issues pile up to read as a chunk, so I actually haven’t read issues 9 and 10 knowing I would read those along with this week’s all at once.
I will give you the basic premise of the series rather than post about spoilers. In Clone, the main character Luke is struggling with being the perfect father for his unborn child and a great husband to his wife Amelia. His house is broken into by someone who he then finds out is his clone and is warned that another clone is coming after him and that he is in danger.
Each issue has been better than the last as this story begins to escalate. This is why I think it is better read marathon style instead of waiting month to month for the next installment. I don’t know anybody else that is reading this book so I never get spoiled as I let these issues back up before binge reading. The reason I purchase the individual issues instead of waiting for the trade paperback releases is so that I can show support through individual sales so it will ultimately help keep this book going and not worrying about cancellation. The first five issues have been collected as a trade paperback so far and you can request it from your local comic book store for ordering or purchase it online through Amazon.
Due to the success of this book, it was optioned for a television series by Universal. The news for this was released last July, but I have not heard of any updates since then. It feels great to be on board for this comic since the beginning especially if the TV show gets picked up. It makes me feel… nerdier.
Pretty Deadly #1
“KELLY SUE DECONNICK (Avengers Assemble, Captain Marvel) & EMMA RÍOS (Strange, Osborn) reunite to bring you an all-new ongoing series that marries the magical realism of Sandman with the western brutality of Preacher. Death’s daughter rides the wind on a horse made of smoke and her face bears the skull marks of her father. Her tale of retribution is as beautifully lush as it is unflinchingly savage.”
This is a title that caught my attention because of the name. Then when I looked at the writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick, I knew it was definitely worth a shot. Though I don’t follow Avengers Assemble or Captain Marvel, I’ve heard nothing but great things, so I was interested to checking out her work with Image Comics. The Captain Marvel trade paperback has been on my Amazon wish list waiting for the perfect time to catch up. I did read the first issue digitally thanks to a free deal that Marvel hosted through Comixology, and that secured my future purchase of the first collection.
I enjoy reading about strong female characters as well as watching them in movies and television, and there is something extra special when it’s written by a female as well. I always feel the characters will be treated with the respect they deserve.
Velvet #1
“ED BRUBAKER and STEVE EPTING redefined Captain America with the “Winter Soldier” saga… and everything they’ve done so far has been leading to VELVET! When the world’s best secret agent is killed, Velvet Templeton, the Personal Assistant to the Director of the Agency, is drawn off her desk and back into the field for the first time in nearly 20 years . . . and is immediately caught in a web of mystery, murder and hi-octane action. Sexy and provocative, with a dark twist on the spy genre, this EXTRA-LENGTH first issue by two of the industry’s best-selling creators will knock you out!”
My interest in this is basically the same as the title before it, Pretty Deadly. A new number one issue from Image Comics about a strong female character. That alone is worth my money to at least see how it is. Giving brand new number one issues a shot is probably one of my favorite experiences with loving comic books. I love the potential of every new series.
Wolverine and the X-Men #37 (Battle of the Atom Chapter 9)
“Wolverine, who just lost his healing factor, takes a mortal hit! And a surprise ending that changes everything in the X-Men Event of 2013!”
Battle of the Atom is an event that I have been talking about every since week that I have been doing this article at Nerdy Minds. It is a ten part story that is released throughout the following titles: All-New X-Men, X-Men, Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine and the X-Men.
I have nothing but love for every chapter thus far. As I’ve stated in the past, you don’t need to be following all of these series individually to fully understand what is happening, as the writers involved all do a tremendous job of telling this story.
To keep this spoiler free, I will give the initial set up for new readers, since you may still be able to pick up all of these chapters through your local comic shop or digitally online. Also, it probably won’t be long before a trade release collecting this event in one book is available.
The original X-Men from the past were brought into the future to help talk sense into present time Cyclops, after the shocking events of Avengers vs. X-Men in the summer of 2012. The past and current X-Men teams are visited from another set of X-Men from the future, and they are warning the original team to return to their time period because of how bad the future has gotten.
That is as little as I can say to try and sell you on what is happening in this event. If you love the X-Men, I think this is the greatest thing to come from them in a long time. Though the story shuffles several sets of X-Men from all of these different time periods, it is structured extremely well and very rarely gets confusing.
Conclusion:
This is a rare slow week for me. Since I’ve rearranged my interest in hobbies this past year, I’ve been reading more and more comics each week, so it’s a little welcoming to the wallet to have this slow week of releases for the books I am reading.
Whenever I have a slow week, I have the time to go through some old titles in my collection, and it’s good to show love to my old books to show that I will never forget about them even though each week I pick up newer books than them.
My podcast, Ant On, is available on iTunes (with links above and below this post), and there are currently four episodes about comic books at your convenience. They all cover their respective week’s releases as I go in depth even more with what is happening in all of these series.
I also 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. The AB Conversation covers movies, television, comics, video games, food and the internet every Sunday morning. This week we released our 77th episode.
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
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***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.***
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