Hello, comic friends! I am here to discuss comics that will be released this Wednesday, October 30th, 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:
My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic #12
“The courting of Princess Cadence continues, as Shining Armor must find a way to win her hoof. But with the school dance quickly approaching, Shining Armor will have to call upon some familiar faces to catch the eye of his one true love.”
This series was highly praised by a lot of comic book podcasts that I follow, and I just kept hearing so much buzz about it that I decided to pick it up shortly after issue 1 was released late last year. It was the best decision of my life.
I’ve never owned a My Little Pony, I’ve never seen an episode of the television show, I simply picked up the comic book and instantly fell in love. This series was launched by Katie Cook and Andy Price for the first arc, and then a new creative team took a shot at the title. The art has always been consistent but Katie’s comedy was easily noticeable. After a few issues passed, Katie and Andy returned for another arc, and my interest returned. I did enjoy what the other teams brought to the book but having Katie and Andy there makes me feel warm and gooey inside.
At the C2E2 convention in Chicago this past Spring, I had the pleasure to meet both Katie and Andy and had Katie also draw me a little watercolor sketch of Rainbow Dash.
With the popularity of the cartoon, cosplaying at comic book conventions, the toy line, and now this comic book series, the term “Brony” was born. Men who like My Little Pony. I wouldn’t classify myself as a Brony, but that is only because I haven’t seen the show or bought a toy (yet). I simply enjoy it through the comic book medium. I totally love that this fandom exists and that male fans can own it. I’m a Brony for the comics, and I’ve been shopping for the best Rainbow Dash toy to put on my shelf.
This series also spun off into a Micro-Series where each issue concentrated on a specific character, and I have been enjoying all of those as well.
Guardians of the Galaxy #8 (Infinity Tie-In)
“What will it take for Peter Quill to betray the entire Marvel Universe?”
This series has been telling the tale of Peter Quill getting his team back together. Assembling Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Gamora and Drax, and teaming up with Iron Man who is currently spending time in space, they are fast to protect Earth from an invading species.
After the events of the Age of Ultron event earlier this year, we met the warrior Angela, who mysteriously appeared in the galaxy and immediately appeared as a threat to the Guardians which led to a battle which Angela easily dominated until she was blind-sided by Quill and was captured last issue.
Issue seven involved the interrogation of Angela by the Guardians, trying to find out where she came from and why she was on her way to Earth.
This issue is a tie-in with the Infinity event that is going on. I am very curious to see how much this will feel like a normal Guardians issue and hopefully won’t be lost on those who aren’t currently reading Infinity and all of it’s tie-in titles.
As long as the series continues to be consistent since it began this year, I will forever be a subscriber every month. To heighten my excitement of this series and the upcoming movie by James Gunn next summer, I always keep my New York Comic-Con exclusive close by.
Infinity #5 (of 6)
“The Avengers Universe. The Heroes of Earth rally to defeat Thanos. The war for Earth begins.”
I’ve talked about this each month, but I feel I am not getting the full experience of this Fall event by not collecting all of the tie-in issues of books I don’t normally follow. When reading just this series, you get recaps of what is happening elsewhere, but since this event is so large, I feel I am missing so much.
Last issue was definitely my favorite as we lead into this war for Earth as Thanos is on the hunt for his long lost remaining son. Other Marvel events are enjoyable with just collecting the main series, but I think after the story is complete I will be ultimately satisfied with how everything plays out. It’ll probably read better, for me, as a whole, rather than letting a month pass between each issue. My problem with it is that there is just so much happening involving so many worlds and species of characters that I am unfamiliar with. So until a recognizable character gets a push for the main focus, my entertainment value falls to the bottom of my to-read pile as other series keep me anticipating more.
Kick-Ass 3 #4 (of 8)
“Dissension in the ranks! Kick-Ass has had it up to HERE with the newest (and laziest) member of Justice Forever. But when he finally takes a stand, will the rest of the team back him up? Also, the super-villain formerly known as Red Mist faces an education from the most terrifying crime boss in the Genovese family.”
Since the comic series and the movies are very similar, with a few welcoming changes when turned into film, I don’t want to go into details on talking about what is happening in the third and final book series for Kick-Ass.
Kick-Ass 2 the movie will be available on video on December 17th, so there is still a chance that some new readers may have not seen that movie or read the past Kick-Ass comics, so I would rather leave this spoiler free for the entire series and will instead just talk about my love for it.
From the initial announcement of the series, I was sold because of the name Kick-Ass alone. I met Mark Millar, the writer and creator, at a Wizard World Chicago convention the summer before the first movie was set to hit theaters. After seeing some exclusive footage and scenes, I could not have been more excited to see this characters leap from the page and onto the big screen, and a big reason for that was the breakout role of Chloe Grace Moretz as Hit Girl.
Hit Girl became a fan favorite from the film as well as the comic, which led to her own mini comic series that bridged the gap between the Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2 books. Then when the second movie came out, it combined the Hit Girl mini and the Kick-Ass 2 books into one movie. Not only does Chloe get my movie money from this series, but I am a huge fan of her entire line of work and will always see and buy a movie just for her involvement alone.
With the current Kick-Ass 3 book, Mark Millar stated that this will be the final book and the story will be complete for Kick-Ass. Even though I would gladly welcome this series to continue, I appreciate a beginning, middle, and end when it comes to a series. He’s planning to end the book the way he wants to, rather than dragging it out just based on popularity and sales. It’ll be sad to see the series end, but it will be a treasured collection on my shelf, and I am glad we got as much as we have.
Beyond the comics and the films, I grab as much merchandise as I can. I own set of the figures as well as a poster. There is a second wave of characters expected to be released as action figures for the Kick-Ass 2 movie very soon, and I am excited to add them to my collection.
I also sketched Hit Girl on my iPad with using an existing picture as a source for reference. I use the app SketchBook Express to create my sketches from the tip of my finger. I do not use any copying or tracing. I received a reply from Chloe on Twitter at the time of her first Kick-Ass film but have been having difficulty getting her to notice this picture considering her success as an actress is getting bigger by the year.
Superior Spider-Man #20
“From the fallout of NECESSARY EVIL, comes new beginnings and new twists that will be felt in the pages of Spider-Man for years to come! SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #20 is where it all starts! Do NOT miss this one! It’s the first ever adventure for the Superior Spider-Man and the Black Cat. Felicia Hardy always cared for the Spider more than the man. But what happens when that man is Otto Octavius? Plus: A day Otto has been waiting for is finally here. Is the world ready for “Dr. Peter Parker”. . . and what he plans to do next?”
This set up seems like a good jump on point for new readers. There are a few collections out there in the stores and on Amazon that you can purchase to catch up. As always, you have the option of digital copies that will never sell out and you don’t even have to leave your couch, but for those who can’t commit to all of the back issues right now, this may be a good start.
I absolutely love the controversy that is this series. When Dan Slott’s final issue of Amazing Spider-Man hit the shelves almost a year ago, there was an outrage with what he has been doing with Spider-Man when killing off Peter Parker and putting Doc Ock into his body and into the Spidey suit.
I love that risk. It’s a unique and interesting take for a story when dealing with a fifty year history of the Spider-Man character. Dan Slott has been knocking it out of the park, and this is always a welcomed title every time it’s released.
We have seen how Doc Ock has interacted with Aunt Mae, Mary Jane and others close to Peter’s heart, and I am very excited to see how Black Cat reacts to the new attitude of this Spider-Man, not knowing it’s really not the Spider-Man she thinks it is.
X-Men Battle of the Atom #2 (Chapter 10)
“The biggest battle in X-Men history will melt your face off. All of the X-Men find their footing in the world much changed. The X-Men event of 2013 concludes and sets up the major X-Men stories for 2014!”
This is my most anticipated book of the week. I’ve raved week in and week out about this X-Men event.
The original X-Men came from the past and into the present. The X-Men and also the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants came from the Future. The present time X-Men team led by Wolverine and the Uncanny X-Men team led by Cyclops are battling for their life and their potential future.
Last week in Chapter 9, the battle has erupted into an all out war where some of the teams are not even sure whose side they are fighting for. They got an interesting surprise from yet another team at the end of the issue.
The past 9 chapters have been an amazing ride as I am experiencing my favorite story for the current generation of X-Men comic books. Though it has a complicated premise of mixing all of these X-Men teams from all different periods of time, it’s an extremely easy and entertaining read as these teams collide.
I can highly guarantee that I will enjoy this outcome and be eager to purchase the hardcover collection that will soon follow, though I own all of the individual issues. That’s how I show my appreciation for specific series… buying it over and over again.
Conclusion:
After last week’s small pull list, I knew I would be rewarded with a heavy new week of Marvel Comics this week. I wasn’t able to pick up Velvet and Pretty Deadly (that I previewed in last week’s article) due to my store not ordering any copies, but online purchasing through Midtown Comics saved the day, as I received them in the mail at the time I am writing this article. This is a lesson for everyone, including myself, to pick up the Previews catalog that comes out once a month, and this week is when a new catalog is released at your local comic book stores. When previewing upcoming new series, you are able to let your store know to order it so you can get the comic in your hands as fast as possible.
My podcast, Ant On, is available on iTunes (with links above and below this post), and there are currently five 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 78th 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
———-
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?