SPOTLIGHT ON NEW RELEASES :: DECEMBER 27

December 29, 2010 at 9:38 am By:

All of us at Heroes hope you had a great time over the holidays, and that the New Year finds you all in great places.  Thanks to Christmas falling on a weekend this year our shipping schedule will be unaffected, thus ensuring that we will have our new comics in the store today like any normal Wednesday.  On with the comics!

1) Batman: the Dark Knight #1

DC offers up what might be the last big hit of 2010 with this anticipated title.  This book should have wide appeal, reaching fans of writer/artist David Finch, and bat-fans who might not care too  much for Grant Morrison’s contributions to the character.  I’ll be turning up for this one mostly out of curiosity.  Finch is a creator who has written comics in the past, but never to the point where he garnered any kind of reputation for it.  What will Finch the writer bring to the table for his work on this book?  Will his stories match the dark tone that his art will assuredly suggest?  Give it a read and decide for yourself.

2) Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead #1

Why not end the year with a great Hellboy story?  Mike Mignola teams with artist Scott Hampton for this first of a two issue miniseries.  Throughout the year I’ve talked about how vampire stories have proliferated comics (and other media) to the point where the ones worth reading are often overlooked.  Though this miniseries focuses on vampires you can be assured that it will be well worth reading, if  not for Mignola’s contribution than for Scott Hampton’s art alone.  Hampton’s work on Books of Magic, Simon Dark, and Batman: Gotham County Line all illustrate that his brand of horror will be a welcome contribution to the world of Hellboy.

3) X-men Forever 2 #14

From time to time on the spotlight I like to remind people that Charlotte does indeed have a great community of talented comic artists.  If you think about it, the fact that we live in a city where creators like Marcus Hamilton, Budd Root, Jason Latour, Chrissie Zullo, Chris Brunner, Jim Scancarelli, and the numerous talented folks at Sketch Charlotte all live and work should give us all some local pride.  This week’s issue of X-men Forever features art from another talented artist, Andy Smith.  Aside from being a veteran artist who has worked on high profile titles for just about every major publisher, Andy’s also a good friend and customer of Heroes.  This issue is especially exciting  if you’re a fan of the Black Panther as Andy will undoubtedly do a great rendition of the character.  If you want to see more from Smith outside of this issue with Chris Claremont, check out his amazing Justice League contribution to DC’s Pop Up Book.  It’s unlike any pop up book you’ll ever see!  Andy’s also going to be one of our guests at our Charlotte MiniCon on January 22, so why not pick up some of his comics and get him to sign them there?

4) S.H.I.E.L.D. #5

This is hands down my favorite super hero title of 2010.  What started out as an intriguing premise has turned into a book that consistently delivers quality with each issue.  On top of that, it’s a thinking man’s comic that stands up to multiple readings without losing any of its novelty.  Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver clearly put their heads and hearts into this project, and have found a way to combine Marvel history with world history.  Ever imagine how Galileo might have handled an attack from Galactus?  How might Apocalypse or an ancient Egyptian Moon Knight have held off an attack from the Brood?  All those great moments show up in this series, plus an intricate plot filled with plenty of Easter eggs for Marvel fans.

5) Red: Eyes Only one shot

This prequel to the popular comic series (and subsequent film adaptation) is worth a look because it was both written and illustrated by original series artist Cully Hamner.  Cully’s another old friend of Heroes and an artist you can always count on to deliver interesting sequential work.  Over the past few years Cully’s had some great success with his memorable redesign of Blue Beetle, his Question back up stories in Detective Comics, and of course the Red film.  In this 48 page one shot he’s not only returning to one of the more popular books he worked on, but he’s offering up the story of how the characters ended up in retirement prior to the original book.  Also still available are the Red one shots that were released in conjunction with the film.

> Bonus Picks of the Week: Astonishing Spider-man/Wolverine #4, Widowmaker #2, Action Comics #896, Carnage #2, Incognito: Bad Influences #2, Detective Comics #872, and Nemesis #4.

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Filed Under: DISCUSS, Spotlight on New Releases




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