If you’re a regular visitor to Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find, HeroesCon, or the Charlotte MiniCon, you’re probably familiar with the work of local creator Jason Latour.  In recent years he has worked on high profile books for Marvel and DC, and most recently, saw his co-created book Loose Ends see print from 12 Gauge Comics.  His work as both a writer and artist has received acclaim from comics fans, retailers, critics, and professionals alike.  This week I got a chance to talk with this longtime friend of Heroes about the development of his comics career, and how he worked to add writing to his extensive resume.

Flashpoint #1 – Promoted in the first issue of last year’s Flash relaunch, DC’s big summer event has finally come.  From the look of the onslaught of promotion surrounding it, Flashpoint will be an Age of Apocalypse-style alternate timeline story revolving around. . .you guessed it, The Flash.   The mystery of what happened and the fun of seeing what’s different in this new reality is the fun of these kinds of stories and writer Geoff Johns has shown a firm hand of constructing solid summer blockbuster yarns. Pg. 75

Batman: Gates of Gotham – Scott Snyder’s Detective Comics started late last year and has quickly become this writer’s favorite DC superhero book.  I was very excited to hear that he would also be doing this mini-series about the history of Gotham.  Along with him is co-writer Kyle Higgins and the mega-talented Trevor McCarthy.  The subject matter is the history of powerful families and how the architecture of a city influences people and takes on a life of its own.  I love this kind of stuff!  Pg. 83

Rocketeer Adventures – Between the return of Dark Horse Presents and Strange Adventures (also coming out in May) this is proving to be quite a year for anthologies.  IDW puts some skin in the game with this anthology based around the beloved Rocketeer.  Among the talent in the first issue: Kurt Busiek, Mike Allred, John Cassaday, Michael Kaluta, Mike Mignola, and Jim Silke.  Indeed this appears to be a very proper tribute to the late Dave Stevens and his great creation. Pg. 145

Paying For It – Last year brought a string of new work by alt-comics masters Dan Clowes, Chris Ware, and Seth.  Chester Brown, a peer among that group, brings up the rear with his newest work, a memoir about his participation in prostitution.  The subject matter is surely controversial but Brown is talented enough to skillfully navigate it. Pg. 284

Moon Knight #1 – Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev return to street level superhero comics.  My understanding is that the character will be getting a new setting (L.A.) and a twist on his multiple-personality disorder (he takes on the personas of other superheroes.) From the look of it Maleev will be returning to his Daredevil style and there are certainly enough hooks here to make this worth a look.  Marvel Pg. 45

A sampling from the most recent Previews catalog of what looks like a winner in the month of March! All books are available for pre-order at your local shop (that’s us)!

War of the Green Lanterns – Well here it is the next big Green Lantern thing.  A crossover between all three Green Lantern ongoing books: Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Emerald Warriors.  If you’ve been reading any or all of these books since Brightest Day started you can put together what puts the Corps at civil war with one another. If not, this crew is pretty good at catching up the audience for the big story (i.e. Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night).  Day-glo punches will abound!  Pgs 68-70

Jimmy Olsen #1 – This has been a most excellent back-up running in Action Comics the last few months.  With the back-up program kyboshed at DC they’ve done the service of collecting all that material with the unpublished strips here in this nifty 80 page one-shot.  Crazy, quirky, and always ready to swerve delightfully with its cliffhangers, this is a gem to look forward too. Pg 93

Butcher Baker, the Righteous Maker #1 – Joe Casey, bless his heart, is never afraid to be ambitious and never afraid that he’ll fall short on what he’s trying to say.  Dude has Ben 10 money and therefore carte blanche to make whatever comics he feels like.  With Mike Huddleston (vastly underrated), he takes on the waning years of a former patriotic superhero…like Dark Knight Returns and Captain America, just as violent and with way more sex.  It’ll be fascinating to see what he has to say about America and age among other things. Pg 168

Daniel Clowes’ Mister Wonderful: A Love Story – First serialized in the New York Times Magazine Daniel Clowes’ new story is finally collected here with new pages.  The story centers around your usual hopeless case Clowes protagonist and his blind date and the things they go through on that trying date.  It’s Clowes and if you’ve read Clowes you know what this is going to read like and if you haven’t why not give this a shot?  Pg 303

New Character Parade GN – Johnny Ryan is as raw and nasty as comics get. This is a new collection of his gag strips which will surely be as nasty, mean, and on-point in what it is saying as his past material.  I love it. Pg 303

Venom #1 – I’m surprised I am putting this here.  Kudos to Rick Remender for finding a new hook to the character, a black-ops weapon of the extreme variety, and God bless him for putting Tony Moore on it who draws monsters good and junk.  Remender did X-Force right, of all things, so he may be the savior of 90s properties here in the 2010’s. Marvel Pg 1

Fear Itself: Prologue – Comics didn’t hit the 100,000 orders mark a bunch of times this year and so comes the return of the line-wide event.  Ed Brubaker and Scot Eaton are kicking it off with a set-up one-shot set in WWII and about the Red Skull.  Marvel Pg 16

Captain America #615.1/616 – Of the slew of Captain America stuff hitting for the movie and the character’s 70^th Anniversary, it’s the main book that appears to have the most interesting material.  #615.1 is another of Marvel’s jumping on point issues with art by the amazing Mitch Breitweiser who was born to draw Cap.  Then #616 is a 104 page monster 70^th anniversary spectacular and it appears entirely new material by smorgasbord of really talented folk and a Travis Charest cover that’s so beautiful you’ll cry. Marvel Pgs 22-23

Annihilators #1 – Break it down:  the cosmic universe of Dan Abnett and  Andy Lanning is continuing here in a mini-series that’s half a 22-page story staring the likes of the Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Billy, and Quasar and half a 22-page story starring Rocket Raccoon and Groot (who are awesome).  The book retails for $4.99 and when you break that down into its two halves that’s $2.50 an issue for two very high quality products.  Veerrrrry nice. Marvel Pg. 42

A sampling from the most recent Previews catalog of what looks like a winner in the month of February! All books are available for pre-order at your local shop (that’s us)!

Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever #1 (of 5) – The first mini-series, a spin-off of Hellboy and a distant one at that, from 2009 was a very pleasant surprise.  The occult detective heads from Victorian England to the old west for an adventure by comics legend John Severin. Nobody draws the old west better than Severin and nobody does atmospheric gothic horror like Mike Mignola and John Arcudi.  So we all win here. Pg. 30

Stumptown, Vol 1. HC – Greg Rucka, Matthew Southworth, and Rico Renzi (he works here!) does the P.I. genre a solid with Stumptown.  The modern Detective story has certain beats it needs to hit and this book hits them all with ease.  Rough n’ tumble, down on their luck hero, episodic incidences, characters that bop in and out of the narrative, not explaining who they are with a violent streak.  There should be more comics as rock solid as this. Pg. 288

Marvel .1 Program – It’s the Marvel -1 (remember that?) of the 2010’s!  These issues are designed to be jumping-on points for Amazing Spider-Man, Invincible Iron Man, and Wolverine. So if you’ve been remiss in buying these books, life is giving you a second chance.

Kids Stuff!

Bone: Quest for the Spark Novel Vol. 1- This is a NOVEL, not a comic book or a graphic novel.  Jeff Smith will be providing the spot illustrations throughout and his involvement is a stamp of quality in favor of writer Tom Sniegoski.  A new generation of characters head into The Valley and fun adventure ensues. Pg. 279

Owly & Wormy: Friends All Aflutter! HC – Andy Runton takes the cutest comic in the world and makes it even cutier by doing it in full painted color. Pg. 298

A sampling from the most recent Previews catalog of what looks like a winner in the month of January! All books are available for pre-order at your local shop (that’s us)!

Darth Vader & the Lost Command #1 (of 5) - I had to resist my urge to pick Hellboy stuff this month.  It’s great, but it’s not the only thing Dark Horse publishes.  This jumped out at me for the simple reason that Darth Vader is awesome and a whole mini-series starring Darth Vader on a secret mission must be awesome by multiples and should be enjoyed by all. Pg. 22

The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art – Comics legend Jerry Robinson’s comprehensive history of Comic Strips was first published in 1974 and has become a classic in the study of the medium.  Now he has returned to update the text, adding hundreds of fascinating new pages and is a must-have for burgeoning history buffs and casual fans of the medium alike. Pg. 48

Supergirl #60 – You know who won New York Comic Con this year?  Nick Spencer, that’s who.  He announced new books at Marvel, Image, and of course DC which brings us here.  Spencer has also been heading up the Jimmy Olsen back-up strip in Action Comics which has been loads of clever fun in the classic Superman vein and so it’s logical to think he’ll bring that energy to this title too. A great jumping-on point from a promising new talent and reliable artist Bernard Chang.  Pg. 82

Daytripper TP – The honest-to-god best comic of this year. All 12 issues here in one very inexpensive ($19.99, cheap!) volume.  Get it.  Love it. Pg. 118

The Walking Dead Weekly #1-4 – It’s been many, many years since something like this has been done.   It’s exactly as the title suggests, a weekly issue-by-issue reprinting of The Walking Dead for an entire year from the beginning.  The Walking Dead is already available in numerous formats but I must credit Image for allowing a new opportunity for fans, potential and brand new, to experience the book in its original serial format but without that pesky month long wait that gnaws at you while waiting to get the next installment. Pg. 174-175

A sampling from the most recent Previews catalog of what looks like a winner in the month of December! All books are available for pre-order at your local shop (that’s us)!

B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs V.1 HC- 408 Pages for 35 dollars is a heckuva deal, especially with material as high quality as this.  It is the equivalent of the first three B.P.R.D. paperbacks and an attempt to make the library for the first round of stories (now named Plague of Frogs to the second rounds Hell on Earth title) smaller and more affordable.  Pg. 27

Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special #1- Good Christmas-y fun with the break out star of the different colored Corps.   Nothing wrong with Christmas-y fun. Pg. 82

Jonah Hex #62- Jonah Hex is ALWAYS good but Eduardo Risso of 100 Bullets is providing the art this month and his expressive, shadow-laden, minimalist work is always worth a gander. Pg. 93

Noche Roja HC- A dense, tasty crime story with a sweet coating of Jason Latour artwork.  Stands to be the breakout hit of the Vertigo Crime line. Pg. 118

John Byrne’s Next Men #1- I was listening to a podcast interview with John Byrne that was from 2006.  In it he said, and I’m paraphrasing, that he would bring Next Men back when the market was in good shape and could support it.  This is John Byrne saying everything is okay now. But seriously, Next Men was pretty darn good so give this a shot. Pg. 140

The Sixth Gun Vol. 1 TPB- You can really tell how much fun Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt have making this comic and man, that really shines through in the work.  The first six issues of their mythological western mash-up are in this volume and comics made with this much love should always be supported. Pg. 297

Thor-  Okay, so:

A)     Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus- All 48 issues worth, all 1,192 pages of Walter Simonson’s Thor run in a single book.  This has to be the biggest Omnibus to date. This thing is the definition of EPIC.  This is like The Lord of the Rings or the original Star Wars trilogy of Superhero Comics.  You can’t spend $125 better. Marvel Previews Pg. 91

B)      Thor, the Mighty Avenger Vol. 1 TPB- But if you only have $14.99 you can’t spend it better than this.  Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee’s all-ages Thor book is really, really, really charming. Like if Frank Capra did Thor. Marvel Previews Pg. 104

A sampling from the most recent Previews catalog of what looks like a winner in the month of November! All books are available for pre-order at your local shop (that’s us)!

Hellboy Double Feature of Evil One-Shot – Richard Corben on Hellboy is always the best and Hellboy one-shots are always a good way to hook the casual or curious reader (you know who you are). Pg 28

Batman – The Batman line gets a new revamp, launching two new Batman books.  Batman, Inc. continues Grant Morrison’s work on the character and seems to be about Batman as a superhero brand name within the DCU.  David Finch writes and draws his own title, Batman:  The Dark Knight.  Batwoman by JH Williams gets a preview issue #0.  Already established books get new creators attached to them in some way or another.  Lots of chances to get into a new comic here. An interesting note, Batman comics seem to be the only place in mainstream superhero books where you can find writer/artists.  Tony Daniels, JH Williams, and David Finch are writing and drawing their respective books.  A neat coincidence if anything.  Pgs 62-73

Assassin’s Creed: The Fall #1 – I’m not much of a video gamer person myself.  I know nothing about Assassin’s Creed at all except for vague memories of a pretty good commercial.  HOWEVER this caught my attention because it’s being written and drawn in collaboration by Karl Kerschl (who did that incredible Flash section in Wednesday Comics) and Cameron Stewart (Batman & Robin, Seaguy).  Two of the best artists in the industry blending there styles into a singular vision is more than enough reason to give this a gander. Pg 112

Darkwing Duck TP Vol. 1 – If you’ve missed the mega popular Darkwing Duck comic up to this point, this paperback collects the first five issues and along with issue #6 also coming out that month it is a good opportunity to get caught up all in one fell swoop. Pg 246

Acme Novelty Library Volume 20 HC – Even for something that’s been around for as long as Acme Novelty, there is such a thing as a new reader, to its credit Acme Novelty volumes work as independent stories as well as parts of larger stories.  Though as far as I can tell from the solicit this is NOT part of the longer Rusty Brown narrative of the past few volumes. Pg 274

Amazing Spider-Man #648/649 – Spidey changes up its formula again.  Twice monthly/one writer/three artists/double-sized, it looks like a heck of a value.  If you’ve been looking to jump in, jump here. Marvel Previews Pg 21/22

Captain America by Jack Kirby Omnibus – Jack Kirby came back to Marvel in 1976 and returned to (arguably) his most famous creation as both writer and artist.  The 25 issues collected all in one here are Kirby at his maybe most madcap and insanely creative, flipping the down to earth tone of before and going waaaay out.  Electric comics in a fancy hardcover. Marvel Previews Pg 96