RICO’S PICK :: WINTER SOLDIER #15: We’ve been waiting for this issue for long time, ever since our neighbor Jason Latour told us he was taking over writing duties on Winter Soldier when Ed Brubaker left. Jason and artist Nic Klein begin their Winter Soldier run on this issue and introduce a cool new character, The Electric Ghost. She’s already a favorite of mine and I hope she sticks around the Marvel Universe for a long time. Check out this 3 page preview below and check out the full issue this Wednesday!

SETH’S PICK :: HELLBOY IN HELL #3: The fact is, many times a high profile creator returns to a character they made famous, in spite of publicity, the book somehow doesn’t live up to expectation.  Mike Mignola’s return to drawing Hellboy in this series certainly attracted lots of attention, but it has been far from a let down.  In fact, it’s arguably as good as anything Mignola’s ever done.  You can really see the joy he’s getting out of taking Hellboy in a new direction.  It’s not a rehash of where Hellboy has been before, and Mignola is clearly crafting challenging stories and situations that will only further develop the character.  It’s also worth mentioning the genius-level coloring of Dave Stewart.  He’s long been Mignola’s go-to colorist, but the new setting of Hell has really allowed Stewart to stretch out and use a richer, more varied palette.  These are masters of the craft who are not only enjoying the process of making these comics, but are pushing themselves to evolve their work and the characters they continue to define. 

Bonus Pick of the Week:  I’d be remiss not to mention this week’s debut of our pal Jason Latour as the new writer of Winter Soldier.  All of us around here have long known how hard Jason works at comics, and some of us have even heard about what he has in the works for Bucky Barnes.  Alongside Nic Klein, who may well be the most suited artist to work on Winter Soldier since Jackson Guice, Latour plans to move Bucky forward in genuinely interesting ways.  Ed Brubaker brought Bucky back to relevance, and he’ll always cast a long shadow on whoever else writes the character, but Latour and Klein will distinguish Winter Soldier in ways you’ve never seen before.

Lee Weeks, a favorite of fans and peers alike will be joining us for the Charlotte MiniCon on Sunday, January 20, 2013! If you haven’t met Lee you’re in for a treat. The only thing better than his great renditions of your favorite heroes is his warm personality!

Complete 2013 Charlotte MiniCon Guest List (so far):

• Rich Barrett
• Chris Brunner
• J. Chris Campbell
• Rich Case
• Sanford Greene
• Chris Hamer
• Dustin Harbin
• Cassie Hart Kelly
• Tom King
• Jason Latour
• Lost Story Studios (Brockton McKinney & Bo Fader)
• Kevin Mellon
• Don Monroe
• Drew Moss
• Eraklis Petmezas
• Jay Potts
• Buddy Prince
• Budd Root
• Andy Smith
• Matthew D. Smith
• Spandex Splinters
• Brian Stelfreeze
• Rob Ullman
• Lee Weeks
• John Wycough

Charlotte MiniCon takes place on January 20, 2013 at the Grady Cole Center. There will be lots of free parking*

Like our Facebook page and register at Eventbrite for FREE admission to the show! We are lending our support to two great charities, The American Red Cross and Second Harvest Food Bank and encourage you to donate to them on the day of the show as representatives will be in attendance. We plan to have MiniCon exclusive gifts to encourage and reward your generosity.

SETH’S PICK :: DJANGO UNCHAINED #1: December always brings lots of good comics, and this week is a good representation of that.  Everything from Hickman’s Avengers #2 to Francavilla’s Black Beetle #0 will be new on the shelves, with lots of other good books like Saga and Pogo along for the ride.  So why am I picking a movie adaptation?  First off, in addition to being published by Vertigo, the comic’s script is essentially Quentin Tarantino’s screenplay.  In fact, parts of the screenplay might not end up in the film, but will appear here, so that’s a plus for Tarantino fans.  Most significantly to me are the artists bringing the comic to life.  It’s the first major post-Scalped work from artist R.M. Guera, and each issue’s flashback sequences are provided by talented local writer/artist Jason Latour.  So you have a Tarantino-helmed comic about a vengeful slave-turned-bounty hunter trying to free his wife, and you have more-than-qualified artists bringing the screenplay to life in a way the movie won’t.  This is a no-brainer to me. 

The above features a teaser of the exclusive new 12.12.12 poster Brian Stelfreeze created for this event (FREE to all attendees tomorrow!) We’re starting our Big Holiday Sale tomorrow too! Get here early for the best selection!

It’s no secret to readers of this blog that my husband/Heroes blogger Seth loves all things Hellboy, but he has been completely unable to get me to read anything outside of Hellboy Jr. and the Beasts of Burden crossover one-shot.  There’s no real reason for my stance on this.  I liked the Hellboy movies, but that’s more about my love for Ron Perlman in beastly make-up than any particular attachment to the Hellboy storyline.  (While we’re on Mr. Perlman, can we all have the warm fuzzies again about the Make-A-Wish kid and Hellboy story from this summer?) Anyhoo, back to comics…Seth has full shelves in our house dedicated to Hellboy and B.P.R.D., but they had been gathering dust where I was concerned until recently.

At this year’s HeroesCon, I stumbled into a conversation between B.P.R.D. artists Jason Latour and James Harren in which I mentioned that I had not read B.P.R.D. and I wasn’t sure it was for me.  Not daunted at all by my hesitation, Jason immediately suggested that I start with Plague of Frogs and assured me that I would like it.  August rolled around without me picking up any of the trades on our shelves until I had a week without many new comics in my reserve bag and decided to pull volume 3 and it give it a go.  Cut to about a week and half later and I am about to start volume 13. (more…)