1) Justice Society of America Special#1

Other than the fact that this issue will probably include every character on both Justice Society rosters, the main draw of this book has to be the fact that it’s both written and drawn by Scott Kolins.  And if you’ve followed the recent Kingdom Coming story arc that’s spread across the family of Justice Society titles you’ll definitely want to pick this one up as it wraps the whole story up.  Kolins has done some exceptional work for Marvel and DC in the past decade so it will be nice to see him illustrating a huge cast over the course of a 56 page issue.

2) Oz: Marvelous Land of Oz HC

Eric Shanower and Skottie Young deliver the second volume of their Oz adaptations.  I’m sure some of you have been waiting for the collected version of this title, and you won’t be disappointed.  As one who bought all the issues individually, I can tell you that Shanower and Young again reached the high mark they did   with their work on Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  This is a great all ages title but don’t think you have to be a kid to enjoy the book.  Skottie Young really is crafting the work of his career on this series of adaptions, and in a decade we’ll be looking back at his work on this book and still be holding it in high regard.

3) Kodiak One-Shot

This one shot comes courtesy of Locke and Key writer Joe Hill, co-writer Jason Ciaramella, and artist Nat Jones.  Hill has proven that his skills at writing the horror genre with much of his recent work.  Nat Jones, in addition to be a frequent Heroes Con guest and all around nice guy, is well known for his talent at crafting dark and moody art.  This story apparently focuses on a man vs. beast type story with plenty of the creators’ trademark horror in tow.  And as the title suggests, there are bears a-foot!

4) X-23 #1

X-23 is written by Marjorie Liu with art by Will Conrad. Liu wrote NYX: No Way Home and the recent X-23 #1 one-shot which makes her the perfect choice to launch this new ongoing X-23 series. X-23 has been in team books before and she has had mini-series but this is her first ongoing series. She has been a part of the X-Force team for a while now but she leaves them behind and discovers that she must take the place of Wolverine after the events of Wolverine #1. X-23 has an interesting character history. She was originally created for the X-Men: Evolutions tv show and was then brought into comics in the NYX mini-series. As a character, she was part of the Weapon X program and she is a clone of Wolverine. Like Wolverine she has claws, but she has them in her hands and feet.  This sounds like an interesting storyline and a nice addition to the X-titles.

5) Red Specials

Wildstorm is releasing four Red Specials, all of which are on sale today. Red is a new movie based on the comic of the same name by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. The story is about a retired CIA agent who is viewed as a liability. It is action packed and pretty violent, but in a humours Warren Ellis way. If you haven’t read it you definitely should give it a try, especially before the movie comes out. These specials are based on the movie and each issue centers around one of the four main characters. Red: Frank Special #1 is written by Gregory Noveck with art by Jason Masters and it focuses on Bruce Willis‘s character Frank Moses (who is based on Paul Moses in the comic book). In Cairo, Frank must learn lesson number one: no personal attachments. Red: Joe Special #1 is about Morgan Freeman‘s character Joe Matheson and it is written by Doug Wagner with art by Bruno Redondo. Set in Moscow at the height of the  Cold War, Joe is sent to do personnel reviews of agents in the field. Red: Marvin Special #1 is about John Malkocich‘s character Marvin Boggs and it is written by Erich Hoeber with art by Diego Olmos. This special explores his psyche and explains why he is such a paranoid character. The final one-shot, Red: Victoria Special #1 is about Helen Mirren‘s character Victoria and it is written by Jon Hoeber with art by David Hahn. It is about how Victoria, M16’s top assassin, falls in love with her next target, a KGB agent. The original Red comic didn’t provide much background on the characters so it will be interesting to read about the characters’ pasts and I am curious how they will flesh-out each of the characters. Also, stay tuned for the Red: Eyes Only #1 which is a prequel to the comic (NOT the movie) and it is written and drawn by Cully Hamner!