SETH’S PICK :: HAWKEYE HC VOL. 1: It’s true, I’m writing about Hawkeye again, but for good reason.  This week you can pick up a large format hardcover collecting the first eleven issues of the acclaimed series.  There are several reasons why I think this is a worthwhile idea.  First is the oversized format, which allows you to enjoy David Aja’s work on a larger scale.  Secondly, you get all of Matt Fraction’s best Hawkeye stories (Pizza Dog, Hurricane Sandy) in a single volume.  And thirdly, this is a mainstream comic that manages to not only deserve all its critical acclaim, but  still understand the importance of being entertaining.  After writing about this book for this blog several times in the past year, moderating the Hawkeye panel at this past year’s Heroes Convention, and talking about the title’s merits to anyone who would listen, maybe it’s time I stopped my unabashed promotion of it.  Then again, it’s hard to not write or talk about good comics.  Ultimately, this hardcover is an expansive way to enjoy one of the year’s best series.

SETH’S PICK :: SANDMAN: OVERTURE #1:  Like it or not, it’s hard to deny the depth and range of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, or the mark it left on our beloved comics medium.  Like it or not (part two), Sandman is a book that warrants all the attention it’s received over the years.  It is nothing if not thought-provoking.  So here we are twenty five years after Sandman debuted, and Vertigo is appropriately ushering in a new mini series from Gaiman.  Overture is notable for a few reasons.  Aside from the fact it’s the first time Neil’s returned to these characters in a good while, the series features art from J.H. Williams III, whose particular artistic inclinations seem ready-made for Sandman work.  What’s more is that Overture deals with an often puzzling chapter of Dream’s past: what happened to him that lead to him being imprisoned prior to Sandman #1?  Sandman: Overture is at the very least a book worth noting in your comic travels this week.  Who knows?  This could very well be a fine addition to the legacy of one of comics’ most enduring libraries of the past quarter century. 

SETH’S PICK :: SAMURAI JACK #1: I’m not often drawn to comics based on animated shows, but I felt obliged to write about Samurai Jack this week.  It might be one of those cult classics, but even if you’re not all that familiar with the show, you’ll find the subject matter easily accessible.  There’s something to be said for the simplicity of a story centering on a samurai lost in a world ruled by a demon.  Cheers to IDW for translating a popular animated property into what very well could be a successful comic book.  Additional cheers to them for enlisting creators like writer Jim Zub (Skullkickers) and artist Andy Suriano (who happened to work on the animated show) to bring the character to a new medium.  Wednesdays are supposed to be fun for comic readers, and books like this epitomize that potential. 

SETH’S PICK :: SHAOLIN COWBOY #1: On the surface, Shaolin Cowboy might seem an uncommon staff pick from the likes of me.  There’s not much depth by way of story, its violence is downright gratuitous, and character development is eschewed for visual antics.  Yet, I find myself frequently including this book among my favorites.  Geof Darrow is undoubtedly a master of the form, capable of drawing expansive single paneled pages and highly detailed action scenes with multiple characters.  That’s undeniable, but is really just a part of why I love this book.  Darrow imbues each page with joyous energy.  Even if it’s a bloody scene, Darrow seems to relish the opportunity to put his silent protagonist through the ringer, confident that somehow they’ll both live to see the tale’s end.  As a result, the book feels like Darrow is drawing exactly what he wants, giddily following his muse wherever it may lead.  In this way, Shaolin Cowboy feels like the work of a seasoned jazz improviser soloing at the front of the stage.  But like any experienced jazz musician, you know Darrow laid the groundwork for his solo with years of practice and discipline.  This is the kind of book that makes me happy to have the opportunity to write about comics for this blog.  

SETH’S PICK :: CATALYST COMIX #4: This has been one of my favorite go-to sleeper series in recent months.  Joe Casey has brought new life to some of Dark Horse’s old super hero properties from the nineties.    His writing alone warrants a read, but the biggest selling point for me is that each issue features three different stories following three sets of protagonists.  The artists who bring this triad to life are top notch creators like Dan McDaid, Ulises Farinas, and Paul Maybury.  This combination produces bright, colorful, kinetic super hero comics, and best of all, you don’t need to have read any of the lackluster nineties stories to follow what’s going on here.  And if that wasn’t enough for you, the cover artists in regular rotation are Paul Pope, Raphael Grampa, and Brendan McCarthy, all of whom are perfect fits for this fun, bizarre super hero series. 

SETH’S PICK :: SIN TITULO HC:  It’s been quite a month if you’re a fan of big company books.  As for me, while I’ve enjoyed Jonathan Hickman’s Infinity series, and appreciate the marketing success of DC’s 3D cover bonanza, I’m much more interested in the underdog books lately.  That’s why I’m picking Sin Titulo by Cameron Stewart this week.  The book did win an Eisner back in 2010 for Digital comics, so some of you out there might object to me calling this an underdog.  Still, in a week where every speculator in the country is going to be trying to make quick cash on the Joker’s Daughter 3D cover, it’s nice to have a solid, gimmick-less book to talk about, and on a week like this one, Sin Titulo is likely to get lost in the 3D wave.  I will admit that I only started reading Sin Titulo in its digital format recently, and mainly because I wanted to write about it.  I am, however, familiar with Stewart’s work, particularly at DC and Vertigo.  If you read reviews of Sin Titulo, you’ll see words like ‘noirish’ and ‘Lynchian,’ and it’s safe to say that Stewart was likely influenced by that genre and famed director David Lynch.  It is a unique read though, and, dinosaur that I am, I’m happy to have it arriving in a book format.  So if you want something with a little more depth and aesthetic value beyond the brightest and shiniest of the week’s big company offerings, I’d encourage you to give Sin Titulo a look.

Seth Peagler (SP): It’s been a few months since we featured our “Looking Ahead” column.  Between HeroesCon, warehouse sales, and traveling to other cons, we’ve all had our hands full.  It’s back now, though, and this time a Heroes married couple will be perusing Previews for your benefit.  Orders are due very soon, so make sure to get yours in this week!  With that, Heather, where do you think we should start?

Heather Peagler (HP): Instead of just calling this “Looking Ahead” this month, I think we should call it “Looking Ahead to Heather’s Birthday.”  Clearly Marvel and DC knew that I had a birthday in November since they are choosing that month to give me an awesome Nightcrawler return and a Harley Quinn that feels like old times.  There’s so much fun stuff to choose from!  Just consider all my picks to be a nice birthday list and everyone get to shopping!

SP: We all know that comic characters never stay dead.  It’s probably no surprise that Marvel is bringing Nightcrawler back now.  This resurrection in particular looks promising.

HP: BAMF! BAMF! BAMF! the appearance of a familiar blue visage at the end of Wolverine and the X-Men could only lead to the awesomeness of a pirate Nightcrawler.  Jason Aaron should get a huge cookie basket from Marvel for making X-Men so very amazing.  Speaking of being amazing, make sure Amazing X-Men #1 by Aaron and artist Ed McGuinness is on your pull list for November!

SP: Aaron and McGuinness are a perfect fit to herald Nightcrawler back from the beyond.  I’m excited for this as well, but am equally excited that Marvel is collecting the earliest of Captain America’s Golden Age adventures into an omnibus. It’s Joe Simon and Jack Kirby pitting Cap and Bucky against Hitler and the Nazis!  You all know how nearly impossible it is to dig up single issues or reprints of these books, so this is an opportune way to finally get these stories if you’re interested in a nice slice of comics history. Along with Golden Age Cap, Marvel is finally bringing their Silver Age Ant-Man stories back into print, via a brand new trade paperback in the Masterworks series.  This collection has long been out of print, so here’s your chance to brush up on Ant-Man knowledge before the upcoming Marvel film adaptation.

HP: Speaking of issues that are hard to find, Marvel must have gotten my subliminal messages about Chris Giarusso’s Mini Marvels as they have assembled a complete collection for my reading pleasure! It even includes a complete run of Mini Marvel comic strips! This is a great collection for kids and adults alike.  Marvel also has a collection that’s the opposite of kid-friendly coming soon with volume 1 hardcover is the latest Deadpool series.  The first twelve issues of this hilarious series by writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn are collected within.

SP: Another new Marvel collection I’m looking forward to is the Avengers: The Enemy Within TP by Kelly Sue DeConnick.  I’ve enjoyed her take on Captain Marvel, and this collection should please all members of the Carol Corps, official and honorary.

HP: Perhaps it is Halloween coming that has me in the spirit for reading the new ongoing series of Ghost by the writing team Kelly Sue DeConnick and Chris Sebela and interiors by Ryan Sook! I really enjoyed the last mini-series and am looking forward to reading more.

SP:  Along with Ghost, we can’t ignore Dark Horse’s newest horrorific Black Beetle series.  Black Beetle: Necrologue #2 continues the pulpy goodness wrought by Francesco Francavilla, the busiest artist in comics, and features more horror elements than the last mini series.  And though it isn’t overtly a horror title, there’s plenty of gruesome genius on display in Geof Darrow‘s Shaolin Cowboy #2.  I’m thrilled that Darrow found time to bring Shaolin Cowboy back to the masses, and this series’ inclusion of zombies makes it a perfect accompaniment to Dark Horse’s other ghoulish November titles.

HP:  Over at DC there’s Harley Quinn! I absolutely adore Harley Quinn, or the early version of her anyway.  I yearn for the days of Mad Love Harley and do so miss her looniness.  I have great hope for Harley Quinn #0 to return to old school Harley and give readers back that cute and quirky homicidal maniac missing from the current pages of DC.  The creative team lends itself to the fun of Harley with artists like Darwyn Cooke, Walter Simonson and Art Baltazar all contributing.  If you share my love of Harley be sure to check out all the new t-shirt offerings on page 421 of Previews! I want at least three of them!

SP: Trust me, folks, she’s not kidding about wanting that many Harley shirts.  I think fans of all ages DC stories should enjoy the new Scooby Doo Team Up series.  Issue #1 features Batman and Robin, so if you have a young reader in the house, or are yourself a young-at-heart reader, don’t forget this one.

HP: That Scooby Doo Team Up series reminds me of the old cartoon when everyone from the Harlem Globetrotters to Sonny and Cher to Jonathan Winters would show up and take part in the hi-jinx! If it wasn’t for those meddling kids!! Speaking of kids, is it ever too early for love to be in the air? Especially when that love is expressed as A Very Vader Valentine’s Day? With art by Katie Cook, the adorable book with 36 valentine card is sure to be loved by both the kids and Star Wars fans in your life.

SP: November definitely looks to be an especially kid-friendly publishing month.  Along with the new Scooby Doo title, there are debut issues of Ben 10 and Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and a new stand alone graphic novel in Adventure Time vol. 2: Pixel Princesses.

But if I was forced to pick a book of the month, I’d have to go with Image’s Black Science #1.  Not only does it mark Rick Remender‘s return to Image, but re-teams him with talented collaborator Matteo Scalera.  You can ascertain that the series focuses on dark science fiction, but I have a feeling this is going to be not only a big seller, but a critically acclaimed book.  That means that like Saga, the first several issues of this series might move quickly.  Get in on the ground floor with the first issue in November.  Remember to let Justin ([email protected]) or any of the store staff know what you’d like from Previews, and we’ll make sure you get your books!

SETH’S PICK :: BEST OF MILLIGAN AND MCCARTHY HC: We live in an era where an endless wave of past stories are being newly collected (or re-collected) and remastered for new audiences.  As with anything, this wave doesn’t always yield wonderful results.  However, this week offers you a chance to pick up a true gem of previously published, never before collected comics.  Dark Horse’s The Best of Milligan and McCarthy collects over 250 pages from these idiosyncratic creators.  Throughout their careers, Peter Milligan and Brendan McCarthy have exhibited a wide range and use of satire in their work.  Be it at Marvel, DC, Vertigo, or 2000 A.D., these creators are always reliable.  This new hardcover collects many of their influential stories from the eighties, like Paradax, Skin, Rogan Gosh, and Freakwave.  These are quirky, psychedelic, multi-layered comics that will both befuddle and entertain upon repeated readings.  If you’re already a fan, here’s a way to collect all of these stories in one handy volume.  If you’re not familiar with these works, flip through a copy at Heroes this week, and prepare to encounter mind-blowing comics from two greats of the ’80’s British comics invasion. 

DC Comics kicks off their Villains Month this week.  There were a very limited number of 3D variant covers produced for Forever Evil #1, and comic book stores only received one copy each.  We’ve already received several requests for this cover, but since we will be unable to fulfill those, we still want to give our customers a fair chance to buy our only copy.  Starting Wednesday morning at 10 am, we are offering it on a first come, first served basis.

Many of you might know that DC is publishing up to four separate issues of all of their titles in the month of September.  We know that many of you will not want to purchase every single issue, and therefore we’re not pulling every book for reserve customers. We are happy to fulfill your requests, however, while supplies last.  The easiest way to ensure that you’ll get all the issues you want is to email our store manager ( [email protected]).  Remember, we aren’t pulling these issues for you even if you have the titles on your reserve list, so find a checklist, decide which ones you want, and let us know.

As always, we will do our best to keep our loyal customers happy. Thank you for all your support.

UPDATE: Happy Labor Day! Today is the last day of our HUGE Warehouse Sale! Get here now!

Here’s a reminder that we’re kicking off our first ever Warehouse Sale next Friday, August 30th!  We’ve been hearing how excited all of you are for this event, and we’re looking forward to it just as much as you!  We also know many of you are curious about how these books will be priced.  Here’s what you can expect next weekend:

As you can see, you’ll have three different levels of pricing over the weekend, and the more you buy, the cheaper the books will be.  Friday and Saturday will obviously offer the most quantity to choose from, but by Sunday and Monday you’ll have the chance to pick up even greater deals.  We’ll have 100,000 comics under tents outside the front of the store for you to dig through.  That’s 300 long boxes!  I should also mention that over 100 of those boxes will be in alpha-numeric order for your shopping ease!  As a reminder, we’ll be open extra hours all weekend.  The official hours for the sale are:

Friday, August 30:  6 p.m. – MIDNIGHT

Saturday, August 31: 10 a.m. – MIDNIGHT

Sunday, September 1: 10 a.m. – MIDNIGHT

Monday, September 2: 10 a.m. – DARK (or until everything’s gone!)

On Friday the store will still open at 10 a.m. like normal, but we’re aiming for 6 p.m. to kick off the outside sales.  Also note that in addition to extending our hours on Sunday, we’re opening three hours earlier than usual.  That’s right, you’ll have the opportunity to shop Heroes on a Sunday morning!

PARKING: We’ve also heard some concerns about parking for the event.  You can still park in the small lot directly behind Heroes (between Heroes and the warehouse), but we’d also like to remind you that there’s plenty of free on-street parking on Pecan Ave, and on 8th Street.  All of these spaces are right around the corner from our store, and provide multiple options if the lot behind the store is full.  There’s also $2 parking available at the end of the large lot to the side of Heroes.  Between all of these options, there will be plenty of convenient places for you to park.

This is not only the first time we’ve had a true Warehouse Sale, but the first chance you’ll get to shop late night hours at the store.  Come by, pick up some incredible deals, and celebrate Labor Day with your friends at Heroes!