STAFF PICKS :: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015
ANDY’S PICKS :: HULK FUTURE IMPERFECT TP NEW PTG: Writer Peter David along with artists George Perez and Dale Keown take that old SF/superhero chestnut of the hero going into the future to change the past. Or is it the Hero’s job to change the present by going to the future to change the future’s past and the present’s future. Ah hell, who cares (although a Visio couldn’t hurt) when the story and art are this much fun. Keep an eye on those backgrounds; they’re are many smashed Easter Eggs to be found. Collecting HULK: FUTURE IMPERFECT #1-2 and INCREDIBLE HULK: THE END. Plus, see the Hulk’s hairline recede, but don’t stare, he’ll kill ya.
JOSS WHEDON: THE COMPLETE COMPANION REVISED & UPDATED SC:Of course Joss Whedon is the creative juggernaut behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Sereni
HARVEY KURTZMAN HC MAD AND HUMOR IN AMERICA:
Publisher: FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS
Writer Bill Schelly -a man who has interviewed the titular cartoonist numerous times- delivers an exciting biography of Harvey Kurtzman, the creative mastermind behind Mad Magazine as well as the modern realistic war comic with Two Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat. Kurtzman’s story is one everyone needs to read– lawsuits, the FBI, Hugh Hefner and much, much more. He is easily in the top 5 or 6 most influential comics’ creators of all time. Forward by Python alum Terry Gilliam. Fantagraphics has a track record of publishing really solid Creator biographies and it is a no-brainer that HARVEY KURTZMAN HC MAD AND HUMOR IN AMERICA is another worthwhile, reliable gem.
HEROES CON 2015 EXCLUSIVE :: SECRET WARS #1 VARIANT by ZECK & BEATTY :: PRE-SALE
Hey y’all! Rico, your Heroes Creative Director here (I sound like Julie from the Love Boat), to tell you about our HeroesCon exclusive Secret Wars #1 variant cover. Let’s get the business out of the way first. This thing is beautiful and it’s available for pre-order now. Get it HERE.
When Marvel decided to bring back Secret Wars for 2015′s mega crossover event we knew we had to get our friends Mike Zeck and John Beatty involved and tie it all together with their appearance at HeroesCon 2015 (June 19-21). We asked these comics legends to revisit their classic Black Suit Spider-Man cover from Secret Wars #8. Once they agreed Shelton (the boss!), Justin (Store Manager), Seth (Warehouse Manager), and I got to work brainstorming which characters we’d like to appear on the cover. We placed Miles in the center and then worked out from there. This was a LOT of fun for us as you can probably imagine.
The next step was gathering character reference for Mike to work from while getting Marvel approvals along the way. We sent these over to Mike and he quickly finished his “rough” sketch. That’s the one over there that pretty much looks like a finished cover illustration. Whoa! Mike then completes his pencils, approvals again and then it’s over to John Beatty for some silky inks. Beautiful!
Now the cover heads back to us for colors and trade dress. Since we already changed so much from the original, we thought keeping a similar color scheme, the original logo and corner box would finish this off nicely. Thankfully we didn’t have to work from old scans or build all of that from scratch. Mike had already created a vector file of the entire Secret Wars #8 cover which he very graciously allowed us to use for this! A few tweaks here and there and it was finally complete! We think it’s a great looking cover that honors the past while featuring some great current characters along with favorites from all eras.
Thanks for reading and thanks to Mike Zeck and John Beatty for doing this wonderful cover for us!
Secret Wars #1 comes out on May 6th but you can pre-order a copy now by going HERE. Of course if we have any left, we will have them at HeroesCon, June 19-21 where you can get both Mike Zeck and John Beatty to sign yours.
STAFF PICKS :: RUNLOVEKILL :: APRIL 15, 2015
RICO’S PICK :: RUNLOVEKILL: Anytime Eric Canete takes time from his busy schedule of animation work to draw comic books, I’m checking it out. The 1st issue of this 8 issue series comes out today and if you’re into science fiction, explosions and great art you should check it out. You can tell Eric how much you love this when you meet him at HeroesCon in June.
BONUS PICK :: SENSATION COMICS #9: Don’t miss today’s Sensation Comics featuring 2 great looking Wonder Woman stories. The first features art by HeroesCon family member Mike Maihack and the second is a Lois Lane and Wonder Woman story with art by Chris Sprouse, Karl Story and Jordie Bellaire all wrapped in a great cover by Ben Caldwell.
STAFF PICKS :: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 08, 2015
ANDY’S PICKS ::ASTRO CITY FAMILY ALBUM TP NEW ED
For my money, this is the best Astro City collection. Family and Home are the connecting theme. Two stories stand out. A family moves to Astro City and has to adjust to a world with wall to wall super-heroing and super-villainy. Then Busiek and Anderson focus on the Furst Family-their homage to the Fantastic Four as well as other families of Heroes. And it comes wrapped by a great new cover from Alex Ross.
And wait ’til you meet the dread Mr. Smarty.
NEW YORK HC
Milt Gross was perhaps the most popular comic artist/humorist during the first half of the past decade. This volume reproduces one of the first graphic novels of all time. The two principle characters from Gross’ successful Sunday strip ‘That’s My Pop’ run wild through the streets of the Big Apple. Yankee Stadium, The New York Public Library and Coney Island along with many other points of interest will never be the same. Gross was a true master. Don’t miss the recovery of this lost gem.
MIRACLEMAN PREM HC BOOK 03 OLYMPUS
Collecting MIRACLEMAN #11-16 and ALL-NEW MIRACLEMAN ANNUAL #1. It’s finally back in print, the final story arc from Alan Moore. It is quite simply the most startling, exciting, violent and eventually transcendent comic books ever created. This volume also includes stories from Grant Morrison and Joe Quesada and Peter Milligan and Mike Allred from the Annual. A must-read for all as well as being the future topic of a Heroes Discussion Group.
HERALD VOL 1: HISTORY IN THE MAKING TP
The search for Amelia Earhart continues as Nikola Tesla and HP Lovecraft team up to take on the Cthulhu cultists with a copy of the original Necronomicon at the center of it all. I’ve not read it, but it sounds like a hoot. Based on true events–no, not really. Collects Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla 1-3
STAFF PICKS :: KAIJUMAX #1 :: APRIL 8TH 2015
JUSTIN’S PICK :: KAIJUMAX #1: This is one of those comics > movies things. Giant Monster Prison might be kind of awkward on the silver screen, but on the paneled page, flowing from the pen of creator Zander Cannon, it just works. With obvious echoes of Godzilla and Ultraman, but also notes of Rampage (one of my favorite arcade/8 bit diversions of yore), exploitation cinema, and 90s gangsta rap, this comic promises to synthesize a lot of disparate elements into a delectable confection. I can’t really say why you should buy this book, other than I don’t know why you wouldn’t.
(PS Bryan Lee O’Malley variant!)
HEROESCON 2015 :: INDIE ISLAND UPDATE!
No foolin’, Indie Island at HeroesCon 2015 is the place to be! We just updated our guest list with some great creators! Get your tickets and reserve your hotel rooms today!
Reserve your stay at the Westin Charlotte at a HeroesCon rate!
STAFF PICKS :: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 01, 2015
ANDY’S PICKS :: DOCTOR WHO 9TH #01It’s Barty Crouch! No, it’s Barty Crouch….JUNIOR!, No it’s the detective from Broadchurch..No, it’s the detective from Gracepoint. No its the Doctor! But which Doctor? Why, the Ninth Doctor ( the one from ‘Blink’!!!) and these Doctor Who comic series from IDW have been consistently good regardless which Time Lord is on the cover and driving the ol’ Tardis.
FLASH A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS HC
I want to say, 75 years old and he hasn’t lost a step, but I won’t. These milestone celebration books from DC have been consistently worth the price you pay and the shelf space it takes up. The Scarlet Speedster’s edition looks to be just as good if not better than the previous volumes. Content unavailable at New Release time, but rest assured Fox, Infantino, Broome, Loeb and many other creative greats will be featured.
GROO VS CONAN TP
It shouldnt have worked–a story that combines the big foot comic art of the great Sergio Aragones with the realistic detail laden hero art of Tom Yates–but Writer Mark Evanier somehow pulls it all together with a clever framing story involving the scheduled demolition of a beloved local comic shop. This 4-issue series is already a classic.
JOHN ROMITA AMAZING SPIDER MAN ARTIFACT ED HC
The greatest good-girl artist of the Marvel Age struts his stuff on page after page of comics reproduced from original art at its original size. And Romita’s Spider-Man ain’t too shabby neither.
LONE WOLF & CUB OMNIBUS TP VOL 08
One of the best Comic series of all time begins it’s long, brutal and dramatic final act. Lone Wolf and his son are within miles of Edo (Feudal era Tokyo) and the Shogun demands a resolution to this long painful and violent feud between the scheming Yagyu clan and the vengeful Wolf with baby cart in tow. You need to be picking up these inexpensive volumes; at this price, they are a gift.
WALT DISNEY DONALD DUCK GN VOL 02 SHERIFF BULLET VALLEY
Been meaning to try a Carl Barks collection, but haven’t gotten around to it? Well, try this volume that collects one of Bark’s most celebrated Donald Duck adventures. You’ll love it, your kids will love it. If you don’t have kids then your neighbors kids will love it. These are great comics. Take a gander.
STAFF PICKS :: GUARDIANS TEAM-UP #4 :: APRIL 01, 2015
HEATHER’S PICK :: GUARDIANS TEAM-UP #4: I am picking up these team-up books based on the pairings in each issue, much like I did with A+X (man, that Iron Fist/Doop pairing was amazing. I need to go read that again). This week’s team-up features two kick @$$ green ladies, She-Hulk and Gamora. It seems that some intergalactic bounty hunters have been sent to New York to eliminate a green woman, but didn’t ask for further information to make sure they had the right one. I guess some intergalactic species think all green people are the same…jerks. That mistake is sure to blow up in their faces when confronting either of these ladies. Written by Chew’s John Layman, whose quirky sense of humor I cannot wait to see take on one of my favorite characters and drawn by Otto Schmidt whose preview pages look amazing. This is sure to be a fun one-off story.
STAFF PICKS :: SPACE RIDERS #1 :: APRIL 1, 2015
SETH’S PICK :: SPACE RIDERS #1: Space Riders is the comic Jack Kirby might have created had he been born several decades later and nursed on a diet of metal music. That’s not to say that it’s merely an homage to the timeless Kirby space epics. You can see all kinds of influences in the pages of this comic, but artist Alexis Ziritt and writer Fabian Rangel Jr. create their own unique world populated with eye patch wearing Captains, simian sidekicks and spacecraft shaped like human skulls. For all the nostalgia that Space Riders may conjure up, at its heart this comic is a perfect instance where two talented creators tell the kinds of stories they’ve always wanted to tell. Comics should be as joyous and enthusiastic as this one. If you haven’t picked up on those feelings from a comic in a while, do yourself a favor and buy Space Riders #1 this week. It’ll remind you just how much fun comics can still be. 
