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.
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.
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. 
Good afternoon comic fans! Because we love you and to help with your Monday doldrums, here’s another GREAT HeroesCon 2015 guest list update! Please welcome Blacksad artist Juanjo Guarnido to his first ever HeroesCon! Click the image to see the rest of the amazing creators joining us June 18-21 and order your 3 day passes today!
MATT’S PICK :: BATGIRL: ENDGAME #1: I can say without reservation this comic book will be very nice to look at! Wicked-awesome good-girl-art French gentleman Bengal not only drew this book, but he also colored it! Please do your eyeballs a favor and pick up this comic! I believe the story should be pretty decent, as well – The Joker (or his minions) are featured within. It should prove to be a win/win for your weekly comic fixation. From what I gather, this is a stand alone book – it should be acceptable for the curious reader. I enjoy the ongoing series (which is also being released this week). There will be no shortage of Batgirl goodness available at Heroes 
Save the date because Free Comic Book Day 2015 at Heroes is going to be our best yet! Come out on May 2nd to meet great comic artists, get free comics and have a great time with your pals at Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find! Full guest list and list of available comics coming soon!
JUSTIN’S PICK :: HOWARD THE DUCK #1: I’m a big fan of Howard. The guy’s on my business card, and indelibly inked onto me corporeally. Also, he’s in my heart and soul. A childhood love for that foul (see what I did there?) movie lead to a rekindled personal interest in the funnypapers. A lot of that had to do with the late, great Steve Gerber, the Duck’s creator and chronicler, and how his work provided a hitherto nonexistent intersection of comics and “comix”. Howard was the consummate outsider, but also a staunch everyman and rugged individualist. Personalities like that usually end up the most incisive of social critics. And that was Steve Gerber’s tack: Howard was his mouthpiece, his means of satirizing not only the insular culture of comics, but the pop culture abroad as well (even post Y2K, Gerbs was savaging his psychic surroundings…see Howard’s brilliant and underrated six issue MAX series if you don’t believe me). Howard WAS Gerber, and in other writers’ hands, well, he’s never been quite right.
