New This Week: August 30, 2006

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop later today:


The Pick of the Week is All Star Superman #5 by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely. let's face it, this is probably going to be the pick of the week whenever it manages to come out. (And yeah, sure, it's late--but you were expecting it, and it's not like it's a massive crossover taking the whole line late along with it...)


In other comics:

Antarctic have a new issue of Gold Digger (#77).

Ape Entertainment resurrect the former Speakeasy title Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon.

Boom! have the second issue of X Isle.

Comely Comix have the debut of a new Captain Canuck series: Captain Canuck: Legacy.

Dark Horse have the second volume of Path of the Assassin; the third collected volume of Rex Mundi; and a new issue of Usagi Yojimbo (#96).

DC have a big black and white Showcase Presents Batman volume; the final issue of Solo (#12); and new issues of 52 (week 17), Action Comics (#842), American Way (#7), and Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters (#2).

D.E. have the second issue (following the 25¢ #0) of Battlestar Galactica (#1).

Graphix have Baby Sitters Club vol. 1: Kristy's Great Idea, a graphic novel version of the popular tween book series with Raina Telgemeier on art.

Hill & Wang: If your store didn't get it last week, they should have the 9/11 Report Graphic Adaption this week.

IDW kill off Comics Intranet Rumormonger Rich Whatshisname in CSI: Dying in the Gutters #1; and have a new issue of Fallen Angel (#8).

Image have a new issue of Rocketo (#11).

Marvel have the first hardcover collection of the too-much-fun-for-Marvel Nextwave: Agents of HATE; a collection of Straczynski & Doran's Book of Lost Souls; and new issues of Kabuki (#7), She Hulk 2 (#11), and X-Factor (#10).

Thrud Comics have the second issue of Thrud the Barbarian.


Hmmm, at first I thought that this might be a light week, but looking at the list above I see that it isn't really. Enjoy All Star Superman #5 and the rest of your new comics!

Quick GN Reviews

The Ride
by a bunch of folk
Image, $9.99

Created by Keven Gardner, The Ride attempts to bring mindless action movies to the comics page, and in that it largely succeeds. The premise behind this anthology is that a particular 1968 Camero ends up being involved in a variety of high-octane situations: A high-octane Hong Kong gangster shoot-out, a police hunt gone bad, a deadly insurance scam, etc. The stories succeed or fail largely based on the artist; some, like Cully Hamner and Brian Stelfreeze, are clearly at ease with this type of story, while others are not. For mindless action, it costs about the same as a movie ticket to a Hollywood action blockbuster, and will leave about as much of an impression.

Rating: 3 (of 5)



Dark Blue
by Warren Ellis & Jacen Burrows
Avatar, $8.95

Dark Blue begins like it's going to be another of Ellis's ultraviolent stories about one badass cop against the evil criminal that no one else can take down. Then about halfway through there's a big ol' plot twist, which mainly works because you're expecting this to be the standard Ellis story. As this is an Avatar comic, it has the expected R-rated disemboweling and whatnot, which of course Burrows is able to pull off. Told in just six economical ten-page chapters, this is Ellis & Burrows doing what they do well.

Rating: 3.5 (of 5)