New This Week: January 12, 2005

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 tomorrow:



The pick of the week is Jason Lutes's Berlin, book 1 trade collection from Drawn & Quarterly. This is actually a reissue, but it's definitely worth picking up if you haven't yet encountered it. Lutes's drafting and drawing is exquisite, deceptively simple but actually dense and detailed. The art would be enough for me to recommend Berlin, but there's also a fascinating story of love and politics set in the Weimar Republic-era.



In other comics:



Atomeka has Hero Squared Xtra Sized Special #1, from the crew that brought us Formerly Known as the Justice League.



Avatar has the final two of Warren Ellis's Apparat books, Angel Stomp Future & Simon Spector.



Beckett has the seventh issue of Ruule: Kiss and Tell.



DC has the collection of Gail Simone's first Birds of Prey stories in the Sensei & Student collection, as well as Rucka & Johnson's Wonder Woman in the Bitter Rivals collection. The start of Dixon, Beatty & McDaniel's "Nightwing: Year One" is in Nightwing #101, and Mr. Majestic returns to the WildStorm universe in yet another Majestic #1. Also from DC are new issues of Fables (#33), Gotham Central (#27), JLA (#110) & JSA (#69).



Image has the first issue of Darkness/Superman, and something called Two Bits, which I couldn't tell you anything about, but it's only a quarter.



Marvel has the first Araña digest and the first District X trade, a second Marvel Knights 4 trade, the first issue of Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill, and new issues of Captain America & The Falcon (#11), New Thunderbolts (#4), Pulse (#7), She-Hulk (#11), The Punisher (#16), and Ultimates 2 (#2).



Oni has the second Love Fights collection.





Finally, if for some reason you were considering buying the Youngblood Imperial Premium Signed Edition for $24.99, please for the love of all that's right and good take that money and instead donate it to a worthy cause. You have too much damn money.