I am going to buy three comic books this week.
COMIC BOOK #1 – Green Lantern #55: The Green Lantern books still remain some of my favorite currently-running superhero serial adventures, though the addition of a third GL title (Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors) smacks of Too Much of a Good Thing. I like Guy Gardner and all, but I think maybe running this new storyline in the already-running Green Lantern Corps rather than starting up yet another series in a marketplace already overstuffed with too many titles devoted to the same character/franchise.
Well, okay, that doesn’t say anything about the actual comic that’s coming out this week. …Hey, it’s Lobo versus Atrocitus! And Hector Hammond is in it! Awesome!
COMIC BOOK #2 – Action Comics #890: The initial installment of Paul Cornell’s run, focusing on Lex Luthor, with Pete Woods on art chores. I’m quite looking forward to this. Of course, this is Modern DC Universe Lex Luthor, not the completely objectively-fantastic Silver Age Prison Grays Luthor, but regardless of how the current version of Luthor requires a…smoothing over of some of the continuity-reshuffles of the character over the last few years, his pure Luthorness tends to still shine through. He’s one of those characters, like the Thing or Dr. Doom, who seems to come through unscathed regardless of the storytelling abuses he endures. Er, not that I’m saying that he’s going to be taking said abuse in this current storyline, which from all appearances should be very good.
Also, Action Comics is almost to issue #900. Far out.
COMIC BOOK #3 – Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain #1: Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Peter Snejbjerg present the latest mini-series set in the Hellboy universe…not much to say about this, aside from the Hellboy ‘n’ friends comics are always entertaining.
A comic I think I’m not going to buy is Flash #3, in that I’ve been reading the Flash comics for over a quarter of a century, and while I enjoyed the Flash: Rebirth mini well enough (despite the occasional artistic oddity), the actual Flash comic itself hasn’t really grabbed me. I know, I know, we’re only two issues in, but I read this comic with a sense of “okay, y’all made a big deal about Barry Allen coming back…now what?” It may just be too many years of Barry being offstage, his new status quo of “departed legend” too solidly established, but this new series just doesn’t feel right to me yet. Now, I did feel the same way about the post-Rebirth Green Lantern series, which took me an issue or four to really get into, and now it’s one of my favorite regular reads. I honestly don’t know if I’m going to stick around long enough on Flash to find out if it’ll do the same.
Now, that’s just me. It’s a perfectly fine comic, aside from the historical baggage it may carry for some fans, and plenty of people are buying it and asking me about it at the shop. I may have just reached my Flash Limit, is all. Your mileage may vary, as people fond of saying that sort of thing like to say.
Oh, and the Herbie Vinyl Figure is coming out this week, too. Thaaaaat…may make up for my lack of comic spending this Wednesday.
“Also, Action Comics is almost to issue #700. Far out.”
I’m going to assume that’s a typo.
Sigh. I need to write these posts at a time other than stupid o’clock in the morning. Typo fixed…thanks, Greg!
Hmm. I am also only buying three comics this week (Abe Sapien for the reasons you mentioned, Chimichanga #3 because Eric Powell draws purty, and Wonder Woman 600 because I like Wonder Woman) and using that as an excuse to drop 40 clams on the Herbie figure.
Do you actually buy many comics, or do you just read ’em and re-shelve ’em?
Philip – I don’t buy a LOT of comics…I mean, I suppose, relatively speaking, compared to some of my customers. I average about 7 to 10 a week, maybe.
I don’t do much in-store reading beyond briefly flipping through some of the new arrivals just so I have a vague awareness of what’s happening in case customers ask. Frankly, I just don’t have the time to “read comics all day” like some customers assume I get to do.
I will occasionally make an exception if we get some Golden or unusual Silver Age stuff in the shop…I mean, if a copy of Jughead’s Folly shows up, I gotta read it. I’m only human.
I’m going to buy five comics this week mister! Two of which we are twin-sees with you! ^__^
It’s funny how different people’s reactions can be. I’ve also been reading Flash for ~25 years, and I could not *stand* Flash: Rebirth from a couple of issues in. But the new series works just fine for me, at least so far.