So, what’s hitting the stands this week?
- DC launches Injustice: Gods Among Us, and we have a review below. There’s also a lot more of Before Watchmen and a few annuals, both of which also get the review treatment. They also wrap up their quite good He-Man miniseries and have a one-shot into the bargain
- Marvel has more Avengers, Deadpool, Hawkeye, X-Men Legacy and Superior Spider-Man, and also has a Silver Surfer collecting the “Parable” two-parter from the late ’80s featuring the odd team of Stan Lee and Moebius. Since it’s difficult to find, hey, we’re all for it.
- Image has Invincible crossing the hundred issue mark, more of Brian Wood’s Mara, and a hell of a lot of Walking Dead T-shirts.
- Dark Horse launches Emily and The Strangers, and publishes something that will have the Nintendo nerds squeeing: The English translation of the Hyrule Historia.
- IDW launches a new Doctor Who mini, Prisoners Of Time, and continues their Mars Attacks crossover one-shots with Mars Attacks Zombies Vs. Robots.
- And Boom! has more Adventure Time and the long-overdue Deathmatch.
Reviews
Justice League: The Villain’s Journey
Volume 2 of Justice League, collecting Geoff Johns and Jim Lee’s run on DC’s flagship title is a pretty solid team book, and this volume just emphasizes that. It is worth noting that the book has some pretty serious mood whiplash: One minute it’s joking about and the next minute we need to talk about this guy’s dead family. Johns stands out particularly when defining personalities: He can do it in as little as a panel, and contrast them just as well.
But uneven tone aside, it’s fun stuff. If you like superheroes, you’ll like this, and it’ll make a good jumping on point for new readers.
Green Lantern Corps Annual #1
The Rise of the Third Army arc wraps up with… well, a cliffhanger. Peter Tomasi essentially ends the story by immediately kicking off the next arc spanning all the Green Lantern books, so this feels like less of a conclusion and more of a sidebar to the overall ongoing series. Nonetheless, if you’ve been following the books, it’s a solid payoff to the arc and several other books, and Chriscross, the penciller, has a lot of fun with the Green Lantern menagerie. But a far better Tomasi book this week is…
Batman And Robin Annual #1
Tomasi also writes this self-contained story about Damien running a scam on Bruce Wayne. But it’s a very warm-hearted, generous scam that explores how Thomas and Martha Wayne went while digging up memories of a happier time in Bruce’s life. Meanwhile Damien is running around Gotham in a pint-sized Bat-suit with a Great Dane, trying to track down an arsonist and his… nibbly sidekick. Damien is a tricky character in the wrong hands, but Tomasi nails the snot-nosed punk aspect of Damien without making him annoying, and his attempts to prove himself to Bruce in two ways at once is actually pretty adorable.
Also, Ardian Syaf and Vincente Cifuentes have a lot of fun drawing a midget Batman, so there’s also that.
Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill
The uneven Before Watchmen event continues with this one shot about a very minor character. Len Wein actually does a fairly good job turning Dollar Bill from what amounts to a gag into a more fully fleshed and interesting personality, and Steve Rude’s art has a near-perfect retro feel that fits the book. But you do find yourself wondering whether Dollar Bill needed a whole issue dedicated to him, especially one with a sappy ending and a few uncomfortable stereotypes that you’ll know when you see them.
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #5
There’s no reason to read this book, except for Jae Lee’s stunning layouts and art. Storywise, its the Star Wars prequels of Watchmen, because really we don’t need any elaborate explanation for Ozymandias’ actions.
On the other hand, Jae Lee’s rendering of Bubastis is possibly the cutest thing you will see this week. Possibly ever. If anything it’ll make you more upset with Ozymandias, so I guess this issue had a point after all.
Teen Titans #16
This is another Death of The Family crossover that really is just Jason Todd and Tim Drake fighting at the Joker’s behest. But, hey, who isn’t down for seeing Jason get beaten like a pinata?
Superman #16
The H’El On Earth storyline is taking something of a long time to get to its ultimate punchline, and Scott Lobdell’s issue here is really just filling time, story wise. But it gives us plenty of time to look at Kenneth Rocafort’s art, so I’m not complaining too much.
Aquaman #16
This issue is essentially Aquaman hauling around Batman-in-a-Can and trying to solve the mystery of why, exactly, Atlantis was antagonized into attacking the surface world. It’s got a zippy pace, although the final twist won’t be terribly shocking, and I’m liking the concision of the Throne of Atlantis arc; it’ll be wrapped up in the next Justice League.
Injustice: Gods Among Us #1
Oh, sure, DC and Warner Brothers Interactive can swear up and down and left and right that this is just a video game tie-in, that they just want to squeeze an extra buck out of a video game property heavily tied into the DCU.
But you can’t fool me, guys. Somebody missed Elseworlds. Somebody missed Elseworlds so much, they made a video game just to justify putting a new Elseworlds book on the stands. For those who weren’t ’90s comics nerds, Elseworlds was a line of DC books exploring alternate continuities and concepts, basically a What If…? for the DCU. And this is very much an Elseworlds book.
Essentially, the Joker decides to mess with Superman and it… ends badly. Very badly. Tom Taylor has worked heavily as a writer on Star Wars comics for Dark Horse and here he poses a pretty credible nightmare scenario for Superman.
It’s hampered a bit by being a digital tie-in comics, so the art is from three different artists across thirty pages, and it doesn’t quite mesh. But this book ends on a pretty nasty cliffhanger, and it might be the best book DC has on the stands this week.
And now, the full list:
DC COMICS
All-Star Western #16, $3.99
Aquaman #16 (Eddy Barrows & Eber Ferreira Black & White Variant Cover), AR
Aquaman #16 (Eddy Barrows & Eber Ferreira Regular Cover), $2.99
Arrow #3, $3.99
Batman And Robin Annual #1, $4.99
Batman Beyond Unlimited #12, $3.99
Batman Incorporated #7 (Chris Burnham Black & White Variant Cover), AR
Batman Incorporated #7 (Chris Burnham Regular Cover), $2.99
Batman Incorporated #7 (Chris Burnham Combo Pack Cover), $3.99
Batman Incorporated #7 (Tony S. Daniel Variant Cover), AR
Batman The Dark Knight #16 (Ethan Van Sciver Black & White Variant Cover), AR
Batman The Dark Knight #16 (Ethan Van Sciver Regular Cover), $2.99
Batman The Dark Knight Golden Dawn TP, $14.99
Before Watchmen Dollar Bill #1 (One Shot)(Steve Rude Combo Pack Cover), $4.99
Before Watchmen Dollar Bill #1 (One Shot)(Darwyn Cooke Variant Cover), AR
Before Watchmen Dollar Bill #1 (One Shot)(Jim Lee Variant Cover), AR
Before Watchmen Dollar Bill #1 (One Shot)(Steve Rude Regular Cover), $3.99
Before Watchmen Ozymandias #5 (Of 6)(Jae Lee Combo Pack Cover), $4.99
Before Watchmen Ozymandias #5 (Of 6)(Jae Lee Regular Cover), $3.99
Before Watchmen Ozymandias #5 (Of 6)(Jill Thompson Variant Cover), AR
DC Comics Super-Heroes Booster Gold Bust, $69.95
Flash #16 (Francis Manapul Regular Cover), $2.99
Flash #16 (Francis Manapul Variant Cover), AR
Fury Of Firestorm The Nuclear Men #16, $2.99
Global Frequency TP, $19.99
Green Lantern Corps Annual #1, $4.99
He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe #6 (Of 6), $2.99
I Vampire #16, $2.99
Injustice Gods Among Us #1 (Jheremy Raapack Regular Cover), $3.99
Injustice Gods Among Us #1 (Jheremy Raapack Variant Cover), AR
Joe Kubert Presents #4 (Of 6), $4.99
Justice League Dark #16, $2.99
Justice League Volume 1 Origin TP, $16.99
Justice League Volume 2 The Villain’s Journey HC, $24.99
Lot 13 #4 (Of 5), $2.99
Masters Of The Universe The Origin Of He-Man #1 (One Shot), $2.99
Red Lanterns #16 (Miguel Sepulveda Black & White Variant Cover), AR
Red Lanterns #16 (Miguel Sepulveda Regular Cover), $2.99
Savage Hawkman #16, $2.99
Superman #16 (Kenneth Rocafort Black & White Variant Cover), AR
Superman #16 (Kenneth Rocafort Regular Cover), $2.99
Superman Family Adventures #9, $2.99
Talon #4 (Guillem March Black & White Variant Cover), AR
Talon #4 (Guillem March Regular Cover), $2.99
Talon #4 (Mike Choi Variant Cover), AR
Teen Titans #16 (Brett Booth Black & White Variant Cover), AR
Teen Titans #16 (Brett Booth Regular Cover), $2.99
Unwritten #45, $2.99
MARVEL COMICS
All-New X-Men #3 (Stuart Immonen 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99
All-New X-Men #4 (Stuart Immonen 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99
Amazing Spider-Man #698 (Paola Rivera 3rd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99
Amazing Spider-Man #699.1 (Stefano Caselli 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Avengers #2 (Dustin Weaver 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99
Avengers #4 (Dale Keown Variant Cover), AR
Avengers #4 (Dustin Weaver Regular Cover), $3.99
Avengers Vs X-Men Consequences TP, $17.99
Avenging Spider-Man #15.1 (Paola Rivera 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Daredevil #21 (Paola Rivera 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Dark Avengers #186, $2.99
Dark Avengers End Is Beginning TP (was ‘Dark Avengers Justice Like Lightning’), $19.99
Deadpool #3 (Geof Darrow 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Fantastic Four Reunited They Stand TP, $24.99
Hawkeye #5 (David Aja 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Hawkeye #7, $2.99
Iron Man #1 (Greg Land 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99
Iron Man By Joe Quesada TP, $24.99
Journey Into Mystery #648 (Jeff Dekal Regular Cover), $2.99
Journey Into Mystery #648 (Nic Klein Variant Cover), AR
Marvel Previews #114 (February 2013 For Products On-Sale April 2013), $1.25
Punisher Nightmare #5 (Of 5), $3.99
Punisher War Zone #4 (Of 5), $2.99
Silver Surfer By Stan Lee And Moebius #1 (One Shot), $7.99
Superior Spider-Man #2 (Ed McGuinness Variant Cover), AR
Superior Spider-Man #2 (Ryan Stegman Regular Cover), $3.99
Thor God Of Thunder #3 (Esad Ribic 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99
Thunderbolts #1 (Steve Dillon 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Thunderbolts #2 (Steve Dillon 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Ultimate Comics Divided We Fall United We Stand HC, $39.99
X-Men By Brian Wood Volume 1 Blank Generation TP, $19.99
X-Men Legacy #5 (Jorge Molina Variant Cover), AR
X-Men Legacy #5 (Mike Del Mundo Regular Cover), $2.99
X-Men Mutant Massacre TP (New Printing), $34.99
X-Treme X-Men #9 (Kalman Andrasofszky Regular Cover), $2.99
X-Women TP, $24.99
IMAGE COMICS
Activity #11, $3.50
Darkness #110, $2.99
Glory #32, $3.99
Hack Slash #23 (Cover A Elizabeth Torque), $3.50
Hack Slash #23 (Cover B Tim Seeley & Jordie Bellaire), $3.50
Happy #3 (Of 4)(2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Invincible #100 (Cover A Ryan Ottley), $3.99
Invincible #100 (Cover B Cory Walker), $3.99
Invincible #100 (Cover C Marc Silvestri), $3.99
Invincible #100 (Cover D Bryan Hitch), $3.99
Invincible #100 (Cover E Arthur Adams), $3.99
Invincible #100 (Cover F Charlie Adlard), $3.99
Invincible #100 (Cover G Ryan Ottley Wraparound), $3.99
Invincible #100 (Cover H Ryan Ottley Black & White Wraparound), AR
Invincible #100 (Ryan Ottley Chromium Edition Cover), $9.99
MacGyver Fugitive Gauntlet #4 (Of 5), $2.99
Mara #2 (Of 6), $2.99
Nowhere Men #2 (2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Nowhere Men #3, $2.99
Spawn #227 (Cover A Todd McFarlane), $2.99
Spawn #227 (Cover B Todd McFarlane), AR
Walking Dead T-Shirt Flag Men’s LG, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Flag Men’s MED, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Flag Men’s SM, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Flag Men’s XL, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Flag Men’s XXL, $21.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Flag Women’s LG, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Flag Women’s MED, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Flag Women’s SM, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Flag Women’s XL, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Skull And Crossbones LG, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Skull And Crossbones MED, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Skull And Crossbones SM, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Skull And Crossbones XL, $19.99
Walking Dead T-Shirt Skull And Crossbones XXL, $22.99
DARK HORSE COMICS
Angel And Faith #18 (Rebekah Isaacs Variant Cover), $2.99
Angel And Faith #18 (Steve Morris Regular Cover), $2.99
Creepy Archives Volume 15 HC, $49.99
Criminal Macabre Final Night The 30 Days Of Night Crossover #2 (Of 4), $3.99
Dragon Age Volume 2 Those Who Speak HC, $14.99
Emily And The Strangers #1 (Of 3)(Buzz Parker Regular Cover), $3.99
Emily And The Strangers #1 (Of 3)(R. Black Variant Cover), $3.99
Game Of Thrones Throne Replica Statue, $295.00
Hellboy In Hell #1 (Mike Mignola 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Legend Of Zelda Hyrule Historia HC, $34.99
Legend Of Zelda Hyrule Historia HC (Limited Collector’s Edition), $69.99
Orchid #12, $3.50
R.I.P.D. City Of The Damned #3 (Of 4), $3.50
Star Wars Agent Of The Empire Hard Targets #4 (Of 5), $2.99
Star Wars Omnibus Infinities TP, $24.99
IDW PUBLISHING
Angora Napkin Volume 2 Harvest Of Revenge HC, $29.99
Cape 1969 HC, $21.99
Doctor Who #2 (2nd Printing Variant Cover)(not verified by Diamond), $3.99
Doctor Who Prisoners Of Time #1 (Of 12)(Cover A Francesco Francavilla), $3.99
Doctor Who Prisoners Of Time #1 (Of 12)(Cover RI-A Simon Fraser), AR
Doctor Who Prisoners Of Time #1 (Of 12)(Cover RI-B Photo), AR
Frank R. Paul The Dean Of Science Fiction Illustration HC, $29.99
Mars Attacks Zombies Vs Robots (One Shot)(Cover A Ray Dillon), $3.99
Mars Attacks Zombies Vs Robots (One Shot)(Cover RI-A John Byrne), AR
Mars Attacks Zombies Vs Robots (One Shot)(Cover RI-B Dave Sim), AR
My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic #1 (Dynamic Forces Exclusive Cover), $19.83
Transformers Complete Drift HC, $24.99
X-9 Secret Agent Corrigan Volume 5 HC, $49.99
BOOM! STUDIOS
Adventure Time #12 (Cover A Chris Houghton), $3.99
Adventure Time #12 (Cover B Zack Sterling), $3.99
Adventure Time #12 (Cover C Lilli Carre), AR
Adventure Time #12 (Cover D David King), AR
Deathmatch #2 (Cover A Whilce Portacio), $3.99
Deathmatch #2 (Cover B Trevor Hairsine), $3.99
Deathmatch #2 (Cover C Trevor Hairsine), AR
Deathmatch #2 (Cover C Trevor Hairsine), AR
Deathmatch #2 (Cover E Whilce Portacio), AR
Deathmatch #2 (Cover F Jung-Geon Yoon), AR
Extermination Volume 1 TP, $14.99
Planet Of The Apes Volume 4 TP, $19.99
Roger Langridge’s Snarked Volume 3 TP, $14.99
ALTERNA COMICS
FUBAR Winter Special (One Shot), $2.99
AMRYL ENTERTAINMENT
Cavewoman Gangster #3 (Of 3)(Budd Root Special Edition), AR
ANDREWS MCMEEL
Calvin And Hobbes Attack Of The Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons TP (New Printing), $12.99
ANTARCTIC PRESS
Gold Digger #146, $3.99
APE ENTERTAINMENT
Richie Rich Gems #48, $3.99
APPLAUSE PUBLISHING
James Bond FAQ All That’s Left To Know About Everyone’s Favorite Superspy SC, $22.99
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS
Archie Double Digest #237, $3.99
Archie The Married Life Volume 3 TP, $19.99
ASPEN COMICS
Executive Assistant Iris Volume 3 #2 (Cover A Alex Konat), $3.99
Executive Assistant Iris Volume 3 #2 (Cover B Emilio Laiso), $3.99
Executive Assistant Iris Volume 3 #2 (Cover C Elizabeth Torque), AR
AVATAR PRESS
Crossed Badlands #18 (Raulo Caceres Auxiliary Edition), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #22 (Gianluca Pagliarani Wraparound Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #22 (Raulo Caceres Red Crossed Incentive Cover), AR
Crossed Badlands #22 (Raulo Caceres Regular Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #22 (Raulo Caceres Torture Cover), $3.99
Night Of The Living Dead Aftermath #1 (Raulo Caceres Tasty Cover), $5.99
BBC AUDIOBOOKS
Doctor Who The Sleepers In Dust And Snake Bite Audio CD, $19.95
BEARMANOR MEDIA
Golden Goddesses 25 Legendary Women Of Classic Erotic Cinema 1968-1985 SC, $49.95
BONGO COMICS
Futurama Comics #65, $2.99
Simpsons Illustrated #5, $3.99
BOOK PALACE
Robert E Howard’s Complete Conan Of Cimmeria Volume 3 1935 HC (Limited Deluxe Edition), $112.00
BOUNDLESS COMICS
Lady Death #21 (Juan Jose Ryp Viking Queen Cover), $9.99
Lady Death #22 (Juan Jose Ryp Auxiliary Cover), $3.99
Lady Death #23 (Pow Rodrix Messy Cover), $9.99
BROADSWORD COMICS
Tarot Witch Of The Black Rose #78, $2.95
COMIC SHOP NEWS
Comic Shop News #1337, AR
CREATORS EDGE PRESS
Blade Of The North Wind GN, $9.99
CRUCIDEL PRODUCTIONS
CrossStar #7 (Of 7), $3.99
DIAMOND PUBLICATIONS
Game Trade Magazine #156, $3.99
Previews #293 (February 2013), $4.50
DKE
Mr Toast Comics #4 (Ninja School)(not verified by Diamond), $3.00
DRAWN AND QUARTERLY
Cave-In GN, $14.95
Freddie Stories HC, $19.95
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Damsels #5 (Joseph Michael Linsner Black & White Variant Cover), AR
Damsels #5 (Joseph Michael Linsner Regular Cover), $3.99
Damsels #5 (Joseph Michael Linsner Virgin Variant Cover), AR
Dark Shadows #13 (Francesco Francavilla Regular Cover), $3.99
Flash Gordon Zeitgeist #9 (Alex Ross Regular Cover), $3.99
Green Hornet #33 (Phil Hester Regular Cover), $3.99
Green Hornet #33 (Stephen Sadowski Regular Cover), $3.99
Pantha #6 (Mark Texeira Regular Cover), $3.99
Robert Jordan’s The Wheel Of Time The Eye Of The World #32 (Adam Moore Regular Cover), $3.99
Shadow #9 (Alex Ross Regular Cover), $3.99
Shadow #9 (Alex Ross Sketch Variant Cover), AR
Shadow #9 (Alex Ross Virgin Variant Cover), AR
Shadow #9 (Francesco Francavilla Regular Cover), $3.99
Shadow #9 (Michael Golden Regular Cover), $3.99
Shadow #9 (Tim Bradstreet Regular Cover), $3.99
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS
7 Miles A Second HC (not verified by Diamond), $19.99
Complete Crumb Comics Volume 3 Starring Fritz The Cat TP, $19.99
Prince Valiant Volume 6 1947-1948 HC, $35.00
Tales Designed To Thrizzle Volume 2 HC (not verified by Diamond), $24.99
GAMES WORKSHOP
White Dwarf #396 (January 2013), AR
GOTHAM BOOKS
Marbles Mania Depression Michelangelo And Me A Graphic Memoir SC, $20.00
HUMANOIDS PUBLISHING
Jihad HC, $29.95
KODANSHA COMICS
Bloody Monday Volume 9 GN, $10.99
Wallflower Volume 29 GN, $10.99
LITTLE BROWN AND COMPANY
Adventures Of Tintin Red Rackham’s Treasure HC (Collectors Giant Facsimile Edition), $60.00
Adventures Of Tintin The Secret Of The Unicorn HC (Collectors Giant Facsimile Edition), $60.00
MARVEL PRESS
Captain America Joins The Mighty Avengers HC (2nd Edition), $8.99
MCFARLAND
Feminism In The Worlds Of Neil Gaiman SC, $35.00
NBM
Treasury Of Victorian Murder Compendium Volume 1 HC, $24.99
ONI PRESS
Bad Medicine Volume 1 TP, $19.99
Courtney Crumrin #9, $3.99
Sixth Gun #28, $3.99
ORION
Asterix Sticker Book SC, $12.95
QUAYSIDE PUBLISHING GROUP
Art Of Punk The Illustrated History Of Punk Rock Designs HC, $40.00
Drawing And Painting Imaginary Animals SC, $24.99
SANCTUM PRODUCTIONS
Nick Carter Double Novel Volume 1 SC, $14.95
Shadow Double Novel Volume 69 SC, $14.95
SELFMADEHERO
Hellraisers A Graphic Biography GN, $22.95
SQPINC
Girls On Top Volume 2 More Pin-Up Art Of Matt Dixon SC, $14.95
SOURCE INTERLINK
Geek Magazine #4, $6.99
TOHAN CORPORATION
Hobby Japan #109 (January 2013), $16.60
TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS
Dear Beloved Stranger GN, $19.95
TOR BOOKS
Robert Jordan’s Eye Of The World Volume 3 HC, $24.99
TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
Draw #24, $7.95
Jack Kirby Collector #60, $10.95
UDON ENTERTAINMENT
Super Street Fighter Volume 1 New Generation GN, $34.95
VERTICAL
Limit Volume 3 GN, $10.95
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Sleepy Hollow #4 (Cover A Eric J), $2.99
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Sleepy Hollow #4 (Cover B Marat Mychaels), $2.99
Irresistible TP, $15.99