ArtisticallyChill

It was quite busy this past weekend through late Tuesday night as myself, Serena and several friends of Keith’s Komix helped out Keith and his family with the expansion of his store. Boxes upon boxes of cards, trades, and toys that could survive the humidity were loaded into a truck as comic books and statues were tucked safely into the corners of the store. The racks came off the walls and were power-washed and the slat walls were taken down. The thin wall that separated Keith’s Komix from what used to be a beading store came down. As the dust settled, the counters were moved and arranged in the center. The comics were all set up for New Comic Book Day and after the truck was unloaded, Keith’s Komix still looks bigger and better. With so much more room, the store will be able to display more merchandise and take gaming nights to a whole new level! Serena and I were happy to help out our favorite local comic shop, Keith’s Komix!

• BATGIRL #23
• BATMAN & ROBIN #25
• BATMAN INC. #7
• BIRDS OF PREY #14
• CHARISMAGIC #2
• DETECTIVE COMICS #878-879
• EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT IRIS: THE HIT LIST AGENDA #1
• EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT ORCHID: THE HIT LIST AGENDA #1
• GOTHAM CENTRAL, BOOK FOUR: CORRIGAN
• LADY MECHANIKA #2
• OZMA OF OZ #8
• RED ROBIN #25
• TEEN TITANS #97
• THE UNWRITTEN #24

PICKS OF THE WEEK:
BATMAN & ROBIN #25

Written by JUDD WINICK; Art by GREG TOCCHINI; Cover by GUILLEM MARCH; Variant cover by J.G. JONES

The most unlikely team-up ever comes to an end. It’s the crashing finish to the brief alliance of Batman, Robin and Jason Todd, a.k.a. The Red Hood, against a common foe. After all, the three “sons of Wayne” can put their differences aside for just so long. And when one fight ends, another will begin…

DETECTIVE COMICS #879

Written by SCOTT SNYDER; Art by JOCK and FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA; Cover by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA

For years, Jim Gordon has been tormented by the possibility that his son, James Jr., might be a killer. Tonight, he’ll get the answers he’s been after. But is the truth about James even darker than the Commissioner, or even Batman, could have guessed?

SERENA’S PICK OF THE WEEK: LADY MECHANIKA #2

THERE’S A NEW LADY IN TOWN!

From the imaginative mind of Joe Benitez with colors by the incomparable Peter Steigerwald, comes this all-new supernatural action-adventure series!

The tabloids dubbed her “LADY MECHANIKA”, the sole survivor of a psychotic serial killer’s three-year rampage through London. Found locked in an abandoned laboratory amidst countless corpses and body parts, with her own limbs amputated and replaced with mechanical components, her life began anew. With no memory of her captivity or her former life, LADY MECHANIKA eventually built a new life for herself as a private detective, using her unique abilities to solve cases the police couldn’t or wouldn’t handle. But, she has never stopped searching for answers…

Now, disturbed by haunting memories from her past, LADY MECHANIKA is consumed by a need for answers and focuses all her efforts on investigating the mystery of the Mechanical Girl. The trail leads her to a traveling show run by a band of gypsies, where help might not come as easily as anticipated. But even with the aid of the Gypsy Queen, can LADY MECHANIKA discover who created the Mechanical Girl and why? And will the answers bring her one step closer to uncovering the truth about herself? 

Joe B’s good friend Ale Garza has turned in one of his best covers yet, and with the addition of Peter Steigerwald’s colors, now it is a masterpiece.

HARDCOVER PICK OF THE WEEK: GOTHAM CENTRAL, BOOK FOUR: CORRIGAN

Written by GREG RUCKA and ED BRUBAKER ; Art by STEVE LIEBER, KANO and STEFANO GAUDIANO; Cover by JOSHUA MIDDLETON

Witness the gritty side of the Gotham City Police Department from their perspective, as teens dressed as Robin the Boy Wonder start turning up dead. In this final hardcover collection of GOTHAM CENTRAL, collecting issues #32-40, the dead body of Robin the Boy Wonder is found on the streets. Now the detectives of Gotham Central must try to solve the mystery of his death while dealing with Batman and the Teen Titans.

HAPPY READING!

~LoneWolf

A lot was waiting for us yesterday at Keith’s Komix. I looking forward to the visit in light of the bad news I received earlier that day. From the conclusion of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ to BLACKEST NIGHT and more WEDNESDAY COMICS, this weekend will be full of some great reading!

• BLACKEST NIGHT: TALES OF THE CORPS # 2
• BLACKEST NIGHT: TALES OF THE CORPS # 3
• DEADPOOL: SUICIDE KINGS # 4
• DETECTIVE COMICS # 855
• FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS # 5
• GOTHAM CITY SIRENS # 2
• GREEN LANTERN # 44
• HALO: HELLJUMPER # 1
• JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 35
• JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #29
• THE OUTSIDERS # 20
• POWER GIRL # 3
• RUNAWAYS # 12
• TEEN TITANS # 73
• THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ # 8
• WEDNESDAY COMICS # 3
• WEDNESDAY COMICS # 4
• WOLVERINE: ORIGINS # 38
• X-FORCE # 17

PICK OF LAST WEEK: FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS # 5

Written by Geoff Johns; Art by George Pérez and Scott Koblish; Covers by George Pérez
This is it! The time-stopping finale to this FINAL CRISIS tie-in arrives as Superman, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl battle Time Trapper while Prime and the Legion of Super-Villains engage in an all-out war with the Legions!

PICK OF THIS WEEK: DETECTIVE COMICS # 855

Written by Greg Rucka; Art by JH Williams III; co-feature Art by Cully Hamner; Cover by JH Williams III
“Elegy” part 2 of 4 by Greg Rucka and JH Williams III! Batwoman captures her enemy, a madwoman known only as Alice who sees her life as a fairy tale and everyone around her as expendable extras – including Kate! But when the tables are turned, Batwoman finds herself in a hallucination slamming the present into a collision with the past, and the hints of a threat that will claim the lives of every man, woman and child in Gotham City.

And in the all-new co-feature starring the Question, Montoya’s quest to find a missing young girl turns deadly.

~ LoneWolf

Yesterday’s visit to the comic book store was, as all visits are, a lot of of fun. Our pull was split between Marve and DC. Serena insisted on picking up the first of the Dark Avengers and Uncanny X-men crossover. She liked the interiors so it looks like we’ll be picking up this story arc. I don’t even have a clue what it is about because I haven’t been interested in picking up anything ‘Dark Reign’ related. I may have to continue picking up Wolverine as # 75 focuses on Daken, currently posing as Norman Osborn’s Wolverine of his ‘Dark’ Avengers, and is starting point of a 3 issue story. I’m still adamant at cutting down my Marvel titles as I’m picking up more DC titles that just seem more interesting to me. Plus, Blackest Night is just around the corner and I’m pretty sure I’ll be picking up the tie-ins for that.

• ASTONISHING X-MEN # 30
• DARK AVENGERS/UNCANNY X-MEN: UTOPIA # 1
• DARK WOLVERINE # 75
• DETECTIVE COMICS # 854
• ECHO # 13
• GOTHAM CITY SIRENS # 1
• GREEN LANTERN # 42
• JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 34
• JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA # 28
• RUNAWAYS # 11
• TEEN TITANS # 72
• UNCANNY X-MEN # 512
• WOLVERINE: WEAPON X # 3
• X-FACTOR # 45
• X-FORCE # 16

PICK OF THE WEEK: DETECTIVE COMICS # 854

Written by Greg Rucka
Art by JH Williams and Cully Hamner
Cover by JH Williams
Variant Cover by JG Jones

“Elegy” part 1 of 4! A new era in the history of DETECTIVE COMICS begins as Batwoman is unleashed on Gotham City! Marked by the blood-red bat, Kate Kane is a soldier fighting her own private war – one that began years ago and haunts her every waking moment. With a script by Greg Rucka and breath-taking art by JH Williams III, you’ve never seen anything like this!

Featuring the debut of a new co-feature starring The Question written by Rucka! Odds against you? Alone and nowhere to turn? Willing to fight, but you don’t know how? When you’re searching everywhere for an answer, sometimes all you need to do is ask the right Question. Renee Montoya again dons the faceless mask to help those in need, all the while searching for her own answers in this new adventure with art by Cully Hamner (BLUE BEETLE).

CAUGHT BY SERENA’S ARTISTIC EYE: DARK AVENGERS/UNCANNY X-MEN: UTOPIA # 1

Cover by: Simone Bianchi
Writer: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Marc Silvestri
Inks: Top Cow – Joe Weems
Colored by: Frank D’Armata
Lettered by: VC – Chris Eliopoulos

THE STORY:
The Dark Avengers take on the Uncanny X-Men! Kicking off the 6-part crossover event, rising star Matt Fraction (UNCANNY X-MEN, INVINCIBLE IRON MAN) is joined by X-artist supreme Marc Silvestri (X-MEN: MESSIAH COMPLEX, CIVIL WAR: THE INITIATIVE ONE-SHOT) to bring you a story that shakes the foundations of the Marvel Universe. When mutant riots break out in San Francisco, Norman Osborn declares martial law and sends the Dark Avengers in to quell the riots and take down the X-Men. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Don’t miss the first Avengers/X-Men crossover in over 15 years!

~ LoneWolf