ArtisticallyChill

It’s been a while since I lasted posted about the usual visit to Keith’s Komix Serena and I do every Thursday night. We have been a bit busy and haven’t picked up much in quite some time. Last week, we decided to pick up a huge bulk of the comic books sitting in our pull box. Keith has been very understanding with our pick ups and we are grateful for him for not re-shelving all the books that have been accumulating in our pull box. Since DCnU starts this month, we’re clearing out our box to get caught up on our favorite titles and for me to finally decide which titles out of the new 52 will I end up picking up. Since the DCnU may leave with a bit of disappointment, I will hold off on picking up titles on day one, and wait for reactions from my friends at Keith’s Komix as to which titles seem promising and should be put on my new DC pull list.

My Stack:

• BATGIRL #24
• BATMAN #712-713
• BATMAN & ROBIN #26
• BIRDS OF PREY #15
• BOOSTER GOLD #45
• DETECTIVE COMICS #880-881
• FLASHPOINT #3-5
• GODZILLA: KINGDOM OF MONSTERS #1
• GREEN LANTERN CORPS #61-62
• GREEN LANTERN EMERALD WARRIORS #11-12
• JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #59
• JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #52-53
• RACHEL RISING #1
• RED ROBIN #26
• TEEN TITANS #98-100
• TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1
• UNWRITTEN #26
• WAR OF THE GREEN LANTERNS AFTERMATH #1-2

Serena’s Stack:

• BROKEN PIECES #0
• CHARISMAGIC #2
• DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE #8
• EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT IRIS: HIT LIST AGENDA #0-2
• EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT LOTUS: HIT LIST AGENDA #1-2
• EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT ORCHID: HIT LIST AGENDA #1
• EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT VIOLET: HIT LIST AGENDA #1
• FATHOM #0
• FATHOM #0 – LIMITED RETAILER EDITION
• FEAR ITSELF BOOK ONE – SKETCH COVER VARIANT
• FLIGHT VOL.1
• MADAME XANADU VOL.4: EXTRA-SENSORY
• MINDFIELD #6
• THE MIGHTY THOR #1 – SKETCH COVER VARIANT
• OZMA OF OZ #8
• PLANET OF THE APES #1-3
• SCOURGE #4
• SOULFIRE #1-3
• LADY MECHANIKA #2
• X-23 #9

MY TOP 3 PICKS FROM MY PILE:

1. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1
2. RACHEL RISING #1
3. GODZILLA: KINGDOM OF MONSTERS #1

SERENA’S TOP 3 PICKS FROM HER PILE:

1. LADY MECHANIKA #2
2. CHARISMAGIC #2
3. OZMA OF OZ #8

There’s lots of great reading to be done. As summer winds down, we’ll have plenty of cooler days and nights to spend indoors reading a few books here and there, cozying up on the couch with some hot tea.

HAPPY READING!

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

This past week’s visit to Keith’s Komix has us catching up with DEADPOOL. I still behind on a few of the titles I normally pick up but I think this whole idea of only allowing myself to spend $20 on our weekly visits has definitely been a good thing. There will always be one week out of the month where there will be only a few releases and that’s an opportunity to just catch up on stuff I have sitting in my pull box rather than buying extra books I don’t necessarily need right away and just waiting for the collected hardcover to come out. i.e. UNCANNY X-FORCE, FLASHPOINT etc.

• BOOSTER GOLD #44
• BRIGHTEST DAY AFTERMATH: THE SEARCH FOR SWAMP THING #1
• DEADPOOL #35-39
• FLIGHT Vol. 1
• JUSTICE LEAGUE of AMERICA #58
• PLANET OF THE APES #1

MY PICK OF THE WEEK: JUSTICE LEAGUE of AMERICA #58

Written by JAMES ROBINSON; Art and cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND; Variant cover by AARON LOPRESTI

After last issue’s devastating battle with the Spectre, Eclipso now has the power to split the moon in two, an omen that the end of days has begun. With life on Earth at stake, Batman much hatch a desperate plan involving Shade, Starman and the Atom. At the same time, another member of the team steps forward, not knowing how vital she is to mankind’s survival. Prepare for “Eclipso vs. Donna Troy” – with an ending that will shock you!

SERENA’S PICK OF THE WEEK: PLANET OF THE APES #1

Writer(s): Daryl Gregory, Artist(s): Carlos Magno
Get your hands on these damn dirty Apes! Beginning an all-new series that takes place before the original 1968 Planet of the Apes movie in the continuity of the first five films! Ape society has reached a new golden age. But there are ripples of dissent in both the ape and human ranks. Tensions will rise and soon all will be caught in chaos! And amidst all this uncertainty, what is the fate of…The Lawgiver? Written by award-winning novelist Daryl Gregory!

SERENA’S GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE WEEK: FLIGHT Vol. 1

Originally published by Image Comics in 2004, Flight, Volume One launched this graphic novel series with a resounding bang. Since then the Flight series has steadily increased in popularity–and now all of the Flight backlist will be coming to Villard!

Flight, Volume One received a great boost when graphic novel hero Scott McCloud praised the quality and artistry of the book in an afterward entitled THE YEAR COMICS TOOK FLIGHT. Little could readers know at the time how prophetic McCloud’s words would prove to be.

“Regardless of where it’s shelved, this book belongs in every library.” — Library Journal on Flight, Volume One

Authors included in Flight, Volume One are: Bengal, Bill Mudron, Catia Chien, Chris Appelhans, Clio Chiang, Derek Kirk Kim, Dylan Meconis, Enrico Casarosa, Erika Moen, Hope Larson, Jacob Magraw-Mickelson, Jake Parker, Jen Wang, Joel Carroll, Kazu Kibuishi, Khang Le, Neil Babra, Philip Craven, Rad Sechrist, and Vera Brosgol.

I’m still on the fence about DC’s RELAUNCH and I will make all the effort to heed the advice of Keith and be sure to visit the DC Nation panels at SDCC 2011 before deciding on whether or not to drop most of my DC Titles and wait for the graphic novels or just stick with a few of the titles that look somewhat worth picking up.

HAPPY READING!

~ LoneWolf