September 2011 Newsletter

Dear Friends:

    The September Previews catalog features comics and product which will begin arriving in November and to begin telling you of all the things offered I'm going to list the most prolific writers in the industry and tell you what they're working on now. If you have a favorite title you may wish to check out the other titles written by the same author.

AARON: Jason began his career at DC's mature title imprint, Vertigo; today he's under exclusive contract to Marvel. He'll be writing Incredible Hulk #2 with Marc Silvestri providing the art (so don't expect it to ship on time), Wolverine and the X-Men #2 with Chris Bachalo, Wolverine #18 and#19 with Ron Garney and Punisher Max #19 with Steve Dillon. Also his Punisher Max: Bullseye story as well as his Ultimate Comics: Captain America limited series are collected in soft cover.

ABNETT/LANNING: Dan and Andy are writing Resurrection Man #3 with Fernando Dagnino's art at DC. Best known for their science fiction stories, the bulk of 'DnA's' work is at Marvel including Annihilators: Earthfall #3 (of 4) with Tan Eng Huat, Villains for Hire Point One (of 5) with Renato Arlem, New Mutants #33, the last of the tie ins to the 'Regenesis' cross over and #34, both with David Lopez, and Thor: The World Eaters TP which features one issue by DnA along with six by Matt Fraction.

ARAGONES: Sergio will be contributing story and art to Bart Simpson Comics #65 and continuing with his own title Sergio Aragone's Funnies #5 and some of his work is included in the Spirit World HC which collects the rare issue of the magazine of the same name that Jack Kirby did in between the time he left Marvel in the late sixties and went to DC to create the Fourth World. Besides Sergio this book features Vince Colletta, Mike Royer and, of course, The King. Also included are the four stories commissioned for the never published second issue; these stories were later printed in 'Weird Mystery Tales' one through three and 'Forbidden Tales of the Dark Mansion' #6.

AZZARELLO: Brian will be writing Wonder Woman #3 with Cliff Chiang and Spaceman # 2 (of 9) with long time collaborator Eduardo Risso. Lately DC has been publishing two series' of reprints, one under the 'DC Comics Presents' header and one as 'Vertigo Resurrected', each series basically giving a one hundred page graphic novel in comic book format for $7.99 each. Vertigo Resurrected: Sgt. Rock-Between Hell and a Hard Place collects the recent war story featuring the legendary art of Joe Kubert.

BEDARD: Tony made a name for himself at the now defunct 'Crossgen' company and has been pretty regular at DC the past couple of years. He'll be writing Green Lantern: New Guardians #3 with Tyler Kirkham and Blue Beetle #3 with Ig Guara. Issues 21-27 will be collected in the R.E.B.E.L.S.: Starstruck TP and Tony was one of the three contributing writers of the War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath HC.

BENDIS: Definitely the most prolific and maybe the best writer under exclusive contract at Marvel Brian will be writing Avengers #19 with Daniel Acuña, Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #4 with Sara Pichelli, New Avengers #18 with Deodato introducing the NEW Dark Avengers and Moon Knight #7 with Alex Maleev. His Ultimate Comics: Doomsday TP collects the four issue series with Rafa Sandoval's art. He'll be co-writing Point One #1 which features seven stories previewing the stories Marvel has planned for 2012 and he also co-wrote the material featured in the Ultimate Comics: Death of Spider-Man-Fallout HC. At Marvel's creator owned imprint, 'Icon', Brian has Powers #11 with Michael Avon Oeming (although we're still waiting for issue eight which was due in August of 2010), Brilliant #3 with Mark Bagley (although issue one was due in June) and the Powers HC #3. As Marvel makes less money from the creator owned books they tend to push them back on the printing schedule to make room for titles of their own that are running late.

BRUBAKER: When publishers stared with the 'zero' issues I thought it was weird and when they went to 'one half' issues, that was bizarre. Then came the 'minus one' issues and now the numbering with decimal points makes it seem like counting in a sequential pattern is a forgotten art. Nevertheless Ed is another contributor to Point One #1 and will write Fear Itself #7.1 with Butch Guice showing the wake for Bucky Barnes. Captain America #5 with Steve McNiven ends the arc and Ed and Marc Andreyko co-write Captain America and Bucky #624 with the understated but evocative art of Chris Samnee.

BUSIEK: DC Comics Presents: Superman-Secret Identity #2 featuring the art of Stuart Immonen completes the reprinting of this unusual story of a guy named Clark Kent. Kurt is one of the writers featured in the Rocketeer Adventures HC and at Dynamite Enterprises Kurt and Alex Ross offer Kirby Genesis #6.

CAREY: The bulk of Mike's work is still at DC's Vertigo imprint and he'll be writing Unwritten #31 with Peter Gross and Unwritten #31.5 with Michael Kaluta, Rick Geary and Bryan Talbot. Mike's four issue series with Sonny Liew will be collected as Vertigo Resurrected: My Faith in Frankie for $7.99 and he is also a co-writer of the House of Mystery TP TP Volume 7: Conception. And finally, at Marvel Mike will write X-Men Legacy #258 with Steve Kurth, and #259 with Khoi Pham, the first being the conclusion to 'Five Miles South of the Universe' and the second being a 'Schism Aftermath' story.

CHAYKIN: Howie is writing and illustrating Avengers 1959 #3 (of 5), an adventure involving Nick Fury and Madripoor taking place in the South China Sea.

CORNELL: At DC Paul is writing Demon Knights #3 with Diogenes Neves, Stormwatch #3 with Miguel Sepulveda and Batman and Robin #3 with Patrick Gleason. He is also one of the contributing writers to Kapow: Guinness World Record Special which is plotted by Mark Millar and features over fifty creators breaking TWO Guinness World Records: the fastest comic book ever produced and the biggest number of creators working on a single comic. The book is limited to ten thousand copies, costs $2.99 and all proceeds go to the Yorkhill Sick Children's Hospital in Scotland.

DANIEL: Tony will be writing The Savage Hawkman #3 with Philip Tan's art and he will write and pencil Detective Comics #3 with Ryan Winn inking.

DIGGLE: Andy is one of the three writers contributing to the Thought Bubble Anthology #1 from Image which comes from the Northern Sequential Art Competition with all profits to go the charity, Banados. At Marvel Andy is writing Six Guns #1 and #2 with Davide Gianfelice, a western in South America with Tarantula, Tex Dawson, Black Rider, Matt Slade and the Two-Gun Kid.

ELLIS: Warren is back at Marvel writing Secret Avengers #19 with Michael Lark and he seems to have put all of his titles at Avatar on hiatus.

ENNIS: Garth's work is collected in the Hitman TP Volume 5: Tommy's Heroes with John McCrea and the Preacher HC Volume 6 with McCrea and Steve Dillon collecting issues 55 through 60 plus the one shot special, 'Tall in the Saddle'. At Avatar Press a new horror series with Mike Wolfer's art is offered as Stitched #1. This is an adaptation of a film that Garth wrote and directed and the Stitched DVD is also available for $15.99. At Dynamite Press Garth continues with Boys #60 with Russ Braun beginning the second to the last arc, 'Over the Hills with the Swords of a Thousand Men'. Issues 56 through 59 are collected in The Boys Volume 9: The Big Ride TP. Also The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker #5 (of 6) with Darick Robertson and the Garth Ennis' The Complete Battlefields Volume 1 TP collects the first three arcs of war stories, 'The Night Witches', 'Dear Billy' and 'Tankies'. His character gets a new writer, Al Ewing in Jennifer Blood #9.

FIALKOV: I, Vampire #3 is illustrated by Andrea Sorrentino at DC and his The Last of the Greats #2 features the art of Brent Peeples where mankind's last hope for survival, 'The Last', hates our guts. At Marvel Joshua Hale co-writes Iron Man 2.0 #11 with Ariel Olivetti's art. I suspect that he'll take over this title from Nick Spencer at the end of this arc; I think Nick is mentoring Joshua here as Marvel has spread Nick pretty thin giving him so many projects that he's missing deadlines on his creator owned titles like 'Morning Glories' and 'Infinite Vacation'.

FRACTION: Matt is one of the collaborators on the Point One #1 and is writing Fear Itself #7.2 with Thor, illustrated by Adam Kubert and #7.3 with Iron Man and art by Salvador Larroca. He's also co-writing Fearless #2 and #3 (of 12) and Battle Scars #1 (of 6). All six of these titles are titles bridging 'Fear Itself' to 'Point One', the next BIG THING at Marvel. Meanwhile Matt continues on Invincible Iron Man #510 with Larroca and The Mighty Thor #8 with Pasqual Ferry. His creator owned title at Marvel's 'Icon' imprint continues with Casanova: Avaritia #3 (of 4) with the art of Gabriel Bá. His work is collected in The Mighty Thor by Matt Fraction Volume 1 with Olivier Coipel and Thor: The World Eaters TP which he co-wrote with DnA and collects issues 615 through 621 plus #620.1.

GAGE: Christos is writing Angel & Faith #4 at Dark Horse, expanding on the Buffy franchise while continuing his popular Marvel series with Avengers Academy #21 and #22 with Sean Chen's art. Other than some old 'Runaways' issues, Sean hasn't done interiors in awhile but we've seen his art on most of the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' covers over the past few years.

GILLEN: Keiron is getting a lot of work at Marvel these days, although I've yet to be impressed. He's writing Journey Into Mystery #631 with Whilce Portacio (who still can't meet his deadlines), and the relaunch of Uncanny X-Men #1 and #2 with Carlos Pacheco, debuting the new Tron inspired red costumes. Keiron also contributes to the previously mentioned Kapow: Guinness World Record Special and his work is collected in the Thor by Kieron Gillen Ultimate Collection TP.

GRAY/PALMIOTTI: Justin and Jimmy continue bring the Western genre to comics with All-Star Western #3 featuring two stories this month, one with the art of Moritat and the other with the legendary Jordi Bernet.

HICKMAN: One of the movers and shakers in the industry today, Jonathan's first work gets the deluxe treatment with the Nightly News Anniversary Edition HC while at Marvel he finishes Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye #4 (of 4) with Rafa Sandoval, writes Ultimate Comics: Ultimates #4 (what a silly title) with painter Esad Ribic, continues his hit series FF #12 with Juan Bobillo and writes Fantastic Four #600. This is 104 pages for $7.99, has art by Steve Epting, Carmine DiGiandomenico, Leinel Yu and Faryl Dalrymple. Marvel says it's the return of the ongoing series celebrating fifty years of the team. (I seem to remember buying issue one in 1963 but Marvel has never been good at math.) This is the first chapter of a five part conclusion to the story that began over thirty issues ago and, yes, Johnny Storm seems to be just fine, thank you very much. Oh, Jonathan also co-writes the Ultimate Comics: Death of Spider-Man-Fallout HC.

HILL: Joe just has The Cape #3 (of 4) at IDW this month with art by Zach Howard; although it's Joe's creation, the comic is being written by Jason Ciaramella.

HINE: David is a co-writer featured in The Spirit TP Volume 2: The Clockwork Killer and his way cool limited series with artist Shaky Kane is collected at Image in The Bulletproof Coffin TP; I highly recommend this one.

JENKINS: Paul is writing the 'Deadman' story in DC Universe Presents #3 with Bernard Chang and Batman: The Dark Knight #3 with David Finch's art. At Marvel he writes All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #6 (of 8) with DiGiandomenico and his Thor: Heaven and Earth HC collects his four issue series that had a different artist each issue: Olivetti, Texiera, Pascal Alixe and Lan Medina respectively.

JOHNS: Geoff continues redefining the DC universe writing Justice League #3 with Jim Lee, Aquaman #3 with Ivan Reis and Green Lantern #3 with Doug Mahnke. He also co-writes the Green Lantern Super-Spectacular #3, a collection of stand alone stories and the Brightest Day TP Volume 1. The Hawkman by Geoff Johns Omnibus Volume 1 HC is 688 pages for $75.00 and his Superman: Secret Origin TP is the latest retelling of the Man of Steel's back story beautifully illustrated by Gary Frank.

KIRKMAN: Maybe the most successful black and white comic since the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', Walking Dead #91 as well as Walking Dead Weekly #44 through #48 features the art of Charlie Adlard. Robert's over-the-top super hero series continues with Invincible #88 with Ryan Ottley and issues forty eight through seventy are collected in The Complete Invincible Library Volume 3 HC in the slipcased oversized format. As much as I like both of those titles Robert's all age series Super Dinosaur #6 and Super Dinosaur TP Volume 1 with Jason Howard's art has not impressed me and his Infinite #4, which he created with series' artist Rob Liefeld hasn't offered anything that hasn't been done (better) before.

KRUL: J.T.'s best work has been at DC in the past year winning him two ongoing series; Captain Atom #3 with Freddie Williams II and Green Arrow #3 with Dan Jurgens and George Perez. He was a co-writer of the material collected in the Green Arrow: Salvation HC with issues 8 through 15 included.

LAPHAM: At Dark Horse David is writing the Robert E. Howard character in Kull: That Cat and the Skull #2 (of 4) with Gabriel Guzman, at Marvel he's another contributor to Point One #1 and at their mature readers imprint, 'Max' he writes Deadpool Max, Volume Two #2 (of 12) with Kyle Baker while the second half of the first series is collected in the Deadpool Max; Balls Out Premier HC. At Avatar his disturbing zombie tale continues with it's third arc in Crossed: Psychopath #5 (of 7). This series has gotten so popular that they're offering a trading card series this month; 72 cards in a box for $19.99. And at Radical Press the fully painted tale of a vigilante cop back from the dead continues in Damaged #4 with Leonardo Manco's art.

LEMIRE: Jeff will write Animal Man #3 with Travel Foreman and Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #3 with Alberto Ponticelli while his recent work is collected in Superboy: Smallville Attacks TP with Pier Gallo. At Vertigo he continues his creator owned title, Sweet Tooth #27 with Matt Kindt.

LISS: New York Times best selling novelist continues his stellar run on Black Panther: The Most Dangerous Man Alive #525 with new series artist Shawn Martinbrough as the Panther vs. the Kingpin. If you enjoy historical fiction the two novels I've read by David (so far) were excellent.

LOBDELL: Known for his work at Marvel and Image for many years I think Scott's writing has really stepped up since he's been at DC; he'll be writing Superboy #3 with R.B. Silva, Red Hood and the Outlaws #3 with Kenneth Rocafort and Teen Titans #3 with Brett Booth. At Aspen Studios he's also writing Fathom IV #4 with Alex Konat.

MIGNOLA: Mike is the creator and cover artist on all of his books although he only plots the stories and has co-writers on each. This month he has B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth-Russia #3 with co-writer John Arcudi and Tyler Crook's art, B.P.R.D.: Hell On Earth Volume 2-Gods and Monsters TP with Guy Davis' art, Baltimore: Curse Bells #4 with co-writer and co-creator Christopher Golden and art by Ben Stenbeck and Witchfinder Volume 2: Lost and Gone Forever TP co-written by Arcudi with John Severin's artwork.

MILLAR: Mark's six part super hero epic ends in the double sized finale, Superior #7 with Leinil Yu's art, Mark contributes to Kapow: Guinness World Record Special and Clint Magazine #12 which will feature the World Exclusive premier of the brand new comic from Millar and Dave Gibbons plus exclusive strips from Kick-Ass 2 and ­Superior plus interviews, downloadable posters, 'Rex Royd, 'Who Is Jake Ellis' and more.

MILLIGAN: Pete is writing Red Lanterns #3 with Ed Benes' art and Justice League Dark #3 with Mikel Janin; I don't know what strings he pulled but he managed to get two tremendous artists for his books. At Vertigo he writes Hellblazer #285 with Giuseppe Camuncoli and is a contributor to the House of Mystery Volume 7 TP: Conception. Also the Marvel samurai super hero story with a different character and artist on each of the five issues is collected as the 5 Ronin TP.

MORRISON: After 'Final Crisis' and the 'Return of Bruce Wayne' stories I think that Grant has had more influence in reshaping the DC Universe than anyone so I'm very anxious to read his new Superman stories. He'll be writing Action Comics #3 with Rags Morales, Brent Anderson and Rick Bryant providing the art where the people of Metropolis decide that they don't trust extraterrestrials living in their city. Grant is also a co-writer of Batman: The Dark Knight Volume 1-Golden Dawn Deluxe Edition HC which collects not only the five issues by David Finch but also 'Superman/Batman' #75 and 'Batman: The Return' one shot. Marvel offers the New X-Men GN TP #7, with Frank Quitely. I think this is the best X-Men story ever told and I can't figure out why Marvel is putting it into a smaller, digest sized format for a higher price but it is still highly recommended. The last book by Grant this month is the 18 Days GN HC which is going into a new printing. I think that Dynamite is being deceptive by billing this as a graphic novel as it's more of an illustrated script book, but it's a tale of three generations of super warriors meeting for the final battle of their age, a kind of super hero Bhagavad-Ghita with beautiful art by Mukesh Singh.

NILES: Steve's Dark Horse work is collected in the Criminal Macabre Omnibus Volume 2 with more tales of the drug addled detective who specializes in supernatural crimes and he's also one of the co-writer's of Dark Horse Presents #6. His best known creation is now an ongoing series at IDW and 30 Days of Night #2 is illustrated by Sam Kieth of 'The Maxx' fame.

POWELL: Here's a surprise; Eric Powell, the strange individual who writes and draws 'The Goon' has illustrated Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn HC for IDW. It's not a comic book adaptation; it's the original, uncensored novel with new illustrations from the Eisner Award winning artist. I'm getting me one of these!

ROBERSON: I don't think that Chris has found his 'break out' title yet but I'm watching; he's an excellent story teller writing a variety of genres well. He'll be writing iZombie #19 at Vertigo with Mike Allred's art, he's another contributor to the House of Mystery TP Volume 7, he's finishing up the Stan Lee's Starborn series with issue 12 at Boom! Studios while at IDW he pens Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #2 (of 5) with Jeffrey and Philip Moy's art. Also at Boom! Chris begins a new arc with Michael Moorcock's creation in Elric: The Balance Lost #5 featuring the art of Francesco Biagini.

ROBINSON: James is writing The Shade #1 (of 12) redefining the Changing Man with artist Cully Hamner and he's also a contributor to the Hawkman by Geoff Johns Omnibus HC Volume 1.

RUCKA: Greg continues his fine crime writing in The Punisher #5 with Marco Checchetto's artwork.

SIMONE: Gail co-writes the Fury of Firestorm : the Nuclear Men #3 with Ethan Van Sciver who also provides the cover; interior art by Yildiray Cinar and she writes her favorite comic book character in Batgirl #3 featuring Adrian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes' art.

SLOTT: Dan writes Amazing Spider-Man #673 with Stefano Caselli, the epilogue to Spider-Island, and Amazing Spider-Man #674 with Guiseppe Camuncoli, beginning a new story with the Vulture. Dan is also a co-writer of Spider-Man: Matters of Life and Death TP which collects his issues from #652 to 657 plus Van Lente's issue 654.1.

SMITH: Kevin's only book offered this month is Kevin Smith's Bionic Man #4 although the 'Green Hornet' comics are inspired by his movie script.

SNYDER: Another relatively new writer on the scene to watch, Scott will write Batman #3 with Greg Capullo and Swamp Thing #3 with Yanick Paquette. At Vertigo he completes the three part 'The Beast in the Cave' story with Jordi Bernet's art in American Vampire #21 while at Image he co-writes Severed #4 (of 7) with Scott Tuft, illustrated by Attila Futaki, the artist of the Percy Jackson books.

SPENCER: As you might know, Nick is my favorite of the new young guns in the comic industry. At DC he resumes work on Thunder Agents II #1 (of 6) with Wes Craig's art. He plotted and co-wrote the story collected in Supergirl: Good Looking Corpse TP with Bernard Chang's art. His break out hit at Image, Morning Glories reaches #15 also the Morning Glories Deluxe Collection Volume 1 HC in the oversize format includes the first twelve issues. At Marvel Nick writes Ultimate Comics: X-Men #2 with Paco Medina, co-writes Iron Man 2.0 #11 and begins Victor Von Doom #1 (of 4) with art by Becky Cloonan!. Nick is also a co-writer of the material collected in the Ultimate Comics Death of Spider-Man-Fallout HC.

STURGES: Matthew is a contributor to The Spirit Volume 2: The Clockwork Killer TP and the House of Mystery Volume 7 TP: Conception. He also wrote Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life TP where the artist of Matt's run on 'Jack of Fables', Mark Buckingham provides the covers.

TOMASI: Peter writes Batman and Robin #3 with artist Patrick Gleason and Green Lantern Corps #3 with Geraldo Borges. Peter co-wrote material collected in the Brightest Day TP Volume 1, Batman and Robin: Dark Knight, White Knight HC and the War of the Green Lanterns Aftermath HC.

WAGNER: Matt is also a contributing writer of House of Mystery TP Volume 7: Conception and, at Dynamite Entertainment he continues writing Zorro Rides Again #5 (of 12) with Esteve Polls; Matt provides the covers for this series.

WAID: Mark and Brian Augustyn wrote a story that's part prose and part comic that follows Barry Allen from birth to death and it will be collected in DC Comics Presents: The Life Story of the Flash #1 with art by Gil Kane, Joe Staton and Tom Palmer. At Marvel Mark writes Daredevil #6 with the art of Marcos Martin! Mark co-wrote the Disney/Pixar Presents: Incredibles-City of Incredibles, a 96 page magazine. Marvel has been releasing a lot of these lately; they were previously published in a different format by Boom! Studios. Captain America: Man Out of Time TP collects that recent limited series with art by Jorge Molina. Over at Mark's Boom!, he writes his popular creator owned series' with Incorruptible #24 and Irredeemable #31 with art by Marcio Takara and Eduardo and Diego Barreto respectively.

WILLINGHAM: Bill writes Fables #111 with the usual art team of Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha and issues 101 through 107 are collected in Fables Volume 16: Super Team TP, and some of Bill's 'Buffyverse' work is in the Angel: The End HC.

WINICK: Judd is the writer of two of 'The 52” DC relaunch titles: Batwing #3 with Ben Oliver has our hero teaming up with the mighty Thunderfall against the madman, Massacre and Catwoman #3 with Guillem March in which Selina has been captured by an irate victim. Judd is also one of the writers of Batman and Robin: Dark Knight, White Knight HC.

WOOD: Supernatural #2 is illustrated by Grant Bond, a fun storyteller; is this comic related to the television show of the same name or not? At Vertigo Brian with artist Riccardo Burchielli offers the penultimate issue with DMZ #71 as well as his Viking saga, Northlanders #46 with Paul Azaceta.

    Whew; fifty two creators on the list this month; if there's a creator you'd like me to add (or drop) please let me know. I imagine this might be a lot of information each month; the Previews catalog is over 525 pages this month so I'm trying to condense it as best I can. Of course I always welcome comments and suggestions.

    Now I'd like to run through the 'big five' publishers and mention their new titles and events and try to cover anything cool that I might have missed above.

DARK HORSE: New York Times best selling authors P.C. And Kristin Cast bring their vampyre academy to comics with House of Night #1 (of 5) with art by Joelle Jones and the first issue will be one dollar. Following the one shot from last December, Tim Seeley writes The Occultist #1 (of 3) with Victor Drujiniu again providing the pictures in this tale of magic and fantasy.

DC: Batman: Through the Looking Glass HC is an original 112 page hard cover by Bruce Jones with Sam Kieth illustrating the first encounter between Batman and the Mad Hatter. Some more of those 96 page books for $7.99 include DC Comics Presents: Batman-Don't Blink by Dwayne McDuffie with Val Semeiks' art, DC Comics Presents: Elseworlds 80 Page Giant with a host of creators and stories like a 'Kingdom Come' parody, a Superman's Babysitter story and a Super Sons tale, DC Comics Presents: Superman-The Kents #1 (of 4) with John Ostrander and Timothy Truman telling the story of Silas Kent and family making their way to Kansas and DC Comics Presents: Batman-Bad by Doug Moench and Barry Kitson; this one was originally 'Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight' issues 146 through 148 while 'Don't Blink' was 164 through 167. A new all age title begins with Green Lantern: The Animated Series #0 and by the same creative team, the Eisner Award winning all age title offers their sixth collection, Tiny Titans: The Treehouse and Beyond. For gamers there is End of Nations #1 (of 4) based on the upcoming MMORTS game from Trion Worlds, Diablo #1 (of 5) based on the award winning video game and Uncharted #1 based on the PlayStation 3 video game. Vertigo has another original graphic novel with A.D.D. HC about the Adolescent Demo Division, the world's luckiest teen gamers, written by Douglas Rushkoff with art by Goran Sudzuka. The action figures this month are Justice League: Heroes & Foes Series One with Batman, Joker and Flash in their current costumes and Wonder Woman, who is wearing the long pants.

IDW: Because there are five weeks in November the folks at Idea and Design Works have decided to put out a weekly five issue series; Jack Avarice IS the Courier #1 through#5 is written and illustrated by Chris Madden, the guy who will be drawing the upcoming 'Danger Girl' series. The Rocketeer Jetpack Treasury Edition reprints the complete first graphic novel in the treasury format (the size of the Sunday funnies folded in half, with a card stock cover) in full color for $9.99. The Rocketeer Adventures Volume 1 HC collects the four issue anthology series that ended in August which featured barrels of great creators like Darwyn Cooke, Ryan Sook, Bruce Timm, Michael Kaluta, Tony Harris and fifteen others. If you liked Dave Stevens' stories then you will appreciate how well these creators respected and captured his vision. Now that the Turtles are at IDW, along with TMNT #4 and the TMNT: Ultimate Edition, Volume 2 HC they are offering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Raphael which will be the first of a four issue series with one issue for each turtle as some old timers may remember was done once before. And adding to their monthly Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #9 comes Godzilla Legends #1 (of 5) each issue focusing on a different foe. Hawken #1 (of 6) is by Timothy Truman, co-written with his son, Ben, and is a return to the weird west stories that he did so well in the 'Scout' series long ago. The Angel Portraits: 100 Page Spectacular is a collection of covers and variant covers featuring both Angel and Spike of the 'Buffyverse'. Otto Messmer's Greatest Felix the Cat Comic Book Tales TP is self explanatory. The Limited Edition Reid Fleming Poster by David Boswell is also self-explanatory; a couple hundred posters lost in a warehouse since 1988 featuring the World's Toughest Milkman shouting 'I Thought I Told You to Shut Up!'. Other new collections include Mike Grell's 12 issue series Shaman's Tears TP and Captain Canuck: The Complete Edition.

IMAGE: Guns and Dinos #1 (of 3) is by Frank Cho; 'nuff said. Heart 1 (of 4) is a black and white martial arts tale by Blair Butler and Kevin Mellon. Blood Red Dragon is conceived by Stan Lee, developed by Todd MacFarlane and inspired by Yoshiki and is limited to five thousand copies. Artifacts #14 by Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic makes this series ongoing (as it was a thirteen part limited series). Mudman is a one shot by Paul Grist for the 'Jack Staff' fans (of which I know one other than myself; Hey, William). Giant Size Elephantmen collects the 'Man and Elephantman' story that was previewed in 'Walking Dead' #86 plus the rest of the story from 'Elephantmen' #31 and #32. Hack/Slash Annual 2011 is a old school horror tale in the Louisiana Bayou. Shaky Kane's Monster Truck is a hallucinogenic road trip consisting of continuous post cards like panels in a landscape format. Our Love is Real is a 24 page black and white 8” X 8” science fiction story where 'plantsexuals riot in the streets for equal rights, humans fall in love with dogs and crystals are more than just jewelry' by Sam Humphries and Steven Sanders. Top Cow Pilot Season has four more one shots: Misdirection by Filip Sablik and Chris Dibari, Theory of Everything by Dan Casey and Thomas Nachlik, Anonymous by Alen McElroy and Michael Montenat and Seraph written by Lance Briggs and Phil Hester and illustrated by Jose Luis. Gladstone's School for World Conquerors Volume 1 TP collects the first six issues, The Li'l Depressed Boy Volume 2 TP collects issues five through eight and just in case you forgot that issue one was offered last month Carbon Grey: Origins #2 (of 2) is offered; don't say I didn't remind you.

MARVEL: Northanger Abby #1 begins the latest adaptation of Jane Austin's work; it's adapted by Nancy Butler, with art by Janet Lee and it's an all ages title. Avengers Origins consists of five one shots focusing on individual characters and they include: Ant-Man & the Wasp by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa with Stephanie Hans' art, Luke Cage by Adam Glass and Mike Benson with art by Dalibor Talajic, Quicksilver & the Scarlet Witch by Sean McKeever with Mirco Pierfederici, Thor by Kathryn Immonen with Al Barrionuevo and Vision by Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel with Stephane Perger's art. The new monthly web slinger title is Avenging Spider-Man #1 by Zeb Wells with Joe Madureira's art (and as Mad has never met a deadline I wouldn't expect this one to come out monthly). I Am Captain America is a forty page one shot featuring all of the variant covers 'depicting hardworking everyday Americans whose service would make Steve Rogers proud.' Alpha Flight #6 confirms that the series is now ongoing, by Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak with Dale Eaglesham's art. Thor: The Deviants Saga #1 (of 5) is by Rob Rodi with Stephen Segovia's art. Shame Itself is a forty page one shot parody featuring the writers of 'The Daily Show, Herc #10 will be the final issue of that series. History of the Marvel Universe is a 48 page one shot in the Official Handbook style. Astonishing X-Men #44 heralds a new arc and a new creative team: Greg Pak with Mike McKone's artwork, while Magneto: Not a Hero #1 (of 4) by Skottie Young with the art of Clay Mann deals with the Master of Magnetism's return to villainy after being caught murdering members of an anti-mutant group. The X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus HC collects the whole story, checking in at 1072 pages for $125.00. The Elektra Assassin Premiere HC collects (again) what I think is the best story Frank Miller has told in his career due to the collaborative partnership with artist Bill Sienkiewicz. The adaptation of the third of the Frank L. Baum books comes to soft cover with Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz TP. The Essential Sgt. Fury Volume 1 TP collects issues one through 23 plus the first annual in B&W; 544 pages by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for twenty bucks. Three new posters this month are the Venom Poster by John Tyler Christopher, Avenging Spider-Man Poster by Joe Madureira and the Age of Apocalypse Poster by Billy Tan.

    And finally here are the notable items from the independent publishers: AMAZE INK, also know as 'Slave Labor Graphics' offers Shadoweyes Volume 2: Shadoweyes in Love TP with art and story by Ross Campbell, ARCANA STUDIO has the Creepsville! GN from the producers of 'Napoleon Dynamite' and 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' about a bunch of outcast kids on the staff of the school newspaper in a town with monsters, aliens, super heroes, robots and mad scientists. ARCHAIA PRESS offers Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths Book 1 HC, the first of three prequel books, Siegfreid Volume 1 HC is the first of a three part story inspired by Wagner's opera 'The Ring of the Nibelung' and The Sigh HC is the latest book from Marjane Satrapi, the award winning author of 'Persepolis'. AARDEN ENTERTAINMENT has been publishing four series' of new stories featuring the characters(the Grim Ghost, Phoenix, Wulf the Barbarian) from the defunct ATLAS company; Atlas Unified #1 cross these characters over for the first time in thirty five years. ASPEN STUDIOS offers Dead Man's Run #0 from a concept by the producer of the 'Walking Dead' television show, written by Greg Pak with art by Tony Parker. BLUEWATER PRODUCTIONS are the folks publishing biographical comics and this month they offer ones of The Three Stooges, Tina Fey, Donald Trump, General Petraeus, Michele Bachmann and Joan Jett. BOOM! STUDIOS: Seven Warriors #1 (of 3) is a story taking place in 6^th century Libya where the seven (beautiful women) warriors are chosen to save the heir to the kingdom; written by Michaël Le Galli with art by Francis Manapul. Also 28 Days Later Volume 6 TP: Homecoming is offered, Hellraiser Masterpieces #1 and #2 collect the best of previous incarnations of the series wile Hellraiser #9 by Clive Barker with Stephen Thomson's art begins a new arc. Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #1 (of 4) begins in addition to the monthly title. The Decision 2012 Presents series will put out one comic for each of the candidates; they're offering one on Barack Obama, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Any of these titles that haven't achieved preorders over fifteen hundred copies won't be published; it's the comic industries' straw poll. 'Charlie Brown' gets a monthly comic with Peanuts #0 for $1.00 to launch the series which will feature new original stories. Another all age offering this month is Wordgirl: The Incredible Shrinking Allowance GN, the second featuring the character from the Emmy Award winning animated children's' show. BROADPIG: The Most Dangerous Game: A Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal Collection TP is the first collection of the popular web comic. CARTOON BOOKS: Yet another collection of Jeff Smith's entire series, Bone: The One-Volume: 20^th Anniversary Slipcased Color Edition HC is 1344 pages for $150.00. Also RASL Volume 3 TP is the continuation of Jeff's current series, a science fiction tale of a dimension jumping art thief. DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT offers The Dynamite Art of Alex Ross HC, an art book of Alex's recent work. Also Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1 is offered for one dollar; the story takes place in 1934 and, of course Alex Ross did the character designs and provides the main cover art as he does for Kirby Genesis: Silver Star #1. With 'Tintin' about to get new national recognition DRAWN & QUARTERLY offers The Adventures of Hergé HC, a biography in the format of the Tintin books. All of the books are being offered in individual volumes as well as collected volumes by several publishers this month. FLESK: In conjunction with Previews comes Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm HC. GUMBY: A quarter century ago there were two great specials, one by Bob (Flaming Carrot) Burden and the other by Steve (Sam 'n' Max) Purcell, both featuring the detailed artwork of Art Adams and the Gumby's Spring Specials Collection TP puts these surprisingly good stories back in print. The HERO INITIATIVE is a non profit agency that helps comic professionals with unexpected medical costs and one of the ways that they do that is the New Avengers 100 Project TP; one hundred 'New Avenger' covers donated by one hundred artists. Two main companies have been responsible for most of the manga in America and one of those, Tokyo Pop, went out of business recently so now we have VIZ and, on a smaller scale Dark Horse. However KODANSHA seems ready to fill the void. Their beautiful volumes of 'Akira' have set the stage for the many other classics that they are keeping in print; they're doing the 'Sailor Moon' books, 'Arisa', 'Until the Full Moon', 'Ghost in the Shell' and more. NBM is offering P. Craig Russell's Library of Opera Volume 1 through 3 Box Set for $44.99; these include 'The Magic Flute', 'Parsifal', 'Pelleas & Mellisande', 'Salome' and more lovingly adapted. PANTHEON BOOKS is publishing Craig Thompson's 'Habibi HC, a romantic parable set in a mythical Middle East. You may recall 'Blankets'. Craig's break out title a couple of years back. RED GIANT offers Japan Needs Heroes GN in both soft and hard cover editions, a product put together by the comic industry to benefit the Japan Society featuring artists from every genre telling tales of hope. ZENESCOPE offers the first collection of their newest horror title with Fly TP Volume 1, a tale of addiction involving a drug that allows the user to fly; issue #6 is also offered which begins the second arc of this series created by Raven Gregory with art by Eric J. I should also mention, in the book section, The Batman Files HC featuring blueprints, schematics, Gotham City newspaper articles, police records, Arkham Asylum psychiatric profiles, and other top secret Batman information.

    I mentioned at the beginning that these were the books that will begin to ship in November and I know you don't want to think about this now but Christmas is coming so here are a couple of holiday themed items offered in this months' catalog.

ANTARCTIC has the usual Gold Digger Christmas as well as the Very Zombie Christmas and CRUSADE presents Billy Tucci's 'A Child Is Born', a one shot 32 page comic depicting 'The Christmas Story' adapted directly from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, researched with Nativity scholars and beautifully illustrated and colored.

    That's a lot of information, my friends and I didn't come close to mentioning everything, skipped over the tee shirts, trading cards, DVDs, statues and novelties.