October 2011 Newsletter

Dear Friends:

    A bit late this month, I'm sorry, here's the October newsletter. I'm going to try to tell you about all of the new comics that will be arriving in December of 2011, so here we go. Here's a list of the most prolific writers and what they're creating for our entertainment.

AARON: Dash versus Shunka as the 'Knuckle Up' story concludes in 'Scalped' #55 at Vertigo, Marc Silvestri illustrates 'Incredible Hulk' #3, where Banner is amassing an army to fight Hulk, Chris Bachalo draws 'Wolverine & the X-Men' #3 where Logan's team recruits Quentin Quire to battle the Hellfire Club. I should mention here that Marvel's 'X-Men Regenesis' is one of their big cross over series' running through all of the mutant books. If this is something that you're interested in, please let me know and I'll order all the tie-ins for you, but, just so you know, as of this newsletter there are twenty two tie-ins so far, one of which is the above mentioned, 'Wolverine & the X-Men' #3. Okay, back to Jason Aaron:

    'Wolverine' #3 is the prelude to a Wolverine vs Kingpin arc, and coincidentally in 'Punisher Max' Frank has to go through Fisk's bodyguard, Elektra, to begin his final assault on the Kingpin. Finally, Jason's work is collected in the 'X-Men: Schism' hard cover along with Gillen's two tie-in 'Generation Hope' issues.

ABNETT & LANNING: At DC Dan and Andy write 'Resurrection Man' #4. DnA created the character and the first fourteen issues of the original series are collected in the 'Resurrection Man' TP Volume One. DnA also worked on the material collected in 'Infestation: The Complete Collection' HC, where zombies crossed over into all the IDW titles including 'G.I. Joe', 'Transformers', 'Ghostbusters' and 'Star Trek'. At Marvel they're writing 'Annihilators: Earthfall' #4 of 5 with Tan Eng Huat's art, 'Villains for Hire' #1 of 5 and 'New Mutants' #35 which is part two of a three part 'Regenesis' tie in. Dan (withOUT Andy) wrote the material collected in the 'Insurrection' TP for Britain's '2000 A.D.' magazine, it takes place in Judge Dredd's 'Mega-City One' and is illustrated, in black and white, by Colin MacNeil.

AGUIRRE-SACASA: Roberto has been doing a fine job of scripting some of the adaptations of Stephen King's work; this time around he has 'The Stand: The Night Has Come' #3 of 6 and the soft cover version of the second arc, 'The Stand: American Nightmares' TP.

ALLRED: Mike illustrates 'I, Zombie' #20 at Vertigo and Image releases the 'Madman 20^th Anniversary Monster' HC which is oversized, 264 pages, one hundred bucks and includes new stories from Darwyn Cooke, Los Bros Hernandez, Paul Pope, Eric Powell, Frank Quitely, Matt Wagner and dozens more plus a new 'Madman' story by Mike plus tons of pin ups including Frazetta, Kirby, Frank Miller, Dave Stevens.

ARAGONÉS: 'Sergio Aragonés Funnies' #3 is filled with the usual great stories, gags and games with a holiday themed cover and Sergio also supplies one of the stories in 'Bart Simpson Comics' #66 as well as the cover of 'Simpsons Comics' #185.

ASMUS: James co-writes 'Captain America & Bucky' #625 and writes 'Generation Hope' #14, a Regenesis tie-in.

AZZARELLO: Brian writes 'Wonder Woman' #4 with Cliff Chiang's art and, at Vertigo, 'Spacemen' #3 of 9 with '100 Bullets' collaborator Eduardo Risso. Also 'Vertigo Resurrected: Sgt. Rock-Between Hell and a Hard Place' #2 of 2 completes the WWII murder mystery behind enemy lines with art and cover by the legendary Joe Kubert; the two issues are 96 pages each at $7.99 apiece.

BARKER: The 'Clive Barker Omnibus' TP collects the adaptation of 'The Thief of Always' with Gabriel Hernandez' art as well as the twelve issue 'Great and Secret Show' and 'Seduth' both with art by Gabriel Rodriguez. These IDW adaptations are all evocatively done and highly recommended. 'Hellraiser' #10, at Boom! Studios allows Clive to expand on Hell and the Cenobites, with Stephen Thompson's art.

BEDARD: At DC Tony writes 'Green Lantern: New Guardians' #4 with Tyler Kirkham's art and 'Blue Beetle' #4 with Ig Guara.

BENDIS: Image releases the 'Sam and Twitch: The Complete Collection-Volume 2' HC which Brian co-wrote with Todd McFarlane; (ask me and I'll tell you a story about that particular 'collaboration'). I think that Brian is perhaps the most consistently strong storyteller that Marvel has ever seen. He has an ability to flesh out many shallow characters and make them compelling as he's done with Luke Cage, Jessica and recently Squirrel Girl, who'd a thunk it. 'Avengers' #20 features the return of the Dark Avengers with Daniel Acuña's art while the 'Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: Heroic Age' HC collects the first six issues of the series plus 'Avengers Prime' one through six and 'New Avengers' one through six. 'New Avengers' #19 pits the team against the Dark Avengers with Mike Deodato's art, 'Moon Knight' #8 continues the best take on the character since Sienkiewicz illustrated it and Alex Maleev's art is as fresh as Bill's was back then. The first arc of this story is collected in the 'Moon Knight by Brian Michael Benids and Alex Maleev Volume One Premiere HC'; nice, concise title, Marvel! 'Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man' #5 with Sara Pichelli's art and #6 with Chris Samnee continues Miles Morales' journey, the first three issues are reprinted in one comic for $4.99 and the 'Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man' TP Volume #3 collects the second to the last arc of the previous series, the prelude to the 'Death of Spider-Man' Brian also wrote the 'Powers Volume #4: Supergroup Premiere HC' (in 2006) featuring #15 through #20 with series' artist Michael Avon Oeming.

BRUBAKER: The 'Catwoman Volume 1 TP' collects Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel 'Selina's Big Score' as well as the stories from 'Detective Comics' #759-762 and 'Catwoman' #1-9 featuring art by Cooke, Allred, Cameron Stewart and more; excellent stories. At Marvel Ed writes 'Captain America' #6 and co-writes 'Captain America & Bucky' #625 with Marc Andreyko while the Captain America & Bucky: The Life Story of Bucky Barnes Premiere HC' collects #620-624 with Chris Samnee's classic style clear line artwork. Ed wrote 'Secret Avengers Volume 2: Eyes of the Dragon TP' which collects #6-12 and he co-wrote the 'Fear Itself Premiere HC' with Matt Fraction. And the latest arc in Ed's creator-owned noir crime series is collected in the 'Criminal Volume 6: The Last of the Innocent TP.

BUSIEK: The 'Untold Tales of Spider-Man Omnibus HC' is an 800 page hundred dollar book all 25 issues of the mid-nineties series by Kurt and others and featuring art by Paul Lee, Ken Meyer, Jr. Mike Allred, John Romita and more.

BYRNE: John writes and draws 'Cold War' #3, his own creation, a Soviet espionage thriller.

CAREY: At DC's Vertigo imprint Mike continues his hit series with 'The Unwritten' #32 and #32.5 plus 'The Unwritten Volume 5: On To Genesis TP' collecting #24-30, all with art by Peter Gross. At Marvel Mike writes 'X-Men Legacy' #261, a 'Regenesis' tie-in and the last of his five issue run on the series. Mike is one of four writer’s stories collected in the 'X-Men: Age of X' TP.

CASEY: At Image the 'Officer Downe: Bigger, Better, Bastard Edition HC' collects all of Joe Casey's and Chris Burnham's previous stories of the Badass With a Badge with added pages and all new bonus features. Joe is also writing 'Haunt' #22 with Nathan Fox' pencils. At Marvel he completes the Doctor Doom story, 'Vengeance' #6 of 6 featuring Nick Dragotta's art.

CHAYKIN: Howard continues writing and drawing his own creation in 'Dark Horse Presents' #7 and writes and draws 'Avengers: 1959' #4 of 5, a Nick Fury tale that spans New York, Germany and the Savage Land.

CORNELL: 'Demon Knights' #4 features guest artist Mike Choi and 'Stormwatch' #4 is illustrated by Miguel Sepulveda. Paul also wrote some of the material contained in the 'Superman: The Reign of Doomsday' HC.

COSTA: At DC Mike writes 'Blackhawks' #4 with Graham Nolan's art and at IDW he writes some Hasbro properties with 'Transformers Ongoing' #31. 'Cobra Ongoing' #8 and his previous arc is collected in the 'G.I. Joe: Cobra-Civil War Volume 1 TP'.

DANIEL: Tony writes 'The Savage Hawkman' #4 and he writes and illustrates 'Detective Comics' #4 where Batman battles Dollmaker and family.

DAVID: Other than the continuation of his long run on 'X-Factor' # 228-229 Peter does adaptations for Marvel including 'Dark Tower: The Way Station' #1 of 5, 'John Carter: World of Mars; #3 of 4 and the 'Dark Tower Omnibus' is a slip cased HC collecting the seven issue 'Gunslinger Born', the five issue 'The Long Road Home', the six issue 'Treachery' the 'Sorcery' one shot, the six part 'Fall of Gilead' and the five part 'Battle of Jericho Hill'. Weighing in at 784 pages, the collection runs one hundred and fifty dollars.

DIDIO: The DC editor in chief co-writes 'OMAC' #4 with Kieth Giffen, who also pencils the story with Brother Eye battling Checkmate and their Bio-gators.

DIGGLE: Andy's only offering this month is Marvel's foray into the western genre with 'Six Guns' #3 of 5 featuring San Diablo, The Black Rider, Two-Gun Kid, Tex Dawson, Matt Slade and Tarantula.

DIXON: At IDW Chuck writes 'G.I. Joe Ongoing II' #8 as well as 'Snake Eyes Ongoing' #8 wile at Dynamite he co-writes 'Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time' #20.

EDMONDSON: At DC Nathan writes 'Grifter' #4 and at Image he begins a new creator owned series, 'The Activity' #1, a story of a high tech special forces team to meet the needs of global warfare.

ELLIS: Other than 'Secret Avengers' #20 at Marvel Warren doesn't seem to be doing much these days. However his past works still necessitate new collections; the 'Stormwatch HC' Volume 1 compiles his first work on the series, #37-47 and, at Radical Press Warren provided the concept for 'Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead' which is collected in a limited edition HC signed by writer/artist Steve Pugh. This is a great futuristic crime tale with supernatural elements and Steve Pugh's art is incredible; imagine Alex Ross without all the stiffness and photo references; in fact Alex often sings the praises of Pugh's work.

ENNIS: At Avatar Press Garth offers 'Stitched' #2, continuing the Afghanistan war story with zombies begun in his film of the same name and at Dynamite he continues 'The Boys' #61 and concludes 'The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker #6 of 6. Garth was one of the writers of film director John Woo's 'Seven Brothers Omnibus Collection' involving a six hundred year old Chinese curse come to bear fruit in present day Los Angeles.

FIALKOV: Joshua Hale Fialkov co-writes 'Action Comics' #4 with Grant Morrison, continues his run on 'I, Vampire' #4 at DC while, at Image his creator-owned title 'The Last of the Great's #3 about an arrogant elitist super hero, a God-Emperor who has no love for humanity.

FINCH: David co-writes and illustrates 'Batman: The Dark Knight' #4

FRACTION: Matt co-writes 'Battle Scars' #2 of 6, as well as 'Fear Itself: Fearless' #4-5 of 12. He'll also write 'Defenders' #1, 'Mighty Thor' #9 and 'Invincible Iron Man' #511, all of which are Shattered Heroes tie-ins. He also co-wrote the material in the 'Fear Itself Premiere HC'.

GAGE: Cristos writes 'Angel and Faith' #5 at Dark Horse and 'Avengers Academy' #23 at Marvel, a Shattered Heroes tie-in. Also the 'Avengers Academy Volume 2: Will We Use This in the Real World' TP collects #7-13.

GATES: Sterling writes 'Hawk and Dove' #4 with Rob Liefield's art and he's a contributing writer to the 'Superman: War of the Supermen' TP. At Dynamite he writes 'Kirby Genesis: Captain Victory' #3.

GIFFEN: At DC Kieth co-writes 'Green Arrow' #4 and 'OMAC' #4 as well as the material collected in 'Secret Six: The Darkest House TP'.

GILLEN: Kieron will write 'Journey Into Mystery' #632, a Shattered Heroes tie-in and 'Uncanny X-Men' #3, a Regenesis tie-in. His work is also collected in the 'Generation Hope: Schism' TP and he contributed to the 'X-Men: Schism' HC.

GISCHLER: Victor writes 'X-Men' #22, a Regenesis tie-in with Will Conrad's art.

GRAY & PALMIOTTI: The team that made westerns a viable genre in comics with their stellar work on Jonah Hex writes 'All-Star Western' #4 with Moritat and Phil Winslade plus 'The Ray' #1 of 4 introduces a brand new Ray with Jamal Igle's pencil work.

HICKMAN: Jonathan hit the ground running with his brilliant original work at Image including the 'Nightly News', Pax Romana' and 'Red Mass for Mars' and his just completed time traveling war tale is collected in the 'Red Wing' TP. Meanwhile he tears through the Marvel universe with 'Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates' #5, 'Fantastic Four' #601, 'FF' #13 and 'Shield' #4 of 6. Also his espionage story 'Secret Warriors Volume 5: Night TP' collects issues 20-24.

HIGGINS: Kyle has stepped up to the plate quite successfully with DC's 'New 52' writing 'Nightwing' #4 and 'Deathstroke' #4 with positive reviews for both.

JENKINS: 'DC Universe Presents' #4 continues the first arc featuring Deadman and he co-writes 'Batman: The Dark Knight' #4. At Marvel he chronicles some retro heroes in 'All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes' #7 of 8 and his recent limited series is collected in 'Ka-Zar: The Burning Season' TP.

JOHNS: Geoff has been kept busy at DC these past few years and he isn't slowing down now; he writes 'Justice League' #4 with Jim Lee's pencils, the surprisingly well received 'Aquaman' #4 and 'Green Lantern' #4. More of his collaborative stories from 'Adventure Comics' are collected in 'DC Comic Presents: The Legion of Super-Heroes' #2, he wrote 'Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues' TP and co-wrote 'Superman: The Reign of Doomsday' HC.

JURGENS: Forever to be known as the man who killed Superman, Dan writes 'Justice League International' #4 and co-writes 'Green Arrow' #4.

KIRKMAN: Too prolific for his own good Robert has fallen behind on his 'Invincible' series and abandoned the 'Astounding Wolf-Man' totally but still keeps advancing his all age title with the 'Super Dinosaur Deluxe Coloring Book' and 'Super Dinosaur' #7. while his big hit has 'Walking Dead' #92, 'Walking Dead Weekly' #49-52, 'Walking Dead Volume 15: We Find Ourselves TP' collecting #85-90 and the first novel, 'The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor Novel-Deluxe Slip cased Edition' which is seventy five bucks unless you want the signed limited edition for one hundred and twenty five bucks. Robert also pens 'Infinite' #5 with Rob Liefield's art and for the first time his Marvel six issue limited series is collected in the 'Jubilee TP'.

KRUL: JT writes 'Captain Atom' #4 while, at Aspen Studios he continues Michael Turner's character with 'Soulfire III' #6.

LAPHAM: David seems to write more hit titles every month and I'm not complaining! At Dark Horse he begins 'The Strain' #1 of 11 based on the vampire novels by director Guillermo del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan with art by Mike Huddleston, the first issue is offered at the introductory price of just one dollar. Also Robert E. Howard's 'Kull: The Cat and the Skull' #3 of 4 takes our hero into the Forbidden Lake. At Marvel David writes 'Deadpool Max II' #3, the 'Deadpool Max Christmas Special' #1 and the 'Deadpool Max: Nut Job' TP compiles his first six issues with artist Kyle Baker. Then, over at Avatar 'Crossed: Psychopath' #6 of 7 and 'Caligula' #6 of 6 are offered; not for the squeamish. Finally, at Radical Press the beautifully painted 'Damaged' #5 is offered.

LEMIRE: Jeff is moving the story forward at breakneck speed in 'Animal Man' #4 and doing a fine job with a bunch of B-list characters in 'Frankenstein: Agent of Shade' #4 while he writes and draws his creator-owned title 'Sweet Tooth' #28 while #18-25 are collected in 'Sweet Tooth Volume 4: Endangered Species' TP. Also 'Vertigo: First Blood' is a 96 page comic offering reprints of the first issues of 'Sweet Tooth', 'American Vampire', 'I, Zombie' and 'The Unwritten' for $7.99.

LEVITZ: Paul continues the adventures of the future heroes in 'Legion of Super-Heroes; #4 and 'Legion of Super-Heroes: Secret Origin' #2 of 6 while penning s Gotham adventure in 'Huntress' #3 of 6.

LISS: David writes 'Black Panther: The Most Dangerous Man Alive' #526-527 while his recent noir limited series is collected in the 'Mystery Men Premiere HC'.

LIU: Marjorie writes the adventures of Wolverine's cloned daughter in 'X-23' #18-19.

LOBDELL: Scott writes the fourth issues of 'Superboy', 'Red Hood and the Outlaws' and the 'Teen Titans'.

LOEB: Jeff gets the deluxe treatment with the 'Absolute Batman: Dark Victory' collection to go with the 'Absolute Long Halloween' edition on your shelf. At Marvel he teams up with Ed McGuinness once again for 'Avengers: X-Sanction' #1 of 4.

MARZ: Ron writes 'Voodoo' #4 at DC while the 'Shinku Volume 1 TP' collects the first five issues of the martial arts horror tale at Image. At Top Cow he writes 'Artifacts' #15 and 'Magdalena' #12.

MIGNOLA: Mike writes a story for 'Dark Horse Presents' #7 as well as 'Hellboy Volume 12: The Storm and The Fury TP'. He co-writes 'B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth-Russia' #4 of 5 and 'Baltimore: The Curse Bells' #5 of 5.

MILLAR: Mark writes one of the eight surreal adventures in the 'Tales From Beyond Science' HC delving into the mysteries of spontaneous human combustion, the Bermuda Triangle, the lost 13^th month, why men have nipples and more with Rian Hughes art in an oversized format for $16.99. Also offered is Mark's 'Kick-Ass II' #6, 'Spider-Man by Mark Millar Ultimate Collection TP' collection the twelve issues of the 'Marvel Knights Spider-Man series with Terry Dodson and Frank Cho's art. Also from across the pond is 'Clint' #13, Mark's magazine featuring a full issue of 'Kick-Ass II' plus 'Rex Royd', 'Superior', 'Who Is Jake Ellis' and more comics and features.

MILLIGAN: Pete is writing 'Red Lanterns' #4 and 'Justice League Dark' #4 at DC plus 'Hellblazer' #286 and the 'Hellblazer Annual' #1 at Vertigo.

MOORE: The 'DC Universe by Alan Moore HC' collects ALL of Alan's Superman, Green Lantern and Batman stories, including 'The Killing Joke' plus his 'Omega Men' and Vigilante' issues, the four issue 'Voodoo' series and the three issue 'Deathblow' series; more than 300 pages in hard cover for forty bucks!

MORRISON: Grant co-writes 'Action Comics' #4 and offers a new one shot with 'Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes'. In collected editions the 'Seven Soldiers TP' 1 gets a new printing, 'Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne' gets a hard cover and 'New X-Men GN' #8 of 8 shrinks the format while raising the price. But the coolest announcement is that 'Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Deluxe Edition HC' is offered. This series was hit with a cease and desist law suit by the Charles Atlas Foundation a number of years back; I don't know what changed but this is a zany story with art by frequent collaborator Frank Quitely.

NICIEZA: Fabian writes 'Legion Lost' #4 which takes place in the 'present', not the thirty first century.

NILES: Steve writes '30 Days of Night' #3, now an ongoing series from IDW.

OSTRANDER: John writes an espionage story in 'Star Wars: Agent of the Empire-Iron Eclipse #1 of 5 at Dark Horse while his western tale with art by Timothy Truman is collected in 'DC Comics Presents: The Kents #2 of 3.

PAK: Greg writes 'Alpha Flight' #7, now an ongoing series, and 'Astonishing X-Men' #45 which is NOT part of a cross-over!

PARKER: Jeff writes 'Hulk' #45-46 and 'Thunderbolts' #167.

POWELL: Eric writes and draws the 'Goon' #37.

REMENDER: Rick writes 'Venom' #10-11 and 'Uncanny X-Force' #18-19. Issue 18 will be poly bagged and completes the 'Dark Angel Saga' while issue 19 is a Regenesis tie-in.

ROBERSON: Chris writes 'I, Zombie' #20 while the first issue is reprinted in the previously mentioned 'Vertigo: First Blood'. At IDW he begins a creator-owned series with 'Memorial' 1 of 6, the story of a woman with no memories who inherits a magical shop and a talking cat. Described as 'Doctor Who meets Sandman by way of Miyazaki. Chris also writes 'Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes' #3 of 6, 'Elric: The Balance Lost' #6 and the first arc is collected in 'Elric: The Balance Lost TP' volume 1 compiling the first four issue story arc.

ROBINSON: James is writing 'Shade' #3 of 12, the stories he co-wrote with Greg Rucka are collected in 'DC Comics Presents Captain Atom' and he also co-wrote 'Superman: War of the Supermen' TP with Sterling Gates.

ROZUM: John writes 'Static Shock' #4 and 'Hellraiser Masterpieces' #3.

RUCKA: Greg co-writes the previously mention 'DC Comics Presents Captain Atom' #1, he writes 'Punisher' #6 and the 'Wolverine by Greg Rucka Ultimate Collection TP' collects all nineteen issues from the 2003 series. This series didn't sell well but I consider it the best ongoing Wolverine series as Logan didn't wear tights or fight crime; he tried to be the loner that he's supposed to be and only gets into trouble when it finds him.

SIMONE: Gail writes 'Batgirl' #4, the character that led her to comic writing; she also co-writes 'Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men' #4 and 'Secret Six: The Darkest House TP'.

SLOTT: Dan writes the 'Amazing Spider-Man' #675-676; in #675 Guiseppe Camuncoli illustrates and the Vulture is back while in #676 Humberto Ramos draws and it's the Return of the Sinister Six (again).

SMITH: Kevin co-writes 'The Bionic Man' #5

SNYDER: Scott is writing 'Batman' #4 with Greg Capullo's art, 'Swamp Thing' #4 with Victor Ibanez' art. At Vertigo he writes 'American Vampire' #22 and the third hard cover collection is offered, plus the first issue is reprinted in 'Vertigo: First Blood'. At Image Scott co-writes the horror story, 'Severed' #5 of 7.

SPENCER: At DC Nick writes 'Thunder Agents II' #2 of 6, at Image his brilliant creator-owned series continues with 'Morning Glories' #16 and at Marvel he writes 'Ultimate Comics: X-Men' 3 4-5, 'Iron Man 2.0' #12 and 'Victor Von Doom' #2 of 4. Thirty years ago the big three were Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Frank Miller; today the three to watch are Nick Spencer, Jonathan Hickman and Scott Snyder.

SWIERCZYNSKI: New York Times best selling novelist, Duane writes 'Birds of Prey' #4.

TOMASI: Peter writes 'Batman and Robin' #4 and 'Green Lantern Corps' #4.

VANKIN: Jonathan co-writes 'Men of War' #4 and writes 'Godzilla Legends' #2 of 5.

VAN LENTE: Fred co writes 'Alpha Flight' #7.

WAGNER: Matt writes 'Zorro Rides Again' #6 of 12 and provides the cover art as well.

WAID: Mark writes 'Daredevil' #7 and his creator-owned titles begin their first cross-over in 'Irredeemable' #32 and 'Incorruptible' #25. There's also 'Irredeemable-Artist's Edition' #1 and 'Irredeemable TP Volume 7'

WALLACE: Eric writes 'Mister Terrific' #4.

WAY: Daniel writes 'Deadpool' #47-48.

WELLS: Zeb writes 'Avenging Spider-Man; #2 with art by Joe Madureira and 'Carnage, U.S.A.' #1 of 5 with Clayton Crain's computer generated artwork.

WHEDON: Titles related to Joss' film work include 'Angel and Faith' #5, 'Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: Season 9' #4 and 'Angel: After the Fall Volume 4 HC'.

WILLINGHAM: Bill's stories are featured in 'DC Comics Presents Batman: Urban Legends' and his hit Vertigo series continues with 'Fables' #112 and the 'Fables Deluxe Edition Volume 4 HC' which compiles #28-33 plus the original graphic novel, 'Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall'.

WILLIAMS: Rob is writing 'Ghost Rider' #7 and 'Daken: Dark Wolverine' #18 at Marvel. At Dynamite he begins 'Robocop: Road Trip' #1.

WINICK: Judd is writing 'Batwing' #4 and 'Catwoman' #4.

WOOD: Brian is writing 'Supernatural' #3 of 6 based on the television program, and at Vertigo he completes his creator-owned series' 'DMZ' #72 and continues the 'Icelandic Trilogy' in 'Northlanders' #47.

YOST: Christopher co-writes 'Battle Scars' #2 of 6 and 'Fear Itself: Fearless' #4-5 of 12, all of which are Shattered Heroes tie-ins.

    That's over eighty writers listed there but if you have a favorite that I didn't list let me know; it may just be that he or she isn't writing anything this month. Now here are some new projects that I'd like to mention; I'll list them by publisher.

DARK HORSE: Another one shot by Felicia Day, 'The Guild: Zaboo' leads into 'The Guild: Season One', 'The Immortal: Shadow in the Blood' #1 of 4 is a supernatural samurai tale written by Ian Edgington and based on an acclaimed Japanese novel, 'Brody's Ghost' is a one shot crime story by Mark Crilley, creator of 'Akiko', and 'Dotter of Her Father's Eye's HC' contrasts two coming-of-age stories written by Mary M. Talbot and illustrated by Bryan Talbot. 'The Green River Killer: A True Detective Story HC' tells the story of the Seattle area serial killer and is written by the son of the Detective who finally captured the killer and spent 188 days interviewing him.

DC: 'DC Comics Presents Batman: Blaze of Glory' tells of a man with something to prove who stalks Batman; it's written by Will Pfeifer with Chris Weston's art while 'DC Comics Presents Batman: The Secret City' has Batman and Oracle hunting a killer in a part of Gotham no one knew existed; both stories were originally serialized in 'Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'. The 'DC Secret Origins HC' collects the classic 100 page issues, 'Secret Origins', 'More Secret Origins', 'Even More Secret Origins' and 'Weird Secret Origins' 'Showcase Presents The Spectre TP' gathers the best of the grim tales of vengeance and the 'Young Justice TP Volume 1' collects issues 0 zero through six of the recent all ages title based on the cartoon series.

DC VERTIGO: The 'Noche Roja TP' is a noir crime story written by Simon Oliver with gritty black and white art by Jason Latour.

DC DIRECT: The 'Batman: Arkham City Series One Action Figures' features Batman, Harley Quinn and Robin as they appear in the popular video game while the 'Just-Us-League of Stupid Heroes Series One Action Figures' features Alfred E. Neuman as Superman, Aquaman and Green Arrow.

IDW: 'Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime' is a one shot that sets a new direction for the Autobot leader. 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Micro-Series #2-Michelangelo' is the second of four one shots focusing on the individual characters. 'Magic, the Gathering' #1 is written by author and game designer Matt Forbeck (Lord of the Rings RPG) and includes an exclusive, playable alternate art Magic card.

IMAGE: 'The Last Battle' is a one shot tale Roman war story taking place in 52 BCE with art by Dan Brereton. 'Witch Doctor: The Resuscitation' is a one shot and the recently completed limited series is collected in the 'Witch Doctor: Volume One TP'. 'The Art of Carbon Grey HC' is just that, the 'Chew Omnivore Edition Volume 2 HC' collects #11-20 in the oversize format and the 'Li'l Depressed Boy Volume 0 TP' is a prelude to the current series with stories illustrated by Sam Kieth, Jim Mahfood, Jim Valentino and more including a new story by Sina Grace.

MARVEL: In preparation for the relaunch, 'Defenders: The Coming of the Defenders' reprints the first three stories by Roy Thomas and Ross Andru and the 'Defenders: Strange Heroes' one shot is in the 'Official Handbook' format. Orson Scott Card's 'Ender Games' continues with 'Formic Wars: Silent Strike #1 of 5. 'X-Club' #1 of 5 is written by Simon Spurrier and penciled by Paul Davidson and tells of the X-Men's Science Team in the wake of Schism. New collected editions include 'Secret Wars' and 'Secret Wars II' TP's back in print, 'Spider-Man: The PSA's' collects all the 'public service announcement' type tales where Spidey talks about bullies, pollution, drugs, tobacco, illiteracy, dental plaque, etc., and 'X-Men: Days of Future Past TP' comes back into print. New posters this month include 'Avengers: X-Sanction' by Ed McGuinness, 'Carnage' by Clayton Crain and the 'Defenders' by Terry Dodson.

INDIES: 'Archie' #627 begins the four part 'Archie Meets KISS' story, Aspen Studios offers 'Lady Mechanika' #4 (which we may see in our lifetimes), and the 'Fathom Ultimate Edition Slip cased HC'. Asylum Press offers 'Fearless Dawn: Secret of the Swamp' one shot by Steve Mannion, an artist-deserving-wider-recognition (in my humble opinion). Bluewater offers 'The Misadventures of Adam West TP', which collects the limited series just in time for 'The Misadventures of Adam West #1' of the new ongoing series and 'Sherlock Holmes: Victorian Knights' #1 of 4 is just what it sounds like. Boom! Studios offers 'Outcast' #1 for one dollar, a epic sword and sorcery series by Michael Alan Nelson while Boom! Town, their small press imprint offers 'Too Much Coffee Man #1-Facsimile Edition'. Broadsword Comics offers 'School Bites: Special Semester Collection TP', the third collection of Holly Golightly's goth manga with cute school age vampires. Dynamite Entertainment offers 'Lord of the Jungle' #1 for one dollar; written by Arvid Nelson with art by Roberto Castro it comes with four covers. They've also acquired the rights to publish 'Voltron' #1 which also has four variant covers. 'Nowhere Man' #1 of 4 tells of a genetically altered child who is immune to the nano-tech virus that has eliminated crime in the future; written by Marc Guggenheim with art by Jeevan J. Kang this is the story of the one who is invisible to the governments Omnimind that analyzes the minds of society. There's also a 'Vampirella Annual' this month and a 'Art of Howard Chaykin HC' following his career from 'American Flagg' through 'Batman', 'The Shadow', 'New Avengers', Dominic Fortune', 'Black Kiss' and more. 1821 Comics debuts with 'Romeo and Juliet: The War', a graphic novel created from a concept of Stan Lee's and illustrated like a top tier video game; the Montague's are enhanced cyborgs built of artificial DNA and the Capulets are genetically engineered humans with super human abilities. Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet; can their union unite the warring factions and save the Empire of Verona? Fantagraphics offers 'Young Romance: The Best of Simon & Kirby's 1940's-1950's Romance Comics HC' featuring 200 pages and 21 never reprinted stories. Also 'The Life and Death of Fritz the Cat HC' collects all of Robert Crumb's Fritz comics, right up to the famous ice-pick ending. Harper Collins has 'The Cartoon Guide to Calculus', the latest in Larry Gonick's long running comic history books. The Hero Initiative has the 'Justice League of America 100 Project' TP; this series features one hundred covers to 'Justice League of America' #50 by one hundred artists donated to raise money for the 'Hero Initiative' charity group. Moonstone offers 'Domino Lady's Threesome' #1 featuring the first appearance of the 'Golden Amazon' in seventy years and introducing 'The Veil'. Also offered is the 'Honey West, Captain Action & Flint' one shot. Oni Press has 'Polly and the Pirates Volume 2: Mystery of the Dragonfish' the next of Ted Naifeh's all age fantasy adventures. New company RZG offers a new super hero in 'Phazer' #1 which sports a cover by Jim Steranko. Viz has a new manga featuring Sanrio's 'Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll' Volume One for fans of 'Hello Kitty'. Zenescope begins another series that's right in line with their previous series', 'Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Alice in Wonderland' #1. They're also offering 'Spike TV's 1000 Ways to Die' TP chronicling embarrassing, careless and ridiculous ways people have died, and they also offer 'Jurassic Strike Force 5' #1 which was solicited once before under the title 'Dino Strike Force'. In the Books and Magazine section is the 'DC Superhero Chess Figure Collector Magazine' each issue containing a lead figure of a Batman character to be used as chess pieces; the first four issues feature Batman as the White King, Robin as the White Bishop, the Joker as the Black King and Commissioner Gordon as the White Pawn. The latest non fiction work from luminary Grant Morrison, 'Combining the Worlds of Contemporary Comics' is available in both soft and hard cover editions. And the 'Wayne of Gotham HC' is a novel by Tracy Hickman telling parallel histories of Thomas and Bruce Wayne.

CHRISTMAS: And finally here are the comics directly related to the rapidly approaching holiday season. At Dark Horse the 'Jingle Belle: Gift Wrapped' is a one shot by Paul Dini, the 'Marvel Holiday Special 2011' is the usual thing and Marvel also has the 'Deadpool Max X-Mas Special' and the 'Zombie's Christmas Carol HC'. Antarctic has the 'Gold Digger Holiday Special' Ape Press has the 'Richie Rich: Gems Winter Special', Boom! Studios has an eight by eight one shot, 'Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas', NEC has the 'Tick Giant Christmas Cavalcade' TP and Zenescope offers the 'Grimm Fairy Tales 2011 Holiday Special'.

    I hope that you and yours are happy and healthy. Talk to you soon!