Ryley’s Pull List 5/23/12 - Marvel Comics
- Amazing Spider-Man #686
- Captain America #12
- Fantastic Four #606
- Journey into Mystery #638
- Secret Avengers #27
Ryley’s Pull List 4/11/12 - Marvel Comics
- Avenging Spider-Man #6 - I don’t usually pick up Avenging Spider-Man, but this month the series starts off the three part event, Omega Effect, which is running through this, Daredevil, and Punisher. Readers of Daredevil will be more familiar with the elements of this story than ASM and Punisher readers as it deals with the Omega Drive that Matt Murdock acquired back at the beginning of this current series. Being that the three-part crossover is being written by both Mark Waid and Greg Rucka, with art by Marco Checchetto, this story is sure to be great.
- Fantastic Four #605 - Jonathan Hickman finished is F4 epic last month, but we still have about six more months of his high concept stories. This month we’ll be seeing the Four travel one thousand years into the future. What will they find? I don’t know, but I really can’t wait to read it!
- Journey into Mystery #636 - The Terrorism Myth ends here! Will Loki be able to stop Nightmare? Probably, but the exciting part is seeing just how he deals with him in this Sandman-esque tale of Dreams, Nightmares, and Fear Gods.
- Secret Avengers #25 - Rick Remender’s first arc on Secret Avengers ends here, and it’s all out war as the Avengers go up against Father’s group of machines. Plus, it’s the first time Venom will be active with the Secret Avengers. Will he be okay out there, because he’s kind of been going through some symbiote withdrawal as of late… we’ll just have to read on to see.
- Uncanny X-Men #10 - After a prison-break in the SWORD space-needle, a mysterious, genocidal alien called Unit has come down to earth, and he has some sort of draw towards Hope. Just why does he want the mutant messiah?
- Winter Soldier #4 - I shouldn’t have to say much more than the fact that there’s a gun-toting gorilla on the cover of this issue to get you to read it, but some people just aren’t sold on stuff like that… so I’ll just tell you that Ed Brubaker’s doing some of his best work here in his return to writing Bucky Barnes. It’s an espionage story full of intrigue and it’s just going to lead to more things that are more awesome. Maybe more gorillas with guns, but probably different things… don’t let that discourage your purchase, though.
- Wolverine #304 - Jason Aaron’s run on Wolverine ends here, as he tells one final tale of Logan and Sabretooth going head to head. Hopefully he gives us a proper conclusion to his story before Cullen Bunn takes over next issue. I’ve loved Aaron’s work with Wolverine thus far, so I have high-hopes for his finale.
Ryley’s Pull List 3/28/12 - Marvel Comics
- Daredevil #10 - Daredevil’s two part, Divine Comedy-esque, trip to the underworld concludes here where he’ll come face to face with the Mole Man. How will this encounter effect Matt as he heads forth into next months big crossover? And moreover, how is he going to get out of the quite dire situation of last issues conclusion?
- Moon Knight #11- The end is literally right around the corner for this series, so the stakes couldn’t be higher. Marc’s losing it, and by losing it I mean his control over all of his personalities. However, at the same time he does have a mission he needs to complete, but it looks like he’s going to need a bit of help from the Avengers (the real ones, not the ones in his head) to finish what he started.
- Secret Avengers #24 - There’s quite a bit going on for Hawkeye’s team of Avengers in this issue, but none of it is really good. For them, at least. Their team’s been scattered, and it seems like they’re up against something much larger than they are, but that really just means a more exciting story for the readers. Remender’s brought new life to Secret Avengers, and with Gabriel Hardman on the art it’s awesome in both story and visuals.
- Uncanny X-Force #23 - In Remender’s other action-packed series (with less striking visuals, unfortunately) we see the end of the “Trial of Fantomex”. The team certainly isn’t making it out of this one unscathed, and it looks like the X-Force is going to have to come to the Captain Britain Corps’ rescue to save the Otherworld. Last issue brought the revelation of not only threads tying back to previous arcs, but the introduction to another member of the Weapon Plus program which really intrigued me for where this series will go as we move forward. That said, I’m damn excited to read the conclusion to this story.
Ryley’s Pull List 2/22/12 - Marvel Comics
- Fantastic Four #603 - Forever continues, and it’s not looking very good for anyone, really. Galactus is back and he’s ready to duke it out with the Celestials. Meanwhile the Future Foundation is making a return to the pages of Fantastic Four!
- Secret Avengers #23 - After the Secret Avengers started their new mission (and the book started it’s new direction) in the last issue, this issue we see the inclusion of a new member; Flash Thompson. This is surely an aftereffect of the Circle of Four arc happening in Venom at the moment, but in the meantime we can just enjoy the inclusion of an awesome character into an awesome book. Check out the previous issue on the book to see Rick Remender work his magic on yet another Marvel title!
- Uncanny X-Force #22 - The trial of Fantomex continues… and there are dragons! Fantomex is incapacitated and Psylock is attempting to rescue him from the deleted by the Captain Britain Corps. Meanwhile the rest of the X-Force has enough to deal with as they’re stuck in the middle of a war in the Otherworld!
- Venom #13.3 - Part four of Circle of Four has Jeff Parker stopping in to write an issue of the book with focus on the Red Hulk. How will Hulk, Ghost Rider, X-23, and Venom stop Hell from spreading across the earth and how will they defeat their own Antitheses?
- Wolverine and the X-Men #6 - Kitty Pryde’s been infected by a miniature Brood swarm and Wolverine isn’t there to help her! Why? Because Intergalactic Gambling is apparently the best way to pay for the costs to run the Jean Grey School! This series has been more than great since it’s debut and there’s never a bad time to jump on, so read it now!
Next Weeks New Comics Preview
Week four of February! It’s my smallest week of the month yet (simply because I grabbed Peter Panzerfaust on a whim this week), but it’s a good one. Here’s what I’m grabbing:
- American Vampire #24
- Aquaman #6 - I believe this starts a new storyline
- Chew #24
- Fantastic Four #603
- The Flash #6
- I, Vampire #6
- Justice League Dark
- Secret Avengers #23
- Uncanny X-Force #22
- Venom #13.3
- Wolverine and the X-Men #6
So out of all that there’s really only one that’s a fair jumping on point. Flash might be a good one as well, though.
As for collected editions I recommend Mark Millar and Leinil Yu’s “Superior”, which collects all seven issues of the great mini-series into a single hardcover.
There is also a Batman VS Bane paperback which collects some of the conflicts between the characters. It seems like DC is working on giving us a Bane centric trade each month leading up to The Dark Knight Rises. This book this month, I think there’s a reprint of Venom next month, and then April, May and June see reprints of the three volumes of Knightfall. It’s an excellent way for fans who want to become more familiar with the character before the film to do just that.
Here’s the full shipping list
Ryley’s Pull List 2/8/12 - Marvel Comics
- CAPTAIN AMERICA #8 - Something’s wrong with Cap and he’s being left powerless, so will he be able to survive against an oncoming onslaught of villainy and whatnot? Probably. But the point is, how is he going to get out of this, and how’s he going to solve this whole “I keep getting tiny and losing my powers” problem?
- INCREDIBLE HULK #5 - Hulk VS Banner! It seems like it’d be the obvious victory, but Banner’s done some wacky stuff while he’s been away on his Gamma Experiment Island. But there’s plenty going against Banner as well… and that means more than just the Hulk being after him, so we’ll see what happens.
- JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #634 - Post-Fear Itself, some pretty crazy stuff is going down for little Loki. His brother is gone and nobody but he remembers him, and now all of the Fear Gods are getting together and causing a huge amount of mess for our little God of Mischief. Loki teams with Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, to bring down all this mess.
- SECRET AVENGERS #22 - After last months intro issue Rick Remender’s run on Secret Avengers officially begins here. I’m not going to say much more… but Christ is it going to be awesome. Also; Gabriel Hardman on art. OH MAN I’m excited about that!
- VENOM #13.1 - Last week began the months Venom event, and this week we continue with part two, written by Rob Williams. I’ll guess this issue lends focus to Ghost Rider, who’s playing a pretty big role in this seeing as the villains are tied more so to her than the other characters involved. Anyway, if last weeks issue was any indication, it’ll be awesome, and it’s well worth the read.
- WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #5 - Kitty Pryde’s suddenly pregnant and according to that cover it might have something to do with the Brood? Well, that can’t be good… Jason Aaron’s awesome X-Men series continues here, and if you haven’t gotten into it yet I suggest you jump on at any point you can. So that means now.
Also, the final issues of Black Panther and PunisherMAX are shipping this week.
NEXT WEEKS NEW COMICS PREVIEW
Even though February is a month with five Wednesdays my weeks are still proving to be larger than I’d like them to. My favorite is 8-10 issues, but I’m getting like 11-12 instead. Ah well, at least there’s lots of great reading material! Here’s what I’m grabbing next week:
- Batman and Robin #6
- Batwoman #6
- Captain America #8
- Demon Knights #6
- Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #6
- Green Lantern #6
- Incredible Hulk #5
- Journey into Mystery #634
- Secret Avengers #22
- The Unwritten #24
- Venom #13.1
- Wolverine and the X-Men #5
So notable stuff up there would be the beginning of Amy Reeder’s arc in Batwoman, a new storyline in Frankenstein, the OFFICIAL beginning of Remender’s Secret Avengers run, and another issue of WatXM, which is notable because holy butts was the last issue one of the best single issues I’ve read in a while. Seriously.
Here’s some other notable single issue releases:
- Adventure Time #1
- Last issue of Black Panther
- Last issue of PunisherMAX
- Last issue of Severed
- Deadpool #50, which marks the beginning of “DEAD”
I’m not grabbing any of those, but I mean… they’re notable, so I’m making note. Plus I am getting PunisherMAX and Severed in their collections, and I may well do the same for the other three eventually as well.
As far as notable collections go I’m highlighting these:
- Fear Itself Hulk HC
- John Carter Warlord of Mars Omnibus
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vol 1 TPB
Fear Itself Hulk because I’m eventually going to own that, John Carter because it’s classic sci-fi comic goodness in a giant volume, and TMNT because it’s the first collection of the new series.
Here’s the full shipping list for 2/8/2012
Ryley’s Pull List 1/25/12 - Marvel Comics
- Fantastic Four #602 - Part 3 of Forever
- Secret Avengers #21.1 - Rick Remender’s run with the Secret Avengers starts here! With this point one issue we’ll get a taste of what’s to come as we see Cap go on a mission with Hawkeye which will certainly lead to how Hawkeye becomes chosen to lead this team. I can’t stress how much you should pick this one up.
Next Weeks New Comics Preview
Final week of January 2012 brings a lot of nice stuff, but it’s a smaller week for me, with just 10 titles.
- American Vampire #23
- Aquaman #5 - New Story Arc
- Fantastic Four #602
- The Flash #5
- I, Vampire #5
- Justice League #5
- Justice League Dark #5
- Secret Avengers #21.1 - New Creative Team
- The Unwritten #33.5
- The Walking Dead #93 - New Story Arc
So there are a few jumping on points for new readers this week, but I’m going to shine focus on Secret Avengers, which is being taken over by Rick Remender and Gabriel Hardman starting with this issue. Given his track record, you can count on it being great.
There are also plenty of noteworthy collections that I’d love to be able to get, but that’s not exactly going to be possible for me at the moment:
- Batman and Robin: Dark Knight, White Knight
- Catwoman by Ed Brubaker volume 1
- Daredevil by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark Ultimate Collection volume 1
- Hawkman by Geoff Johns Omnibus volume 1
- Red Skull Incarnate
- Resurrection Man volume 1
- Sweet Tooth volume 4, Endangered Species
Here’s next weeks full shipping list.
Top 25 Modern Comic Writers - Rick Remender
Recommended Work:
- Punisher (Dark Reign, Dead End, Franken-Castle, and In the Blood)
- Uncanny X-Force (#1-ongoing)
- Venom (#1-ongoing)
- Secret Avengers (Upcoming, #21.1-ongoing)
RUN THE MISSION. DON’T GET SEEN. SAVE THE WORLD.
Secret Avengers #16-21 by Warren Ellis, cover art by John Cassaday
Ryley’s Pull List 1/11/12 - Marvel Comics
- Amazing Spider-Man #677 - Spidey and Daredevil team up! Here we have part one of a two part crossover happening between ASM and Daredevil where Spidey and DD are going to be playing with Black Cat! I really don’t care what happens in these issues because the art is going to be AWESOME throughout both. They could be sitting around a table for a tea party and it’s still be awesome. But they won’t be, so it’ll be ever more awesome.
- Captain America #7 - Last issue started the second arc really well, and so I have to recommend fans of the character to at least go to your store and grab this and #6 (though it’d help to read the first five too… and probably the Steve Rogers: Super Soldier mini… lots of neat stuff, really)
- The Incredible Hulk #4 - All I want to say is that this cover is speaking the truth about the interiors. Hulk will be beating up an army of Gamma powered animals.
- Scarlet Spider #1 - I’m not yet sure if I want to add this to my pull list or not, but I’m certainly going to grab the debut issue of the series, not only because I think Yost will do a great job telling Kane’s story, but because it takes place in my own native Houston, Texas. Let’s see how this turns out!
- Secret Avengers #21 - Warren Ellis wraps up his six issue run on Secret Avengers with one last mission before the team changes its roster and gets written by Rick Remender. Ellis’ run on the series is pretty top notch, and anyone can jump in at any issue since they’re all single issue stories, so if you have the extra $4 check this one out.
- Wolverine #300 - Wolverine gets renumbered (and the numbers do work out, I counted) for Jason Aaron’s final arc on the series. Kingpin, the Hand, Silver Samurai, and… Sabretooth? Yeah, Wolverine’s got a mess on his hands, and in this extra sized issue we’ll get to see him start to take care of it by doing what he does best. Snikt snikt, bub snikt.
- Wolverine and the X-Men #4 - And then on a lighter note, Wolverine will be appearing in the fourth issue of his book where he is the Headmaster of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning! This issue we see artist Nick Bradshaw join Jason Aaron as well as some new students. My question: is one of them the one we saw sent over from issue #19 of Uncanny X-Force? You know… the one with the big blue lips who just happens to (not really by chance at all) resemble that one guy who’s name rhymes with Schmapocalypse? Well, I’m hoping so, because that’d be awesome. I love it when Aaron and Remenders books sync up… which is like all the time.
Top 25 Modern Comic Writers - Warren Ellis
Recommended Works:
- Transmetropolitan (10 volumes, completed series)
- Planetary (4 volumes, completed series)
- Thunderbolts (12 issues, collected in one Ultimate Collection TPB)
- Secret Avengers (#16-21, to be collected April 2012)
