So I was scanning over the new Marvel and DC comics solicitations for April 2005 from... um... somewhere... (you'll see them all over the net shortly enough I imagine but I don't want to get anyone in trouble by um, revealing my sources).
Anyway, as usual, a pile of nonsense and a handful of gems. Notable stuff for me includes, with my comments in bold:
DC Comics
• THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL. 2: THE
ABSOLUTE EDITION HC
Written by Alan Moore
Art and cover by Kevin O’Neill
The second critically acclaimed LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN miniseries by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill is given the Absolute treatment, arriving as a stunning oversized, slipcased two-book hardcover set! The 224-page Book One contains the thrilling 6-issue miniseries, complete with the Almanac of fantastic places, while the 224-page Book Two contains Alan Moore's entire scripts for the graphic novel, a rare and wonderful treat for any fan of sequential storytelling.
Advance-solicited; on sale June 29 • 2-volume set • 448 pg., FC, $75.00 US
Gosh, I loved this miniseries, but $75.00 is wayy too much with a baby to feed, so I'm sticking to my trade paperback. Awesome if I ever win the lottery, though.
• THE FOUNTAIN HC
Written by Darren Aronofsky
Adapted by Kent Williams
Art and cover by Williams
Darren Aronofsky proved himself a filmmaker to watch with his provocative
debut, Pi. His follow-up, Requiem for a Dream, continued the accolades, receiving Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. His latest accomplishment, however, comes straight to comics in the form of The Fountain, a gorgeously painted, oversized original graphic novel about the timeless truths of life, love and death.
A very intriguing sounding graphic novel, but the $30 price tag kind of puts me off. Interesting to see Aronofsky doing comics, though, and apparently this ties in to the movie of "The Fountain" he's also doing.
• SUPERMAN VS. THE FLASH TP
Written by Dennis O’Neil, Jim Shooter and others
Art by Curt Swan, Dick Dillin, Dan Jurgens and others
Cover by Alex Ross
A thrilling collection of some of the greatest races between the Man of Steel and the Scarlet Speedster, from SUPERMAN #199, THE FLASH #175, WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #198, WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #199, DC COMICS PRESENTS #1-2, and more!
On sale April 13 • 208 pg, FC, $19.99 US
I have a soft spot for men in spandex having races around the world, so this might well be one to pick up eventually.
Frankly, not a lot else from DC that interests me this month, although DC's latest mysterious "super event" continues with Day Of Vengeance #1 by Bill Willingham and something called The Omac Project by Greg Rucka, and they might be fine and good, but frankly, after being burned by Identity Crisis, I'll pass on this one and stick to Grant Morrison's awesome-before-it-even-comes-out Seven Soldiers project, which has two MORE (apparently bimonthly) miniseries kick off this month, Klarion The Witch Boy and Zatanna. Yeee!
• Over at Marvel, they go nutty with the "New Avengers" tie-ins, and although I've been moderately enjoying the series so far, I'll pass on most of the ancilliary stuff. Bothersome to me is that they tie TWO of the ongoing Spider-Man titles, "Amazing" and "Marvel Knights," into all this stuff. Spider-Man moving into Avengers Tower? This moving Peter Parker into a high-tech headquarters and hobnobbing with other heroes all feels so not Spider-Man to my eyes, but I'm a helpless Spidey geek and so will still probably pick some of it up. At the very least, I'm curious to see where they're heading with it all.
(And dear God, was anybody crying out for a "TOXIN" miniseries featuring some goopy Spawn-of-Venom type character? Peter Milligan must need to pay the mortgage.)
• Cool stuff still at the House of Ideas, though, including the return of Power Pack in a miniseries, and nifty indeed, a "Great Lake Avengers" miniseries by "She-Hulk" writer Dan Slott, which promises to be goofy good fun.
• Marvel Team-Up #7 features Spider-Man and ... Moon Knight! I'm there.
• Speaking of Dan Slott, a second She-Hulk trade appears, and the pretty acclaimed Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes gets the trade (the solicitation says it's a hardcover, but judging by the price, I'm thinking that's a typo.
• As usual, Marvel puts out 492 "X-Men" type books, the only one I'm buying as usual is "Astonishing X-Men." But here's your "apples and oranges?" solicitation of the month:
MARVEL MILESTONES: VENOM
Written by JIM SHOOTER & STAN LEE
Penciled by MIKE ZECK & STEVE DITKO
Cover by MIKE ZECK
Celebrating 65 years of titanic tomes from the House of Ideas, MARVEL MILESTONES makes its triumphant return to the comics scene! Experience the highs, lows and in-betweens of Marvel's finest – monthly -- in full color! This issue: In time for TOXIN #1, there comes a costume! It’s the first appearance of Venom, as Spider-Man’s new symbiotic black costume, from SECRET WARS #8! Plus: The first appearance of Hercules from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY ANNUAL #1!
48 PGS./All Ages…$3.99
What does Hercules have to do with Venom? Did they just grab the nearest comic to the drawing board to toss in as a back-up?
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