Weekly Comics Discussion – December 14, 2011

The complete list of titles is available here. It must be near Christmas; there are a lot of classic storylines collected in TPB format this week.

Dark Horse Comics

  • BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 9 FREEFALL #4
  • KULL THE CAT & THE SKULL #3 (OF 4)
  • STAR WARS AGENT O/T EMPIRE IRON ECLIPSE #1 (OF 5)
  • THE OCCULTIST #2 (OF 3)
  • THE STRAIN #1 (OF 11)

DC Comics

  • BATGIRL #4
  • BATMAN AND ROBIN #4
  • BATWOMAN #4
  • DC COMICS THE NEW 52 – A 1500 page, $150 hardcover with all 52 #1 issues. The same content is a grand total of $107.48 via ComiXology now that the price reduction is in effect. (It was $159.48 for the original cover prices on the issues.)
  • DEATHSTROKE #4
  • DEMON KNIGHTS #4
  • FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #4
  • GREEN LANTERN #4
  • GRIFTER #4
  • LEGION LOST #4
  • MISTER TERRIFIC #4 – Still exceeding my expectations.
  • RAY #1 (OF 4)
  • RESURRECTION MAN #4
  • SHADE #3 (OF 12)
  • SHOWCASE PRESENTS BATMAN TP VOL 05
  • SHOWCASE PRESENTS WONDER WOMAN TP VOL 04
  • SUICIDE SQUAD #4
  • SUPERBOY #4
  • UNWRITTEN #32
  • VERTIGO FIRST BLOOD #1

IDW Comics

  • DOCTOR WHO ONGOING VOL 2 #12
  • GODZILLA LEGENDS #2 (OF 5)
  • LOCKE & KEY CLOCKWORKS #3 (OF 6)
  • SHERLOCK HOLMES GREATEST CASES HC VOL 01
  • SNAKE EYES ONGOING (IDW) #8
  • STAR TREK LEGION OF SUPERHEROES #3 (OF 6)

Image Comics

  • 68 JUNGLE JIM ONE SHOT
  • JINGLE BELLE GIFT WRAPPED SPECIAL ONE SHOT
  • NIGHTLY NEWS ANNIVERSARY ED HC – I thought this was resolicited for January 25. Huh.
  • PIGS #4
  • RED WING TP
  • WALKING DEAD #92
  • WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #50
  • WITCHBLADE #150

Marvel Comics

  • AVENGERS 1959 #4 (OF 5)
  • AVENGERS ACADEMY #23
  • AVENGERS X-SANCTION #1 (OF 4) – Leading into “Avengers vs. X-Men” next year, though the latest episode of WordBalloon with Jeph Loeb revealed that this was originally an independent idea.
  • BATTLE SCARS #2 (OF 6)
  • BLACK PANTHER MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE #526 – Series ending soon.
  • CARNAGE USA #1 (OF 5)
  • DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER WAY STATION #1 (OF 5)
  • ESSENTIAL RAWHIDE KID TP VOL 01
  • GHOST RIDER #7
  • IRON MAN 2.0 #11 – This series also ends soon.
  • JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #632
  • MAGNETO NOT A HERO #2 (OF 4)
  • MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2011 – All four stories are currently available individually for free on ComiXology. If history repeats itself, the free versions will vanish when the print version comes out tomorrow and be replaced by the usual $3.99 complete set. Of the four, I found one was great, one was poor, and the other two were okay.
  • MMW NICK FURY AGENT OF SHIELD HC VOL 03 – You can’t go wrong with Steranko on Nick Fury.
  • NEW AVENGERS #19
  • NEW X-MEN BY GRANT MORRISON GN TP BOOK 08 – Another classic run.
  • SECRET WARRIORS TP VOL 05 NIGHT – This entire series was amazing, and I believe this is the last collection (up to issue 28.)
  • SECRET WARS TP – The original, and Marvel’s second miniseries event, introducing a new Spider-Woman, the Beyonder, the alien costume that eventually became Venom (though there’s no hint of that in this series, but there was in ASM at the time) and more. They also just started to learn about crossover marketing here. The month before this launched, the characters involved all walked into a strange device in Central Park and vanished. The month issue #1 hit, the leads were not in their titles, and their supporting cast carried the stories in their absences. The month #2 hit, the leads came back with all of the relevant status quo changes, including Spider-Man in the new costume and She-Hulk in Fantastic Four without the Thing. You had to keep following Secret Wars to learn what was going on and what led to the status quo changes. Sales were great for the first three issues of each title and then dropped off, leading them to find a different structure for the next big crossover.
  • SECRET WARS 2 TP – This was Marvel’s next big crossover. This time, the Beyonder came to Earth and showed up in virtually every title Marvel published at least once so the “Secret Wars 2” corner could appear on the entire line. Thus was the crossover born as we know it today! (DC had already done this with “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” This was Marvel’s first, and the proof that the success of Crisis wasn’t a fluke and could be reproduced with the right marketing behind a weak story.)
  • SHIELD #4 (OF 6)
  • SPIDER-MAN BY MARK MILLAR ULTIMATE COLLECTION TP – A great 12 issue run that established Mac Gorgon as the new Venom.
  • STAND NIGHT HAS COME #5 (OF 6)
  • ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #4
  • UNCANNY X-FORCE #18
  • WOLVERINE BEST THERE IS #12

Other Companies

  • ATOMIC ROBO GHOST OF STATION X #4 (OF 6)
  • BONNIE LASS #4 (OF 4)
  • DANGER GIRL ARMY OF DARKNESS #4
  • FARSCAPE TP VOL 06 COMPULSIONS
  • GRIMM FAIRY TALES THE LIBRARY #3
  • KIRBY GENESIS SILVER STAR #2
  • KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #181
  • RED SONJA #60
  • ROGER LANGRIDGES SNARKED #3
  • SPONGEBOB COMICS
  • VERY ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS #3
  • WAR GODDESS #4
  • WAREHOUSE 13 #3
  • WARLORD OF MARS #13
  • ZOMBIES VS CHEERLEADERS #4
  • ZORRO RIDES AGAIN (OF 12)