Welcome to another look ahead. Quick reminder, the FPI Most Wanted is a simple little service, throwing the spotlight on the comics we’re looking forward to here at the FPI Blog this month and the next.
But comics being comics, sometimes shipping dates just slip, so please, no shouting if we’re wrong eh?!
FEBRUARY 2013
First up, a few things we’re all looking forward to
Unearthing - Alan Moore and Mitch Jenkins – available in deluxe, oversized hardcover or simple yet still deluxe paperback versions. (Joe, James and Richard)
The New Deadwardians – Dan Abnett and Ian Culbard. Brilliant stuff from Abnett and Culbard (Joe, James and Richard)
Hellblazer 300 by Peter Milligan, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Landini, cover by Simon Bisley. This is the end, not only of the Death and Cigarettes arc but of Hellblazer as readers have known it for twenty five years. (James and Richard)
Judge Dredd : Day Of Chaos – The Fourth Faction first of the big recent Wagner series in collected form (Joe, James and Richard)
The Silver Darlings – Will Morris (Blank Slate) – had a limited release in December 2012, but should be everywhere in Feb 2013, certainly deserves to be, and looks like one of the books of 2013 – certainly a stellar debut from Will Morris. (Zainab and Richard)
Don Quixote Volume 2 – adapted by Rob Davies. One of the books of 2011, this second volume will probably be on some best of year lists as well! (Zainab and Richard)
ZAINAB
Ten Thousand Years in Hell by M Tillieux
Resident Alien by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse
Remind by Jason Brubaker
RICHARD
Zed – A Cosmic Tale by Michel Gagne
Iron Man Omnibus by David Micheline, Bob Layton, John Romita Jr. and more. This is MY Iron Man, this collection of works from issues 115-157, something I discovered second time round in Marvel UK titles, and I shall forever have a soft spot for the wonderful Iron Man artwork of Bob Layton. Do I have enough fondness for it to spend £50 plus on it? Not quite sure, but I’ll try to remember to let you know!
JAMES
Batwoman Issue 17 by JH Williams III and W Haden Blackman – Brings an arc to a close.
Fever Ridge: A Tale of MacArthur’s Jungle War #1 (of 8) by Mike Heimos and Nick Runge (IDW). Featuring the action of the US 6th Army’s 6th Infantry Division (“the Sightseein’ Sixth”) and their jungle commando’s, the Alamo Scouts, under the command of Gen. Walter Kreuger, who was under MacArthur. It will be nice to see how it compares to Darkies Mob.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven. Looks worth a read, I am intrigued to see what Bendis does with this Galactic super team. It is interesting that Captain America is off world, and now these guys are back with such a strong writer. It’s a prequel to issue one, which is out in March.
JOE
Judge Dredd : the Complete Carlos Ezquerra Volume 1 Hardcover - top of my list that one, as you can imagine, even though I will have read all of them before…
Goddamn This War! Hardcover - Very keen to read this after his It Was the War of the Trenches, which I liked so much I even struggled through the French version before Fanta did it in English. Another one for my growing Fanta Tardi collection
Batgirl Volume 2 : Knightfall Descends Hardcover - Been reading this since Gail Simone started it in New 52, was upset to hear new editor kicked her off the title and by email no less, equally delighted to see her tweeting the other night she is back as Batgirl writer again already, someone at DC must have woken up…
Classic Popeye Volume 1 by Bud Sagendorf
MARCH 2013
First up, a few things we’re all looking forward to
Hawkeye Vol. 1; My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction and David Aja. Hawkeye could have been so ropey, especially given his popularity in the Avengers movie, yet Fraction has penned a brilliant story, very realistic feeling yet not too grimey and the character, I feel, is much more accessible and realistic that the movie version. The artwork of David Aja has been really nice and is just right for this comic. I have liked the character of Kate Bishop a one time Young Avenger, and this collection will include their first meeting from an issue of Young Avengers. (James – who wrote the text here, Zainab, and Richard)
Manhattan Projects Volume 2 by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Patarra (Joe and Richard)
Eustace by SJ Harris (Joe and Zainab)
The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Nemo: Heart Of Ice - Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill (Joe and Richard)
JOE
Bread & Wine by Samuel R. Delany and Mia Wolff
Superman: the Death and Return of Superman Omnibus by Jurgens, Simonson, Ordway, Stern et al
Elizabeth’s Canvas by Waid, Hurwitz, Ellison, Ryall, Tipton, Meyers et al
ZAINAB
Spera Volume 2 by Josh Tierney and various artists.
RICHARD
XIII Volume 18: The Last Round by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance
The Shade Collection by James Robinson, art by Cully Hamner, Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone, Javier Pulido, Jill Thompson, Frazer Irving and Gene Ha
Gum Girl Volume 3 – Countdown To Destruction – The third in Andi Watson’s delightful bubblegum pink saga!
The Adventures Of Super-Hero Girl – Faith Erin Hicks. I loved Hicks’ Friends With Boys, and have been meaning, meaning, meaning to tell you about Superhero Girl the webcomic for ages. Thankfully you no longer have to wait for Mr slow and can buy a lovely print version of this from Dark Horse.
JAMES
The Massive; Black Pacific graphic novel is released reprinting the first 6 issues, Brian Wood, Kristian Donaldson and Garry Brown
Unwritten: The Wound by Mike Carey and Peter Gross. Unwritten continues to be one of the more intelligent comics currently available. Even though the the War of the Worlds is over, the story continues quite nicely.
Time Warp #1. A Science Fiction Anthology from Vertigo, with some interesting writers credited; Dan Abnett, Gail Simone and Simon Spurrier all sparking interest. Also another “Dead Boy Detectives” tale from Toby Litt, Buckingham and Victor Santos.
Age Of Ultron. Brian Michael Bendis, Paul Nearly, Bryan Hitch, Carlos Pacheco. Any one of these fella’s would have piqued my inquisitiveness and I have to say although Age of Ultron is not immediately a comic that I would be drawn to, the secrecy over the ending, the people involved, are all very enticing and I will be giving the first issue a go.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Issue 1. Also fromBendis, this relaunch of Guardians, with Steve McNiven on art is another one I’ll be trying.
Wolverine by Paul Cornell and Alan Davis. I am hoping this is similar to Hawkeye, in that it will flesh out the character, build a decent supporting cast with depth and show the interaction of Logan with regular folk when he is not on Big Super Hero Team duties. This will be a big comic for me. I need Cornell to really deliver the goods on this one, I have high expectations and the balance between action and intelligent story telling will be crucial.
Fri, Feb 1, 2013
Comics and cartoons