New Releases 12/29/10

For the complete list of this week’s comics, click here.

Not sure where your local comic shop is? Try comicshoplocator.com!

(note: all information including ad copy is from the publisher)

If you can’t make it to the shop, just click on any of the images below to be taken to an online retailer. I don’t get any referrals for these sales, I’m just doing my bit to spread the word on some neat products.

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Doctor Who 11th Doctor Diecast Sonic Screwdriver

Doctor Who 11th Doctor Diecast Sonic Screwdriver
Imported from the UK! This perfectly detailed metallic screwdriver is based on the sonic screwdriver carried by the eleventh Doctor; the only difference is that this screwdriver is best used for projects around the house, not for saving the universe! 

When in use, the screwdriver lights up and makes sounds, just like the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver. It comes with three tips – large, medium, and small – and each tip is reversable with Phillips and Flathead ends.

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Tomb Of Dracula Omnibus Vol. 03 HC

Tomb Of Dracula Omnibus Vol. 03 HC
The Salem Witch Trials, the French Revolution, the Civil War-only a few of the world-shaking events during which Dracula stalked the centuries! 

Now, learn the secrets of Dracula’s diary, and witness the Lord of Darkness’s first trip to America and a confrontation with Death Itself! Featuring Cagliostro, ‘Blood Countess’ Elizabeth Bathory, Marie LaVeau and more of history’s heroes and horrors-including the Frankenstein Monster!
This title collects
TOMB OF DRACULA MAGAZINE #1-6, FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER #7-9 and DRACULA LIVES!

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John Carter of Mars: Weird Worlds

John Carter of Mars: Weird Worlds
By: Marv Wolfman, Joe Orlando, Howard Chaykin, Murphy Anderson, Gray Morrow, Sal Amendola
Since his serialized debut in All-Story magazine in 1912, the spacefaring adventurer John Carter of Mars has become one of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ most beloved characters. The star of decades worth of novels and comic books, he’s soon to be immortalized on the silver screen as well, in the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures major film release John Carter of Mars! In this volume, John Carter, an ex-soldier turned prospector, is transported to Mars–“Barsoom,” as it is known to its natives–under mysterious circumstances, and becomes a champion dedicated to protecting his new home and newly found love, the princess Dejah Thoris, from warring alien civilizations and a host of deadly Barsoomian beasts! 

* Collecting stories originally published in Tarzan #207–#209 and Weird Worlds #1–#7.

* Featuring the work of comics legends Marv Wolfman, Murphy Anderson, Gray Morrow, Sal Amendola, Joe Orlando, and Howard Chaykin!
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Batman The Dark Knight #1

Batman The Dark Knight #1
By: David Finch, Scott Williams
Comics superstar David Finch takes full creative control (both writing and illustrating!) on this brand-new Batman monthly series! 

Joined by the best of the best – Scott Williams – on inks, this new series is sure to be on everyone’s must-read pile!

Delving into the more supernatural and esoteric areas of Gotham City, the 6-part storyline explores the horrific murder of one of Bruce Wayne’s childhood friends…and the terrible ramifications the brutal crime has on Batman’s life!
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Marvel Minimates Series 37 Assortment

Marvel Minimates Series 37 Assortment
A Diamond Select Release! Art Asylum Designs & Sculpts!Diamond Select continues the longest running collector line in toy history. After 36 series of Marvel Minimates you might be wondering what is left. How about the always popular Spider-Man paired with the long awaited Minimates debut of the classic villain Lizard. Next up two eagerly awaited mutants rounding out previous release get ready for 90’s era Professor Xavier and X-Force’s own Warpath. Rounding out the main release the ever loving blue eyed Thing as well as the army building Doombot.

For the specialty exclusive two pack get ready to make room for Thing in his trench coat disguise and more Doombots. Each Minimate stands 2.5″ tall with 14 points of articulation and a variety of removable and interchangeable parts and accessories.

NOTE: This is a factory sealed case assortment.
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Frank Bellamy Comp Swift Stories Deluxe Leather Ed

Frank Bellamy Comp Swift Stories Deluxe Leather Ed
This book brings together every strip and illustration produced by Frank Bellamy for the classic British children’s comic Swift, including Robin Hood, King Arthur and His Knights, and Swiss Family Robinson, plus his contributions to other strips and the Swift Annual. 

The strips are beautifully reproduced through careful scanning and restoration from the original printed pages. The luxurious feel of the book is greatly enhanced by the beautiful real leather binding and leather slipcase in which the book is housed.

With an introduction by Dave Gibbons, this book can be regarded as the single most authoritative look at the genesis of Frank Bellamy’s graphic art.

Limited to 200 copies and signed by editor Steve Holland, the volumes comes in an embossed red leather slipcase with a bonus Robin Hood print.
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DC Chronicles Green Lantern Statue

DC Chronicles Green Lantern Statue
Heroic test pilot Hal Jordan displays a burst of energy from his Power Ring as he takes his place among the DC Chronicles statues. Dressed in his original costume, this depiction of the Silver Age superhero captures the spirit of the early days of his career. 

DC Chronicles The Flash Statue

DC Chronicles The Flash StatueThe Fastest Man Alive kicks up a dust cloud as he slides into the DC Chronicles statue series! This statue features The Flash of the Silver Age, Barry Allen, in his classic costume. The DC Chronicles statue line has a consistent base, and the retro-style logo on the base further gives the piece a sense of the period from which it originated.

The DC Chronicles statue line has a consistent base, and the retro-style logo on the base further gives the piece a sense of the period from which it originated.

Each limited-edition, hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain statue measures approximately 7.5″ high x 5″ wide x 3.5″ deep and is packaged in a 4-color box with a 4-color Certificate of Authenticity.
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Cthulhu Midnight Reaver Nyarlathotep Plush

The moon masks its glaucous light over the world beneath as the night wind howls with the ambience of a thousand tortured souls, whispering unheeded warnings as the clock strikes twelve. Hidden behind you, indistinguishable from the shadows at your feet, lurks the god of a thousand forms, Nyarlathotep, his malevolent desires ignited like the flame in his eyes as his tentacled claw reaches outward!From the mind of H.P. Lovecraft to your own nightmares, it’s the Midnight Reaver Nyarlathotep Plush as Toy Vault’s creepy and cuddly line of Cthulhu and friends plush continues!

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Siege TPB Thor

Siege TPB Thor
By: Kieron Gillen, Mico Suayan
Asgard will fall, and gods will die. Surrounded by the nefarious Norman Osborn, his super-villain lackeys and the combined forces of H.A.M.M.E.R., the home of the Norse gods is under siege.Meanwhile, the city’s champion, Thor, is in exile – and his wicked stepbrother, Loki, is putting his twisted plans into motion. But even with the odds stacked against them, the citizens of Asgard are a warrior race, and they’ll defend their home to the bloody end.

It’s all-out war for the gods of the Norse pantheon as Thor, Balder, Heimdall, Tyr and the rest sacrifice everything to protect their city. Meanwhile, the New Mutant Dani Moonstar must make good on a deal with the goddess Hela by ushering those Asgardians slain in combat to her domain. But when given the power of the Valkyries, can Dani refrain from entering the chaotic fray around her?

This title collects
THOR #607-610, NEW MUTANTS #11 and SIEGE: LOKI

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Secret Warriors TPB Vol. 03 Wake Beast

Secret Warriors TPB Vol. 03 Wake Beast
By: Jonathan Hickman, Stefano Caselli, Jim Cheung
The Leviathan is stirring. The Box. Inside is a power that the leaders of Hydra have fought tooth and nail to win – and at the cost of countless lives of Hydra shock troops. Now Leviathan wants what’s in the Box. But since only one can possess it, the leaders of Hydra are marked for death.The stage is set for an epic battle between Leviathan and Hydra, but with one wild card: there is a traitor in their midst.

Meanwhile, the only group that can stop either of these world-conquering organizations is Nick Fury’s Secret Warriors. But are they unraveling before they can even find their footing?

This title collects
SECRET WARRIORS #11-16

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S.H.I.E.L.D. #5

S.H.I.E.L.D. #5
By: Jonathan Hickman, Dustin Weaver, Gerald Parel
‘The Forgotten Machines of XXXXXX XXXXX’ The story that has taken the comic book world by storm marches on with an issue so secretive that we can’t even reveal the full title!WHO IS THE NIGHT MACHINE?! Find your answer here from Jonathan Hickman (FANTASTIC FOUR) and Dustin Weaver (X-MEN). Every issue has sold out and gone into multiple printings. IT’S GOOD! WE PROMISE! Don’t miss the sleeper hit of 2010!

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New Mutants #20

New Mutants #20
By: Zeb Wells, Leonard Kirk, Dave Wilkins
‘Rise of the New Mutants’ The New Mutants were defeated last issue and those that are left standing are licking their wounds.Can they possibly pick up the pieces and stop Project Purgatory from letting the Elder Gods loose? Certainly not alone. The New Mutants turn to the rest of the X-Men for help, but can even the mighty X-Men hope to stop the terrible future foretold in NEW MUTANTS #9?

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Flash #8

Flash #8
By: Geoff Johns, Francis Manapul
The highway to FLASHPOINT begins here as Barry Allen teams up with Wally West, Kid Flash and the rest of the Speed Force to confront the arrival of a bizarre figure that could signal a new age of speedster! Be here for part 1 of ‘The Mystery of the Unknown Flash’!
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Ka-zar By Mark Waid & Andy Kubert TPB Vol. 01

Ka-zar By Mark Waid & Andy Kubert TPB Vol. 01
By: Mark Waid, Andy Kubert & Pino Rinaldi, Andy Kubert
Ka-Zar, lord of the hidden jungle, is many things. A British nobleman. A man lost in time. A husband. A father. Best friend of a saber-toothed tiger. And younger brother to an incredibly evil man.When the father of Parnival and Kevin Plunder died, he left his sons the very keys to the mysteries of the Savage Land, and Parnival has decided to take the secrets for himself!

See Ka-Zar fight for honor and family in the verdant green jungles of the Savage Land and the harsh concrete jungle of New York!

This title collects
KA-ZAR (1997) #1-7 & #-1 and material from TALES OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #1

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Marvel Masterworks Marvel Team-up HC Vol. 01

Marvel Masterworks Marvel Team-up HC Vol. 01
By: Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Gill Kane, Ross Andru, Gil Kane, Jim Mooney
This item is currently not available, but we will special order a copy from our supplier if you choose to backorder it from us today. Delivery will be delayed by two to four weeks while the backorder is processed and shipped from our supplier to our warehouse. Your credit card will not be charged for this item until it is ready to be shipped to you. For more information, please see our backordering help page.How better to celebrate a Marvel Masterworks milestone 150th volume than with all Marvel’s most-famous characters all piled into one amazing title-Marvel Team-Up!

In the world of interconnected heroes that Marvel Comics pioneered, Team-Up made that formula a franchise and gave fans a much-desired double-monthly Spidey fix.

Created by the same top-flight talents that brought you Amazing Spider-Man-Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and Jim Mooney-MTU brings Spidey together with the Human Torch, the X-Men, the Vision, the Thing, Thor, the Cat, Iron Man and the Inhumans.

That’s enough super hero for anybody’s diet! And with villains like Kang the Conqueror, Sandman and Morbius for dessert, Team-Up’s will have you full-up with classic comic book adventure!

This title collects
Marvel Team-Up #1-11

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Hulk #28

Hulk #28
By: Jeff Parker, G. Hardman & M. Robinson, Ed McGuinness
SCORCHED EARTH CONVERGENCE! Rick Jones (AKA The A-BOMB) finds the source of the next DOOMSDAY scenario & immediately gets in over his head on the most dangerous patch of ground in the Pacific…MONSTER ISLAND!Fortunately for Rick- (or not)- RED HULK is nearby and heads in for the deadliest mission yet. Can our monsters stop their monsters? Or will they become the key pieces in the INTELLIGENCIA’s master plan?

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Captain America #613

Captain America #613
By: Ed Brubaker, Butch Guice, Marko Djurdjevic
It’s the penultimate issue of the Trial of Captain America, and Bucky Barnes future hangs in the balance as evidence of the Winter Soldier’s crimes comes to light.Brought to you by the hit creative team of Ed Brubaker & Butch Guice!

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DC Comics Presents Thunder Agents #1

DC Comics Presents Thunder Agents #1
By: Wallace Wood
As DC’s new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS series gets under way, relive these legendary tales from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS #1, 2 and 7! Don’t miss the origins of the team’s members, the death of a lead character, and more!
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Desert Island Comics

There are lots of Top Ten lists out there regarding comics. I hate lists. I hate ‘favorites’ even more. I’m not being obnoxious, I just have difficulty listing things that I enjoy or worse yet giving them ranks. In an effort to play fair, I give you a list of comics I’d want to have on a desert island.

I’ve been in a superhero phase for the past couple of years (which anyone reading this blog can attest), so all of my choices are of that genre… sue me.

52 Promotion Art by J.G. Jones

52

One of the most impressive comics in recent memory has to be the group effort that was the year-long weekly comic ’52.’ With Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Keith Giffen working together on a tale that defined the DC Universe without Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman, this could be the most definitive work that the company has produced… and it fails to connect in any way to the monthly comics. A major snafu for sure, but readers of 52 entered the series as the DCU was in flux and expected to see the myriad storylines they had been following spill over to the other comics as 52 finished. Imagine their surprise when this did not happen. In some cases this would mark the series as a failure but in this case it is another sign of its genius.

Despite this, 52 remains a high watermark. Each issue was split between several stories; the Metal Men’s creator’s adventure on the island of mad scientists, Ralph Dibney’s quest to revive his deceased wife, Lex Luthor’s attempt to sell super powers, Booster Gold’s time travel story, the Question and Renee Montoya’s search for the truth – which become much more mystical, Bruce Wayne’s vision quest and the galactic adventure of Animal Man, Adam Strange and Starfire with a religious Lobo… this was simply the most wildly inventive a comic book publisher had ever been in decades. Collected in 4 trade paperbacks, it is well worth a look.

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52: Book One – Book Two – Book Three – Book Four

Jonah Hex by Frank Quitely

Jonah Hex

I came to Jonah Hex late in life. While most kids of my generation had read of the facially scarred bounty hunter at least once, I avoided him. Judging the genre as a waste of the comic book medium, I missed out on some of the best sequential stories out there.

Created by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga, Jonah Hex is a joy to read. Part of its charm is a lack of an insistence on continuity, something that comic fans love and hate. They love a story that spreads over the span of several issues but hate it when they miss an issue and are penalized for lack of knowledge. None of that gets in the way here as readers are treated to short stories told in the style of the pulp lavishly drawn by DeZuniga. The series was picked up in recent years by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti who have continued to uphold the great tradition of Jonah Hex tales.

DC Comics collected an assortment of black and white western reprints including Jonah Hex, but I also recommend the new series.

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Showcase Presents – Jonah Hex: A Faceful of Violence

Sgt. Rock by Brian Bolland

Sgt. Rock

Alongside westerns I hated war comics as a kid. Imagine my surprise when I found that Sgt. Rock was one of the most exciting and engrossing reads that I had missed out on. Veteran comic creators Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert joined forces to tell it the way it was in WWII as seen through the eyes of the regular joes who fought in it. Each short story in Army at War stands on its own and never asks the reader to ever pick up another, but I wager that you’ll be hard pressed to stop once you start. These stories are so expertly told and full of characters written and drawn so well that they hold the reader in a kind of trance issue after issue.

DC Comics has collected Sgt. Rock in full color archive editions, but for the budget reader a couple of black and white Showcase Presents collections will suffice.

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Showcase Presents 1, Showcase Presents 2

Spider-Man by Steve Ditko

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man

Perhaps the most important modern superhero comic book on the market, it doesn’t get much better than Spider-Man as created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The first 38 issues of Spider-Man tell an almost complete story. Awkward teenager Peter Parker obtains super powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider, something the reader is almost shocked to see does not enrich the youngsters life but instead complicates it. An array of colorful rogues all created by these two masterminds including Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, Electro, the Lizard and the Sandman (just to name a few) battle our hero who is possessed of uncanny strength and agility yet he is such a neurotic mess that they are usually not the real problem as Peter Parker sees it. The adventure tales are enjoyable enough for inclusion in my desert island list, but the superb art is so imaginative and bizarre that it has matured like a fine wine over the years.

Many talented creators have tried to make their mark on Spider-Man, but in all honesty if nothing had been published after Ditko left… it would not have been the end of the world.

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Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Man

Jack Kirby's Kamandi

Jack Kirby’s Kamandi

After leaving Marvel Comics, Jack Kirby had decided to create a line of comics with rival publisher DC. Each of his springboards was just brilliant, but my personal favorite is Kamandi. Set in the far off future, Kamandi follows the adventures of the last boy on Earth. The planet has survived a cataclysmic event called ‘the Great Disaster’ and is now ruled by clans of warring animals. Lions, rats, cheetahs and even giant grasshoppers all clamber about a world strewn with the garbage left behind by the once proud race known as Mankind. Rumor has it that Kirby had intended the series to be spun off into a cartoon (and looking at his other creation Thundarr the Barbarian you can see that he never left any ideas idle), but it never worked out in his lifetime.

Animator Bruce Timm finally adapted Kirby’s future world in an episode of the Brave and the Bold, something that many Kirby fans are still shocked to see happen. Again a major part of this series’ appeal is that it can be picked up and put down at any time. Stories to pick up issue to issue but never in a way that demands you read each one in order.

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DC Archives: Kamandi

Wally Wood's THUNDER Agents

Wally Wood’s Thunder Agents

I have written in part about this series before but it really is one of my big faves. Part super spy action book part superhero series, Thunder Agents just has it all. I had discovered Wally Wood first from his Wit’s End series published in Eclipse magazine, I later found an issue of Daredevil drawn by Wood that blew my socks off. His smooth line and sense of motion are a joy to behold!

I was overjoyed to find out about the Thunder Agents from a new attempt at the series published by Deluxe Comics. Digging back in the bins at several comic book conventions I eventually built a complete collection of the entire series (and even a couple of the spin-offs!). The characters are quirky, the action is bombastic and the talent is like a who’s who of 1960’s comics.

After DC Comics started working on reviving the series for the first time they reprinted the Thunder Agents in attractive (if expensive) archive editions. But I prefer the original printings.

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DC Archives: Thunder Agents

The Doom Patrol

Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani’s Doom Patrol

Meeting Arnold Drake at a Boston Comic Con, I was tickled to see the old man giggle as he explained the difference between the Doom Patrol and any other superhero team, ‘They hate each other!’ Yes, the Fantastic Four has the rivalry of Ben and Johnny and the X-Men are hated and feared by those they have sworn to protect, but these guys really do hate each other. Why? Because they serve as reminders of how each one has nowhere else to go.

The members of the Doom Patrol are all survivors from one traumatic disaster or other, collected into some kind of commando group by their benefactor ‘the Chief.’ Former silver screen starlet Rita Farr is transformed by some weird gas into a size-stretching freak called Elasti Girl. Struck by strange unearthly radiation, brave test pilot Larry Trainor’s body has become a cage for the deadly menace known as Radioactive Man. Worst of all is dashing and handsome race car driver Cliff Steele whose entire body is burnt to a crisp. Only his brain survives, skillfully transplanted into a robot body by ‘The Chief.’ Known only as ‘Robot Man,’ Steele’s body is blasted, melted and rent asunder month after month by the most bizarre assortment of villains ever seen.

The comic can be read in parts but if you have any interest, you should stick with it to the end. As is most fitting, the series has the most unbelievable finale ever.

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DC Archives: Doom Patrol

Fireside- Son of Origins of Marvel Comics

The Marvel Comics Fireside Collection

I’m cheating here but after noticing so many DC books in this list I figured I should level the playing field. Released in the mid-1970’s, these collections published by Fireside Books are perhaps the first attempt to bridge the gap between the newsstand and the book store. Each book is a selection of the most compelling Marvel Comics stories along with an introduction by Stan Lee that is sometimes informative and other times not so much. Remember, this is at a time when there was no internet to research these characters and there was also no series of cheap Essential books on the market to provide a quick back library of reference material.

Titles range from collections of stories featuring the best of Fantastic Four, Captain America, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, an over-sized Hulk book and theme books focusing on the women of Marvel, super villains, superhero origins, team-ups and greatest battles. There’s even an original Silver Surfer story that retells his origin without the Fantastic Four! It’s a series of books some which have been reprinted but I recommend hunting down the first printings.

Seeing as how Marvel was embraced by the College set in the 60’s, this was probably an attempt to retain that demographic by printing up something that looked respectable on a guy’s mantle rather than a stack of wrinkled comics (kinda like today). Everyone wanted to look cool but somehow also keep up with Spider-Man.

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Anyway… that is my desert island list of comics in no particular order. I’m sure that I’m missing a few (like Kirby and Simon’s Boy’s Ranch and Captain America comics… maybe something by Mike Allred and a good Eisner Spirit collection), but thankfully I don’t have to worry about packing for a doomsday event just yet.

What would make your list?