Previews! (October 2015)

Here are some recommendations from this month’s Previews catalog for product shipping mostly in December.

I am sorely tempted, but even Greg Rucka isn’t enough of a draw to get me to buy the Dragon Age: Magekiller miniseries.
Brian Wood’s The Massive returns with a prequel miniseries titled Ninth Wave.
Brian Wood’s other DH series, Rebels, has a done-in-one story featuring the character Stone Hoof if you were waiting to jump on the series (I guess?).
Hmm, Matt Kindt’s Past Aways couldn’t make it past issue 9. I wonder why?
I spoke of the new miniseries on the podcast, Mystery Girl, and I still like the sound of it, though, with a protagonist who knows everything, where’s the narrative tension?
Angel & Faith begins the final arc of the season with issue #21.
The Spirit gets a new collection featuring stories from Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, and more (you know, hacks…).

Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles team up. ‘Nuff said, right?
I won’t be getting the aforementioned team-up book, but I’ll be trying the Harley’s Little Black Book bimonthly series. It has art by Amada Conners, so that’s a good thing.
The mini-event Robin War begins in December with the first of two bookends, and continues on through all of the Bat books and Teen Titans. I’m all in!
Swamp Thing shows up in Constantine #7.
Remember, Omega Men #7 is NOT the final issue, despite what Previews said.
Damn, if I’d known that Validus was going to show up in Telos, I might have bought the series from issue 1.
So, Vandal Savage has a connection to Krypton, and he’ll now be a Superman villain (Superman Annual #3)?
From the I never saw that coming (/sarcasm) department, Gotham By Midnight bows out with #12.
However, I’ll be sad to see Sensation Comics ending with #17 (though, the last few issues have been a little too preachy for my taste).
Just in time for the debut of the new Supergirl series on CBS, DC is giving us the Girl of Steel trade–3 months later!
Do yourself a favor and buy the two Grayson trades that are solicited. You are welcome.
The Sheriff of Babylon Vertigo miniseries by Tom King and Mitch Gerads sounds really good.
Lucifer is back! I really dug the old series, so I’m curious what Holly Black and Lee Garbett (!) can do with this favorite Vertigo character.

There’s a new Judge Dredd series for those into that character.
Also, a new Rocketeer miniseries, with some nice looking Dave Bullock art.
On the Star Trek front, there’s a new miniseries exploring Starfleet Academy with the familiar characters and some new ones.
Also, there’s the Star Trek: The John Byrne Collection trading a bunch of his miniseries.
I’m tempted to get The X-Files X-Mas Special if for nothing else than to maybe find out how the Lone Gunmen survived their fate from Season 9.
Hey, give The Eighth Seal a try. I read the comic via Thrillbent and enjoyed it.
Dusty Higgins and Van Jensen created what seems so obvious in hindsight: Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer.
Long touted as good comics, Essex County gets a limited edition slipcase offering.
I’m very tempted to buy A Hero’s Death OGN by Ricardo Sanchez and Mark Texeira.

The at-first-digital-only series The Private Eye finally comes to paper.
Missing your supernatural Western fix from The Sixth Gun? Well, pardner, look no further than Black Jack Kethum.
Odd, there’s usually more I spotlight from Image…

Bunch of new number ones that I’m not interested in.
Except Daredevil, of course. He’s sporting a new black and red costume, and Matt’s back in New York apparently as a D.A.?
I am thinking of trying out the new all-ages Spidey book.
Also, Squadron Supreme. Take a bunch of alternate versions of the Squadron characters and put them together to see what happens. The premise of the team reads like The Authority, though.
If you haven’t read it, go get the Thor vol. 1 trade. It’s good fun.

Other publishers

Aftershock Comics is a new player on the block, with Mike Marts as editor-in-chief. It’s launching four new titles: Replica, InSeXts (with a cool cover by Ariela Kristantina and Bryan Valenza), Super Zero, and Dreaming Eagles. I think I might try the second one.
If you missed out on the Archie relaunch but don’t want to wait for the trade, then try the Collector’s Edition collecting the first three issues. The best part of the new series? The original Archie reprints in the back.
Boom Studios’ Venus is a big want for me. Colonization of another planet in an interplanetary arms race? Sounds like fun.
Want to help out a comic creator? Buy The Whisper Campaign to benefit Norm Breyfogle’s recovery.
Every time I flip through Dynamite’s section, I stop to ponder The Precinct, a steampunk cop story.
I just read Joelle Jones’ Lady Killer and had a lot of fun. Because of her, I’m thinking of getting 12 Reasons Why I Love Her from Oni.
Valiant has a new Doctor Mirage series–I keep eyeing this book because of the awesome cover by Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic.
Oh, bummer. Ivar, Time Walker is ending with #12.