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Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

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Wednesdays are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in!

We’re bringing back something we haven’t done for a while, what the team thinks. Our contributors are choosing up to five books each week and why they’re choosing the books.

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this Wednesday.

Alex

Top Pick: God Country #6 (Image) – A sleeper hit for me, I didn’t start reading this until the 4th issue had come out, and I was struck by the stark brilliance of the comic. Everything about this issue is a joy to experience; Emmett Quinlan’s attitude embodies the best of humanity’s stubborn refusal to quit, and then the creative team produce a wonderfully written and drawn issue each month.

All-Star Batman #11 (DC Comics) – I’ve made no secret of the fact I’m a Scott Snyder fan… but I loved the previous issue. I can’t wait to read this, especially with Snyder delving back into Alfred’s past.

Rapture #2 (Valiant) – This is a bit of a cheat because I’ve already read the review copy and know I like it, but I’m excited to get my hands on a physical copy to check out the gorgeous artwork.

The Chair #1 (Alterna) – I have no idea what this is about.. but it’s a dollar. Every other one of Alterna’s newsprint comics has been more than worth the money, so I see no reason for this to be any different.

 

Shay

It’s a great week to be comic book lover, so many awesome titles that this almost became a top ten list. If you’re lucky you can finish them off, if you’re not , then you’ll have more than enough to keep you occupied next weekend as you gear up for the long beach (or camping) holiday weekend.

Harley Quinn #22 (DC Comics) – Poison Ivy is back and I’m looking forward to this dynamic duo getting their friendship ( or something else) back on track.

Batwoman #4 (DC Comics) – Alas, the end of the current arc is here and it’s looking like it’s going to bring up more questions about Batwoman’s origins and give us an interesting bad guy to learn more about in the next arc.

The X-Files: Origins – Dog Days of Summer #1 (IDW Publishing) – The truth is out there and teenage Mulder and Scully are going to find it. I can legit here the theme song in my head.

Crosswinds #1 (Image) – Cat Staggs and Gail Simone have teamed give us what I’m sure will be a true gift from the comic gods!

America #4 (Marvel) – Mardrimar is revealed, the Ultimates might be getting the band together and America gets a blast from the past that reminds her that she doesn’t always get it right.

Luke Cage #2 (Marvel) – Luke’s in New Orleans making new friends ,dealing with enemies and getting even closer to the truth or Dr. Burstein.

Bill & Ted Save the Universe #1 (BOOM! Studios) – I’m here for it!

Brik TP (Oni Press) – The series I miss the most is back in it’s very own trade paperback. Nothing new but, it’s nice seeing it in one place so I can revisit the things that made me fall in love with it , as I pine for some new issues.

 

Paul

Top Pick: Super Sons #5 (DC Comics) – This has been a great book from the start. Great action, I love the banter between Robin and Superboy and the art is great. I couldn’t ask for anything more from a superhero book. You really should be reading this.

Iceman #2 (Marvel) – I really enjoyed the first issue of Iceman’s solo series. It really gave new readers a glimpse into the character’s past, and gave us veterans a starting point to see where Bobby is going and how he is changing. It was a good mix of action and insight into the character and I hope it carries on in this second issue.

Secret Empire: Underground #1 (Marvel) – This event, like many of Marvel’s past events, has been a real let down. Aside from the fact that Marvel turned Steve Rogers into the fascist leader of Hydra and it seems Hydra’s reach didn’t take long at all to take hold, the event has just been boring and has induced many eye rolls, at least from this reader. But, I have been enjoying the tie in series more then the main event and this book has me excited. We saw this team in action in Secret Empire #4 and I was totally into all of it. I love the line up and their agenda and I’m really looking forward to seeing more from them. And to be honest, anything with Mockingbird in it is a must read for me.

W.M.D. Weapons of Mutant Destruction #1 (Marvel) – The new Weapon X series has been so-so; nothing terribly exciting except for this new mysterious Weapon X project that seems to be hunting down mutants instead of turning them into weapons. But after issue 4, we now have a better understanding of their why after finding out who is pulling the strings. But Old Man Logan and team are on their way for a little payback, so I’m excited to see how all this is going to explode…and if the cover to W.M.D #1 is any indication, it is going to explode big time!

 

Brett

Top Pick: Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man #1 (Marvel) – Chip Zdarsky takes on Spider-Man and boy am I looking forward to this one. Zdarsky’s humor should fit really well with the classic Spider-Man which was more about the quips and fun. Here’s hoping!

Lobo/Road Runner Special #1 and Wonder Woman/Tasmanian Devil #1 (DC Comics) – The first two series that mashed up DC characters with Looney Tunes were a lot of fun and I can’t wait to read the fun that’ll be these two issues.

Solarman #3 (Scout Comics) – It’s been a long time coming, but I’m still looking forward to this issue which feels like the predecessor in some ways to Lion Forge’s Catalyst line.

Spencer and Locke #3 (Action Lab: Danger Zone) – A great combination of concepts for a solid noir series with a twist.

Victor Lavalle’s Destroyer #2 (BOOM! Studios) – A new take on the classic Frankenstein story. The first issue was good and I can’t wait to see where this series goes.

Sitting Down For A Cup Of Tea & Some Comics: Issue One

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In what may or may not become a new feature, I decided to make a cup of tea (PG Tips if you’re curious) and sit down and read a couple comics whilst I drank said cuppa. My intention isn’t to read review copies, or digital copies if I can help it, but either graphic novels, TPBs, or floppy comics. I may have read them before, or they may have been on my To Read pile for far too long, but whether this happens monthly, weekly, daily or never again will depend entirely on the time I have. Tea And Comics will be a feature designed solely to get me back to reading comics with a review in mind. I’m aware of the irony.

This week, I decided I wanted to finally read the three Alterna newsprint comics I picked up at the beginning of May, so I made myself a cuppa, put my feet up, and got started.

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Above were three comics that I read today, all first issues  of Croak, Age Of Awesome and Adam Wreck. Each comic was printed on newsprint, and cost me $1.50 a pop; which isn’t an introductory price – that’s how much Alterna’s newsprint comics are. Each mini series will run three or five issue (at least the ones I could find – there may be others that will have higher or lower issue counts.

Anyway, on to what I thought of the comics.  This won’t be a typical review, because I was consciously avoiding thinking about the comics critically – I just wanted to enjoy them, or not, as I so often did when I was a youngling, so all credits will appear at the end after croak 1my thoughts on each.

The first book I read while waiting for the tea to cool was Croak. This type of comic is usually not the kind of book I’d gravitate toward because it’s a touch more horror in nature than my usual fare. That being said, Croak has a fantastic old school feel to it that has echoes of early horror comics style of story telling, but could easily come from the feel of the newsprint – either way, I loved it. One niggle was that in places the art seemed a bit murky, but through no fault of the artist or colourist as it seems more of a printing issue, which for me added charm to the comic. If you can find this, then buy it.

With my tea cooled, and several sips taken I picked amazing ageup Amazing Age. This was the first of the two all-ages comics I picked up, and I was enthralled with it. There’s a brilliantly Golden Age sense to the comic, a feeling augmented by the opening story-within-a-story that opens the comic. The story blends a happy-go-lucky superhero feel with some heart wrenching tragedy in a smooth and genuinely emotional way. The writing show cases this dichotomy so well, and the less detailed art holds up really well on the newsprint making this a great buy for the price I paid.

adam wreckLast but by no means least is Adam Wreck a sci-fi story that features an interstellar family travelling past the known reaches of space. This is a very classic Earthling-meets-Alien style story that has the added benefit of Adam constantly griping about the lack of earthly amenities (this may sound like a gripe of my own, but it’s written in a way that you can’t help but laugh at, or empathize with, the space bound teenager). Artistically, the comic doesn’t suffer from the newsprint at all, and has  a brilliant use of colour within the story. If you’re even half curious, this is worth checking out.

I’ll be completely honest with you; these are absolutely worth a buck and a half, but if they were printed on the typical comic paper rather than newsprint then I assume that they’d be a bit more expensive, likely between $3 and $4 or so, they’d still be worth the more inflated price. However I probably wouldn’t have been drawn in as much at the higher pricing point, so I’m happy with the newsprint comics.

The large cup of tea I had made myself was finished by this point, and after having read  three pretty great comics, I realized that I forgot to take a photo of the tea and comics… so I made another cup of tea. Just for the photo, of course. Sooner or later I’ll sit down for more Tea & Comics.

Croak #1 
Writer: Cody Andrew Sousa Artist: Francesco Iaquinta
Colourist: Chris O’Halloran Letterer: Dezi Sienty

Amazing Age #1
Writer: Matthew D. Smith Artist: Jeremy Massie Colourist: Christine Brunson

Adam Wreck #1
Writer/Artist: Michael S. Bracco

Alterna Increases Print Runs for June’s Comic Releases

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With a few days to go before the May 3rd debut of Alterna‘s affordably priced newsprint comics, early order numbers for June’s releases are currently blowing away expectations. Currently, at double the amount of May’s initial order numbers, Alterna will be increasing print runs for all of June’s titles by 50%. Alterna had increased May’s print runs by 25% but an ordering surge still created sellouts across the board.

Publisher Peter Simeti shared his excitement about the early success of the newsprint titles:

We’re less than a week away from debuting our newsprint comics at shops across the world — needless to say everyone at Alterna is very excited.  Readers and retailers have been super supportive of this initiative and it means so much to the creators here.  It was a pleasant surprise to find out that the initial orders for June were so high, so we’ll be increasing print runs to hopefully accommodate all the readers and retailers (and any reorders) without having to go back to press on second printings.  It’s been great, receiving messages from customers that they’re opening up pull boxes for the first time in years, and that they’re buying a reader copy AND a copy to keep safe… for a creator-owned company like us, it’s very surreal to hear things like this.  Personally, I hope that readers love the stories and that they’ll use the savings on our books to even try other creator-owned books at their local shop.  I’d like to give a big thanks to all the comic shops and readers that are helping us bring back newsprint to new comic book day!

Three of the four books being released on May 3rd are great for kids. Adam Wreck #1, Amazing Age #1, and Lilith Dark #1 are fantastic reads for kids — so pick ’em up on Free Comic Book Day if you don’t get a chance to scoop ’em up on the 3rd!

Due to a small overrun on comic shop/direct sales editions on each book, Alterna will be able to fill reorders via Diamond on May releases.

Alterna Comics Brings Back Newsprint as May Releases Sell Out

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Alterna has announced that Amazing Age #1, Adam Wreck #1, Croak #1, and Lilith Dark #1 have all sold out at the distributor level before even hitting store shelves.  Despite ordering a 25% larger print run, a surge in demand for the debut titles of Alterna’s newsprint line (sporting cover prices of $1.50 each) have yielded sold out print runs across the board.

Alterna will be going back to press pending demand from retailers once the books hit shelves on May 3rd.

Alterna also has four other titles currently in Diamond’s April Previews catalog, for release in June. Mother Russia #1, Trespasser #1, and Scrimshaw #1 will all sport $1.50 cover prices — and The Chair #1 will be priced at $1.00. These titles will all be printed on newsprint with a semi-gloss cover stock and most will be in full color. With the exception of the Scrimshaw series, all other titles are a mini-series of 3 to 5 issues.

Alterna Increases Initial Print Runs For Its Newsprint Comics

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Alterna Comics has announced that the following titles, printed on newsprint and priced at $1.50 each, will see a print run increase: Adam Wreck #1, Amazing Age #1, Croak #1, and Lilith Dark #1. All four titles will be debuting on May 3rd, 2017 – the Wednesday before Free Comic Book Day.

Alterna’s #BringingBackNewsprint initiative has introduced a single issue comic book line printed on newsprint with cover prices between $1.00 and $1.99.  Most issues will be priced at $1.50.

Publisher Peter Simeti explains why and how Alterna is increasing print run numbers, instead of the usual method of re-printing issues with a second print run:

One of the nice side effects of printing on newsprint is an extremely quick turnaround time of about 3 to 5 business days.  Our printer is used to putting out weekly publications, so the speediness (while new to us) is definitely nothing new to them.  Because of this, it allows us flexibility to increase or decrease print run numbers as necessary, instead of going back to print on an entirely new print run or rolling the dice on a print run and getting stuck with a massive amount of excess copies or being a few hundred short.

It should be noted that we’re also adding a few thousand copies into each run to compensate for our upcoming newsstand distribution with PDG which will begin this Summer in July.  The only difference between a comic shop comic and a newsstand comic, will be the barcode.  We do not plan on making market-specific variant covers.

Alterna Has Announced that the 2016 IF Anthology Has Sold Out

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Alterna Comics has announced that the 2016 IF Anthology has sold out at the publisher level. Copies may still be available from retailers and creators of the anthology. At this time, no plans have been made to go back to print on the title.

The IF Anthology, which was created by Alterna publisher Peter Simeti in 2015, tackles a different theme every year. “Science fiction” was the theme of 2015’s book, “Super Powers” was the theme for 2016. The upcoming 2017 IF Anthology will revolve around the theme of “Crime” — and will carry the title’s first mature rating. Submissions are currently being accepted here.

Celebrating a new theme with every annual release, 2016’s “IF” features almost 100 creators from around the world, joining forces to tell 40 tales of the (super) human condition.

Alterna in May 2017

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Lilith Dark #1 of 4

MAR171251
(W/A) Charles C. Dowd

Lilith Dark has no time for princess stuff; she’s far too busy fighting giant monsters and capturing unicorns… or at least that’s how she imagines things. But what if these imaginary beasties, creatures, and monsters were actually real? What then? Printed on nostalgic newsprint with a glossy cover!
In Shops: May 03, 2017
SRP: $1.50

ld1

Croak #1 of 3

MAR171250
(W) Cody Andrew Sousa
(A/CA) Francesco Iaquinta, Chris O’Halloran
(L) Dezi Sienty

In this pulse-pounding debut issue, a fun camping trip turns awry after three friends are forced deep into the woods. Lost, afraid, and alone, their worst nightmares come to life. Printed on nostalgic newsprint with a glossy cover!
In Shops: May 03, 2017
SRP: $1.50

croak1

Amazing Age #1 of 5

MAR171249
(W) Matthew David Smith
(A/CA) Jeremy Massie, Christine Brunson

Three teenagers spend their days creating comics until one day, the stories come to life! Stuck in a world of super-powered heroes and villains, they’ll have to figure out how to save the day and get back home in one piece! Printed on nostalgic newsprint with a glossy cover!
In Shops: May 03, 2017
SRP: $1.50

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Adam Wreck #1 of 3

MAR171248
(W/A) Michael S. Bracco

An interstellar family road trip comes to a screeching halt when Adam’s parents are kidnapped by Space Pirates! Crash-landing on a planet filled with monstrous creatures, Adam befriends a scoundrel with a heart of gold. Can they save Adam’s parents? Printed on nostalgic newsprint with a glossy cover!
In Shops: May 03, 2017
SRP: $1.50

aw1

Review: The Wicked Righteous #1

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wicked righteous 1 cover.PNGIt’s been two years since a biological attack decimated the world’s population. Lucas Goodspeed and his brothers have spent that time preparing to escape the dangers of San Diego, CA. When a beautiful girl named JC is abducted their plans appear to be in jeopardy. The Brothers must now choose how far they’re willing to go to save a life… even if it means endangering one of their own.

When it comes to post-apocalyptic stories, there’s usually one of two things that has caused the apocalypse – war or disease. In the case of The Wicked Righteous it’s a disease that we don’t really know a whole lot about just yet, other than for as-yet-unexplained reasons it didn’t infect everyone. Terry Mayo uses the opening of the comic to establish the world of The Wicked Righteous as the mystery disease is already rampant infecting some and ignoring others; although we don’t find out how or why, the cause of the plague doesn’t really matter at this point because that’s not the focus of the story.

The comic itself is an almost by the numbers take on establishing a story in the post-apocalyptic landscape, although contrary to what you may be thinking, that’s not actually a bad thing as you’re able to focus more on the characters than the setting of the story. It’s always the characters, and their relationships, that make any good post-apocalyptic tale, and The Wicked Righteous has the potential for us to explore some very interesting angles of character development – and that’s why the formulaic backdrop upon which the story is set works so well.

At the end of the day, this is a very solid first issue and is well worth your time if you’re looking for a fresh take on a familiar setting.

 Story: Terry Mayo Art: Lucas Romero Colours: Christopher Hall
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

Graphic Policy was provided with a FREE copy for review

Preview: The Creators #2

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The Creators #2

Written by: Michael S. Bracco
Art by: Michael S. Bracco

A sudden outbreak of catastrophic Creator incidents causes the world to assess how this dangerous epidemic should be handled. Maya, a young Creator whose powers are just beginning to come forth must make a decision about her future amidst the worldwide turmoil.

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Review: Go Home

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gh_coverStranded on a secluded island during World War 2, a young man discovers the true horrors of war.

Go Home written by Dan Hill with art by Andrew Herbst really caught me off guard in a good way. The story is more of a poem and how it’s written is an interesting one. The story is written like a letter home as the protagonist writes home to his father exploring his time growing up and his experiences during the war.

The comic is like reading a personal diary entry with images and that style really makes it stand out. It all gives a look into the mind and even has the main character rethinking some of what he’s saying. It provides an insight into the character you don’t often get making the comic a character study in many ways. It creates a depth you often don’t see with comic characters.

Herbst’s art is fantastic and with Hill’s writing style it becomes even more important. The design is solid and reminds me a bit of Nate Powell’s work in a way. The drama is emphasized and the heartbreak too with the combination of writer and artist coming together to tell a great solid.

Overall, the comic wasn’t on my radar, but this is really solid and one I’d suggest checking out digitally. It stands out as a prime example of the type of entertainment that indie comics can deliver that you often don’t see in the big publishers.

Story: Dan Hill Art: Andrew Herbst
Story: 8.4 Art: 8.4 Overall: 8.4 Recommendation: Buy

Graphic Policy was provided with a FREE copy for review

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