spider-island Archives - Graphic Policy

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.

Brett

Top Pick: This Damned Band #1 (Dark Horse Comics) – A fun and trippy start of a series that mixes the fun of rock and roll with ghosts. This is Spinal Tap meets Ghostbusters, and it works in an awesome way. By the end of the first issue, you won’t be sure what is supernatural and what is drug induced, and that’s half the fun.

Bower Boys Our Fathers HC (Dark Horse Comics) – The webcomic is collected in print. The series focuses on Tammany Hall and Union busting, but it’s so much more, it’s about the relationships we have with our fathers. The fantastic story is backed up by beautiful artwork.

The Bunker #13 (Oni Press) – The time bending series continues its fantastic ways. In this issue we get some more info on what the deal with Heidi is including where she’s been the last three months, and more importantly who she’s been with.

Midnighter #3 (DC Comics) – Punching corporations! Seriously, this series is violent fun, that shows the struggle of a man designed to hurt attempting to figure out who he is. Steve Orlando is killing it (and a lot of people) in this series.

Nailbiter #15 (Image Comics) – One of my favorite series that has a few folks attempting to discover why a small town has produced so many serial killers. We’re getting closer and closer to finally getting an answer… I think and hope.

Alex

Top Pick: The Fox #5 (Archie Comics) – I picked issue #1 up on a whim, and this series has fast become one of my favourites. I love the fun, almost cynically innocent take on the superhero genre, and I cannot wait to get my grubby mitts on the final chapter of the opening arc.

Detective Comics #43 (DC Comics) – I’ve been surprised at how much I’ve been enjoying Mecha-Batman, and while I expect the original to return eventually, I’m enjoying this while it lasts.

We Stand On Guard #2 (Image Comics) – The first issue of this comic took me by surprise when it came out last month. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this as much as I did, and whether it is the underdog nature of the story or the Great White North setting, this is a series I’m looking forward too.

Edward

Top Pick: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad #5 (Marvel) – This all ages comic has not been on many people’s reading list, bust it proves that some minds at Disney are still interested in creativity.

Morning Glories #47 (Image Comics) – The standout series continues by weaving in new plots to the old. Every answer continues to create five new questions.

Groot #3 (Marvel) – This series has only run two issues thus far but has been unexpectedly amazing. The story is simple enough, but executed flawlessly.

Ms. Marvel #17 (Marvel) – One of Marvel’s stand-out series gets the Secret Wars treatment. It is nearing the end before Marvel relaunches and it remains to be seen how that will affect this series.

Red Skull #2 (Marvel) – It is the Suicide Squad of the Secret Wars as Red Skull takes on the role of Deadshot.

Elana

Top Pick: The Humans #7 (Image Comics) – Apesploitstion biker madness continues! I love this series so much I have a lenghthy personal essay about it coming out this week. This month’s issue features even more sex and violence and drugs and rock and roll and vengeance and period accurate hair and the color orange and oh my god the lettering! The lettering!!! All the important things in art, really.

Top Pick: The Wicked + The Divine #13 (Image Comics) – At last an issue about the mysterious goddess Tara jokingly called “goddess of who knows what” because there are so many deities with that name that it’s unclear who she’s supposed to be. I’m not sure which real world pop stars the character was inspired by. Beyoncé?

One thing is for sure, the new art by Tula Lotay is stunning!

Kaptara #4 (Image Comics) – This charming sword and sorcery in space comic won my heart. It’s saturated in lurid colors and riffs on He-Man but it doesn’t get in the way of being a very human story about a scientist who really needs a hug. And a date. Do you know any nice single men for Keith to date? I worry that Manton the warrior may take a while to come around.

Midnighter #3 (DC Comics) – Last issue our hero started to square off with the corporate powers that be. I’m really looking forward to a comic that tackles Monsanto. At least that’s where I think this is heading. Also, Midnighter punched a steak through a killer’s head. A dinner steak.

This Damned Band #1 (Dark Horse Comics) – What if Led Zeppelin really did sell their souls to the devil? It’s a brand new series from the ever funny and inventive and very British Paul Cornell (art by Tony Parker). I simultaneously love over-indulgent boomer rock and I also find it hilarious and worth deflating. This comic seems to be doing the same– both reveling and lovingly mocking the 70s rock pretentious and conventions. But with the actual Devil.

Mr. H

Top Pick: Green Lantern #43 (DC Comics) – I’ve really been enjoying this Hal on the run as a bounty hunter storyline and now that they’ve thrown Black Hand back in the mix, it should only get even better. Proof that he doesn’t need the most powerful weapon in the universe to still be a bad ass, this title is still providing bright days!

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #3 (Marvel Comics) – Back in black and the marriage still intact? Let’s see if the removal of Spidey’s bright colors bring the foot out of the grave on this one. I really want to like this Mr. Slott, don’t disappoint me please. I’ve waited a long time for this.

JLA: Gods and Monsters: Wonder Woman #1 (DC Comics) – Having seen the movie, Wonder Woman was my favorite part. I hope they delve even deeper into her loss and betrayal. I really enjoy the twist on the New Genesis vs. Apokolips War. Should be a good one! Plus that boom tube sword is just epic. DC make a replica now!

TMNT: Color Classics Series 3 #8 (IDW Publishing) – Turtles, Shredder, April, Eastman, Laird. Isn’t that enough right there?

Paul

Top Pick: Age of Apocalypse #2 (Marvel) – Fabian Nicieza and Gerardo Sandoval took me right back into the Age of Apocalypse that I remember from so long ago; great story and fantastic art make this one of my favourite Secret Wars books, and I’m looking forward to seeing Magneto give Apocalypse’s forces the smack down!

Civil War #2 (Marvel) – Steve Rogers and Tony Stark; opposing sides in this world of Civil War have been pushed further apart after an assassination attempt has left a proponent for peace dead at their feet. I really enjoyed the first issue of this book, and I’m excited to see if the two sides come together…or tear each other apart.

Siege #2 (Marvel) – I really loved this story of the SHIELD, the wall that separates Battleworld from the zombies and robots that would destroy the planet. Not to mention Abigail Brand is calling the shots, so that alone has me hooked.

Spider-Island #2 (Marvel) – The Spider Queen has turned almost everyone in this area of Battleworld into human/spider hybrids…including the heroes…and they all serve her. Flash Thompson is one of the few not affected, and with his resistance force, has managed to help some former colleagues break from the Spider Queen’s control…but will what he’s turned them into be a help or a hindrance? This was a fun first issue and I’m excited to see how Venom’s newly freed friends help him out.

Strange Comic Trends: Carol Danvers Week

Posted on July 10, 2015 by

Secret Wars is now in full swing, and with so many crossovers being resurrected it can be hard to keep them straight. With Battleworld in full swing, there are still new stories coming into the overall mix, with yesterday seeing the release of some new #1s like Spider-Verse, Civil War, Spider-Island, and Age of Apocalypse. While it should be expected that with so many big name-crossovers being brought back from the past, that there are going to be a lot of recurring characters, it is interesting exactly who is showing up so much. We expect Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk and a handful of the X-Men, but we don’t really expect to see so much of Carol Danvers, as she showed up yesterday in a wide variety of titles such as Age of Apocalypse, Civil War and Spider-Island. She was a big enough player in Civil War when it first came out, but not so in the other two.

Of course there is no reason that we shouldn’t see so much of her. She has undergone somewhat of a renaissance in recent years, with the change from Miss Marvel to Captain Marvel and having her monthly series relaunched once again. There is perhaps something a bit deeper going on here though. It happened first with the Inhumans, how they were almost forgotten by Marvel, and then all of a sudden, they were everywhere it seemed. If a random hero was going to show up, it was probably going to be an Inhuman. The reason came from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Without the rights to the X-Men and in an expanding universe of the movies, it became necessary to explain the origins of certain characters, and as Inhumans are close enough in essence to mutants, with similar stories to do with their backgrounds and the prejudice against them, that it became an easy explanation for them.

Perhaps this week might represent the beginning of that process for Carol Danvers and Captain Marvel. She is scheduled for her own movie in 2018, and that is only two years off, which is daunting enough task for a character that has not yet been introduced on the big screen. Of course certain other characters have had the ability to pull off their big screen debuts without much of a lead-in, but not surprisingly, the odds are more against a female superhero than a male one like Iron Man. It might be that Marvel is getting a start on its own hype for the movie, as well as increasing awareness, just as it did with the Inhumans, as Captain Marvel slowly but surely becomes a constant addition to most story lines, whether that be as a human-spider hybrid in Spider-Island, a colonel of Iron Man’s half of America in Civil War, or as a human freedom fighter in Age of Apocalypse. Whatever her role in these stories, Marvel has decided to increase it, to essentially make her the first in terms of female superheroes, the first to get her own movie and to carry forward the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Spider-Powered Heroes Take to the Warzones! in Your New Look at Spider-Island #1!

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Brett

The arachnid-infested Manhattan returns on Battleworld this July! Marvel has released a new look at Spider-Island #1 – a double dose of 8-legged madness from two exciting creative teams! First, writer Christos Gage and artist Paco Diaz bring you a domain under siege! The Spider-Queen has won, turning her domain into an island full of Spider-Madness. With Spider-Man defeated, all hope lies in the hands of Flash Thompson – the symbiote wielding hero known as AGENT VENOM! But does he stand a chance? The, return to the fan-favorite MC2 character as Mayday Parker takes center stage in a new story from her original creators – Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema! Now adorning the title of Spider-Woman, does May have what it takes to brave the horrors of Secret Wars? Two action-packed tales of wallcrawling and webslinging await you this July!

SPIDER-ISLAND #1 (MAY150707)
Written by CHRISTOS GAGE & TOM DEFALCO
Art by PACO DIAZ & RON FRENZ
Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
Variant Cover by RON FRENZ (MAY150708)
Inhumans 50^th Anniversary Variant by JOHN CASSADAY (MAY150709)
FOC – 06/15/15, On-Sale – 07/08/15

Spider-Powered Heroes Take to the Warzones! in Spider-Island #1!

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Brett

Enter an arachnid-infested realm like you’ve never seen as Spider-Island #1 crashes into Battleworld this July! Two exciting creative teams bring you two stories per issue jam-packed with wallcrawling and webslinging!

First writer Christos Gage and artist Paco Diaz bring you a domain under siege! The Spider-Queen has won, turning her domain into an island full of Spider-Madness. Peter Parker has been lost, her dangerous gambit all but complete. With Spider-Man defeated and captured, all hope lies in the hands of Flash Thompson – the symbiote wielding hero known as AGENT VENOM! But does he stand a chance?

In an interview with Marvel.com, Gage said:

Flash carries a great burden here. Due to his symbiote’s vulnerability to the Spider-Queen’s sonic powers, he failed to save his hero, Spider-Man or New York. Now he drives himself mercilessly to find redemption, by any means necessary.

Then, return to a fan-favorite MC2 character as Mayday Parker takes center stage in a new story from her original creators – Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema! Now adorning the title of Spider-Woman, does May have what it takes to brave the horrors of the Secret Wars!

In a release, DeFalco said on his return to the character he helped make famous:

A good roller coaster ride is promised for all.

It’s a double dose of Spider-Insanity this July as Flash Thompson and May Parker swing into comic shops for the can’t miss Spider-Island #1!

SPIDER-ISLAND #1
Written by CHRISTOS GAGE & TOM DEFALCO
Art by PACO DIAZ & RON FRENZ
Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
On Sale in JULY!

Top Five Recently Canceled Series I Wish Were Still Being Published

Posted on May 13, 2012 by

Sorry haven’t posted in a while, but life has been getting in the way, but I should be back in the regular mix here at Graphic Policy from now on. My first post back is pretty straightforward, I’m going to take a look at five series that have ended recently that I wish were still going on. Not limited series, but ongoing series that have been canceled.

Honorable Mention: The Order, all of Marvel’s cosmic titles

OMAC 5. OMAC (8 issues, last in April 2012): OMAC wasn’t brilliant and it was, of course, little more than a tribute to Jack Kirby that hadn’t really been developed into anything of its own yet, but it had a lot of potential. Keith Giffen gave us art that was as true to Kirby as if Jack had done it himself. Dan DiDio was starting to establish an original character in Kevin Kho (the only Cambodian-American character in comics I know of) and there were a lot of Brother Eye stories to be told. Many crappier titles survived into the Second Wave of the New 52, hopefully we’ll see more from Kho, OMAC and Brother Eye again soon.

4. Heroes for Hire (12 issues, last in November 2011): Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning showed us with this series that there are no small characters, just small stories and small writers. Misty Knight and Paladin were turned into compelling and entertaining characters in a way they rarely have been in the past. The first issue of this series, with its shout-out to The Warriors, remains one of the best first issues of any series I’ve ever read. Luckily we got to see the story continued in Spider Island and Villains for Hire, but with the team having no current home, I worry that we won’t be seeing them as much.

3. 28 Days Later (24 issues, last in June 2011): In the days when zombie comics are rightfully dominated by The Walking Dead and wrongfully imitated by dozens of inferior titles, 28 Days Later was one of the few non-Robert Kirkman series that actually added something to the genre. Every issue started with a brilliant cover (most of the recent ones by Sean Phillips), continued with solid interior art by Alejandro Aragon and top-notch storytelling by Michael Alan Nelson. Following in the footsteps of the first movie, the series was always compelling and gave us a look at the aftermath of the British zombie outbreak that broke new ground in a well-worn genre. The comic did the same.

SWORD 2. SWORD (5 issues, last in March 2010): SWORD is exactly what I’m looking for when I pick up comics. It was one of the smartest comics on the shelf, fast-paced, funny, filled with references and jokes that you don’t need to know, but if you do they add layers to the story, action-packed, and consistently awesome. It featured a strong female lead who could’ve developed into one of Marvel’s better characters and introduced us to one of the more intriguing characters to come along in years in the Unit. Luckily, we’re still seeing flashes of these characters and SWORD in X-Men comics, but it’s sad, that from what I understand, the comic was never really given a chance. Keiron Gillen gets most of the credit for how great this comic was.

1. Secret Warriors (28 issues, last in September 2011): Secret Warriors beats out SWORD, to me, because, while SWORD is exactly what I come to comics to find, Secret Warriors consistently surprised me. It was way better than I expected and it brought to my attention things I wouldn’t have otherwise read or thought about. It also had better art than SWORD. Another series with consistently brilliant covers and superior art by the likes of Allesandro Viti and Stefano Caselli (among others), the comic clearly had its own visual style and it was better than most of what was on the market. On top of that, the writing was even better. Originally a Brian Michael Bendis project and later taken over by Jonathan Hickman, the comic delved into the espionage side of the Marvel Universe, particularly the ongoing tale of Nick Fury, better than it has been done in decades. I’m not even that big a fan of Fury and the espionage stuff. Well, I wasn’t until this series. The only thing that still touches on this stuff in a good way are the ongoing Captain America and Secret Avengers titles, but neither of them is as consistently good (and shocking) as Secret Warriors was.

Top Five

Graphic Policy Radio Episode 6 – Schism, Fear Itself, DC and the “Woman Prolem”

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Brett

Last night we had a pretty lively discussion in the latest episode of Graphic Policy Radio, the last 30 minutes especially. Lots covered this week as we first focused on non-DC comics then pivoted to chat about some big issues when it comes to gender and comics. On this week’s episode:

X-Men: Schism – our thoughts on Marvel’s “X” event that will shuffle everything around.
Fear Itself – We seem to like the main series, it’s the tie-ins that it really falls apart.
Spider-Island – Ken talks it up enough to get Elana and myself interested.
Indie books – A Game of Thrones, Star Trek and Green River Killer are all up for discussion.
DC new releases – the quality stood out this week and so did the bunk.
DC and “the woman problem” – it was never more apparent than this week that there’s some massive issues when it comes to the portrayal of women in the new DC universe.

[vodpod id=Video.15458013&w=425&h=350&fv=]

You can also listen and download the episode here.

Graphic Policy Radio