Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Martian Sightings for December, 2011



STORMWATCH #4
Written by PAUL CORNELL
Art and cover by MIGUEL SEPULVEDA
On sale DECEMBER 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
The earth is being eaten alive! As the unstoppable alien antibody continues consuming everything in its path, Stormwatch awakens a slumbering [information redacted] buried deep within the earth. But has the team found an ally or a threat greater than the antibody? However it plays out, the DC landscape literally will be changed forever! Plus: Don’t miss a major change to the Stormwatch roster!

Even "redacted," I kind of wish this solicit was tighter lipped. I was pleased to see that the long-advertised Sepulveda to cover #1 actually shipped, but what happened to the Chris Burnham version? As much as I griped about the switch, I still liked the art, even if it is tonally on another planet from the interiors. I also dig his (clearly miscredited) work here. It's just outrageous and vulgar enough to sell the satirical undercurrent of the best Authority stories, as evidenced by the swell ridiculousness of Midnighter and EC quality exuberant gore.

DC UNIVERSE: SECRET ORIGINS HC
Written by VARIOUS
Art by VARIOUS
Montage cover
On sale FEBRUARY 22 • 320 pg, FC, $39.99 US
The classic Silver Age titles are collected in hardcover for the first time, including SECRET ORIGINS #1, MORE SECRET ORIGINS #1, EVEN MORE SECRET ORIGINS #1 and WEIRD SECRET ORIGINS #1! Don’t miss the origins of Wonder Woman, the Superman/Batman team, The Challengers of the Unknown, Martian Manhunter, the Justice League of America, Aquaman, The Flash, The Atom, Bizarro and more!
I was going to make a joke about this being the closest we're likely to get to a Martian Manhunter archives anytime soon, but I feel that would be an overstatement by the most liberal measure. This collection only reprints the first Manhunter from Mars story in Detective Comics #225, leaving out the second half from the following issue. J'Onn only gets to Earth and decides to become a cop, without actually doing much of anything.

THE DC UNIVERSE BY ALAN MOORE HC

Written by ALAN MOORE
Art by JIM APARO, BRIAN BOLLAND, PARIS CULLINS, GEORGE FREEMAN, DAVE GIBBONS, KLAUS JANSON, KEVIN O’NEILL, JOE ORLANDO, GEORGE PÉREZ, KURT SCHAFFENBERGER, CURT SWAN, RICK VEITCH, AL WILLIAMSON, BILL WILLINGHAM, JIM BAIKIE and MICHAEL LOPEZ
Cover by BRIAN BOLLAND
On sale FEBRUARY 8 • 304 pg, FC, $39.99 US

The work of Alan Moore (WATCHMEN, V FOR VENDETTA, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN) during the 1980s is a benchmark for great stories with fresh approaches to iconic characters. Collected in this volume are all of Moore’s Superman and Batman stories, including ACTION COMICS #583, BATMAN ANNUAL #11, BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, DC COMICS PRESENTS #85, DETECTIVE COMICS #549-550, GREEN LANTERN #188, THE OMEGA MEN #26-27, SECRET ORIGINS #10, SUPERMAN #423, TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS ANNUAL #2 & 3, SUPERMAN ANNUAL #11 and VIGILANTE #17-18, plus VOODOO #1-4, DEATHBLOW: BY BLOWS #1-3 and more!
The Martian Manhunter content is so miniscule that you could play W'arezz W'alldo, but the greatest(?) Mongul story is in here.

Miss Martian
YOUNG JUSTICE #11
Written by GREG WEISMAN and KEVIN HOPPS
Art and cover by CHRISTOPHER JONES
On sale DECEMBER 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E
The spotlight turns to Robin, who must leave his teammates to fight alongside his crimefighting mentor, Batman. And the stakes couldn’t be higher for the Dynamic Duo as they face off against the Demon’s Head himself: Ra’s al Ghul!

YOUNG JUSTICE VOL. 1 TP
Written by KEVIN HOPPS, GREG WEISMAN, ART BALTAZAR and FRANCO Art by MIKE NORTON, CHRISTOPHER JONES and DAN DAVIS
Cover by MIKE NORTON
On sale JANUARY 11 • 160 pg, FC, $12.99 US
In these stories from YOUNG JUSTICE #0-6, the team takes on The Joker, meets Snapper Carr and trades campfire tales of past battles alongside their crimefighter mentors.

TINY TITANS #47
Written by ART BALTAZAR and FRANCO
Art and cover by ART BALTAZAR
On sale DECEMBER 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E
It’s Mrs. Atom’s turn to babysit the Baby Titans – Damien, Arthur Jr., Smidgen, Kid Devil and Jason Toddler. Can she do it alone? Maybe Miss Martian can help! What happens when our heroes get…lost in Metropolis?! Find out in this awesome baby-packed issue!

Stormwatch
STORMWATCH VOL. 1 HC
Written by WARREN ELLIS
Art by TOM RANEY, PETE WOODS, MICHAEL RYAN, JIM LEE, RANDY ELLIOT, SALEEM CRAWFORD and RICHARD BENNETT
Cover by TOM RANEY and RANDY ELLIOTT
On sale FEBRUARY 8 • 296 pg, FC, $39.99 US
Don’t miss this new collection of Warren Ellis’s STORMWATCH epics from issues #37-47, as The Weatherman transforms the team into a proactive, take-no-prisoners strike force. Starring Jack Hawksmoor, Battalion, Jenny Sparks, Apollo, Midnighter, Rose Tattoo and more!
If despite my grousing the blog's recent coverage of these issues has piqued your interest, let me just say that they do get better as they go along.

5 comments:

mathematicscore said...

I rather like J'onn's calm attitude here, and I'm feeling JLI in a good way from all the facial expressions going on here. I'll still bitch about J'onn jobbing, but I'm pretty down so far.

Don't look now, but that looks a bit like Mongul on JLI #4.

Diabolu Frank said...

Jeez-- I hope it turns out to be Thomas Wayne instead. Weak redesign otherwise.

mathematicscore said...

Thomas Wayne. HA!

LissBirds said...

"J'Onn only gets to Earth and decides to become a cop, without actually doing much of anything."

Watching him not do much of anything (like answering fan mail) is my favorite part of his 'Tec run.

Diabolu Frank said...

Yeah, but it would be that much more fun to thrill to the excitement of watching John Jones stare really hard at countless baseball pitches and turn up behind crooks who surrender without a fight.