The Time Warp Times

Batman & Robin #8. Batman vs. (slightly crazier) Batman, some mild British accents, and the usual off-kilter twisted Grant Morrison version of the old Adam West episodes of Batman make this another essential part of every pull for this week.

Choker #1. Another nutty Templesmith-fueled mini starts right here and if you like Detective stories set in another sin city or vampires…or you just crave anything Templesmith, this is perfect.

DMZ #50. A collection of short essays written by Matty along with a collection of DC and Brian Wood related artists come together to make up this landmark issue for the series.  Only another handful of story arcs left for this series!

Daytripper #3. This hot new Vertigo series starts to get even more crazy when our “daytripping” protagonist ventures into the pangs of a love gone wrong.

Haunt #5. The conclusion of the first story arc is here!  …and this series just keeps getting better.

Hellblazer: Pandemonium HC. This original graphic novel accompanied with amazing art from Jock marks the 25th anniversary of the longest running Vertigo series.

Mesmo Delivery GN Vol 1. As a member of the same artistic convoy as Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, and Becky Cloonan, Rafael Grampa has yet to make a name for himself in the United States, but this original graphic novel may just change that!  This short story inspired by a bit of the Twilight Zone and a bit of kung fu, tells the gory tale of two drivers transporting a mysterious cargo that run into a bit of a snag along the road.

Cover Statue of the Week:

Lion-O.  Just check that out.  C’mon…who doesn’t think Thundercats is totally awesome?

Sorry this one’s late…see you soon!

-Kris

Getting comics on Friday, definitely weird, lets all hope that never happens again. Here are some recommendations by the Time Warp Crew:

Sweet Tooth #6 – The start of the second story arc from Canada’s favorite son Jeff Lemire start’s off as the most character driven of the series so far. The issue delves into stoned faced gritty souled antihero Jepperd’s past (or his life right before a pandemic that nearly wiped out all life on earth). It turns out he was as stoned face and gritty souled before, but he had a wife whom he loved. Through flashbacks we find out that Jepperd has managed to contain a tinge of humanity through his callused exterior. CDiamond

Siege #2 – The action gets revved up in the second issue of the mega series as Norman Osborn’s plan take a turn for the worse. After years of bickering the heroes finally get together to take Norman down and ‘gasp’ an Avenger (sort 0f) dies and it gets pretty messy (Gallagher would be proud). CDiamond

GI Joe Origins #14 – Super star artist Ben Templesmith (30 Day of Night, Wormwood) illustrates this issue focusing on the Baroness. She’s more then dark rimmed glasses and latex as this femme fatale has some things instore for super terrorist group Cobra. CDiamond

Last week was totally awesome, wasn’t it?!  A great many comics arrived (as per Marvel’s usual “let’s ship every comic on the last week of the month so we can make our rent!” strategy [okay, enough sarcasm ;p]), and there’s some good ones!  In case you missed any gems, let’s check ‘em out…

Batman & Robin #7.  Cameron Stuart (Seaguy) takes over the art duties, and his slick style, though totally different than both Frank Quitely and Philip Tan, fits perfectly in with Grant Morrison’s writing.  Batman and Robin find themselves in the UK to harness the powers of the Lazerus Pit!  This issue is definitely just set up for this 3-issue arc, but it puts into play a great many pieces that can only turn out…TOTALLY awesome!  Next: Batman vs. Batman!  Ohhhh Yyyeahhhh!

Captain America Reborn #6.  Well, it’s only a few months late, but this issue still wraps up a stellar run from the always great Ed Brubaker and Brian Hitch.  Now, with Cap back, what could be next?

Chew #8.  The plot thickens with the well-endowed new character after our hero and the fruit that tastes like chicken!

Detective Comics #861.  Jock (The Losers, Green Arrow Year One) takes over the art chores this issue to help Greg Rucka start up a new arc as Batwoman (and guest-star Batman!) start investigating a series of gruesome murders.

Green Lantern #50.  Paralax Rebirth. Whaaat?!?

Kick-Ass #8.  Okay, so shipping(/JRJR) delays aside, this series does indeed kick ass.  You can’t deny it.  Every issue, asses are kicked.  Everyone in the comic kicks someone’s ass.  Ass-kickings for EVERYONE!  But really, there’s a movie coming up, and I cannot wait to see this issue on the big screen.  Also, this is the end of Book One.  Did you know this is just the first of a trilogy?

Rasl #6.  Jeff Smith’s (Bone) adult sci-fi(ish) thriller continues with the conclusion of the second (of supposedly three) story arc.  The plot thickens with more flashbacks and more intrigue (Tesla is a major player in the history of this story)…if you like amazing brush linework, have a soft spot for black and white comics from back in the day, or like Lost, you might want to check this one out.

Ultimate Comics Enemy #1 (of 4).  In this new mini, Bendis tells the story of an unlikely team-up of heroes to uncover the “true face of evil” in the Ultimate U.  This the beginning in a trilogy of Enemy stories coming out this year!

Also out this week: Wizard!

Plus, the new Previews hit the racks last week!  Flip through it, and don’t forget to get your orders in for April…the deadline will be here before you know it.

Cover of the Week:

Fantastic Four #575, Marvel Women Variant by Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic

This is the first of a slew of “Marvel Women Variants” by (fellow Marvel artist) Marko Djurdjevic’s wife, and it is simply stunning!

Well, that’s it for last week.  Hopefully we’ll have an update on the shipping conundrum come this Friday, but for right now, if you really need your comic fix, pick up a trade you’ve been meaning to read (still putting off Sandman?), or just give us a ring on Friday…or if you’re a part of our mailing list, just wait for an email (or check Twitter!).

Until next time,

-K

Things to dig on:

Barack The Barbarian: Fall of Red Sarah.  This one-shot is yet another (awesome) reason in a string of (awesome) reasons that there is indeed proof that political merchandising can perhaps save our economy.  Or at least try.

Cowboy Ninja Viking #3.  Schizophrenia + exotic weapons + government coverups + a gnarly golden age size format to showcase the debauchery?  I’ll take four, please.

Fables #92. Part 1 of 2 for guest artist David Lapham (Young Liars, Stray Bullets).  Oh, baby.

Incorruptible #2.  Moar Mark Waid Madness and Mayhem in the Irredeemable universe.  C.  Daimond give it four thumbs up.

Joe the Barbarian #1. Grant Morrison’s newest original mini-series tackles the I Kill Giants story formula about a kid with an overactive imagination to combat his less attractive reality…but could this imagination be real?  Featuring stunning art from Sean Murphy.  Kris B. gives if four thumbs up.

Rasl #6. Jeff Smith’s quad-monthly series continues with the conclusion of the second story arc this week.

Spider-Woman #5. Alex Maleev may be producing the best art ever seen in the Marvel Universe with this series.  Also, Bendis is writing.

Supernatual: Beginning’s End #1.  For all you Supernatual buffs out there…here comes another side story for the hit TV show.

Star Wars: KOTOR #49. Only ONE issue left after this one!

COVER PICK OF THE WEEK:

Riley Rossmo has been DESTROYING the art in this book.  Every line, every panel, every cover: amazing.

See you soon!

-K

What’s crackin’, Time Warpers?  Here’s a brief snippet of some of our new arrivals that will rock your world (or maybe not at all) tomorrow…check it out!

I know you can hardly believe it, but yes, AVP is BACK!  Oh yeah!  AvP: Three World War, a six issue mini starts tomorrow.

For all of those missing those amazing Adam Hughes Catwoman covers, there will be another special Blackest Night tie-in this month with Catwoman #83!  Also look for: Secret Six #17 and Power of Shamam #48.

The Brazilian twin wonder duo, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, continue their off-the-beaten path indie South American study on the beauty of life with Daytripper #2.

The beautiful Marvel Soleil import Sky Doll continues with Doll Factory #2 (of 2) this week.  Let’s hope the new material in this $6 comic is longer than 12 pages this time…

Red Herring, the politically charged thriller from Wildstorm, and the off-kilter monster killing fiesta from Red 5, We Kill Monsters, both finish their run tomorrow.

For all you magazine junkies, Toyfare, Shonen Jump, and the Lost Official Mag hit the racks.

Also check out the new Batman Black & White statue from Lee Bermejo (artist for the Joker GN!).

See you all tomorrow for your weekly fix.  Check back this weekend (or thereabouts) for employee picks for the week.

-Kris

Siege #1 – The comic event seven years in the making, or so writer Brian Michael Bendis and Editor in Chief Joe Quesada would want you to believe. As speculated from the beginning of Dark Reign Norman Osborn has slipped up big time, going after Asgard with the help of the god of mischief Loki and his army of registered super powers. Unlike most Bendis books he gets right to the meat and potatoes without the pages of exposition and stand around shoot the breeze dialogue. Definitely worth a look and hoping there aren’t too many delays until the next epic issue.  -CDiamond

Orc Stain #1 – Hobbits? Middle Earth? Orlando Bloom? You will find none of these in the premiere issue. In a world full of monstrous Orc’s a prophecy threatens the balance of power and we are introduced to our cunning, likable, one eyed protagonist. James Stokoe fills each page with imagination and vibrant colors. For mature readers.  -CDiamond

King City #4 – Our protagonist sneaks in quietly, undetected, into the secret lab of a yeti landlord only to find a Russian mystery man’s wife and way too much sexual tension for one man and his metamorphic pet cat.  One might think that it would be impossible for these events to fit neatly into the first few pages of a single comic issue, but that’s what separates Brandon Graham from the pack.  On its surface King City is just a series of short semi-interconnected stories, but when pieced together this comic paints an incredible mural of the struggles which every individual must overcome in the very face of today’s faceless urban sprawl overtaking our world.  -KrisB

Blackest Night One Shots – Squeezing every penny DC can from its mega series, Blackest Night offers some interesting one shot stories from Weird Western Tales and Catwoman to Golden Age characters such as Starman and the Phantom. Although they might not have too much to do with the main series they are entertaining stories dealing with some characters we might of not have seen or heard from in a while. Oh, and let’s not forget each issue will be filled with a good amount of the menacing undead.  -CDiamond

COMING OUT TOMORROW!!!

Chimichanga #1 – Eric Powell’s first creator own written and drawn comic to come out since The Goon!  A story about a bearded girl and her traveling circus?  I’m THERE.

Batman 80-Page Giant – an excellent mish-mash of creative teams that delves into a Gotham blizzard!  BRRRR!!!!

Fringe TP – If you never got a chance to check out this TV show/comic spinoff, now’s the time!

Vixen: Return of the Lion – This collection features Boulder alumni, G. Willow Wilson, writing her first DC mainline story…who will also be gracing Time Warp with her presence on December 23rd for a signing!

PTA Night HC – This humorous scary all-ages story presents the CREEPIEST PTA Night EVER!!!  Living soup, werewolf janitors, and zombie graveyards, OH MY!

Olympus TP – The 4 issue modern day Greek tale, lusiously illustrated and colored, is now collected!  If you like your stories so beautiful you really can’t tell what’s going on, this one’s for you.  Not to miss for any art buff!

Incorruptable #1 – Alright, Mark Waid fans, Irredeemable has been a huge success, but now here comes Incorruptable!  The title says it all!

Though there isn’t a whole lot of new series starting up tomorrow, there are plenty of fantastic ongoings that continue, including plenty of Blackest Night and Dark Reign Tie-ins!  Get ‘em while they’re HOT HOT HOT!!!

-Kris

I’m going to keep this list shorter this week with mostly just #1s and such…enjoy responsibly!

Anywhere #1! – Comedy Central producer, Tom Akel, starts up this mini-series telling the story of two lazy twenty-somethings with super powers …somewhat in the vein of (Super-)Bill and Ted!

Dante’s Inferno #1! – Based on the upcoming EA video game, this mini tells a reimagining of the classic set during the Crusades.

Daytripper #1! – Brazillian twins, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, of Umbrella Academy, Casanova, and BPRD fame, start up their 10 issue Vertigo series about an obituary writer.  This series has been a long time in the making and could very well be these twins’ masterpiece.  They have proven themselves as masters of their craft so far, and now truly taking the reigns on something with a scope this large could allow them to truly prove themselves in this field.  Highly recommended.

God Complex #1! – Michael Avon Oeming has been a busy busy dude with 4 titles currently on his plate – Rapture, Mice Templar, a new run on Powers, and now this!  The writer has definitely had quite an impact on more mature-themed comics…let’s see what he does with this new series, starring Paul, who’s really the Greek god Apollo, in hiding from his father (Zeus) who’d much rather him dead than alive.

Nation X #1! – With a mutant nation now formed from the events in Utopia, this new 4 issue mini delves into short stories focused on the lives of specific characters.  This issue starts off with vignettes of Colossus, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler.

Tank Girl Nuggets 1-shot! – This one-off jump starts a run of Tank Girl 1-shots.  In true classic Tank Girl fashion, this B&W funny book rocks through a few short stories, complete with “bad language, dirty jokes, and 1970s game show hosts”!

Necrosha: The Gathering! – Some people may scoff at this apparent “Blackest Night: X-Men” event, but I say nay!  Hark, there’s the black rings calling in the powers of Necron’s secret lover, NECROSHA!  Seriously, what could possibly go wrong here?    This is going to be SWEET.

In addition, both the new Wizard and Toyfare arrive this week!

Despite this ridiculous amount of cold weather we’ve been hit by, comics are still very very readable.  If anything, I’ve been reading more than normal…my imagination has been overflowing with colorful capes and hot cocoa!  Care to join me?

All right, Kris is back on the clock, every employees had a chance to grab their comics, and it’s Saturday.  So, naturally, there’s some time to announce the employee picks for the week…also, these are always seen hanging above the new comic rack for those of you who’ve never noticed it before.

Wayne – Siege: The Cabal, Blackest Night Flash #1, Blackest Night Wonder Woman #1

Jose – Ultimate Comics Spider-man #5, Sweet Tooth #4, Siege: The Cabal

Erik – Dark Avengers Ares, Uncanny X-Men #518, Dark Avengers Annual

Gino – Sweet Tooth #4, Haunt #3, Siege: The Cabal

Back Issue Kris – House of Mystery #20, Strange #2

Computer Kris – Haunt #3, Echo #17, Sweet Tooth #4

As you can see, Siege: The Cabal, Sweet Tooth, and Haunt beat out most of the other picks this week…be sure to give those a shot or ask one of us why they’re worth reading!

Some experiments now (in true FAW fashion)…

BEST BEER-TO-COMIC SATISFACTION RATIO!

[IPA] – 365 Samurai TP (Note: This one might be up for an Eisner this year, so you may want to check out this one panel/page, B&W, mostly-wordless Japanese D.i.D. story)

[Wheat] – North 40 #6 (Finish this mini up with a tasty weizen treat)

[Porter] – Supergod #2 (I can only imagine Warren Ellis writes his whacky version of pseudo-sci-fi after a few pints of porter)

[G.A] – Fall of the Hulks: Alpha (What better way to get prepped for the next epic Hulk(s) crossover?)

And finally, Kris’ Koolest Kover Award (I’m gonna have to rethink that initialism…), ANYWAYS:

duh duh duh…:

X-Babies #3!

bub-bub

Ha ha!  Seriously.  Skottie Young has been KILLING it with his covers recently.  Enjoy!

…’til next time.

-Kris

Another new comics day has come and gone, as well as (hopefully) a delicious Turkey Day for you all.  Due to the holiday, Diamond’s shipping company will delay the shipment this week, with the comics hitting the racks Thursday morning!  Mark your calendars, iPhones, or whathaveyous so you don’t miss it!

Anyways, there’s definitely some interesting comics coming out this week; let’s check ‘em out…

The next round of Blackest Night minis starts with Wonder Woman and the Flash.  The last B.N. mini-series quickly sold out off the racks, so be sure to get in on the action fast!

The Boys continues its mostly ridiculous, sexy, sometimes inaccurately compared to Preacher, ongoing ode to Simon Pegg, accent-ridden, and bloody mayhem with #37.  Oh yeah.

Black Widow starts up another series this week with the Marvel Girls.  Check it out!

The best series to grow out of Dark Reign – the Dark Avengers saga hits its landmark first Annual this week.

Dark Tower starts yet another mini-series, Battle of Jericho Hill.  This one will be 5 issues long and is meant to wrap up the quintology of stories set in Roland’s past.  Also, Jae Lee is back at the helm of pencil duties!  After this final chapter, Marvel is planning a new ongoing series to pick up where all of these events left off.

Fall of the Hulks will be starting up with the Alpha one-shot this week.  If you’ve been following any of the hulk stories over the last year or two (since World War Hulk), this is where it’s all been headed to!

The new Kirkman-McFarlane helmed series, Haunt, continues this week with #3.  The first couple issues have been plenty action packed, and this one is meant to rev it all into 6th gear as the story gains momentum toward the conclusion of the first story arch at #5.  This series has been great so far…a 90s superhero comic with far superior writing?  What more could you want?

The Justice Society starts spreading its wings this week with JSA All Stars #1.  This new ongoing starts up the story of Magog’s new JSA team.  Matthew Sturges will be writing this one, while Bill Willingham keeps track of the main JSA – of note because these two are constantly seen writing stories together (Fables/Jack of Fables and House of Mystery).  Now, let’s see where they take JSA!

Progressive Metal act Coheed and Cambria’s frontman, Claudio Sanchez continues his foray into comics with his quirky, off-kilter humor-adventure series Kill Audio with #3 coming out this week (also, this one’s being written with the help of his wife)!

North 40, a Lovecraftian love note of sorts, concludes this week.  It’s been a wild ride, supported by amazing art from Fiona Staples…can’t wait to see how Aaron Williams wraps it all up.

The real cream of the crop this week, comes in the form of a teaser for the next big Marvel “event”.  The Siege Cabal 1-shot lays out some groundwork for the upcoming mini.  When you thought the last six years were all leading up to Dark Reign…you were wrong (isn’t that how it always goes?).  Siege will be just that.  Norman Osborn will be attempting to remove the final threat to his power – Asgard.  And it all starts here!

The first Marvel Noir series gets a sequel – Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without A Face.  The last round of Noir stories were fantastic.  Hopefully the next round continues this trend!

Vertigo’s hot new series, Sweet Tooth, also continues this week with #4.  With the coming conclusion of the first story arc, we’ll finally get a taste of what this series will be all about.

Finally, we’ve got the alt-universe What If? Secret Invasion 1-shot hitting the racks for all curious cats to see what may have happened had a few slight different actions taken place.

Of course, we’ve got a smorgasbord of others arriving as well, so if none of these struck your fancy, something else likely will!

Okaaaaay, that’s all I’ve got for now.  Have a fantastic day!

–Kris out.

PS: I would be interested in hearing what sorts of posts you all may like out there.  This preview-centered post was fun and easy enough to write…would more people perhaps like some brief reviews?  Or maybe what I’m going to eat for lunch today?  Or how about a peak into the day-in-the-life of Gino?