Four Comics I Want For NCBD: 2015/02/04

By jerrymcmullen on February 3, 2015 • ( 0 )

With apologies to Game of Thrones, Wednesday is coming! And with Wednesday comes New Comic Book Day (NCBD)! Some people might think that the first week of any month is a slow week for comics, but not this week. You don’t know how hard it was keeping this list to just four comics. To help me narrow down my choices, I limited my search to just books beginning with the letter ‘S’. Seriously, there is a wealth of books to choose from in just this limited category.

Saga #25 ($2.99, Image Comics): You’re reading this book, right? I mean, it’s just one of the best comics being currently published. If you are not reading this book, I don’t know that we can still be friends, if I can be honest with you. With Saga, there are two types of readers – those who read the monthly comic, and those who wait for the trade paperback collections. The fourth trade paperback, which collected issues #19 to #24, just came out in December. So that means everyone is currently caught up to issue #24. So if you are a trade reader, you have to ask yourself, can I wait seven to eight months for the fifth trade paperback, or should I switch and start picking up the monthly comic? This is your starting point, people! Don’t wait until August or September to read the next Saga collection – read the next issue tomorrow.

Spawn #250 ($5.99, Image Comics): Think about this for a minute. Spawn #250. That’s 250 consecutive issues of a title. To get to 250 issues on a monthly schedule, that means the book has been around for at least 21 years. Spawn #1 was released in 1992, when the first George Bush was president; the Internet was not commonly available; Star Wars was just a three film trilogy; and people carried pagers and used pay-phones. In 1992, Image was the upstart independent company with all of the superstar talent. In 2015, Image is a creative brand that goes toe-to-toe with Marvel and DC with some of the best quality comics on the shelves. So congratulations to Todd McFarlane, Image Comics, and Spawn for a job well done with 250 issues.

Star Wars #2 ($3.99, Marvel Comics): So issue #1 sells a million copies – how do you top that with issue #2? Bring in the AT-ATs! Cue the Imperial March track! And sit back and enjoy the newest issue of Marvel’s all-new Star Wars title. (Seriously, I’m sure there was some discussion in the Marvel offices to title this All-New Star Wars.) Writer Jason Aaron is having fun telling new adventures of everyone’s favorite rebels, while artist John Cassaday has expertly captured the character likeness of the actors. When we left our heroes last issue, Luke was facing off against Darth Vader, and Han, Leia, and Chewie were dealing with the Imperial Stormtroopers. Go ahead and say it: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Superman #38 ($4.99, DC Comics): Full disclosure here, but I am old. I grew up reading the Superman stories of the Silver and Bronze Ages, when Superman was developing new powers left and right. Seriously, who doesn’t like it when Superman uses his Super-Ventriloquism power to throw off Lois? And haven’t we all wanted Super-Memory in order to pass a test in school? In the 1970s, editor Julie Schwartz did his best to reign in Superman’s abilities. In the mid-1980s, John Byrne scaled back Superman’s powers and limits when he rebooted the character post-Crisis. When the new 52 launched in 2011, once again Superman had a limited power set. But the fine folks at DC have promised us a new power for Superman beginning with this issue. What do Geoff Johns and John Romita, Jr., have in mind for the Man of Steel? Super-Telepathy? Super-Belching? Super-Bendy Fingers? Pick up this issue and find out.

So that’s my four comics for this week. But because I love you guys, I’m going to give you a bonus pick for the week. How about a collected edition to pick up this week! And I will still stick to my challenge of using the letter ‘S’. The hardcover collection of Star Trek: Harlan Ellison’s The City on the Edge of Forever ($24.99, IDW Publishing) collects the five-issue mini-series from 2014. What we know is this: Harlan Ellison is one of the greatest science fiction/fantasy writers of all time. The City on the Edge of Forever, written by Ellison, is considered to be one of the best episodes of the original Star Trek series. And Ellison has been pissed for years about how his original script was manhandled by the show writers. So here is your chance to read Ellison’s original take on the story, adapted by Scott and David Tipton with art by J.K. Woodward. I held off getting the mini-series last year, because this is one that I wanted as a hardcover on my shelf. I cannot wait to get this into my hands on Wednesday!