Four Comics I Want for NCBD: 2016/01/27

By comicconjohn: on January 26, 2016 • ( 1 )

What do you do when you are buried under feet of snow? Start a fire in the fireplace, curl up on the couch and read some comics? Me too! And thanks to it being the 21st Century, you can even get your comics digitally if the roads are too treacherous! There were a lot of great books coming out this week but imma spotlight four of my top pics for New Comic Book Day.

Faith #1 (of 4) ($3.99, Valiant Entertainment): (NOTE: This book will be our feature book for the first four months of 2016 so be sure to listen to this Friday’s new episode of the podcast to hear us discuss Faith!) I was totally onboard the first Valiant run back in the 90’s although I did miss Faith’s first appearance as the Harbinger book had a pretty low print run so I had to settle for the trade paperback. The Valiant line was relaunched in 2012 and it didn’t take too long for the Faith character to be reborn. Faith Herbert is one of the most pleasant characters in comic books and her name is her in a nutshell. She sees the best in others and has an incredibly positive attitudes. She feels that all things are possible and that she can make a positive difference. Faith is a Harbinger, an individual with natural super-human abilities. Almost all of these Harbingers have a sense that they are different but their powers remain dormant until they are activated by one of a couple of powerful psionics. After Faith was activated, she realized that she has the ability to defy gravity. She can fly (not terribly fast) and hover in the air. She can carry others for short distances as well. Faith has chosen the codename Zephyr. Faith’s figure isn’t what we are used to seeing in comics but in reading her adventures you realize that she isn’t really defined by her weight or by her powers but by her attitude and her joie de vivre.

Faith will be written by Jody Houser who recently worked on Orphan Black for IDW Publishing and The Cavalry highlighting Agent May from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Art duties for the book fall on the capable shoulders of Francis Portela and Marguerite Sauvage . There are several great variant covers for this issue but I particularly enjoy the one by Clayton Henry shown above.

Mind MGMT Volume 6 ($19.99, Dark Horse): I will not be buying this volume on Wednesday. Why? Because I preordered it directly from Matt Kindt (our SDCC interview with Matt is here) so that I can get the hardcover with a unique piece of art drawn by him in the front cover. This book is one of the few that is done completely by one person (and one of the nicest and most creative people you will ever meet). Matt is the creator, writer and illustrator and the book is simply one of the most unique experiences I’ve ever had reading comics.

Mind MGMT is the story of people in our world gifted with unique psychic abilities. Governments and secret organizations have identified, trained and used these people to consolidate power and to keep the populace unaware of their activities. This series is simply conspiracies inside other conspiracies. The amazing thing is that each volume manages to turn everything that happened previously on its head. Volume 2 made me realize that everything that happened in volume 1 had to be viewed through a new lens. Rereading those first stories became an entirely new experience. The only downside to this book is that I do not think you can easily jump into this book at this point. You really have to go back to the beginning. (Our library has the first four volumes but you can also head over to his online shop and order any of the other volumes as well as Matt’s other works. You can’t go wrong with anything you find there.

Justice League of America #7 ($3.99, DC Comics): Following up #DCWeek last week there is much more excitement for all the DC TV shows as well as the upcoming movies. Clips for the upcoming Batman V Superman and Wonder Woman have me ramped up for the Justice League movie to drop in 2017.

JLA is written by Bryan Hitch and the artwork in the solicit is listed as by Hitch and Daniel Henriques. Hitch’s artwork has blown me away since I first saw his work on The Authority. This Justice League series has been huge over the top adventure against a foe much too large for any one Super-Hero. The first five issues have seen our team mostly split up into individuals or pairs while the threat is gradually revealed and grows in strength. I’m hoping that issue 7 will see them start to regroup and turn the battle back on the enemy. Should be another explosive issue against a seemingly overwhelming enemy – Rao, the God of Krypton!

Suicide Squad Most Wanted Deadshot Katana #1 of 6 ($4.99, DC Comics): I loved the Suicide Squad trailer waaaaay more than I thought I would. My only disappointment was that I wanted to see a lot more Katana. Luckily this miniseries gives me a chance to get a dose of Katana and one of the most consistent Suicide Squad members, Deadshot, in one comic. This miniseries features solo stories of each of the most highly skilled and deadly members of the DC Universe even without any powers.

Deadshot’s story is up first written by Brian Buccellato (our SDCC interview with Brian is here) with art by Viktor Bogdanovic and Richard Friend. Deadshot is on the loose and a fellow has to make ends meet and his job his making people meet their end. Oh and someone wants to expose one of his secrets (and I’m sure he has plenty) and his next contract? Lex Luthor! No rest for the wicked seems to be the theme of this one.

Katana was one of my favorite characters introduced in the series Batman and the Outsiders written by Mike W. Barr with art by Jim Aparo. Barr returns to the character, this time coupled with artist Diogenes Neves. Katana’s primary weapon is her sword, the Soultaker, which has the ability to imprison the souls of those whose lives are taken by the sword. The sword’s owner has the ability to then hear the voices of those slain including Katana’s husband! In this series, Katana has to learn the secrets of the Soultaker and also deal with the threat of Kobra, a cult devoted to world domination. No biggie.

As always, WCPE is happy to be publishing #FCIW with the support of Elite Comics in Overland Park, KS. William and the Elite Crew run a friendly, clean, and safe comic shop which is welcoming to all and supportive of many local and national non-profits including The Hero Initiative. Stop in, pick up these four books, and let the gang at Elite Comics know that the Worst. Comic. Podcast. EVER! sent you over.