Highway 62

I haven't done this in awhile, so why the heck not? Now, I'm not going to be going through title by title. No way. I'll pick on things worthy of note from my own little corner of the peanut gallery. Shall we?

I love how ALL STAR BATMAN is the first book solicited, as if to remind everyone "Oh yeah, Miller and Lee inna house at DC! Raise tha roof y'alls!" I make no apologies for this book. It's SIN CITY Batman with color art, with all that implies: hilarious and grim, unapologetic and exploitative.

MAN-BAT might be interesting, though. However, the Simone Bianci by way of Alex Ross covers for some of the other batbooks are throwing me off. I liked Bianci's art just fine on SHINING KNIGHT, but these covers aren't doing it for me.

Of course I'll be there for BATMAN YEAR ONE HUNDRED by Paul Pope. It's about the only batbook I'm actively looking forward to.

Why is Superman not appearing in costume on any of the covers of his books? I'm sure there's a Very Good Reason that we'll have to read all the One Year Later books to find out. I'm curious, but nowhere near that curious.

I'm really curious how Chuchill and Rucka will go together on the new SUPERGIRL book. No, I'm not interested in reading it all, but curious how the nipples through the t-shirt on anorexia victim artist and heavily character-driven (particularly with women) writer will get along. Doesn't seem like a match made in heaven, really.

Hey look, an affordable paperback for a premiere Superman storyline with Jim Lee art that came out over a year ago. You'd think that DC doesn't want to sell cheap paperbacks...

And the Simone/Byrne ACTION run gets its trade collection finally. I realize that this is largely a heretical opinion, but I liked Byrne's MAN OF STEEL revamp. Sure, there were missteps and decisions that I didn't agree with (or particularly care about at the time), but his portrayal of Superman was one of the best of modern times. It was nice to see him on the title again with intelligent and sparkling writing behind it. That said, I have the floppies and know where to read 'em again, but the trade is worth looking into for folks who want a fun Superman book (even when it was being boxed into a larger ongoing crossover).

Hey look! INFINITE CRISIS comes to an end! And bad things happen to Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman! Oh noes!

Hmm. VILLAINS UNITED gets a one shot. Liked the series, but did I like it *that* much?

CHECKMATE gets the longest solicit blurb of any book, and I'm still not interested. The human toll on the valiant agents of Checkmate just doesn't compel. GOTHAM CENTRAL made that into its meat and bread, but I'm not feeling it with this offering.

We'll see how HAWKGIRL pans out. On paper, it sounds like it can't lose. Hopefully they'll keep the team of Simonson/Chaykin together long enough to get some real momentum behind the book.

HARD TIME will be on my pull list as always. The second issue of this run stepped up things nicely after a first issue that was largely flashbacks and getting new readers up to speed.

A HAUNTED TANK showcase volume? Yeep.

JONAH HEX #6 - Nuns with guns! I think I'm signed up just on the basis of this tagline.

SOLO #10 - Damion Scott? Should I know that name? Can't see picking this up.

SEVEN SOLDIERS #1. Yes.

SGT. ROCK: THE PROPHECY. Yes, please.

THUNDERBOLT JAXON from Wildstorm. What the heck is this? Have I missed talk of fantastic heroes facing off against Elder Gods? Was I asleep?

AMERICAN VIRGIN #2. We'll see how #1 goes down. Becky Cloonan is hard to beat.

DMZ #6 depends on how the second story arc plays out. #3 was solid, but I suppose I could get hit by a cosmic ray and decide that I need to save that three bucks a month and go trades instead or something.

EXTERMINATORS #4 is kinda in the same boat. I like Tony Moore's art a great deal, and the dialogue is authentic enough, but the last couple pages of #1 give me pause.

LOVELESS gets one of the fastest trade collections I've ever seen from DC (only the Infinite Crisis leadins were faster.) I guess they're looking for a big response in the bookstore market. It might be a smart move. The single issues are just not moving the story along fast enough, engaging as it is. Besides, this is a book that could have much broader appeal, with the right format. Most people don't want just a chapter at a time. They really don't.

New SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE collection makes me happy.

New SWAMP THING makes me happy, too.

TESTAMENT is in the same boat as the other new Vertigo books. Good, but I'm not getting blown away like I'd like to be. Perhaps my standards are too high. I'll finish out the story arc and see how it comes together, though. I reserve the right to be pleasantly surprised.

A good couple of Heck Yeah's! in there, so that's nice. Better than a usual month, it seems...