Holidays make me cry

Normally by Tuesday, I am figuring out which comics I am going to buy this week, and trying to convince my wife that we really can afford to spend $20-$30 a week on comics (that's more than my car payment! Yes, I drive a beater).

But no, someone has a BBQ and next thing you know, I have to wait until Thursday. Luckily this week, the pickings are pretty slim. This has to do with it being a 5-week month and for whatever reason they won't crack the whip on those lazy, lazy creators and have them produce an extra weeks worth of comics for us... All sarcasm aside, there are some good comics coming out this week.

Marvel Comics releasing this week:

• New Avengers: Illuminati #3
• New Excalibur #20
• Daredevil #97
• Ultimate Fantastic Four #42
• Spider-Man Fairy Tales #1
• Wolverine #54
• X-23: Target X #6

DC Comics Releasing this week:

• Action Comics #850
• Amazons Attack #2 (of 6)
• Countdown #48
• Green Lantern #20
• Justice Society of America #6
• JSA Classified #26
• Teen Titans #47
• Blue Beetle #15
• Hawkgirl #64

A few things here I want to talk about. First and foremost, I am a DC fanboy, always have been, ever since I sat in my grandma's basement for hours on end reading old issues of Adventure Comics and dreaming I was in the Legion of Superheroes. Luckily she also had alot of X-men, too, so I am familiar and appreciate the Marvel Universe quite a bit, too. In fact, I named my first born son Logan after Wolverine, by far my single most favorite character in comics. All of that just to explain why I don't list any of the other publishers. Maybe this little thing I am doing will bring me a healthy respect for them.

Secondly, I wanted to go into a little detail about some of the comics releasing this week. If this all gets to wordy for you, let me know, when it comes to comics, I can get long-winded.

Spider-man Fairy Tales #1

This is being done in the same vein as X-Men fairy Tales, and if you read any of those, then no doubt this will be on your pull list soon. If you didn't, what Marvel does is takes our beloved heroes and place them into fairy tales (hence the name). Issue #1 here places Peter and Mary Jane in the world of Little Red Riding Hood, with Mary Jane on her way to Aunt May's house.

Wolverine #54

This is one of the ones that is going to bug me having to wait until Thursday for. Simon Bianchi's art is amazing and Jeph Loeb is an absolute mastermind spinning a tale out over 5 issues and pitting the two nastiest dirtiest fighters to walk the earth. Wolverine vs. Sabretooth. 'Nuff said.

Countdown #48

Countdown continues as we get to see the ripple effect that Duela Dent's multiverse hopping and eventual execution by the Monitor has on the entire DC Universe. I can't say I am enthralled with this story yet, but I am giving it a shot. The Monitors seem like a creepy race of wanna-be pornstars or something, with their voyeuristic tendencies and those mustaches! Also Jimmy Olsen as a focal point? Only good way I can see this going after 52 is for Jimmy to become Elastic Lad (Man?) again and replace Ralph Dibney. My money is on Turtle Man making a return though.

Amazons Attack #2 (of 6)

Will Pfeifer was completely off my radar until this mini-series came out. But from what I have seen so far and what I have found in back issues to read of his, I am now a fan. Also the scene from the first issue of thousands upon thousands of Amazons invading Washington D.C. was absolutely amazing. I have to give credit to Pete Woods for that though, another creator off my radar altogether.

Justice Society of America #6

You see the Alex Ross covers and figure it just can't get much better inside, but it does. Geoff Johns (is it possible he is underrated, even after everything he has done?) has revitalized this franchise as even a fanboy such as myself never thought could be done. 52 has brought credibility to their fractured continuity and now the Lightning Saga is going to bring them into line with the JLA and the Legion as one of the great supergroups of the DC Multiverse. This is already my most anticipated storyline I have ever read. I don't want this blog to become a personal sounding board on what comics you should buy, and try to force my opinion on you, but the Lightning Saga storyline is absolutely can't-miss.

CG