A Descent into Dullness

New New Warriors with some Avengers attacking like jerks.  I don't like the current interpretation of Captain America as Commander Jerkass.  This is one case where I'd very much like to see the character move back towards the version in the film MCU...

Thanks to a friendly undead sorceror-king, King Conan gets the magic gemstone of McGuffin and heads back to his kingdom.  To gather a big ol' army for a royal ass-kicking..

Non-royal Conan the Avenger parts ways with his new witchfinder friend in order to take a job guarding a sexy arrogant princess.  Plus a nice speech from his dad in a flashback that a GM for old-school D&D can explain why barbarians won't adventure with wizards.  Because fuck wizards, thats why...

The Unwritten: Apocalypse has Tommy and his friends and family begin their quest for the Grail.  And Marionette lady and Ol' Man Killer make plans together...

Wonder Woman's eldest half-sibling, the Firstborn, continues to be a big violent, sulky baby even after conquering Olympus and Hades and I think the Ocean as well.  Next up, the Garden of Life.  Seriously, hes such an emo whiner...

Decided to get the singles for the new TMNT: Turtles in Time mini-series.  Mostly 'cause the first issue is done by Ross Campbell who draws an awesome Ninja Turtle and some great dinosaurs and brain aliens as well...

Aku's latest attack on Samurai Jack involves a gravity manipulating spherical robot.  You can guess how it works out...

In Adventure Time, PB explains to her people why they're all ghosts now.  And then Finn & Jake figure out how to defeat ghosts with ghosts thru the power of cooperation...

So it turns out the missing Prince Robot of Saga has been at the intergalatic whore house of Sextillion.  Which may be for the best as the social order in the Robot kingdom looks to be due for some shaking up...

Man, that is a lot of deaths in Invincible as Robot makes his play for global domination.  And I'm not talking nameless background people.  Like named, secondary characters.  Seriously when making plans, a sign they're stupid and wrong should be "How many of my closest friends will I have to murder?"

Malcolm Dragon continues in his father's footsteps of getting attacked by super-goons and then getting yelled at for the people caught in the spillover in Savage Dragon.  Plus his girlfriend's parents are still pushing her to date some nice Chinese boy...

Fatale closes in on its finale, with magic sex rituals and more revelations about Jo's past.  Awful, terrible revelations...

The Wicked & the Divine is a new series from Kieron GIllen and Jamie McKelvie.  The set-up here is that every 90 years, groups of "gods" reincarnate and hang around for several years, incarnated as teen-agers apparently...

And finally a new Alien Legion series from Chuck Dixon, Larry Stroman and Carl Potts.  Stroman's pencils look a lot tighter and more focused than the last thing I saw him do (probably a random issue of X-Factor).  Anyway, something Harkilon civil war something something refugees something.  All that matters as the Legionnaires of Nomad will be at the forefront wading hip-deep in the muck and blood before long.  I was dissapointed not to see the 'icks, who I'm pretty sure survived the last AL mini...

Been really slacking on these again.  Which does highlight how little DC/Marvel I'm buying as singles right now.  If I don't count Vertigo imprint books, its a single title from each right now.  Mainline DC just isn't putting out much I want to follow and Marvel's $4 per issue thing is becoming more and more of deal breaker.  Including on the title I'm still getting in singles, New Warriors.  I'm liking this relaunch.  The characters, Yost's dialogue, the High Evolutionary based initial arc.  All good.  But I still may switch to trade waiting like I'm doing on Superior Foes, Ghost Rider, She-Hulk and the Daredevil relaunch.  'Cause $4 for a 20 page book is bullshit...

At least from the Big Two.  I'm ok with that price point for twenty pages of transgender action/adventure for IDW's Samurai Jack.  Plus shinier paper.  Or even better, $4 for twenty-TWO pages like kaboom!'s Adventure Time and Adventure TIme: the Flip Side.  Four bucks for Finn & Jake mistaking a nucleur silo for a traditional dungeon?  Or teaming with LSP to try and rig a prom election to get a monkey to kidnap a lady painting?  I'm down with that...

Hunh, Wonder Woman is only twenty pages as well.  Didn't notice that happening.  Still its sticking at the three dollar price point.  Plus its more cross-title setting with DC, and WW mostly avoids the general ongoing DCU stuff...

The Unwritten gang continue to try and make their way across broken London while avoiding the constant war stories.  But they do find out that Pullman is behind the whole thing, all part of another plot by him to try and slay the Leviathan...

Charles and Edwin and Crystal manage to avoid damnation and death and such in Dead Boy Detectives.  And someone gets to burn down their school.  Sure it was accident.  Mostly an accident...

Knights of the Dinner Table sticks to concentrating on the ongoing return of the uber-sword story.  With Brian and Sara getting an offer from said mad sword...

I'm pretty sure I missed an issue of Pretty Deadly at some point here.  Because there is otherwise an awful big jump in the story before it reaches the climax of this first arc...

In Invincible Universe, the Lizard King learns a valuable lesson.  Just 'cause you alter a person's DNA to make them a reptile, doesn't necessarily mean an alignment change.  And then IU goes on hiatus.  Again.  Hopefully when it gets started again it will have the same title.  I'd say even money on whether or not that happens...

Fatale picks back up with Jo and Nick and soon enough everything is all obsession and murder and stolen magic eyeballs...

This issue of Prophet gives some back-story on plant person Hiyonhoiagn and his race the Kinnian.  Plus..well plus the normal hard to accurately and easily describe scifi weirdness...

I'm starting to wonder if Police Chief Higgens' drive to arrest Lobster Johnson is entirely in the cause of Law & Order...

King Conan returns to the sea in pursuit of the Heart of Ahriman, gets captured by slavers and meets some old friends amidst the rowers.  And just like that Amra the Lion is reborn...

Empowered: Internal Medicine is another one-shot.  With Warren teaming with Brandon Graham on this one.  Graham is pretty damn amazing drawing Emp and Ninjette doing super-surgery on an alien spaceship baby...

And another one-shot from Dark Horse, this time Beasts of Burden: Hunters & Gatherers.  With the animal guardians of Burden Hill facing off against an invisible giant lizard monster.    And ending with an alliance between the Crows and the Rats.  Who still have their Rat King...

And finally a new Dark Horse Presents.  The main things interest for my in this one would be the "Nexus" story, a Kel McDonald Revolutionary-era balloon crossing of the English channel and the monstery mystery story involving kids teamed with the ghost of Davey Jones...

Saga finishes up its first big arc and goes on a brief break with remarkably few casualties.  Which is to say, new casualties...

I'm still on the fence with the Saviors, James Robinson & J. Bone's secret alien invaders book.  But that is a strong team worth giving more than a couple issues too, to see what they're building towards...

I wasn't expecting that betrayal in Invincible.  Though Ottley seems to be slacking a little on some of the pencil work...

Pretty Deadly finishes its set-up and I'm definitely intrigued by its cosmology to want to see more.  Something I'd been pretty hesitant of from the first couple issues...

Volume Two of the Unwritten starts off with a couple fables and visits to various talking animals of a Wonderland, Narnian and 100 Acre Woods varieties.  And then a return to the "real" world...

Its always good to get a Wonder Woman issue where Chiang does all the art not just the cover.  And Olympian family continues to put the Dis in dysfunctional...

Samurai Jack's quest for a piece of the time travel thread leads him to a frozen land with a cruel and selfish un-aging queen...

The Adventure Time 2014 Winter Special presents a variety of winter tales.  With magical sweaters and snow and fire dogs and ice and Lemongrab and ice cream...

The Brian Wood Conan the Barbarian comes to close with a Queen's funeral and a pile of dead monsters...

And finally some Dark Horse Presents with some Hellboy, Nexus and Alabaster.  And Roman dragon fighting, crime noir and apocalyptic invasions...

Even for two weeks that is a big ol' stack of comics. Ok there are two issues of King Conan 'cause I missed last months. Which would be bad because it has Conan killing a giant crazy gorilla. Again. And the next issue has a forest witch with a pet wolf and eagle...

I've got like one trade I think of Baltazar & Franco's Tiny Titans. But, while cute and funny, their DC never fully clicked with me. Still I can't resist seeing what they do with Hellboy's cast in the non-shockingly cute and funny itty bitty Hellboy...

Just when you think the Massive is a normal post-apocalyptic story with a ex-mercenary turned environmentalist turned nuclear power Wood throws some mystic mystery act curve ball...

Oh Dark Horse Presents how did you know what I've always been wanting is Peter Bagge crafting a comic about Alexander Hamilton?

And no more lengthy drug trip dreams or wandering the desert. Back to Conan the Barbarian and Belit killing dudes in search of phat loots. In this case cultists in a spooooky mysterious village...

And Lobster Johnson ends up working with the Tongs to take down the deadly Japanese agent who has been killing their couriers and stealing their money. Money meant to aid the Chinese resistance to the Japanese seizure of Manchuria...

Adventure Time books and comics! I demand you stop giving me sad feels for creepy weirdo Ice King!

Daredevil and Silver Surfer, working together to track down intergalatic scofflaws...

Young Avengers needs more Leah. And less sad Billy in the rain...

More family squabbling on Wonder Woman with Diana and War and Orion piling onto the Firstborn...

Ugh. There are still TWO more stupid issues of this stupid Fables/the Unwritten cross-over. So tired of it already...

And finally we've got the 200th issue of Knights of the Dinner Table. With a few retro strips to go with the ongoing story of Crush's Crime Nation campaign. Plus more SnarfQuest back-up and a return of the Brothers Grinn and Fuzzy Knights...