The Return

Last time I posted anything, the year was different. But I felt inclined to inform you of... stuff. Things. Important things! Here goes:
In the past year, I've had a few titles I really enjoyed cancelled. Blue Beetle. Manhunter. Captain Britain & the MI:13. Exiles. And Agents of Atlas is ending soon. Not to mention a few others. I understand it can be hard to keep up with the "little titles." The big names are being written well or the big event is going on. Gotta keep up with what's current. And I agree. Captain America, Green Lantern, Uncanny X-Men, Iron Man, Batman & Robin: these are all great titles. Delivering consistently. You wanna pick them up. So do I! Here's the thing though: some of these titles sell on name alone. Except when things get REALLY bad, these titles tend to do well on name alone. People do still buy books based solely on character, or when Greg Land does a cover. I remember buying Chris Bachalo covers wherever I saw them.

But really, you can buy the trade of this, or borrow your friend's copy, and instead contribute to a GREAT title that could be greater if it was given the chance to run longer. for example, Agents of Atlas will probably get a second chance before long. You can help guarantee this. How you say? Well, it's simple. There's a 2 issue mini-series coming up, Agents of Atlas vs. the X-Men. The writer, Parker is handling it. It's in good hands. Tell your X-Men friends. Get them interested, loan them your Agents of Atlas trade/issues. Then, when they start running the backup in Incredible Hercules, buy that too. You'll be supporting two books! In fact, those two are probably two of the best Marvel books coming out every month.

I am a bit concerned about Incredible Hercules. It's still in what I would consider a safe range, according to July sales estimates. So is Son of Hulk, for the moment. But these books are starting to creep into the "danger zone" of Marvel's titles, wherein permanent resident Ms. Marvel seems to linger every month. Sadly, Marvel's two main cosmic books, Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy, are currently in this realm. Considering there's a big space crossover goin' on right now, you'd think they'd be doing a bit better. It worries me as that has just come to an end, and as always, some of those readers will move on.

But dear reader, don't move on! Stay with them! You know who else is gonna pick up that copy of X-Men? Your friend, or perhaps your local Borders or Barnes & Noble. You can go and read their copies until they kick you out. And then buy the trade when it comes out, instead of waiting on the trade for a book that might not make it long enough. In fact, Exiles is a perfect example of this. Cancelled by issue 6. That's your normal trade length, six issues. Your plan has failed, sir. I blame you, guy who bought Jeph Loeb's Hulk instead.

This is just the beginning. I have more to say. Just didn't want to wear you out right away. But, on a final note, here are my top 10 books from this past week. There's a few things I haven't been able to read yet (Wednesday Comics, Magog, Buffy, The Authority) but regardless, BAM:

1. Agents of Atlas 10
2. Cable 18
3. Strange Tales 1
4. Invincible Iron Man 17
5. Final Crisis Aftermath: Run 5
6. Exiles 6
7. Proof 23
8. Supergirl Annual 1
9. Northlanders 20
10. Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire 2

Oh, and hello to the folks at the Clockwork Storybook forums who actually look in on my blog for reviews when I do them. Thanks guys!