Being a comic fan can be tough. With so many publishers printing more and more books, canceling titles and starting new ones, it can be daunting when you head to the comic book shop on a Wednesday to know exactly what’s coming out.
The current system of presenting and ordering comics three months ahead of their release as set forth by the sole comics distributor, Diamond Comics, doesn’t make it any easier either. We’re not a fan of that system, but we realize it’s a harsh reality of how the industry works and we definitely don’t want you to miss out on any of the cool comics being published.
And so, as opposed to regurgitating the list of comics solicited in Previews each month, we present to you some of the highlights of things you probably won’t want to miss out on.
SPOILER WARNING – In order to get people to order comics, the publishers have a funny habit of revealing what’s happening in the books. If you don’t want anything at all to be spoiled, then you’ll probably want to skip this post and take your chances with your pre-orders and/or your shopping.
Shellfish
Vulgar, but also awesome. The result of a recent Kickstarter campaign, Palmiotti’s Queen Crab promises a Kafkaesque fusion of girl and crustacean we simply cannot deny. Just on principle.
QUEEN CRAB HC
story JIMMY PALMIOTTI
art ARTIZ EIGUREN
cover SAS CHRISTIANFEBRUARY 1
64 PAGES / FC / M
STANDARD
$12.99In the tradition of David Lynch and Stephen King comes the story of a young woman dealing with the insanity of the world around her. Meet Ginger, a twenty-something office girl that lives her life one boring day at a time until on her wedding night, her new husband tries to kill her…and it goes horribly wrong. This special hardcover graphic novel is a story of revenge, lust, violence and insanity brought to you by JIMMY PALMIOTTI (Jonah Hex, Painkiller Jane) and featuring the art of ARTIZ EIGUREN, as well as a cover by award winning illustrator SAS CHRISTIAN, and also featuring pin-ups by AMANDA CONNER and more!
CAN HAZ
Get your weird on with over 400 pages of your new catnip.
KING CITY TP
story / art / cover BRANDON GRAHAMFEBRUARY 22
424 PAGES / BW / M
$19.99AT LAST!
The long-awaited collection of the complete KING CITY series is here, full of full on comic book games, puzzles and wordplay!
Joe is a catmaster, trained to use his cat as any tool or weapon. His best friend Pete falls in love with an alien he’s forced to sell into green slavery,
while his ex Anna watches her Xombie War veteran boyfriend turn into the drug he’s addicted to.
King City, an underbelly of a town Run by spy gangs and dark dark magic with mystery down every alleyway.Collects KING CITY #1-12
Lethal Ladies
No starting it back at one, this is your jumping-on point for the return of Glory, an unabashed Wonder Woman riff ready to pulverize some panzers.
GLORY #23
story JOE KEATINGE
art & cover ROSS CAMPBELL
variant cover ROB LIEFELDFEBRUARY 15
32 PAGES / FC / T+
$2.99“ONCE AND FUTURE,” Part One
EXTREME’S ORIGINAL WARRIOR GODDESS RETURNS!
After missing for almost a decade, Glory’s whereabouts are uncovered by a lone reporter, but the globe-spanning conspiracy keeping her hidden from humanity could make her return more dangerous than anyone ever anticipated! This first issue of an brand-new saga written by Eisner & Harvey-award winner JOE KEATINGE and illustrated by Wet Moon and Shadoweyes creator ROSS CAMPBELL sets up Glory’s future by expanding on her past in a way promising to shock long-time fans and excite all-new readers!
Thick as Thieves
Like Crosby and Bowie huddled around a piano at yuletide, this is sort of not at all like that. Kirkman and Spencer team up for a milestone heist.
THIEF OF THIEVES # 1
story ROBERT KIRKMAN & NICK SPENCER
art / cover SHAWN MARTINBROUGHFEBRUARY 8
32 PAGES / FC/ T
$2.99Conrad Paulson lives a secret double life as master thief Redmond. There is nothing he can’t steal, nothing he can’t have… except for the life he left behind. Now, with a grown son he hardly knows, and an ex-wife he never stopped loving, Conrad must try to piece together what’s left of his life, before the FBI finally catch up to him… but it appears they are the least of his worries.
Deep Purple
Life, finely sliced and then assembled like a voluminous lavender ratatouille. With cats. It’s like stealing a peek at a friend’s diary, without the guilt.
EMITOWN, VOL. 2 TP
story / art / cover EMI LENOXFEBRUARY 22
400 PAGES BW T+
$24.99EMI LENOX’s day by day autobiographical sketch journey continues in the second volume of EmiTown! Life gets serious in year two with complications of a relationship, the loss of a job, and the excitement of a blooming career. Widely acclaimed for her different approach to diary comics, Emi illustrates each day with humor and brilliance.
For the full list of Image solicits for February, click on over to CBR.
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I know I’m in the minority since I have never been particularly impressed by Kirkman, but I’m a sucker for a good crime book. I’m all over that book. Logo design is pretty slick too.
That is a great logo, hunh?
Its great but seems very familiar. Hitchcock or the cover of a novel. I can’t quite place it.
It’s a nod to Saul Bass, he designed a ton of older movie posters. This one looks like the text from “The Man with the Golden Arm” starring Sinatra and Kim Novak. He did do some for Hitchcock movies too, he was a pretty awesome designer/artist. Sleeper by Brubaker/Phillips also used a similar title-text.
Oooo…Thief of Thieves looks right up my alley. Looking forward to that one.
After the excitement of the GLORY creators on the video show, it’s going on my pull list.
The Glory art looks awesome enough that I want to try it. Also, I have all the King City issues setting around here somewhere. I really need to finish that. It was good but I got sidetracked around #8.
When is Saga due. I thought I’d heard Feb 2012?
Come on Paul! No excitement over Peter Panzerfaust!? That book looks fantastic! Probably up there with Saga and Fatale as my most anticipated comics of next year so far. Thief of Thieves looks to be great too!
This is what the comment section is for!
Was about to say that too. Loved the preview pages I read for that book in PIGS last week. And I couldn’t agree more on Thief of Thieves, Fatale and Saga too. Hopefully a solicitation for Saga next month?!
Thief of Thieves makes me nervous cause of the open writers room approach the title will be taking. It seems that different writers will be shuffling on and off for different arcs and issues with Kirkman and Spencer helming the series. But even Spencer alluded to the fact that he wouldn’t be attached for a long time, which I thought was weird.
You’ve watched TV shows where that works, right? Who’s to say it can’t work here?
Right, I’ll try it, it’s just so unusal for a comic.
Oh man, these all sound good to me. If even half the Image books slated for 2012 (including those not here) live up to their promise/hype then it could be their year for sure.
Man, I want to be a million miles away from that comic book with Kirkman AND Spencer writing it. That’s just gonna end in an explosion….
Thief of Thieves sounds like a very interesting concept story wise, as well as from the way they are executing it. Comics could use a bit more experimentation and innovation. Try some new things, see what happens!
Queen of Crabs looks interesting, but I will not buy it with that cover. In fear that my daughter would stumble upon it, she’s two and all she does is ask questions……….Does anyone know if it will have an alternate cover?
haha, I’m not prudish, but I thought along the same lines: “Man, that seems crass, but the story sounds very good.”
What? She’s just licking some butter sauce off those crab oh god I’ll stop now…
If you are old enough to figure out the’ meaning’ or intent of Queen Crab’s cover, then you are probably old enough to see it. I cannot imagine a two-year old knowing whats going on on that cover. Of course, kids nowadays…
Yeah that’s what I was thinking…. doesn’t seem like something a 2 year old would ask about, and even if she does you don’t have to launch into graphic detail about what it is hahahahaha.
But I don’t have children, what do I know….
Does anyone know what happened to Orcstain?
That Glory cover alone adds it to my pull list, which is getting ponderously big for someone who just started collecting comics again last month.