My picks of the solicits for May 2015...

Right, well here are my picks from the May solicits, this has been sitting in draft form for sometime but here they are...

Marvel: A-Force

When I first started collecting comics it was the post Civil War Mighty Avengers and Avengers Initiative that I began reading. Since then I always like to pick up new takes on the Avengers books. Dark Avengers being one of my favourites. The creative team and idea behind this series is exciting. But no disrespect meant towards Jorge Molina who I don't doubt will do a great job, looking at the variant cover by Russell Dauterman I wish he was on interiors. This has the set up to be a great series and in G. Willow Wilson and Marguerite Bennett I believe it is in safe hands. 

A-FORCE #1
G. WILLOW WILSON & MARGUERITE BENNETT (w) • JORGE MOLINA (a)
Cover by JIM CHEUNG
VARIANT COVER BY RUSSELL DAUTERMAN
VARIANT COVER BY STEPHAN HANS
• Marvel’s Mightiest Women finally get their own explosive series!
• In a secluded corner of the Battleworld, an island nation is fiercely protected by a team of Avengers the likes of which has only ever been glimpsed before…
• Fighting to protect the small sliver of their world that’s left, the Amazing A-FORCE stands shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to take on the horde!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Marvel: Old Man Logan

I took advantage of a Comixology sale to get the original issues containing the brilliant Old Man Logan by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. Old Man Logan is a killer character and I am excited to see him getting a series during Secret Wars, will this be our Wolverine moving forward post Secret Wars? I wouldn't be disappointed if it was. Again another brillitant creative team on this one and I can not wait to see how Sorrentino and Bendis collaborate to continue this characters story.

OLD MAN LOGAN #1
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (w) • ANDREA SORRENTINO (a/C)
VARIANT COVER by STEVE McNIVEN
VARIANT COVER BY ANDREA SORRENTINO
YOUNG VARIANT BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
BLANK VARIANT COVER
• Enter the Wastelands…a realm where all heroes have been murdered by their arch-enemies, villains who now rule over the land with an iron fist. In the midst of this dystopian chaos, one man may make a difference…a reluctant warrior who was once the greatest mutant of all…a man known as OLD MAN LOGAN.
40 PGS./Rated T …$4.99

Dark Horse: High Crimes

High Crimes is the critically acclaimed digital series from Monkeybrain comics finally heading to print in this collection from Dark Horse. I'll be looking to grab this one, I really enjoy when these successful digital formats head to print. 

High Crimes HC
Christopher Sebela (W) and Ibrahim Moustafa (A/Cover)
On sale July 8
FC, 184 pages
$19.99
HC, 7″ x 10″
Disgraced Olympic snowboarder Zan Jensen runs a sideline business as a high-altitude grave robber. When a body is found at the summit of Everest with a treasure of state secrets under its skin, Zan finds herself in the crosshairs of a government hit squad. As she races to the roof of the world, Zan will navigate bullets and avalanches to find salvation in the deadliest place on Earth.
Collecting the critically acclaimed Monkeybrain digital comic the A.V. Club calls “a high concept executed with precision, delivering real-world intrigue.” 
“Instead of just yelling at people to read High Crimes, now I can throw it at them at the same time.”—Matt Fraction (Sex Criminals)


Boom!: Adventure Time #40

I am a big fan of the TV programme and I collect the Mathematical Editions of the collections. Adventure Time #40 sees the previously teased story created by Matt Fraction and his son Henry Leo. This is the main reason this is in my pick, I look forward to seeing what Matt Fraction and his son have created.

ADVENTURE TIME #40
Retail Price: $3.99 
Author: Christopher Hastings, Henry Leo & Matt Fraction
Artist: Zachary Sterling
Cover Artists:
Main Cover: Paul Pope
Subscription Variant Cover: Lauren Dawson
Variant Cover: Simon Leclerc
It’s a special interactive, one-shot issue! Magic Man plans to use the reader to help beat Finn and Jake, but can our heroes turn the tables? Features a special short written by debut writer Henry Leo and Matt Fraction (Hawkeye)!

Image: Injection #1

There are no reasons this shouldn't be in my pick and 3 easy reason why it should. Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire. I have been waiting for this since its announcement from the incredible creative team previously on Moon Knight, May seems to far away. 

INJECTION #1
STORY: WARREN ELLIS
ART / COVERS: DECLAN SHALVEY & JORDIE BELLAIRE
MAY 13 / 24 PAGES / FC / M / $2.99 
Once upon a time, there were five crazy people, and they poisoned the 21st Century. Now they have to deal with the corrosion to try and save us all from a world becoming too weird to support human life.
INJECTION is the new ongoing series created by the acclaimed creative team of Moon Knight. It is science fiction, tales of horror, strange crime fiction, techno-thriller, and ghost story all at the same time. A serialized sequence of graphic novels about how loud and strange the world is getting, about the wild future and the haunted past all crashing into the present day at once, and about five eccentric geniuses dealing with the paranormal and numinous as well as the growing weight of what they did to the planet with the Injection.

Image Expo 2015! Announcements and more Awesome comics.

I is for A and A is for Awesome! Awesome is a word I use to much. And Image Comics is a publisher producing too many Awesome comics. Now with that ramble over here are the titles that caught my eye during the Image Expo and the rest of the announcements for you to check out!

First of all two of my favourite creators are teaming up. Scott Snyder from Batman fame, and don't forget American Vampire. With his current independent series Wytches, co created with Jock, already being published by Image, we now see him team up with Jeff Lemire, writer and artist of brilliant Graphic Novels like 'Underwater Welder' and 'Essex County' along with his Vertigo series 'Sweet Tooth'. This series is the first time Jeff Lemire is illustrating a series not written by himself. The two are teaming up for 'A.D. After Death', just realised the pun with the name while typing this, set in a near future where Death has been cured. I can not wait to get a look at this, Jeff Lemire is one of my favourite artists and his creator owned works are some of my favourite Graphic Novels ever. Check out a teaser image for this below and click on the title name for more info at the Image site.

Next up is 'Black Road' created by Brian Wood and Garry Brown. This sees Brian Wood's first return to the Viking genre since his critically acclaimed run on Northlanders at Vertigo; a series which heavily influenced my final piece while studying art at Uni anyway I'm going off topic. Set in Viking age Norway and to be illustrated by Garry Brown the series will follow a character named Magnus the Black a fixer for the Christian Church. The series promises to be steeped in 'historical intrigue, mystery and suspense'. Basically its about Vikings so I would have taken a look at this when released anyway but Brian Wood has a good track record with the genre and Garry Brown is a talented artist so this series should have promise, if your interested to learn more about the series click the title above and check out the promotional image below;

Finally and by no means least, seeing as this is a title I am very excited for, and created by two British creators, the fan favourite creative team from Marvel NOW! Young Avengers, Kieren Gillen and Jamie McKelvie will finally be releasing the conclusion to 'Phonogram' titled 'The Immaterial Girl' beginning August this year, currently the creators have been focusing there time on another creator owned title at Image, The Wicked + The Divine. I must be honest it wasn't until I attended London Super Comic Con a couple of years back that I grabbed the trades for the first two volumes of Phonogram, but I read both volumes back to back one morning as I had to finish them both, the story and characters are intriguing and it is great to see how McKelvie's style has developed from the first volume to the second and now I look forward to the third. As with the other two click the title for more info at the Image site and check out the promo image below (sometimes I feel I repeat myself a little too much).

                        

These are just the titles I am most excited for. For the many other announcements made at the expo, and there are many more! Take a look at the link below. There are more titles being released from many popular creators out there from Skottie Young to Brian K Vaughan and many others! 

https://imagecomics.com/content/view/image-expo-announcements-revealed

Image Comics: Southern Cross #1 Preview from Cloonan, Belanger and Loughridge.

This was in my most anticipated of 2015. I am a huge fan of Becky Cloonan's and although unfortunately I have never read a book illustrated by Andy Bellanger I look forward to seeing his art style and what the two can work together to create.

In anticipation of its release in March this year a preview has been released! Check it out below! And let your local comic store know you want to grab a copy!