September's Not Slowing Down My Pull List Shake-Ups

Having temporarily finished talking about books that came out two months ago, let's shift to books coming out three months from now. Maybe that should be the new blog motto, "Reporting on Marvels and Legends: Either the past or the future, but never the present".

Eh, maybe not.

I expected September's solicits would be less interesting, if for no other reason than I didn't anticipate losing two more ongoing series. Didn't really work out that way. Angel & Faith may be over, but Dark Horse is still getting my attention. First and foremost, they solicited a collected edition of Bandette. I've heard nothing but good things about Tobin and Coover's book, but I'm not a big fan of the digital reading experience. For one thing, I like my phone, but it's not up to the task. Now that doesn't matter, because here comes Bandette in print! Yes, it doesn't arrive until November, but it was in the solicits, so we're counting it.

There other Dark Horse book of note is the Nine Beers with Ninjette Empowered Special. I've tried Empowered two other times, a different one of the specials, and the first trade. It never quite clicks with me. I can appreciate the work Adam Warren puts into it, I can certainly understand why plenty of other people love it, and I would say I find it solidly good, but at the same time, it didn't become one of those titles where I had to have more, like Atomic Robo or GrimJack. I'm not sure if I'll take a chance on it, but I might. I certainly have the space on my pull list.

And given the stunt DC's pulling, I might have even more space. Here's the conundrum: Justice League Dark #23.1 is essentially Katana #8. Justice League #23.3 is basically Dial H #16. They have the same writers at any rate, and given how DC has shuffled around artists, it's hard to really associate one with those titles (Ponitcelli's been on Dial H for longer than anyone now, but I still think of it more as Santolouco's book). I would like more Dial H, and Nocenti's been through the "event tie-in" rodeo enough I can trust her to make it work with what she's got going. But there's that extra dollar cost, because of the stupid 3-D covers. Part of me wants the stories, but another part says I shouldn't reward such stupid gimmickry. Odds are I'll end up getting them, but maybe I'll resist (only to break down later, I'm sure).

I don't really understand how royalties work in the comic industry, besides the fact there are a lot of people who should have gotten plenty who got nothing. So I'll put it to the Internet to answer this question: If I order the Deadshot trade, does John Ostrander see any of that money? Because I already own the mini-series, and I could probably find the Batbooks it contains, but if some of that cash goes to him, I don't mind going for the collected edition.

I didn't see Rocketeer/Spirit: Pulp Friction #3 anywhere. Along the lines of books not shipping, what are the odds Hawkeye #15 will actually ship in September? Keep in mind #11 was solicited for May, and still hasn't come out as of this week (though Marvel's website insists it was released on the 5th). Even with a rotating cast of artists to compensate for Aja, they still can't keep the dang book on schedule. Ah hell, it looks good enough when it does show up I don't mind that much, but there is a part of me that says if you promise something will show up in a certain time period, that it should show up within the allotted time. I don't find that an unreasonable position.

I see Journey Into Mystery was canceled. I'll take the blame for that. I considered buying it, because I've liked Kathryn Immonen's work, and Sif is pretty cool, but I chose some other titles instead. In retrospect, I should have picked it instead of Fearless Defenders, or maybe Captain America. Deadpool could have replaced the other one. I do intend to get the trades, at some point.

I kind of think I should try this Mighty Avengers book that's going to be starting up, but I don't know Al Ewing's work, and then there's Greg Land. I would guess Land won't be on the book long. That's apparently the case with Copiel on X-Men, he was there to goose sales at the start, then steps aside for David Lopez. As Marvel is still convinced Land sells (I guess because there are people who like his work), I expect the same here.

Speaking of X-Men, nice that it got 4 whole issues before being roped into an event. Battle for the Atom, whoo-wee. X-Men from the future want X-Men from the past to leave the present. I explained to a coworker this would likely suck, and she wondered why I'd buy it then. Excellent question, and I had to explain that while I expect the event will be awful, pointless, and awfully pointless, the tie-in issues might still be good. Hopefully Wood and Lopez can avoid letting their story get derailed by the necessities of tie-ins. Peter David pulled it off with X-Factor's Civil War tie-in. So did Nicieza on Cable/Deadpool, and um, Abnett and Lanning on Nova, but they were tying-in to events they were also writing, which is kind of cheating.

Also, I would have been absolutely fine with David Lopez as artist right from the start. I don't love his work, but I remember thinking it was solid on Hawkeye and Mockingbird. I think he's a better action artist than Copiel, certainly.

There's not much in the back of the book that catches my eye. I was expecting a new volume of Yotsuba, but I haven't seen one. Maybe next month. The third issue of Savage Sword of Dr. Dinosaur is solicited, but like Hawkeye #15, I'll believe it when I see it.