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| We couldn’t think of a good header image, so here’s a poster from that silly disaster porn film with John Cusack |
We shared with you five Image books, five Dark Horse books and five IDW books to look for in 2012, but today we take a a slightly different approach.
We don’t want to discredit other publishers whose work we enjoy, but with other publishers, we had a bit more of a difficult time combing through limited solicit information to see what exactly was coming out — specifically because not all companies do monthly solicitations to the extent that the others we’ve discussed do.
That being said, there are still plenty of comics that we have heard are coming out that should be worth watching for in 2012. While we couldn’t possibly give you every book, we’ve hand selected five titles that we’re looking forward to reading/talking about in the next year — and those books all await your attention after the jump.
Assuming the world doesn’t end, that is.
The reprint and return of Sharknife
Creative Team: Corey Lewis
Publisher: Oni Press
Why You Should Be Excited: I’ve never had the opportunity to read Sharknife, but I know a few things about it. I know that the first printing has sold out, I know that Oni Press has a history of releasing great manga-influenced Western comics with Won Ton Soup and Scott Pilgrim, and I know that Joe Keatinge recommends it. That alone was enough to sell me on it, but then I read the series overview from Wikipedia: “Caesar Hallelujah, a busboy at Chinese restaurant the Guangdong Factory. The restaurant’s walls are infested with monsters; when they periodically attack, Caesar eats a magical fortune cookie and transforms into the bio-mechanical ninja warrior Sharknife. Sharknife’s task is to defend the Guangdong Factory and its customers, staff and food. Rather than scaring customers away, this has made the Guangdong Factory extremely popular, and Sharknife’s battles with the monsters act almost as a floor show while the guests eat.”
Sold.
Friends With Boys
Creative Team: Faith Erin Hicks
Publisher: First Second
Why You Should Be Excited: Faith Erin Hicks first came to my attention with the absolutely wonderful webcomic The Adventures of Superhero Girl, but when she started serializing her upcoming First Second graphic novel Friends With Boys as a webcomic as well, I immediately bookmarked the site and have read along with the daily updates, very highly enjoying every page. A poignant look at the first days of school as well as a personal tale of one girl, her family and friends, Friends With Boys is an absolutely wonderfully told and wonderfully illustrated tale that has been one of my favorite daily reads.
One of the arguments you hear tossed around when people discuss pirating webcomics is that, if a pirate reads a comic for free and likes it, they are likely to go out and get a physical copy of the issue or book to also have. Friends With Boys is proof positive of this, as I have already pre-ordered my copy of the book, and recommend you doing so as well. Hicks is one of those talents that should be brought to greater attention, and I can only hope that Friends With Boys finds its way into your collection, as it is very much worth it.
The Underwater Welder
Creative Team: Jeff Lemire
Publisher: Top Shelf
Why You Should Be Excited: Truth be told, I don’t feel like I need to explain why anyone should be excited for this book. It’s Jeff Lemire’s latest original graphic novel from Top Shelf, and one that he has been working on for quite some time. Honestly, that last second alone is all I need to get excited. I’m not sure why it would be different for anyone else, because if you’ve read Essex County or Sweet Tooth, those alone should get you excited for all of Lemire’s creator-owned work, sight unseen.
Continued below
Robocop: Road Trip
Creative Team: Rob Williams and Unai
Publisher: Dynamite
Why You Should Be Excited: Rob Williams wrote a nice little Robocop/Terminator mini from Dynamite this year called Kill Human, in which the two famous robotic icons faced off within the span of the second Terminator film. It was very quickly after announced that Williams would continue writing the comic adventures of Robocop with a second mini-series that very much acts as the continuation of his first story, although it still remains entirely “new reader friendly.”
So by now, I’m sure you over there with all the superhero comics know Williams from his work on Daken and Ghost Rider. I’m sure you know that he’s really quite good. I’m sure you also now know that, even if you’re not a big Robocop fan, you’re probably going to want to check out what Williams is doing with Unai on the character over at Dynamite.
You know? Good.
Steed and Mrs. Peel
Creative Team: Grant Morrison and Ian Gibson
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Why You Should Be Excited: This is the easiest one to discuss and recommend, simply for the fact that I already own this and have read it. No, I don’t have some kind of special “in” at BOOM! that granted me early access to a new Grant Morrison comic; this just isn’t a new Grant Morrison comic. It’s a reprint of a three-issue prestige style series released on Eclipse Comics years ago that I happened to find in a bargin bin once.
The story stars the aforementioned Steed and Mrs. Peel from the British show The Avengers (no relation), and absolutely exhudes all the fun that made spies so damn cool in the mid-to-late 60’s. Really, all things considered, this should be a no-brainer. 60’s spies, Morrison and Gibson. What more could you possbily want?
