Pre-Ordering Brainstorming

Discount Comic Book Service has updated their site with this month's offerings from Previews. It looks to be a very big month for collections and new GNs meaning some hard choices to make.

From DC I'm thrilled to see the start of their "Essential" like line of black and white collections of older series. The line is off to a great start with SHOWCASE PRESENTS SUPERMAN and SHOWCASE PRESENTS GREEN LANTERN, which DCBS is offering at the incredible price of $8.49 each. 300+ pages of comics for less than $9? How could one pass up such a deal.

Also of interest from DC are manga sized collections of SGT ROCKS COMBAT TALES and SECRET OF THE SWAMP THING at $4.99 a piece. I've never been a big fan of war stories though, and I think Alan Moore (who seems to be the most loved ST writer) threw most of this stuff out when he became writer. So I'm not really sure on these yet.

From Marvel the only book of interest for me is RUNAWAYS VOL 4 TRUE BELIEVERS DIGEST at a discount price of $3.99. Which makes me wonder why anyone follows Marvel comics in pamphlet form, since that is cheaper than 2 issues at cover price.

CBLDF SPX 2005 ANTHOLOGY returns to its roots of a loose talent showcase anthology, after the past few years of themes. The *Support your right to read comic books! * is an odd tag line for it. I does feel a bit odd to have a discount on a charity book, at $7.12 but oh well.

I really enjoy ghost stories, so Del Rey's new Ghost Hunt series could be something I'd be interested in. Yet I can't find any kind of helpful info about it, in order to judge whether I want to pre-order it sight unseen like this.

STEADY BEAT VOL 1 GN (OF 3) $4.99 - The preview Johanna at Cognitive Dissonance linked to. Has me really interested in this series about a younger sister finding what appear to be a love letter from a woman to her older sister while the two are on a road trip together.

Former Oni Press EIC, Jamie S Rich has a new illustrated novella, I WAS SOMEONE DEAD due out. I really enjoyed Rich's CUT MY HAIR novella about young people growing up and falling in love, set in the 1980s punk music culture. Illustrations for this book are by Andi Watson, whose work I simply can not get enough of. Making this a definite must buy for me.

Also from Oni Press, is the fourth BLUE MONDAY collection, PAINTED MOON. I love this high energy comedy series about teens with attitude. And really appreciate that Oni's publishing structure is such that I can wait to read these in the collection format that I prefer.

Last, but certainly not least, is a new Owly GN, OWLY VOL 3 FLYING LESSONS. This fun little series continues to entertain in quiet, subtle ways that never get too cute but are just fun, comforting stories about friendship.

So whew, there we go. I look forward to seeing what Greg and Johanna will have on their Previews rundown listings, though I hope it won't be too much more.:) If any of you spot something I should try or want to offer advice on some of the things I'm not sure on. Then please do!