Too Much Awesome: More comics in March

Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth

Dark Horse

Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1 (of 3) - I didn't pick up a copy of the collection that came out recently, but the webcomic is always a lot of fun. For those who don't know, this is the work of 29-year-old artist Ethan Nicolle and his five-year-old brother Malachai. There's a good interview with Ethan on iFanbook, where he talks about the creative process. This mini-series is the result of a full month of playtime between the two brothers, during which the storyline emerged. Ethan wrote all three issues based on his brother's ideas before he started drawing it. I'm guessing this will result in more cohesive story than the webcomic, which tends to move all over the place, as you would expect anything coming from the mind of a five-year-old to do.

IDW

Genius, Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth - There was a bit of a controversy recently when a writer for the A.V. Club fabricated a review of this book and it was posted on the website... before the book was even completed! The writer was fired and the A.V. Club issued an apology, emphasizing that the publisher had absolutely nothing to do with it. Meanwhile, this biography of the artist expanded until it couldn't be contained in a single volume. This book will detail his life story and work through the early 1960s, with a second volume expected for October.

Image

Butcher Baker: The Righteous Maker #1 - The cover is outrageous and the three-page preview is hilariously covered with big red CENSORED boxes. It's a pretty good marketing stunt, but the real reason I'm looking forward to this is that it's written by Joe Casey.

Halcyon #5 (of 5) - The first four issues of this were solicited as an ongoing. Now, unexpectedly and without explanation, it's been changed to a mini-series. I don't understand how that works. Does it have anything to do with sales? Only two issues have come out, so you'd think they'd give it a bit more of a chance. Or did the creators just lose interest? I just wish there were a little more transparency when these kinds of changes happen. I find it rather insulting that they just announce this as the "MINISERIES CONCLUSION," as if nobody would notice that what it really is is a prematurely cancelled ongoing.


I'm also going to pick up Infinite Vacations #3 and Orc Stain #8.

Avatar

Caligula #1 - David Lapham writing a comic about Caligula for Avatar? I don't think I'm going to buy this, but somehow it makes perfect sense.

Boom!

Hellraiser #1 - This is apparently "Clive Barker's long-awaited return to tell a new chapter in the series' official continuity." This might be worth a look, though I think I'm going to pass.

Soldier Zero #6 - Paul Cornell's last issue, with Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning sharing writing duties with him before taking over next month. I'm still not sure if my interest in this new series is going to be maintained long enough to make it past the first story arc, but the change of writers makes me want to stick around for a few more issues to see where it goes. (Not that I dislike Paul Cornell. I just wasn't completely sold on this yet, but a different creative team means I need to re-evaluate it. I guess.)

Stan Lee's two other new series, The Traveler and Starborn, also continue.

Fantagraphics

The Comics Journal #301 - This is a massive new 600-page format for this long-lived periodical, filled with "criticism, interviews, debate, commentary and history to inspire love from the comics cognoscenti and scorn from the philistines." I'm tempted to get it just because of that hilariously pretentious description. The only thing I'm worried about is that I already have a hard time keeping up with the multiple blogs about comics that I follow. Adding 600 pages of reading material to that just sounds completely overwhelming. But tempting.

12-Gauge

Magus #4 - The main reason why I bought the first issue of this was Rebekah Isaacs' art, so I was a bit worried when I saw that a different artist was listed in the solicitations for this issue. However, writer Jon Price has apparently confirmed that she is still on the book and that there was a mistake in the solicitation text.

Marvel - addendum

Finally, earlier this month when I looked at Marvel's solicitationss, I somehow completely missed out on this amazing cover by Mike Mignola:

It's a variant for the first issue of Annihilators #1 (of 4), written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. As with most Marvel solicitations, I can't really make sense of the blurb. But, man, that's a nice cover.