Pull List Review: April 2007

It’s been a while since I’ve taken a close look at my pull list, something I try to do at least twice a year to see if there’s anything I’m only buying out of habit, or that’s fallen behind schedule and I hadn’t noticed. Because I hadn’t done so, I missed out on Dynamo 5 #2 yesterday when it sold out in a couple of hours! Grrrr…

Logged onto MidtownComics.com today to take a look at what was on my list, did some pruning, added a few, and came in at 50 titles, my lowest total pulls in well over two years.

All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder
Most of the blogiverse hates it, but I’ve enjoyed it despite itself, as I figure Miller’s got a point to make. And if not, it’s the one time where Jim Lee’s art is enough to keep me coming back. That crazy gatefold in the last issue was like fanboy mana!

Amelia Rules
Picked up the anniversary issue yesterday, along with the first two Hardcover collections, because Amelia is cool like that.

Artesia: Besieged
For something that’s so clearly an individual labor of love — not to mention really, really good — I’ll wait as long as it takes for Mark Smylie to produce new installments of my favorite high fantasy series.

Black Coat: Or Give Me Death
Not out yet, but the first go-round was very good, so it’s on the list in advance.

Blue Beetle
Arguably one of DC’s best ongoing titles, and possibly THE best working the hallowed ground of reluctanty empowered teenager from any publisher. The first year has been fun, and the second year looks to be even better.

Brave And The Bold
Old-fashioned, non-continuity team-ups done right. So far, so good.

Captain America
Criminal
Daredevil
Ed Brubaker’s one of the best writers working in superhero comics, and Captain America is the crown jewel on his resume. *** While I don’t love Criminal the way much of the blogiverse does, it’s strong, gritty storytelling complemented by perfectly atmospheric artwork. *** Honestly, while Daredevil’s a been a solid read, and I love Michael Lark’s artwork, I don’t exactly look forward to it every month. Could fall victim to my Summer purge.

Casanova
Immortal Iron Fist
Casanova is crazy good, with some of the most beautiful art to grace a comic book page, it’s a steal at $1.99/issue. *** Brubaker and Matt Fraction make for an intriguing mix on Iron Fist — though I sense Fraction’s got the upper hand on this one — but it’ll be interesting to see how long they can keep the highwire act up.

Conan
Conan And The Midnight God
I loves me the Barbarian, and Tim Truman has stepped in for Busiek without missing a beat. The spinoffs have been as good, if not better, than the main series.

Death Comes To Dillinger / Death And The Man Who Would Not Die
The first one was solid, despite some questionable formatting decisions, but I’m hoping the sequel will be stronger since the creators know the format going in this time.

Detective Comics
Solid, done-in-one stories featuring the king of the DCU.

Doctor Fate
A bit of misdirected nostalgia here as I’ve always liked the character design but know next to nothing about the character. The one-shots didn’t help any, either.

Dynamo 5
Best superhero debut in a long while. They better reprint #2 or else I’ll switch to waiting for the trade as I do most Image titles.

Fallen Angel
One of my favorite reads but I never really have anything to say about it. It’s just good.

Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye
Now that’s it’s moving to Dark Horse, I’ll start picking it up again, making it the only non-licensed DH title on my pulll list!

Fell
My favorite Ellis work, still compelling eight issues in; still a better value than most 22-page comics.

Firestorm: The Nuclear Man
I’ll be sad to see this series go, but hopefully he’ll pop up in Brave & The Bold sometime soon.

G.I. Joe Dreadnoks: Declassified
G.I. Joe Special Missions One-Shots
G.I. Joe: America’s Elite
G.I. Joe: Declassified
G.I. Joe: Storm Shadow
Um…seeing them all grouped together like that let’s me know I have a problem. But, dammit, they’ve been consistently good reads!

Hulk And Power Pack
The Power Pack minis continue to be fun reads, though I’m not loving the art on this one as GiruHiru’s work fit the light tone much better.

Incredible Hulk
World War Hulk
World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker
“Planet Hulk” totally won me over, and I wish he’d have stayed in space instead of having to come back and Hulk Smash the MU. Maybe when he’s done, he takes off again.

Joe & Max
Seekers
The first two issues of Joe & Max have been surprisingly good, and despite the heavy religious themes, it reads like a traditional comic book battle of good vs. evil. So far, it’s the star of The Guardian Line. *** The first issue of The Seekers kicked things off solidly, sort of Discovery Kids’ Time Warp Trio mixed with The Guardian Line’s religious themes, and while directly connected to the rest of the TGLU, it feels like it will have the most leeway to tell unconnected stories.

Jonah Hex
Killer
Moon Knight
These three are grouped by coincidence, thanks to alphabetical order, but due to their effectively grimy premises, they belong together.

Mouse Guard
The first go-round was a breath of fresh air, both in execution and format, and I’m looking forward to both the Hardcover colleciton and the sequel.

Nightwolf
An oddball, under-the-radar mini-series from Devil’s Due that has a lot of potential and great b&w artwork.

Okko: The Cycle Of Water
Archaia has an eye for great properties, and this is one of the more interesting titles from their last wave.

Powers Vol 2
Getting bored with this one again. Reading the letters pages reminds me that Bendis is someone I probably wouldn’t like personally.

Robin
Adam Beechen has brought a fun, youthful energy to the series, and is doing a great job of building an engaging supporting cast.

Savage Tales
I’m a fan of anthology series and this one has gotten off to a good start. If the Red Sonja story here had been used for the #0 issue a while back, instead of the cheesecake fluff they went with, I might be reading the main series now.

Secret History
The “weakest” of the latest wave of Archaia titles is still more intriguing than 90% of what’s on the shelves, and as always, features excellent artwork.

Secret Voice
Ignore the “indie/superhero” nonsense I’ve seen on some blogs, and pick this up solely to revel in Zack Soto’s unique little world of odd.

Star Wars: Legacy
First time I’ve ever been into a Star Wars tie-in and it’s pretty damn good reading.

Strange Girl
One of my Best of 2006, sorely underrated and I wish it would join Fear Agent and move over to Dark Horse where I’d feel more confident about its long-term viability.

Super Real
Purely guilty pleasure, and I think Jasin Martin is an intriguing up-and-comer.

Superior Showcase
Another installment is finally coming out in June!

Thunderbolts Presents: Zemo - Born Better
I was one of the few people regularly reading and enjoying Nicieza and Grummet’s take on The Thunderbolts, and this has been an entertaining little bone to keep us happy.

Walk-In
Weird, and I’m not yet sure in a good way, but I’m holding on through the end to find out.

X-Factor
Another of my Best of 2006, and one of the best comics Marvel currently publishes.