This week seems kind of weak

Which is fine; maybe I'll be able to catch up a bit (hah!).

New comics this week (THURSDAY, 7/10/08):

Captain America: White #0

And so begins the latest Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale "color" miniseries, lovingly depicting some sort of untold tale of one of Marvel's beloved characters. This issue is a prequel to the series, showing the origin of Bucky and how the heroic boy joined Cap's sideZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...oh sorry, I bored myself to sleep there. Really, how many of these pointless things do we need? And man, isn't that title unfortunate? It seems like an answer to the Truth: Red, White, and Black miniseries from a few years ago; "Captain America is white, dammit!" I would think red or blue would be better color choices, but what the hell. Anyway, I imagine the series will look nice, since Tim Sale is a good artist, but it will read like crap, since Jeph Loeb is a terrible writer. I sure won't be bothering.

Femme Noir Dark City Diaries #1

From Ape Entertainment, this appears to be a feminine-themed noir series (yes, I'm excellent at reading titles) from writer Christopher Mills and artist Joe Staton. It seems kind of fun, and you can check out webcomic versions of the strip (which might or might not be what is being printed; I'm not sure) at the official site.

Goon #26

Ah, Goon, I knew you wouldn't desert your buddies in their time of need! Now go kick in some zombie heads; it's what you do best!

I Kill Giants #1

Written by Joe Kelly, with art by newcomer JM Ken Niimura, this series is about a normal-seeming fifth-grade girl who carries a Norse war-hammer in her purse and spends her spare time doing what the title says. Or does she? Maybe she just has an overactive imagination. I usually like Joe Kelly (especially when he is working on creator-owned stuff rather than toiling away in the work-for-hire salt mines), and the art looks nice, so I'll probably check it out. Here's an interview with some preview pages.

Invincible Iron Man #3

Matt Fraction's Iron Man tries not to get blowed up. I'm digging this series, so hopefully it will continue to be good.

Neon Girl #1

I have no idea if this will show up in any shops I frequent, but it appears to be a self-published superhero story by artist Dennis Pacheco. It looks cute and everything; you can read a preview at his site.

Wolfskin Annual #1

I might have passed over this Warren Ellis book on a bigger week, but I imagine I'll end up picking it up since there's so little of interest coming out. I did kind of like the original three-issue miniseries, but not so much that I feel like I have to read more adventures of the big barbarian guy. Ellis plots, with Mike Wolfer scripting, and Juan Jose Ryp isn't doing the art; he's been replaced by a newcomer named Gianluca Pagliarani. Eh, maybe they'll surprise me and it'll be awesome.

Aces Curse Of The Red Baron GN

From AiT/PlanetLar, it's a World War I-era graphic novel about a British pilot and an American soldier stealing a map to the Red Baron's treasure and going on adventures and such. Written by Shannon Eric Denton and G. Willow Wilson, with art by Curtis Square-Briggs. Could be pretty fun. Here's a preview.

American Virgin Vol. 4 Around The World TPB

So, did this series ever get better? I quit reading it after the first storyline, even though I really like Becky Cloonan's art. Now that it's cancelled, I suppose I could try to catch up.

Batman And Son TPB

In softcover format, here's Grant Morrison's first story arc in his current Batman run. I thought it was pretty fun, even with mediocre Andy Kubert artwork. I suppose it's worth reading, especially if you're wanting to keep going with the current "RIP" story arc (which I'm not, although I might read it when it's collected).

Bone Color Ed SC Vol. 08 Treasure Hunters

Hey, the color versions of this excellent series are almost finished now! I actually prefer the black and white original, but these are also very nice. Check the series out, if you haven't read it before. It's awesome.

Captain Stoneheart And The Truth Fairy HC

Speaking of Joe Kelly, this book is a special version of his Elephantmen story, which was drawn by Chris Bachalo. I would love to check it out, but I think it's pretty short, so it's probably not worth the $20 price tag, even if it does include an audiobook CD. Eh, I don't read Elephantmen anyway.

Chronicles Of The Grim Peddler Vol 1 GN

A Korean comic published by Udon, featuring a character who invades Western fairy tales and screws them up, or some strange thing like that. Weird? Interesting?

Criminal Vol 3 Dead And Dying TPB

Already a contender for my favorite book of the year, this relaunch of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' series features three interconnecting stories, with some excellent, heartbreaking, intense looks at some broken characters. I love this book.

Essential Doctor Strange vol 1 New Edition

A good place to check out some Steve Ditko weirdness for cheap. I should really read these stories sometime.

Fart Party GN

I don't know if this is a new edition of Julia Wertz's much-lauded book, but it's on Midtown's list for the week. I still haven't read it; I should give it a try.

Gentleman Jim HC

From Drawn & Quarterly, this is a graphic novel by Raymond Briggs about an imaginative, adventurous toilet cleaner. I think. It sounds quite good; I'll have to try to check it out.

Growing Up With Comics TPB

R.G. Taylor illustrates true stories about people who read comics at some point in their lives. Could be interesting. Or crushingly boring, but I like to give the benefit of the doubt.

Halo & Sprocket vol 2 TPB

The second volume of the popular(?) strip about a girl, an angel, and a robot. I think I've read some of it, and it's pretty fun. Here's the official site, which contains some preview strips.

Hellboy Oddest Jobs (prose novel)

If you like your badass demon images to appear in your imagination, this is the book for you. It's actually a short story collection, with contributions by the likes of Joe R. Lansdale, China Mieville, Tad Williams and others. Movie tie-in go!

Hot Mexican Love Comics 2008

I'm not sure if this is actually coming out, but it looks like it could be fun whenever it does. It's an anthology about sexy Hispanic romance, I guess. Here's the website, which hasn't been updated since the 2007 edition.

Magic Trixie Vol 1 GN

A kiddie-style graphic novel by Jill Thompson about a young witch. Probably quite fun. Here's some preview pages on Thompson's blog. And here, Trixie herself has a blog, so you can learn all about her.

Necessary Evil Vol 1 TPB

I have no idea if this is any good, but it's a slightly interesting concept: an academy for supervillains. Because lord knows we need more exploration of the superhero/villain concept; it hasn't been run into the ground in comics or anything. If anybody has read the series, please tell me if I should bother spending neural energy considering it (man, I get pissy after I've been typing about this stuff for a while, don't I?).

New York Four

Man, I shouldn't complain about a slow week when this is coming out. So soon after the final issue of Local (which I should really write something about) appeared, Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly's Minx book hits shelves. It's all about four girls living in New York City. I'm hoping for maximum shojo manga-style girliness, so I can engage the feminine side of me that so obviously needs to come out more often.

North Wind TPB

Some sort of post-apocalyptic fantasy book from Boom! Studios. Like most Boom! books, I've got a review PDF, so if I check it out and like it, I'll let you know.

Runaways Dead End Kids HC

Man, Marvel must have been chomping at the bit to get this story over and done with. The final issue only came out a few weeks ago, and they've already got a hardcover collection. Written by Joss Whedon, it's a decent tale, and it'll probably read better without six-month gaps between chapters. It's not terrible by any means, but it's nothing super-special either.

Snaked TP

I read the first issue of this series a while back, but I barely remember anything about it. I think it had to do with a serial killer, and politics, and magic or something? I dunno. If anybody read all of it, did it turn out any good? Written by Clifford Meth, art by Rufus Dayglo. Huh.

Wolverine Death of Wolverine TPB

I guess he'll stop showing up in 20 comics a month now, being dead and all. Lucky us.

Comic foundry Magazine Summer 2008

You know, I've never even seen an issue of this magazine, but I do keep intending to take a look at it. Maybe my shop will actually get this one so I can check it out. Sorry Tim Leong, I'll try to give you some eyeball time!
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And I think that's it for the week. Enough of my rambling. Hopefully I'll be back tonight, but you never know what will happen.