One year ago, Andrew Wheeler at Ninth Art convinced me to become the new writer for 'Things to Come' with the promise that it would be easy, no real big deal. He's a funny one, my editor. That's not the only thing that I've learned in the past year, though. I've learned that there's a lot of comics being published, and only someone truly insane would try to keep an eye on everything offered up each month in Previews.

Here are some other things I've learned:

A lot of publishers have tried to design their own sections in Previews, but did so without any real understanding of page layouts, leaving the end result virtually unreadable. Almost half of all solicitations are extremely unhelpful. There are only so many times you can mention a series you like before you get the feeling that you've mentioned it every other column.

Also, it's really, really easy to lose the separate booklet of Marvel Previews. And having Comic-Con International scheduled for July in San Diego means that anyone and everyone is soliciting really interesting books this month to debut there. Oh, and apparently there is always something just waiting to hijack my free time at the end of the month and make the editorial board of Ninth Art wonder why they let this slacker take over the column in the first place.

ACTIVE IMAGES

THE ALCHEMIST'S EASEL GN by Al Davidson
MAY05 2370, p209, $17.99

Al Davidson is one of the only comic creators who could solicit a book of short stories inspired on dreams and still keep my attention. His dream comics in the past have been nothing short of fascinating, with strange turns and twists of emotion and idea appearing on every page, coupled with his slightly misshapen and disturbing art style that seem deliberately crafted to both intrigue and disturb simultaneously. There's no one else in comics quite like Davidson, which is just as well: I'd really like to only have one creator like him for whom I feel the need to buy every single work published. He's fantastic.

ADHOUSE BOOKS

BUMPERBOY LOSES HIS MARBLES GN by Debbie Huey
MAY05 2383, p212, $7.95

The cover for this book alone, with a confused Bumperboy gasping in panic while marbles spin around his head, makes me want to read the book. Knowing that Bumperboy really is looking for marbles (to enter the big Marble Tournament, of course) just makes it all the cuter. If BUMPERBOY LOSES HIS MARBLES was good enough to be the first book distributed (rather than just published) by AdHouse Books, it's good enough for me to want to see more of it.

DC COMICS

ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #1 by Frank Miller, Jim Lee, and Scott Williams
MAY05 0190, p62, $2.99

If you've been (blissfully) under a rock for the past six months or so, you might have missed the announcement of the new ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER series that Frank Miller and Jim Lee are collaborating on. Quite frankly, there's nothing about the book itself I could tell you that you haven't already heard.

What I did find interesting, though, is that in the solicitation is the note 'Edited by Bob Schreck'. Now don't get me wrong, I think that Schreck is one of the few editors these days whose helming a book makes it almost instantly worth a glance, the same sort of status that editors like Karen Berger and the late Archie Goodwin used to hold. That said, this is the only book in the entire DC Comics section that lists the editor's name.

Was this a stipulation of Miller, who had previously gone on public record to say that Schreck was the reason why he was working on books for DC Comics again? Perhaps a thank-you from DC Comics for helping assemble the Miller and Lee team-up that's bound to be the highest selling book of the year for the company? A strange glitch from the department responsible for putting together the pages for Previews? In many ways, I'm actually finding this more interesting than the upcoming book itself...

SUPERMAN #219, ACTION COMICS #829, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #642, and WONDER WOMAN #219
MAY05 0213 through MAY 05 0216, pg72-73, $2.50 ($2.25 for WW)

Once again, I must admit that I'm not interested in talking about the actual content of the books in question (Superman beating up Brainiac, Darkseid, some villain I don't instantly recognize, and Wonder Woman)... but I am entranced by the fact that it's starting to seriously look like DC Comics is handing out model sheets for their icons.

For the first three covers, Superman's in the almost exact same pose: both hands in fists, one hand having just punched and swung downwards, the other hand raised up slightly in a sort of counterbalance. The fourth cover would follow the same pattern except that it's Wonder Woman in the pose, doing the hitting towards Superman.

At a glance it looks really odd when you see Superman doing the same thing on all the covers (especially SUPERMAN and ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN where the poses are so similar it's rather striking), but it's even more interesting when you realize that all of these covers are using a left-handed punch, and that's not something that I think Ed Benes, Tony Daniel, Karl Kerschl, and JG Jones would all independently come up with.

Now it could be that this storyline is secretly named, "I Was Possessed By The Left Hand Of Darkness (And Please Don't Sue Us, Ursula K Le Guin)" and it's a big deliberate and thematic series of illustrations, but even I can't find that terribly believable.

GREEN ARROW #52 by Judd Winick, Tom Fowler, and Rodney Ramos
MAY05 0228, p79, $2.50

All right, if I see one more solicitation for a book guest-starring Doctor Light, I'm going to scream. Congratulations, everyone at DC Comics, you've officially made me hate this character... and considering that in the past all it would take was thinking of SUICIDE SQUAD #52 ('The Death and Life and Death and Life and Death and Life of Doctor Light') to get me giggling uncontrollably, that's really quite a feat.

I tell you what, though. Collect all 66 issues of John Ostrander and Kim Yale's SUICIDE SQUAD into a series of inexpensive trade paperbacks and all will be forgiven. Heck, I'll even write a special 'Things to Come' column that does nothing but talk about how fantastic it is that Doctor Light is appearing in more books than Wolverine these days. Bob Wayne, do we have a deal?

KINETIC TP by Kelley Puckett and Warren Pleece
MAY05 0240, p85, $9.99

You know, I was going to proclaim SON OF VULCAN as the number one Dead On Arrival book from DC Comics this month, but I take that all back, it's got to be the KINETIC collection. Don't get me wrong, KINETIC was a solid book with good (if perhaps a little too slow) writing from Kelley Puckett, and some of the best art from Warren Pleece that I can remember. I'm mystified, though, on why DC Comics is resoliciting the collection of all eight issues.

This book got cancelled so fast its readers would have gotten whiplash, provided there were any readers left at that point. The sales figures for KINETIC dropped faster than I thought stores could slash their orders to the bone, so honestly... who's going to buy it? Maybe there's a television deal about to be announced for KINETIC, but this solicitation is really puzzling me.

CITY OF TOMORROW #4 (Of 6) by Howard Chaykin
MAY05 0274, p102, $2.99

It's funny watching Howard Chaykin trying to write and draw a non-Mature Readers book. I looked at the latest cover and all I could think was that Chaykin's first draft probably had the naked woman in front of the protagonist instead of hiding behind him, and her hands were probably directly on his crotch instead of just sliding over his hips.

A non-Mature Readers book by Howard Chaykin puzzles me in the same way that decaffeinated coffee does. I was never addicted to the original, but the watered-down version just seems like it can't bring the same sort of thrill to those who got hooked on a full-strength edition.

SILENT DRAGON #1 (Of 6) by Andy Diggle, Leinil Yu, and Gerry Alanguilan
MAY05 0281, p104, $2.99

All right, this looks fantastic. Andy Diggle's writing on THE LOSERS and ADAM STRANGE has been top-notch, and as nice as Leinil Yu and Gerry Alanguilan's art was on SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT, the preview pages here look even better. Futuristic samurais and gigantic robots with multiple guns for hands smashing up out of the ground... SILENT DRAGON looks to be that sort of book where you can just stare at the art bringing all of the larger-than-life ideas to life and be satisfied on that alone. This is a must-buy book for me.

100 BULLETS VOL 8: THE HARD WAY TP by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso MAY05 0289, p112, $14.99
Y: THE LAST MAN VOL 5: RING OF TRUTH TP by Brian K Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and Jose Marzan Jr
MAY05 0306, p120, $14.99

Dear DC Comics,

Thank you very much for releasing both of these collections just four months after the last issue in the storyline was published. I appreciate this very much and so, I suspect, does the readership. Please keep these sort of efforts up on more of your titles.

Love and Kisses,
Greg

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

GRENUORD #1 (Of 6) by Francesca Ghermandi
MAY05 2743, p291, $4.95

Francesca Ghermandi's PASTIL was (and still is) one of the most beautiful comics ever published. The story of a little pill girl traveling through a landscape that would not be out of place in ALICE IN WONDERLAND was surreal and gorgeous, using delicate shaded pencils to carefully craft every twist and turn awaiting the reader.

The fact that Ghermandi has a new series automatically means it's a reason to celebrate; it promises to have surreal art paired with a hard-boiled story about a man fleeing a bad relationship to end up in a country under police lockdown due to terrorist attacks. This sounds like a strange pairing, but I'm more than willing to give Ghermandi the benefit of the doubt. If nothing else, I'm sure it's going to look gorgeous.

IDW PUBLISHING

LITTLE BOOK OF HORROR: WAR OF THE WORLDS HC adapted by Steve Niles and Ted McKeever
MAY05 2802, p303, $15.99

Or, as I like to call it, 'How to terrorise and scar children for the rest of their lives thanks to Ted McKeever's amazingly disturbing art'. Thank you, IDW, from the bottom of my heart. I promise that all my nieces and nephews will get copies of this book. (Now if you could just include page numbers in your in-house designed pages for Previews, I'd promise to even buy extra copies and just give them to random small children. Do we have a deal?)

IMAGE COMICS

BONEREST #1 by Matteo Casali and Guiseppi Camuncoli
MAY05 1529, p138, $2.95

BONEREST is a perfect example of why preview art should be included in as many solicitations as possible. When I read the description ("the surreal story of the mouthless man known as Adam Bone... a mysterious debt... a love that will change everything...") I was ready to just turn the page and think nothing else of it. Guiseppi Camuncoli's art for BONEREST is gorgeous, though. I loved his work on SWAMP THING way back when, and it looks like he's just gotten better since then.

The characters have a creepy yet striking look to them, and from the unnerving villain with blood dripping down his eyeless face to Adam Bone sitting with a waitress in a diner, everything seems perfectly composed. Image knew what they were doing by including these pages in Previews; this is exactly what was needed to grab the potential reader's attention, making sure you know that this has a lot of potential for greatness.

HELLSHOCK: THE DEFINITIVE EDITION TP by Jae Lee
MAY05 1533, p144, $19.99

Wow. I think this is officially a sign of the apocalypse. Jae Lee's original HELLSHOCK mini-series was a forgettable book, something that made his reboot of the concept and character in 1997 all the more startling. The new version of HELLSHOCK was a beautiful story about insanity, depression, confusion, and redemption, one lovingly drawn by Lee and gorgeously colored by Jose Villarrubia.

Originally solicited to run twelve issues, after the third issue the book suddenly vanished, and it was widely presumed it would never be finished. Now Lee's brought it back with 22 new pages of material to bring the story to a conclusion, and I can't wait to see its return.

If you've never seen Lee's second version of HELLSHOCK but are familiar with his work on books like THE INHUMANS, FANTASTIC FOUR 1234, and THE SENTRY, just know that as great as his art on all of those books was, HELLSHOCK might possibly be even better. Maybe it was the personal nature of the story, perhaps my memories are coloured by age, but I suspect that once you see this book you'll quickly agree.

BLACKLIGHT #2 by Jim Valentino, Scott Wherle, John Toledo, and Marc Deering MAY05 1549, p152, $2.99

When I first saw this, my immediate thought was, "What's Shadow Lass from LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES doing in the Image Comics section?" Blue skinned female wielding darkness powers? I expect those cease and desist letters from DC Comics will be arriving any day now.

MAGE VOL 2: THE HERO DEFINED HC by Matt Wagner
MAY05 1565, p160, $49.95

You know, I have the four-volume softcover edition of MAGE: THE HERO DEFINED. And to be honest, the story didn't grab me as strongly as the original MAGE: THE HERO DISCOVERED did. But I have to say, the hardcover edition of MAGE: THE HERO DISCOVERED was so gorgeous that I'm willing to put down $50 to get the hardcover. Now let's just hope the printer doesn't mess up this edition of the book and delay it almost an entire year like they did for the first hardcover...

LIGHTSPEED PRESS

FINDER VOL 7: THE RESCUERS TP by Carla Speed McNeil
MAY05 2856, p311, $16.95

I know it's been a little while, but that's no need to forget about the greatness of Carla Speed McNeil's FINDER. This latest volume is about the kidnapping of a small child from an upper-crust family, but what really got my attention was the parallels to our world on what is and is not excused in society, as well as the nods to famous kidnapping cases like the Lindbergh baby.

McNeil is one of those rare creators who really does get more accomplished and expert with each new comic, and I can't help but think that THE RESCUERS is going to remind everyone why there's so much love for FINDER.

MARVEL COMICS

DEFENDERS #1 (Of 5) by Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire
MAY05 1773, pM36, $2.99

In a company's batch of solicitations full of tie-ins to HOUSE OF M left and right (and quite frankly, 'House of M' is a phrase that I'm now as sick of seeing as 'Guest Appearance by Doctor Light'), it's nice to see something that has nothing whatsoever to do with that damn crossover.

Even better, it's a DEFENDERS mini-series by Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire, whose JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL and FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE were pretty darn funny. The Defenders were the ultimate "I have no idea why these people are even a team" supergroup, and somehow I suspect that Giffen and DeMatteis are having far too much fun with the mix of characters. They've handled far more obscure teammates in the past, so the potential of characters like Dr Strange, The Sub-Mariner and the Silver Surfer should be a walk in the park for them.

NITE OWL COMIX

MAX HAMM: FAIRY TALE DETECTIVE VOL 1 TP by Frank Cammuso
MAY05 2891, p318, $14.95

You know, mixing crime noir with Little Golden Books and fairy tales really should not work, but Frank Cammuso makes it look easy. A combination of traditional sequential art and old-fashioned ink-wash paintings, Cammuso manages to ape these two radically different styles and make them work together perfectly as Mother Goose's grimmest private detective finds out what's really going on behind the scenes of the fairy world. Guaranteed to make you laugh hysterically, this is one of the coolest and all around neatest books that you haven't been reading.

ONI PRESS

BANANA SUNDAYS #1 (Of 4) by Root Nibot and Colleen Coover
MAY05 2894, p322, $2.99

I'll admit it, the story description involving a girl moving to a new town while having to be the guardian for three talking monkeys sounds pretty familiar, but that's not why I'm interested in BANANA SUNDAYS. No, this is a book that's grabbing my attention strictly for the art. Colleen Coover's art for the adults-only SMALL FAVORS has always been too cute for words, a phrase I don't normally use when talking about girl-on-girl action. I must admit that it will be nice to have a new book by Coover that I can read on the Metro without magically attracting creepy people trying to read porn over my shoulder.

COURTNEY CRUMRIN TALES #1 by Ted Naifeh
MAY05 2896, p322, $5.95

You're just going to have to take my word on the fact that when I first read that we were getting a series of COURTNEY CRUMRIN one-shots, I actually danced around my living room singing a song that went something along the lines of, "More Courtney! More Courtney! Yay! Yay! Yay!" (Repeat ad nauseum.) Ted Naifeh's COURTNEY CRUMRIN has lead me to coin the phrase "sass-tastic", it's just so wickedly smart and great. Why aren't you reading this awesome series about the world's best smart-mouthed girl with one foot perpetually in the mystical side of reality? Huh? Huh? Huh?

PANINI PUBLISHING

DOCTOR WHO: THE TIDES OF TIME GN by Dave Gibbons, Steve Parkhouse, Steve Dillon, and others
MAY05 2904, p323, $24.95

Or, as the solicitation reads, "by Dave Gibbens, Steve Porkhouse, Steve Dillin & Others". Wow. Misspelling all three creators's names is bad enough, but when they're all creators whose names might be enough to get people to buy the book... well, that's a whole new level of ineptitude. Way to go, everyone at Panini. I am truly impressed.

TOKYOPOP

BIZENGHAST VOL 1 GN by M Alice LeGrow
MAY05 2947, p337, $9.99

I have to give a big thumbs up to TokyoPop for BIZENGHAST. One of the winners of the publisher's 'Rising Stars of Manga' competition, the series' solicitation notes that it'll be promoted in TokyoPop's new free manga magazine TAKUHAI, with a distribution level of over 200,000 copies. For a series that might need an extra little push (being by an unknown creator), that's a great way to go about it. I love the cover to boot, and while the story sounds a little standard (young girl moves to a creepy new town involving supernatural beings), the art samples are stylish and interesting enough that it's going on my pre-order list.

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

SURROGATES #1 (Of 5) by Rob Venditti and Brett Weldele
MAY05 3045, p358, $2.95

You know, I was a little hesitant when I first heard about this series... a futuristic mini-series involving cybernetics and virtual reality seems to not even remotely be the sort of thing that Top Shelf would publish. Then it hit me: if Top Shelf decided that Rob Venditti and Brett Weldele's THE SURROGATES was so good that they had to publish, then I really owed it a chance, because clearly this is a lot of fun. For them to switch so much out of the realm of their normal publishing niche, well, it certainly caught my eye.

THE KING GN by Rich Koslowski
MAY05 3049, p358, $19.95

Rich Koslowski's THREE FINGERS was easily my favourite of Koslowski's comics to date, a sharp fake documentary told in graphic novel style. After loving THREE FINGERS I'd promised myself that whatever he did next, I'd buy. That seems to be THE KING, a 200-page graphic novel about an Elvis impersonator that the public are beginning to suspect might in fact be the real Elvis. It's such a simple yet catchy premise that I actually find myself relieved. It sounds like something I'd be interested in even without my earlier promise.

Greg McElhatton writes reviews for iComics.com, and has also written for anthologies, magazines, web sites, and technical manuals.

This article is Ideological Freeware. The author grants permission for its reproduction and redistribution by private individuals on condition that the author and source of the article are clearly shown, no charge is made, and the whole article is reproduced intact, including this notice.