by Josh Crawley

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Unlike last month’s flip through Previews, I appear to have had much more to talk about this month…

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Scary Godmother Comic Book Stories

This softcover collection of the black and white comics is a great companion to the hardcover collection featuring all of Jill Thompson’s gorgeous children’s books. If by chance you’ve already enjoyed those, I’d just like to take this moment to remind you that Thompson has also crafted three adorable Magic Trixie books!

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Static Shock #1

That Keron grant cover is pretty awesome, but it shouldn’t overshadow another fact: Scott McDaniel on interiors! Aw yeah! I can honestly say I’m pretty sure this is the returning title I’m most excited by this year! If, by some bizarre set of circumstances you’ve never heard of Static, I’ll direct you to the Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool collection available either here or here.

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Batgirl #21

Isn’t that Dustin Nguyen cover gorgeous? Understatement; I know. Thankfully, though, it also drew my attention to a guest appearance by the Grey Ghost! Of course, it looks like he appeared before in issue #15, which is amazing. Why? Because I read that issue and I didn’t remember that at all; oops. I’m going to take that as proof that I am too old to read single issues of comics and I should just switch to collections.

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Ame Comi Cheetah V.1 Stealth

I didn’t care much for the original color deco for this figure, but this stealth version really knocks it out of the park! Sadly, I still don’t care for the design of her nose.

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Ame Comi Zatanna V.1 Halloween Variant

As with Cheetah, I didn’t care for the original deco of the figure, and once again, I like the new version better. Added bonus: the green magic of the original has been replaced with an adorable mini bunny monster!

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Art of Amanda Conner hard cover

Two hundred color pages of smokin’-hot Amanda Conner artwork; the only thing more criminal than not buying this would be this book never being made available. It also reminds me I should really go read some Power Girl collections… or reread The Pro (which I can’t provide you a link to since I’m guessing that falls under our guidelines of adult material, and apparently our store account isn’t set up as an adult). She also drew a smokin’ Supergirl & Batgirl cover for the new Overstreet Price Guide.

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Artifacts #9 Eric Canete cover

Isn’t that army of Aphrodite IVs pretty awesome?! The correct answer is “Josh, it’s really awesome!” Issue #9 kicks off the final act of Artifacts, and I’m greatly looking forward to newly-signed exclusive artist Jeremy Haun and what he’ll do with these characters.

It was also pointed out to me (because I hadn’t flipped through Previews yet) by my Doughnuts & Top Cow co-host John Grigas that the Top Cow books no longer have their own subsection in the Image section. It doesn’t surprise me, after their move to work closer with Image Central. I think this is actually better all-around for the entire section. For more in-depth discussion of all things Top Cow in this issue of Previews, be on the lookout for a forthcoming Doughnuts & Top Cow episode.

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Terry Moore’s How to Draw #1: Women

Don’t get me wrong; I love women, but I don’t understand doing this as a miniseries in comic book format. If I had to guess, I would say Terry Moore is publishing material at a lower price point in an attempt to keep money flowing while he gets ready for his next series. Honestly, though, I can’t see as how something like this will actually move enough units (I know I don’t plan on ordering the single issues) to actually make that anymore worthwhile than just going direct to book format.

Oh, also: using Comic Sans? Really?! That makes me a little nauseous.

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Megamind Mega Collection soft cover

Hey, kids! I lettered a bunch of these comics*! As far as I can tell, the Megamind Volume 1 Brilliantly Brilliant soft cover is sized to match the movie prequel book Bad Blue Brilliant, while the Mega Collection collects both of them at Ape’s slightly-taller-than-standard-comic standard trim size. Anyways, while I have yet to see the movie, I know from working on these that they’re humorous, fun, light-hearted reads.

*- I promise you issue #2 has been lettered.

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Betty #192

Aw, doesn’t Betty look adorable?! (Yes.) In case you may have missed it, you still have a few weeks to order the first part of this story: Veronica #206.

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Boom! Blast Editions

Any one of these books is worth trying for a dollar, but did you notice that Irredeemable/Incorruptible (two critically-acclaimed Mark Waid titles) is a 48 page flip book?! While I can’t explain to you why we didn’t also offer these as a convenient set, I’ve provided you with a handy link to all five of them for ease of ordering! Also, all of these titles have numerous collections already available; no need to wait for the trade!

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DuckTales #1

Okay, maybe this series is tied with Static Shock for getting me excited to read titles that have been absent for too long. I’m also going to have to look into ordering the remaining in-print Gemstone collections – a Carl Barks collection and Scrooge’s Quest, written by Marv Wolfman – for the East Side store.

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Level Up! graphic novel

The cover of this book did exactly what it was supposed to: draw my eye directly to it and cause me to want to know more. Having read the full description, I’m pretty sure it isn’t something I’ll read, but it’s definitely on my radar.

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Lions, Tigers and Bears Volume 3 trade paperback

I’m pretty sure this volume has been long-awaited by many people. As the artist has changed from previous volumes (Mike Metcalf is now drawing), I’m sure some people are wondering how it’ll look. Thank me later for my wondrous abilities to use Google, as I can present to you a seven page sample (courtesy of the artist’s website)!

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Legendary Visions

Legendary Visions: The Art of Genzoman

Honestly, I think I get to the point where I keep pointing out these books in the hopes that people will finally cave-in and buy them… because they never really seem to sell when I stock them, even though they’re gorgeous!!! (Honestly, I may break down and order one of these anyways.) While you’re at it, take a look at the Ar tonelico: Visual Book, whose release date is wrong on our site, apparently; Previews says scheduled to ship in June. I’ll have someone look into that, dear reader.

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Magic the Gathering: Path of the Planeswalker

Magic the Gathering: Path of the Planeswalker Volume 2 graphic novel

I haven’t read volume 1 yet, but the artwork is gorgeous. I expect no less from the second volume.

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…And I’m not even sure if I’m done yet! However, I am done for the week. Good journey!

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Josh Crawley may or may not be the keyboardist for Everclear. He strongly suggests you not bet that he is.