Tradewaiting – December 12th, 2018 Releases: Bright Futures, Colorful Histories, And Horror-Filled Presents

A lot of comics come out every week. It’s easy to get lost in the sea of #1s and dramatic new status quos as they crash. That’s why I’m here. Whether you said you’d revisit checking that series out when it was collected in trade or you simply never noticed the announcement of that awesome OGN, whether you’re just waiting for that hardcover to be published as a trade or have been longing for a collection of your favorite stories since childhood, Tradewaiting is here for you, with the complete Diamond list of graphic novels and collections as well as some recommendations to scoop up.

So, without further ado, here’s what’s coming to the bookshelves of your LCS this fine week of December 12th, 2018.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Curse of Brimstone vol. 1: Inferno

Last year DC Comic announced a bold new strategy, one that they felt would capitalize on the moment of success they were experiencing to invest in the future of the company and recapture what was great about the comics of yesterday. The line would eschew modern marketing gimmicks and use the events of Dark Knights: Metal to introduce brand new characters and concepts into the DCU again. They were all artist driven books, with writers working in, or at least close to, the Marvel Method and, in what was either a loving homage or an act of supreme and glorious pettiness, the line launched with a series of books all knowingly nicked from Marvel. Whether you were psyched to see DC’s take on the Hulk and Spider-Man or you could hardly believe the gall, it was an undeniable power move. They called it the New Age of Heroes.
It was an age that didn’t last long.
The New Age of Heroes line is already flagging, with most of the highly hyped series sinking below all but the least profitable of DC’s mainline books. But there is one among them that was, and remains, very different.
Curse of Brimstone was by far my favorite of the New Age of Heroes books. Hidden at the tail end, it takes readers to the forgotten places of the DCU. This is a world that will make you believe a man can fly, but flyover country is still flyover country. There are no monsters or supervillains out here, but there’s no hope either. And that’s where Joe Chamberlain is when he encounters the Salesman. He offers Joe a way out, a way to put his home on the map again and escape the life of strangling anonimity that he seems doomed to. What he provides is the curse of Brimstone.
A good old fashioned horror book with a villain for the age of Trump and Bernie, The Curse of Brimstone is fantastic because it manages to tell a real and straightforward story with an organic connection to the issues it raises. It’s not a polemic and, best of all, it neither asks you to laugh at the down on their luck nor to mourn for days gone by when a man could get by working with his hands and also use them if his wife talked back. The point is not that these are good people or bad people, the point is that these are people who no one cares about until they need something and the power, both retributive and self-destructive, that their anger holds.
The story draws heavily from Justin Jordan‘s own experience and frustration and that helps elevate it above some insincere, topical boo into something horrific and deep. It gives you hope in just the right ways and takes advantage of its rare ability as a DC comic to actually surprise you with its outcomes. The primary artist is Phillip Tan, who lives up to the New Age of Heroes promise and draws the hell out of this book. Unfortunately he also live up to the New Age of Heroes reality and a slew of fill in artists (including Eduardo Pansica, Inaki Miranda, and Denys Cowan) assist or replace him after the first arc. Despite this the book looks great throughout and the imagery that Tan establishes proves tremendously potent.
The Curse of Brimstone really does feel like an indie book in the DC Universe. This is absolutely something that Tan and Jordan could have crafted at Dark Horse or Boom!, it just so happens that DC got them to do it in their world. Even if the New Age of Heroes turns out to be a failure, this is a book that I would hate to see pulled down by its marketing, as it feels vibrant and distinct in, I think, the way that the entire line was supposed to. The first six issues are collected here, at DC’s standard $16.99. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you just got another opportunity.

Go Go Power Rangers vol. 2

Man, Boom! Studios had such an incredible launch with their acquisition of the Power Rangers brand. Those first few issues from Kyle Higgins and Hendry Presetya were(mor)phenomenal and really launched something big for the publisher. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is still going strong, having just completed Higgins’ thirty issue run, capped with an event worthy of DC or Marvel, and continued into bold new territory under Marguerite Bennett, but it has turned away from the grounded ‘teenagers with attitude’ side of the franchise of late. But if that has you down, don’t worry; Ryan Parrott has you covered!

While the ‘present day’ Rangers are off dealing with Lord Drakkon and the fallout of the Green Ranger, Boom!’s Go Go Power Rangers takes a look at the original five Rangers as high school students still adapting to being earth’s last defense against an evil space witch. It’s just a really good time and a delightfully different experience of the good old, Mighty Morphin days.
This volume sees Rita sending shape-shifting putties into Angel Grove to toy with the Rangers and destroy their social lives. It’s the sort of thing that sounds straight out of an original episode but really could only be done so well in this format.
Plus it’s gorgeous. Dan Mora is an incredible talent and he’s pitch perfect for this series. Who knew there was an artist who would be so uniquely suited to teen drama and giant dinosaur robots?
The second volume is out now, collecting issues #5-8. Admittedly that’s not a huge amount of comic for $16.99, but if you’re a Power Ranger fan or someone who ever wanted to be a Power Ranger fan and you haven’t checked out Go Go, I heartily recommend it.
All We Ever Wanted
Science-fiction can be pretty dark these days. So can fantasy… and superheroes… Man, the world can be pretty dark these days. Luckily there’s a comic aiming to change that, at least a little. If you’re tired of dystopia, check out All We Ever Wanted.
From Matt Miner and Eric Palicki, the editorial team behind This Nightmare Kills Fascists, All We Ever Wanted is another anthology with a specific and timely goal: to remember how amazing the future can be. The book features almost thirty stories, each depicting a brighter tomorrow. As is expected of the ever increasing slate of A Wave New World books, this one is packed full of heavyweight creators. The collection includes work from Eryk Donovan (Memetic), Paul Allor (TMNT, Clue), Alisa Kwitney (Mystik U), Tess Fowler (Rat Queens), Howard Mackie (Ghost Rider, Spider-Man), Nadia Shammas (CORPUS), and more.
The team on this project have proven adept at the unique challenge of the crowdfunded comic anthology and once again have found a subject that immediately grabs attention even in that crowded field. All one-hundred and sixty pages of hope for the future can be yours for $19.99.
*****
It’s another good week for trades and collections and both my knowledge and my column-space are nowhere near enough to pick out all the gems. If you want more or you’re not seeing the right book for you, here’s Diamond’s complete listing of collections and graphic novels for this week.

IMAGE COMICS

FEAR AGENT FINAL ED TP VOL 04 (MR) $19.99

ICE CREAM MAN TP VOL 02 STRANGE NEAPOLITAN (MR) $16.99

 

DARK HORSE COMICS

BLACKWOOD TP $17.99

BTVS SEASON 12 TP THE RECKONING $19.99

DANGANRONPA 2 VOL 01 ULTIMATE LUCK HOPE DESPAIR TP $12.99

DRAGON AGE HC THE CALLING DLX ED $29.99

FLUTTER COLLECTION TP $24.99

PREDATOR TP ESSENTIAL COMICS $24.99

 

IDW PUBLISHING

BLACK CROWN OMNIBUS TP VOL 01 $24.99

JUDGE DREDD UNDER SIEGE TP $15.99

LOAC ESSENTIALS HC VOL 12 BARON BEAN 1918 $29.99

 

DC COMICS

ANIMAL MAN BY GRANT MORRISON HC BOOK 01 30TH ANNIV DLX ED $34.99

AQUAMAN TP VOL 06 KINGSLAYER $14.99

CAVE CARSON HAS AN INTERSTELLAR EYE TP (MR) $16.99

CURSE OF BRIMSTONE TP VOL 01 INFERNO $16.99

FLASH TP VOL 08 FLASH WAR $16.99

HARLEY LOVES JOKER BY PAUL DINI HC $24.99

SANDMAN TP VOL 03 DREAM COUNTRY 30TH ANNIV ED (MR) $19.99

SCARLET TP BOOK 02 (MR) $14.99

SUPERMAN SHAZAM FIRST THUNDER DLX ED HC $29.99

WONDER WOMAN THE GOLDEN AGE TP VOL 02 $29.99

 

MARVEL COMICS

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TP WORLDWIDE VOL 09 $19.99

CABLE TP VOL 02 LAST HOPE $39.99

CLOAK AND DAGGER MPGN TP SHADES OF GREY $19.99

MARVEL KNIGHTS PUNISHER BY ENNIS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 1$34.99

MMW AMAZING SPIDER-MAN HC VOL 20 $75.00

MMW AMAZING SPIDER-MAN HC VOL 20 DM VAR 268 $75.00

PUNISHER EPIC COLLECTION TP CIRCLE OF BLOOD $39.99

SPIDER-MAN DEMOLITION DAYS DIGEST TP $9.99

STAR WARS TP VOL 09 HOPE DIES $19.99

X-MEN GAMBIT COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 02 $34.99

 

DYNAMITE

BOYS DEFINITIVE ED HC VOL 01 ROBERTSON SGN ED (MR) $75.00

BOYS DEFINITIVE ED HC VOL 02 ROBERTSON SGN ED (MR) $75.00

BOYS HC LTD ED VOL 03 GOOD FOR THE SOUL ROBERTSON SGN ED (MR) $29.99

BOYS HC LTD ED VOL 05 HEROGASM ROBERTSON SGN ED (MR) $29.99

BOYS HC LTD ED VOL 06 SELF-PRESERVATION SOCIETY ROBERTSON SG $29.99

 

BOOM! STUDIOS

GIANT DAYS EARLY REGISTRATION TP $14.99

GO GO POWER RANGERS TP VOL 02 $16.99

HEX VET WITCHES IN TRAINING ORIGINAL GN VOL 01 $8.99

I MOVED TO LOS ANGELES WORK ANIMATION ORIGINAL GN (MR) $9.99

SONS OF EL TOPO ORIGINAL GN HC VOL 01 CAIN $19.99

 

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

AGAIN GN VOL 06 (MR) $12.99

ALL WE EVER WANTED SC $19.99

BRITANNIA TP VOL 03 LOST EAGLES OF ROME $14.99

BUNGO STRAY DOGS GN VOL 09 $13.00

CITY GN VOL 04 $12.95

DEADWORLD ARCHIVES BOOK 04 (MR) $12.99

DOCTOR WHO ROAD TO 13TH DOCTOR TP$16.99

DOCTOR WHO TP PHANTOM PIPER $19.99

EL MESTIZO HC (MR) $19.99

ELASTICATOR COMPLETE EDITION TP $19.99

HAGANAI I DONT HAVE MANY FRIENDS GN VOL 16 (MR) $12.99

HILLBILLY TP VOL 03 $17.99

IMMORTAL VOL 02 (OF 8) (MR) $9.99

INFERNOCT TP $14.99

MAGI GN VOL 33 $9.99

MELOWY GN VOL 02 FASHION CLUB OF COLORS$12.99

MIKE HAMMER TP NIGHT I DIED (MR) $16.99

MONSTER MUSUME GN VOL 14 (RES) (MR) $12.99

MUSHOKU TENSEI JOBLESS REINCARNATION GN VOL 08 $12.99

MY MONSTER SECRET GN VOL 14 $12.99

NORAGAMI STRAY GOD GN VOL 19 (RES) $10.99

PHANTOM COMP DAILIES HC VOL 14 1956 -1957 $60.00

PHANTOM COMP SUNDAYS HC VOL 05 1953-1957 $65.00

POKEMON THE MOVIE I CHOOSE YOU GN $14.99

PRAGUE COUP HC $24.99

PRE CODE CLASSICS MISTER MYSTERY SLIPCASE ED VOL 02 $54.99

SPLATOON MANGA GN VOL 05 $9.99

TANK GIRL COLOR CLASSICS HC VOL 01 1988-1990 $24.99

TRISH TRASH ROLLERGIRL OF MARS HC VOL 03 $15.99

WALLY WOOD CHRISTMAS BOOK HC $9.95