The Forty Dollar Pull List – New Comics May 2nd, 2012

DialH01

Originally Posted on cxPulp on May 7th, 2012. Click here to comment.

Happy belated Free Comic Book Day! As usual, it was a big weekend for comic fans – it was the one time of year Saturday is more important than Wednesday, and as FCBD usually is timed for a major comic movie release, we got the launch of The Avengers this weekend as well. My days of seeing midnight screenings are behind me, so I am waiting until next weekend to finally see it. Yeah, maybe that makes me old, but for some reason the appeal of standing in line and fighting for a seat to see a movie has waned. From what I hear, it will be worth the wait to see it in a little more comfort!

To kick off the month of May, we have three issues this week to cover on the $40 Pull List to cover – two titles from the DCnU “Second Wave:” Dial H #1 and Earth 2 #1, along with Daredevil #12.

Plus, I still have plenty of issues to give away if you want to try out one of these titles – as usual, read on to find out more!

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NEW ISSUES: MAY 2nd, 2012

Daredevil #12, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Written by Mark Waid, Art by Chris Samnee, Color by Javier Rodriguez

Matt Murdock has his first date with the new Assistant District Attorney Kirsten McDuffie. He gets Spider-Man to watch over them during their outing, assuming that they will be too tempting a target out in public. Matt spends the time talking about how he met Foggy in law school, and how he saved him from expulsion. The date goes well, but Black Spectre makes its return – delivering a warning to Matt.

Coming out of the Omega Effect, Waid gives us an issue to take a breath and refocus on Matt’s story. The law school story is pretty interesting by itself – background stories can add a lot to an ongoing story. I have no idea if this story is going to come up again in the future, but the professor Matt went up against could have some real motivation to go after him and turn to the dark side.

This title is back on an enjoyable track – not that the crossover wasn’t exciting, but I’d prefer this book to be a little more inwardly focused for a while. Having a story that isn’t dependent on something that happened in another book is just what the doctor ordered. I have no doubt that we will be getting a lot more of the new Black Spectre in two weeks. Meanwhile – another absolutely outstanding issue.

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Dial H #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Written by China Miéville, Art by Mateus Santolouco, Color by Tanya and Richard Horie

Darren has to help his very overweight friend Nelse up to his apartment – and spends a couple of minutes berating him for his poor health before leaving. Nelse feels guilty, and decides to chase after Darren to apologize, but finds him being beaten by a group of thugs. Nelse tries to help, but is swatted aside. He reaches for a payphone to call the police, but finds himself transformed into “Boy Chimney” – and he levels the thugs and takes his severely wounded friend to the hospital. He wakes on a rooftop the next morning, confused and lost. Nelse makes his way back to the alley after visiting Darren, and tries to dial a few numbers on the phone, and randomly hits on the right combination – “IFSO” – which also spells “HERO” on the dial. This time be becomes Captain Lachrymose – with the power of invoking extreme sorrow, and gains strength from it. He pays a visit to Darren’s boss and issues an ultimatum… but he may not be ready to play at that level.

Dial H for Hero is a title that I always enjoy every time it comes around – sadly it never seems to stick around for long. Hopefully this one fares a little better. It is off to a good start – this is a little darker and grimier than previous outings have been, but I can see how that will work to enhance the eventual power addiction that so many of the HERO-dialer owners have developed, as seen in the 2003-2004 H.E.R.O. series.

There is a big change to the dialer itself… previously it was a portable device, now it is a physical phone rooted to the alley in which Nelson found it. This could be an interesting shift. The allusion to Superman’s old changing room is kind of a neat homage, but the need to travel to a specific destination to use the dialer is a fundamental shift in the concept. I don’t think it is a bad thing. It could turn out either way, but it is an idea worth trying.

I enjoyed this issue, and am very curious to see where Miéville plans to take this. The last series was a fantastic read – so Miéville has some big shoes to fill. I’m more than willing to give him a chance.

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Earth 2 #1, $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Written by James Robinson, Pencils by Nicola Scott, Color by Alex Sinclair, Inks by Trevor Scott.

Meanwhile, on Earth 2, Steppenwolf and his army of parademons start the Apokolips War by invading Earth. After a long stalemate, Batman develops a plan to end the war, and Wonder Woman and Superman buy him the time he needs to implement it. The battle is fierce – the gods are dying, Superman falls, Wonder Woman is killed trying to save him, and the parademons bear down on the humans carrying out their back-up strategy. Batman makes it into one of their towers and plants the virus, but it self destructs, taking Batman with it. The plan is a success – but not without casualties. Robin and Supergirl are drawn into the explosion and transported elsewhere (see Worlds’ Finest), and the rest of the heroes are dead. But one god still lives, and Earth still needs heroes.

It’s quite a first issue when Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are all killed in the first half of the book! Reading through this, I kind of think this issue would have been better suited as a special one-off issue that leads into both Worlds’ Finest and Earth 2. Those picking up Worlds’ Finest are probably reading this one as well, so I suppose it works well enough. Still – you won’t often hear me arguing for an event, but this could easily have been an awesome 4 issue event series that lead to the two new titles. This would help give Supergirl and Robin a bit more of a background before sending them on their way in Worlds’ Finest, and make the losses from this story all the more impactful as it spun into Earth 2. I think this was a missed opportunity.

The issue was explosive, but it is tough to judge how the series will pan out in the long run. So far, Alan Scott and Jay Garrick are the only characters that have been introduced. Next issue will feel almost like the first issue, since outside the trigger event that separates this universe from the current mainstream DCU, we didn’t see a lot in this issue. Will have to wait until next month to see if this title is going to be appealing in the long run.

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RELEASED SO FAR

Daredevil #12, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Dial H #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME
Earth 2 #1, $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/02/2012 ON TIME

STILL TO COME

Batgirl #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 05/09/2012
Reed Gunther #10, $2.99, Image Comics, Due out 04/18/2012 DELAYED – Due Out 05/09/2012
Batman #9, $3.99, DC Comics. Due out 05/09/2012
Blue Beetle #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012
Nightwing #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012
John Carter: Gods of Mars #3 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due out 05/16/2012
The Sixth Gun #22, $3.99, Oni Press. Due Out 05/16/2012
Daredevil #13, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 05/16/2012

TRADE BANK - $10.00
Daytripper TP, $19.99, DC Comics. Due Out 02/01/2012

$.23 (Bank from April) + $40.00 (May Budget) + $3.22 (Reed Gunther #10 Delayed) = $43.45
$43.45 – $35.89 (May Issues) – $2.78 (tax) – $4.00 (Trade Bank Deposit) = $0.78 Banked for June

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FREE COMICS

I still have several books to give away that have been covered on the list. If you are interested: drop me a line by following this link! Passkey is “Free!”

We have three more issues on tap for next week, so hurry back!

Support cxPulp and order Daytripper on Amazon.com!

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