The Gosh! Authority 07/01/09

Why, hello! Happy new year and all that. Thankfully I didn’t cark it over the holidays and am here to blog another day. The most exciting (I say exciting) thing to be brought to my attention today is something that won’t be news to you unless you’re as happily oblivious as Nat and me: a Spider-Man musical by Bono. Costing millions, it will take roughly 8000 years to break even according to some chap on the internet. What?

That aside, it’s a fairly small week to ease you gently into the new year – OR SO WE THOUGHT! It’s actually quite a big’un. Before I do the comics round-up hear ye this! Jeff Smith’s RASL hits the shelves today in its first oversized trade-paperback collection, Drift. This sci-fi series is already hugely popular even though it’s only up to issue #3, if you’ve missed it so far here’s your chance to catch up. Smith was interviewed by the PULSE in preparation for its release.

Another exciting and oddly oversized release this week is the highly anticipated Kramer’s Ergot Volume 7! A bit pricey perhaps at £95, but this hardcover’s big enough to set sail on. From an interview with Sammy Harkham, the man in charge of this epic anthology:
“You’ve seen that Little Nemo book?” he asks, hands spreading reflexively to encompass the famous, full-page scope of Winsor McKay’s early-20th-century newspaper strip. “Issue number seven is going to be like that. Big—big—16 by 21! Every artist gets three pages. That’s it. But with that assignment, an artist is going to make work that wouldn’t exist otherwise. I’m so excited.” And so he should be.

DC’s next big comics event Faces of Evil starts Thursday in Detective Comics #852 by Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen. Following the events of Heart of Hush, this first of two parts sees Catwoman trying to settle the score – will she become a face of evil again? This one concludes at the end of the month in Batman #685. Then there’s Faces of Evil: Grundy, a one-shot origin story by Scott Kolins (Brave and the Bold) and Geoff Johns (Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds) about the man who would become marsh monster Solomon Grundy. Here’s a checklist for you to peruse and stick in yer handbag.

There’s another woman scorned in Kull #3 (of 6) by Arvid Nelson (Rex Mundi), in which Kull faces the wrath of his ex-wifey. Preview! First preview of the year, in fact.

Then Mike Mignola gives you part two of his Hellboy: The Wild Hunt eight-part miniseries which sees Hellboy contend with all manner of terrifying beasties during his journey through England. But he’s probably having an easier time of it than Kull. As a special bonus feature, this issue also includes a story written by Mignola and illustrated by B.P.R.D. artist Guy Davis! Have a look.

Secret Invasion War of Kings is the next Annihilation-styled cosmic event by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning (both Nova), Paul Pelletier (Guardians of the Galaxy) and the best-named man in comics, Bong Dazo. The Inhumans are still reeling from the Skrulls invasion – so what happens next? See a bit of it here.

Speaking of Skrulls, the Punisher’s got his mitts on a high-powered Skrull rifle but who’s he aiming it at? Fear Agent team Rick Remender and Jerome Opena reunite for Punisher #1 Dark Reign and Comics Bulletin reckon it’s a solid start to a new series. Check that review for preview pages.

Fred Van Lente pops his head up in Marvel Zombies 3 #4 (of 4) which reaches its gory blood-soaked climax this week! Here’s a sneak peek of what’s in store. The Marvel Universe is mere seconds away from being totally and utterly &*$%ed. And if you want more zombies don’t forget to pick up Walking Dead #57 – Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s cult-hit now celebrating its 5th year.

There’s been arse-kicking in everything mentioned so far so how about something comparably soft and fluffy? Sandman Dream Hunters #3 (of 4) by Gaiman and P. Craig Russell sees the monk make the brown-pants journey to the Palace of Dreams to have a word with the Dream King himself. One more issue to go!

So that’s the round-up. But enough of that. If you’ve not had a poke through the Gosh! Sale you’re a fool, a damn fool. Don’t buy socks in the sales – buy comics! Any time there’s a gap we shove something else in there so there’s new stuff all the time. We’ve got Brian Talbot’s Naked Artist for a mere 4 quid, the Top Shelf all-ages favourite Owly for £4, and even deluxe Ultimate Spider-Man hardcovers at £10 a piece. You’re bound to find something you like.

And finally, Andrew here with a bit of a shame-faced apology! Last week I touted Final Crisis Secret Files as a bit of a must-have, written by Morrison & Tomasi with art by Quitely and others, revealing the inner secrets of Final Crisis. In doing so, I was using the solicitation information DC had given right up until the week of the comics’ release which promised just such a comic. Thinking it was an important issue with work by the ever-popular Morrison & Quitely, we put it aside for Final Crisis subscribers. Of course, those who picked the issue up will know that Quitely only drew one of the covers, Morrison did one page of text and Peter J Tomasi was not actually anywhere to be seen. Instead we had a Libra origin story written by Len Wein and drawn by Tony Shasteen. Fair play to them, it wasn’t a bad read, but it wasn’t what we were promised and it wasn’t what I promised you. I hate to think that a recommendation I have made on this blog has in any way misled you, so with that in mind:

We would like to offer any of our customers who purchased Final Crisis Secret Files from us last week the opportunity to return the issue to us for a full refund on the price of purchase (£2.65).

Just bring it back in and mention to whoever is on the till that you’d like to return it, either as a credit against your purchases or a full refund.

Okay, that’s enough from me. Say goodbye, Hayley!

Goodbye,
Hayley.