What you've Been Waiting For

It is that time of the week again, one and all. The day I take a look at my Diamond invoice and we see what is what.

There weren't a lot of books in the 7+ weeks category, so I just focused on the ones that were pretty late, and one other just so I can complain about it.

Loners #6 (Marvel) is the last of a 6-part mini series that started out as a monthly comic and as the series went on the delays between issues started cropping up. When I am supreme dictator of the comic book universe I will make sure that no mini-series is solicited until the whole thing is ready to go to the printer. The prior issue of this one came out back on September 12.

Halo #2 (Marvel) is coming out this week. This mini-series has been all hype and no delivery. Again, when I rule the comic book world I will not allow this kind of lateness. There are only four issues of this series, and if it keeps up, we might finally see the last issue about a year after the first issue was scheduled to show up. Yep, that's right, even before it got started this comic book was late, and continues to be late. Especially irritating is that this is one of those comics they made and marketed to the "regular folks," the people who do not typically buy comic books. Halo, being a very popular video game, has a big audience and could therefore bring in a decent amount of new people to comic book stores to get the Halo comic. That is, if they could get it out when they say it will come out. Those of us who regularly read comics get irritated with lateness, but we've become used to it and tolerate it for the most part. The general public does not. The first issue of this Halo mini series came out back on August 22nd.

Godland #20 (image) also is supposed to appear in comic book stores tomorrow. The prior issue of that came out back on July 18th. Almost semi-annual!

Believe it or not, Ultimate Vision #5 FINALLY (Marvel) comes out tomorrow, finishing that mini series at long last. You should already know my opinions on these late mini-series, since I've expressed it twice already. The previous issue came out when summer was just starting - June 27th.

Looks like Marvel was the big offender this week!

Side note - do not, ever, believe the publisher's web site release dates. They are wrong most of the time. For example, DC says Justice League of America #15 is coming out tomorrow - but it is not. Marvel's web site says Ultimates 2 hard cover is coming out tomorrow, and that also is not right.

Now, looking at the mini-series starting and ending from Marvel and DC comics this week, there's not much. I can tell it is a holiday week. But don't be fooled - DC has plenty of mini-series right now, they just don't have any first or last issues this week.

One shots this week by the Big Two (no new minis this week)

• Iron Man Annual #1 - Marvel
• Countdown Ray Palmer Gotham By Gaslight - DC
• Thunderbolts Breaking Point - Marvel
• What if Annihilation - Marvel

Mini-series ending

• LONERS #6 (OF 6) - Marvel
• MARVEL ILLUSTRATED LAST OF THE MOHICANS #6 (OF 6) - Marvel
• MARVEL ILLUSTRATED TREASURE ISLAND #6 (OF 6) - Marvel
• ULTIMATE VISION #5 (OF 5) - Marvel

What I'm reading this week

BIRDS OF PREY #112
BOYS #12
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #8
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 23
COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #3 (OF 8)
MARVEL ILLUSTRATED TREASURE ISLAND #6 (OF 6)
MIDKNIGHT #1
SCREAM #1 ('cause I like Peter David)
SPIRIT #11
UMBRELLA ACADEMY APOCALYPSE SUITE #3 (OF 6)

I probably won't get to these for a week or so, especially with the holiday and then our big sale on Friday. Plus, I just started reading Christopher Knowles' Our Gods Wear Spandex yesterday, and I'd like to finish that.