Why Bother?

Believe it or not, DC Comics Wildstorm imprint is actually going to publish and sell Planetary #27 - the final issue of the series. This issue was at LEAST 3 years in the making. Yes, issue #26 will have come out a good 3 years ago by the time the October 7 sale date for issue #27 comes around. I don't have an exact date - we've upgraded our computer database in that time and I don't have that one in the system anymore.

This kind of lateness/delay is beyond the point of being disgusting. It's entered the realm of Why Bother? Does anyone SERIOUSLY care anymore? Do you even remember what happened in the last issue? Will this final issue, should you choose to spend the $4 to buy it, live up to a 3 year wait, or will it disappoint?

It's a decent series, sure. But not worth what they've put readers through. This series has always been plagued with slow releasing issues. It never appeared that the "talent" working on the title cared enough to bother to get the job done.

At Neptune, if you want this issue you'll have to special order it. We won't rack it. We have no idea who wants it, people have changed their pull lists, moved from the area, moved to the area, etc. so we can't even speculate on the numbers. So please let us know if you want it, otherwise we won't have a copy for you - your wait will continue.

You Did NOT Miss Wolverine #72

For all of you Old Man Logan fans who think your comic book retailer doesn't know what he or she is doing because you never got the last issue of the story, blame Marvel, not the retailer.

Yes, that's right. You DID NOT miss issue #72 of Wolverine. I do understand that you recently took home issue #73 and were completely confused. Again - blame Marvel. They needed to move onto the next story line and unfortunately they've (as usual) been pretty easy on the deadlines for the creators of the Old Man Logan story. It's coming out this week (Thursday if you're a USA resident, Wednesday if you're not).

I know you are shaking your head, barely believing me. It's been since those bad days we refer to as the 90's when publishers felt the need to publish issues of their comic books out of order. But I swear it's true! Here's Marvel's official solicitation - with the date of May 28th on it, and the solicitation for issue #73, with May 13th as the release date. Marvel isn't even hiding the fact that THEY are the ones to blame. They let the Old Man Logan story fall well behind deadlines and then had to rush Wolverine #73 - that must have a story tying into other Marvel events. It's crazy! It's annoying! It's Marvel.

You'll get the last issue of the Old Man Logan storyline, not to worry. Just don't blame your local comic book retailer for the out-of-sync issues.

This Week's New Stuff

Here's Neptune's new comic book list for this week:

ANITA BLAKE VH LC CROMANCER 1 (OF 5)
ARMY OF DARKNESS FROM THE ASHES 19
BATMAN BATTLE FOR THE COWL 2 (OF 3)
BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 28
BOOSTER GOLD 19
BPRD BLACK GODDESS 4 (OF 5)
CAPTAIN ACTION 3
CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 12
DAREDEVIL NOIR 1 (OF 4)
DARK REIGN HAWKEYE 1 (OF 5)
DARK TOWER GUIDE TO GILEAD 1-SHOT
DEAD IRONS 3
DEADPOOL SUICIDE KINGS 1 (OF 5)
EXILES 1
GEN 13 29
GREEN LANTERN 39
GRIMM FAIRY TALES 37
HOUSE OF MYSTERY 12
IGNITION CITY 1 (OF 5)
INFITINE HORIZON 4 (OF 6)
JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST 149
LOCKE AND KEY HEAD GAMES 4
MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN 50
MARVEL APES AMAZING SPIDER-MONKEY 1
MARVEL ILLUSTRATED ODYSSEY 8 (OF 8)
MARVEL ZOMBIES 4 1 (OF 4)
NORTHLANDERS 16
PUNISHER MAX 69
SALEMS DAUGHTER 0
SCOOBY DOO 134
SECRET SIX 8
SHE-HULK, ALL NEW SAVAGE 1 (OF 4)
SOLOMON GRUNDY 2 (OF 7)
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 199
SOULFIRE NEW WORLD ORDER BEGINNINGS 1-SHOT
SOULFIRE SHADOW MAGIC 5 (OF 5)
SPIRIT 27
STAR TREK MISSIONS END 2
SUPERGIRL COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE 8TH GRADE 5
SUPERMAN WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON 2 (OF 12)
SWORD 16
TERMINATOR REVOLUTION 4 (OF 5)
TERMINATOR SALVATION MOVIE PREQ 4 (OF 4)
TERRY MOORES ECHO 11
TIMESTORM 2009 2099 1 (OF 4)
TITANS 12
TRANSFORMERS REVENGE FALLEN MOVIE PREQ DEFIANCE 4
TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT DRIFT 1-SHOT
TRINITY 45
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS HULK 4 (OF 6)
WAR OF KINGS ASCENSION 1 (OF 4)
WARLORD 1
WOLVERINE WEAPON X 1
WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ 5 (OF 8)
YOUNG LIARS 14

At Neptune we're also restocking on a bunch of graphic novels-gotta be ready for Free Comic Book Day with shelves full of great graphic novels. Plus we've seen an uptick in graphic novel sales since the move, so those have to be restocked too.

And if you are a Star Trek fan we're getting in some communicators and phasers. Those are must-haves for any good Treckie. You can take yours to the movie!

I'm excited to get my Ame Comi Harley Quinn PVC figure. I have Wonder Woman at home too. Those are my two favorite DC gals and two of the best looking Ame Comi's too - lucky for me.

And we only ordered one Zombie Outbreak Survival Kit - so if you want it you'd better come in Wednesday - I doubt it will be on our rack for long.

Wondering what issues are late, late, late this week? Well wonder no longer. DC's Spirit #27 just makes the list, with the last issue coming out 2/10/09--two months ago. But the big offender and the only other comic to make this week's list is Infinite Horizon #3, courtesy of Image comics. The last issue of this came out almost a YEAR ago, on 4/16/08. That's WAY too long! Who even knows where their copy of issue #2 is anymore? And it's too bad because it was a decent story, from what I remember.

This Week's New Stuff

Comics hitting the racks here at Neptune tomorrow are:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 589
ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST 197
AVENGERS INITIATIVE 1
BATMAN BATTLE FOR THE COWL COMMISSIONER GORDON 1
BATMAN BRAVE & THE BOLD 3
BATMAN GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT 11 (OF 12)
BATTELSTAR GALACTICA CYLON WAR 3 (OF 4)
CAPED 1 (OF 4)
CAPTAIN AMERICA 48
CONAN THE CIMMERIAN 9
CROSSED 4 (OF 9)
DAREDEVIL 117
DARK REIGN ELEKTRA 1-SHOT
DARKNESS 76
DEATH DEFYING DEVIL 4
ELEPHANTMEN 17
FANTASTIC FOUR 565
FUTURAMA COMICS 42
GARTH ENNIS BATTLEFIEDS DEAR BILLY 3
GEARS OF WAR 5
GI JOE ORIGINS 2
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY 12
IMMORTAL IRON FIST 24
INCREDIBLE HERCULES 127
INCREDIBLES FAMILY MATTERS 1 (OF 4)
INDIANA JONES & TOMB OF THE GODS 4 (OF 4)
JACK OF FABLES 32
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 31
MADAM XANADU 9
MERCY SPARX 3
MIGHTY AVENGERS 23
MS MARVEL 37
MUPPET SHOW 1 (OF 4)
NEW AVENGERS 51
NOVA 23
ORACLE 1 (OF 3)
PROOF 18
RESISTANCE 4 (OF 6)
RUNAWAYS 3 8
SKAAR SON OF HULK 9
SONIC UNIVERSE 2
SPAWN 190
SQUADRON SUPREME 2 9
STAR TREK LAST GENERATION 5
STAR TREK MISSIONS END 1
STAR WARS LEGACY 34
SUPERMAN 686
TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE 55
TERMINATOR SALVATION MOVIE PREQ 3 (OF 4)
THUNDERBOLTS 130
TOP TEN SPECIAL 1
TRANSFORMERS ALL HAIL MEGATRON 9
TRANSFORMERS REVENGE FALLEN MOVIE PREQ DEFIANCE 4
TRINITY 43
UMBRELLA ACADEMY DALLAS 5 (OF 6)
UNKNOWN SOLDIER 6
WAR MACHINE 4
WAR OF KINGS DARKHAWK 2
WAR THAT TIME FORGOT 11 (OF 12)
WILDCATS 9
WOLVERINE FIRST CLASS 13
WONDER WOMAN 30
X-FORCE CABLE MESSIAH WAR 1-SHOT
X-INFERNUS 3 (OF 4)
X-MEN KINGBREAKER 4 (OF 4)
X-MEN SWORD OF BRADDOCKS 1-SHOT
X-MEN TIMES AND LIFE OF LUCAS BISHOP 2 (OF 3)

A new Wizard and a new Overstreet price guide also come out tomorrow. Another great Tick collection will also be out tomorrow, which is always fun and sells quickly.

The late books have gotten much better this week. Only a couple late arrivals, and they're not WAY late. Indiana Jones & Tomb of the Gods has taken forever to come out. The final issue, #4 comes out today, and the issue before it arrived Christmas Eve 2008. Mercy Sparx #2 came out on January 7, with the current issue coming out tomorrow. Both are indie books, which isn't an excuse for lateness, but is sometimes an explanation.

What's New This Week

This week's new comics are:
AIR 7
AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL 30
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 588
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN EXTRA 1
ANGEL AFTER THE FALL 19
AZRAEL DEATHS DARK KNIGHT 1 (of 3)
BAD DOG 2
BLACK LIGHTING YEAR ONE 6 (OF 6)
BOMB QUEEN V 6 (OF 6)
DARK AVENGERS 3
DEADPOOL GAMES OF DEATH 1-SHOT
END LEAGUE 7
ENDERS GAME BATTLE SCHOOL 4 (OF 5
ETERNALS 9
EUREKA 3 (OF 4)
FATHOM 6
GI JOE COBRA 1
GROOM LAKE 1
HELLBLAZER 253
IMAGINARIES VOL 2 2 (OF 6)
INVINCIBLE 60
KULL 5 (OF 6)
LILLIM 1 (OF 5)
MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS 34
MOON KNIGHT 28
NIGHT O/T LIVING DEAD NEW YORK 1-SHOT
OUTSIDERS 16
PUNISHER 3
RAWBONE 1
RED SONJA 42
SIMPSONS COMICS 152
SOULFIRE 8
SPIDER-MAN NOIR 4 (OF 4)
STAR TREK COUNTDOWN 3
STAR TREK CREW 1
STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC 39
STORMWATCH PHD 20
SUPER FRIENDS 13
SUPERGIRL 39
TINY TITANS 14
TRANSFORMERS REVENGE FALLEN MOVIE PREQ DEFIANCE 3
TRINITY 42
ULTIMATE X-MEN 100
ULTIMATUM 3 (OF 5)
UNCANNY X-MEN 507
VIGILANTE 4
VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS 5 & 6
WITCHBLADE 125
WOLVERINE 71
WOLVERINE ORIGINS 34
WORLD OF WARCRAFT 17
X-FACTOR 41
X-FILES 5 (OF 6)
X-FORCE 13
X-MEN 222
YOUNG X-MEN 12
ZOMBIES THAT ATE THE WORLD 2
ZORRO 11

14 titles on the list are 1-shots or part of a mini series. That seems like a lot. Is this the new way for comics? Just tell stories in mini-series. Get people to buy into a short series instead of trying to talk them into a long term commitment? Have more #1's so that more people check out your tale?

And how about the really late titles. The latest being Aspen Comic's Soulfire #8. I think 7 came out in 2006 sometime. And we can't blame Michael Turner--we lost him about 6 months ago now. And when did Marvel's Ultimate titles start running so long between issues? That brand used to be the one we could count on to be on-time (with the exception of Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk, of course). Wolverine #71 had it's previous issue arrive 1/2/09. Vincent Price Presents has issues #5 & 6 BOTH shipping this week - while the last issue we saw was back on 12/17/08. Ultimatium's issue before this one came out back on Christmas Eve, 12/24/08, and Ultimate X-Men's prior issue came out back when Wolverine came out, 1/2/09. Imaginaries Vol 2 is a great kid's comic, if only it came out more regularly - issue #1 came out 12/17/08; Greatest American Hero #2 is no better, with it's first issue coming out that same day. End League has seen sales continue to decline, and no wonder, it almost never comes out. The previous issue of End League hit comic racks 11/26/08.

What are you reading this week?

What You've Been Waiting For

Here we are once again, taking a look at the Diamond invoice to see what's coming in tomorrow.

These comics are coming out tomorrow and have gone over 2 months between issues. The date is when the previous issue arrived in comic book stores. Some are late, some just take longer and so they have larger gaps between issues. Nothing too late this week, and 3 months for an issue of Astounding Wolf-Man isn't great but it is better than some of the prior issue gaps.

ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #5, 12/12/07 (Image Publishing)
HEDGE KNIGHT 2 SWORN SWORD #5 (OF 6) 1/4/08 (Marvel)
THUNDERBOLTS #119 1/4/08 (Marvel)

Wondering what to buy this week? Well at Neptune our Featured Comic for this week is Last Defenders #1 from Marvel. When you buy the featured comic this week you save 20% on the cover price. The comic book is pictured here - try it out & save!

I was almost caught up with my comics reading until we were bombarded with books last week, so now I'm behind again. But here's what I want to pick up from this week's new comics:

ABE SAPIEN THE DROWNING #2 (OF 5)

AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL #18

ANNIHILATION CONQUEST #5 (OF 6)

ATOMIC ROBO #6 (OF 6)

AVENGERS FAIRY TALES #1 (OF 4)

CEMETERY BLUES #2

DMZ #29

DOCTOR WHO #2

GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #6

LONE RANGER AND TONTO #1

NEW EXILES #3

SERENITY BETTER DAYS #1 (OF 3)

TINY TITANS #2

WONDER WOMAN #18

WORMWOOD PAPERBACK VOL 02

X-FACTOR #29

This list looks long too - oh well, there are worse things I could spend my time on. Enjoy your new comics!

What You've Been Waiting For

Yes, it's late, but I'm so busy now with non-comic book stuff that I just didn't get around to it until today. It's not months late - just a day.

Anyway, these comics came out today and had their previous issues make their way to US Direct Market (comic book) stores 2 or more months ago. Some are late, others ship every couple of months by design, but either way, you have been waiting.

Thor #6 (Marvel) came out today. The previous issue was released on December 28th - just abouat 2 months ago. This is one of those comics that I do believe was scheduled to ship every other month.

Neozoic #3 (Red5) also should have arrived at your local comic book store today. The first issue of this comic came out back on December 19th - just over 2 months ago.

Elephantmen (Image) has another mini-series story going right now, and the second issue of that came out today. The first issue came out back on December 12th. Another comic book with the same dates is MISERICORDIA #2.

There are two comics, both published by DC, that came out today and had the issues prior come out back on November 29, 2007. That puts the issue gap at nearly 3 months. Those comics are Really Late (All Star) Batman & Robin #9 and Deathblow #9. Look at that - they even are the same issue number. A series of three coincidences - is that an omen?

Fans of the first Mouse Guard (Image) series are accustomed to delays between issues. This latest series, Winter 1152 is no different. Issue #3 of the series came out today. We saw issue #2 back on October 31st. That's just shy of 4 months between those two issues.

And the latest of the late comic books for this week's new releases is Nexus #100. We saw the prior issue back on July 11th. The one good thing about this is that RudeDude Productions informed the retailers on their mailing list as well as the comic book news reporters that this issue would be late. While I hate to see these kinds of gaps between issues I at least knew it was coming and could explain to those that bought the prior issue what was going on.

What I'm reading this week:

CLOCKWORK GIRL #3 (OF 4)
CRIMINAL 2 #1
DAN DARE #4 (OF 7)
DOCTOR WHO #1
ELEPHANTMEN WAR TOYS #2 (OF 3)
FABLES #70
FALLEN ANGEL IDW #24
HOUSE OF M AVENGERS #5 (OF 5)
JACK OF FABLES #20
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #13
KICK ASS #1
MISERICORDIA #2 (OF 11)
MOUSE GUARD WINTER 1152 #3 (OF 6)
NEOZOIC #3
PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #1 Of(6)
RASL #1
ROGUE ANGEL TELLER OF TALES #1 (pictured)
YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #2 (OF 6)

Oh MAN that's a lotta comics! It'll take me a while to get to all these.

What You've Been Waiting For

It's time to look at the new comic book invoice for this week and see what's what. There are a few books that are around the 2 month time frame. Surprisingly not any that are much over that for this week.

All of these comics are coming out this week and had their prior issue come out on December 12th: Marvel Adventures Hulk #7; Spider-Man Family #7; Walking Dead #46 (Image); Warhammer 40k Blood & Thunder #3 (of 4). The first two are Marvel, then we've got an Image title and another independent publisher.

It's been snowing most of the day today, but it's supposed to end soon (thankfully!!). The weatherman said that tomorrow will be partly sunny - sunny, but cold. Then on Thursday there's a chance the area will get another dumping of snow. You know what that means? It means if you buy comics from Neptune you need to come in on Wedensday! Get your comics on the one nice day of the week, before it gets crapy again. Maybe pick up something new or a trade too - so you have something extra to read if the snow gets really bad on Thursday and you're stuck at home. We work hard to get those comics on the racks before we open, and it's even harder when the weather doesn't cooperate, so we hope that you'll work hard to find a way to come in and buy them.

Now, what am I reading this week...

ATOMIC ROBO #5 (OF 6)
BPRD 1946 #2 (OF 5)
DMZ #28 (pictured)
DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS #3
GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #5
NEW EXILES #2
TINY TITANS #1
ULTIMATE IRON MAN II #3 (OF 4)
WONDER WOMAN #17
X-FACTOR #28
X-FORCE #1 (pictured)
Might check out GUTWRENCHER #1 (OF 3) if I have the time.

What you've Been Waiting For

I almost can't believe that it's been a week since my last WYBWF post. Time really flew this past week.

And, here's something else I almost can't believe - NOTHING made my cut this week for comics with 2+ months between issues. How's that for shocking?!?

So, let's move right along in our look at Neptune's weekly Diamond invoice to see what the status is of mini-series for DC and Marvel comics.

Big Two's mini-series starting & one-shots for this week
NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL - Marvel
SPIDER-MAN WITH GREAT POWER #1 (OF 5) - Marvel
WHAT IF SPIDER-MAN VS WOLVERINE - Marvel

Big Two's mini-series ending this week
BLACK ADAM THE DARK AGE #6 (OF 6) - DC
X-MEN EMPEROR VULCAN #5 (OF 5) - Marvel

It looks like this week we just about stay even - two one-shots and a new mini, but two minis end as well.


What I'm Reading:
BLACK ADAM THE DARK AGE #6 (OF 6)
BLACK SUMMER #5 (OF 7)
CAPTAIN AMERICA #34 - new Cap issue, pictured
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #5 (OF 8)
HOUSE OF M AVENGERS #4 (OF 5)
JACK OF FABLES #19
PROOF #4
SPIRIT #13
VIOLET ROSE #1 - picutred
Y THE LAST MAN #60 - final issue. I'm dying to find out how they end this, especially after seeing the cover image.

What you've Been Waiting For

Here we are, once again, looking at the Diamond invoice. Time to see what's what for incoming comics this week.

What you've been waiting for - these are comics that have gone 2+ months between issues. Sometimes they're late. Sometimes they just are scheduled with larger gaps between issues. But either way, you've been waiting. This week has a much longer list than we've seen in the past several weeks, and there were a handful that missed my cutoff by just one week.

Testament #22 (DC/Vertigo) (pictured) is coming out this week. The prior issue of that came out back on November 21st, just about 2 months ago. I believe that this is also the last issue for this comic.

Mice Templar #3 (Image) and Spawn Godslayer #6 (Image) are both scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Both of these comics had their last issues for sale on November 14th. Spawn Godslayer was ordered in August, so we should have seen that one back in October - looks like the whole series is running late. No surprise really, the regular Spawn series is also chronically late.

Speaking of chronically late, we're expecting Astonishing X-Men #24 (Marvel) tomorrow, at long last. This will be the end of the story arc, except for some wrap-up issue that I think they're calling an Annual. Then the new creative team will step to the plate. Anyway, the last issue of Astonishing X-Men came out back on November 11th. It was ordered in October, and according to Marvel's October previews, it was scheduled to arrive 12/5/07 - looks late to me.

For the three of you that read the comic, you'll be glad to know that Kiss 4K #5 (Platinum Studios) should be available at your local comic book store tomorrow. The previous issue of that comic came out back on Halloween last year. It was ordered in September - Late? you do the math.

Clockwork Girl (Arcana Studios) is a fun, cute comic book created by a couple of guys who used to work for Disney. Issue #2 (pictured) finally comes out tomorrow, and the previous issue came out back on October 10th. Sadly, we ordered it back in September, so we should have seen this issue in November.

I don't know how many people know this, but Steve Geppi, owner of Diamond, also owns the comic publisher/imprint called Gemstone. Gemstone publishes Disney comics. Apparently they had run into some licensing problems, and the comics were on hold. The licensing issue did get resolved, and the comics are once again coming out. Both Uncle Scrooge #371 and Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #686 are coming in tomorrow, and both saw their last issues hit the racks back on September 26th. They are late, but they had a decent excuse. Fans will be glad to see these comics again - unfortunately the annual Christmas Special didn't arrive in time for Christmas this year.

Starship Troopers #5 (Markosia) is arriving tomorrow, and this issue starts a new story arc. That's good, because issue #4 came out way back on August 29th. At least readers won't have to remember exactly what happened in the last issue to get something out of the new issue.

Now, technically this isn't late or anything, but I just wanted to point it out. Fans of Young Avengers will be happy to know that they are finally getting a new mini-series featuring their favorite characters. Young Avengers Presents #1 (Marvel) comes out tomorrow (and is Neptune's featured comic for the week). Wondering when the last time was that we've been lucky enough to get a Young Avengers comic? It was back on June 28th, 2006.


Now let's take a look at the status of the mini-series mess that DC & Marvel have cooked up.

Big Two one-shots and mini-series starting this week
WORLD WAR HULK AFTERSMASH DAMAGE CONTROL #1 (OF 3) - Marvel (pictured)
YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #1 (OF 6) - Marvel

Big Two mini-series ending this week
FAKER #6 (OF 6) - DC/Vertigo - DC
X-MEN FIRST CLASS VOL 2 #8 (OF 8) - DC

Looks like we're even up, two starting & two ending. I didn't even know X-Men First Class was a mini-series until they added the "of 8" on the invoice this week. There are still plenty of mini-series going on, so we should see more coming to an end as we head into the slow season for comics - February.


What I'm Reading:
AFTERBURN #1
ASTONISHING X-MEN #24
CLOCKWORK GIRL #2 (OF 4)
COMICS NOW #1 (it's a magazine about comics, not a comic, but I'm putting it on here anyway. For people looking for alternatives to Wizard, check it out.)
CRIME BIBLE THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #4 (OF 5)
DAN DARE #3 (OF 7)
MICE TEMPLAR #3 - still not sure on this one, #2 was better than #1, so this might be the deciding issue
NEW BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SEASON ZERO #5 (pictured)
TEEN TITANS #55
ULTIMATE IRON MAN II #2 (OF 4)
WONDER WOMAN #16
YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #1 (OF 6)

What you've Been Waiting For

Here we are, once again, on a Tuesday night, looking at what's on the invoice for tomorrow's shipment. Are you ready? I hope so!

First, let's look at what you've been waiting for - the namesake of this particular weekly post. These comics have gone 2+ months between issues. Some are late, but others just come out less frequently on purpose. Let's see what we've got for this week.

Steve Niles Strange Cases #3 (Image) is coming out tomorrow, and the prior issue came out back on November 7th. It was ordered in October, so there is a chance that this is late.

Now we're getting to the big gaps - Kabuki Reflections #9 (Marvel) is arriving tomorrow, and the last issue of that came out about 7 months ago - back on June 13th. We ordered this in September (probably a re-solicit too) so I am quite sure it's late. I don't know why Marvel puts this into the Previews without having a good 8-12 issues in the can!

And finally, the latest of the late for this week is Fell #9 (Image)-pictured. Yes, believe it or not, the series didn't end at issue #8. Only two issues of this comic book came out in 2007 - and the last one, #8, came out WAY back on April 11th. We ordered issue #9 in May - this is one of those comics that Diamond should have canceled and forced them to resolicit. If there is enough time to get pregnant and give birth to that baby between the time the issue is solicited and the time it arrives - that's too long. Creating a comic should be faster than creating a human being!


Ok, enough of that. Now lets look at what's going on in the world of Marvel & DC mini-series. There don't seem to be any mini-series ending this week. Thankfully only one is starting!

Big Two Mini-series starting this week

• MARVEL ILLUSTRATED PICTURE DORIAN GRAY #1 (OF 6)-pictured at top
  

What I'm reading this week:
AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL #16 - if you want to read a great comic where Spider-Man & MJ are still married, pick up this comic
ANNIHILATION CONQUEST #3 (OF 6)
ATOMIC ROBO #4 (OF 6)
BIRDS OF PREY #114
BOOSTER GOLD #6
CEMETERY BLUES #1 - our featured comic this week.
DMZ #27
FALLEN ANGEL IDW #23
FELL #9 - If I didn't enjoy this so much, I'd not read it because of the excessive lateness
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #12
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #17
NEW EXILES #1 - a good starting point if you've never read Exiles before
STRANDED #1 (Pictured)
SWORD #4
UMBRELLA ACADEMY APOCALYPSE SUITE #5 (OF 6)

What you've Been Waiting For

Ah yes, back to regularly scheduled programming, where I post this on Tuesday and new comics arrive on Wednesday. The universe is once again balanced.

For those of you who are new - in this post I examine my Diamond invoice and point out: comics that have gone 2+ months between issues; the incoming and outgoing DC & Marve mini-series; and what books I hope to read this week.

The waits on most of these late comics this week are REALLY long. Not much debate on weather or not they're late here.

The least worst offender this week is Grimm Fairy Tales Return to Wonderland #5 (Zenoscope). This publisher goes in streaks with their titles, from having them ship out every week to going several months without anything. They need to work on that because retailers and readers tend to get frustrated and stop buying product when these things happen. I'd hate to see them go under in 2008! The #4 issue of GFT Return to Wonderland came out on November 7th - it was ordered in August.

Sheena #4 (Devil's Due) is coming out tomorrow as well. I actually thought it was a 3-issue series because the other three came out fairly on-time and then there wasn't anything more for a few months. But apparently it's actually a 5-issue series. Issue #3 came out back on September 19th, and we ordered the incoming issue back in July.

Marvel, Marvel, Marvel. How can you expect us to trust you when you have break-downs like this one! Tomorrow we're expecting Onslaught Reborn #5 to arrive. It is the final issue in the mini-series. The last time we saw an issue was this summer, July 25th to be exact. We ordered this issue a YEAR AGO - in the January 07 Previews. We dropped the order numbers on this substantially when it finally showed up on the final order cut-off because 1. If Marvel doesn't want to deliver them in a timely fashion I don't need to buy them 2. we doubt anyone will even care about this anymore.

And the final comic for this week that you've been waiting for is Goon #20 -pictured (Dark Horse). The last time we saw this was just a week before we saw Onslaught - July 18th. This issue was ordered in July. Now when we were at the Retailer Summit in Baltimore Eric Powell promised that we'd be seeing more of Goon in 2008, and much more regularly, so I hope he's been getting a bunch of issues done during this gap. I guess we'll have to wait and see.


Now how about those mini-series from Marvel and DC this week?

Big Two Mini-series and one-shots coming out this week
TEEN TITANS THE LOST ANNUAL - DC pictured

Big Two Mini-series with the final issue coming out this week
52 AFTERMATH THE FOUR HORSEMEN #6 (OF 6) - Marvel
ONSLAUGHT REBORN #5 (OF 5) - Marvel

Looks like we're finally loosing a couple of mini-series, although I'd filled the spot on my shelf that Onslaught had a few months back.


What I'm Reading:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #546 BND - I have to at least see what's what here
BPRD TP VOL 07 GARDEN OF SOULS - I heard that this was a particularly good series
DR WHO MAGAZINE #390
GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #4
JENNA JAMESONS SHADOW HUNTER #0 - It might be interesting, maybe. I just wish they could sell the comic on it being good, and not on Jenna's fake breasts
NORTH WIND #1 (OF 4)
SPIRIT #12
WONDER GIRL #5 (OF 6)
X-FACTOR #27 - pictured

What you've Been Waiting For

It's a whole new year and a whole new week. Time for another installment of What You've Been Waiting For. My weekly post (well, the day can vary when new comic days do, of course) that examines my Diamond invoice for the week. I look at the mini-series madness, at what I want to read out of this week's shipment, and of course, which comics have taken two months or more between issues. Sometimes the comics are late, sometimes they're VERY late, and other times they're right on time but just have these big gaps between them.

This week's invoice is small. We are only getting a few boxes and our invoice total is about half of what it's been in any week in December. Even my New This Week list is about half as long. So, that will make this post about half as long as usual too.

Devil's Due has had some problems delivering comics in a timely fashion lately. Not sure why. But this week we're getting in Forgotten Realms Halfling's Gem #3 (of 3). The prior issue came out on 10/31/07.

Thunderbolts #118 (Marvel) and Doktor Sleepless #4 (Avatar) are both arriving tomorrow, and both had their prior issues come out on 10/24/07. Both of these were ordered in August, so I'd guess that both are late.

Due largely to the break up of Dabble Brothers and Marvel, Hedge Knight 2 hasn't seen a new issue since August 8th. Finally issue #4 is coming out! We ordered this new issue back in July.

And another result of the DB Marvel split was the delays on Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures #7. Nothing worse than a 9 month gap between issues in the middle of a series. They did have that 2-part fill in thing, so fans didn't give up entirely, but still, that kind of gap between issues is never good for a comic book. The prior issue of Anita Blake VHGP arrived on April 18th, making it my longest wait from this week's shipment.

Looks like Marvel wins the award for lateness this week. 3 of the 5 books that you've been waiting for this week are published by them.


One shots and new mini-series starting this week from the "Big Two"

• EXILES DAYS OF THEN & NOW - Marvel
• TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE #1 (OF 6) - DC
• ULTIMATE HUMAN #1 (OF 4) - Marvel
• WILDSTORM REVELATIONS #1 (OF 6) - DC

One shots from the "Big Two" that end with this week's issue

• HOWARD THE DUCK #4 (OF 4) - Marvel
• MAGICIAN APPRENTICE #12 (OF 12) - Marvel

While both publishers are even on mini-series they've got starting, at least Marvel has some ending this week.


What I'm Reading (last week was a BIG week and a holiday week, so I'm pretty far behind, but this week is small, so hopefully I'll be able to catch up a bit)

ANITA BLAKE VH GUILTY PLEASURES #7
ANNIHILATION CONQUEST #3 (OF 6)
DYNAMO 5 #10
END LEAGUE #1 -Picutred
GRAVEL #0 Anything that has a character referred to as a "combat magician" is worth checking out.
NORTHLANDERS #2 - pictured
SUPERGIRL #25
TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE #1 (OF 6) - pictured at top
ULTIMATE HUMAN #1 (OF 4) - just to see what it's about.

Dang, it looks like Warren Ellis week this week.

What you've Been Waiting For

It's that time again! Time to look at this week's comic book invoice from Diamond and see what's what.

Let's start with What you've been waiting for - the segment where I point out titles that have gone 2+ months between issues. Some are late, some not, but one thing's for sure - if you're reading the series you've been waiting for this week's issue.

This week I was actually surprised that there weren't more books with big issue gaps since it often seems like all kinds of stuff that we thought we'd never actually see finally ships the last couple weeks of the year.

Ultimate Power #9 (Marvel) is the final issue of the series. The last several issues have taken quite a while between each. We ordered this in August, so October would have been the month for it to originally arrive. But, since issue #8 didn't show up until October 31, there wasn't much chance of that.

Amazing Spider-Man #545 (Marvel) is the last of the "One More Day" crossover series before the comic book switches over to 3 times per week. Hopefully those creative teams have been working hard so that they can keep the series on schedule! The last issue of Amazing came out on September 6.

You might remember last week when Fathom Kiani #4 finally came in. Well this week Aspen has another book come out that's taken quite a while to finally make it's way onto comic book store shelves. This week Shrugged #7 is FINALLY coming out. The previous issue came out on August 22. That one must have been pretty late too, because we ordered Shrugged #7 in December - of last year. Yes, one year ago almost to the day, we sent out our orders for Shrugged #7 and now finally it's shipping. How this didn't get canceled by Diamond is beyond me.

Now let's check in on the mini-series madness of Marvel and DC.

mini-series starting & one-shots for this week

• FANTASTIC FOUR ISLA DE LA MUERTE ONE SHOT - MARVEL
• GIANT SIZE AVENGERS SPECIAL - MARVEL
  
• GREEN LANTERN SINESTRO CORPS SECRET FILES - DC
  
• HULK VS FIN FANG FOOM ONE SHOT - MARVEL (pictured)
• MARVEL ILLUSTRATED PICTURE DORIAN GRAY #1 (OF 6) - MARVEL
  
• MARVEL SPOTLIGHT ONE MORE DAY BRAND NEW DAY - MARVEL
  
• MARVEL SPOTLIGHT X-MEN MESSIAH COMPLEX - MARVEL
• WILDCATS ARMAGEDDON - DC
• X-MEN MESSIAH COMPLEX MUTANT FILES - MARVEL

mini-series ending with this week's issue

• COUNTDOWN ARENA #4 (OF 4) - DC (pictured, top)
  
• ULTIMATE POWER #9 (OF 9) - MARVEL

This week's rundown of mini-series looks worse than what it is. Only one mini-series is starting, the rest are all one-shots. But Marvel has a LOT of them!! Even two Spotlight issues - there's no good reason for them to do that.


What I'm Reading This Week
AVENGERS INITIATIVE #8
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #9
COUNTDOWN ARENA #4 (OF 4)
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 18
CRIME BIBLE THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #3 (OF 5)
DAN DARE #2 (OF 7)
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #4 (OF 8)
HOUSE OF M AVENGERS #3 (OF 5)
INVINCIBLE PRESENTS ATOM EVE #1 (OF 2) - pictured
JACK OF FABLES #18
NEW WARRIORS #7
PAX ROMANA #1 (OF 4) - pictured
TEEN TITANS #54
THOR #5

What you've Been Waiting For

Well, the day has gotten away from me somehow. Usually I've made this post by mid afternoon and here it is after 7 pm already. We were fairly busy earlier today with lots of gift shoppers and then I had a hair cut, and of course the stylist was behind and I had to wait 20 minutes. So those will be my excuses! And next week will be ALL messed up with the holidays. I'll probably make this post sometime on Thursday, as comics will arrive here in the US on Friday the 28th. The same goes for the week following - Friday the 4th delivery.

Anyway, to the task at hand. Here we are again, looking over my Diamond invoice. I'll point out comics that have gone over 2 months between issues, some are late and some are not. Then we can look at the status of the mini-series madness from Marvel & DC comics. And finally I'll let ya know what I'm hoping to read this week. By the time I'm finished it should be about time to close the store for the night.

There were three comics that have gone just over 2 months between issues on this week's invoice, having their previous issues arrive back on October 17th. Mighty Avengers #6 (Marvel) is arriving tomorrow at last - every issue of this seems to have gone two months or so between them. It was ordered in August, so it sure does look late to me. Star Trek Year Four #5 (IDW) will be on shelves tomorrow. This issue was ordered back in September, so I'd guess it's a bit later than originally planned. And Terror Inc #4 (Marvel) was scheduled to ship on 11/21 according to the September Marvel Previews, so this incoming issue is late.

Exiles #100 is the final issue before Marvel reboots the series and starts with a new #1 and changes the name to New Exiles. Issue #99 came out back on October 3. But December 19th was the scheduled ship date when we ordered it, so it's not late.

Finally we get a new issue of Painkiller Jane (Dynamite Entertainment). Issue #4 arrives tomorrow. The prior issue came out way back on September 6th.

Hey Fathom Fans - it's Christmas come early for you folks! Finally Fathom Kiani #4 (Aspen) is arriving this week. Ummm... we ordered this issue back in April and it's taken so long that we didn't even order enough for the new customers who've added it to their pull lists so now we have to put in an order for more. The prior issue of Fathom Kiani arrived about 4 moths ago, back on August 15th. So, if we ordered this issue in April it should have shipped in May or June - that tells you that the other issues have also run behind schedule.

And now, for the longest of long waits between issues. A comic that seems to be an annual rather than a monthly or quarterly. Cryptics #3 (Image, pictured) should arrive at stores that haven't canceled it already tomorrow. The previous issue of this came out almost one full year ago... way back when 2007 was still fresh and full of promise, on January 10th. It was ordered in October, so no idea what the hold up was at getting this solicited.

Looks like DC is off the hook this week, but not Marvel or Image.

Now let's take a look to see what's going on in the world of Marvel and DC mini-series for this week.

Big Two mini-series starting and one-shots for 12/19/07

• COUNTDOWN RAY PALMER SUPERWOMAN BATWOMAN - DC
• MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL
• MARVEL ILLUSTRATED ILIAD #1 (OF 8) (pictured)
• WHAT IF CIVIL WAR - Marvel
• WOLVERINE FIREBREAK - Marvel
• WORLD WAR HULK WARBOUND #1 (OF 5) - Marvel

Big Two mini-series ending on 12/19/07

• METAMORPHO YEAR ONE #6 (OF 6) - DC

LOTS of one-shots this week. But thankfully only a couple of new mini-series starting. There's a good bunch of minis that have continuing issues this week too, but only one that's ending.


What I'm reading
BIRDS OF PREY #113 - the first Sean McKeever issue (pictured) go read it!!
COUNTDOWN ARENA #3 (OF 4)
DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS #1
GLISTER #3
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #11
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #16
MARVEL ILLUSTRATED ILIAD #1 (OF 8)
LONG COUNT #1 (OF 6) - (pictured) The artist and writer are out of Madison, WI. If this is good I might have to get them to come over for a signing.
MADAME MIRAGE #4
MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL
MARVEL ILLUSTRATED ILIAD #1 (OF 8)
NEOZOIC #2
PRIMORDIA #2 (OF 3)
UMBRELLA ACADEMY APOCALYPSE SUITE #4 (OF 6)
WHAT IF CIVIL WAR

Whew - a big week. And with the holidays who knows when I'll get to them all. But January and February are usually slow months, so I'll catch up eventually.

What you've Been Waiting For

Welcome one again to my weekly invoice examination post. I will see what's taken a while to come out, what mini-series from Marvel & DC are starting and ending, and what I hope to read this week.

This week there wasn't too much that was really late. It seems that most things were within the 2 month barrier. Not all though.

Astounding Wolf Man #4 (Image) saw it's prior issue come out back on September 26th. That's about 2.5 months ago on my calendar. The creator of this is Robert Kirkman, the same guy who does Walking Dead and Invincible. If you read either or both of those you know his release dates are more miss than hit.

The latest comic this week is Ray Harryhausen Presents Wrath of the Titans #3 (Bluewater Productions). Issue #2 came back long before we saw snow, before leaves fell, before we turned off the air conditioning - on June 27th. That is nearly six months ago. And small press publishers wonder why retailers hesitate to order from them.

Now, let's look at the status of Marvel & DC's mini-series for this week.

Big Two mini-series starting & one shots releasing this week

• BAT LASH #1 (OF 6) - DC pictured
• COUNTDOWN SEARCH FOR RAY PALMER RED SON - DC
• GEN13 ARMAGEDDON - DC
• STORMWATCH ARMAGEDDON - DC
• TALES OF THE SINESTRO CORPS ION - DC
• ULTIMATE IRON MAN II #1 (OF 4) - Marvel

Big Two mini-series ending this week

• CAPTAIN CARROT AND THE FINAL ARK #3 (OF 3) - DC
• SPIDER-MAN RED SONJA #5 (OF 5) - Marvel
• X-MEN DIE BY THE SWORD #5 (OF 5) - Marvel

We've got three one-shots and two new mini-series this week with three mini-series ending. While it looks bad, when you break it down we might be gaining some ground here soon.

What I'm Reading This Week
ABYSS #2 (OF 4)
AFTER THE CAPE II #2 (OF 3)
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ORIGINS #1
BLACK ADAM THE DARK AGE #5 (OF 6)
BOOSTER GOLD #5 - I am soooo far behind on this.
COUNTDOWN ARENA #2 (OF 4)
DMZ #26
DR WHO MAGAZINE #389
ELEPHANTMEN WAR TOYS #1 (OF 3) pictured
FABLES #68
FALLEN ANGEL IDW #22
GEEK MONTHLY #12
GEN 13 #15
GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #3
MISERICORDIA #1 (OF 11) pictured
NEW WARRIORS #6
ULTIMATE IRON MAN II #1 (OF 4) - we had promo posters for this in the store and people kept thinking it was a video game.
WONDER GIRL #4 (OF 6)
WONDER WOMAN #15
X-FACTOR #26

Yikes that's a long list this week! So, this is a pretty good week overall. Not many late comics, we will be gaining ground on the mini-series flood of 2007, and lots of great comic books shipping. I have my fingers crossed that the bad weather that's plagued the whole US won't result in too many late comic book shipments for stores!

What you've Been Waiting For

Welcome one and all to my weekly invoice examination post. Here I look at what's shipping this week and point out what items I'm hoping to read, what the mini-series status is for Marvel & DC, and of course, what you've been waiting for -- comics coming in that have gone two months or longer between issues. Let me note that not every comic book listed in the What You've Been Waiting For section is late -- some have longer delays between issues deliberately. But, some of them are, most definitely, late. Ready? I am, so let's take a look...

30 Days of Night Beyond Barrow #2 (IDW) is arriving this week. The previous issue came out back on September 19th - just shy of 2.5 months ago. The previous series, Red Snow, seemed to come out at a pretty good clip, but this one is taking a bit between issues. It was ordered in September, so I'd figure it's at least just a bit late.

Chucky #4 (Devil's Due Publishing) is also arriving tomorrow. Issue #3 hit shelves back on August 1, making the gap between issues 4 months long. This was ordered in May - I am surprised Diamond didn't cancel and resolicit on this one. According to Rich's Lying in the Gutters rumor column this week, Devil's Due is going through some "changes." I wonder if that is part of the delay problem? Hopefully they're working to fix it, as this is not the first DDP title to run into big issue gaps.

Orson Scott Card's Wyrms #6 is the last issue in this mini-series Marvel and Dabble Brothers shared. This is another comic that's late after the DB Marvel split. Hopefully once Marvel fixes the problems they can do good things with the DB properties they now own without these lateness problems. The prior issue of Wyrms came out waaaaaayyyy back on June 20th.

And the comic you've been waiting the longest for this week is...... Dominion #3 (Boom! Studios). If you go to the company's post on this issue you will see that the original cover says, "May 2007." That would make this one pretty late! Especially since the comics usually hit the shelves a month before the month printed on them, like magazines often do. Issue #2 came out back on June 13th. If this publisher continues to have lateness issues we will, unfortunately, have to stop ordering from them. Chronic lateness is a deal breaker - it is one of only a few things that really kill sales of a comic book and make ordering the right quantity nearly impossible.

Look at that, DC seems to be keeping things somewhat on-time. At least this week! And Marvel only had one on the list, and I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt on this and assume that this was because of Dabble and the split, and not Marvel alone.

Speaking of Marvel & DC, now let's take a look at the status of their mini-series this week.

Big Two's one-shots & new mini-series for this week

• AVENGERS INITIATIVE ANNUAL #1 - Marvel
• COUNTDOWN ARENA #1 (OF 4) - DC (pictured)
  
• ULTIMATES 3 #1 (OF 5) - Marvel (heroes cover pictured at top)
  
• WHAT IF X-MEN RISE & FALL OF THE SHI'AR EMPIRE - Marvel
• WORLD WAR HULK AFTERSMASH - Marvel

Big Two's ending mini-series for this week

• ORSON SCOTT CARD'S WYRMS #6 (OF 6) - Marvel

And now - what I'm hoping to read this week

ANNIHILATION CONQUEST #2 (OF 6)
ASTRONAUT DAD VOL 1 PAPERBACK (pictured) - it's a good price and I thought the review looked good. Plus one of the creators gave us a call and asked us to order it, so I've gotta give 'em kudos.
ATOMIC ROBO #3 (OF 6)
AVENGERS INITIATIVE ANNUAL #1 SII
BLACK SUMMER #4 (OF 7)
COUNTDOWN ARENA #1 (OF 4) - with the $3.99 cover price, this one better deliver!
DYNAMO 5 #9
HOUSE OF M AVENGERS #2 (OF 5)
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #15
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #11
NEW BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SEASON ZERO #4
NORTHLANDERS #1-(pictured) this is my pick of the week. Brian Wood is very good and Laura said she liked it.
SUPERGIRL #24 - hopefully they remember panties this time, and I figure out what the heck is going on in the story.
SWORD #3
TWELVE #0 - we'll see if it's remotely interesting.
And I'm taking home a full set of the Wonder Woman action figures because I think they're pretty dang cool.

What you've Been Waiting For

You might be thinking, jeeze, Lisa is late this week! And yes, I do usually post this on Tuesday. However, new comics arrive this week on Thursday instead of the usual Wednesday, so my post is technically in sync with my day-before-new-books-arrive schedule.

In this post I take a look at my DCD invoice for this week and discuss some things like what I want to read out of what's shipping, any new and ending mini-series from the Big Two comics publishers, and of course the thing that started it all, the comics that you've been waiting for because it's taken them at least a couple of months to show up since the prior issue.

Before I get on with that, I wanted to post a link for all of you Wonder Woman fans out there. Dallas TX comic book store Zeus Comics, along with Project: Rooftop, had a contest for Wonder Woman costume designs. These are the winners - some are so cool I want t-shirts of them!

Now, back to regularly scheduled programing...

This week I made October 1 my basis for the two-month cut off. Anything coming in this week that had the prior issue come out before October 1 is on here. Everything except All Star Batman & Robin, because that book has actually gotten onto a regular schedule now of every other month.

Deathblow #8 (DC/Wildstorm) and Speak of the Devil #3 (Dark Horse) both had their prior issues come out back on September 26th. Based on when they were ordered, they are probably not late, or at least not very late.

Madman Atomic Comics #5 (pictured) (Image) arrives tomorrow. The last issue of Madman hit comic book store shelves on September 19th. This was ordered in July, so it has most likely gone past its original ship date.

Death Dealer (Frank Frazetta) (Image) #5 is also coming in tomorrow, at long last. We last saw an issue of this nearly three months ago now, on September 6th. This was ordered in June, so again, probably late.

Sensational Spider-Man #41 is part of the One More Day "event" thingy Marvel is doing before they cancel all Spidey books except Amazing. This story was supposed to come out pretty quick, but there have been delays. In fact, Marvel originally planned to have it out when the Back in Black story came out, but it wasn't ready, so they made up the Back in Black story to buy some time, probably for Quesada to get going on the art for the One More Day story. Anyway, Marvel is STILL dragging their feet. The prior issue of Sensational came out back on August 22nd.

Another comic that is arriving tomorrow with the previous issue having arrived back on August 22nd is Sire: Revelations #3. This is a pretty independent book and unfortunately these small press guys pretty much put their stuff out "whenever." But at least they have an excuse - they've got jobs outside of comics to support themselves and their families. The art is pretty cool, by the way.

And here we are at the latest of the late comics. Well, technically it was ordered in September, so it isn't late. But you sure have been waiting a while for it. There has been over a YEAR since the last issue came out! Burlyman Entertainment's Doc Frankenstein #6 comes out tomorrow. Issue #5 came out on August 30, 2006 - yes 2006. I hope each issue is a one-shot type thing because otherwise I have no idea how anyone follows this story with the big gaps between issues.

I also noticed on this week's invoice that there was a long list of Aspen Publishing items being canceled by Diamond. Comics like Soulfire #8 & 9 (Aspen Publishing) that were ordered over a year ago now, as well as collected editions of Fathom and Soulfire. It's a bit unfortunate as these works have a good fan base that has remained loyal in spite of these persistent delays. I have people ask weekly when Soulfire is going to end or when the collected edition of Fathom is coming out. I know Turner had the cancer thing to deal with, so that could be part of it, but if I remember he doesn't do the interior art on this stuff anyway, and he's put out a lot of covers in the past year. Hopefully Aspen will get things back on the rails before fans loose their patience.

Now let's take a quick look at Marvel and DC's new and ending mini-series arriving this week.

Big Two new Mini-series & One-shots

• GEN13 ARMAGEDDON - DC
• MARVEL ATLAS #1 (of 2) - Marvel
• MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL #1 - Marvel
• SUPERMAN ANNUAL #13 - DC
• ZOMBIE SIMON GARTH #1 (of 4) (pictured)- Marvel

Big Two Mini-series Ending

• SUB-MARINER #6 (OF 6) - Marvel
• WORLD WAR HULK FRONT LINE #6 (OF 6) - Marvel

Looks like we're up a few once again. But based on my November orders we did last weekend, things should be slowing down a bit come 2008. As I've said so many times, these publishers should really focus on getting their main titles out on time and having them be of good quality. Then they can put some mini series in, but they shouldn't just throw a hundred things at the wall to see what sticks or use mini-series to fill in things they didn't put into the main title's stories just to sell more comics.

What I'm Reading This Week
ARCHIBALD SAVES CHRISTMAS #1 (pictured) because it looks like fun
CRIME BIBLE THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #2 (OF 5) because Ruka is a great writer and I enjoyed the first issue
DAN DARE #1 (OF 7) to see what it's like. Ennis talked about this in person at the Diamond Retailer Summit in September and he says it isn't his usual stuff - do not expect Dan Dare to be like Punisher or The Boys!
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #3 (OF 8)
DOCK WALLOPER #1 (OF 5) because it sounded good when Virgin was pitching it at the summit
JACK OF FABLES #17
SUB-MARINER #6 (OF 6)
TEEN TITANS #53
When I have time... Popgun Vol. 1 GN & IT ATE BILLY ON CHRISTMAS GN (pictured at top)

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.

What you've Been Waiting For

Here we go again, with another look at what's shipping from Diamond this week, and a discussion of which of these items has gone longer than 7 weeks between issues this time around. Some are late, some are not, but one thing is for certain - you have been waiting for this issue!

My cutoff this week was September 12th. There are three new comics this week that had their last issue come out on 9/12: 100 Bullets #86 (DC/Vertigo), Spawn Godslayer #5 (Image), and Thor #4 (Marvel). Aside from Spawn, it sure feels like it has been a while between these comics and people have been asking for them. (One that just missed the cut that also goes in this boat of being late and people asking for it is World War Hulk #5 (Marvel) that just missed the cutoff by a week.)

Amory Wars #4 (Image) and Mice Templar #2 (Image) both finally come out this week. Not sure if they are late, but the prior issues came out back on August 29th, which is a while ago now.

Really Late (All Star) Superman #9 (DC) is arriving tomorrow, and has the longest of gaps between issues for this week's shipment. The previous issue came out back on July 5. Issue #9 was ordered back in June, so it does seem a bit late to me, but that's what we've come to expect with DC's Really Late line.

OK, now that that's done, let's see what Marvel and DC are up to with their mini-series and one-shots.

One-Shots & Mini-Series starting this week

• CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 (OF 5) - Marvel
• GHOST RIDER ANNUAL #1 - Marvel (and by the way, the regular issue is also coming tomorrow - that drives me NUTS)
• HOUSE OF M AVENGERS #1 (OF 5) - Marvel
• IRON MAN POWER PACK #1 (OF 4) - Marvel
• SALVATION RUN #1 (OF 7) - DC
• TEEN TITANS EAST SPECIAL #1 - DC
• ULTIMATES SAGA - Marvel

Mini-Series that end with this week's issue

• WORLD WAR HULK #5 (OF 5) - Marvel

Well it sure looks like the ground we gained last week is gone this week. Plenty of new minis starting and not much ending.

What I'm reading
AFTER THE CAPE II #1 SEASONS IN CHANGE
ALL STAR SUPERMAN #9
ATOMIC ROBO #2 (OF 6)
BLACK ADAM THE DARK AGE #4
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 (OF 5)
CIRCLE #1
DMZ #25
FABLES #67
GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #2
HOUSE OF M AVENGERS #1 (OF 5) - just to see what the heck it really is
KIMMIE66
LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN THE BLACK DOSSIER HC
MICE TEMPLAR #2 - last chance on this one, I hope it goes somewhere
SALVATION RUN #1 (OF 7)
SWORD #2
THOR #4
WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #12
WONDER GIRL #3 (OF 6)
WONDER WOMAN #14 - Gail Simone's run starts here - CHECK IT OUT!
WORLD WAR HULK #5 (OF 5)
X-FACTOR #25

WHEW! This is a long list. I'm sure I won't get to half of them this week. But, I'll definitely check out Wonder Woman right off the bat.