It's not another comics review column (because the internet doesn't need another comics review column). Welcome to the second installment of BEST BETS AND LONG SHOTS, a unique look at the week in comics.

Click below to find out what's in store (and what's in stores) today, January 16th, 2008.

Best Bets And Long Shots: January, 16th.

How It Works

Every Wednesday, I choose 3-5 comics from Diamond’s list of new releases for the week, and I’ll do my best to explain why they might represent your best bets at finding some value for your comics-buying dollar.

Keep in mind, I haven’t read these comics either. That’s part of the fun!

Recap

Youngblood #1 wasn’t bad. Casey leaves the well-worn superheroes-as-celebrities high concept behind in favor of the equally well-worn high concept of superheroes on a reality show. Fat Actress was marginally more interesting. And what’s Shaft wearing on the Liefeld cover?

The Twelve #1 could’ve moved more quickly, but the last page left me curious enough to check out issue #2.

Regarding Amazing Spider-Man #546: Some people like vanilla ice cream. I like vanilla ice cream. But after the liver and onions main course Marvel’s been forcing down the readers’ throats for the past several months, it’s going to take something stronger than vanilla ice cream to cleanse the palate.

The Lost Annual was wicked fun, best read with the understanding that comics have come a long way since the Silver Age. The “Surprise Presidential Guest Star” blurb on the cover alone was almost worth five bucks.



This Week’s Comics:


’76 #1 (Image Comics) - For this reader, there’s an embarrassment of riches coming out from Image this week, with Cemetery Blues #1, New World Order #1 and Fell #9 all hitting store shelves. Unfortunately, gas prices hover near 3 dollars, making it harder and harder to buy comics and fuel. Featuring two stories, ’76 promises to be the comic book equivalent of a grindhouse double feature.

According to Image, “Cool features Los Angeles bounty hunters Pete Walker and Leon Campbell as they deal with runaway strippers, geriatric gangsters, drug-dealing dwarves and ex-porn star hit men, while Jackie Karma features “a Sixties-era New York City karate master and street fighting legend who comes out of retirement to battle an old foe.” Both stories sound great, but I think they had me at “drug dealing dwarves.” Odds: 3-1. *Best Bet of the Week*


New Exiles #1 (Marvel Comics) - Since returning to Marvel in the late nineties, Chris Claremont has done everything he can to sully his own reputation as one of the premiere architects of the modern age of comics. Even so, I’m not quite ready to give up on the man who gave us the Dark Phoenix Saga and the original Wolverine miniseries, and this book, about a group of alternate-Marvel Universe heroes sliding into one dimension, fixing any continuity glitches, and then leaping to the next, is the perfect showcase for Mister Claremont. I may believe he has a few great stories left to tell, but he’s already relinquished control of three fan-favorite characters -- Blink, Longshot and Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of 2099 -- so there’s very little left for him to screw up if I’m wrong. *Long shot of the week.* Odds: 9-1.


Stranded #1 (Virgin Comics) - Virgin Comics is getting far less attention than the company deserves. Known primarily as a company publishing material based on Indian mythology (India is seen by some as the last great untapped market for American comics; reaching it, and its 1 billion plus potential readers, is part of Virgin’s Mission Statement) and vanity projects by the likes of Nicholas Cage and Jenna Jameson, Virgin has also published work by comic veterans such as Garth Ennis (the excellent 7 Brothers, a collaboration with John Woo) and Andy Diggle (The Gamekeeper, with Madonna’s husband Guy Ritchie). With The Stranded, Virgin launches a new initiative, teaming with the Sci-Fi Channel to develop properties that can be easily translated from comics to television, and vice versa.

The Stranded features a script by Mike Carey and covers by Marc Silvestri and Greg Horn. Not everything Carey touches turns to gold, but I’m inclined to give him a chance, based on the work he did on Lucifer and his role in masterminding Messiah CompleX. Odds: 4-1.


The Diamond Shipping List: January 16^th, 2008. In the interest of full disclosure, the books I'm buying are in bold.




DARK HORSE COMICS

OCT070011 FEAR AGENT #18 HATCHET JOB (PT 2 OF 5) $2.99
NOV070044 GRENDEL BEHOLD THE DEVIL #3 (OF 8) $3.50
SEP070037 GROO HELL ON EARTH #3 (OF 4) $2.99
NOV070047 UMBRELLA ACADEMY APOCALYPSE SUITE #5 (OF 6) $2.99

DC COMICS

NOV070200 BIRDS OF PREY #114 $2.99
NOV070183 BOOSTER GOLD #6 $2.99
NOV070193 CATWOMAN #75 $2.99
SEP078087 CATWOMAN #75 VAR ED $2.99
NOV070204 CHECKMATE #22 $2.99
NOV070203 COUNTDOWN SPECIAL THE NEW GODS $4.99
NOV070166 COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 15 $2.99
NOV070205 FLASH #236 $2.99
NOV078069 FREDDY VS JASON VS ASH #1 (OF 6) 2ND PTG $2.99
NOV070208 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #17 $2.99
NOV070247 LEGION OF SUPER HEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY #10 $2.25
NOV070267 PROGRAMME #7 (OF 12) $2.99
NOV070189 ROBIN #170 $2.99
NOV070252 SCOOBY DOO #128 $2.25
NOV070217 SHADOWPACT #21 $2.99
NOV070264 WILDSTORM REVELATIONS #2 (OF 6) $2.99
NOV070272 WORLD OF WARCRAFT #3 $2.99

IMAGE COMICS

NOV072010 76 #1 (OF 8) $2.99
AUG071997 AMORY WARS #5 (OF 5) $2.99
NOV072012 CEMETERY BLUES #1 $3.50
MAY071848 FELL #9 $1.99
OCT072010 GRAVESLINGER #3 (OF 4) $3.50
OCT072011 HAWAIIAN DICK #2 $2.99
JUL071960 SPAWN #174 $2.95
OCT072021 STEVE NILES STRANGE CASES #3 $2.50
SEP072029 WITCHBLADE BASRI CVR B #113 $2.99
SEP072028 WITCHBLADE CHOI & OBACK CVR A #113 $2.99

MARVEL COMICS

NOV072132 AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL #16 $2.99
OCT072078 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #547 BND $2.99
NOV072134 AVENGERS CLASSIC #8 $2.99
NOV072189 CABLE DEADPOOL #49 $2.99
OCT072100 IMMORTAL IRON FIST #12 $2.99
OCT072102 INCREDIBLE HERCULES #113 $2.99
OCT078499 INCREDIBLE HERCULES #113 VAR (PP #796) $2.99
NOV072148 IRON MAN POWER PACK #3 (OF 4) $2.99
NOV072158 MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #20 $2.99
NOV072156 MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #35 $2.99
NOV072159 MARVEL ADVENTURES TWO-IN-ONE #7 $4.99
NOV072161 MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #5 $3.99
NOV072117 MARVEL ILLUSTRATED ILIAD #2 (OF 8) $2.99
NOV072193 NEW EXILES #1 $2.99
NOV072194 NEW EXILES #1 GOLDEN VAR $2.99
NOV072168 NEW WARRIORS #8 $2.99
NOV072183 NEW X-MEN #46 MC $2.99
OCT072101 PENANCE RELENTLESS #4 (OF 5) $2.99
OCT078510 ULTIMATES 3 #1 (OF 5) 2ND PTG WRAPAROUND VAR (PP #796) $2.99
NOV078021 UNCANNY X-MEN #493 2ND PTG VAR $2.99
NOV072188 WOLVERINE ORIGINS #21 $2.99
NOV072152 WORLD WAR HULK AFTERSMASH WARBOUND #2 (OF 5) $2.99
NOV078022 X-MEN #205 2ND PTG VAR $2.99

OTHER COMICS

NOV078042 ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #1 3RD PTG (PP #797) $3.99
NOV078120 ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #2 2ND PTG (PP #798) $3.99
NOV073636 ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #3 $3.99
NOV073320 BETTY #171 $2.25
OCT073464 BLOODRAYNE AUTOMATON CVR A $3.99
OCT073465 BLOODRAYNE AUTOMATON CVR B $3.99
OCT073700 BONEYARD #27 $2.95
OCT073354 DOMINION #4 (OF 5) (RES) $3.99
SEP073280 FEMFORCE #142 $6.95
SEP073903 FURRLOUGH #178 $3.99
SEP073637 INSOMNIA #3 $7.95
NOV073325 JUGHEAD AND FRIENDS DIGEST #26 $2.49
NOV073540 KNOWLEDGE IS POWER THE WORLD ASKEW #4 (OF 4) $2.95
OCT073242 NINJA HIGH SCHOOL #156 $2.99
OCT073707 OPERATION LIBERATE MEN GN VOL 02 $9.99
NOV073327 PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #118 $3.69
NOV073407 SIMPSONS COMICS #138 $2.99
NOV073329 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #184 $2.25
NOV073632 ST TNG INTELLIGENCE GATHERING #1 (OF 5) $3.99
OCT073874 STRANDED #1 $2.99
OCT073585 TRANSFORMERS DEVASTATION #4 $3.99
OCT073362 TWO GUNS #5 (RES) $3.99
AUG073774 ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS VS AMAZONS #2 (OF 3) $3.99

thanks for the read and props on the picks,


AUKOS

Thank you. Exiles rules!

Hypersonic90

DARK HORSE COMICS

UMBRELLA ACADEMY APOCALYPSE SUITE #5 (OF 6)

DC COMICS

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #17
SHADOWPACT #21

MARVEL COMICS

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #12
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #113


Hmmm, looks like a pretty small week for me.

No, Exiles RULED, with a "D". Then the hack Claremont took it and Excalibur over and destroyed it.

Why are you saying that in past sentence. Don't they rule anymore since they do not exist?

No, because the team that ruled doesn't exist. the stories don't rule anymore. used to be the best thing on the shelf, now with Claremont, it's just blah. I've got a complete run, start to finish, and it jsut went downhill the past 10 or so issues. I'll check out New Exiles, but I'm not holding my breath.

Exiles hasn't been the same since World Tour. I still love it, but I miss the Exiles of old.

nice read, good picks

NOV070200 BIRDS OF PREY #114 $2.99
NOV070183 BOOSTER GOLD #6 $2.99
OCT072102 INCREDIBLE HERCULES #113 $2.99

& maybe...
NOV070208 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #17 $2.99

Fixed that for you. It used to be one of the best books Marvel put out, but it's long since passed the glory days.

I have high hopes for The 12.

At first, I was contemplating if it would be this generations Watchmen. But after further consideration, it might be the anti-Watchmen.

Instead of breaking ground in the vein of superheroes as real people during a more innocent age of comics, as Watchmen did, it is almost revisiting the theme, but in the opposite way. Taking those gung ho and innocent heroes of the bygone era and bringing them into this modern comic era where an evil genius no longer gets a sock in the kisser, but instead gets a bullet to the brain and a graphic headshot.

I will be keeping an eye on this one.

I too, decided to check out the twelve last week because of this article and found myself not dissapointed. i could see a lot of similiarites with JMS' supreme power, but at a 12 issue series this might actually get finished. and indeed the last page left me curious to try more.

Marvel

Cable & Deadpool #49
New X-Men #46
World War Hulk: Warbound #2


DC

Checkmate #22
Countdown New Gods Special
Countdown #15
JLA #17
Shadowpact #21

Pretty standard week for me.