Comics/Graphic Novels

What’s On Your Pull List? : November 18, 2015

C.P. Hoffman

Staff Writer

By day, C.P. Hoffman writes about digital accessibility and the law; by night, they write about comics, pop culture, books, and gender for Book Riot and other sites. They have lived across North America (Indianapolis > Chicago > New York > Montreal > Indianapolis again), but now reside just outside of Washington, DC. C.P. has a particular affinity for Spider-Women, but also loves Wonder Woman, comics about witches, and stories about time travel. For inexplicable reasons, they also tweet a lot about the Fantastic Four. Twitter: @CPHwriter

Every week, a different Panelteer will give you a rundown of the comics they’re most looking forward to for the week. Floppies, trades and omniboo are all fair game here. This week, Charles tells us whats on his pull list.

Spider-Woman #1 by Dennis Hopeless and Javier Rodriguez (Marvel)

Spider-Woman #1 (2015)

Spider-Woman #1 (2015), cover by Javier Rodriguez

I cannot express how much I loved Dennis Hopeless and Javier Rodriguez’s first volume of Spider-Woman. It was just amazingly good, and the extent of my criticism of it is “Jess should be wearing a helmet when she rides her motorcycle.” That’s it. Otherwise, it was pitch perfect. That said, when Jess’s pregnancy was first announced, I was a little reticent. More often than not, comics handle pregnancy very poorly (even if it doesn’t turn out quite as badly as that time Carol Danvers got pregnant). But, then I read an interview with Dennis Hopeless that made it clear this wasn’t a cheap attempt to get attention for the book, but rather was a story very personal to him. And then I read the preview they did in Amazing Spider-Man #1 and I’m all in again. (It didn’t hurt that the entire story took place over the phone with Carol.)

I Hate Fairyland #2 by Skottie Young and Jean-Francois Beaulieu (Image)

I Hate Fairyland #2 cover

I Hate Fairyland #2, cover by Skottie Young and Jean-Francois Beaulieu

I absolutely loved the first issue of I Hate Fairyland. It was brilliant comedy violence in the Looney Tunes and Ren and Stimpy tradition, mixed with a bit of Mad and Tank Girl. This is one of those comics I say I’m going to save to read last, but will probably tear into the second I get home. Seriously, go check this series out. (And if I didn’t convince you, read this Paste interview with Skottie Young.)

Ms. Marvel #1 by G. Willow Wilson, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Adrian Alphona; cover by Cliff Chiang (Marvel)

Ms. Marvel #1 (2015), cover by Cliff Chiang

Ms. Marvel #1 (2015), cover by Cliff Chiang

Okay, I’m going to say something controversial: I really liked the first volume of Ms. Marvel by Wilson & Alphona. But rather than ramble on about how awesome Kamala is, I’m just going to link to Swapna’s fantastic 20 Things I Learned from Kamala Khan. I will say, though, that I am really looking forward to seeing how Kamala’s family dynamic works out in the aftermath of the final issues of that last volume.

Pretty Deadly #6 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Ríos (Image)

Pretty Deadly #6, cover by Emma Rios

Pretty Deadly #6, cover by Emma Rios

Pretty Deadly went on a looooong hiatus after the first arc (it’s been 18 months since the last issue), but it’s finally back! The solicit description is pretty vague (“The survivors of the battle against Death enter a new century, where they face fresh violence and the horrors of war”), but, who am I kidding? It’s Kelly Sue and Emma Ríos together again at long last; of course I’m buying this.

Secret Wars Too #1 by Jonathan Hickman, Sergio Aragones, Ryan Browne, Al Ewing, Rob Guillory, Kate Leth, Eric Powell, Declan Shalvey, Kyle Starks, Ramon Villalobos, Brittney Williams, Brian Churilla, and Jacopo Camagni; cover by Chip Zdarsky (Marvel)

Secret Wars Too #1, cover by Chip Zdarsky

Secret Wars Too #1, cover by Chip Zdarsky

Gonna be honest, mostly buying this for two reasons: 1) that hilarious Chip Zdarsky cover image with Doctor Doom in the Beyonder’s Secret Wars II outfit—complete with Jheri curl—and the 80s laser photo background that in everyone’s school pictures (if you weren’t yet born in the 80s, just trust me on this one); and 2) the strength of the previous Secret Wars anthology, Secret Love. If this has anything approaching the humor of Squirrel Girl naming the Odinson’s abs, it will be worth double the cover price. Just not in a literal sense. Not saying you should make Secret Wars Too the cornerstone of your retirement plans or anything.

Squirrel Girl names Thor's abs, Secret Wars Secret Love

Secret Wars: Secret Love, art by Kris Anka

Red Thorn #1 by David Baillie and Meghan Hetrick; cover by Choong Yoon (Vertigo)

Red Thorn #1, cover by Choong Yoon

Red Thorn #1, cover by Choong Yoon

A lot of the new Vertigo books have sounded pretty interesting, but for various reasons I have been waiting to check them out (with the exception of Art Ops by Shaun Simon and Michael Allred). But Red Thorn sounds pretty interesting: a dark fantasy set in Scotland (and based on Scottish mythology) with a female protagonist. I’m in, at least for this first issue (future in-ness contingent on how much I like it and what else comes out the same week as issue #2).