Forward Thinking: Image Comics for July 2006

Michael May and Kevin Melrose finally get around to combing through the Image Comics solicitations for July 2006. Better late than never, right? Right?

ELEPHANTMEN #1

Kevin: I've never read any of Richard Starkings' Hip Flask work, but there's something very appealing about the concept. The pulp science fiction elements are tough to resist. It looks as if I'll be picking up Elephantmen, then working my way back through the other books.

Michael: They have got to come out with some sort of collection of the previous stuff. I'm a sucker for gorgeous-looking tales of anthropomorphic beasties. A trade collection of it would look very nice on my bookshelf next to Blacksad. Not that I'll be able to wait for the trade. I'm not that patient.

BEDLAM GN

Michael: Holy crap, Keith Giffen is a busy man. I'm either hot or cold on his stuff and I can't tell which I'll be on this one, but the premise sounds interesting to me. A good flip-through in the comic shoppe is going to make the difference.

DEATH JR. VOL. II #1

Kevin: The first volume was so funny, so charming and so well-done that it ended up being one of my favorite series of 2005. Gary Whitta and Ted Naifeh (Courtney Crumrin, Polly and the Pirates) have crafted characters that are so twisted, sad and amusing you'd never know they were based on a video game. The second series promises to send Junior and his friends to a "less-than-savory summer camp." How can I not order that?

Michael: I'd write something intelligent and critical about this, but I'm too busy squealing and clapping my hands in glee like a two-year-old at a Sesame Street concert.

OCCULT CRIMES TASKFORCE # 1 (of 4)

Michael: I love that Rosario Dawson loves comics and wants to help make them. I just wish that her first project was less derivative of other stuff I've already read.

THE RIDE: CHAIN REACTION #1 (of 4)

Michael: My eyes have been glazing over everytime I heard about this, but I just now realized that it's because I was getting it confused with BMWFilms's The Hire. Even realizing that this isn't that, though, I'm not usually excited by series (comics, TV, or something else) in which a prop is the star. On the other hand: Brian Stelfreeze. Now I'm torn.

TASK FORCE ONE #1

Michael: Man, the marketing on this one is messed up. The generic cover image is only matched in ineffectiveness by the blandness of the title. Maybe it's got a good story, but you sure don't know it after reading the uninspired and -- worse -- uninformative solicitation copy.

24SEVEN GN

Kevin: If that terrific Adam Hughes cover isn't enough to pique your interest, just look at some of the other creators involved: Becky Cloonan, Farel Dalrymple, Phil Hester, Mike Huddleston, Frazer Irving, Jim Mahfood, Eduardo Risso, Jim Rugg -- all doing stories about robots. Robots! And this phrase is the clincher: "a bizarre feud between a Siamese DJ team." Yeah, I don't know either, but I must have it -- even if it does cost $24.99.

Michael: If it's half the anthology that Flight was (and it promises to be much much more than that), this'll be worth the $25. In addition to the creators you mentioned, Alex Maleev, Mike Oeming, Rick Remender and Ben Templesmith catch my attention. And the fact that it looks like Adam Hughes may be doing interior pages as well. I'm back to clapping like a two-year-old again. Adam Hughes is my Elmo.

AFTERWORKS GN

Kevin: Other than Scott Morse, I'm not familiar with the creators involved in this anthology, but the mix of stories sounds intriguing: "fact-based accounts" of the Fulluja missile strikes, reinterpretations of classic myth and more. Like 24seven, it's $24.99, but I don't know if I can shell out that much cash in one month.

Michael: Yeah. It might've helped to push this back a month. It sounds interesting, but like you, I've only heard of Morse and I'm not sure that the unifying theme, that the creators are all animators, is exciting enough to get me to parting with my $25. I'll be spending that on 24seven. If this gets a lot of good buzz from the critics, I could be back.

THE COBBLER'S MONSTER GN

Michael: Ooh! Pinocchio meets Frankenstein. I am so there.

IRON WEST GN

Michael: Eep! "An army of metal men bent on destroying central California." "A magical old shaman and his sidekick Sasquatch." "Mutating the train into a giant demonic iron monster." And check out that cover! I gotta start saving my pennies. 24seven won't be the only graphic novel I buy in July after all.

THE PSYCHO TP

Michael: The concept sounds similar to Marvel's Civil War, but it's got something that Marvel doesn't: Dan Brereton. I don't know if I'll get it as soon as it comes out, but it's going on my Amazon Wish List.

CASANOVA #2
FEAR AGENT #7
THE LAST CHRISTMAS #3 (of 5)
NEGATIVE BURN #3
PAUL JENKINS' SIDEKICK #2 (of 5)
ROCKETO #10
SEA OF RED #12
WITCHBLADE #100

Michael: These are all exciting to me for a variety of reasons, but I'm all gushed out after Death Jr. II all those graphic novels. It's going to be an expensive month. Image, ya done good.