New Comic Wednesday came with a sunny, warm feeling this week as winter has finally melted from the prairie and spring seems to be here. Baseball spring training is in full swing (no pun intended) and the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament begins.

With March Madness comes brackets and gambling, but in the Baum household the stakes are much higher than money. This year, I put my masculinity on the table and bet my lovely girlfriend that I could pick more March Madness games correctly. We signed up for the Yahoo.com tourney challenge and almost instantly I was struck with the fear that maybe, just maybe, by shooting from the hip with the aid of her bizarre female intuition, my girlfriend might prove that I know nothing about college basketball and thereby render me effectively neutered.

While picking my teams, I thought of all times she left me humiliated after Wii bowling and the times she murdered me in Tekken just by mashing the buttons on my PS2 controller like a bloodthirsty infant. This may be the last stand of my manliness. Let me know if you would like to monitor our progress and I’ll post the daily results of our battle of the sexes.

Enough of this talk of spring and farewell to my machismo. Let’s talk new comics!

Robin #172, DC, written by Chuck Dixon and drawn by David Baldeon:
Dixon’s return to Robin has brought this troubled title back to greatness and the last page of this issue sees the return of a beloved Bat family member. That’s all you’re getting from me. I’m not here to spoil your comics. Robin has been a relatively under-ordered Bat-book for some time now, mainly due to slumping sales. So don’t be surprised when the news of a certain character’s return causes this issue to sell out.

Thor #7, Marvel, written by J. Mike Straczynski and drawn by Marko Djurdjevic:
Thor continues to sell out every month and for good reason. It’s a great read. Asgard, the Warriors Three (Baldar, Loki, Heimdall) – they’re all back and living in Kansas. Technically speaking, they are living 10 feet above Kansas where the city of Asgard is currently floating while Thor scours the planet looking for his Norse allies. The return of Odin is right around the corner and if things continue the way they’re going for the thunder god, you know it’s going to be huge.

The Incredible Hercules #115, Marvel, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente and drawn by Khoi Pham:
When I first heard that the Hulk would be leaving the pages of his book to make way for Hercules I thought the idea might last six issues before being canceled and I would be the only one who loved it. (I’ve had a secret man-crush on Herc for years.) Man, was I wrong! Everybody loves this book and rightfully so because the Incredible Hercules is awesome. I love Greg Pak, and Fred Van Lente seems to be the next hot, up-and-coming writer. The Arthur Adams cover on this issue just sealed the deal for me. Nobody knew the Incredible Herc would be as hot as this series turning out to be. Pick up the back issues now because they won’t be around for much longer.

Until next time, I’ll be clutching my March Madness bracket and screaming at the TV while Kacie giggles. Meanwhile, feel free to post to the forum topics in the comic books community and tell me what you’re reading/collecting. Also check out my other blog, The Comic Speculator, where I discuss classic-yet-still affordable back-issue comics. If you have any questions about these books or anything else in the comic book world, feel free to contact me or post your question in the Comic Book community forum.

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It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for the first “New Comic Book Day” edition of Geek Speak! Every Wednesday I’ll be ranting and raving about the new books and giving you an idea on what us geeks are reading/collecting. So, enough talk, lets get down to the meat of the matter! It’s new comic day!

If you’re a comic nerd like myself then every Wednesday is special! Of course I’m talking about new comic day, the day that comic nerds every where flock to their neighborhood comic shop to carefully pluck the new books from the shelves like nerdy citrus farmers handling delicate fruits. I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a bit of a condition freak and inspect each book I buy for printing flaws or shipping damage. After all, unless you’re collecting garbage, your books should be as close to mint as possible.

Now, if your not a complete addict like me you may be saying to yourself, “Matt, I have a life, friends, maybe even a wife or girlfriend, and neither the time or the wherewithal to wade through the garbage to get to the good stuff. What should I be reading?”. Well my friend, that’s why I’m here. Here’s a short list of this week’s books that I‘m excited about.

Robin #170, DC Comics, by Chuck Dixon and Chris Batista:
Batman legend Chuck Dixon makes his return to the core Bat-family books with this issue of Robin. Robin #170 is the perfect chance for the casual reader to jump on to a new storyline by and all-star writer artist duo. Dixon was one of the quintessential Bat-writers of the 90’s and is also currently writing Batman and the Outsiders.

New X-Men #46, Marvel Comics, by Kyle Yost and Humberto Ramos:
The Messiah Complex storyline continues in this issue of New X-Men. With rumors of more X-Character’s deaths before this crossover ends the entire Messiah Complex storyline has been heating up and now is a great time to jump into the X-men while these issues are still affordable. Messiah Complex has been good fun in the vein of the classic X-men-crossover of the 1980‘s and marks a great jumping on point for readers/collectors new and old. For a complete Messiah Complex checklist check out my previous blog entry.

The Umbrella Academy #5 of 6, Dark Horse Comics, By Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba:
When I heard this book was written by the lead singer of the pseudo-goth-pop-punk band My Chemical Romance I was hesitant, to say the least, to jump on board. Man was I wrong. The Umbrella Academy is so much fun it upsets me that this is only a six issue limited series. Umbrella Academy is campy yet gritty science-fiction superhero action at its best with stunning art by one of my favorite new artists, Gabriel Ba. Although the #0 issue has become difficult to find it is still available on eBay for around $5-$10 and, if this series continues, will not only hold it’s value but probably sky-rocket in price. I encourage you to take the time and find issues 0-4, you’ll thank me later To sum up, can’t stand Way’s music but love his comics. Go figure?

Of course this is just a very short list of this weeks new books and there’s plenty of other great stuff on the shelves to read. Now get to your friendly neighborhood comic shop and start collecting!

Until next time true believers!

Mynameismattbaum