"Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years"

This Week in Geek is a weekly blog about new comics written by WorthPoint Comic book Worthologist Matt Baum. Every Wednesday Matt takes a look at trends—good and bad—in the world of comic books from a collector’s point-of-view. Make sure to click on the hot links for previews and more information on the comics, characters, story-lines and creators discussed here and he encourages fellow comic nerds to post your comments below.

While standing in my comic shop earlier today I had what could only be described as a moment of clarity while I hefted the “Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years” hardcover in my arms. And I do mean hefted. The collection is 13-by-10 inches and weighs over five pounds. I love Charles Schultz and wish I could quit one of my jobs to study and write about his work. Ok, full disclosure here; I haven’t read all of his work and don’t even own one of the amazing Complete Peanuts collections printed by Fantagraphics, but I have read enough of his work to understand how important Schultz was to the comics industry. Maybe it’s just my connection to the animated Charlie Brown Christmas special that made my eyes well up while holding this latest Peanuts collection, but I know I need this. And now I’m gazing at my giant book shelf full of other hardcover collections I “needed” in the past and haven’t yet read. It is an addiction and I am an addict.

Below you’ll find my stack of comics for the week of Wednesday Nov. 11. Make sure and post your own weekly stack of comics below so I can make fun of what you’re reading and vice-versa. For a full list of comics shipping this week click here. To find a comic shop near you click here.

Action Comics #883
The Anchor #2
Amazing Spider-Man #611
Batman #693
Batman and Robin #6
Batman/Doc Savage Special: 1
B.P.R.D.: 1947 #5 of 5
Cable #20
Daredevil #502
Dark X-Men #1 of 5
DMZ #47
The Flash: Rebirth #5 of 6
Green Lantern Corps #42
Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #8 of 8
Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #1 of 5
Red Robin #6
Strange #1 of 4
Supergod #1 of 5
S.W.O.R.D. #1
X-Force #21

Thoughts on the pile:

"The Anchor" #1

The Amazing Spiderman” #611

"Batman and Doc Savage"

“The Anchor” #1 was a good read and I like supporting a writer like Phil Hester. Not just because he’s a Midwesterner and I’ve met him a few times and I want him to like me. The guy writes good comics and is a heck of an artist to boot.

“The Amazing Spiderman” #611 sees Joe Kelly returning to write Deadpool, who is starring in almost every Marvel title on the rack these days. Kelly’s run on the 90s “Deadpool” series was some of his finest work and a run of comics that I will never part with. Not only am I excited to see him write Deadpool again, but I dig the way he writes Spidey as well, and really enjoyed his four-part “American Son” story line that ran through Amazing Spidey #595-#598.

Dark X-Men” #1

I was dismayed to find the “Batman and Doc Savage” one-shot gone by the time I got to my comic shop, but am really only morbidly interested in this title. I love Brian Azzarello when he’s writing closer to his crime-noir-Vertigo-roots, but did not enjoy his previous forays into superhero comics. I’ll pick up anything with artwork by Phil Noto, however.

Strange” #1

Since the cancellation of “Captain Britian and MI 13,” writer Paul Cornell seems to be everywhere, and this week is writing “Dark X-Men” #1. He lost me with his latest “Young Avengers” miniseries, but I still really like the way Cornell writes comics. That, and the nerd-stuck-in-the-90s in me has a soft spot for Dark Beast.

“Strange” #1 is probably my most eagerly awaited title this week. I’m a huge Mark Waid fan and can’t get enough Doctor Strange. It’s about time Marvel spills the beans on what happened to Stephen Strange; specifically, why he’s not the Sorcerer Supreme.

A good week for new comics, all-in-all, but another wallet-smasher, as well. Now I’m introducing a new section I’ll be calling “There Can Be Only One!” wherein I’ll pretend I’m only buying one comic this week. Of course that’s ridiculous, only buying one comic a week. What kind of nerd would I be?

So if I could only choose one title this week, it would be . . .

. . . Supergod. Praying to be saved by a man who can fly will get you killed. From the creator of The Authority and Planetary comes the craziest and most horrifying superhero comic you’ve ever read!

Supergod #1 of 5, Avatar

"Supergod" #1 of 5

Solicitation: In the world of Supergod, superhumans are the ultimate expression of the Messiah complex, and scientists can build Messiahs who will fly down from the skies to save the world. No-one thought about how they’d do it—or even if they’d want to.

So begins the apocalyptic tomorrow of Supergod—the story of how supermen killed us all and ended the world just because we wanted to be rescued by human-shaped things from beyond science itself! Take every superhero comic ever published, shove them into a nuclear-powered blender, soak it in bad vodka and set the whole thing alight—and Supergod will crawl out and eat your brain! By Warren Ellis, Garrie Gastony, Felipe Massafera.

$3.99 US
SEP090628
Written by Warren Ellis; Art by Garrie Gastony.

Why this one? “Supergod” is my first foray into Warren Ellis’ Avatar work and I am very much looking forward to it. It’s a story of Man using technology to create a god to save the world. Anyone who’s ever read Ellis’ work knows how well this situation will turn out for humanity. If you haven’t read his work, you should, and humanity is in real trouble. Creepy sci-fi is my favorite kind, and no one does it better than Ellis. If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend reading his “Ministry of Space” and “Ocean,” both published by Wildstorm and are available in trade-paper-back at comic shops everywhere.

Nerdy Question of the Week:

I’m always trying to figure out why I crave some hardcover collections and not others. It’s not just the source material either. I really don’t know why I want the Criminal hardcover so badly, but really don’t need say, the Hellboy Omnibuses? I have Hellboy tattooed on my body, for crying out loud. So what do you look for in a hardcover? What does it take for you to drop $30-$100 on a collected edition? Help me figure this out. Please!

See ya next time true believers.

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This Week in Geek is a weekly blog about new comics written by WorthPoint comic book Worthologist Matt Baum. Every Wednesday, Matt takes a look at the week’s new comics from a collector’s point-of-view and discusses which books may be hard to find in the near future and why. Make sure to click on the hot links for previews and more information on the comics, characters, story-lines and creators discussed here. Also, feel free to post your comments in the new “comments” section below, or you can follow him on Twitter, where he is always screaming about something nerd-related. Want to know what your comics are worth? Join WorthPoint for free and post your comics in the “Ask A Worthologist” section. Remember to post the title, issue number and cover price. And finally a word to the Federal Trade Commission; all the comics discussed here are purchased solely by the writer, who receives no gifts or free merchandise from any publishers even though he would graciously accept them.

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