DETECTIVE COMICS #19

Written by JOHN LAYMAN
Art and fold-out cover by JASON FABOK
Backup story art by ANDY CLARKE
1:25 MAD Variant cover by The Usual Gang of Idiots
On sale APRIL 3 • 80 pg, FC, $7.99 US • RATED T
Combo pack edition: $8.99 US

• In a special oversized celebratory issue, Batman is challenged by the “Mystery of the 900!”

This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Plans Revealed For Detective #19: What Would Have Been Issue 900 Of Detective Comics

Preview pages:

Batman Detective Comics #16
Story by: John Layman
Artwork by: Jason Fabok

Batman is forced to cut a deal with the Penguin, one that will come back to haunt both of them when a new villain interferes!

And in the backup story, Ignatius Ogivly usurps The Penguin’s throne and decides to lead the underworld crimelords in The Penguin’s place!

Batman Detective Comics #16 hits shelves on January 9th!

Chuckie Valdez, Preview: “Death of The Family” Continues in Batman Detective Comics #16

Andrew Chambliss writes the effect of change on Buffy well.  It’s clear that Buffy is having a hard time growing up, while the world she knows is growing up around her.  Chambliss does this especially well when Buffy is watching a cop dust a vamp. It’s something that hits Buffy to the core, and Chambliss writes the next scene well.  Her somewhat of a crush with the Detective finally has it’s first genuine moment.  It’s fine to bring in a new love interest, but the Detective hasn’t been established well, or even developed for that matter.  We do have half a season left, so this could happen.  But for now, all we know about him is that he has a crush on Buffy, and recently lost his partner.  The compound that the Slayers live in is very similar to the army that Buffy started, which makes this plot point slightly lazy.

The new direction of having Buffy become a body guard is an inspired idea.  It works well in the development of Buffy.  The opening is humorous, and Kennedy’s speech about why it’s the best thing for her is perfectly written.  But there is one thing that left me bothered by the end…..how they hell did we get here?  When #10 ended, we were in the coffee shop and we saw Buffy quitting her job.  #11 starts, and she already has her job as a bodyguard. I read the first few scenes, then ran over to my long boxes to grab #10.  I couldn’t figure out if I had missed something or not.  It’s a stylistic choice, and one that some might not mind.  But as someone who reads a lot of comics each month, these leaps of continuity can be a pain in the ass.

The addition of Wolfram & Hart is nice addition to making this family of books feel more cohesive.  Angel & Faith has talked about Buffy and what has been going on with her, but we haven’t seen much here.  The same could be said with Spike being gone.  It makes long time fans excited for the future.

Georges Jeanty returns this month on art, and his art has never been better.  The three months off gave Jeanty plenty of time to work on the faces, which look closer to their actor counterparts.  There are many close ups of Buffy, and she looks as close to Sarah Michelle Gellar as she ever has.  One of his bigger problems is facial details on characters that somewhat enter the background.  Not a problem here.  The quick action scene in the beginning works better than the few we have seen so far this season.  Jeanty’s action scenes can seem stiff and action figure life.  One panel sadly suffers from this, but the rest has a slight sense of motion to it.  Buffy’s reaction after being shot at was one of the better facial expressions of this issue.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #11 gets 3.5/5.

MrComicBook, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #11 Review

1. Avengers vs X-Men #6

2. Avengers vs X-Men #5

3. Batman #10

4. Justice League #10

5. Before Watchmen Minutemen #1

6. Before Watchmen Comedian #1

7. Before Watchmen Silk Spectre #1

8. Before Watchmen Nite Owl #1

9. Spider-Men #1

10. AVX VS #3

With Before Watchmen jumping into the top ten, the spots right beneath it are those that have been making the top ten for the past few months.  Books like Detective Comics, Action Comics, and Uncanny X-Men.  Astonishing X-Men #51, the wedding issue, sold very well.  But don’t expect it to be that high next month.  I expect a few readers to stay on, but it won’t sell as much next month.  Hit-Girl sold very well, which shows a second Kick-Ass movie would still do well. Daredevil is up almost 3,000 issues.

The majority of the top 100 goes back and forth between DC and Marvel.  Marvel made more money, but DC sold more comics.  This has been the general trend for some time, as Marvel has more $3.99 books.  I look at the trends, and books that aren’t selling well continue to have trouble, while books that sell great just get more readers.  Defenders has to worry Marvel, as they were hoping for this series to be the next big franchise.  But it’s near the bottom of the list.  The same goes with Punisher. It’s holding steady, so it should be ok.  Deadpool has taken a dive in the past few months.

Whenever I look at how DC’s books are selling, I always wonder which ones will get the ax next.  Green Arrow isn’t selling well at all.  DC needs to change that fast, as the TV show is just around the corner.  Second Wave book The Ravagers is having trouble gaining a fan base.  Otherwise, the DC books are selling enough to not be worried cancellation.  I’d like Dial H to start doing better, as that is one of the better books at DC right now.

The Walking Dead was the highest selling book for Image, and it made it to 30.  Mars Attacks is the highest for IDW, and that is at 44.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #10 is at 89.  For a series that has such a devoted fan base, it’s strange to see no one buying the issues.  If you are a fan of Buffy, go buy the freakin’ series.

As we look forward to July’s sales, expect The Walking Dead #100 to be the top comic, or damn near close to it.  Any of the Before Watchmen series that have #1s left will make the top ten next month, but I expect the #2s to go down.  It happens with any book, but these have a collectors value to them.  #2s aren’t worth as much, so not as many people will buy them.  AVX VS will continue to sell well, which surprises me.  It was one of the most criticized things when Avenger vs X-Men was announced.  But people are eating it up.  With no high profile #1s coming out in July, the top 100 should stay the same.  Once August comes, we will get Hawkeye and Gambit.  Hawkeye will probably do as well as Daredevil or Invincible Iron Man.  Selling between 20,000-30,000 issues.  Good numbers, if not very strong.  Gambit is going to have a hard time selling.  Unless the critics shower it with praise (which is entirely possible, as James Asmus is a great writer), it will probably be closer to the bottom half of the top 100.

The top 100 isn’t going to change until the Marvel NOW! initiative in October.  When there are a bunch of new titles comics, and others ending.  That will probably have the same effect that the DC 52 had in 2011.  And with Avengers coming out on Blu-Ray/DVD, people might be more inclined to buy the comics.

In the graphic novel section, The Walking Dead continues to reign supreme.  League of Extraordinary Gentlemen made it into the top three.  No surprise that Watchmen was in the top ten graphic novels as well.  Morning Glories continues to sell well in in trades.  Much like The Walking Dead, it’s a series that many like to read in bulk.  Fatale sold well in trade form as well.

Click here for the list of unit share and dollar share, as well as top ten comics and graphic novels.

Click here for the top 100 comics for June

MrComicBook, June’s Comic Sales: All About Watchmen

Review: BATMAN #10 (spoiler-free)
Assault on the Court
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Greg Capullo
Backup story: Fall of the House of Wayne
Writer: Scott Snyder,James Tynion IV
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Rating: 10/10

Agent Burgos, Review: BATMAN #10 (Spoiler-Free)

"Avengers vs X-Men" #4 was the highest selling comic in May

With AvX in full swing, there was no doubt in anyones mind that they were going to be ruling the May charts.  But no one thought by this big a lead.  Look at the bottom of this article to see how everything worked out.

As you can see Avengers vs X-Men ruled the top ten.  DC owns the rest of the top ten.  It’s not complete surprising, and it follows the trend of the last few months.  What seems to be, and not a good thing, is how the DC books have been selling the past few months.  See, DC books never seem to just hit the middle.  They sell a ton, or they sell nothing.  Batman sells over 130,000 issues, but there are some like Voodoo (which was cancelled) that sold 13,000 issues.  Nothing ever seems to land in the middle of “selling ok.”  Fans complain that by September, about a quarter of DC’s books will be related to Batman, but all the books sell, even the atrocious Batman: The Dark Knight.  If you don’t want as many Batman related books, DON’T BUY THEM.  Most Marvel books sell ok, but they sell enough to make a profit.  Even the lesser sellers seem to stay consistent in their numbers.  Spider-Man books haven’t sold this well in a long time.  You have Amazing at 25 and 26, Venom twice in the top 100, Scarlet Spider at 81, and Avenging Spider-Man at 61.

While Avengers vs X-Men hasn’t received the best response from critics (#5 review is here), it’s selling like crazy.  Marvel will no doubt continue with the trend of a big event every year.  Fans need to stop complaining about how “bad books sell.”  Well don’t buy them.  Fans buy the book then complain. You need to make a statement with your wallet.  If you don’t like the book, don’t buy it.  Hopefully enough people will realize that the book is bad and won’t be around anymore.  But if it’s selling, SOMEONE has to be enjoying the book.  Keep that in mind.

DC can’t be happy that quite a few of their books are barely selling at all.  I know that having all these different “waves” keeps the lineup fresh, but I don’t see any of these new books, besides Talon, making that big an impact on the top 100.  The same could be said for a few of the Marvel books coming out.  Hawkeye will sell ok, probably around how much Daredevil sells each month.  But Gambit, which I’m looking forward too, has an uphill battle.  Marvel has done a decent job of late of putting good artists and writers on a book, ones with a genuine vision for the character, instead of just slapping a writer and artist on a book.  Bottom line, it’s hard to sell a book anymore unless it has a big name character attached to it.  Captain Marvel is the only wild card in the upcoming month.  It’s got some great talent attached to it, and a character who had one of the longer runs for a female character in history.  It could go either way.  With summer over, which seems to be a big time to launch new books, it’s going to be an interesting fall.

With DC releasing the first volume of a lot of their books, it’s no surprise that they are taking up a good chunk of the TPB market.  Also no surprise, The Walking Dead is peppered throughout the list.  Look to see these start to rise again as October comes closer.  The biggest surprise to me was how fast Kick-Ass 2 made it up the list.  The sequel to Mark Millar and John Romita JR’s acclaimed series wasn’t received well by critics, and I know a lot of people who flat out hated it.  Spider-Man: Season One is the only Season One title near the top of the list.  Marvel must be happy with how that sold.

The following chart is for market share

The following chart is for single issues

The following chart is for top trades

1,269

MrComicBook, Analysis of May’s Comic Sales

We start out with Burroughs narrating a scene about a cop’s guilt when they show up too late. People say it isn’t the cops fault, but other things tell him it is. The story flashes back to 9 days prior where Burroughs is starting his new assignment as a desk jockey in Jersey. We get the obligatory scenes of the other cops busting his chops about being a pencil pusher now. It seems like some of the cops are involved in some shady business. Burroughs backstory is explained and shows us why he is taking the new assignment. He was a poor husband who cheated on his wife. He tried to his best to make it up to her so he can regain her trust. SO far he has been doing a pretty good job. After working on a case, he is jumped by a couple of thugs. More on that later. After that close call, his wife wants him to play it safe until retirement and he obliges.

Right when things look like they’re going to calm down, an armored truck crushes through the precinct. Burroughs springs into action, but then thinks better of it. A costumed figure emerges and makes quick work of the cops. We learn this is CrossStar. Not a lot is known about the costumed figure. He is only called CrossStar by people because of the dagger-like shurikens he throws with amazing accuracy. Burroughs recognizes the costumed figure; he was involved with the case that led to him getting injured. We see CrossStar cross paths with Burroughs during that attack on the precinct.

The story is good overall. Some of the dialogue is cliché and cheesy in places, especially with Burroughs. His favorite word appears to be “Ejit.” There is a strong Commissioner Gordon/Batman vibe throughout the book. We even get a little joke about it in a scene where CrossStar is called Mr. Bat Man. The art is handled very well. Each character looks distinct and pops off the page. The panel layout is done expertly and used to great effect.

Bottom Line: CrossStar is the first in a planned seven issue story by Crucidel Productions, and it’s a nice introduction story. We learn about our characters and delve into the mystery of who or what CrossStar is and whether he is a good guy or bad. Looking at the website and some of the character profiles, it looks like the other books are going to be really interesting. It’s a good indie book you should check out. It has some great art and what appears to be shaping up as a great story. I give CrossStar #1 a 3.5/5.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Advance Review: CrossStar #1