Paul's Picks! - February 1, 2013

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And now for his much-anticipated pick-of-the-week...

Hey there friends! It's been a while, hasn't it? Alas, due to my recent relocation for my student teaching assignment, I've been forced into a comic shop dead zone. As this is the case, I am currently having to have my pulls shipped to me from my regular shop back in Bowling Green, KY, the Great Escape Records and Comics. They have been gracious enough to take on the task of shipping me my books so that I can continue buying print comics (I'll never give in, digital overlords!), but the downside is that I often have to wait weeks at a time for my massive stacks of pulls. As such, the entire premise of "Paul's Picks" has become tainted and strictly limited to the ancillary purchase that I make via Comixology. However, since this week managed to land on a shipping week, I was able to read a good stack of books, including this week's!

And man, what a week it is! As I'm sitting down to write this article, I am torn practically in two on which book best deserves my pick. I'll tell you right outside the gate, DC Comics took the cake. If you've been tuning in (as you should be) to the AC Podcast, then you'll be well aware of all the Marvel love we've been spreading around lately, myself included. But for all of the good stuff coming out of the NOW! relaunch, there is no question in my mind that DC brought their "A" game this week with two titles that may or may not be in your sights: Aquaman #16 and Batman Incorporated #7. As a matter of fact, I loved both of these books so much, I don't think I can make Sophie's choice. In other words, I'ma go with both.

Paul's Picks! - April 18, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And now for his much-anticipated pick-of-the-week...

Another week has passed, and with it comes a whole new slew of comics to keep us here at Ancillary Characters busy with writing, thinking, podcasting and stuff. With a long list of incredible books to survey from Wednesday, April 19th, I'm here as usual to give you my well-founded (or so I think) opinion regarding my pick of the week! For those of you who have been following us here at AC for some time now, you may be pleased to hear that, thanks to Seth and my recent acquisition of an iPad, my weekly Marvel intake has greatly increased (not to mention the Image titles I'm reading monthly now. And so, both in my column and on the show, our topics will be branching out more so from the DC-heavy stuff we've been covering since the arrival of the New 52. And so, you can definitely expect to see titles from all over the spectrum of comic book publishers from now on. With that being said, I must confess that this week's pick was so fantastic that my desire to expand the column into broader horizons has been somewhat dwarfed by the sheer awesomeness of the absolute winner...

Paul's Picks! - March 21, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And in celebration of this weekly, well, celebration, Paul is here to give you his favorite book of the week.

Welcome back friends! I hope your week has been amazing so far. Yesterday was one of those comic book days that make all of us readers and buyers glad to be a fan. Especially on the DC end of the market, three of the best titles hit shelves on the same day (JLA, Wonder Woman, and Batman or course), not to mention lots of other great stuff across the board. I knew when Wednesday rolled around that I would be facing a tough decision in terms of my pick. My wife and I recently obtained one of the new iPads last Friday, and I have since begun my trek into the world of digital comics, so this week's pick was not only affected by my stack of issues from the local shop, but also a handful of ancillary books that wound up in my Comixology app. I finished all of my issues yesterday afternoon, but it took me most of the night and this morning to finally decide on my chosen piece this week.

So what is it? Which book took the lead? In a way, no single issue did. I was (obviously) tempted to hand it over to Batman #7, which was obviously great, but in the end I decided to go with an unconventional choice: The Curse of Shazam! by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank.

Paul's Picks! - Feb. 29th, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And in celebration of this weekly, well, celebration, Paul is here to give you his favorite book of the week.

Justice League in Review


For those of you who may have already read the "epic" finale to Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's introductory arc on the best-seller from the DCnU, please don't roll your eyes when you see their title at the header for this week's pick. If I can be totally honest with you, this week's column is much less about my favorite stand-alone issue from Leap Day, 2012 and more so about the feelings that I was left with after reading the greatly anticipated conclusion to this first arc of Justice League. I'm going to try and make this as concise as humanly possible, but take into account that this article has been half-a-year in the making. So without any more build up, let's get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we?

Gotta admit, it's a cool cover.

My Expectations:


When I read the solicitations for the launch of the New 52, there is no hiding that this book was most likely sitting at the top of my most-anticipated list. I mean, get real people: a Geoff Johns/Jim Lee ongoing series? And not just any series, a Justice League book! Let's be honest DC fans, over the last few years, the JLA book had pretty much fallen off the deep end. It was stuck in Lamesville and couldn't get out. DC promised to return to us all the things that we could possible desire from a team-up book: an A-list writer, one of the most favored artists in the business, a line up of the best heroes that DC has to offer, and a villain of epic proportions. In theory, this was the perfect setup! And I couldn't have been more hyped.

Episode 2: The Watchmen Revelation Special Edition

Hey guys, here's episode 2 of the podcast! In this edition, we talk about the world changing announcement concerning Before Watchmen, as well as Detective Comics, Avenging Spiderman, and plenty more.

You can listen to it above, or even better, download it at iTunes at the link below. Also, if you like it, please go write us a review on iTunes. And comment below, let us know what you think, interact! Enjoy the show!

Tales from the Long Box: Geoff Johns' Flash (or the rise of Geoff Johns)

In 2002, after an absence that lasted from my early teens into my twenties, I started reading monthly comics. I started with Batman, collecting every issue of No Man's Land and, despite not having a clue what had come before I enjoyed it immensely. From there I branched out into other corners of the Marvel and DC universes. Mostly I stuck to characters I knew like Spider-Man and Superman and the Justice League. I believe it was in a copy of Wizard magazine that I first read about this guy, Geoff Johns who was working his way up through the writing ranks on smaller characters. Stars and STRIPE and the Flash had already been overseen by him and he was knee deep in what would become one of my all-time favorite comics, the JSA. I read the article, liked what he had to say about superhero comics and decided to try out one of his books.

The first book I read with Johns name on the cover was a beat up trade paperback that I got at the library collecting a hand full of issues of the Flash. I remember being struck by the art of Scott Kollins and instantly recognizing that this Johns guy had something different than other writers. His Wally West was an easy guy to identify with, who worked a normal day job and struggled with everyday problems issue to issue. Under Geoff's pen Wally became DC's answer to Peter Parker in a lot of ways. Something I've always felt set the Johns earlier work apart from other guys is that he seemed to write like he had something to prove. He'd take on books like Stars and STRIPE and Flash or the JSA, characters who were second or third tier at best, and he'd turn them into best selling titles.

Paul's Picks! - January 25, 2012

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And in celebration of this weekly, well, celebration, Paul is here to give you his favorite book of the week.

Well it's time for another Pick of the Week, and I find myself on unsure ground. There are some weeks where the chosen pick is screaming at me, and then there are those weeks when everything runs together so much that I have trouble pointing out the "best" of them; this is one of those weeks. Don't get me wrong, there were some great books, and if I had to pick a favorite I'd go with The Flash #5 by Francis Manupal and Brian Buccellato, but I'm afraid if I spend this week's article outlining what I love about their incredible run on the series, I'll just be repeating what I've already made clear in weeks past. Instead, I want to talk about something other than a single issue that tickled my fancy. This week, my pick is Comics that Make an Impression.

Paul's Picks! - Dec. 21

Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And in celebration of this weekly, well, celebration, Paul is here to give you his favorite book of the week.

Justice League #4 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee

Fish-man no more!

First of all, Merry Christmas! Well, almost. I'm sure many of you are just getting settled in for the holidays, and what better way to kick back than with a nice stack of comics? At least, that's the first thing I did when I arrived at the parents for the weekend, and man was I in for a treat! Not one of my pulls this week were a let down. As a matter of fact, any of them could easily have wound up as my favorite this week. Azzarello's Wonder Woman was great as usual, Snyder continues to blow my mind in Batman, and this was probably the best issue of TMNT yet. Sadly, there can be only one, and the inevitable winner this week is the fourth issue of the Johns/Lee Justice League!