Welcome to Pull It Together, where the goal is to narrow the massive field of comic book titles to the ones you shouldn’t overlook. It isn’t about what’s on my pull list, it’s about what could be on yours!
This is a good week to be a Greg Rucka fan: there’s a new issue of Lazarus, a bunch of his books are deeply discounted on Comixology, and his newest Stumptown story arc begins. But more than that, we’ve got Marvels of both the Ms. and Captain variety, Gail Simone’s final story on Batgirl (the out-of-continuity one-shot Future’s End), a new Hawkeye starring Kate Bishop, and a whole bunch of Whedonverse comics for just a dollar. But there’s something else important this week! September is your time to put in pre-orders for November’s comics. And that’s why this week is (drum roll, please)…
Update Your Pull List Week
We’re doing this a little early this month, since next week’s New Comic Book Wednesday is the 17th, and by that time we’ll already be half way through September. Everybody likes a little lead time. November is a release month for a swath of trade paperback collections, including Batwoman Vol. 5, Tomb Raider Vol. 1, and Rat Queens Vol. 2. If you’ve been interested in Greg Rucka’s Veil but not enough for single issues, it will make its hardcover debut in November as well. Wonder Woman #36, the first issue from the title’s new creative team, comes out in November, so if you’d like to see where the series goes after the departure of Cliff Chiang and Brian Azzarello, you’ll want to get it on your list.
November is also the release month for Capture Creatures, a new series from Becky Dreistadt and Frank Gibson, published by Boom! Studios. Capture Creatures began as an art project to design a bestiary’s worth of animals in the style of Pokémon, and now is a comic series about what would happen if they all appeared in the real world. Or:
Over a hundred wonderful and terrifying creatures have suddenly appeared on earth. Two teens investigate the origins of these curious creatures and how they can stop those who are trying to destroy them.
The creatures are really cute and creatively designed: stags with dripping wax candle antlers, acorn chipmunks, and cats made of archipelagos. If that sounds up your alley, ask your comic shop to order it for you! Remember that pre-orders from comics shops are the sales numbers of comics, not consumer purchases.
But there’s a flip side to Update Your Pull List Week that I haven’t talked about yet: taking things off your pull list. We’re all responsible consumers here, right? I mean, we work hard for our money, and we want to see it go to things that make us happy. As long as you’re adding stuff to your pull list, take a moment to check and see if there’s anything you should take off. It’s hard for nerds to quit a series of any kind, believe me, I know. But my usual rule of thumb is: if I don’t get as excited as Daffy Duck up there when I see that a title is coming out this week, then I probably shouldn’t be spending $3-4 an issue on it. Another rule to consider: if you can’t remember what is happening in the current storyline without having to go look up a cover or a preview of the last issue. If that’s the case, you’re probably not as invested in the title as you think you are.
Having a tight pull list that’s only full of stuff that excites you is good: it’s good for your wallet, it’s good for your enjoyment and entertainment, and it’s also good for the industry to not be able to coast by on, say, the fannish inclination to follow characters regardless of the entertainment value of their titles. So edit your pull list! And then check out this week’s comics!
Each comic in the following gallery is listed with its official teaser summary (in italics) and my own commentary (below that) where applicable.
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Are you looking forward to picking up a title this week that isn’t in Pull It Together? Mention it in the comments and I’ll take a look! Just remember: PIT only covers one week at a time, not one month! If it’s not coming out this week, it won’t be on the list.
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Published: Sep 9, 2014 03:24 pm