THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS @ THIRD EYE FOR WEDNESDAY 8/25/10

THIRD EYE MUST BUY: NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT #1 *CURSE OF THE MUTANTS* - The Sub-Mariner Debuts A New Ongoing Series This Wednesday Tying Into CURSE OF THE MUTANTS, and IT IS AWESOME! Crazy Pulp Horror In the Vein of Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard Meets Marvel Madness! HOLY CRAP. Who'd have thought they could make Namor so badass again? I mean, every few years, they bring the Sub-Mariner back, and they make him more prominent in the Marvel storylines, but it never seems to stick. However, it seems like Marvel has been doing the right thing with Namor, finally, after the events of things like UTOPIA and SECOND COMING, we've seen Namor slowly cement his position as a very interesting X-Men supporting character. And, now, it looks like the setting is just right for this classic character to receive his own ongoing series. I was skeptical, I'll admit, as I've never been a major fan of Namor, but after reading the advance of this first issue: WOW. Artwork, story, the whole nine yards, it's a fantastic and very optimistic start for Namor's own ongoing series. Now, don't get me wrong, the fact that this book is tying into the uber-rad CURSE OF THE MUTANTS storyline does help make it even better. I'm so digging the whole Marvel Vampires on the Rampage thing that I'm eager to devour anything tied into it right now, 'cause it's been off to such a good start. Don't get me wrong though, this is a quality read, and really has potential to introduce a new character and corner of the Marvel Universe for readers. Part of the appeal of the first issue is that Namor is such a blank slate that the creative team could really do a lot of new things with the character, and it made not just Namor, but the entire mythology of Atlantis in the Marvel Universe much more interesting. The book read pretty much like a ground-up rebuild of the mythos of Atlantis, while at the same time dishing out some tidbits on the whole Atlantean Vampire thing. But, enough of my fanboy praises, lets get right to it and talk about what this book is, and where it's headed. What is NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT? Namor: The First Mutant is a brand new ongoing series that brings one of Marvel's oldest, and often times, most conflicted, characters center stage. In a nutshell, you could say Namor was the first anti-hero. He was never a good guy, and has straddled the line of good and evil many times before. The way that they're approaching the character in this new series is very reminiscent of stuff like Robert E.Howards Conan and Kull stories. You know, the whole mythic, old-world nature of forgotten, fallen kingdoms. The other cool angle, of course, is the big tie-in to the current X-Men storyline, CURSE OF THE MUTANTS, which is the storyline where the X-Men are fending off a vampiric invasion of San Francisco. While Marvel does say you don't need to have read X-Men #1 and #2 to jump in, we feel that you will get a much bigger picture of the events that are surrounding the whole story. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that Namor has been sent on a mission for the X-Men. See, Namor's a little extra sensitive to the whole vampire vs. mutant thing considering that many of his own people have been turned into Atlantean vampires. Why we loved it? It's a completely fresh, completely new arena of stories for the Marvel Universe. Yes, it does tie into a killer storyline running through X-Men, but it also sets up a very compelling, and interesting sandbox for creators to play in, much like Abnett and Lanning did with the cosmic arena of characters. The way that Atlantis is written in this is so cool, and reminds you of old school arcane worlds, forgotten kingdoms, and even hints of Lovecraftian otherworldly beings. The writing is tight, and man, the artwork is gorgeous. Ariel Olivetti brings a surreal, dream-like atmosphere to the underwater kingdoms of Atlantis, while delivering a ton of raw energy and action to the story. All in all, there's a very cool pulp horror and weirdness that sets the tone for this series. There's also a modern kind of horror film sensibility that permeates the book, and keeps the suspense running high. Gotta tell you, folks, this one could end up being the sleeper of the summer. Do NOT miss it! I was super impressed. Click here for a preview of NAMOR: FIRST MUTANT #1 Click here for the official Third Eye Comics X-MEN: CURSE OF THE MUTANTS Checklist THIRD EYE MUST BUY: GUARDING THE GLOBE #1 - "WALKING DEAD", "HAUNT" & "INVINCIBLE" writer ROBERT KIRKMAN DEBUTS THE MOST BADASS SUPERHERO TEAM BOOK.. EVER in this NEW IMAGE SERIES! Folks, you know as well as we do: Robert Kirkman can do no wrong. He's probably one of our favorite writers working today, and I really cannot think of any book he's written that I didn't enjoy. So, it's no surprise to many of you that we're super pumped about the upcoming GUARDIANS OF THE GLOBE.. er.. I mean, Guarding the Globe mini-series. Yeah, I don't know what the scoop is, but I heard (and please note, this could all be rumor :) ) that the name of the series was changed due to it's similarities to the Marvel title, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. Either way, no matter what the book is called, it's gonna kick ass, and there's no question about that. I've gotten my hands on some preview pages, and trust me, folks, if you love INVINCIBLE, HAUNT, ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN, ect ect, then your'e gonna love GUARDING THE GLOBE. This mini-series, using characters that've mostly originated in the INVINCIBLE corner of the Image Universe, picks the perfect time to focus on many of the characters that we see weaving in and out of the INVINCIBLE title, you know, since Invincible is out in space fighting Viltrumites and stuff. While INVINCIBLE fans are sure to get a lot out of this one, and totally dig it, we feel that for those of you who've never even read INVINCIBLE before, you'll still get a really great read from this, as the first issue reads really well with many of the characters being freshly introduced to the readers. In other words, it's a great way to kinda poke your head into Kirkman's INVINCIBLE world, and see how you dig it. And trust us, folks, INVINCIBLE is pretty much the WALKING DEAD of superhero comics. Incredible character-driven storytelling, over-the-top superhero fights ending in bloody disembowlments, and shocking twist after twist, it's a series that'll hook you in just like WALKING DEAD. Anyways, the plot of GUARDING THE GLOBE focuses on the efforts of Cecil Stedman, director of the Global Defense Agency and the driving force behind the Guardians, and the remaining team members to bulk up the ranks of the team and help the world feel safe and protected again. At the same time, Kirkman gets into the machinations of The Order, an international crime organization, starting to come to fruition, taking advantage of the lessened numbers in the Guardians. So, the question is whether or not the team can get it together in order to stop the plans of the mysterious leader of The Order. The team line-up is one that'll be both familiar to those of you who've followed Kirkman's other Image and INVINCIBLE stuff, as well as new. We've got some returning characters like Brit, and then newer members like Yeti, Kaboomerang, and Outrun. The thing that's going to be cool about this series is it allows Kirkman to continue to build the large superhero universe he's been building for a bit now in books like INVINCIBLE and Wolfman. The man is a fantastic writer, and we cannot wait to see him explore the whole superhero team dynamic in greater detail. Why You Should Check This Out? First off, it's written by ROBERT KIRKMAN, and that's reason enough. He rocks. He rocks big-time. Secondly, for INVINCIBLE fans, it's your one shot to know what's going on back on planet Earth while Mark is fighting dudes with evil mustaches in space. And, with "Brit" and "Astounding Wolf-man" concluding, this is a great book to access the Invincible universe outside of the regular book. And, for those of you who've never read "INVINCIBLE", this book is the only place you're gonna find yetis, Martians, and invulnerable senior citizens beating up extraterrestrial cephalopods for the fate of Atlantis. I mean, how can you go wrong? Plus, it's a great spot to jump into the super cool superhero universe Kirkman has been building with INVINCIBLE and other books. THIRD EYE MUST BUY: BATMAN #702 *RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE TIE-IN* - THE SECOND HALF OF GRANT MORRISON'S "UNTOLD TALE" THAT BRIDGES BATMAN: RIP and FINAL CRISIS, REVEALING HOW WAYNE GOT ZAPPED BACK IN TIME HITS THIS WEDNESDAY! The second half of Grant Morrison's "Missing Chapter" of BATMAN: RIP continues this Wednesday, and dammit, I wanna read it now, I'm so stoked! Tying into the events of RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE, and kicking off in BATMAN #700, Morrison has been exploring, unveiling and expanding upon the disappearance of Bruce Wayne into the timestream. It's no secret that we've been completely hooked on Morrison's redefining of the Batman mythos, and things have really heated up this summer with the RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE. But, it's also no secret that we, like many others, were completely puzzled about the conclusion of BATMAN: RIP, and then the sudden Darkseid zapathon in FINAL CRISIS. It SORT OF made sense, but not totally. And, that's where this current arc in BATMAN comes from, written by the man who penned both BATMAN RIP and FINAL CRISIS, and starting in BATMAN #700, this 3-issue arc shows us just what the device was that Wayne was strapped into, and then in #701, we're shown what happens after that helicopter blows up, and before Wayne ends up confronting Darkseid. And, this Wednesday, we're finally going to see the missing piece of the puzzle that not just explains how Bruce Wayne got sent back into time, but also the complete chain of events surrounding BATMAN: RIP and Batman's fate in FINAL CRISIS. If you missed BATMAN: #700, or BATMAN #701, don't worry, because we do still have copies in stock to get you caught up this Wednesday. If you're even remotely into the Batman books, or if you've been totally devoted to the currently awesome RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE arc, then you should check this companion storyline out! Click here for a preview of BATMAN #702 *RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE TIE-IN* THIRD EYE MUST BUY: AVENGERS #4 - Brian Michael Bendis & John Romita JR continue to WOW the hell out of us with this incredible, over-the-top slobberknocker of a superhero book! Freakin' War of the Worlds-style Martians, and more! :) AAAAAAAH. I just got done reading issue #4 of AVENGERS, and man, I'm having a hard time keeping my mouth shut about the spoilers in this one. IT WAS FREAKIN' OFF THE CHAIN. But, I'm gonna keep silent, I swear! The AVENGERS has been one of my favorite books this summer. While I still have to go with SECRET AVENGERS as my favorite over-all, AVENGERS is definitely giving it a run for it's money. John Romita JR's artwork has been bringing an incredible amount of energy to the page, energy so raw that it makes the characters literally jump off the page at you. I swear, no one draws a big-time superhero slugfest like Romita JR. His unique, stylized approach brings so much movement and pacing to the page. And, Bendis, Bendis is truly impressing us issue after issue, as he manages to tell a bigger-than-life, swashbuckling time-travel saga with the Avengers. The kind of Avengers story that we haven't seen in a long time, but with a very cool, contemporary twist. What is AVENGERS? Well, by now, you've probably heard me give this spiel a few times, but for those of you who may be new to the shop, or just curious about jumping into the Marvel Univese, here's the skinny. AVENGERS is kind of the big flagship book of Marvel right now. In other words, this is the book where many of the big storylines happen that impact the rest of the universe. While AVENGERS is a completely self-contained title, it's kind of ground zero for everything big, and epic in the Marvel U. The first story arc, which has been way too awesome for it's own good, has shown us that all the alternate futures of the Marvel Universe, ranging from the Age of Apocalypse, Days of Future Past, Avengers Forever, and more, are in danger of crashing down upon the present and just completely destroying everything. So far, we've seen a crazy whacked out old man version of Hulk, who could possibly be (and totally resembles) The Maestro, we've seen Apocalypse and his future Four Horsemen (Wolverine as Death, Spider-man as Pestilence, Scarlet Witch as Famine, and Hulk as War), and we've seen the kids from Next Avengers. Plus, the team line up here is pretty awesome, with all of Marvel's big guns and major plays on board, and then some very cool newer characters like Marvel Boy. Anyways, it's been 3 issues so far of gigantic smash-up tooth-and-nail, broken face fights, and this fourth one... HUGE HUGE reveals continue, and even more superhero ultraviolence. If you've missed the first few issues, we've currently got issues #1, #2, and #3 in stock to get you caught up. Click here for a preview of AVENGERS #4 THIRD EYE CERTIFIED COOL: DRACULA, THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS #1 - BOOM! (publishers of IRREDEEMABLE) and Kurt Busiek (ASTRO CITY) debut a killer new ongoing series in the vein of the classic Gene Colan TOMB OF DRACULA! This one looks rad! I am an incredibly huge fan of the old school Gene Colan era TOMB OF DRACULA comics. There was just something interesting, and exciting to be said about a Marvel series that spotlighted the Lord of Darkness as a strange, anti-hero protagonist. And, they've never really been able to kinda recapture that magic, at least not until now, I think. Boom! Studios, the folks who've brought us the awesomeness of series like IRREDEEMABLE, INCORRUPTIBLE, THE ANCHOR, and more, are kicking off a brand new ONGOING series with Kurt Busiek handling the writing (and folks, this guy is one of the true underrated greats in comics, forget about stuff like Trinity, and look back to his killer work on ASTRO CITY, ARROWSMITH, The Avengers, and much more) that takes the Tomb of Dracula concept and kinda runs with it. Now, please take note, this is a brand new start, and a brand new series, not a continuation of the Tomb of Dracula series. However, what I'm referring to is that it kinda recaptures the FEEL of that series, in how Dracula was portrayed as this anti-hero sort of character. Anyways, the series kicks off with a powerful, predatory corporation acquiring a very valuable asset... Dracula, himself! They think they own him, but no one can own the Son of the Dragon. There's a monster in their midst that puts Hannibal Lecter to shame - and he plans to gain his freedom in blood. Yup, the first arc is one pitting bloodsuckers vs. bloodsucker, and Busiek is bringing a very cool, very modern spin to the Dracula mythos. Click here for a preview of DRACULA: COMPANY OF MONSTERS #1 THIRD EYE CERTIFIED COOL: ACTION COMICS #892 - LEX LUTHOR'S QUEST FOR THE POWER OF THE ORANGE LANTERN CONTINUES! HOLY CRAP, THIS RUN HAS BEEN GOOD SO FAR! Lex Luthor vs. Deathstroke the Terminator! Folks, I have gotta say, this Paul Cornell guy rocks. I mean, I've enjoyed his work so much on the previous two issues of ACTION COMICS that I've gone back and read some of his really killer Captain Britain and the MI-13 stuff, and damn, it's criminal that series got canceled. Really, really good stuff. Anyways, starting in ACTION COMICS #890, Paul Cornell and the uber-talented Pete Woods came aboard to basically make ACTION COMICS into Lex Luthor's book. Now, what's been so super rad about this? Well, the main driving plot point is Luthor's quest for the Orange Lantern ring. The first two issues (which are both in stock to get you caught up here at Third Eye) have been outstandingly good, and what's really awesome is that when issue #894 hits: Death, from the Endless, aka you know, Neil Gaiman's classic SANDMAN series, is going to make an appearance. That's a HUGE deal. Gaiman doesn't just let anyone use his characters, so you gotta believe that Cornell must be doing something right here. This week, we're gonna see old Lex butting heads with Deathstroke the Terminator in his all-consuming quest for power. What's gonna happen when the DCU's most ingenious criminal mastermind meets it's most lethal killer.... well, one thing we can say for sure: pure comic awesomeness! If you're not reading this one yet, snag issues #890 and #891 this week at Third Eye, and find out why Action Comics is slowly becoming serious must-read material! Click here for a preview of ACTION COMICS #892 SHADOWLAND CONTINUES THIS WEDNESDAY WITH SHADOWLAND: MOON KNIGHT #1 Who doesn't love Moon Knight? I mean, c'mon, first off: he looks freakin' awesome. Secondly, he's some crazy dude who used to cut off the faces of bad guys and sacrifice them to some Egyptian death god, and then third, well, he's Moon Knight. He rocks. And, of course, being based out of New York, you know that ol' Marc Spector has to play some kind of a role in the whole Shadowland madness that's going down. And, here's something that's kind of a twist: Daredevil, now completely insane, and you know, totally evil, is looking to take Moon Knight out... for NOT killing bad guys with him. :) And, to do it, a mysterious figure has been enlisted to help: a second avatar of Khonshu. Has Khonshu finally decided to replace Moon Knight with someone that WILL cut off dudes faces again? Click here for a preview of SHADOWLAND: MOON KNIGHT #1 Click here for the Third Eye Shadowland Checklist! THIRD EYE CERTIFIED COOL: SCIENCE DOG #1 ONE-SHOT by ROBERT KIRKMAN, writer of "WALKING DEAD", "HAUNT", "INVINCIBLE", and MORE BRINGS US ANOTHER KICK-ASS ONE-SHOT IN THE VEIN OF SEABEAR & GRIZZLY SHARK. FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE. FIGHT EVIL WITH... SCIENCE?! Okay, so you already saw all the really nice things we've got to say about Robert Kirkman earlier in the newsletter when we were going on and on about Guarding the Globe #1. So, you're aware: Robert Kirkman rocks. End of story. Whatever he writes, it tends to kickass. Okay, so, we got that out of the way. Now, lets move right on ahead, and talk about SCIENCE DOG. Much like the ridiculous, and totally fun SEABEAR AND GRIZZLY SHARK one-shot. Words cannot do the awesomeness of Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker's Science Dog justice. So, just check out the preview, trust me on this one, folks... if ya dig Kirkman, you're gonna love it. Click here for a preview of SCIENCE DOG #1 One-Shot SUPERMAN/BATMAN #75 DELIVERS A VERY SPECIAL ONE-SHOT ISSUE WITH AN INCREDIBLE ROSTER OF TALENT: DAVID FINCH WRITES AND DRAWS A STORY, ADAM HUGHES WRITES AND DRAWS A SUPERGIRL STORY, PLUS, JOE KELLY, BILLY TUCCI, FRANCIS MANAPUL and MORE! Don't Miss This One! Here's one that slipped right past me originally, and then upon further inspection, I was like HOLY CRAP, this one's a must-read! This week, the 75th issue of SUPERMAN/BATMAN hits, and with it, a slew of incredible creators doing some nice one-shot stories in this oversized issue. First off, Paul Levitz unites the World's Finest with the Legino of Superheroes to throw down with Lex Luthor. Okay, that's pretty damn cool, but, wait... Joe Kelly, a totally underrated writer in my opinion, joins with many artists to do some great stories. Adam Hughes, who rarely does interior art anymore is drawing a KILLER looking Supergirl and Batgirl story, Francis Manapul, the artist on Flash right now, is doing a Superboy/Red Robin team-up, and David Finch has a HUGE surprise pairing of Bats and Supes that I cannot wait to see. This one's a must-have, even for just the one issue, 'cause man, what a great list of creators. Click here to read more about SUPERMAN/BATMAN #75 X-MEN: CURSE OF THE MUTANTS DOUBLE DOSE THIS WEEK: X-MEN CURSE OF THE MUTANTS BLADE ONE-SHOT & X-MEN CURSE OF THE MUTANTS STORM AND GABMBIT #1 Two Must-Reads Tying Into the Killer CURSE OF THE MUTANTS storyline! The Curse of the Mutants has been bad-ass so far, and this week, in addition to the NAMOR: FIRST MUTANT #1, we've got two other CURSE OF THE MUTANTS tie-ins coming. First on the list is the X-Men CURSE OF THE MUTANTS: Storm and Gambit limited series, which shows us how the X-Men may have discovered a means for stemming the invasion of vampires. The bad news though is that what they need is in the clutches of the vampires themselves. Luckily, the X-Men have two thieves in their employ that may just be able to pull off such a heist... Throw in Storm's own past with Dracula, and this one should be pretty freakin' cool. Click here for a preview of X-MEN: CURSE OF THE MUTANTS STORM AND GAMBIT #1 Also hitting this week is the X-MEN CURSE OF THE MUTANTS BLADE #1 one-shot, where someone... something... is killing vampire slayers all over the world. Of course, this brings Blade, the biggest, and baddest slayer of them all, to investigate. He's pulled together an emergency assault team to blitz the vampire legions and force some answers out of whoever's left standing. But, Blade's not gonna like what he finds out. Click here for a preview of X-MEN CURSE OF THE MUTANTS BLADE #1 one-shot Click here for the official Third Eye Curse of the Mutants Checklist STAR WARS BLOOD TIES TALE: JANGO & BOBA FETT #1 - JANGO FETT & BOBA FETT FIGHTING SIDE BY SIDE - We're a sucker for Star Wars Bounty Hunter stories! I can't help it, I'm a sucker for anything involving Boba Fett. I grew up with Star Wars, but you know, before the prequels. It was during the late '80s/early '90s, when it had kinda turned into this just below the surface thing. Everyone knew about Star Wars, but it wasn't the legendary and iconic thing it is today. Back then, there was a TON of great stories being told in the expanded universe arena, like Heir to the Empire, Dark Empire, ect ect.. and one of those were the solo stories that focused on Boba Fett and other SW Bounty Hunters. Anyways, long story short, that kinda past is why I'm so pumped to read this week's SW: Blood Ties with Boba Fett and the less cool, but still not too bad Jango Fett pairing up together on a mission. Should be pretty awesome stuff. Click here for a preview of STAR WARS BLOOD TIES: A TALE OF JANGO AND BOBA FETT! GREEN ARROW #3 *BRIGHTEST DAY* - The new GREEN ARROW ongoing series ROCKS! The new GREEN ARROW ongoing has been REALLY good so far. We've been seriously impressed. The mystery of what's going on in the forest has been keeping us enthralled, the new harder edge to Ollie is a lot better, and reminds us of Longbow Hunters, and the overall story has been pretty top notch all the way through. Can't recommend it enough, if you haven't checked it out yet, we've got issues #1 and #2 in stock to get you caught up. Click here to read more about GREEN ARROW #3 *BRIGHTEST DAY* PUNISHER MAX: HAPPY ENDING #1 ONE-SHOT - JUAN JOSE RYP, artist of BLACK SUMMER, NO HERO & NANCY IN HELL, DELIVERS THIS RIDICULOUSLY VIOLENT AND AWESOME PUNISHER ONE-SHOT! Dude, Juan Jose Ryp's art is so freakin' good. If you're a fan of stuff like GEOFF DARROW, then you really should check this guy out. He's been one of my favorites since I first noticed him on Warren Ellis's BLACK SUMMER. And, hey, this Wednesday you've got the perfect opportunity to check out Ryp's work with this killer PUNISHER MAX one-shot focusing on some serious misfortune that befalls the mild-mannered Joe. See, after a quarrel with his wife sends him seeking comfort at a massage parlor, the mild-mannered accountant enters a whole different world, and gets caught up with a beautiful woman on the run from a vicious mob boss... and well, of course, the Punisher is involved in this one. It's Punisher, it's MAX, you know it's gonna be bloody, awesome, and with Ryp's artwork, REALLY freakin' cool looking. Click here for a preview of PUNISHER MAX: HAPPY ENDING #1 ONE-SHOT STAFF PICKS Steve -IDES OF BLOOD #1- A truly awesome first issue. Caesar's taken over Transylvania, turned half of his centurions into vampires, and now there's a serial killer on the loose. Trust me, folks, this one's gonna be a hit. Great, great read. Trish - TRUE BLOOD #2 = Hooked on the TV show, and the comic is just as good. I want more! Torma -AVENGERS & THE INFINITY GAUNTLET #1= AWESOME. Brian Clevinger from ATOMIC ROBO makes this one really fun, and it's even got SLEEPWALKER! Matt - BRIGHTEST DAY #8 = One word: WOW. Kick-ass issue that delivers some answers to many big questions surrounding BRIGHTEST DAY. REALLY good read.