Went as planned plus three:

Reserved Bagging

• Daredevil #25 (Of course I flipped through it.  Looks pretty stellar.  Bet it’ll read even better.)
• Batwoman #19 (Just not excited about it.  Quick flip didn’t help.)
• Revival #9 (Hoping the spirit’s–or the alien’s or the whatever-the-heck-it-is is–the same as the previous issue’s.)
• Wonder Woman #19 (Don’t want to come off as misogynist or anything, but it seems as if I’m a bit down on the women this week.)
• Bloodshot #10 (Doesn’t look up to standard.  Blame Kitson?  Would hate to.  May have to.)

Bloodshot #10

• X-O Manowar #12 (Same goes for this one.  Won’t be able to blame Kitson, though.  Could this be a rare off week for Valiant?)
• Daredevil: End of Days #7 (Didn’t think it’d be worth much, even with the names attached to it.  Boy, was I wrong, mostly because of the names attached.)

Dancing with My Shelf (Uh, uh, uh, oh…)

• Todd: The Ugliest Kid on Earth #4 (Outside of my sticking too long with Green Lantern and Aquaman, this is probably my biggest mistake.  As empty of value as a series can get–and yet here I am.)
• The Shadow: Year One #2 (We’ll see, won’t we?  Unless, of course, well, the whole shadow thing…)

The Shadow: Year One #2

• Mara #4 (If anyone else were the writer, I’m not sure if I Wood’ve given it a shot.  Now that it’s four in, I feel compelled to go all the way.)

Mara #4

• Bodie Troll #1 (Not normally my thing, its being all cartoony and whatnot; but it seems like it could be fun.)
• Five Ghosts #2 (No denying it: the book looks sharp; and it seems more focused than the first issue, too.)

Five Ghosts #2

• Miniature Jesus #1 (A bigger-than-average book for a smaller-than-average savior.  Feels kinda funny in my hands.  That’s not what He said.)
• The Sixth Gun #30 (I’m officially on board!  Thing is, I’ve got to let it lie until Vol. 5.  Stinkeroo!)
• The Sixth Gun: Sons of the Gun #3 (Dear Mr. Bunn: I will also buy Daughters of the Gun, Fathers of the Gun, Mothers of the Gun, Cousins, Aunts, and Uncles of the Gun.  Neighbors, Classmates, Dogs, Cats…  Hear what I’m sayin’?)

What did you get in your bag today?

Turning pages,

Scott

I surprised myself by saying goodbye to Swamp Thing.  (I did it!)  But I caved with a couple others.  Yeah, I grabbed Action and All-New X-Men.  (Rats!)  Baby steps, I guess.

Scotty Pull Lightly

• Shadowman #6 (Back for my monthly dose of Justin Jordan juju and Patch Zircher mojo.)
• Harbinger Wars #1 (Excited!  I feel like this is a crossover worth my time.  Certainly looks the part.)
• Bedlam #6 (Looks like a nice balance between violence and conversation.)

Bedlam #6

• Animal Man #19 (Umm…where’s the Jae Lee cover?  Flipped through: color me nervous.)
• Dial H #11 (Nuh uh, they di’nt!  Hell yeah, they did!  How lovely!)
• Winter Soldier #17 (A Latour of Klein’s work leaves me confident.)

Winter Soldier #17

Beware of Picks

• The Massive #1 (For a buck?  Why not?)
• Snapshot #3 (Another sweet Jock cover.  Any doubt this’ll be the Diggle Book of the Week?)
• The Last of Us: American Dreams #1 (Yeah, I’m not too sure why.  May have been the whole Dark Horse/#1 combo.  Had no idea it’s a video game tie-in.)
• Indestructible Hulk #6 (Wow.  Looks like Hulk may be destructible after all.  Ugh.  Hard to believe it’s the same title.)

Indestructible Hulk #6

• Green Arrow #19 (Really like the look of the book.  This may be the Green Arrow I was hoping for after all.)

Green Arrow #19

• Kill Shakespeare: The Tide of Blood #2 (Am I missing something here?  No, wait: upon further inspection, I’ve discovered the mirrored pages!  Not as exciting as I had hoped.  Oh well.)

My Shame

• Action Comics #19 (Looks like a Scott Lobdell/Jim Lee book.  Not a compliment.)
• All-New X-Men #10 (I wonder how long I can hope against hope.  Hmm.  Hadn’t thought about this before: maybe hoping against hope is my mutant ability.)

May as well jump in.

What did you get in your bag today?

Turning pages,

Still buying books with a bag over my head, but I’m seeing things more clearly now.  And wouldn’t you know: I’ve pared down the ol’ pull list, but I’m picking up more and more books–and a Moore book, too, for good measure!

Pull-List Pretties

• Fatale #13 (Wild west?  In my groove–especially now that I’m addicted to Bunn’s The Sixth Gun.   Already feelin’ Book of the Week.)
• Fury: My War Gone By #10 (Just the thought of this series coming to an end makes me not want to open it up.)
• Battlefields: The Fall and Rise of Anna Kharkova #5 (But then there’s always this!)

Battlefields #5

• Clone #5 (I’m done with this–unless, of course, this one’s any good.  Damn cliffhangers!)

Pickadilly Circus

• Batman Incorporated #9 (Can’t not follow up on the event that really changed Batman.  I mean, come on.)
• Deathmatch #4 (Read it.  Feels a little stretched out, but the end promises something new.)

Deathmatch #4

• FF #5 (Read it.  Fulfills its promise by delivering everything I’ve come to expect.  And that’s enough to keep me on board.)
• Red Team #2 (Looks like a lot of dialogue.  From Ennis, that’s a plus, y’all.)
• The Answer #3 (Has been fun.  Expecting more of the same.)
• Rachel Rising #15 (As consistent as a book can be.  Right there with Saga and Fatale in terms of storytelling.)
  

  Rachel Rising #15

• Green Hornet #1 (Daniel Indro’s art looks gorgeous.)
• East of West #1 (More Wild West!  Just east of it, apparently.  Lots of good buzz.  Looking forward to it.)

Looks like a solid week from pole to finish.

Missed out on The Sixth Gun: Sons of the Gun #2 at the shop, but was able to snare it through Oni’s website–along with some Stumptown Vol. 2 books I missed.   Lucky me!

What did you pick up today?

Turning pages,

Scott

How big is my bag?  Sooooooooo big!

Ain’t got no time for flippin’, friends; so all’s yer gonna get is a simple rundown.

As de-bagged:

• Action Comics #18
• Revival #8

Revival #8

• Daredevil #24
• Batwoman #18

Batwoman #18

• Wonder Woman #18
• X-O Manowar #11
• Harbinger #10
• Mind MGMT #9
• Ultimate Spider-Man #21 (Mucho Miles=Mucho Smiles!  Sorry, couldn’t help it.)
• Comeback #5
• Wilder Rover One-Shot (Another Dark Horse book worth a look!  This one by Michael Avon Oeming.  Again, sorry.)
• Saga #11
• Five Ghosts #1
• Justice League of America #2
• G.I. Joe #2
• TMNT #20 (Accident!  Meant to grab Foot Clan, of course.)
• Indestructible Hulk #5

Indestructible Hulk #5

• All-New X-Men #9
• Poison Elves #1
• Nowhere Men #3 (First printing!  Yeah, I missed it the first time around.  Now I can catch up!)

Gulp.

What did you get in your bag today?

Soon to be turning lots and lots of pages,

Scott

These big bags are bullying their collective way into my weekly routine.  Budget-busting bastards.

Straight Outta Bagton

• Green Arrow #17 (Looks pretty–pretty enough to earn my attention, to be my first.)

Green Arrow #1

• Winter Soldier #15 (I have no idea what to expect.  I was ready to just give up on it, with Brubaker being gone and all; but I like the character enough–certainly enough to give it another issue, maybe even an entire arc.  That being said, let’s see what Latour has to offer.)
• All-New X-Men #7 (I must have a thing for David Marquez.  Because if I’m picking this up, it isn’t for the story, that I can promise you.)
• Shadowman #4 (Patrick Zircher looks like he’s having fun–shadowy, Cajun fun.)
• Snapshot #1 (A new Image #1 from Andy Diggle and Jock.  Some crackin’ black and white art, which is always a turn on.)
• Fairy Quest: Outlaws #1 (Looks like Humberto Ramos has outdone himself–to our benefit, of course.  Betcha it’ll read just as well.  Mr. Jenkins is good that way.)
• Harbinger #0 (Yeah, hi!  The art is gorgeous and–even without an understanding of the story–strikingly intense.)

Harbinger #0

• Red Team #1 (Looks conversation heavy.  Thank God!  That’s exactly what I was hoping for from Mr. Ennis.)
• Colder #4 (Ferreyra’s still solid, clearly.  Tobin, however, has been thawing out a little too quickly–especially for a mini.  Sorry to say, not expecting much at this point.)
• Ultimate Spider-Man #20 (Ride ’em, Spider-Boy–er, Man.  For some reason, I’m feeling a bit of anxiety over this one.  I wonder if I’m worried about liking Venom.  Wouldn’t that be a kick in the craggy mouth.)
• Daredevil: End of Days #5 (Bendis and the crew is building toward something of questionable value, sure, but they’re doing it well; and, with each new issue, I find myself climbing more confidently.)
• Swamp Thing #17 (Umm…what?  Paquette’s not the artist on the Rotworld finale?  Yeah, I already feel ripped off.  Horrible Wolverine and the X-Men flashbacks.)
• Dial H #9 (#8 was a bit of a letdown.  Hope China’s got it in him to bring it all back to form–the form that earned his series our highest honor: #1 book of 2012.  A quick, hopeful flip reveals that Alberto Ponticelli’s still trying to find his way.  Yup: we’re all missing Mateus Santoloucco, who, by the way, is rocking it on his own  TMNT book.)

Dial H #9

• Animal Man #17 (An odd twist: after a superficial scan, looks like I’m looking forward to this more than I am Swamp Thing.  Even still, I’m not super psyched about it.  Damn.)

So, yeah, I bought a few books today.

What did you get in your bag?  Anything good?

Turning pages,

Scott

I can’t be the only one who feels like January has done its best Mr. Fantastic impression.  Sheesh!  Last week’s pile was a monster but in the end didn’t impress much.  If you’re wondering, Derek and I will cover just a few of the remarkable issues from that super-sized stack in a soon-to-be released Back and Forth.  This week, however, came in at a much more humble height.

Bag of Tricks

• Deathmatch #2 (Went with Cover C by Trevor Harisine just ’cause it was there.  Opens up well enough and looks like Jenkins and Magno are continuing their steady march toward madness.  What does your bracket look like?)
• Mara #2 (A-Rod, Ray Lewis–and Mara?)
• Emily and the Strangers #1 (Recommended by Travis, a recent commenter.  Bought it instead of Avengers #4.  Looks fun!)

Emily and the Strangers #1

• The Superior Spider-Man #2 (Still don’t care for Stegman’s art.  Still not over the debacle that was the end of #1.  I have a sneaky suspicion that it’s going to taint my experience–that I’ll dislike this issue no matter what goes down.)

Question: Which Book from Last Week Did I Decide to Pick Up?

• The Answer #1 (Derek was super convincing.)

Gotta Wait For

• Justice League Dark #16
• Nowhere Men #3

Might not get to read any tonight; I’ve still got a thing or two to write.  Darned priorities.

What did you get in your bag today?

Turning pages Writing paragraphs,

Scott

Two stops at two shops in an hour webbed me a sticky stack.  Yeah, it’s true, believers: I can’t just say, “No.”  Sorry, Nancy.

Baggadocio

• Action Comics #16 (“The Second Death of Superman,” eh?  You know what?  I’m going to forgive him the title.  For now, anyway–until I realize I have to praise him for it, of course.)
• Animal Man #16 (Thumbed through.  We’ll see.)
• Dial H #8 (David Lapham had a surprisingly solid turn.  Alberto Ponticelli brings something a smidgen more malleable to the page.  His style is closer to that of original artist Mateus Santolouco, but isn’t quite there–yet.)
• Secret Service #5 (Just one more to go.)
• Swamp Thing #16 (More wild layouts!  Panels de Paquette!  Flip-Through Challenge: The Green vs. The Red: Round 1: The Green!)

Rack-a-lanche

• The Superior Spider-Man #1 (Yeah, like everyone else.  Stupid if I didn’t–because Slott’s transition into NOW! was nothing short of amazing.)
• Avengers Arena #3 (I wonder how long the clever cover cavalcade will continue.  I wonder how long I will continue to buy this book.)
• Thunderbolts #3 (Maybe if my brain were as big as the Leader’s I would’ve left this one on the counter.  But Elektra is tied up, so…)
• Change #2 (Well, one thing didn’t change, that’s for sure: it’s still weird.  The cover: appropriate; a few flips and I felt like I had popped some pills.)

Change #2 Cover

• Shadowman #3 (I had forgotten about this one.  Hmm.  Maybe for good reason.  Gotta admit, though: Zircher’s doing some good work here.)
• TMNT: The Secret History of the Foot Clan #1 (Showin’ some loyalty to a Dial H alum: Mateus Santolouco tries his hand at the Turtles, and I’m buyin’ it.)

That’s some pile.  Time to dig in.

What did you get in your bag today?

Turning pages,

Scott