The Longbox Short-List - Week of June 24, 2015

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it!

Comics Shipping This Week

UNCLE GRANDPA PIZZA STEVE SPECIAL #1 - My kids watch a lot of older cartoons on Netflix or Amazon.  It's not unusual to see POWERPUFF GIRLS, SONIC, or RUGRATS on my TV.  In fact, I have seen RUGRATS IN PARIS at least ten times in the last two weeks.  Pretty much the only current shows they obsess over are UNCLE GRANDPA, POWER RANGERS: DINO CHARGE and SONIC BOOM.  My wife hates UNCLE GRANDPA, but I will admit that I think it's kind of brilliant.  I am mostly picking this up for the kids, but I am looking forward to it myself.

SECRET WARS - Lots of SECRET WARS this week.  I have been picking them all up to review them, but that doesn't neccessarily mean I love all of them.  For this week, my picks are PLANET HULK #2, WHERE MONSTERS DWELL #2 and E IS FOR EXTINCTION #1.  None of the others really appeal to me all that much.

SUPERMAN #41 - I am still annoyed that this issue came out after quite a few comics dealing with the ramifications of this issue have already come out (ACTION COMICS, SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN and SUPERMAN/BATMAN), but this is the most excited I've been about SUPERMAN in a long time, so I am picking it up anyway.  TRUTH definitely is the shot in the arm SUPERMAN has needed!

JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #1 - DC stealing Marvel's gimmick with renumbering and renaming this series.  But JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 was one of my favorite DC books, and I am really looking forward to seeing when DeMatteis and Giffen take us next.

GREEN LANTERN: THE LOST ARMY #1 - I'm not quite sure what to expect from this one, but I'm hoping it's like LEGION LOST (the original mini by Abnett and Lanning, not the New-52 version).  I actually have fallen away from GREEN LANTERN since Johns left, but I'm going to give this one a fair shot.  

FLASH #41- ZOOM!!!  The current run of FLASH has been excellent, and I can't wait to see what they can do with Zoom.  

SHIELD #7 - Daisy Johnson Vs Hyde!  I actually had no idea Hyde was Quake's dad in the comics (like he is in the TV series as well) until a friend had pointed it out.  I've said this quite a few times, Marvel's SHIELD series is an excellent take on these characters and worth checking out even if you don't like AGENTS OF SHIELD.

TITHE #3 (of 4) - I actually didn't realize this was only a 4 issue miniseries, which means it's already running down.  I really hope they extend it or do a second series.  This has been a terrific story and I hate to see it go so soon.

GRAYSON #9 - Probably DC's best book.  I've really missed this during the two month break for Convergence.  The preview for GRAYSON promised some new twists and turns, and I can't wait to see where it goes.

TEEN TITANS #9 - TEEN TITANS had a huge turnaround when it relaunched, and I love the addition of characters like Manchester Black and Josiah Power to the mix.  I'm a huge POWER COMPANY fan, and Josiah Power was my username on the old DCMB's back in the day.  You can even find some letters DC ran under that name (or Sigil-Bearer Josiah) back in the day.  

LEGENDERRY GREEN HORNET #5/LEGENDERRY RED SONJA #5 - These mini-series haven't quite been as good as the LEGENDERRY series that ran last year, but I've still enjoyed them.  The idea here is to take some classic characters and set them all together in a steampunk world.  I hope that we see more LEGENDERRY soon.  As far as I know, nothing has been announced yet.