The Longbox Short-List - Week of August 23, 2017

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Submitted by Mike 'Ace' Maillaro on Tue, 08/22/2017 - 08:10

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

JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS #9 – THIS IS THE LAST ISSUE! JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS has been one of my favorite comic series, so I am real sad to see it go. Not sure what’s going on with Archie, but this seems like another in a series of real bad decisions to me.

GENERATIONS: THE UNWORTHY THOR AND THE MIGHTY THOR #1 – Last week’s GENERATIONS: WOLVERINE was the best one so far, but I’ve enjoyed each of these specials. Curious how this all fits in with LEGACY and SECRET EMPIRE.

SECRET EMPIRE #9 – Issue 8 was basically my favorite comic to come out this year. Loved seeing the Marvel universe heading in a more positive, optimistic light for a change. Hope that they keep this up!

LETTER 44 #35 – Been waiting a while for the last issue of this great series. Charles Soule has taken us on one hell of a roller coaster. This series started with the president receiving a letter from his predecessor telling him about an alien ship, and things have just gotten crazier since. Can’t wait to see how this all wraps up.

NIGHTWING: THE NEW ORDER #1 – Kyle Higgins returns to Nightwing in this Elseworlds story. In the future, Dick Grayson leads a powerful regime looking to outlaw and eliminate superheroes. But now this regime is targeting Dick’s family, putting him at odds with the very system he created. I have no idea why Dick Grayson is being used here. This sounds more like an indy book, but I like Higgins and will definitely check it out anyway.

DONALD AND MICKEY #1 – IDW decided to end their monthly DONALD DUCK and MICKEY MOUSE books and replace them with a quarterly anthology book instead…with a cover price of $6. Not really thrilled with this change, but I really enjoy these stories and I’m glad that IDW is continuing to publish them.

FIRST STRIKE #2 – FIRST STRIKE is IDW’s newest Hasbro line crossover. I liked the first issue, though it was marred a bit by REVOLUTIONARIES lateness making a mess of the lead in. A huge shock reveal kind of came off as a whimper here because of that. After FIRST STRIKE, the Hasbro line is getting a huge facelift with Rom and Micronauts sharing a book and GI Joe and MASK sharing a book.

MOONSTRUCK #2 – Picked up the first issue on a whim, but I really enjoyed it. Very much in the spirit of PATSY WALKER AKA HELLCAT. Supernatural characters hanging at a coffee shop. Definitely check it out!

WEAPON X #7 – Took a little while to get here, but at the end of the last issue of TOTALLY AWESOME HULK, the WEAPON X team has started to take shape. A little slow moving at times, but still a real solid read.

WAR MOTHER #1 - As much as I love Valiant, I have to admit that the WAR MOTHER one-shot didn't really grab me all that much. Just haven't really liked this new version of Rai and his world. But Valiant is still one of my favorite publishers, so I am willing to give it another shot anyway.