Every New Beginning…

There is always a surprise when I walk into my local comic store, where they know me by name and ask me why I am constantly surprised that it isn’t Naked Day.

Some weeks my stack of pulls is small, yet full of awesome stuff. Other weeks, they hand me a six-inch stack of books that are nothing but middle issues of decompressed stories that mean a week of marking time until something cool happens. And on an infinite timeline, they will hand me only a wordy mess with incomprehensible art, and on that day you will read a 1,500-word review of something called Order of Restraint and its backup feature Remain 300 Feet Away.

This week, the take is interesting, in that it is filled with bittersweet endings. Most importantly to me is the penultimate issue of Locke & Key, but there is also the final issue Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9, as well as Matt Fraction’s final issue of Fantastic Four. And, lest we forget, this is also DC’s Villain’s Month, which means that this is the month where we see Lobo lose his testicles.

But if there are new comics, that means it is Wednesday. And while I have prided myself, for the past few weeks, on getting an early review up on Wednesday, I find that there is so much going on in Locke & Key: Alpha #1 that there isn’t a hope in hell of my getting it finished before tomorrow (short answer: it is awesome). And the combination of those two facts means that this…

…means the end of our broadcast day.

And actually, there are a ton of good new books this week. As week two of Villain’s Month, we have books featuring General Zod, Reverse Flash, Riddler, and several others villains who will probably not be emasculated. There is also a new Captain America, a couple of new crossover chapters of Marvel’s Infinity event, a new Deadpool, and a bunch of other cool stuff! *

But you know the drill: before we can review them, we need time to read them. So while that happens…

…see you tomorrow, suckers!

* Stuff including a new trade paperback collection of Jim Steranko’s entire run on Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Some of these stories I haven’t read since they were reprinted in the 70s, and I can’t wait to dive back into them. Yeah, it’s 35 clams, but these are legendary stories with groundbreaking art. Consider picking it up on your trip to your local comic store, and give ’em a big, “Happy Naked Day!” from me!  **

** Please don’t give them my real name.