On the Shelves: 10/5/05

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My weekly look at select comic books being released tomorrow, 10/5/05. The full shipping is list available at ComicList.

[NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com]

AMAZING AARON PRODUCTIONS
College Girl Named Joe Vol 2 TPB, $14.95

The "front of the back of Previews" strategy - whereby you name your company something starting with an "a" - garners Amazing Aaron a best name of the week nod.

APE ENTERTAINMENT
Justice City Chronicles Vol 1 #1 (Of 2), $3.50

Picked this up in Baltimore a couple of weekends ago because the APE table always has some nice people behind it, but from the half of it that I've read so far, it felt a little not-quite-ready-for-primetime.

DARK HORSE COMICS
Conan & The Demons Of Khitai #1 (Of 4), $2.99
Damn Nation TPB, $12.95

Yes, Dark Horse has turned me into an unabashed Conan fan. And the Damn Nation TPB is a great pickup for fans of good, cinematic horror stories.

DC COMICS
Arkham Asylum Anniversary Ed SC, $17.99
Batman: Gotham County Line #1 (Of 3), $5.99
Gotham Central #36, $2.50
Son Of Vulcan #5 (Of 6), $2.99
Vertigo First Offenses TPB, $4.99

A special week of Batman-related goodies, including a new edition of Arkham Asylum, one of those comics I missed that've been on my To Buy list for a while. Steve Niles on Batman in the suburbs sounds intriguing, and I believe Gotham Central is wrapping up the "Dead Robin" storyline this month.

DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
GI Joe Americas Elite #4, $2.95

It's official. I'm a GI Joe fan again!

FC9 PUBLISHING
Genie #3, $2.95

I'm actually impressed that this is still being published considering its underwhelming, though potential-filled, debut. Might give it a flip-through to see where it's going.

IMAGE COMICS
Fell #2, $1.99
Grounded #3 (Of 6), $2.99

For fans seeking a good old-fashioned done-in-one series, Fell is comics nirvana. And writer Mark Sable managed to re-energize my interest in Grounded when I previewed it for Buzzscope last week.

MARVEL COMICS
Amazing Fantasy #13, $2.99
Powers #13, $2.95

I saw a preview somewhere of the new Amazing Fantasy storyline, only a two-issue arc this time, that intrigued me. Something about Las Vegas and a Jonah Hex-style character. I think. And Bendis won me back with #12, so Powers gets a reprieve from the pull list axe for a few more months.

MERCURY COMICS
Atomika #2 (Of 12), $2.99

I'm pretty sure this is a typo, and this is actually #5, the first post-Speakeasy issue. I've stuck with it this long so I may go the distance. As long as Abbinanti chills with the variant covers. I bought the Buzz version over Michael Turner's of #4 as a protest of sorts.

PANTHEON BOOKS
Ice Haven GN (AA), $18.95

One of these days, when the bitter taste of the comics blogiverse elitists fades from my mouth, I'm going to check this out purely out of curiousity. Right now, there's simply no way it can live up to the hype.

SPEAKEASY COMICS
Elks Run #1-3 Collected Ed Vol 1 TPB, $7.99

Hopefully the switch to Speakeasy will boost orders for Elk's Run, one of the most criminally overlooked comics being published right now. I like it so much, I made it my first Staff Pick over at Buzzscope earlier today. Includes an interview with Fialkov, who is surprisingly honest about his feelings on Speakeasy's aggressive expansion over the past few months.

VIZ MEDIA LLC
Shonen Jump Nov 05 #35, $4.99

I keep saying I'm going to check this out and haven't yet. I suck.