So, the Batman post that's been up the last couple of days was only supposed to be a draft. I certainly didn't mean to include all my work contact info (plus my name). So that's been pulled until I finish it. But it's time for my monthly rundown of what I'm looking at ordering from Previews (the comics catalog) this month. These would be comics coming out in October, for those keeping track:

NEXUS ARCHIVES VOLUME 1 from Dark Horse Comics
Nexus was a favorite of mine as a kid. Mike Baron is a fantastic writer, Steve Rude is an even better artist, and the fact that they apparently can't sell new issues of this work of genius is a crying shame. (And says too much about the comic book marketplace these days.) This reprint is pricy, but it's one of those series I don't mind paying for a really nice edition. And if the people who want more don't buy this one, there won't be more.

13TH SON: WORSE THING WAITING from Dark Horse Comics
Only one thing better than a horror comic drawn by Kelley Jones, and that's one that's also written by Kelley Jones. Nice to see him finally back doing his own stories again. This looks very Lovecraftian (no surprise there), and ... well, I want to say it'll do nicely while waiting for the next Hellboy story, but really, I've been waiting for a new all-Jones story even longer. So there.

BATMAN: GOTHAM COUNTY LINE from DC Comics
DC may have driven me away from the monthly, ongoing Batman books by making them stupid, but that doesn't mean I don't want to read good, self-contained story-driven Batman tales. And while I don't buy everything he writes, I do enjoy every Steve Niles story that I read. And Scott Hampton is a longtime favorite, particularly the Batman graphic novel he did once upon a time with Archie Goodwin (whose title I forget...)

CATWOMAN: WHEN IN ROME HARDCOVER from DC
I love the stories Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale do, but they read so quick, I always wait until they're collected. And now this one is being collected. Case closed.

INFINITE CRISIS #1 from DC
I know what I said. But, the thing is, I really had been looking forward to this story. Plus, if I wait until it's collected, there's no way I'll be able to avoid online spoilers, or even spoilers in the comics I read. (Although, for what it's worth, Jeph Loeb will be off Superman/Batman by that point, so I'll be off it too, and DC has already said that Plastic Man and Legion of Super-Heroes won't be affected by the stuff in IC. But stuff will almost certainly come up in Gotham Central, since they've announced that it'll be crossing over into IC, and Birds of Prey exists pretty squarely in the center of DC continuity these days. And probably Jeph Loeb's Supergirl comic--which he'll be leaving soon enough anyway--will be the same...) So, I'm biting the bullet, but I refuse to buy any extra crossover comics just to be sure I get the complete story, and don't get hosed, a la OMAC Project. But I also go into this knowing I might well end up missing important parts of the story if I don't buy every single crossover, and I accept that, so I can't complain.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS METAMORPHO VOLUME 1 from DC
It's something like 200 pages of Silver Age Metamorpho stories in black and white. I'm so there. Although, having heard the price has been reduced from 14.99 to 9.99, I wonder if it'll be the bookstore-friendly manga size? If it is, that's okay. Ten bucks for about twenty old comics stories is fine by me.

ELFQUEST ARCHIVES VOLUME 3
What I said about loving Nexus enough to pay 50.00 for the fancy hardcover reprints? Same here.

LOVELESS #1 from DC/Vertigo
Brian Azzarello is a fantastic writer when he's doing his own stuff, and I love the idea of a dark Western series (and ongoing, not a miniseries). Sold.

FEAR AGENT #1 from Image
When I was a kid, reprints of the old EC sci-fi, horror, and war comics were the first non-superhero, non-funny comics I read. And here's a comic that promises to combine all three EC genres as influences. And they had the good sense to put preview pages in the catalog to show that they're doing just that.

SHE-HULK 2 #1 from Marvel
Had a soft spot for She-Hulk all the way back in the 80s, and then the first incarnation of this series turned out to be real good. I bought it and read it until it ended, and now it's back.

MARVEL MONSTERS (four one-shots) from Marvel
Four comics by folks like Steve Niles, Duncan Fegredo, Eric Powell, Peter David, Roger Langridge, plus reprints of 50s and 60s Jack Kirby monster stories. If Marvel Comics were good, they'd probably be like these.

BOOK OF LOST SOULS #1 from Marvel
J. Michael Straczynski's work for Top Cow, particularly the series he did with Gary Frank whose title I forget right now, were really pretty good. His work on Marvel superheroes hasn't really approached that level. This new series, with art by Colleen Doran, looks to be more of the former than the latter, so I'll try it.

STOKER'S DRACULA HARDCOVER from Marvel
I didn't buy the miniseries by Roy Thomas and Dick Giordano (childhood favorite creators) that adapts the original Dracula novel, because I wanted to wait for the collection. And here it is.

LIVEWIRES: CLOCKWORK THUGS, YO Digest from Marvel
Wasn't about to order the miniseries sight unseen, even if it is by Adam Warren and frequent collaborator Rick Mays. (See comments about JMS's company work, above.) But, by all accounts, this comic really does read like an Adam Warren comic, and this reprint is fairly cheap. (Cheaper than the original issues would have cost, anyway.)

HAUNTED MANSION #1 from Slave Labor
Using my favorite Disneyland ride as the basis for a ghost story anthology done by really cool creators? Yes, please.

MR NIGHT from Slave Labor
All's I know is it's a one-shot by Glen Dakin and Phil Elliott. And that's enough for me.

DOOMED MAGAZINE from IDW
Hopefully won't live up to its title. The idea of trying a Warren-style black and white horror magazine is just too keen for me to pass up.

LEGEND OF GRIMJACK VOLUME 4 Trade Paperback from IDW
See Nexus Archives and ElfQuest Archives comments above.

IMPORTANT LITERARY JOURNAL by Kyle Baker
I get Plastic Man because of Kyle Baker. I get Nat Turner because of Kyle Baker. I ordered The Bakers because of Kyle Baker, even though I'm still waiting for it. You'd better believe I'm not passing this up.

ROGUE TROOPER: EYE OF THE TRAITOR Trade Paperback from Rebellion
Yay! 2000AD reprints are back! And they're going to finish the Rogue Trooper story, thanks to there being a video game based on the character!

(For what it's worth, the other two Rebellion reprint graphic novels offered this month almost made the cut, as well. Both Family from the Megazine and Judge Dredd: Sin City were pretty good stories, but there were just too many new, original graphic novels for me to get ones reprinting stuff I read just a few years ago, and didn't feel excited about rereading so soon.)

LIVING AND THE DEAD Graphic Novel from Speakeasy
It's written by the guys who do the Black Forest and Wicked West graphic novels, and it's hard to pass up anything that they do. (This is the book that bumped Judge Dredd: Sin City off the list; Family was knocked off by the Metamorpho reprints. I liked both of those 2000AD stories, but they're still fresh in my mind. These other two books, I've never read.)

And there's a tribute book for Jim Aparo, planned and written before his passing, but sadly coming out too late for him to see it.