Here’s a gander at some titles going on sale on Christmas Eve. If you live in the States and your LCS is open, that is. From Marvel, there’s loads. Here’s just a few. There’s Ultimatum #2, by Jeph Loeb, with art and a cover by David Finch, Dardevil #114 by Ed Bribaker and Michael Lark, with a great cover by Marko Djurdjevic, Hulk #9 by Loeb again, with Art Adams and Frank Cho, with covers by both. Finally, there’s also Thor #12 by J. Michael Straczynski and Oliver Coipel, who also provides the cover.
I’m a sentimental guy, so it was with much sadness that a few weeks ago I was informed that my comic shop was closing down! NOOOOOO! Um, yes actually. 
I’ve been going there since it opened 18 years ago. I saw an ad on TV (a DC Comics one they ordered from Previews and just gave to the TV station) but it worked. It’s had a few owners since then and I’ve been friendly with them all, as well as the staff. I’m disappointed its closing as all the previous owners have managed to make $ from it. But in the comics biz, your heart has to be in it and you have to know the industry somewhat. It’s not like any other retail shop. For many years, QC was virtually a monopoly, but now 
So apparently Frank Miller’s next film project after The Spirit, which opens on Christmas Day, will be Buck Rogers. That’s not very exciting really. The Sin City and 300 creator has a deft visual hand to be sure, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to box office mojo. I wouldn’t be surprised if The Spirit doesn’t set cinema screens ablaze, and if it doesn’t maybe he won’t get Buck Rogers after all.
The Worst
There are very few series I look forward to each month. This is one of the fortunate to make the cut. Along with Geoff Johns’ Action Comics, Paul Dini’s Detective Comics and select titles from Jeph Loeb and Brian Michael Bendis, I know with City of Dust I’m guaranteed a good read.
Issue 3 opens with a gruesome scene, of which this series is not shy of, as Khrome uses some old school CSI techniques to determine exactly what happened. His superior, Blake believes Khrome’s mind is slightly askew for not putting his trust in the crime scene bots, who say that there is no evidence amongst the bloody corpse. Facing suspension, Khrome walks away, with fellow cop, Sonja to check out an old evidence storage area. At the same time what appear to be werewolves brutally attack a high society ball. Khrome gets called into Blake’s office, but instead of receiving the expected, “You’ve gone too far! You’re off the case!” type scenario we’ve seen in every Steven Seagal film, Khrome gets a surprise. Blake takes his face off, revealing himself to be a Terminator-like android, created by Henry Ajax. Ajax was once a respected proponent of hi-tech gadgetry, but has now gone underground after being disgraced. Blake and Khrome visit him, surrounded by assorted monsters, and the importance of Khrome’s father in the story takes another step forward. The dramatic change in behaviour from Blake can only be attributed to him “saving face” in front of the other cops, due to the fact that moments later he’s pleasantly talking to Khrome like an old buddy. With Sonja, and now Blake, it seems Khrome’s allies are growing, but they still prefer to remain closet friends, lest they too get in trouble with the harsh authorities. This is never spoken, despite Khrome’s noir-like captions (which work well), so there is some assumption on the part of the reader, which is never a good move. However, the series’ concept and visuals rise above these minor storytelling distractions.
This isn’t the best issue so far, and has less of the supernatural elements introduced in the previous two issues. The art is also different, but not in a jarring way. 
At Meltdown Comics, a very cool comic shop, you can catch a peek at writer Paul Dini. The man has been closely related to the Bat Universe for the last 10 years, as the creator of Joker’s girlfriend Harley Quinn, a writer for the 90s Batman: The Animated Series cartoon, and the current scribe for Detective Comics, which has been so much better than Grant Morrison’s Batman work as of late. Official details below.
Touted as a great jumping on point for new readers, this extra sized issue guest stars all the different Avengers flavours. That would be New, Young, Dark and Classic. I think there’s also a Cinnamon. Written by Dan Slott and pencilled by Khoi Pham, this January 14 releasing special ish shows the new line-up, post Dark Reign. On the cover is the once-crazy (hopefully) daughter of Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Hank Pym in a new outfit to honour his wife Janet who died in the last issue of Secret Invasion and the female android created by Ultron, Jacosta. An intriguing mix of characters so far.
This is a good stand-alone issue, to be sure. It’s a simple one-shot, but it won’t reveal anything about The Darkness. It’s a very loose tie-in. Apart from one of the main characters being a medieval Darkness bearer, it could be just a generic sword and sorcery adventure. Written by Phil Hester with art by Michael Avon Oeming, Lodbrok’s Hand recounts the sad tale of Lodbrok, the captain of a Viking ship, who as a youth lost his hand. The crazy King Grimur was moving from village to village forcibly enlisting strong men in his army. When young Lodbrok’s family was taken, he, his magic-wielding sister Freydis and a few other youngens set on a harsh journey of revenge. They realise they’re outnumbered and outgunned, or rather, out sworded, so Lodbrok bravely, or foolishly, calls upon the creature known as the Black Captain. He’s big, he has goblin servants bonded to the oars of his ship, and he’s on Lodbrok’s side, for a price. A bloody battle ensues. Heads are cut off. Freydis dies.Two dragons fight, and Lodbrok learns the hard way what his victory means. The twist at the end, in which the Captain revives Freydis to serve him as a slave forever, rather than Lodbrok himself is a nice one and shows the maniacal assistance that The Darkness offers. It’s an amusing enough tale. The story is so simple that a 24 page one-shot is all that’s needed. Hester has the speech of centuries past down pat and while this isn’t Oeming’s best work (that’s in 
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