2015: UPCOMING NEW LAUNCHES

STARLOGGED doesn't normally do "new media" but there's a plethora of new print launches coming over the next couple of months so this seemed like a good opportunity to romp through the highlights:

DC COMICS GRAPHIC NOVEL COLLECTION
WHERE: UK newsagents and comic stores
WHEN: August/ September
WHO FROM: Eaglemoss

The success of the two (!) ongoing hardback collections of Marvel strips (the 'black' volumes dedicated to collecting dedicated story arcs and the 'red' volumes dedicated to a specific character) made a DC equivalent inevitable.  Eaglemoss previewed this new fortnightly at the London Film and Comic Con this month and had the first issue (priced to go at £2.99) on sale.  Issues 1-2 reprint BATMAN: HUSH with 3 (SUPERMAN: LAST SON OF KRYPTON), 4 (JUSTICE LEAGUE: TOWER OF BABEL), 5 (SUPERMAN/ BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES) and 6 (BATMAN AND SON) already confirmed.

The lack of more vintage material from the archives is disappointing and it's unclear whether  any is scheduled for later editions.

The Marvel volumes, meanwhile, continue apace and offer (certainly in comparison to Marvel's own massively overpriced trade paperbacks) excellent value.

Could a DC FACT FILES, in the tradition of the Marvel Fact Files series (also published by Eaglemoss), also be in the offing for the future?

DOCTOR WHO: THE COMPLETE HISTORY
WHERE: UK newsagents and comic stores
WHEN: SEPTEMBER
WHO FROM: Hachette/ Panini

Panini is sitting on a vast repository of Doctor Who lore so it makes sense to find an outlet for all that accumulated material and knowledge.  This new fortnightly partwork is a series of hardback books each dedicated to covering the making of (it seems) 2-4 TV adventures per book.  Issue 1 is punter-pleasing look at four Tennant adventures, 2 looks at back to Pertwee, 3 jumps to the present and 4 returns to the show's origins.

Hachette also tested a series of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER hardback graphic novels (reprinting the US Dark Horse strips) in certain areas earlier this year (I stumbled across the second volume in Colchester, Essex) but there's no mention of it currently on their website so, presumably, the series has been dropped whilst they analyze its chances of a successful national roll out.

The JUDGE DREDD fortnightly hardbacks continue apace.

It would be great if Hatchette's relationship with Marvel extended to a similar ongoing run of STAR WARS strip hardbacks, plundering the vast inventory of Marvel and Dark Horse material. 

COMIC BOOK HEROES
WHERE: UK newsagents and comic stores
WHEN: October
WHO FROM: Future.

This SFX spin-off was cancelled a while back which, considering the continuing boom in comic book movies (the film magazines seem to declare every other issue a "comic book movie special), seemed a little dumb.  Sure enough, it will apparently return on a quarterly schedule around October time.

THE X-FILES: THE OFFICIAL COLLECTION
WHERE: Comic stores (and, possibly, UK newsagents)
WHEN: December
WHO FROM: Titan Magazines.

Details about this one are scant but it appears to be a three-issue run (each 176 pages) of material originally published in Titan's long-defunct X-Files Magazine.  How much, if any, will be based on the impending revival is unclear.

HEROES REBORN MAGAZINE
WHERE: Comic stores
WHEN: September
WHO FROM: Titan Magazines

Titan, formally publishers of The Official Heroes Magazine, are due to renew their acquaintance with the once-popular TV show to coincide with the NBC revival (great trailer, btw).  This 100-page issue looks like a one-shot with an option for more (ala Grimm, Sleepy Hollow, Once Upon A Time and other Titan tie-ins) if the show turns out to be a hit.

Titan also have the comic book rights to the show and plan to launch the five-issue HEROES VENGEANCE in October.

Titan continue to publish their ongoing STAR TREK and STAR WARS INSIDER official magazines and both, hopefully, will see their now traditional bookazine "best of" compilations at the end of the year.  I also wouldn't be surprised (unless someone else has bagged the rights) to see Titan publish the official magazine tie-in to The Force Awakens in December.  

DOCTOR WHO SPECIAL EDITION: THE MUSIC OF DOCTOR WHO
WHERE: WH Smith and Comic Stores
WHEN: August
WHO FROM: Panini

Doctor Who Magazine has another one of its bookazines in the works, this one dedicated to the show's memorable music.  Should be fascinating.

DOCTOR WHO: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE 6 - DAVROS AND OTHER VILLAINS.
WHERE: WH Smith and Comic Stores
WHEN: October (probably)
WHO FROM: Panini

Doctor Who Magazine's total takeover of the shelves of WHS (has nobody told them the weather-worn retailer is scaling back the shelf space allocated to periodicals?) continues with yet another bookazine spin-off.

Future Magazines are also apparently planning a new CRIME SCENE quarterly (thanks Ed!) dedicated to Sherlock and the like.  Details online seem to be non-existent at the moment.

The first ART OF FILM bookazine, a spin-off from Future's IMAGINEFX magazine, is out now.  It's dedicated to art inspired by the Star Wars Saga and is well worth getting.  A second issue is apparently planned but there's no details of contents or publication date.

The hard-to-find (unless you pick up the often shoddy Quality Comics back issues of the 1980s/ 1990s) DAN DARE strips from 2000AD (long mired in rights hell) are due to be given the hardback treatment in November.  If only someone would reprint The Return of the Mekon from 1980s Eagle.