Hello! Welcome to the inaugural weekly e-mail from Fresh Comics. Each week, I compile the latest comic releases coming to your local shop and this me

     
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Hello!

Welcome to the inaugural weekly e-mail from Fresh Comics. Each week, I compile the latest comic releases coming to your local shop and this message is intended to highlight some of the best issues to hit the shelves this week. So, without further ado...

January 2, 2013 Overview

After the Chistmas skip week, comic publishers are back up to speed with 162 new issues and trades scheduled to arrive on Wednesday. Next week looks even busier, with 126 items from the major publishers (Dark Horse, DC, IDW, Image & Marvel). While our 3rd grade math class teaches us that 126 is less than 162, independent publishers like Dynamite, BOOM! and Archie often end up expanding the final list by 40-50%, which may make the second week of 2013 a 200+ week.

Not a bad start to the New Year!

Last Week's Highlights

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We are all Spider-Men today.

Because of the skip week, last week was a light one, but that doesn't mean that it was insignificant. The big item was Amazing Spider-Man #700, the final issue that wrapped up the latest era for our favorite neighborhood web-slinger and set up an interesting scenario moving forward in Superior Spider-Man next week.

Not to be completely overshadowed, last week also gave us Justice League #15. While I haven't been reading the new Justice League since the first six issues, the latest issue has received some pretty solid reviews (IGN, Comic Book Resources).

This Wednesday

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Batman's first custody battle!

As I mentioned in the overview, 2013's first week will be a big one. DC's leading the pack with 20 new items, while Marvel's letting up on the flood of their new NOW! relaunches with 17 new items, launching new series for Morbius, New Avengers, and Red She-Hulk (!?).

The surprising new publisher was Cinebook, with 18 new trades collecting some of Europe's finest comics, including Orbital, XIII, and Lucky Luke.

Elsewhere, Image is releasing a new Manhattan Projects issue, while Youngblood (finally) reaches its 75th issue milestone. IDW has a couple of new G.I. Joe & Transformers issues, as well as my favorite concept of the week: Mars Attacks Popeye. VIZ Media continues to publish manga for the otaku, and Dynamite begins a new Vampirella mini-series. Mike Mignola continues his return to illustrating Hellboy for Dark Horse.

For a full list of what to look for this Wednesday, see the full list of releases.

Coming Soon

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Wonder Woman vs. the Green Arrow Corps?

Next week, Marvel returns to form with 33 items solicited for Jan. 9. Personally, I'm looking forward to checking out the first issue of Superior Spider-Man and the third issue of Cable and X-Force. DC has 23 titles on-deck, including some nice Wonder Woman trades. IDW's sending Martians after zombies and robots, and Image will be responding with a zombie comic of their own. Dark Horse is collecting Brian Wood's acclaimed Conan storyline, while Dynamite continues publishing stories for other licensed properties.

Fresh Comics News

This week has been a significant week on the Fresh Comics development front. Over the Christmas break, I've brought up a lot of new infrastructure to keep in touch with comic fans and retailers alike. If you haven't seen the new blog, please take a look at The Letters Page.

I've also started e-mail lists to keep in touch with local comic shops as well as Fresh Comics users. If you know someone who is a comic fan or runs a comic shop, please help me spread the word about these lists. (I promise not to be annoying in my mailings.)

On the server front, I'm currently waiting for the 1.5 release of the Django framework which includes improved infrastructure that will allow me to provide more personalization options for Fresh Comics users (sync'ing favorites lists, user accounts and profiles, shopping lists, cataloging, and more). Once Django 1.5 comes out of beta, you should start seeing many new features arrive in short order.

In the meantime, I'm continuing to improve the mobile apps. Improving the interfaces on tablet devices has been a top priority for me and I'm looking forward to finally submitting a Nook-ready version of Fresh Comics to Barnes & Noble later this week.

On the various platforms, Fresh Comics has been going gangbusters on Windows Phone and Apple gadgets. However, I've seen interest plateau on the Android platforms (Google, Amazon). If you have any insight why this might be happening, please don't be shy about letting me know at feedback@freshcomics.us.

I've also been improving Fresh Comics' presence on the various social networks. If you're on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, let's be pals!

Thanks again for being a subscriber to the Fresh Comics users mailing list. Best wishes to you from all of us at Fresh Comics, and have a happy and safe 2013!

-Chris Karr
Creator, Fresh Comics
chris@freshcomics.us

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