Well, it looks like I missed Wednesday — or Tuesday for that matter, since we like to post the Diamond Shipping List breakdown a day early — but in my defence of course I have to point out that this isn’t my column. Bob (noble founder and helmsman for this here blog) is the one who started this feature, and I (poor manga slob and woefully out of date on the American comics scene) am just a stand-in, a poor replacement for the insight and thoughtful commentary one has come to expect from this feature.
But who gives a rat’s ass anyway?

[dum dum dum dadum dum… break it down, ugh] From the top:

Dark Horse: Old standbys, like the most recent Star Wars series (whichever one they happen to be running at the moment) and a Blade of the Immortal floppy seem to be the only items worth noting this week. If I were following Blade, and I suppose I will get around to it one of these days, I’d be buying trades, not wasting my time with the floppies, so yeah, nothing here.

DC: What is Sandman Mystery Theater, and should I care? Well, since it looks like that mini has had its run, we’ll be seeing it in a trade paperback soon enough (perhaps simultaneously with #5). The grinding gearbox of a series 52 is clocking in with #49, so I guess we’re in the final stretch of that one. On the manga front, CMX is coming out with TenTen #13, so fans of senseless violence, sketchy character development and Oh!Great’s idiosyncratic brand of misogyny have something to look forward to there. I’m sure it’s unintentional, but as a balance CMX also has vol. 3 of Densha Otoko (Train Man) …though I haven’t been following their version of this pop phenomenon, so I’m not sure if it’s worthwhile; Johanna at Comics Worth Reading is going to be your source for sorting through the various versions of this one.

Image: [*woofwfh*]… where to start? After the Cape, Battle Pope (Battle Pope? how have I missed this title up to now?), and Frank Franzetta’s Death Dealer all look interesting enough to pull me from my comfortable bookstore surrounds to seek out a LCS. Well, you know, if I hadn’t already spent my paycheck on manga and beer.

Marvel: Looks like there is the inevitable Civil War omnibus ($25; what, just one? I’m sure others are coming) and newuniversal (#5 in a series Bob had been following/reviewing for the site). And there is some piling-on of Spider-man titles in advance of the movie this summer. Nothing else sticks out.

And the rest of the list? 2000 AD is clocking in with #’s 1529 and 1530. I know these as the source for Judge Dredd, but must admit ignorance beyond that. We’ve got more Complete Peanuts from Fantagraphics, and Pirates vs. Ninjas #4 (of 4) which is either a genius piece of work or just someone cashing in on the internet meme (my vote goes to the latter). There is also quite a bit of manga, but I’ve been tracking the manga separately on Sundays, and using lists from other distributors (that serve the bookstore market) so looking at the Diamond list usually just confuses me.

Questions, concerns, corrections? It’s what the comments are for…