Chris vs. Previews, March 2010: Birds of Prey, Galacta, Robert Pattinson

The 500+ page Previews catalog can be pretty tough to get through, even for the most jaded comics reader. That's why every month, ComicsAlliance contributor Chris Sims sits down to scour the pages for the best, worst, and most mind-bogglingly insane items and bring them to you, the discerning reader, in our recurring feature, Chris vs. Previews!

P. 42 - Hellboy In Mexico: Here at ComicsAlliance, we like "Hellboy" a lot, because really, what's not to like? Both as an artist and a writer, creator Mike Mignola has done an amazing job combining high action with moody horror, drawing inspiration from everything from King Arthur to HP Lovecraft to obscure German folktales and making a consistently engaging story. For years, we've been saying that we flat-out couldn't like "Hellboy" any more than we already do.

And then we saw this.

"During the 1950s, Hellboy caravans across Mexico with a trio of vampire-killing luchadores, finding the undead; evil turkeys; a terrible bat god; and a little too much tequila."

Sometimes you don't know what was missing from your life until you see it in front of you.P. 69 - Birds of Prey #1: Ever since the Golden Age Flash first showed back up in 1961, DC's publishing strategy has basically been to play to nostalgia, and finally -- finally -- enough time has passed that the kids who grew up in the '90s are getting the pandering they deserve:

Ah, but we kid DC. We're actually looking forward to the relaunch of "Birds of Prey," as it was not only one of Gail Simone's most fun titles, but also because this means we can assume that there were actually readers out there clamoring for the return of Lady Blackhawk to monthly action.

P. 113 - I, Zombie #1: Getting a new creator-owned ongoing series by "Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love" writer Chris Roberson and artist Mike Allred is basically the same thing as Vertigo giving us a piece of candy wrapped in a dollar.

We've been looking forward to this book since the seven-page prequel story from the "House of Mystery" annual -- which Vertigo has now made available online for free -- but for those of you who missed it, the story centers on Gwen Dylan, an amateur detective and cemetery worker who happens to be one of the living dead. As such, she's got to eat a human brain once a month in order to keep her memories and personality and avoid becoming the sort of zombie who eats human brains on a more regular basis. Throw in a mod ghost and a love triangle with a mummy and a werewolf, and you've got a killer premise, and while the detective angle sounds a little reminiscent of TV's "Pushing Daisies," we don't really consider that to be a bad thing.

P. 31 - Galacta: Daughter of Galactus #1: And speaking of stuff we've been waiting to see more of...

...this issue sees a one-shot starring Galacta, Adam Warren and Hector Sevilla Lujan's Daughter of Galactus that first made her appearance in last year's "Assistant-Sized Spectacular" and won a reader vote to get a few more stories. Unfortunately, this issue's all reprints -- collecting the original story and three shorts that ran on Marvel Digital -- but hopefully it's the first step towards getting more.

P. 58 - Thor and the Warriors Four #2: No joke for this one, we just wanted an excuse to post an early contender for our favorite cover of the year:

Oh Space Horse. How we love you.

P. 209 - Fame #2: This month, the always-classy creators at Bluewater have apparently decided that their hilariously inept biography of Stephenie Meyer wasn't the only way to wring as much money as they could out of the "Twilight" franchise, and are thus producing a biography of star Robert Pattinson...

...not that you'd know it from the cover. The fact that this picture looks like it was drawn by someone who had heard of but never actually seen Pattinson makes us think there are really only two possibilities here: Either the artist was unaware that there's a pretty simple way to find around four million reference photos and had to rely on a description offered up by someone who'd been drinking, or the artist thought Pattinson was the guy who played the love interest in 2004's "Bring It On Again":

P. 232 - The Green Hornet Strikes! and Kato Origins #1: So for those of you keeping score at home: In the span of three months, Dynamite has gone from publishing zero Green Hornet comics a month to publishing five Green Hornet comics a month, each of which is priced at $3.99.

Guys, we hate to be the ones to break this to you, but nobody likes the Green Hornet that much. Van Williams's mom didn't like the Green Hornet that much. I mean, we like him just fine, but seriously, it's called finding a happy medium. Look into it.

P. 275 - Archie: The Best of Dan DeCarlo: As we mentioned back when IDW solicited a hardcover of his "Jetta" stories, we're big fans of long-time Archie artist Dan DeCarlo, so as you might expect, we're looking forward to getting a nice collection of his best work, even if we're a little surprised.

Creatively speaking Archie Comics owes a heck of a lot to DeCarlo, including Josie and the Pussycats (whose lead singer was based on Josie DeCarlo, Dan's wife, and a cat costume she wore on a cruise), Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and even the familiar house style that the company's been sticking with for decades. So why the surprise? Mostly because Archie hasn't exactly been kind to DeCarlo's legacy, canning him when he tried to get financial compensation after the "Josie and the Pussycats" movie came out and infamously relettering a story to remove his name from the punchline.

Still, if Archie wasn't going to give the man his big ups themselves, we're glad to see IDW picking up the slack.

P. 334 - The Big Bang Theory "It's Not Cartoons" T-Shirt: You're going to want to check with your local constabulary on this one, but we are 90% sure that if you see someone wearing this t-shirt...

... it is perfectly legal to punch them square in the face.

Heck, you might even get a reward.