Focused Totality: This Week's Shopping List: September 8, 2005

Well, my archenemies "Labor Day Woman", "Work Disaster Man", "Sick Kids Kid", and "Video Card Burnout Lass" have conspired in a "League Of Evilosity" against the day-to-day functioning of Focused Totality. Thankfully, The Comics Treadmill has my back.

I really mean it this week when I say a Smoke review is coming soon. It's just that pesky "writing" part keeps getting in the way. Using the focused totality of my mutant blogging powers, I can also see that some linkblogging is in the near future. There's much to talk about.

After a stressful past few days, tomorrow should be good: a trip to 2005 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award Winning Night Flight Comics and the opening of the NFL Season. I will be flipping through new comics while watching football, and that's a synergy that sets me a-tinglin'. The Most Anticipated Book this week is the debut of Warren Ellis' Fell. Not only is it a new Ellis, but it's a format experiment that holds great promise. It sells for $1.99, contains only 16 pages of story but supplements with another 8 pages of text, backgrounders, sketches, etc. Fell also promises that each issue is self-contained. A little shorter, a little cheaper, but still a complete comic book meal. Dan DiDio, are you listening?

After Jim Roeg's essay, I will be reading Villians United in a whole new light. Serenity wraps up, and while I've been a touch underwhelmed with the series, I can't wait to see how it leads in to the movie. Seven Soldiers: Guardian comes to a close, and I hope it's a bit more satisfactory as a standalone than Shining Knight turned out to be. House Of M continues to drag along, and I continue to buy it ... but a serious revision in my Marvel pull list is looming unless it delivers on the drastic changes that were promised. Shazam/Superman: First Thunder looks beautiful, and that's all that need be said. Ghost Rider by Ennis? Count me in.