Own an iPhone? Check. Love comics like Hellboy and Umbrella Academy? Check. Wish you could read them on your iPhone instead of having to lug around a bunch of paper comics? Check. But how? Fortunately, as of this week, you’re in luck because Dark Horse is making that last one possible and has released both Hellboy and Umbrella Academy for the iPhone and iPod Touch, much as they did recently with Star Wars. Can’t believe what you’re reading? Well, believe the following, from the official Dark Horse press release.

HELLBOY and UMBRELLA ACADEMY NOW AVAILABLE ON THE iPHONE

Dark Horse is proud to announce that Mike Mignola’s Hellboy and Gerard Way’s The Umbrella Academy are now available on the iPhone.

At the time of their publication, both Seed of Destruction and Apocalypse Suite were immediately renowned by critics as unique and talented debuts by independent creators.
Soon, industry heavyweights joined the chorus. Hellboy: Seed of Destruction is the beginning of the now legendary series Alan Moore calls, “a passport to a corner of funnybook heaven you may never want to leave.”
Similarly, Grant Morrison calls The Umbrella Academy “one of the great new comic books of this decade,” while Newsarama says the first volume of the series, Apocalypse Suite, is “flawless.”

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There is quite a bit of good stuff coming out this week, most especially is the collected edition of one of my favorite current series. Dark Horse has the collected trade of Umbrella Academy Dallas. This Eisner Award winning book written by My Chemical Romance front-man Gerard Way, and drawn by Casanova‘s own Gabriel Ba is a gem of a series.

No matter what you may think of Way’s music, his comic writing is top notch. And if you’ve read Casanova then I shouldn’t have to convince you in regards to Mr. Ba.

From DC, we have the Absolute Promethea edition, its 100 bucks, but the least I can do is turn you on to the real Comics Curmodgeon’s (Alan Moore) ground breaking work with the awesome J.H. Williams III.  We also have the Sleeper Season 2 trade paperback, which if you like Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Criminal and Incognito series for Marvel’s Icon, this is their first meeting. Trust me, you want this.

From Marvel, we have the constantly awesome Secret Warriors, and the Shang Chi Master of Kung Fu one shot. From Boom! Studios we have Die Hard #1. I just have to check this out, as this continues the adventures of John McClane in comic book form.

Could be forgettable, could not be, but at least you’ve got to give Boom credit for trying new things like this and Philip K. Dick’s Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep. As always, we here at The Flickcast care about what you read, so leave us a comment and let us know what you liked/didn’t like from this week’s comics.

For a more complete list of what comes out this week, check out the one at Midtown Comics.

Besides Marvel and DC, one of the biggest comic book companies around is Portland based Dark Horse Comics. With a diverse lineup of titles such as Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, B.P.R.D., Star Wars, Umbrella Academy and Solomon Grundy, and a lots of movie and TV tie-ins as well, the company is a major player.

Fortunately, Dark Horse is bringing pretty much everyone they work with to Comic-Con in San Diego next week so if you happen to be there and are a fan of one or more Dark Horse properties, you’ve got lots of opportunities to see and interact with your favorites.

Here’s all the info about Dark Horse’s plans from the official press release:

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This is part one of this week’s Pull List, check back tomorrow for part two, and check out last week’s edition here and here.

Before we start off, I have to offer my apologies to a few readers. Despite all the hype and love people have for their pets,  I just couldn’t bring myself to purchase Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers…sorry again.
—- John

Pull of the Week:

Green Lantern Corps #36 – DC – $2.99
Score: 9.0

Continuing to move towards Blackest Night, writer Peter Tomasi takes the reader through three very different stories that all seem to be very dependent on each other. The first picks up with Sinestro, the leader of the Sinestro Corps, explaining to his daughter how the revelation of their relationship came to pass. It becomes quite a heart wrenching scene as Green Lantern Soranik must come to accept that the man, whose defeat made her the hero of her planet and people, is actually her father. Sinestro doesn’t come across as a typical mustache twirling super-villain in the scene either as there seem to be some honest intentions from the former tyrant. He explains to Soranik her role in what is supposedly destined to come.

At the same time there has been a breach in the facility where the Green Lantern Corps has been holding members of the Sinestro Corps captive for their despicable actions. These pages play out beautifully more as a news real feed than a comic book action sequence. Fleeting glimpses of the chaos are shown instead of following each of the specific Green or Yellow Lanterns during the battle. Instead, the overall drama of the confrontation is told with almost CNN-style narrative over what is definitely more than just the “Riot!” proclaimed on the cover of the issue.

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These days it is sometimes tough picking out comics that are worth your hard-earned dollars, but here at The Flickcast we care about what you read.  So with that in mind this week’s Dave’s Weekly Comic Book Recommendations is dominated by a group of misfits, a little girl who kills giants, super-secret super-spies and an author who joins a think thank to dream up nightmare terrorist attacks.

The final issue of Umbrella Academy: Dallas hits stands this week and if you haven’t been reading it I highly encourage you to do so.  There’s a reason Gabriel Ba won an Eisner last year for this engaging read written by My Chemical Romance front-man Gerard Way.  For those of you ignoring it for its vague similarity to Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol, please put aside your opinion for five minutes and read this truly beautiful comic that is, well, better than Gerard’s band.

Mark Sable, the writer behind DC’s excellent mini-series involving the Teen Titan Cyborg, brings a new book from Boom! Studios called Unthinkable. The book involves Alan Ripley, a young novelist who joins a think tank after 9/11 to dream up the Unthinkable–or nightmare terrorist scenarios so his government can safeguard against them, but when his colleagues are being killed in scenarios they’ve dreamed up, Ripley takes matters into his own hands.  Part Tom Clancy novel, Sable’s comic asks the question: “Just because you write about action heroes, doesn’t mean you can become one.”

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