From The July Solicits

Since I'm due to place my order with my favourite mail order company, I figured I'd resurrect another old feature, in which I scour the comics solicits and try to work out what's likely to tickle my fancy.

What's New
BLACKEST NIGHT #1
"Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis raise the dead in the most anticipated comics story of the year! Throughout the decades, death has plagued the DC Universe and taken the lives of heroes and villains alike. But to what end? As the War of Light rages on, the prophecy of the Blackest Night descends upon us, with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps at the center of it all."
Oddly, the idea of an army of zombie Black Lanterns, led by the Earth-2 Superman, doesn't really raise my opinion of modern DC Comics.
WEDNESDAY COMICS #1-4
"WEDNESDAY COMICS is unique in modern comics history: Reinventing the classic weekly newspaper comics section, it is a 16-page weekly that unfolds to a sprawling 28” x 20” tabloid-sized reading experience bursting with mind-blowing color, action and excitement, with each feature on its own 14” x 20” page."
It's a fascinating idea, and some of the talent lined up to produce it is appealing: Neil Gaiman, Mike Allred, Walt Simonson, Kurt Busiek. Nevertheless, I suspect that the format will just be too "weird" for the average reader to cope with.
REBORN #1 (of 5)
"Solicit to be revealed soon."
Your guess is as good as mine, but since Ed Brubaker's behind it, we can, I suppose, speculate that this could be the return of Captain America?
DARK X-MEN: THE BEGINNING #1 & 2 (of 3)
"Who are the Dark X-Men and how did they come to be? FIND OUT HERE! Each issue has 3 11-page stories, each dedicated to one of the Dark X-Men and how they came to be part of the team. This first two issues focus on Emma Frost, Mimic, Cloak & Dagger, Daken, Weapon X and Dark Beast!"
Marvel try another anthology book, sensibly as a limited series. Paul Cornell takes on some of the writing chores, although I'm not sure on his own, he'll be enough to make it a decent book.
IMMORTAL WEAPONS #1 (of 5)
"Fat Cobra! No man has fought more heartily, consumed more mightily, or lived life more fully! Fat Cobra! Master of the sumo thunder stomp and the devil’s skullcrusher! Fat Cobra! Immortal Weapon from the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven! But to this day, no man has known the story of Fat Cobra’s life...including the Cobra himself! Discover the shocking origins of this boisterous brawler and witness his decades of adventure!"
Iron Fist seems to be on hiatus, and this is intended to fill the gap. I'm not convinced.

What Makes Me Groan / Laugh / Weep
MARVEL DIVAS #1 (of 4)
"Diva (dee-vah), noun: An unusually glamorous and powerful woman. See: Patsy "Hellcat" Walker; Felicia "Black Cat" Hardy; Angelica "Firestar" Jones; and Monica "Photon" Rambeau. What happens when you take four of the Marvel Universe's most fabulous single girls and throw them together, adding liberal amounts of suds and drama? You get the sassiest, sexiest, soapiest series to come out of the House of Ideas since Millie the Model!"
If you're thinking "That sounds great!", you can see yourself out.
THOR & HERCULES: ENCYCLOPAEDIA MYTHOLOGICA
"Thor and Hercules aren't the only gods in town, as the ENCYCLOPAEDIA MYTHOLOGICA spotlights everything from Aztecs to Zoroaster! Brush up on the eternal rivalry between the Green Knight and the Red Lord! Meet Anitun and the Diwatas, the gods of the Philippines! Learn the dark origin of Mikaboshi, the Shinto god of evil! Explore the mystical dimension of Otherworld! Plus: Panther Gods, Lion Gods and Snowbirds!"
Oh, good lord! I really don't know what use I could possibly make of this, other than using it as a sourcebook for Scion, but I want it. I really, really, want it!

What I'm Ordering
SECRET SIX: UNHINGED TP
"Join Catman, Scandal, Deadshot, Ragdoll, and the rest as they hit the road on the run from some of the world's most dangerous killers! A contract has been put out on the lives of the Six, but the sly team has some tricks — and a whole lot of bullets — up their own sleeves in this trade paperback collecting SECRET SIX #1-7!"
I've been enjoying Gail Simone's tales of this team if anti-heroes and outright wrong'uns, since the days of Villains United in 2005. Deadshot alone provides value for money. We'll see how this latest foray works out.
DOCTOR DOOM AND THE MASTERS OF EVIL GN
"You’ve gotta ask yourself: If Doctor Doom’s the most evil guy ever, how much more evil’s it gonna get when he puts a whole TEAM of VILLAINS to work?"
From all accounts, this book was a bit of a madcap romp, with Victor von Doom teaming up with most of Marvel's classic villain teams. The writer, Paul Tobin, seems to have come out of nowhere, but these days, that's not such a bad thing. At least he's not Mark Millar.

Those, Fables, and the latest Strontium Dog TP should ensure this to be a cheap month, then.