This Comic Is Good - Groo the Wanderer #5

Groo the Wanderer really is one of those rare breeds of comics where a Groo from 1983 (like #5, as seen below) is no better or worse than a Groo from a couple of years ago.



The main asset of the book, of course, is Sergio Aragonés' brilliant comical art. He has such an eye for cartoon detail that makes every issue of Groo really look like Aragonés was treating it like it was the most important work in the world to him.

However, this should not diminish Mark Evanier's efforts on the title. First of all, Groo is one of the few comics I have seen where the rhymes are not terrible. The rhymes in Groo are actually funny (and good).

Meanwhile, the morals at the end of each issue are interesting, and the dialogue is quite good.

Groo, for those who do not know, is basically like Conan. He wanders around (hence the title) and gets into battles wherever he goes. Groo is not a GOOD person, but nor is he necessarily malevolent in disposition. He is more like a force of nature. When he is hungry, he wants to eat. When he sees a fight, he wants to be in it.

#5 is a story of Groo being taken prisoner and put to work as a slave oarsmen on a pirate boat. Through a series of events, whichever ship Groo is on keeps coming across other ships, which they try to plunder.

However, Groo keeps managing to find a way to sink the ships, through various comical means.

The comic is especially interesting to see the actual work that goes into the characterizations of the peripheral characters. Evanier makes sure to give each character in the book (most of whom are just totally minor characters) distinct personalities that remain consistent throughout the book. Aragonés helps by making each character LOOK distinct as well (and since Groo sinks a lot of boats, we're talking a lot of characters here).

Very fun, very good story.

On top of it, we also get a nice map of Groo's sea voyage depicted in the comic.

And a fun (although a bit darker) story starring a Groo supporting character - The Sage.

Well worth your while, as the comic is filled with stuff to entertain you.

Highly recommended (as is, well, most Groo issues. If you can't find #5, try another number! They're almost all winners!).

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This Comic Is Bad - World's Finest #128

I know a pal who believes that we here at Comics Should Be Good look too fondly upon books from the past, and I think that is untrue.

The simple fact of the matter is that now, 40 or so years later, the books we remember from that time period are, generally speaking, the GOOD ones.

We tend to gloss over the multitudes of BAD books from the Golden and Silver Age.

Luckily, we here at Comics Should Be Good wish to give you a balanced look at comics, both the good and the bad.

So now, I present to you a Silver Age comic that I think would definitely qualify as a bad comic.

World's Finest #128



I do not use this term loosely (in fact, I cannot recall the last time I actually used it), but this issue pretty much defines the term "hackery" in my opinion.

Jim Mooney is a good artist.

Jerry Coleman is a good writer.

This issue is terrible, in both story and art.

Basically, it all boils down to one central concept - What if Batman was affected by Red Kryptonite like Superman?

The entire 17 page story is built around that conceit.

And while it is not a great story idea, it is at least SOMEthing, but the surrounding story is just awful.

For instance, three criminal masterminds (with backgrounds about as deep as 1990s Rob Liefeld villain teams) are taking advantage of Batman's problems to go on a crime spree.

Earlier in the issue, Robin did a workup on the three main villains. Basically, stuff like "this guy uses explosives."

Later, Batman remarks how he used his brilliant deductive mind. "I remembered that one of the bad guys uses explosives, and since explosives are used here, it must be him."

Seriously, was Coleman even TRYING there? I get that he is writing to a younger audience, but that's the kind of deductive reasoning that Encyclopedia Brown would mock endlessly.

Meanwhile, Mooney is totally phoning in the art. Just a terrible story.

The Aquaman back-up is not as bad, but it is no great shakes, either. The Ramona Fradon art is strong, but the Jack Miller story did not do much for me. Aquaman pretends to have gone crazy so he can trick some crooks into springing him, therefore capturing them and saving Aqualad (who the crooks had nabbed). Silly, silly story.

The Green Arrow back-up has nice Lee Elias art, but Dave Wood's story is quite flat. A nice idea (an ashamed policeman redeems himself by saving Green Arrow), but nothing really happens in the story. No real sense of danger.

At least the issue gave us Rules of Water Safety from Buzzy! Win Mortimer did a fine job on the one page story telling us that it is better to use a boat to save drowning people than swimming out to them.

Oh, and a long article (no pictures) about insect armor! Julius Schwartz DID like to keep us readers infromed!

So yeah, all in all, not a good comic.

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This Comic Is Good - Fantastic Four #86

I was recently talking about this in regards to Marc Sumerak, and I guess it might bear repeating.

One of the smartest writing "tricks" out there is to spend a lot of time building up your characters. Give them interesting personalities, depth and conflicts.

Once you have done THIS, you can get away with a lot less thinking when it comes to coming up with a plot.

Why?

Because the depth of the plot will not matter as much as how these characters that you have designed REACT to the plot.

So even a simple plot can bring great interest to the reader if the characters are interesting enough.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby realize this, and so the interactions between the members of the Fantastic Four, between the Fantastic Four and the subjects of Latveria, between Dr. Doom and his servants...it all combines for one interesting story.

That is why Fantastic Four #86 is a good comic.



The gist of it is that Doom has trapped the Fantastic Four in a village in Latveria, and stripped them of their powers. Meanwhile, he has sent an army of robots to destroy the Fantastic Four, and anyone else in the village. Unluckily, Doom has lost control of his robots, so he cannot protect anyone if he WANTED to from the robots' rampage (there is a great scene where Doom tells the villagers that he is sorry that they might have to die, but they will be considered heroes!).

So basically, what we have is the powerless Fantastic Four and a bunch of Latverian villagers (who are indoctrined to HATE the Fantastic Four) sitting in a castle just waiting for the robots to show up to attack.

Really cool stuff.

The attack is well told, as is the Fantastic Four's strive to regain their power (as they discover it was hypnosis, so their powers still EXIST, they just have to strive to access them) and the villagers grow to begrudingly respect the heroes.

Upon the inevitable defeat, Doom decides to basically nuke the whole town to kill them all (says Doom, "I would shatter half a planet to defeat the Fantastic Four!" What a great line!). Of course, Lee has to screw the pooch by having Doom freak out right before he nukes the town, "I forgot! My subjects! Noo!"

I swear to you, that's the actual dialogue.

Doom FORGOT about that there were citizens of Latveria in the town...which happens to be IN LATVERIA!!!

How dumb is that?

However, the Fantastic Four is saved by the Invisible Girl (who was not a member at the time, as she was on maternity leave, with Crystal filling in for her)'s forcefield.

The surprise of her return is blunted a bit by showing her on the cover, but it is still a cool moment.

The issue ends with the Fantastic Four now ready to take the fight to Doom!

Coolness.

Great art by Kirby (the robots are pure Kirby) and a good story.

This was a good comic.

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This Comic Is Good - World's Finest #168 - The Composite Superman, People!!

Speaking of covers that do not do the interior comic justice (as I just was, in regards to the Guardians of the Galaxy's first appearance), here is World's Finest #168, depicting the rather surreal experience of Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent and Dick Grayson getting pounded on by Batman, Superman and Robin!



The problem is, that scene does not even remotely occur in the actual comic.

The villain of the piece DOES split into three separate beings, and DID have shape-shifting powers, so the scene in the comic COULD have occured - it just didn't come close to ACTUALLY occuring.

In any event, that is not a big deal, as this issue's villain was the coolest of cool, the Composite Superman!!!

Look at how cool he looks!



Some bad guy from another planet wants revenge on Superman and Batman for putting his dad into jail, so he recreates the accident that first gave Superman Museum janitor Joe Meach all the powers of the Legion of Superheroes in World's Finest #142, which he used to make himself the Composite Superman!!!

In this issue, the Composite Superman basically just toys with our heroes. It is a surprisingly dark story by Cary Bates, as Superman and Batman really have no answer against a guy with the powers of the entire Legion of Superheroes (by the by, do you know how it happened? Apparantly, the Legion gave Superman statues of each of the members, but rather than just giving him STATUES, they decided to make minature duplicates of each member, COMPLETE with powers! Smart move there, Brainiac 5!).

Cary Bates does a good job depicting the action, as the World's Finest team repeatedly gets their behinds handed to them, with the Composite Superman actually in the midst of killing Batman and Superman when his powers began to fade. It is at this time that the evil alien shows up, wanting to do the final touch himself.

However, once he is no longer the Composite Superman, Joe Meach is no longer a villain, so he leaps in front of the heroes to take the deadly ray gun blast meant for them - thus saving their lives, but forfeiting his.

A well-told tale.

There is also a Robotman reprint as the backup. It was no great shakes.

But overall, World's Finest #168 was a good comic.

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This Comic Is Good - Marvel Superheroes #18

Marvel Superheroes was an interesting concept for a comic book. One new story plus two classic reprints.

Sounds like the successful Archie digest format, doesn't it?

In any event, #18 is the first appearance of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and it is a good comic.



Of course, you wouldn't know it by the cover, for while Gene Colan's interior art is quite good, his designs could use a little work. I think every single character looks ridiculous (and it comes as no surprise that all but one of the characters went through SIGNIFICANT redesign work in future appearances).

In any event, except for the designs, every other aspect of the comic is awesome.

If a comic writer ever needed a primer on how to create an entirely new hero concept in an entirely new comic universe all in ONE issue - this story by Arnold Drake is the one.

The basic concept is this, an evil alien race named the Badoon is conquering the Milky Way Galaxy in the 31th Century.

Teaming up to stop them is a man from Jupiter, a man from Pluto, a man from Centauri IV and an Earthman born 1000 years ago.

If that's not a super cool sounding team, then I don't know what IS.

Meanwhile, Drake must have been reading some science articles recently, because he tried to work in extra little science-based riffs. Like Charlie-27's body, like all people from Jupiter, has become massive due to the atmosphere of Jupiter.

Likewise, Martinex, the man from Pluto, also has undergone body changes like the rest of his people (and I just LOVE the way that Drake doesn't just say "he shoots fire out of one hand and ice out of the other," but instead tries to give a detailed scientific reason for WHY it works like that...hehe).

Vance Astro was placed into cyrogenic stasis to go on an interstellar flight. When he arrived at his destination 1000 years later, he was greeted by other Earth people, as someone had discovered a quicker way of space travel 800 years earlier!

How trippy is that?!?

Yondu is a member of the species found on the planet Astro landed on. When his people were slaughtered by the Badooon, he went with Astro to Earth, which is where all four men met up together and decided to band together.

What a cool concept.

What great art (except for the costumes).

And Drake also throws in great little touches, like the simmering racial prejudice between the people from the different planet colonies (apparantly Jupiter-folk don't like Pluto-folk) and the weird relationship between Vance and Yondu. Also, Drake uses cool science-fiction terms like "radio-jump," "space-migration" and "space-militia."

This was great as it was not just a great SETUP issue, but a good issue period.

And then the reprints are just BONUS (which is good, as they were not particularly good)!!

Very cool comic.

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Best Memorial Day Comics

I think today would be as fine a day as any to examine which comics over the past 15 years have been the best treatments of soldiers from America's wars in comics.

1. Garth Ennis' War Stories. These are, to me, just about the epitome of the war genre nowadays, as Ennis has such deep-seated respect for armed forces. The detail and reverance he gives the characters in these stories, while still willing to give a realistic (not unfairly fawning) depiction of their environment and actions....it is just quite impressive.

To be fair, #2-4 could also be Ennis, as he just is a master of the War format (with titles like Enemy Ace, Hitman (the war issues), Unknown Soldier, Punisher: Born, even the Adventures of the Rifle Brigade).

So let me go to #5.

5. Brian Azzarello and Joe Kubert's Sergeant Rock graphic novel. Azzarello is one of those writers who just doesn't seem right unless he is writing in a grittier format, and the war story format is perfect for him. And Joe Kubert? We should thank our lucky stars every day that Joe Kubert is still drawing comic books.

6. Will Eisner's Last Day in Vietnam is a great, personal look at the lives of soldiers in Vietnam. His use of sepia worked really well in the comic. A very enjoyable comic.

7. The Nam. Especially the Michael Golden issues. He is just amazing. I will admit that the Nam, like any comic with rotating creative teams, had some bad issues (and their Punisher tie-in was soooo tacky)...but there were also some strong, strong issues in there.

Man....that's all I can think of.

I know I must be missing out on other good works about soldiers since 1990....perhaps some of you attentive readers could help me out.

This Comic Is Good - Justice League of America #20

Reader Fabe-0 reminded me that we sometimes tend to talk more about recent books here, so I figured it would be nice to give some attention to a good comic from a little over forty years ago, June 1963's Justice League of America #20 (Story by Gardner Fox and art by Mike Sekowsky, with inks by Murphy Anderson on the cover and Bernard Sachs inside).



Isn't that a cool cover?

I will admit, Spaceman X is not the coolest designed character, but the design of the cover is awesome...and that exact fight depicted on the cover occurs INSIDE the comic (not enough comics have been written with Wonder Woman using her yellow lasso to mess with Green Lantern), which I always think is cool.

In any event, this story is a true epic, with basically FOUR issues worth of goodness mixed into one.

The story opens with Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and Aquaman trying to shut down a machine that is subjegating an alien race. The machine has the defense of hurricane-level winds holding the Leaguers back, so they have to come up with an ingenius plan involving a giant space crab and Wonder Woman PULLING AN ENTIRE MOUNTAIN (how cool is THAT?!?!)!!! On the negative side, there IS a mind-numbingly dumb scene where Green Arrow tries shooting arrows at the machine...INTO THE HURRICANE WINDS!! He then opines how his arrows are useless in these winds...well, DUH!)

However, even after destroying the machine, the aliens remained unaffected!!

We then flash back to the past where we learn what the deal is, and see Superman getting an SOS and the league deciding to do one of the Gardner Fox classic "split into three groups" stories.

We return to the present to see the dejected heroes return to Earth to Snapper Carr's deranged ramblings (some examples - "You're real small - with satchels under your eyes! Gulp! It's bad news! What's on your front burner?" "So you met a bad gad who was the ginchiest! Forget it!"). If this was meant to cheer them up, I do not know what Snapper was thinking. Luckily, Gardner Fox lets us in on what Snapper is thinking - "Maybe some bossa nova music will bring a smile to their faces!" To think, if only there was some bossa nova music playing, Identity Crisis could have been prevented!

In any event, Snapper's radio program was interrupted by news of a rampaging giant - Spaceman X! The three leaguers faces light up like kids on Christmas - a way to atone for their failure!

The mystery of Spaceman X will have to wait while we see Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Flash on an alien world destroying the machine THERE. They have trouble with a formidible space dragon, but through teamwork, they are able to kick the dragon's behind and destroy the machine. But nothing happens to the alien people who were being harmed by the machine!!! So yet another trio of dejected Leaguers head back to Earth.

We then see that the Earthbound leaguers discover that the giant Spaceman X is not actually hurting anyone. He is causing "disasters," but each "disaster" is really just a cure for a SECOND disaster. Like he is blocking ships from passing, but it turns out he is just protecting them from lightning bolts. So Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Green Arrow are generally quite pleased by Spaceman X. However, when their teammates show up, they only see the general problems Spaceman X is causing, and their Earthbound teammates have to keep them from stopping Spaceman X. This is the fight depicted on the cover - but it ends really quickly, as soon as Green Lantern and pals see Spaceman X is helping people.

We then cut to the last team of superheroes, Superman, Batman and the Atom. As was the Justice League's wont back then, Superman and Batman generally didn't get much page time, so as to not take away from the other heroes (more on this later), and that is the case here, as the aliens they came to free are freed BEFORE they destroy the machine!!

This is when they realize that the bad guys who created the machines created them so that they did not affect the aliens on the world that hosted the machine, but on the OTHER alien worlds! So when Wonder Woman's team destroyed the machine, it freed the aliens on Superman's world, and when Green Lantern destroyed the machine, it freed the aliens on Wonder Woman's world. Clever twist (although it doesn't really hold up as a PLAN. What do the bad guys benefit from such a gambit?), I thought.

Finally, after making quick work of the machine, Superman's team rushes back to Earth where they discover that Spaceman X is really a machine designed by an alien to gather energy (like absorbing stray bolts of electricity) to power the alien. The alien had him do good deeds while gathering energy so as to not draw suspicion until it was too late!

As the story was nearing the page limit, Superman quickly solved the dilemma by just grabbing the alien and just flying him into outer space out of range of his robot (while making sure to fly only by planets with yellow suns, natch) and then flinging the alien far, far away.

The story ends with the lesson of the day - "things are not always what they seem," which would APPEAR to be telling us to be suspicious of everyone, even if they are doing good deeds. Hey, maybe Dan Didio really IS basing his current comics on older books!!!

Besides this huge story, this issue also contains a page of science facts (did you know that the nails on your middle fingers grow faster than the nails on the end fingers?!), a page explaining the difference between a flaw, a blemish and a defect, a bunch of funny Tootsie Roll ads, and a letter column that counted up which Justice League member had appeared in the most panels since the first Brave & Bold appearances (as mentioned before, Superman and Batman did not appear as much, and they were last of the original seven). Can you name which Leaguer was first?

The art by Sekowksy was strong, and it was a fun, interesting story (with an odd moral) by Fox.

Definitely a good comic.

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Hey! It's that sense of wonder!

Well, a few days ago I mentioned that I miss the sense of discovering comics that no one else knows about. Well, this week I bought a couple of books - an OGN and a TPB - that gave me that sense again. It's not the same, of course, because I had to order both of the books through Previews, so I knew they were coming, but I only knew a little about them. Man, they're brilliant.

The first book I got was the collected edition of Deep Sleeper by Phil Hester and Mike Huddleston. I have yet to get their other collaboration, The Coffin, but now that I've read this, I'm going to find it. This is, seriously, unlike anything I've read in comics. I really can't even summarize it without making it sound, well, silly, even though it's not. It's the story of a regular guy named Cole who's a freelance writer with a beautiful wife and two nice kids. He has strange dreams, but other than that, his life seems pretty normal. Then one day he goes into the city (Minneapolis) to drop off a story and finds out people are watching him. There's a mystical guru-type dude named Ramman who talks about transcendence and that kind of crap, two wayward bum-types named Tulsa and Dar es Salaam (although I only learned that from the back of the book, since the girl - Dar es Salaam - is only referred to as "Dar," and Cole somehow just knows Tulsa's name), and a scraggly-looking guy named Calder, who has some issues and secrets. It turns out Cole is one of these people whose souls can leave their body and zip around the world, and he meets a bunch of others like him. Of course, nothing is what it seems and Cole is a lot more powerful than he imagines, and there's lots of fighting. The story is far more than that, and Hester makes us care about the good guys and be genuinely frightened of the bad guys (especially the Dervish - brrr). Cole has to figure things out when they go horribly wrong, and the conclusion is totally not what you expect. This is a glorious story about what it means to be real, what it means to love, and what we can and will do to sacrifice for those we love. The art is fabulous, too. I have been enjoying Huddleston's art on Mnemovore, and here it is really spectacular - the black and white is wonderful, and he really cuts loose. There's a problem with the book, but it's a small one - there's a page missing. Actually, a page is reprinted twice, so one's missing, and I want to know what's on it, damnit! Other than that, it's a great comic. One I knew only a little about before I got it, so discovering it for the first time was a cool thing.

The other book I ordered I knew even less about and got it simply because of the brief description in Previews. It's called Different Ugliness, Different Madness by Marc Malès (translated by Jonathan Tanner), and it's one of what I guess will be the last contributions from DC and Humanoids. It's a shame that this partnership is done, because it brought some things to these shores that we might never see. I'm really glad that this got through at least, because this is an unbelievably good comic. The plot is simple - a meeting between a wandering young woman and a reclusive man and what happens next - but it is much more complex than that.

First, Lloyd Goodman. In 1934, he was the king of the radio. Everyone loved him. Then he disappeared. He's the recluse. It's not really giving anything away to say that he's ugly, something he could get away with because it was, after all, the Golden Age of Radio. But for some reason, he decided to quit and go live in a nice house out in the middle of nowhere. Second, Helen. She's a beautiful young woman who istravelingg the country by train with no fixed destination. Why she's doing this is part of the intrigue of the story. She meets Lloyd and stays with him for a few days, and they both learn some interesting things about each other. The story is told in a series of flashbacks, from the 1950s to the 1980s to the 1930s. We see Helen as an old lady, returning to the railway station where she left Lloyd years earlier and telling her daughter the story. She still has her secrets, but the story allows them to play out over the course of the narrative.

The meat of the story is, of course, the time the two principals stay together. Helen is a woman with many secrets, and Lloyd has just the one (why he left radio), and the conversations between these two, in which they delicately fence with each other without giving too much away, are painful and wonderful to read. The title of the book speaks to the fact that they both have ugliness that they are trying to hide, and they both have madness they are trying to exorcise. In some ways, of course, the "ugliness" is more obvious - Lloyd's face - but it's there in both of them, and even though we as readers know that it's not really "ugliness," these people don't see that, and it hurts to read about them and wonder how they will overcome their deep wounds.

It's a joyous book, but also full of pain. It's a book about people in love who don't know it and wouldn't know how to express it anyway. The characters are beautifully realized, even the minor ones like Helen's daughter and Lloyd's boss. The art is occasionally rough, but that's part of its charm. Lloyd isn't as ugly as you might think, which might be a deliberate choice. Perhaps Malès wants us to realize his "ugliness" is mostly in his head.

These two books show why comics are a wonderful art form. It would be impossible to write these as straight fiction, because so much of their impact depends on the visual. Different Ugliness, Different Madness might work as a movie, but Deep Sleeper would push the CGI budget way up and probably look stupid - but Huddleston makes it work. Only in comics can these works have the impact that they do. These are two powerfully emotional books, and I can't recommend them enough. If you see them, snap them up. That's an order!

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This Comic Is Good - Doctor Strange: A Separate Reality

Mark this one down as yet another example of "if a book is not a super popular title, you can get away with a lot more cool stuff in it."

This trade collects the work of Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner on Doctor Strange, first in the pages of Marvel Premiere, and later, in the first few issues of Doctor Strange's ongoing title.

There are three separate story arcs, and each one of them is amazing in its complexity and majesticness.

The first storyline involves a major change in the status quo for Doctor Strange, as he goes from being "Master of Mystic Arts" to "Sorceror Supreme." It is one of those rare changes that makes so much sense that it has almost become retrofitted into people's memories as THE status quo for Doctor Strange, forgetting that it was not the case for the first seven or so years of Doctor Strange's existence.

The next storyline has Doctor Strange and his arch-rival Baron Mordo get caught up in the plan of a future being to become, well, GOD.

This storyline in particular allowed Frank Brunner to just go NUTS with his art.

In addition, the storyline let Englehart try some pretty daring things, with them travelling through time with Sise-Neg (who is trying to become God) until they are actually present for the (re)creation of the UNIVERSE!!!

This was certainly not the typical comic book fare of the time.

Finally, in the pages of his ongoing series, Englehart goes for a more traditional story with the villain Silver Dagger attempting to kill him. Even this story, though, is filled with a lot of good story ideas and appears extremely modern in its plot.

All in all, this may very well be the greatest Doctor Strange run ever (and I am a huge fan of the Roger Stern run), so it is well worth picking up.

What I bought - 25 May 2005

You only have until Tuesday to win free comics from me! The details are here!

Let's see what I got this week. It's always a blast!

Barbarossa & the Lost Corsairs #2 by Brian Augustyn, H.S. Park, and Y.C. Jang
$3.50, Kandora

I'm still not totally sold on this book, but it's still got a chance. There's nice action with the sea monster from last issue, Greek fire is used (take that, big octopus!), and we meet the inhabitants of the strange dimension where our heroes found themselves last issue. There's an interesting theory about where the inhabitants came from, and there's political machinations, and it's all very nice. I'm going to get the next issue and possibly the one after that, but we'll see. Good, solid storytelling, decent art, a nice dynamic between the characters - the book is fine, but I'm still on the fence with it. More pirating, damnit!

Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities #2 by Eric Powell and Kyle Hotz
$2.99, Dark Horse

This is such a weird little title, but I'm really liking it. Billy is still a jerk, and it's nice to see. There are very strange things going on in the village where Frankenstein lives, and it's all very creepy. Something bizarre happens to Miss Isadora's tattoos, there's something very wrong with the population, and it appears that the group loses some members to a certain stitched-together monster. This is a neat idea helped immensely by Hotz's Kelley-Jones-lite art. It's good. Buy the trade when it comes out, because buying pamphlets is for suckers, apparently!

Common Foe #1 by Keith Giffen, Shannon Denton, and Jean-Jacques Dzialowski
$3.50, Image/Desperado

This is a kind of a cool idea. During the Battle of the Bulge, a group of American soldiers and German soldiers band together to fight weird creatures. These things are nasty, and people die. Of course, the problem is we don't really know the characters and so we don't care that they're dying, but it's still a neat idea. After the initial battle, we flash back a bit and sort of meet the principals, but there are so many of them it's tough to tell them apart. It's frustrating, but I'm willing to give it a bit of time because it's a neat idea and the art is beautiful. It's awfully dark, but it's gorgeous - it really shows the battle scenes well and the layouts are nicely done. I'm on board for a bit, because it's interesting. We better find out more about these people, though!

The Expatriate #2 by B. Clay Moore and Jason Latour
$2.95, Image

I really like this book, although apparently everything Moore touches becomes automatically months late. Sheesh. The cool thing about this book is that is keeps throwing you curve balls. Just when you think you have a handle on it, Moore pulls the rug out from under you (or is that mixing metaphors?). We think Maria's husband is going to be a problem. We think Jack Dexter and Maria are going to keep at it all hot 'n' heavy. We think the CIA dudes are going to do things differently. Ha! says Moore. I like the fact that we honestly don't know what's going on. It's probably not enough to sustain this series for long, but for the first two issues, it's kind of neat. And the art fits the tone of the book so well - rough, sleazy, messy. A good book.

Girls #1 by Jonathan and Joshua Luna
$2.95, Image

Apparently someone at Image decided that since Ultra was a decent hit for the company, the Luna brothers could have nipples in their next book. Good for you, Image! This is decidedly creepier than Ultra, which is the point, but it's kind of strange to see, because the art doesn't really fit the story. The art works better in superhero stuff, I think. That said, it's an intriguing issue, because the main character (does he have a name? everyone calls him "dude" or "cowboy" or "slick") has some serious issues with women, so of course at the end he finds a naked girl on the highway, who has apparently escaped some backwoods crazies. Intriguing. The problem I had with the issue was that our hero flips out pretty easily, it seems. Sure, he has female issues, but it seems rather weird that he turns into a total dick so quickly (yes, I know he's drunk, but still). It's a minor annoyance, but it's still there. It's a nice introductory issue, and I'm looking forward to the next one.

The Incredible Hulk # 81 by Peter David, Lee Weeks, and Tom Palmer

The end of the "Tempest Fugit" story arc is kind of unsatisfying. Nice things happen - David's characterization of the Hulk as a dude who just doesn't care is nice, Weeks is a good artist, the flashback scenes serve a greater purpose - but it was ultimately empty. Maybe I just don't like the villain. I don't know. I think I'll stick around for a few more issues, because I do like David's writing, and like I said, I like the Hulk's attitude, but we'll see if I'm in it long-term. David doesn't like to hear that he's writing for the trade, but it did seem as if this could have been a two-issue story. It doesn't really move anything forward too much, does it?

The New West #2 by Jimmy Palmiotti and Phil Noto
$4.99, Black Bull

Based on the first issue, the only reason I bought this issue was because it's the last issue. Yes, Noto's art is pretty, but 5 bucks is a lot to spend for this book. It's actually a pretty good story, and the lack of electricity in Los Angeles is explained better than it was in issue #1, and there's artistic bloodshed, and then toward the end the guys almost ruin it by giving us a completely gratuitous pin-up of a girl we've been told is too young for most comics geeks to lust over (oh wait - she doesn't exist, so it's okay). Blech. Anyway, I had hoped for more from these two (I really liked Beautiful Killer), especially for the price. I may have to join the ranks of comics fans who refuse to give their money to Gareb Shamus no matter what the product is.

Otherworld #3 by Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning
$2.99, DC/Vertigo

I may have to stop reading this in its monthly format. I used to do this with mini-series - buy a couple of issues, decide that I liked it, and then buy the rest without reading them until the series was complete. I'm intrigued by Otherworld, but holy crap is Jimenez stuffing this thing with information. It makes my head hurt to read it. It's very pretty, and we learn a little more than we have from the first two issues, but it's just too much for my tiny brain to handle. I may have to buy them all and pick a long afternoon to sit down and figure out just what the hell is going on here and how all these people fit with each other. Sigh. Pretty book, though.

X-Men #170 by Peter Milligan, Salvador Larocca, and Danny Miki with Allen Martinez
$2.25, Marvel

Milligan's first X-story comes to a close, and although it's not as good as last month's pseudo-horror issue, it's still a strong book and it's enough for me to read on. It's basically the X-Men in space shooting down all the new Golgothas that are heading for Earth, but the paranoia that Milligan established in the story is still there, and the characterizations of our merry mutants is well done. It's also nice to see a story in which the humans don't shoot mutants on sight. Even though General O'Shea hates mutants, at least he allows them to go into space in the hopes that Golgotha will kill them instead of mobilizing the army to kill them. It's a nice issue that bodes well for the future. We'll see where Milligan takes them next. I hope it's into the twisted places he went with Shade and Detective and Enigma and The Minx and X-Statix and not the crappy places he went with Elektra.

Well? Bash away! This is America after all, not some Commie country where they make you buy state-produced propaganda comics!

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Sumerak Attack

THREE books in the same week, and ANOTHER one coming out next week!

It's a Sumerak Attack!!

And reading three Marc Sumerak books in one week (Marvel Adventures #0, Power Pack #3 and Machine Teen #1), you see some striking similarities between the books.

1. Characterization is number one. Sumerak makes sure that the first thing that gets established in every title is the characterizations of the character. It is almost like he is running off of a "making characters fully realized" checklist.

2. Families are good. Marvel Adventures tells us how great families are, Power Pack tells us how great families are, and Machine Teen shows us what a man goes through to have a family.

3. Action is secondary. Of the three, one of the books (Machine Teen) really doesn't have ANY action in it. The other two books both feature Dr. Doom, and the fights are really pretty secondary (mainly involving Doom-Bots blasting at people).

4. Humor is present, and it is genial. All three of the titles have this.

And #5, the biggest key to a Marc Sumerak book that I have seen is INTERACTION.

He spends a lot of his time building up characterizations of the folks in his titles, and the end result is to throw them together so that each character has a fully realized dynamic with another character, and it follows logically.

Sort of like someone setting up a large set of dominoes carefully, then tipping over one and seeing how it affects every OTHER domino.

I particularly enjoyed the parallels he draws between Johnny Storm and Jack Power were great.

All together, though, the main thing is that he is writing for a VERY particular audience here, which is a younger one.

So the Marvel Adventures one, in particular, reads very much like a primer on the Fantastic Four and their conflict with Doom.

Power Pack #3 is a very Arthur the Aardvark look at superheroes (Arthur is an excellent show, so not a knock there!).

Finally, Machine Teen is also a simple tale.

I supposed I would recommend Power Pack #3, and say that, for the audience it is geared toward, Machine Teen and Marvel Adventures work very well.

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Comics Should Be Good Mark Millar Challenge

I will take back every negative thing I have ever said about Mark Millar's writing, and never make a snarky or negative statement about his writing ever again, if....

...Ultimates 2 ends without Hank Pym having a cynical ending.

And the book certainly sets us up where that is certainly a FEASIBLE option.

It is not like it would be coming out of left field.

It would kinda impress me just for Hank Pym to make it out of this series ALIVE.

But making it out of the series without a cynical resolution to his storyline?

That would AMAZE me.

It is soooooooooo easy to give Hank a cynical ending, so if Millar went AGAINST that, well, I would feel like a gigantic heel for presuming that Millar is being super cynical with this series.

And I would take back every negative thing I have said about Millar, and never make a snarky or negative statement about his writing ever again.

That's how much it would impress me.

That is my challenge.

I heed the sweet siren-call of nostalgia!

I have railed against nostalgia on this very site before, but it's not all bad. For some reason, I found myself missing things the other day. Here's what I miss:

Comics coming out on Friday. I don't know why, it just seemed neater.

Cheap comics. Yes, it's silly to whine, and I buy more comics today than I used to, but a 300% price increase in 17 years (which is when I started buying comics) seems a little much. Also, I could afford to give a title a while to tell a story. Now, if it doesn't grab me in two or three issues, it's gone. It could turn out to be a really good story, but the price forces me to have a short attention span.

Claremont-esque writing, with lots o' subplots brewing for months and years and not everything getting wrapped up convenient six-issue chunks. It was kind of frustrating reading Claremont's X-Men or Amazing Spider-Man, but ultimately rewarding and (dare I say it? I dare, I dare!) more realistic. Real life does not get wrapped up in time for the trade paperbacks!

Titles that are the specific property of a writer (or writer and artist) that tells one grand story and then ends, never to be seen again. I thought this was the future of comics in the 1990s, and I could not have been happier. Morrison's Doom Patrol sort of provided the template, but DC got stupid and continued it without him. But it helped spawn Sandman, Starman, Shade the Changing Man, Preacher and Hitman, Invisibles, Transmetropolitan ... Such a grand list of comics! (I don't even like all those comics, but I love the concept.) Those kinds of things have always been around, of course, but it seemed, for a little while, that it was the future. Where are all those dudes now? Out of comics or writing superheroes for the Big Two. Depressing.

Big-ass crossovers that you could actually afford (see "cheap comics). I have no interest in either Big Two crossover, because there are so many titles, each costing three bucks! Sheesh. I own every annual from the Armageddon 2001 crossover (I'm not proud of the fact, but I still own them) because you could take a chance on them and not feel totally cheated if they weren't very good (a sad fact with much of the Armageddon 2001 crossover, unfortunately). I LOVE crossovers, but these bloated monsters DC and Marvel are pushing on us don't do anything for me.

The sense of discovery. Now, thanks to the Internet and fanzines, you can find out everything you possibly want about a comic months before it comes out. Hell, you don't even have to read something to have an opinion about it. I try not to have an opinion about Countdown to Infinite Crisis, but because of everything I've read about it, I feel like I've read it, and that's weird. I remember picking up the first issue of Trident back in the day, with stories by Gaiman and Morrison and a bunch o' others, and all I expected from the book was what was promised by the cover. I knew nothing about it. I remember looking through back issues for Tim Sale's Amazon simply because one friend recommended it, not because I had read all about it on the Internets. The comics are still good, but the sense of discovery, of thinking, "Wow! I found this all by myself!" is gone.

Finally, annuals. What the hell happened to annuals? The last annual I think I bought was Morrison's X-Men one, the one with beautiful art by Yu and the cool story about Xorn (where there are NO clues that he's Magneto, despite what Grant says). Some of my favorite stories are in annuals. A host of X-ones, my favorite probably being the Horde annual. Moore's "Mortal Clay" was in an annual. The aforementioned Armageddon 2001 (okay, not the best example, but they were still annuals). Peter Parker and Mary Jane's wedding took place in an annual. Avengers Annual #10 is a freakin' brilliant comic book (the first appearance of Rogue, with Claremont writing and Michael Genius Golden drawing). I suppose they fell prey to the upward spiral of prices, but I still miss them.

Okay, I'll stop being gloomy now. Cool books this week. More on them mañana. Anyone got anything they're nostalgic for?

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Current Comics Report for 5/25

This is a report about what I think about the comics of this week, based upon Diamond's Shipping This Week list, as reprinted below, with my (sometimes quite snarky, so be forewarned) comments.

Certain sections of the Current Report on the 5/25 Comic Book Week contain forward-looking statements that are based on my expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “believe,” “estimate” and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which include but are not limited to projections of books being good, writing performance, character flaws, artistic coolness and continued title stability.

Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Prognasticators Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what is forecast in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation:

• A book being better than I thought it would be;

• A different creative team on a book;

• A different type of story than I thought it was;

• Differences in anticipated and actual performance by the writer and/or artist

All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report or, in the case of any document incorporated by reference, the date of that document.All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to me are qualified by the cautionary statements in this section..

Shipping This Week: May 25, 2005

DARK HORSE

MAR050040 BILLY THE KIDS OLD TIME ODDITIES #2 (OF 4) $2.99

I don't know what this book is about, but it has the coolest name ever.

NOV040032 BPRD EMBROIDERED PATCH (O/A) $4.99

See, now THIS is the kind of novelty I can totally get behind. Who can have a problem with a BPRD patch for only five bucks!?

Communists, that's who.

FEB050057 KING OF WOLVES TP (MR) $12.95
FEB050055 KOTOBUKIYA STAR WARS SANDTROOPER ORANGE MODEL KIT $99.99

$45 for a Yoda model kit, but $100 for Sandtrooper!?! Makes no sense!

NOV040055 MATRIX REVOLUTIONS NEO MINI BUST $45.00
NOV040054 MATRIX REVOLUTIONS PERSEPHONE MINI BUST $45.00

Aren't busts inherently "mini"?

NOV040063 MIRROR MASK PVC SET #1 $14.99
NOV040064 MIRROR MASK PVC SET #2 $14.99

Now PVCs, I understood the concept before everyone made action figures. Now? Seems kinda...well...chintzy.

APR050090 SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW PIN $6.99

NO problem with it in THEORY, but why pay seven bucks for a PIN when you can get a BPRD patch for two bucks less? In addition, does Dark Horse even make comics anymore, or just novelties?

FEB050056 VAMPIRE HUNTER D VOL 1 NOVEL SC (MR) $8.95

Ah...never mind. Is this that good? I have heard good things.

DC COMICS

MAR050476 100 BULLETS #61 (MR) $2.50
MAR050383 ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #640 $2.50

I estimate that this will go from being the BEST written Superman title to the worst (contextually!! CONTEXTUALLY!!!).

MAR050373 BATGIRL #64 $2.50

Alas, poor Gabrych. Was making a name for himself, but now he gets sucked into Infinite Crisis stuff.

MAR050364 BATMAN #640 $2.25

I estimate that this issue will continue in Winick's surprisingly impressive Batman run. Mahnke RULES on Batman!

MAR050360 BATMAN BEGINS CHRISTIAN BALE BATMAN MINI STATUE $29.99

Mini-statute. It SOUNDS reasonable...but then you realize...wait...if that's all I'm gonna spend, why not just buy an action figure?

MAR050368 BATMAN BROKEN CITY TP $14.99

Good thing they rushed this baby out to the market! Really captured the sales momentum of For Tomorrow!!

MAR050438 CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #9 $2.25
MAR050379 CATWOMAN #43 $2.50

Is this Pfeifer's first issue? I wish he and Pete Woods all the luck in the world. Two good guys deserve a good turn.

MAR050461 CITY OF TOMORROW #2 (OF 6) (MR) $2.99

His Solo effort showed us that Chaykin can mix things up. I predict that this one will show us that he can also do the same old thing as well.

MAR050397 DAY OF VENGEANCE #2 (OF 6) $2.50
APR050333 DC SPECIAL THE RETURN OF DONNA TROY #1 (OF 4) $2.99

DC SPECIAL: Continuity fix!

At least Jiminez really digs Donna Troy, so it is kinda nice to let him be the one who writes it.

MAR050457 DIFFERENT UGLINESS DIFFERENT MADNESS TP (MR) $14.99
MAR050398 DOOM PATROL #12 $2.50

How trippy would it be if Byrne got all Hypertime on us?

NOV040369 FIRST APPEARANCE SERIES 3 BATGIRL ACTION FIGURE PI
NOV040368 FIRST APPEARANCE SERIES 3 COMPOSITE SUPERMAN ACTION FIGURE ( PI
NOV040367 FIRST APPEARANCE SERIES 3 INNER CASE PI
NOV040366 FIRST APPEARANCE SERIES 3 MASTER CASE PI
NOV040370 FIRST APPEARANCE SERIES 3 NIGHTWING ACTION FIGURE PI
NOV040371 FIRST APPEARANCE SERIES 3 RIDDLER ACTION FIGURE PI

First appearances are cool. But Composite Superman is a bit iffy...as I do not recall Composite Superman making all that many appearances that he would CHANGE appearance that much, which is sorta the concept of this line...

MAR050400 FLASH #222 $2.25

Was anyone else disappointed that Birds of Prey only devoted a page to fitting it into the continuity of DC Countdown?

I bet Johns could have gotten three issues out of the phone call Beetle made to Oracle.

MAR050445 GALS VOL 2 $9.99
MAR050377 GOTHAM CENTRAL HALF A LIFE TP $14.99
MAR050403 GREEN LANTERN #1 $3.50

I am predicting that this will be good.

Please prove me right, Mssr. Johns!

MAR050479 HELLBLAZER #208 (MR) $2.75
MAR050407 JLA #114 $2.25

I estimate that this will be a good, action-filled, issue.

MAR050465 LEGEND #4 (OF 4) (MR) $5.99
MAR050414 LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #6 $2.99

I predict that this issue will be cool.

MAR050483 LOSERS #24 (MR) $2.99
MAR050381 NIGHTWING ON THE RAZORS EDGE TP $14.99
MAR050415 OMAC PROJECT #2 (OF 6) $2.50

DC FINALLY got my letters! "Give me a grim and gritty Booster Gold! The public NEEDS it!"

MAR050488 OTHERWORLD #3 (OF 12) (MR) $2.99

I presuppose that this issue will be filled with finely detailed art, and more captions and dialogue than has ever existed in the history of non-McFarlane comic books.

MAR050420 OUTSIDERS #24 $2.50

I estimate that this will make sense to, like, three dudes not part of the Johnuckanik collective.

MAR058071 RANN THANAGAR WAR #1 2ND PTG $2.50

Ya see, I just don't believe that this really sold that well. I am sorry, Gibbons, I love you, but I just don't believe that this sold that well. What did they make, 200 copies? And "sold out"?

MAR050470 SLEEPER SEASON TWO #12 (OF 12) (MR) $2.99

I predict that this will be a GREAT conclusion!
MAR050433 TEEN TITANS GO #19 $2.25

I estimate that this book will be great fun as usual.

MAR050425 WRATH OF THE SPECTRE TP $19.99

I gather that this will have some kick ass art in it! And some cool stories that Spectre fans should make sure that they read!

MAR050367 YEAR ONE BATMAN SCARECROW #1 (OF 2) $5.99

IMAGE

MAR051686 ARMOR X #3 $2.95

No offense to either men, but Andy Smith drawing a book written by Keith Champagne has GOT to be one of the more unlikely writer/artist pairings out there.

MAR051671 COMMON FOE #1 (OF 4) $3.50

Wait...wait...is Giffen not scripting this book!?? How did I miss this!! Someone tell me how it is, as I estimate that it will help further prove my Giffen as Plotting God theory!!

MAR051684 DEEP SLEEPER TP $12.95
OCT041508 DESPERADO PRIMER $1.99

I am always in favor of books that show what a line of books have to offer. Would have been nice to be a bit cheaper, though, as it basically is a promo.

JAN051596 EXPATRIATE #2 $2.95

I estimate that this will have more action in it than #1, and I will be happy.

MAR051667 GIRLS #1 (MR) $2.95

I liked Ultra so much, and I really admire their willingness to just go in an entirely different direction.

DEC041541 SEVENTH SHRINE #2 (OF 2) $5.95

Is this based off a video game or a novel or something?

Sounds like it.

Man...it is kinda weird when comics based on Rom look highbrow.

MARVEL

MAR051881 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #520 $2.25

I think JMS wanted to write Avengers.

MAR051950 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL 9 SKIN DEEP TP $9.99
FEB051901 CAPTAIN AMERICA #6 $2.99

I predict that the revelation in this issue is a red herring.

MAR051946 EMMA FROST VOL 3 BLOOM DIGEST TP $7.99
MAR051962 ESSENTIAL THOR VOL 2 TP $16.99
MAR051935 EXCALIBUR #14 $2.99

I wonder where Lopresti is going to end up? He's made himself into a "hot" artist, hasn't he? Impressive job on his part.

MAR051871 FANTASTIC FOUR #527 $2.99

I predict that this will be a "bringing the FF back to the days of Lee and Kirby, where they introduced new characters every storyline and were explorers, not superheroes."

Like every other new writer on FF...ever.

MAR051958 FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 6 RISING STORM TP $13.99
MAR051900 INCREDIBLE HULK #81 $2.99
MAR051873 MACHINE TEEN #1 (OF 5) $2.99

I predict that this will be fun comics by Sumerak. He is fun.

MAR051918 MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #0 $1.99
MAR051945 MARVEL MASTERWORKS INVINCIBLE IRON MAN VOL 2 HC VAR ED $54.99
MAR051944 MARVEL MASTERWORKS INVINCIBLE IRON MAN VOL 2 NEW ED HC $49.99

SWEET! Variant covers for hardcovers! BRILLIANT! Marvel must have figured that some fans really ARE that obsessive!

MAR051923 NEW X-MEN HELLIONS #1 (OF 4) $2.99

I estimate that this will give deep personalities to characters you never would expect to have ANY personalities.

MAR051956 NIGHTCRAWLER DEVIL INSIDE TP $14.99
MAR051911 POWER PACK #3 (OF 4) $2.99

FF? FINALLY! Some action! Yay Sumerak!

MAR051937 ROGUE #11 $2.99
MAR051913 RUNAWAYS #4 $2.99
MAR051912 SECRET WAR FROM FILES OF NICK FURY $3.99

I hope this is a bunch of bios about the characters...I hope I hope (see, the key to not getting disappointed).

MAR051910 SPELLBINDERS #3 (OF 6) $2.99

I could really go for a character guide for this book.

MAR051908 STORMBREAKER SAGA OF BETA RAY BILL #5 (OF 6) $2.99
FEB051878 ULTIMATE IRON MAN #2 (OF 5) $2.99

So soon?

MAR051878 ULTIMATES 2 #6 $2.99

As I told others today, I propose the perfect review of Ultimates.

"Wasn't Cap a dick? They totally underestimate Thor. He's so cool."

and

"Wasn't Thor a dick? I wish Cap could have kicked his ass."

This way, EVERYone is happy!

MAR051933 WOLVERINE SOULTAKER #4 (OF 5) $2.99

I think this will continue to be a fun series.

MAR051925 X-23 #6 (OF 6) $2.99

I predict a good ending from a surprisingly cool series.

MAR051927 X-MEN #170 $2.25

Last issue, Milligan cranked out a good issue. Let's hope he keeps it up! I predict that he will!

FEB058475 X-MEN PHOENIX ENDSONG LTD ED VARIANT COVER #5 (OF 5) $2.99

WIZARD

FEB052421 NEW WEST #2 $4.99
APR052474 WIZARD COMICS MAGAZINE FANTASTIC 4 PHOTO CVR #165 (NOTE PRIC $5.99
APR052475 WIZARD COMICS MAGAZINE WILDSIDERZ CVR #165 (NOTE PRICE) $5.99

Wildsiderz?

Really?

On the COVER?

What, did Campbell agree to do, like, three X-Women T&A covers in exchange for this?

COMICS

MAR052959 A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #13 (A) $4.99
JAN052572 ALEX RAYMONDS FLASH GORDON VOL 3 HC $19.95

Drool.

MAR053140 ALICHINO VOL 2 GN (OF 3) $9.99
SEP042515 ALIEN LEGION FOOTSLOGGERS TP $19.95

I like the idea of keeping these stories in print.

DEC042357 AP HOW TO DRAW MANGA TONING TECHNIQUES CD ED VOL 1 TP $24.95
MAR052598 ARCHIE #557 $2.19
MAR052599 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #161 $3.59
FEB052946 BARBAROSSA AND THE LOST CORSAIRS #2 $3.50
FEB053409 BEANS #19 GOOD EVENING PIPPIN $5.99
FEB053410 BEANS #20 TWINKLE PLANET $5.99
FEB053411 BEANS #21 EVERLASTING $5.99
FEB053412 BEANS #22 SYCAMORE STREET $5.99
FEB053413 BEANS #23 GEMINI GIRLS $5.99

Someone PLEASE explain the appeal of Beans to me, because I just do not get it.

MAR053127 BLAZIN BARRELS VOL 1 GN (OF 18) $9.99
MAR053017 BOLLAND STRIPS TP $24.99
APR052694 BRIAN PULIDOS BELLADONNA LEADER OF PACK ED #3 (OF 5) $5.99
APR052695 BRIAN PULIDOS BELLADONNA WARRIOR SPIRIT ED #4 (OF 5) $5.99
APR052699 BRIAN PULIDOS LADY DEATH SWIMSUIT EMERALD FOIL CVR 2005 $6.99
APR052763 BRIAN PULIDOS LADY DEATH SWIMSUIT MOMENT OF PEACE CVR 2005 $5.99
APR052700 BRIAN PULIDOS LADY DEATH SWIMSUIT SCORCHING ED 2005 $5.99
APR052697 BRIAN PULIDOS UNHOLY BAD ATTITUDE CVR #1 $5.99
APR052765 BRIAN PULIDOS UNHOLY GOLD FOIL ED #2 $5.99
APR052698 BRIAN PULIDOS UNHOLY SHOWGIRL CVR #2 $5.99

Seriously, I'm telling you...Brian Pulidos Lady Death Used Tissue Cvr 2005. It IS coming!

Do not laugh!!

MAR053141 BTX VOL 9 GN (OF 16) $9.99
MAR053130 CARDCAPTOR SAKURA VOL 6 GN NEW PTG (OF 6) $9.99
MAR053142 CHRONICLES OF THE CURSED SWORD VOL 12 GN (OF 16) $9.99
FEB053109 DEAD AT 17 VOL 3 REVOLUTION TP (MR) $14.95

This series was pretty good, I thought. Worth a try-out.

FEB052797 DF COUNTDOWN #1 DOUBLE SGN $49.99
DEC042577 DFE HUNTER KILLER ALT CVR #1 SGN $39.99
FEB052778 DFE RED SONJA B&W AUTHENTIX ED #0 $14.99
MAR053144 DNANGEL VOL 8 GN (OF 8) $9.99
MAR052723 ELVIRA #145 $2.50

I love that Elvira is up to #145. That is sweet.

MAR052940 FLARE #6 $2.99
APR052702 FRIDAY THE 13TH SP NO ESCAPE CVR #1 $5.99

Alternate covers for books that have already come out are lame!

FEB053416 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ANIME COMIC VOL 1 $16.99
APR052793 GI JOE #43 $4.50

I predict that this will be a bit of a rushed ending. And these new characters they introduced are kinda, well, silly.

MAR052790 GI JOE MASTER & APPRENTICE VOL II CVR B #4 $2.95
MAR052789 GI JOE MASTER & APPRENTICE VOL II UDON CVR A #4 $2.95
JAN052367 GOLDEN PLATES #2 (OF 12) $7.99

This is a really interesting idea, isn't it?

Not my cuppa tea, but still impressive nonetheless.

MAR053118 GRIMOIRE #3 $2.99
MAR053190 GTO VOL 1 GN (STAR15400) $9.99
MAR053117 HUNGER #1 (MR) $2.99
MAR053149 INITIAL D VOL 18 GN (OF 26) $9.99
FEB052947 JADE FIRE #1 $3.50
FEB053044 JAMES BOND DR NO TP $16.95

What is this reprinting exactly?

MAR052974 KARNEY #2 (OF 4) (MR) $3.99

Anyone reading this? I think it is funny to see Kevin Smith's friends do comics.

MAR053194 KING OF HELL VOL 1 GN (OF 10) (O/A) $9.99
APR052701 LADY DEATH LEATHER & LACE 2005 CRUEL MISTRESS CVR $5.99
APR052764 LADY DEATH LEATHER & LACE 2005 PRISM FOIL CVR $12.99

I'm telling you...whatever he finds in the closet, it is going on a cover...I just wonder where he keeps his prisms...

MAR053151 LEGAL DRUG VOL 3 GN (OF 4) $9.99
MAR053152 LOVE OR MONEY VOL 3 GN (OF 5) $9.99
APR052677 MEDIEVAL LADY DEATH FEAR HER WRATH CVR #1 $5.99
FEB052850 MEGAMANGA VOL 21 SUPER TABOO EXTREME TP (A) $15.95
MAR052915 MEGAMANGA VOL 22 SEX WARRIOR ISANE TP (A) $22.95
APR042371 NIGHTJAR #4 (Of 4) (MR) $3.50
OCT042454 NIGHTJAR TAROT COVER #4 (Of 4) (MR) $3.99

I love how having the Tarot on the cover is worse an extra 49 cents. What's up with THAT?

APR042372 NIGHTJAR WRAPAROUND CVR #4 (Of 4) (MR) $3.50
MAR053204 PARADISE KISS VOL 1 GN NEW PTG (MAY042915) $9.99

I like the price point here.

MAR053019 PILGRIM & SON FESTIVAL RITUAL TP (MR) $10.99
MAR053157 PSYCHIC ACADEMY VOL 8 GN (OF 11) (RES) $9.99
MAR052545 PUNCH AND JUDY TP $7.95
MAR053158 RAVE MASTER VOL 15 GN (OF 29) $9.99
MAR053120 RAVENOUS GN (MR) $14.99

Dawn Brown is the ginchiest.

MAR053159 REBIRTH VOL 14 GN (OF 18) $9.99
FEB053420 SAIYUKI RELOAD TV ANIME SC $29.99
MAR053137 SAMURAI DEEPER KYO VOL 13 GN (OF 27) (MR) $9.99
APR052742 SHAOLIN COWBOY NEW PRTG #1 $3.50

Sweet. I missed this the first time around!

APR052675 STARGATE SG1 ARIS BOCH WRAP VIRGINIA GOLD SEAL #1 $4.99
APR052669 STARGATE SG1 DANIELS SONG NOUVEAU CARTER ED #1 $5.99
APR052672 STARGATE SG1 DANIELS SONG NOUVEAU HAMMOND ED #1 $5.99
APR052670 STARGATE SG1 DANIELS SONG NOUVEAU ONEILL ED #1 $5.99
APR052673 STARGATE SG1 DANIELS SONG NOUVEAU TEALC ED #1 $5.99

Wow...not only are they doing multiple covers, but the photo covers are actually MORE money, too?

Weeeeeeeeeak.

By the by, do they tell the actors what they are posing for?

MAR052706 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #32 (MR) $2.95
APR052713 THE BALLAD OF SLEEPING BEAUTY TP $21.95

A bit of a high price point, but this was an interesting series.

MAR053128 TOKYO MEW MEW VOL 1 A LA MODE GN (OF 2) $9.99
JAN052941 TRANSFORMERS ASPECTS OF EVIL GN $7.95
MAR052503 TRUE STORY SWEAR TO GOD VOL 2 THIS ONE GOES TO 11 TP $12.95

This has SUCH a cool cover.

FEB053417 TSUBASA MYOJIN ILLUS $59.99
FEB053421 ULTRA JUMP MEGAMIX VOL1 (MR) $16.99
MAR052927 UNCLE SCROOGE #342 $6.95

Getting towards the end of Rosa, sadly.

MAR052735 UNEXPURGATED TALE OF LORDIE JONES GN $12.00
MAR052926 WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES #657 $6.95
MAR052689 WAR OF THE WORLDS BSI ED GN $13.99

What is this reprinting?

SEP042520 WINSOR MCCAY VOL 5 EARLY WORKS (MR) $19.95
MAR053050 ZORRO #1 $2.95

Well, that's for me! Feel free to share your thought on the comic week ahead!

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Eclipse & Vega: The Beds That We Make - Avoiding Cousin Larry

Today's "You Decide" is Eclipse and Vega, or more specifically, the first two issues of the latest (and last?) Eclipse and Vega mini-series, "The Beds That We Make."

Okay, in the very first issue, the two heroines, Eclipse and Vega make out so to distract a villain.

Yes, that is right, they make out to distract a villain, in a moment designed to parody the over-sexualization of female superheros and the obsession that our culture has with sex in general (a la the Janet Jackson incident).

Sure sounds like a total Cousin Larry trick, doesn't it?

You know, "If people like seeing two attractive women make out, then cool, but if they don't, then it is PARODYING comics where two attractive women make out!!"

Luckily, somehow, the writer actually manages to pull the "joke" part off.

The key to pulling it off is that the rest of the book clearly IS joking around a lot, so it makes it a lot more believable that the making out part is a joke as well. Unlike, say, Worldwatch, where everything is done quite straightforwardly, and the only "joke" is that it stinks (you know, the ol' "it's INTENTIONALLY bad" routine).

Also, the writer is amusing. Mocking the whole "getting writers from Hollywood" shtick, publisher Saul Colt has imported a writer from Hollywood....Alan Smithee.

The joke, of course, (for anyone who doesn't get it...but I presume most of you do), is that Alan Smithee is a made-up pseudonym which directors have used in the past when they wish to disassociate themselves from terrible movies.

The art by Bill Maus is good. It is sorta manga-esque and it is very stylized overall.

In any event, the main gist of the series is that the two female superheroes, Eclipse and Vega, are defenders of Toronto, but after their big kiss, they find themselves in a Janet Jackson-esque imbroglio, with everyone wanting to know if they are lesbians, etc. There is actually a decently tragic moment where Vega is losing a fight and once AGAIN uses her sexuality to save herself...which only serves to depress her a lot.

In any event, there is enough T & A here to make the book pretty close to being a Cousin Larry trick, so if that sort of stuff irks you, you should not check this book out (but I assume most of you are like me, in that you don't LIKE to see stuff like this in comics, but will deal with Ed Benes if it means you get a good story).

In addition, if you think a satire of the Janet Jackson incident is a bit on the overdone side, then you, too, would probably be best served avoiding this series.

However, if a fun book that:

A. Does not take itself seriously at ALL
B. Is filled with a good helping of jokes
and
C. Includes some actual old-fashioned superheroics

sounds like something you would enjoy, then Eclipse & Vega: The Beds We Make might be for you!

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Three 5/18 Book That I Read So That You Did Not Have To

Same as always...I tell you about three comics that I did not hear a lot about this week, and then I ask you all to fill me in on comics that I did not read this week.

Spoilers ahead!!

Conan #16 - I was not a fan of the last issue, so I was quite pleased to see this issue get back to the standard I have grown to expect from Busiek, Nord and Stewart's Conan.

This story begins the next Conan storyline, and really, this would be a GREAT issue to pick out if you wanted to show someone what Conan is like, particularly young Conan.

His ill-informed rant about how cities are "evil"? Totally Conan.

The way he treats everyone pretty much equally, whether they are a high muckety-muck or a little kid? Totally Conan.

The way he goes to a haunted hill without any regard of the warnings? Totally Conan.

The way he figures he can stop (or at least he BETTER stop) the supernatural beings with his sword? Totally Conan.

This issue was a microcosm of Conan, and what makes him so cool (and so easy to parody).

The art by Nord and Stewart is stellar, as usual.

Recommended!!

Toxin #2 - I don't like repeating the same issue in back-to-back months (as I like to use this as, like I said, books that aren't talked about as much), but man, this book is just too much of a pleasant surprise NOT to talk about!

This issue followed #1 by ALSO being a good comic, only this issue was even BETTER than #1!

That's right...a GOOD comic.

It is a comic of the spawn of Carnage.

Who was the spawn of Venom.

The Spider-Man villain.

So what I'm saying here is that a comic about the spawn of the spawn of Venom is actually a GOOD comic.

It is so shocking of a claim that you almost feel compelled to check this book out, don't you?

In any event, this issue Peter Milligan continues his valiant attempt to make Marvel villains cool (which is kinda fruitless, as a writer who never read this book is bound to kill the character off for SOME story or another).

His target this issue is Razorfist, and the shtick he gives him is that Razorfist calls out to all those youth out there who self-mutilate themselves. He draws power from them, and in return he cuts them - without leaving marks. They also feed him and so stuff for him because, well, the dude has blades for arms.

Darick Robertson's art is strong, and there is even time in the book for deeper thoughts. For instance, Milligan is clearly trying to write this comic, like Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, as a metaphor for the dual nature of man.

Yes, that's right, it is a comic about the spawn of the spawn of Venom, and he is writing in metaphors.

Trippy.

In any event, the guy who is hosting the symbiote also didn't exactly tell anyone that he was running off because he was afraid of what he has become, and only his former police partner knows, so there is a real good scene between the hero's father and his partner.

Finally, to find Razorfist, the hero befriends/intimidates one of Razorfist's followers, and the exchange is so real and well-written.

And it all leads to a very interesting final page.

Recommended (yes, I understand, it is a book about the spawn of the spawn of Venom and I am recommending it to actual human beings as a good comic book)!

Hero Camp #1 - This book is a fun concept (the kid of famous superheroes has no super powers of his own, but his parents still send him to superhero camp every summer hoping he comes around), and the opening is really cool.

The kid in question is thrown off from a high landing to hopefully jumpstart his flying abilities - and instead is just falling to his death.

Luckily, his superpowered dog saves him.

Great opening.

And the rest of the issue just meanders from there.

I understand that this may not be the first time these characters appeared in a comic book, but really, it is like we picked up issue #569. A whole lot of characters with a whole lot of connections to each other, and not a lot of explaining what was what.

In addition, the plot (the kid's dog rescues him and drops him off in the jungle, where he runs into some bad guys while the camp is off searching for him, and there is a tussle when they all converge) is kinda...well...silly.

The bad guys apparantly just wander around in the forest?!!?

Huh!?

And you never can tell for sure if these bad guys are like, bullies who pick on people from the camp, or are these guys actually the kind of bad guys who will kill you.

Basically, you don't know WHAT is going on.

The art by Robbi Rodrigues was good, very reminiscient of Ryan Ottley's art on Invincible. Good stuff there.

In addition, Greg Thompson (the writer and creator) does a shorter story on one of the character, Block (a Hulk analogue), that is a lot of fun. The kind of fun I really EXPECTED in the main story...but I really didn't get.

However, the concept is fun and the second story was fun, and the art is nice, so I still have hope for #2.

But this issue?

Not recommended.

On to the books I did not read that I would like you all to fill me in on:

ABC Warriors Vol. 2 The Black Hole

Books of Magick: Life During Wartime #11

Freedom Force #5

Freakshow #6

Strange Eggs #1

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Comics you should own - The Authority

Before I begin, I should remind y'all that I'm giving away two different comic books at the end of the month in honor of my own nativity. Go here for all the gory details. Good stuff, people!

And yes, I just did one of these last week. Aquaman, however, had been sitting on my coffee table for a while before I got to it, so I started re-reading these a while ago. Anyway, to wit:

The Authority by Mark Millar (writer, issues 22, 27-29), Tom Peyer (writer, issues 23-26), Frank Quitely (artist, issue 22), Dustin Nguyen (penciller, issues 23-26), Arthur Adams (penciller, issues 27-28), Gary Erskine (artist, issue 29), Rich Friend (inker, issues 23-26), Jason Martin (inker, issues 23-26), Tim Townsend (inker, issues 27-28)
DC/Wildstorm, 8 issues (#22-29), cover dated March 2001-July 2002

"What?" you say. "Greg doesn't consider Ellis's run on The Authority essential?" Well, first off, it's comics you should own, not comics you already own, and any comics geek probably already owns Ellis's 12 issues. Secondly, when you get right down to it, Ellis's run is pretty simplistic. None of the political machinations or even interesting villains of his take on StormWatch. Yes, I love reading the issues, and yes, Hitch's art is magnificent, but if you really stop to think about it, it's all "Here's a bad guy - let's punch him in the brain." Worth the time, but nothing really ground-breaking (especially if you buy Liefeld's latest assertion that he, not Ellis, invented "wide-screen" comics).

Then came Millar.

His first storyline is another good arc, but again, you all own it. His second arc, with the rogue Doctor, was weaker, and I suspect many people left the book during it, especially with the delays in printing. Then Doselle Young stepped in with, basically, a set-up for his title, The Monarchy (whatever happened to Young? - he was supposed to be the next big thing). His issue (#21) was one of the weirdest comics I've ever read, and I still don't get it. So by the time Millar began his "death of The Authority" arc in issue #22, I suspect the book had lost a good chunk of its audience. Add to the fact that Quitely suddenly left to go do X-Men and Millar had some issues with the censorship board at DC, and the final issues of the first volume of The Authority limped out in late printings, taking over a year to complete. By the time it was put out of its misery, it was a shell of its former glory.

Or was it? Sure, waiting for the issues to come out was interminable. But I submit to you that these latter issues of The Authority were just as good, and in some ways much better, than the sanctified Ellis run. No, the art wasn't as good. Hitch remains a master at the kind of art this book needs, although Nguyen, I would say, gave him a run for his money then and now in the latest incarnation (which I don't buy but look at whenever it comes out). I have my issues with Quitely's art, and I don't think Adams really works here, although I love his art, and the Erskine's art in the finale is just yucky. So the art is inferior, but not by too much. It doesn't take me out of the story, which is all I want in my comics (in case you haven't guessed, I'm more of a story guy).

The stories, however, are more complex and far more interesting than Ellis's run. Ellis gave us a ridiculously stereotypical Asian terrorist who would have made people writing Fu Manchu comics in the 1930s pause, a silly alternative Earth with a straw dog as a villain (Regis doesn't really do anything, does he? I mean, Hawksmoor kills him by jumping through him!), and, well, yet another take on aliens returning to Earth to find out the annoying humans have taken over. Millar and Peyer give us the United States government. Sure, it's just as much a cliché as the aliens coming home, but it's still more interesting. It's something we can believe the government doing, since most governments are all about preserving the status quo. When The Authority gets too big for its britches, the government steps in. Who's to say they can't?

Issue #22 sets up the story. We get that eerie shot of the Midnighter's mask lying in the sand, and then Quitely slowly pulls back to reveal the downed Carrier. We flash back a week to Jack giving an interview to "Ed Bradley," and this gives Millar a chance to spout more of his "leftist-dictatorship" dogma that so many comic book writers enjoy. It's still good reading, but the shit hits the fan pretty quickly when Seth, the genetically-enhanced assassin sent by the government, gets onto the Carrier (in typically gross Millar fashion) and begins killing people. He's pretty stinkin' good at it, too, and the team is dispatched with minimum fuss, leaving the new Authority in charge. Exit Millar for four issues.

When Peyer takes over, the book really gets interesting. If you skip from issue 22 to 27, when Millar takes over again, the book really doesn't work as well, even though that was apparently how it was supposed to work. Of course, Millar may have completely changed his story after the censors got to work on him. But Peyer's interlude allows us a couple of things: it allows us to believe the old Authority is really dead, and it also allows us to see things from the villains' points of view. It's been noted other places that building a book around villains doesn't really work long-term (even Ostrander's Suicide Squad, as great as it was, had a good mixture of good guys and bad), but for four issues, Peyer makes it work. The key is, of course, to make them human beings and make us care about them. We don't like the new Authority because, after all, they're bastards, but we do care about what they're doing, and it's a good trick. They uphold the status quo and get away with being just as depraved as the old Authority because of who they represent, but they also have feelings for each other, although they hide them under a veneer of bastardness. The dynamics of the team make for interesting reading. Obviously, the relationship between Teuton and Last Call is the most interesting, as Teuton wants to be a crime-fighting team like Apollo and the Midnighter, but Last Call doesn't want to get too close to him because of the "couple" associations with the heroes they replaced. Peyer makes Teuton a weepy baby at times, which adds comic relief but also points out that he's not a complete villain, and Millar makes him a closet homosexual who wants to "experiment" on Apollo just before the Midnighter kills him (in a scene the censors got to, apparently). I'm not sure if Peyer knew Millar was going to do that, but it makes the scenes where he breaks down and sobs a little weirder than they need to be.

Peyer's story arc is, of course, a none-too-subtle dig at other superhero team-ups in the "real" comic book world that DON'T fight the status quo. The Justice League and the Avengers would never dump a bunch of refugees out of their space station, but if the rich and elite of society suddenly lost all their money and the JLA found out who was behind it, you can bet they'd go punch them in the brains, just like the new Authority does. With more subtlety, I would argue, than Millar did with his Avengers stand-ins in his first storyline (I laughed quite hard when they showed up, I'll admit, but I doubt if "subtlety" is a word Millar is familiar with), Peyer shows us that superhero groups are ultimately about keeping things humming along the way they always have done, and the Colonel's line in issue #23, "But we have to rebel in our own way. We choose to do it within the system" is a perfect refutation of Superman's dictum that humans have to save themselves - those with god-like powers can't do it for them, an excuse that always bothered me. The Authority made the world better for humans who simply could not help themselves. Hey, Clark, tell the Tibetans and the Australian aborigines and blacks and Hispanics in this country that you can't help them because it's not in your code. They'd tell you to go screw yourself. The new Authority shows perfectly why the supergroups in the "real" comics' universes (the regular DC and Marvel ones) can't do a damned thing. Just when we think the old Authority is coming back and the "status quo" of everything being different will be restored, Last Call thwarts that because he's not gay. It's a very funny moment, and the new Authority is off again to uphold the ruling elite. Peyer doesn't give us the resolution we want, which is why this arc resonates - it's not the good guys winning, at least not our good guys. We want our old Authority back!

Which, of course, Millar does in issue #27. We find out that none of the team is dead, merely neutered. The Midnighter, of course, is going to save the day (even outside of the regular DC universe, Batman is always the last hope). In issue #28, he kills everyone in the new Authority, leaving Seth as the last bad guy to defeat. Issue #28 is another one where the censors took control, especially on the page where Rush and the Surgeon die, because you honestly cannot tell what happens. Apparently it was too graphic for DC, so they put panels over it. Stupid DC. Anyway, in issue #29 Jenny Quantum defeats Seth, Millar gets in some jokes about rednecks (ha, ha, Mark - it's not even as funny as when Ennis did it in Preacher, and it wasn't that funny then), and the status quo is restored. The Authority, interestingly enough, has become a stodgy, unchanging superhero group. And, in another interesting twist, they have lost all reason for being. Again, I haven't read it since issue #29 came out, but I can't believe it's any more or less good than JLA or Avengers. If you like it, fine, but if it's any more than superheroes punching people in the brain (yes, I'm running with that today), I'll be surprised.

What these final issues of The Authority did, ultimately, is expose the hypocrisy of superhero groups in a concise and entertaining way. Millar and Peyer exposed the reader to his (or her) own hypocrisy is supporting the status quo of superhero groups and superhero comics in general, and in a much less obnoxious and insulting way than Millar did in Wanted (the reason for my current Millar boycott, if you don't already know). This kind of thing is, of course, a Millar staple, and he does it with varying success. Here he does it well, and is able to subvert his own message of "change or die" with the subtext of "change is no good." While the Authority is creating a new world in which a different elite (but a "good" elite) is in charge, the comic is saying that everything has to stay the same. It's an entertaining read, sure, but troubling nonetheless because of what it says about our buying habits and our own relationship to whatever status quo we choose to acknowledge. Pretty heavy stuff from a superhero comic book.

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This Comic Will Be Good - Cooke on Flash

That's right, Newsarama announced that following Geoff Johns' finish on Flash (#225) (and a fill-in issue by Stuart Immonen), Darwyn Cooke will be doing a four-issue arc!!

Yes, it is only an arc, but I for one was not expecting DC to ever let Cooke near their precious Johnuckanik universe, so this is great news!

Comic Dictionary - "Uncolored"

"Uncolored" is a phrase used to distinguish between books that use black & white as an artistic expression and those books that use black & white just because they cannot afford to color the book.

For instance, Kane is a black & white book.

Worldwatch #1 is an uncolored book.

It seems silly to me to refer to both books as using the same style of art, as they clearly are going for different approaches.

Like a Marvel Essential book. Those books are most definitely "uncolored" (as they are literally colored stories printed without colors). So they are going for a totally different approach than a Torso or Jinx.

Please note that I realize that even the books I refer to as "black & white" often made the decision to GO to black white because of the price factor.

The only difference is that the ones I call "black & white" EMBRACED the format and went with it, rather than just draw the same way they would draw a colored book...just uncolored.

This Fan Is Good - Carol A. Strickland

The internet has always amazed me as being this astonishingly awesome reservior of ideas. And for an information junkie such as myself, it is practically TOO much coolness.

I have been known, on occasion, to spend more than a hour perusing, like, Omega Men indexes, or some other such nonsense - just because it is THERE.

All that info and knowledge...and it's available to me - for FREE!

Tooo awesome.

In any event, one of the things you find when you do enough internet browsing is that there are some fans out there who just put a lot more work into their efforts than others, and I think here is as good a place as any to draw attention to them. The fans who do such great work being resources of information and knowledge for the rest of us comic aficionados out there.

The first fan I want to recognize is Carol A. Strickland.

Her website can be found here.

Carol is just about the foremost Wonder Woman expert that I have ever seen (I swear, it seems that EVERY time I am looking up something about Wonder Woman, there is an article by Carol about it! EVERY time! Whatever the topic is, she has written on it!), but even if someone else knows more than her, they certainly have not expressed that knowledge in the same straightforward, down-to-earth, FUN manner that Carol does.

She was also one of the big Interlac Legion fans, as well, which is cool. According to her, she even got written into one of the comics (which was typical for the members of the Legion Interlac fanzine) as Field Marshal Lorca.

She was also one of the first folks to really rip into Marvel for the ridiculousness that was Avengers #200 ("Yay! This guy admits that he essentially brainwashed and raped Ms. Marvel, then impregnated her! Let's all wish them good luck together!").

But basically, above all, she just seems to me to embody all the best aspects of fandom.

She likes to be helpful to others (including creators).

She has her particular likes and dislikes (no Byrne fan is she), but she does not just churn out diatribes against those creators.

Basically, she just works really hard to be a positive force with comics, and it is greatly appreciated.

So there, Carol A. Strickland - this fan is good.

Why Sue Storm is a goddess among women

Marvel has just brought Essential Fantastic Four Volume 1 back into print. Go fetch! 

Happy Birthday, Greg Burgas!

Like I said a few months ago, this is the one non-comic related post that I think is okay for the blog.

Happy 34th, Greg!!

What I bought - 18 May 2005; plus an added bonus because it's my birthday

Yes, I turn 34 today. It's also Pete Townshend's birthday, as well as Ho Chi Minh's. What company they get to keep!

First, let's look at the floppies. Then stay tuned for a bonus for you, the readers!*

*I'm totally serious. Would I lie to you?

Batman: Dark Detective #2 by Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers, and Terry Austin
$2.99, DC

It appears that even Englehart can't escape the decompression madness, as nothing much happens in this issue. Joker and Two-Face have a confrontation, and Harvey tells Mr. Joker to stop running for governor for a really lame reason. Silver visits Bruce at the manse and The Brooding One lightens up a bit and shows her the Batcave. It's so nice to see the big penny and the dinosaur and all the rest - I wish they were around more, because just the fact that they're there humanizes Batman a bit. Bruce then gets dosed with Scarecrow gas (we think, although it's not clear) and goes a little nutty. This is the dumbest part of the book, because the art is bad and it's just pages and pages of how sad little Bruce was that his parents died. We've seen it all before. It does lead to him getting busy with Silver, so that's okay - seriously, when was the last time Bruce got laid? I don't think he actually made the beast with two backs with Selina during the whole "Hush" thing. It's not a bad issue, but not really that good. It has made me doubt whether I want to get the rest of the series, however, which isn't a good thing.

Containment #5 by Eric Red and Nick Stakal
$3.99, IDW

The trade of this series should be good, because I think it will read better. It's definitely worth it, because as I've said before, despite ripping off any number of "horror movies in space," this is a tense, tight read. The last issue pretty much plays out as you'd expect from the previous issues, but that's okay, because although it's nothing new, it's well done, and we feel the claustrophobia and fear of the characters and the utter isolation in their situation. The final page is nice and chilling, too. A decent book, if you're interested in zombies in space. Watch for the collected edition!

Daredevil #73 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev
$2.99, Marvel

After last month's weaker effort, Bendis and Maleev return to form with this issue, in which a young wife tells of her husband, who happens to be a supervillain who killed a bunch o' people before our pal Matt Murdock took him down. The fight scene is great, but what makes the issue is the confrontation between the wife and one of her husband's victims, both of whom have come to the church meeting to discuss DD. The wife saw a little demon talking to her husband, and the victim doesn't want to hear about it. That sounds silly, but the way Bendis writes it and the way Maleev draws it is totally creepy, and we wonder if the wife really is delusional (although, as usual with the "grittier" and "realistic" corners of the Marvel U., it's hard to reconcile people not believing in demons when Galactus and Mephisto show up quite often). There's a nice twist at the end that will presumably be explained (I'm counting on you, Bendis!). I didn't like the priest, because he seemed like a bit of a wuss, but other than that, this was another example of the goodness that is Daredevil. I know a LOT of you wait for the trades because of Bendis's somewhat interminable style, but I love reading these in monthly format. It's like playing a long-distance chess match.

Easy Way #2 by Christopher E. Long and Andy Kuhn
$3.99, IDW

I wasn't entirely jazzed by the first issue of this mini-series, and I thought I'd give it another chance. I'm still torn. It's nice-looking, and the story is moving along, but it's a little too ridiculously brutal for the story - the drug dealers from whom our intrepid "heroes" stole the cocaine last month seem a little more bloodthirsty than someone who just got out of prison should be, and shouldn't they leave some of their contacts alive? I don't know, as I am not a drug dealer. This series is kind of like the cereal I eat in the morning (I have high cholesterol, so I can't eat the sweet stuff) - it's fine, and I eat it, but it doesn't really make an impression. I doubt if I will finish this, because it's not worth 4 dollars.

Ex Machina #11 by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, Tom Feister, and Karl Story
$2.99, DC/Wildstorm

It's really one of the best comics out there, and if you're not buying the monthlies, you really should be buying the trade paperbacks. If you haven't been buying it, here's a perfect place to start, as Vaughan launches into another story of political machinations and Mayor Hundred's attempts to escape his superhero past! This time he's cracking down on fortune tellers in New York, since apparently it's against the law. One of his staff tells him a fortune teller saved her life, since she was advised not to go to work on September 11, so Mitchell goes to visit the fortune teller. She explains that she knew the whole thing would happen, which pisses him off, since she said nothing. It's kind of a weird issue, because we're led to believe that Mitchell will have a change of heart with regards to cracking down on fortune tellers, but at the end, he's more gung-ho about it than ever. Of course, since this is comic book world and not the real world (I'm sorry if I'm about to offend any physics out there or people who consult them), psychics exist and have uncanny powers, so I'm sure this will all come back to bite Mitchell in the ass. It looks like this will be yet another complex story with some requisite explosive action from Vaughan and Harris. What more could you want?

The Goon #12 by Eric Powell
$2.99, Dark Horse

So I caved to all you people out there who insulted my intelligence and bought an issue of The Goon. And like a convert, I will be zealous in my desire to see everyone read it! Holy crap, it's fun. I know nothing about our hero or his loyal sidekick, but I don't care. What a fun book. The art is spectacular as well. The letters column is funny. Man, what a great book.

I don't even want to say much about the story, because it's too fun. However, it's basically a revenge plot, as Dr. Hieronymous Alloy (he of the yellow metal masked face) arrives in the Goon's hometown to wreak vengeance with the help of his army of robots. I would tell you why he wants vengeance, but it's such sheer genius that I won't spoil it. Luckily I had nothing in my mouth while I was reading it, or I would have needed a new copy. And there's a Spanish-speaking lizard butler. Read that again and tell me you can resist this book! I give up, all you Goon lovers out there. I am now one of you.

JLA: Classified #7 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Joe Rubinstein
$2.99, DC

So I go to the comic book shoppe on Wednesday afternoon, comb through the various titles, pick up my stash, and leave (well, I paid first), never realizing that I had just purchased perhaps the best comic book of the year. And it's not written by Morrison or Ellis or Moore or Millar or penciled by Hitch or Williams III or Pacheco. No, ladies and gentlemen, I give you "I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League Part 4." You may now stop buying comics for the year.

This is an unbelievably good comic. Yes, it's funny, but the boys tone it down a little (maybe it helps that L-Ron and Maxwell Lord aren't in it - wait, you say Lord is now a "grim-'n'-gritty" Punisher-type? say it ain't so!) and allow the real reason their JLI was so good come to the fore. Why was their JLI so good? The members were friends, and yes they had their fun, but they also were willing to do anything for each other. That's shown beautifully in this issue.

Power Girl and Guy Gardner are fighting their way through hell, until Gardner realizes that if they just lose, the demons will take them to the Super-Buddies. Lo and behold, it works! I like Gardner a lot more as a total jerk who is actually smart than as he is usually portrayed - a total jerk with no brains. Meanwhile, Booster uses his noodle, and Ted praises him for it. More shocks! Guy wonders whether to take advantage of an unconscious Kara, with humorous results. Most of the team reunites, and then the creators reach for the stars and turn a pleasant enough book into pure genius. Last issue Bea saw Tora in hell. This issue Guy finds out. The sheer pain on Bea's face when he snatches Tora and tries to wake her up (blocking everyone out with his ring), and then the beautiful scene when Tora wakes up, is simply wonderful. Etrigan offers the heroes the ol' Orpheus scenario with regard to Ice, and they all start walking out of hell. Why they allowed Guy and Fire to walk in the back is beyond me. We all know what's going to happen, since Etrigan tells them "They always look back," but the five-panel full page of Guy and Bea in the front on the left and right and Tora behind them in the middle is still painful to look at, because we're waiting to see which one cracks. When it happens, we're left with one of the most heart-wrenching (and surprising!) final panels you'd ever want to see. For those of you who thought I was a soulless monster because I didn't like Owly, well despite the fictionality of these characters, this issue really got to me. These are characters we've grown to know pretty well, and to see the sadness and pain on their faces is wonderful. All those evil bastards in comic-book writing who think that the only way to get fans to respond to anything is by blowing someone's head off need to read this issue RIGHT NOW and bow down to Giffen and DeMatteis and Maguire.

Livewires #4 by Adam Warren, Rick Mays, and Jason Martin
$2.99, Marvel

Speaking of treating characters with respect, someone dies in this issue of Livewires, but because it's done within the boundaries of the story and Warren and Mays obviously dig these characters, I'm not mad. It's a good death, as Miller's Batman would say. The art is a little rougher than the first three issues, but it's still gorgeous to look at, and our friendly neighborhood androids are off to crack open the "White Whale" of covert operations. It's a nice stealth mission leading into a battle royale, which is well done both in terms of art and layout. And of course there's a surprise at the end. This is a fun series.

The Manhattan Guardian #2 by Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart
$2.99, DC

That sly Morrison is tying things together here, in case you missed it. I'm still debating on whether I should actually read these individually or just wait until all of them are out. This was a pretty good issue, actually. More weirdness, references to Klarion, superheroes acting superheroically - all kinds of Morrison goodness! There's really nothing to say - either you're with him for the long haul or you're not.

Ultimate X-Men #59 by Brain K. Vaughan, Stuart Immonen, and Wade von Grawbadger
$2.25, Marvel

Boy, I really like this book. I like the characterization of both Logan and Ororo, the action sings, Lady Deathstrike shows up, Weapon X is back, and it's just a good solid read. We find out a little about Ororo's past (raise your hands if you didn't know "Yuri" was a woman so I can make fun of you), we get a nice scene between Wolverine and Storm in a pickup truck - not a ton happens in the issue, but what does happen is nicely done. I like how Ororo has subtly become the "bad girl" that Claremont turned her into, without anything drastic like the Mohawk. I also like how, unlike the "real" Marvel U., we can learn a little more about Logan without completely destroying the mystery. That's the way it used to be, but then Logan got too popular and things went on too long. It's nice that here in the Ultimate U., he's only five years old, so the writers can still have a sense of mystery about him. This is a nice superhero book.

Well, I promised you a bonus, and here it is! As it is the celebration of my nativity, I thought I'd have another contest to give away comic books! I already gave away Scurvy Dogs a while back, because it was so freakin' good. Well, now I'd like to give away TWO different books! Of course, it's a contest, so you'll have to do a little work, but fret not - no heavy lifting involved!

First, I'm giving away The Batman Chronicles, DC's reprinting of the first Batman stories in chronological order. It includes Detective #27-38 and Batman #1. It's really a must-have for any comic book fan. Faithful readers of my posts here will recall that I savaged the book here, but despite my gleeful disdain, I really love this book and think everyone should have it. So, I will send you a copy if you tell me why you want it using the most godawful, over-the-top Golden Age or Silver Age comic-book language you can think of. Here's a sample from the very book: "On a hidden altar he burned away my face and features with a terrible ray!" Or, if you prefer, Batman saying "Feet, run like you've never run before!" Yes, Bruce is talking to his feet. Or, if you prefer your melodrama more Silver-Age-ish, here's Doctor Doom from Fantastic Four #10: "I can defeat you in a thousand ways! You are putty in my hands! But I shall not finish you off yet! You are still useful to me! For you shall help me to conquer your three partners!" (Note: exclamation points are essential!) Whoever's reason and dramatic monologue is the best wins!

Second, I'm giving away Nil: A Land Beyond Belief. This is a truly excellent graphic novel that I reviewed here. It's unlike anything you've ever read before, and I can't recommend it highly enough. As it deals with philosophy (sort of), your challenge to obtain it will be to send me the philosophical quote that best sums you up. Say, for instance, you have a penchance for late-19th-century German philosophers with master race aspirations. Then "The disciple of a martyr suffers more than the martyr," a bon mot by Nietzsche, might fit you. Or perhaps your outlook on life can best be summed up by these immortal words: "I like big butts and I cannot lie, you other brothers can't deny when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face you get sprung." Hey - that's philosophy, ain't it? The most clever philosophical phrase is the winner!

If you feel like entering, E-mail me with your entries. I'll run this thing until the end of the month. That gives you slightly less than two weeks to enter. Have fun! Neither of these books will let you down!

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