Cool Points Archive

4/26/06 - Greg Burgas got one cool point for identifying Major Disaster as the character Peter David had given chaos theory powers before Layla Miller in X-Factor.

4/26/06 - Dan Coyle got one cool point for identifying where we last saw the character who showed up at the end of Annhihilation: Ronan #1.

5/4/06 - John Donald Carlucci got one cool point for identifying the comic from that comic week which used the word "douchebag" in it.

5/13/06 - Omar Karindu got two cool points for naming the last time the Squadron Sinister Hyperion showed up in a comic book.

5/16/06 - Johnny Triangles got one cool point for noting an Amazing Spider-Man cover that referenced the famous Hamlet "I knew him, Horatio" scene.

The doctor of high concept; or, how I learned to stop worrying and love AiT-Planet Lar

I don't know where everyone else is, either. I'll just do my part, I suppose.

I'm not going to review Full Moon Fever and Sunset City in the traditional sense, because the first one has been out for a while and the other one, while it just came out, has already gotten reviewed elsewhere. Suffice it to say that for $12.95 (for the first one) and $9.95 (for the second), they're well worth your doubloons.

No, I want to talk more about the glorious little corner of the comics universe that is Larry and Mimi's Wacky World. I have talked about it before, but it's been a while, so there's no reason not to talk about it again, especially because these two books are newly out and worth a look.

Larry has mastered the idea of "high concept," as anyone who has read Full Moon Fever or read a review of it can understand. Anyone who reads this can sum it up in four words: "werewolves on the moon." For those of you who don't know, "high concept" comes to us from television (I think - it was probably there before it hit the movies) and means: sum it up in one sentence. Usually this means that the work being produced is "lowbrow" - the mouth-breathing troglodytes in Paducah or Poughkeepsie or Corvallis or Bakersfield or Kingman won't have to think too much while they're watching, because it's all very simplistic - a guy pretends to be gay so he can live with two girls! or rich teens in Beverly Hills whine about their lives! Of course, this is a broad generalization, and is false more often than not, but Larry has taken this concept and applied to the world of comics in a way unlike how most publishers do it. That's not to say he's the only one doing it, but he might be the most successful at it.

What do I mean? Well, let's return to Full Moon Fever. "Werewolves on the moon." The sheer lunacy (pun intended) of the idea hits you right between the eyeballs. Whatever the merits of the work, it hooks you. You want to read that story. Joe Casey and Caleb Gerard boiled it down to a simple, yet beautifully complex concept. That's the best thing about ideas - they seem so simple, yet until someone thinks of them, they're maddeningly difficult to pin down. I read somewhere that after Steve Niles came up with another brilliantly simple idea in 30 Days of Night, it was only a matter of time before someone came up with this idea. I doubt it, but that's neither here nor there. What we get in Full Moon Fever is a pitch that Larry can use to hook his audience. Try hooking anyone, even a devoted comics reader, to the mess going on in DC right now. "Well, there are these killer robots, and Wonder Woman is now a killer - she killed Maxwell Lord, who used to be a good guy, but it turned out he really wasn't, oh, and did I mention that Superman from another dimension is back - what dimension? - well, you see, it's the original Superman ..." Gaaaaaahhhhh. You lost me. Or House of M: "See, Wanda Maximoff - she's Magneto's daughter - she went nuts in the pages of Avengers and killed a bunch of 'em. Then she changed reality. Now everyone is trying change reality back, except the ones who like it that way. And Wolverine is important." I'm a pretty devoted comic book reader and my head hurts thinking about it. You'd need Cronin-esque knowledge to make sense of it!

Larry doesn't need that. Larry sells books that can be boiled down into a few simple sentences. Sunset City: An old man lives in an Arizona retirement community and realizes that just because he's old, it doesn't mean he has to stop living. Sure, it's more complicated than that, but that description is all you need to hook you. If it doesn't, well that's fair, but at least you don't have to slog through half a page of description to decide if you want it.

As I said, I'm not talking about the quality of the book - that's for each individual reader to decide. Even though I recommend them both, they both have flaws. Full Moon Fever unfolds far too much like a standard horror movie - we pretty much know who is going to die, and we're just waiting to see how it happens. Sunset City, on the other hand, goes somewhat horribly wrong with the "twist" at the end - I won't give it away, but it turns what was a thoughtful, moving examination of aging and how we can overcome our natural feelings into, well, a simple revenge fantasy. That's not to say it's not a good book - Rob Osborne is a very good artist and he's getting better as a writer, but it just seems like the ending was too silly for the rest of the book. Opinions to the contrary are welcome, of course, but that's not the point - Larry got me to buy the book, and while that's not all he cares about, it's a big part of it. He got me to buy the book because of his track record (and for me, at least, it's spotty, but at least it's interesting) and because of how he gets the word out.

Beginning with the "high concept," Larry also knows how to market the books. He reads blogs (hi, Larry!), sends out advance copies, responds to criticism, and gets involved with the reading public. Ultimately, he cares about his product and cares that the word gets out. DC and Marvel, I'm sorry to say, don't really care what you think about their product. They're too big and have too many titles, and they also know that if you don't like this iteration of, say, Teen Titans, they can shut it down and relaunch it in a year, and we'll all suck it up, because it doesn't matter who is writing or drawing it. We like the characters. Larry doesn't have that luxury. When he puts a book out, it's often the only one he puts out that month or so, and so he works the advertising and makes sure that the product he puts out at least has interest to the reading public. Like I said, there are flaws in both of these works and in other books Larry puts out, but again, that's not the point. The point is that Larry gets these books into the hands of enough people to keep the company afloat, and he publishes interesting books that spark more thought than your average DC or Marvel offering. When you read Sunset City, you think about what Osborne is saying about growing old, becoming an adult, holding onto the past too long, and not allowing someone else to define who you are and what you can do. It's not perfect, but it pushes you more than the first issue of Infinite Crisis. And that's a good thing.

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This Chat Was Good - David Finch

Now, don't get me wrong.

I love me the in depth comic book discussion stuff.

Alex Robinson recently had a chat where a lot of very interesting themes in his work were discussed (at least I found them interesting). It was a good discussion, and as soon as the transcript is up, I will share it with you folks, but at the same time, I, and I think the rest of you, can still appreciate stuff like this response, coming via the question "Why [do you prefer] Ultimate Daredevil as opposed to regular Daredevil?"

"Regular Daredevil just sits around all day and does lawyer stuff. It's a great read, but I don't think I could draw it without my brains bleeding out my ears."

That is the kind of responses David Finch gave at his chat the other week, and it makes for a really fun and enjoyable read.

Finch's frank answers and fun attitude made the chat a really cool experience. When asked to elaborate on a comment about Bendis being uncomfortable about working with Finch, Finch explains, "I'm an Image artist and we can have a tendency to ruin a good script! He just wanted to be comfortable that I wouldn't do that to him. Kind of a legitimate concern, really."

Well worth giving a read.

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This and that, plus a question and comments about Gotham Central and proprietary rights

Things in my head:

Cronin is getting all kinds of love these days, and the rest of the contributors here should be jealous, since, let's face it, Brian's Comic Book Urban Legends are cute and all, but I mean, really, have you seen Brian? Should we really be praising this guy?
*****
I disagree with almost everything T. says, but he's interesting and provocative and has some good thoughts about comics. He begins a review of Wanted here, although he never actually gets to the book itself (it's part 1). Head on over there and tell him how crazy he is because of his thoughts about the history of America. Or tell him he's a genius - you make the call!
*****
I was reading the second trade of Gotham Central, by everyone's favorite punching bag, Greg Rucka. It's the one in which we learn Renee Montoya's BIG SECRET (she's a lesbian - ooh, how cutting-edge!). It's not bad. Anyway, I thought of some things, and I need your help, good readers:

1. What the hell happened to Harvey Bullock? I always liked Bullock, but from what was said in this trade, he did bad things and Internal Affairs smacked him down. What happened? I have been away from the Bat-books too long, apparently.

2. In his introduction, Rucka says that when Denny O'Neil approached him about writing a Batman story, he told Denny he wanted to write a Two-Face story because, he suspected, every writer wants to write a Two-Face story for their Batman tryout. That may be true, but isn't that everything that is wrong with comics writing these days? All writers want to write the definitive "fill-in-the-villain-or-hero" story, and we get messes like "Hush." Why would Rucka even want to write a Batman story? I would like Gotham Central a LOT more if the cops were taking down "regular" villains. It would read more like a good police procedural instead of "cops-sitting-around-waiting-for-Batman-to-throw-them-a-bone" stories.

3. Rucka also mentions that he didn't "make" Montoya a lesbian. "She was always gay," says our esteemed writer. Well, sorry, Greg, but that just ain't true. Brian posted the other day about when Renee Montoya was created, back in 1992. Did anyone ask Paul Dini if she was gay back then? He may have said "I didn't really think about it," but that's not the same thing. Tell Montoya's boyfriend who died from the Clench that she was always a lesbian - he might be surprised. Tell all the writers who wrote her before Rucka did. Now, I don't have a problem with Montoya being a lesbian - whatever. But the fact is, Rucka took over a FICTIONAL character and needed a story, so he MADE her a lesbian. That's fine, but it's one of these things that comes up with regards to proprietary rights: Paul Dini obviously has no rights over Montoya, because he was a DC wage slave, but he created the character whose sexual orientation was probably not even an issue. Rucka grafted her sexual orientation onto her for the sake of a story. The next writer might say she was just "experimenting," and Rucka won't have a thing to say about it. Just a point.

Have a good weekend, everyone - watch out for Cronin lurking outside your window!

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What do you know? More comics you should own!

In case you have some free time, you can check out my latest column over at Buzzscope. It's all about Batman 452-454 by Peter Milligan, Kieron Dwyer, and Dennis Janke - the three-part Riddler story "Dark Knight, Dark City." Read it here. Do I really need to convince you read it? It's Milligan, for crying out loud, and not crappy-Elektra Milligan, either!

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #22!

This is the twenty-second in a series of examinations of comic book urban legends and whether they are true or false. Click here for an archive of the previous twenty-one.

Let's begin!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Joker was originally killed off in his SECOND appearance!

STATUS: True

Most everyone knows that the Joker's first appearance came in the pages of Batman #1, in 1940.



But did you know that he almost made his LAST appearance later that very same issue?

At the time, Bob Kane was not very big on repeating villains. If you messed with Batman, odds are you were going to end up dead. Not by Batman, per se, but SOMEthing bad was going to happen to you that would send you on to the great beyond. Obviously, a big difference between the comics then and now is that they were not thinking of these stories lasting for decades and decades. It was just "what can I think of next?".

So therefore, at the end of Batman #1, in 1940, in his second appearance (his first appearance being the lead story of the issue) the Joker accidentally stabs himself and dies at the end of the comic.

That is it. He was dead. Luckily, Joker had himself a benefactor who saw the utility of the Joker. Batman editor Whitney Ellsworth felt that it would be a waste to kill the character off so soon, so he actually had them ADD a panel, after the comic was complete, that had an ambulance driver remark something along the lines of, "My goodness! He's still alive!"

Imagine how different things would have been if he had not stepped in?

(Thanks to everyone for the correction re: the issue number)

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Marv Wolfman created Black Cat as a foil for the Amazing Spider-Man

STATUS: False

When Black Cat first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #194, in 1979, she seemed like a good fit with Spider-Man, as a new villain that he could spar with.



However, Black Cat was never intended to be a Spider-Man villain. She was originally destined for a whole other gender of superhero.

The writer on Amazing Spider-Man, Marv Wolfman , had just recently been taken off of the Marvel title, Spider-Woman, and it was for THAT title that Black Cat was originally intended. Marv details this in response to the following question at his recent chat at Comic Book Resources,

When you created the Black Cat to be Spider-Man's new girl friend, was it linked to a desire to write stuff about Catwoman or was it only an homage? Marv: I didn't plan Black Cat to be in Spidey. I created her for Spider-Woman (look at the letter column of the first B.C. story and you'll see). I then decided to leave Spider-Woman and moved her over. So, I never even thought of Catwoman when I did her. I got the idea for her from a Tex Avery cartoon, Bad Luck Blackie.

I think we got lucky, as I do not recall how well off most other Spider-Woman villains are nowadays!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Renee Montoya was invented for the cartoon show before she appeared in the comic books.

STATUS: True

It is not uncommon for comic books to adapt into the comics characters who appear in other media. Heck, in this very space, I talked about how the Superman comics adapted characters from the Superman radio show. What makes this situation unique is the timing of the events.

Renee Montoya, Gotham cop, made her comic debut in Batman #475, cover-dated May 1992.



She made her first appearance in the Batman Animated Series cartoon in the first episode of that series, which aired? September of 1992.

So how exactly was she created for the cartoon?

Well, apparently, what it was a matter of was Paul Dini wanted to add a little diversity to the Batman cast of characters, and Montoya was one of these new additions. So while the cartoon was in development, the Batman comic book staff caught wind of the new character and were intrigued. They then requested from the Animated Series if they could use Montoya in the comics. As the lead time for a comic book is much shorter than an animated show, the comic Montoya ended up making her debut several months before her inspiration did!

Weird, eh?

Well, that's it for me this week!

Feel free to tell me some urban legends you have heard, and I will try to confirm or deny them!

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What I bought - 26 October 2005

Well, I trust everyone out there heeded my comics-buying challenge, because I am, I know, your god and ruler. I should have mentioned that the title you never bought before shouldn't be a number 1 issue. Of course you've never bought that one! That's okay, though - a bunch of interesting number 1s came out this week, so it's okay if you picked one of those. A few of you, I know, told me about your purchases in the comments section of that post, and I hope we'll have more in the comments to this one!

So how did I do? Well, I'm glad you asked. The overall theme to this week was: "Holy shit, a lot of books came out. I followed my own rules and still bought 11 comics (one of them was Sunset City, which is a little longer than your standard book, so I'll talk about that later, when I actually read the damnable thing). There aren't really any sub-themes. A lot of good books, though.

The Book Of Lost Souls #1 by J. Michael Straczynski and Colleen Doran
$2.99, Marvel/Icon
 
 
See, now, I like JMS. I liked Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, his early issues of Amazing Spider-Man, and Supreme Power. Sure, he's got some problems, but basically, he knows how to tell a story. And the fact that Marvel is letting him go nuts over in this little corner of the world is nice. So yeah, I bought this book. And you know what? It's interesting.

No, it's not great. It cops stuff rather blatantly from Gaiman's Sandman. It has too much talking in it. It has a melancholy, Byron-esque hero (you might, of course, like melancholy, Byron-esque heroes - I think they're simpering, wispy tools). But it's intriguing, and the story, in one issue, sets up nicely. There's a conflict, there's a mystery, there's a talking cat, the villain is strangely menacing, it has Colleen Doran art. Back when she illustrated "Façade" (another Sandman link!), I wasn't taken with her art - it was nice, but nothing special. Well, that was years ago, and she has matured wonderfully. There's a nice roughness to the art, and the panels showing the past are airy and Victorian, in good contrast to the modern stuff. The faces show a lot of mileage, which is good, considering we're dealing with people who are really old. Doran's art, combined with a slightly off-kilter and intriguing premise, mean I'll be back for a bit. It might not keep me, but for now, it's keen.

Girls #6 by Joshua and Jonathan Luna
$2.99, Image
 
 
Yeah, I know I said I didn't like it. So why, oh why, did I slap down three dollars for it (figuratively, of course, since I used my debit card)? Good bleepin' question.

Actually, after five issues of annoying people whining and getting killed by naked chicks, this issue was actually not bad. Not great, but ... not bad. Despite the naked chick on the cover, there are no naked chicks in the book, which is probably a good thing, because the men don't act like total assholes (guys, apparently, always act like assholes around naked chicks).

Anyway, giant sperm in the field attacks men and slices them to bits, townspeople try to flee the town, but super-sperm blocks them and slowly grows to encompass the town. Scary!

Sounds dumb, doesn't it? Yes, it does. I am still not ready to recommend this to anyone who is looking for something to read, but we'll see. Perhaps this will read better in the collected edition. The whining in the first four issues might not seem as egregious.

Jack Cross #3 by Some Cranky Bastard and Gary Erskine
$2.50, DC
 
 
Someone has to say it. I will be the brave one. This is a bad comic. And it's not getting any better. I said after the first disappointing issue that I would stick with it through the first arc to see if Ellis could pull it out of the fire, but it's getting worse. It's also, inexplicably, getting uglier. I didn't like Erskine's art in the first issue, and it's getting worse. I can understand the story getting worse, because Ellis might just be going off the rails here, but how does the art get worse? I can't even discuss it rationally. This appears to be just an excuse for Ellis to have one helicopter smash into another one. Why is DC publishing this but not, say, Scars, which was a billion times better? Warren, this is not good. Stop it now! Please!

Loveless #1 by Brian Azzarello and Marcelo Frusin
$2.99, DC/Vertigo
 
 
I have high hopes for Loveless, and I will probably buy a few issues, but this first issue was kind of weird. I like Azzarello, but I'm willing to admit that he might just read better in trades. I am buying 100 Bullets in the trades, and I recognize that the single issues are kind of incomplete. There's a lot of set-up in this issue, and lots of characters, and things going on that all the characters know about, but we poor readers don't. I am pretty positive that Azzarello knows where he's going with this (he certainly seems to with 100 Bullets), but it might mean that I must (gasp!) wait ... for ... the ... trade! (The ellipses indicate the length of time one must wait for DC to release trade paperbacks.) The art is beautiful, though. I have never heard of Frusin (granted, I'm not that bright), but it's somewhat Risso-like without being a slavish copy. I just wonder - there's Civil War stuff, old rivalries, sexual politics, land squabbles - all sorts of good stuff. I always wonder about starting a series off with SO much going on - I don't mind a good mystery, but sometimes, it's fine to keep it a little simple. Anyway, interesting title. We'll see about it.

Noble Causes #14 by Jay Faerber, Fran Bueno, and Freddie E. Williams
$3.50, Image
 
 
Ah, Noble Causes. The best superhero book you're not reading. Well, maybe some of you are, but I'm sure more people are reading JLA. This is better.

Yes, I'm making blanket statements. I rule! This issue focuses on Zephyr Noble, whom we last saw losing a baby (wink, wink) and feeling bad about it. So the detective with a crush on her (what's-his-name) sets her up with a new identity - the girl Krennick was getting to dress like her (they look similar, you see). But Zephyr is still a superhero, and she keeps rescuing people, which gets her in trouble because the Bad Guys (the Blackthornes) set her up. The intrigue continues, as Detective What's-His-Name finds out the Blackthornes are going to kill Liz and Zephyr gets a date with someone who is not as he seems! The excitement is killing me!

This has slowly become an excellent book. Really. I was on the fence for a while because of the price tag, but it's only 50 more cents than a lot of crap superhero titles out there. It's good. Go fetch!

Silent Dragon by Andy Diggle, Leinil Francis Yu, and Gerry Alanguilan
 
 
Holy crap, this is a beautiful book. This is a bit of a slow-down issue, as Diggle explains a bit more about what's going on, and reveals some interesting things about Renjiro. Then, because he doesn't want us to feel bad about missing some action, he fires it up at the end just so Yu can draw some explosions. I can't really say much more about this book - it's two-thirds of the way done, and you're either buying it and drooling over it, or you're waiting for the trade, which is fine. Skipping it is not an option!

Small Gods #11 by Jason Rand and Juan E. Ferreyra
$2.99, Image
 
 
Shit. According to this, Brian is right: Small Gods is dead. Next issue is the last one. Look at that cover, people. How cool is that? And yet, excellent covers, beautiful art, and interesting and exciting stories don't sell enough comics these days. I'm not going to moan like the posters on the message board, gnashing their teeth and rending their garments like it's the Apocalypse, because, let's face it, titles end and titles begin and life goes on. It was nice to have thirteen issues of this. Buy the trades and marvel at its goodness. Seriously. This is an excellent title. One of the best out there. And now it's dead. Requiescat in pace.

The Stardust Kid #3 by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Ploog
$3.50, Image/Desperado
 
 
Hey, there's the Stardust Kid himself on the cover! Nice to see him. You know, when you buy a comic by Mr. DeMatteis, that it will be chock full of words (so many words - doesn't he know I'm addled in the pate?) and chock full of parentheses. It can bother some people (including me), but I overcome it because (usually) it's worth it (don't you just hate parentheticals?). This is a nice book - fantasy-heavy and actually kid-friendly, but with a nice dark edge to it. DeMatteis does his thing with the spirituality and the "joy-overcomes-hate" vibe, and I can deal with that, because it's rare you see it so well done in comics. The art is very nice, too. Boy, it takes a while to read. My brain hurts.

Strangers In Paradise #77 by Terry Moore
$2.95, Abstract Studio, Inc.
 
 
My book that I've never bought before is Strangers In Paradise. I've been reading about it for years, but I have never bought an issue. Part of the purpose of my challenge was for y'all to pick up a book in the middle of something and see if you can make heads or tails out of it.

Well, we're obviously in the middle of a lot of stuff in SIP, but it's not that difficult to figure out the dynamic. There's a SHITLOAD of talking in this issue (is it always like this?) and so a great deal gets explained just by the things people say to each other (and a lot of the talking is done on the phone - there are 122 panels in this book, and in 57(!) of them, people are on the phone). I'm not going to go into all that's going on, because I'm sure I'll get it wrong, but for the most part, I like this book. You can tell it's being crafted by someone who cares deeply about the characters, and all the people in it (and there are a lot of them) stand out with differing personalities. I'm sure that after reading only a little bit of this series I could read dialogue with no tags by, say, Katchoo, and know that it's her. That's a mark of good writing.

The art is beautiful, too. Simply done, but beautiful. Each character has a distinctive look, even though all the hair looks vaguely the same. A minor quibble, I suppose.

There is a lot of history in this series, so I probably won't be picking up any more individual issues, but I'm intrigued about the ridiculously long list of trade paperbacks collecting the series. I may have to get them. Can anyone recommend them?

Surrogates #2 by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele
$2.95, Top Shelf
 
 
This came out last week, but my store didn't get it until today, so here it is. The mini-series continues, and it's shaping up to be a good one. There is more murder and mayhem, but Lieutenant Greer thinks he knows what's behind it, and confronts a "prophet" who thinks surrogates are an abomination to the Lord. That's the main plot, and it's interesting that Greer decides to go without his surrogate after the masked murderer throws it from a bridge onto the street. Interesting because it's the only way he can see the "prophet," but also interesting because of the effect it has on his marriage. The social aspects of this book are where it will make or break it for me, because the murder is just a murder - crimes are fun and all, but they are a dime a dozen. I, Robot would have been a better movie if the crime had been pushed even further to the background (of course, it wouldn't have been a summer action movie then). I'm interested to see the development of the character, because he appears ready to be more sympathetic to the murderer, and I wonder which side Greer will choose when he's forced to choose one. A nice book. Look for the trade!

So, that's it. Books I left in my box because they violated Rule #1: Black Panther #9, Black Widow #2, Catwoman #48, Daredevil #78, Defenders #4, JLA: Classified #13, Solo #7, Ultimate Secret #4 (which might not have violated the rule, but I decided it did). I'll get to those next week, plus whatever else I buy.

I mentioned that some people told me what they bought in the comments section of the previous post. Matt Brady bought Fear Agent, Loveless, Silent Dragon, Sea of Red, and Jack Cross. He purchased his comics before reading the post (I know, the nerve of him, not checking in at this blog every hour on the hour!), so he failed to follow Rule #1. That's fine, though - good job, Matt! Eli, meanwhile, said I got him to buy Sea of Red and then wondered what the hell is going on it in. That's the beauty of it, Eli! I bought the first four issues of it, but decided it just wasn't doing it for me and skipped this one. Sorry I can't help you out.

So. Anyone else take the challenge? Let me know!

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Marv Wolfman Chat Transcript Up!

Check it out here!

Seven Soldiers Edit Shocker!!

So, my pal John Lombard shared this interesting piece of post comic production editing with me, and it really shocked me.

Check out the following preview scans of Mister Miracle #1 from before the book came out (hence the preview part, natch)...


As you can see, initially, in the first issue, when Mister Miracle breaks on through to the Fourth World, he ALSO breaks through the Fourth WALL!!!

How cool would this have been in the comic?

What reasons do you think DC had for pulling it?

WHY would they pull it?

Can anyone think of a good reason?

In the alternative, feel free to just marvel at what could have been...

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Current Comics Report for 10/26

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.

This week, there is guest commentary by a pal of mine, Jake, who has a blog here.

Certain sections of the Current Report on the 10/26 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...

NOTE: J=Jake, B=Brian and if there is no letter before the sentence, then it is me, as well.

Shipping This Week: October 26, 2005

DARK HORSE

AUG050025 13TH SON WORSE THING WAITING #1 (OF 4) $2.99
AUG050026 BPRD THE BLACK FLAME #3 (OF 6) $2.99
JUL050035 CONAN VOL 2 GOD I/T BOWL & OTHER STORIES TP $15.95

I like the price point.

JUL050030 FAVOLE STONE TEARS VOL 1 TP $6.95
JUL050049 LITTLE LULU VOL 6 LETTERS TO SANTA TP $9.95
AUG050027 REVELATIONS #3 (OF 6) $2.99
AUG050019 USAGI YOJIMBO #88 $2.99

DC COMICS

AUG050197 ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #645 $2.50
AUG050263 AUTHORITY THE MAGNIFICIENT KEVIN #3 (OF 5) (MR) $2.99

J: Is there any sort of demand for this book?

B: That is an interesting question. I mean, I don't mind this book, really.
IantistarI: I mean, the first mini was mildly entertaining, but yeah, why are they publishing this book? Is it just that this is the closest Ennis can get to writing a superhero book?

J: Perhaps.

J:It's more about this Kev guy than the Authority.

B: Right, but that is as close as he can get.

J: And they always end up looking like chumps

J: Just do a mini about Kev!

B: Because superheroes are dumb. Remember Confederacy of Dunces? Superheroes should be mocked.

J: They exist to be mocked

B: The Gospel according to Ennis.

B: He and the artist should just do another Rifle Brigage mini-series. I liked the Rifle Brigade. Although even THAT got a bit tired after the first mini-series.

J: More War Stories! And more Punisher!

AUG050292 BATMAN BEGINS CAMOUFLAGE BATMOBILE $195.00
AUG050189 BATMAN UNDER THE HOOD TP $9.99
AUG050244 CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #14 $2.25
AUG050191 CATWOMAN #48 $2.50
AUG050210 DOOM PATROL #17 $2.50

J: Next issue is the last one, right?

B: I believe so, yes.

J: I'm wondering who the audience for this book is. It can't be hardcore Doom Patrol fans.

B: Why not? Fans of the original group!

B: I still can't believe Nudge is supposed to be Korean. Just draw asian people to look asian!!! Why is that so hard?!?

J: maybe a reaction to Morrison's doom patrol?

B: But there was a Doom Patrol between them.

J: Which was a riff on Morrison's version, right? Vertigo-esque and whatnot

B: Sorta. It was closer to the Kupperberg one more than anything.

J: Byrne's is is the straight up superhero version, and it's just not my thing.

B: I get that.

B: Also, Byrne really needs a scripter nowadays.

B: And someone to make the Asian people look Asian.

J: Heh

J: DC does have a guy go over his Action comics pencils, right?

B: Kinda sorta.

J: They should have a guy to do the Asian work. All he does is draw realistic asian people!

B: Haha

B: And in a totally different style of art!

J: Haha, yeah! And make it as jarring as possible!

AUG050249 ELFQUEST THE GRAND QUEST VOL 11 TP $9.99
AUG050212 FLASH #227 $2.50
AUG50219 JACK CROSS #3 $2.50

B: How funny was it that he took Zsaz's gimmick?

J: Yeah

J: But these are CROSSES, not tallies!

J: Ilike the book, but it's as if Ellis is riffing on ellis archetypes. He's a guy who REALLY hates being violent, but is way more violent than everyone else, and then he goes and cries in the mens room.

B: I would like it if this issue had some cool action. I predict that it will.

J: I gotta say, the art isn't doing it for me.

B: I like Erskine.

J: Erksine does not convey emotion well

B: He has improved since he ruined Wolverine and Punisher for me, back in the early 90s. Don't get me wrong, Wolverine/Punisher would have been bad ANYways. But he made it even WORSE.

J: There was a guy getting his fingers blown off, and he showed no pain on his face!

J: It's just...

J: Not good

AUG050218 JLA #121 $2.50
AUG050220 JLA CLASSIFIED #13 $2.50

J: Speaking of Ellis.....There is something odd and perverse about Superman and Batman speaking like Ellis characters.

B: I love those covers!

B: All this "good art" stuff

B: It is just so bullshit!

J: Haha

B: So I am happy to see something like the JLA Classified covers. Which take such a bold stance in the other direction.

J: Bring back Iron Man 2020 style art! It's the FUTURE! Everything will be in 3D!

J: The covers are the least appealing part of the book. Although, they DO get you to notice the book when it's on the racks.

B: True.

J: Even if it's "holy shit, look at that horrible art!"

B: Sorta like a..."La la la la...HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THAT?!?!"

B: Mine is better, because mine involves someone going into a comic shop while la-la-la-ing

J: I've never known that to happen, so I reject yours.

AUG050222 JSA CLASSIFIED #4 $2.50
AUG050251 KAMIKAZE KAITO JEANNE VOL 1 $9.99
APR050430 KRYPTO AND FRIENDS ANIMATED SERIES MAQUETTE SET $150.00
AUG050227 LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #11 $2.99
AUG050286 LOSERS #29 (MR) $2.99

J: Is the Losers ending?

B: Yeah. #32 is the last issue.

J: It's not because of sales, right?

B: I think it was the highest selling book of the month.

B: Yes, it was sales.

J: I was hoping it wasn't

B: You were hoping it was Diggle leaving for Marvel?

J: I was hoping it was more of a case where Diggle wanted it to end. I prefer when books end on the writers terms.

B: Agreed.

B: Except Thunderstrike.

J: Yeah

B: I hated the writer's terms there.

AUG050279 LOVELESS #1 (MR) $2.99
AUG050269 SILENT DRAGON #4 (OF 6) $2.99

DC is SO lucky to still have Diggle.

AUG050232 SOLO #7 $4.99

I predict that Mike Allred will RULE on this issue!

JUL050253 TEEN TITANS #28 $2.50
AUG050241 TEEN TITANS GO #24 $2.25
SEP050270 TEEN TITANS JAM PACKED ACTION VOL 1 TP $7.99
AUG050256 TENRYU THE DRAGON CYCLE VOL 3 $9.99
AUG050238 WONDER WOMAN #222 $2.50
AUG050275 WRAITHBORN #2 (OF 6) $2.99

IMAGE

AUG051663 AGE OF BRONZE #21 $3.50
MAY051585 AGENCY 1-6 SET SGN $14.99
JAN051590 BURGLAR BILL #4 (OF 6) $2.99
AUG051732 DARKNESS #24 $2.99

Who is writing the Darkness now?

AUG051644 FEAR AGENT #1 $2.99

Pick this book up, it is going to sell out soon!

AUG051675 FERRO CITY #3 $2.99
AUG051679 GIRLS #6 (MR) $2.99
JUL051659 NOBLE CAUSES #14 $3.50
MAY051571 SEA OF RED #5 (MR) $2.99
AUG051648 SEASON OF THE WITCH #1 (OF 4) $3.50
AUG051694 SHADOWHAWK #6 $3.50
JUN051807 SMALL GODS #11 $2.99

It is too bad that this book had such a short lifespan.

JUL051608 SPAWN #150 (NOTE PRICE) $4.95

J: First off, I had no idea they were still publishing Spawn.

J: Second, 150 issues is pretty impressive for a character as one-note as Spawn.

B: This is David Hine's first issue.

J: And I am noting the price. 5 bucks? It better be 100 pages, at at least give me a handjob or*

B: Did you just pass out due to anger?

J: Yes

J: I'm back though

J: David Hine and Phillip Tan, right? Good luck to them, I guess. McFarlane must be paying them a lot. Hine at least had a regular gig at Marvel

B: But which tan is which?

J: phillip tan drew most of the Draco, hands down the worst story in the history of Uncanny X-Men.

B: So Billy Tan really drew nothing prior to X-23? Weird.

J: Billy drew X-23 and MK Spider-Man, and I think he did some stuff for Top Cow. But don't quote me.

J: Oh wait

J: You will

B: Philip Tan did Top Cow, I think

AUG051696 STARDUST KID #3 (OF 4) $3.50
JUL051666 STRANGE GIRL #4 $2.99

Bloato is NOT dead, consarnit!

AUG051713 TOP COW HOLIDAY CARD $4.99
AUG051726 WITCHBLADE #91 $2.99
SEP051718 WITCHBLADE 2004 HOLIDAY VARIANT ED #80 $5.00
SEP051719 WITCHBLADE 2004 HOLIDAY VARIANT ED SGN #80 $15.00

MARVEL

AUG051915 AMAZING FANTASY #14 $2.99
AUG051886 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #525 $2.50
AUG051897 ARANA HEART OF THE SPIDER #10 $2.99
AUG051903 BLACK PANTHER #9 $2.99

Odds are, this will piss SOMEone off...hehe.

AUG058210 BLACK PANTHER SECOND PTG VARIANT #8 $2.99
AUG051904 BLACK WIDOW 2 #2 (OF 6) $2.99
AUG051957 BOOK OF LOST SOULS #1 $2.99

B: JMS and Doran, right?

J: i think so. I was actually gonna ask you what it is, but that jogged my memory. It's an Icon book.

B: I hope it is better than his last creator owned book.

J: He tends to do good comics, except when Deotado is drawing them.

B: Zing.

JUL051884 CAPTAIN AMERICA #11 $2.99

J: I'm gonna turn off the snark for a second, because this book is awesome.

B: To address last week's wrongs?

J: Sorta. Authority Revolution was GOOD, STONY!

J: But Cap, man, do I love it. It's essentially the return of Bucky, the most joked about story idea I think in the history of comics, except it's GOOD.

B: Here's my problem. Captain America has become the Lost of comics. Lost is good, too.

J: It Is.

B: But you have a little happen. Then a flashback. Then a little happens. Then a flashback. So, 12 issues in, you know a teensy bit. And you've had three gazillion flashback issues. And a House of M tie-in. Perhaps (and this is hard to do ) the most tangentially related House of M tie-in. It had a LOT of competition for that distinction.

J: Yeah, but this Winter Soldier stuff is good

B: Yeah, the stuff is good. I just would prefer it if it stopped working like Lost.

IantistarI: but do you really want to know what the secret of the Island is right NOW? Or do you want to enjoy the ride? Its like, i wanna have sex for 5 hours, and you just want to be done in 5 minutes!

J: That's the problem with this relationship

J: No communication!

J: Where's the intimacy?

B: I don't want it to follow such a strict pattern of storytelling. It has gotten to the point where you and I could both basically write the outline of a Brubaker Cap issue. Only TWELVE issues in, and it is already almost a parody of itself. We know exactly what will happen each issue. I like the comic, but the tics are just so huge.

AUG051902 DAREDEVIL #78 $2.99

J: This final arc of Bendis' run is annoying. 2 issues in, and I have no idea what the story is. Kingpin spills the beans on Murdock? It ends up on the front page of the post?

B: Let's talk about how lame Mila is.

J: Heh

B: How lame is Mila?

B: She is so lame!

B: I just hate characters pushed on the reader so hard.

J: Yeah

B: Like Tarantula in Daredevil.

J: Dude married her. He'll date Karen Page forever, but he's gotta tie the knot with Mila.

B: That's why I was so impressed when Bendis had it be that he married her when he was still in shock over Karen's death.

J: Yeah, I did like that reveal.

B: Because I was like, "Oh, that's kinda cool. So all that nonsense about him falling for her right away was part of a bigger plot that showed that Matt wasn't acting normally?" "I like that!" And then, Bendis has it turn out that, no, all that stuff happened. He really did fall for her instantly.

B: You know what it reminds me of?

B: The Jessica Jones What If..? Remember that one?

J: Yes. Don't get me wrong, I like Jessica Jones.

B: As do I.

J: but she marries Cap and makes disassembled never happen?

B: That's Mary Sue to a tee.

J: Still, Mila is essentially a writers tool, so she's fair game as far as death is concerned. I predict that Mila doesn't last the arc.

B: I disagree. I think Bendis views her as sort of "his contribution."

J: God, I hope not. Frank Miller got it right. Superheroes shouldn't date normal people. It's just dumb.

AUG051917 DEFENDERS #4 (OF 5) $2.99
AUG051913 DRAX THE DESTROYER #2 (OF 4) $2.99
AUG051983 HERCULES NEW LABORS OF HERCULES TP $13.99
AUG051918 HULK DESTRUCTION #4 (OF 4) $2.99

I predict that there will be a pun in this book.

APR051944 KABUKI #5 (MR) $2.99

Is there a prettier looking book out there?

AUG051960 MARVEL ADVENTURES FLIP MAGAZINE #5 $3.99
AUG051961 MARVEL HEROES FLIP MAGAZINE #5 $3.99
AUG051971 MARVEL MASTERWORKS MIGHTY THOR VOL 4 HC VARIANT ED HC $54.99
AUG051970 MARVEL MASTERWORKS MIGHTY THOR VOL 4 NEW ED HC $49.99
AUG051931 MARVEL MONSTERS MONSTERS ON THE PROWL $3.99
AUG051968 MARVEL VISIONARIES JOHN ROMITA JR HC $29.99
AUG051908 NEW AVENGERS #12 $2.50

B: Here we go.

J: so uh, I haven't heard much about this one

B: Predictions?

J: Any good? Yes. I predict I will be disappointed. I remember hoping that Scarlet Witch wasn't the villain in Disassembled. I was hoping she would be a red herring, but no.

B: Haha...how bad was that?

J: It was bad

IantistarI: I think that when it's all said and done, Ronin will be a disappointment

B: The thing is, when Elektra was tossed out as a possibiity a year ago. (And how weird is it that its been a year?)

J: It's a hell of a way to market a character

B: I was okay with it.

J: I was too

B: But it really isn't much of a, well, MYSTERY!

J: At least he knows how to write her

J: but that goddamn page

B: So I am still willing to have some faith in Bendis. He said that no one guessed who Ronin was. And he would not lie so blatently. I just do not believe it.

J: I just don't see how that's possible. No one guessed it? Is it fucking forbrush man?

B: Yeah, I find it hard to believe, as well.

J: Slapstick?

B: I mean, unless he just means his boards. If so, then yeah, I can believe he doesn't know some guesses.

J: even on his boards! TONS of guesses

B: But Elektra HAS to have been guessed.

J: Hhe's said that it is a man, but still. Grant Morrison said that Magneto was dead when he started his run on X-Men. Sometimes writers simply lie to build up a story

B: I guess.

B: But Morrison did not do it in a Q&A type "reveal."

J: Morrison doesn't have his own message board. Man, I wish he did

AUG051921 NEW THUNDERBOLTS #14 $2.99

B: I predict it is a plot, between the Avengers and T-Bolts to screw over the government.

J: Stick it to the man! The government being evil is all over comics today

B: Yeah. Kinda boring. But it is better than having the Thunderbolts and Avengers actually fighting.

J: I suppose

J: I sort of find myself longing for a story that is essentially about a superhero and a supervillain fighting

B: The Thunderbolts had that recenrtly. I am so with you, though, in the sense that I really want the current Runaways arc to actually be Cloak and the Runaways teaming up to clear his name. And not "Haha...I really DID do it! "

J: Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of threats coming from unexpected places, but it's gotten to the point where the unexpected places are the ONLY places that threats come from

AUG051942 NEW X-MEN #19 $2.99
AUG051943 NEW X-MEN ACADEMY X YEARBOOK SPECIAL $3.99
AUG051909 SENTRY #2 (OF 8) $2.99

J: What did you think of the last issue?

B: Well, I think this will be better.

B: Because it'd be hard to be worse.

J: Heh

J: I do find the character interesting, but not enough to have me looking forward to the issue.

B: I do not find him UNinteresting.

B: I just want a good story.

B: I do not think #1 was one.

J: essentially the character is a crazy superman, but where do you go with that?

B: In addition, what i think we saw here is that Jenkins didn't really HAVE another story for Sentry. And now he is sorta making it up on the fly.

J: exactly

J: Bendis brought him back

B: Because, while he does not have a story, he doesn't want to turn DOWN the book! I mean, can you blame him? So I think he's just pulling stuff out of his behind.

J: so it feels more like an obligation than anything else

B: Trying desperately to find a good hook.

J: i don't see where you can go with the sentry. Take away the void and he loses a cool villain. Keep him and you're stuck with the tedious plot devise that he could come back at any moment.

B: Yeah.

J: Sentry has LIMITED TIME ONLY written all over him, but it looks like he's here to stay.

AUG051972 ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL 4 INHUMAN TP $12.99
AUG051891 ULTIMATE SECRET #4 (OF 4) $2.99
AUG051899 WOLVERINE #35 $2.50
AUG051975 X-MEN THE END VOL 2 HEROES AND MARTYRS TP $14.99
JUL051883 YOUNG AVENGERS #8 $2.99

J: How fucking jarring was the fill-in art on the last issue?

B: It was pretty darned jarring. And I like DiVito, but man, that was a jarring change.

J: yeah, nothing against divito.

J: Is it odd, that 8 issues in, you're wishing that things would go back to the way they were? I LIKED Iron Lad! There was no reason that he needed to leave

B: Agreed. It reminds me of Blood Syndicate. I liked Tech-9, and they killed him off early on. And I never forgave them.

J: There isn't any advantage to getting rid of Iron Lad! Here they had this great character, but no, they'd rather go in another direction.

B: They WANT you to miss him. They're sadists.

J: playing with my emotions!

B: At least Heinberg INVENTED Iron Lad before he got you to like him and then see him die.

Short list this week, as Jake doesn't know anything past Marvel...hehe.

That's it for us this week!

Read More

Great Googly Moogly!

I THINK that we can all agree that THIS is pretty damn awesome cover, no?



"After the startling events of the first issue, Superman retreats with Lois Lane to his Arctic sanctuary. Find out what mystery haunts Superman's girlfriend as she spends her birthday in the strangest place on earth — the Fortress of Solitude! "

Yowsa, Yowsa, Yowsa!

See the cover for All Star Superman #2!

Three 10/19 Books That I Read So That You Did Not Have To

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.

X-Men/Power Pack #1, Robin #143 and Star Wars: Republic #78 Spoilers Ahead!

X-Men/Power Pack #1

Here's the main reason why I enjoy Marc Sumerak's Power Pack work so much. He is essentially the anti-Brad Meltzer. Brad Meltzer looked at DC's older stories and felt that he needed to apologize for them. That was silly, because they were good stories that did not need to be apologized for. That is a point many writers (to move away from incessantly picking on Mr. Meltzer) fall afoul of. They look at the Silver Age as the time of "goofy comics." Well, they weren't MEANT to be "goofy." They were just meant to be good stories that would appeal to their readers. Meanwhile, that has been Sumerak's saving grace with Power Pack. He does not feel the need to APOLOGIZE for these characters. He has not tried to change Louise Simonson's fine work. He is not ashamed of her stories. He has, instead, EMBRACED them. And as a result, we have in his work the same thing we had in Simonson's original work - GOOD comic stories.

This story depicts the Power Pack going to a Halloween costume party, and Jack thinks he will win with his Wolverine costume. Except, well, Wolverine is quite a popular costume theme...hehe. Gotta give it up for Gurihiru, for depicting pretty much EVERY Wolverine costume, and I do not think even duplicating any!!!

There is some nice interaction with Jack and Katie, although I think Jack is a bit too harsh on her.

The Wolverine and Sabretooth fights are done well, although, I have to admit, Gurihiru's art is a bit less suited for action scenes. Still, Sumerak comes up with a nice plan for the Pack and Wolverine to defeat Sabretooh. Good stuff.

And the ending was quite nice.

Recommended!

Robin #143

This is probably one of the better Willingham issues of Robin in recent months. It was also the best issue, art-wise, from Scott McDaniel. This issue depicts Johnny Warlock, Robin's nemesis (if Willingham has his way) and Darla, the girl that Johnny revived from the dead to kill Robin, because Johnny has a confidence problem with Robin.

Meanwhile, Willingham basically duplicates the OMAC scenes from Infinite Crisis, although I think Willingham does a better job, as he shows small-town hoods attempt to escape from the stupid OMAC things.

We also see the archer lady (from a previous issue) show up with great success against the OMACs, which makes sense, as she, too, is a Willingham creation, so you know he will be making her super competent.

However, the Archer lady's scenes show her interacting with TARANTULA. The whole point of the end of Grayson's Nightwing #100 is that Dick Grayson gets Tarantula locked up, and now, here she is, free as a bird! Oh well, at least Willingham followed Grayson's lead and made sure to have Tarantula say a couple of things in Spanish, just so you know she is Hispanic, natch.

Soon, the other new Willingham characters (wow, this almost seems like Robin is guest-starring in his own book, taking a backseat to all these "neat" Willingham creations) show up to fight the OMACs. The Veteran and his crew make short work of the stupid OMAC things, which only makes sense, as Willingham created them and he is writing the book, so stupid OMAC things should be no problem for them.

Rocket Red?

Problem.

Willingham creations?

No problem.

Eventually, though, even Willingham lets his creations fall victim to the stupid OMAC things, until the super plot device occurs (the end of OMAC Project #6), and all the stupid OMAC things disappear.

Then we have a silly scene where Robin bets his life that Johnny's magic won't work against him. It works, but it seems like a dumb bet to risk your LIFE on.

So they win, and finally, speaking of Willingham creations, the Shadowpact shows up to give an assist to Robin!

McDaniel drew the action scenes well in this issue, and some of them were even interesting.

Overall, though?

Not Recommended!

Star Wars: Republic #78

I do not know if John Ostrander is happy to finally move beyond the "lead up to the first Trilogy" or not, but I know I sure am. It is comics like THIS one that I have been waiting for Ostrander to write, and he does not let me down.

This is the kind of comic I am sure Ostrander would have written had he been the writer on the original Marvel Star Wars title back in the 80s. It is a story about an Imperial Officer who is on the run from the Empire, as they deem him expendable (the story opens with a great line about how an officer is now the hero of a great battle. He says, "No, a Jedi was the hero," and he is told, no, now YOU are the hero of the battle. Great stuff there).

The whole story is about the man on the run from Vader, but also about Vader coming to terms with his change in status. He is new to his role as Darth Vader, so he instinctively wants to chase the man down himself. Instead, we see the first sign of Vader turning to bounty hunters to capture his prey.

Our hero, Sagoro Autem, is a cool character to follow, and the twist at the end was just right.

For the art side of the comic, Luke Ross "drew" the comic, but really, Jason Keith's colors are the star of this book (if you liked the art, that is), as he makes everything much more vibrant, and does to Ross' pencils what Dave Stewart does to Cary Nord's Conan pencils, which is enfuses them with life. Good stuff.

Recommended!

Now on to the books that I did not read, so I was hoping you might have read them and could tell me what I missed out on:

Night Mary #4

Battle Hymn #4

Deadworld #2

Thanks!

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What Should Diggle Do For DC?

Andy Diggle recently resigned with DC Comics for another year of exclusivity. The thing is, his Losers series is ending, and his Silent Dragon series is a mini-series. So he is pretty free and clear. So what do you think Diggle should do for DC?

I would love to see him do a Sgt. Rock series and an Adam Strange series. Oh, wouldn't he be awesome on Challengers of the Unknown? Good to see DC keep such a good writer.

A comics-buying challenge for you!

I'm all fired up about comics now because I read the collected edition of Warren Ellis's five-year-old column for Comic Book Resources, Come In Alone. Now, despite the fact that I read it right after I read the two trade paperbacks of Ellis's run on Ultimate Fantastic Four, which was kind of dull and invalidated a lot of what he said five years ago, it still got me fired up. So I am challenging you, gentle readers. Yes, a challenge! Consider yourself slapped across the face with some sort of cyber-glove.

Many of you will be heading to your local comics shoppe tomorrow to pick up your weekly dose of the drug that keeps on giving. Yes, there are those of you who have completely moved over to what I like to call "The Dark Side" - buying everything in trades - and there are some of you who get your comics through mail order, like your women, and there are still others of you who make the pilgrimage only once a month or so - you can't cleanse your sins that way, people! But for those of you who make the trip once a week, a challenge:

1. You may not buy anything with characters in it that were in print over ten years ago. That's ANY character. The ONLY exception to this rule is if the same writer and/or artist who created the character is working on it. There's a new issue of Cerebus coming out, right?

2. You must buy at least one book you have NEVER read before. I don't care what it is. It must only conform to Rule #1.

Now, I'm not saying you can't buy your usual books. If the 657th issue of Fascinating Destructo-Man comes out tomorrow and you just have to find out if he saves Limpid Lass from the evil clutches of the Menacing Crotch-Grabber, that's fine. Buy it on Thursday. Put it in your subscription box and buy it next week. I have no idea what's coming out tomorrow - that's Brian and his Posse's job to find out - but long-time readers know I am digging David Lapham's run on Detective. If it comes out tomorrow, however, I will put it in my box and not get it until next week.

I will share with you tomorrow what I bought and how I answered the challenge. I encourage you all to do the same in the comments section. See what is out there, ladies and gentlemen! And if it means you don't buy ANY comics, well, there are worse things in the world. Accept the CHALLENGE!

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Comic Quotes Should Be Good

You see the list of blogs on the side of this site? All of them fine blogs where folks talk about comic books. I occasionally feel a bit bad that I do not pimp the blogs on the sidebar enough. So I have to decided to now do a weekly thing where I pick out ten cool quotes from those blogs about current comics during the past week. I cannot promise that my picks will be thorough, or even the best quotes. They are just quotes that made me laugh or smile or say, "Good line." Please note that I love the people who write on this here blog (Comis Should Be Good). I think that they often have many good lines. That is why I asked them to write here, because they are fun for me to read. But it seems a bit too self-serving to quote any of them here, so I will not. But be assured that I think they are all quite good.

Let's begin!

Shawn Hoke, at Size Matters, describing Paulette Poullet's "Life’s a Cakewalk,"

When her bus finally arrives, she gets a good seat isolated from the other riders. Then a talkative guy gets on and sits right next to her annoying her for the rest of the trip. She mistakenly wears a red sweater on Valentine’s Day. She gets attacked by her cat, who is normally eleven pounds of pure fun. She’s annoyed by the people on her television. This is you. This is me. There’s nothing spectacular, but again, this is you. This is me. There’s a lot of us in this diary comic. So you keep reading.

Kevin gives a great summary for NYC Mech Volume One,

I can see why Brian Azzarello's endorsement is so prominently displayed on the back of the new NYC Mech Volume One: Let's Electrify collection, as fans of his own work, along with another Brian (Wood), would find much to appreciate in this pleasingly minimal, well-constructed look at the underbelly of a cybernetic city that never sleeps. Writers Ivan Brandon and Miles Hunter do a admirable job of using New York as a platform to create a new city where androids may walk the street instead of humans, but greed, lust, and jealousy still form every second of this city's life.

Joe Rice, of Listen To Us, We're Right, had this to say (granted, it was not on his actual blog, but whatever) about Fin Fang Four,

Fin Fang Four was fun. Nice, early-Mad-ish art, simple but funny story, some metacommentary ...this didn't really set out to move mountains, but it accomplished what goals it had perfectly. This makes up for last week's laaaaame Where Monsters Dwell. Eric Powell covers should not wrap crap. Fin Fang Four is fun, though.

I just LOVED that Powell line. Sooo true.

The Comics Shrew helps explain why I have been enjoying Anderson Gabrych's Batgirl so much,

Andersen Gabrych, with the same aplomb he took with Tarantula II and, well, most of the other guano, doesn't completely rescue the Daughters of the Demon. But he does rescue the girls from looking like they got picked up in the Supermarket Sweep bonus round that was the gathering of the Secret Society of Supervillains. Nyssa has a plan. And it makes sense. In a perverted, impractical-because-genocide-is-never-the-best-answer kind of way.

Sean Maher has a good take on "Will You Still Love Me If I Wet the Bed?"

A lot of the vibe here will strike a chord with readers who are in Happy Relationships, or who enjoy romantic comedies. It's optimistic, it's sweet, it's goddamn gleeful.

So, yeah, if you're alone and bitter, this is either going to piss you off all to hell or leave you a sobbing, Radiohead-listening wreck.

Mark Fossen ALMOST makes Infinite Crisis sound palpatable (almost...hehe...still, he should be commended for that),

It has a grand scope, and Geoff Johns effectively races through the apocalypse. He neatly introduces most of the threads that have been building in the various miniseries, and introduces some new wrinkles. There's definitely some fat that could be trimmed (see Mongul) and some ham-fisted expository dialogue (see the Trinity on the moon). There's also some moments of wonder, where the page opens up and we see the immensity of the situation. I don't know where things are going or what's going to happen, but it feels already like events are afoot that will deliver on the hype. And that's why I'm buying it: the concepts and situations. There's room for a lot of stories in the superhero genre, but one is the Story Of Ideas. It's been said that in true science fiction, it's the idea that's the protagonist, not the character. The same can be said of crossover events, and I don't mind some character missteps or awkward storytelling if the meaty ideas in the center are good.

Jog points out a cool facet of Klarion #4,

And even after hitting the blue rafters, he encounters children who’re sent off to the awful Red Place as soon as they are grown, in something of a twisted mirror image of Klarion’s own home situation. But Morrison understands the implications of such a course of action, and he’s not advocating that we just remain children forever; indeed, Guardian #4 is filled with suggestion as to the inevitability of maturity, but it must be maturity of the right kind. The hero must be an enlightened adult, and this journey to new, superheroic adulthood forms the core of the project’s structural makeup and schema for character development. The eager reader might even want to contrast this developmental set-up to the turgid 'maturity' of the sorts of contemporary superhero books that Morrison is prone to criticizing; these might be grown-up, but not in a pleasing way at all, and now there will be an alternative.

Tom Foss, describing a problem of The Rann/Thanagar War,

"Show, don't tell" is typically the cardinal rule of literature. Unfortunately, there was a lot of telling in Rann-Thanagar, and we sure could have used a scorecard to tell who was where at what time and on what side. I couldn't tell you who the Okaarans were fighting with as opposed to the Durlans, and a dozen other worlds were involved. I really wanted to like this story, but it was a twelve-issue maxiseries, cut up and randomly assembled into a six-issue miniseries.

Tom the Dog has a great message to send to DC,

I've always liked Green Lantern... theoretically; in practice, I've never really been a regular reader, but I like the character well enough when I encounter him in group books, like JLA. So I thought I would try the first issue of Hal Jordan's new series, and the first issue of the Corps series. Mistake, both times. These books -- and to a certain extent, all the big-name DC titles -- are encumbered by an insurmountably arcane history of continuity and such a vast legion of obscure supporting characters that they're completely inscrutable even to someone like me, who's been reading comics pretty much weekly for almost two decades. Throw in the crossover events on top of it all, and almost the entire superhero lineup of DC is nigh unreadable to a less-than-hopelessly devoted fan.

For example, if I wanted to read and properly understand and enjoy the first issue of Infinite Crisis (which I don't), I first would have to be familiar with its preceding mini-series Villains United, Omac Project, Rann/Thanagar War, Day of Vengeance, and even Adam Strange, as well as the one-shot Countdown to Infinite Crisis, plus the regular JLA, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman comics (at the very least -- possibly also Green Lantern, Flash, JSA, and others), and be more than passingly familiar with Crisis on Infinite Earths, a mega-crossover event from 20 years ago, which tied into the continuity of basically the entire history of DC superhero comics.

Sure, I could do that. Or -- here's a thought -- maybe DC Comics can kiss my ass instead.

Finally, last, but CERTAINLY not least, here is David Welsh, with an interesting take on She-Hulk #1,

As happy as I am to see this title return, I’m a bit worried that writer Dan Slott is suffering from a surplus of conscientiousness. After reintroducing his cast and their workplace (the super-human law division of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg, & Holliway), Slott then seems headed towards an attempted reconciliation of his She-Hulk (funny, independent, smart) with everyone else’s (a gamma-irradiated plot device who can reliably generate wholesale destruction when things get too talky). I like this book because it’s an oasis from the maudlin doings of the rest of Marvel’s line, and I’m not particularly interested in a dissection of the counterpoint. There are plenty of good bits, like She-Hulk’s don’t-call-me-I’ll-call-you encounter with the New Avengers, but all of the tethers to Marvel’s grim plotlines aren’t very encouraging.

That was fun!

A lot of good comic reviews this past week. The only thing left, of course, is for all of you folks to keep it up NEXT week, so I have some more choice quotes to pick!

See you then!

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Comic Dictionary - Mary Sue

I did not come up with this term, but it is such a useful term in comic critiquing, I think that it is worthwhile to post it.

Here is a good definition that I found of "Mary Sue":

MARY SUE (n.): 1. A variety of story, first identified in the fan fiction community, but quickly recognized as occurring elsewhere, in which normal story values are grossly subordinated to inadequately transformed personal wish-fulfillment fantasies, often involving heroic or romantic interactions with the cast of characters of some popular entertainment. 2. A distinctive type of character appearing in these stories who represents an idealized version of the author. 3. A cluster of tendencies and characteristics commonly found in Mary Sue-type stories. 4. A body of literary theory, originally generated by the fanfic community, which has since spread to other fields (f.i., professional SF publishing) because it’s so darn useful. The act of committing Mary Sue-ism is sometimes referred to as “self-insertion.”

Some notable examples in comics of Mary Sues are Pete Wisdom in Ellis' Excalibur, Tarantula in Grayson's Nightwing and Thanos in a variety of Starlin-penned tales.

Am I missing any other significant, non-Ellis Mary Sues?

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I will allow you to rip off my left arm if you give me this book

I was reminded of this book the other day: Elseworlds 80-Page Giant. Seriously, I will allow you to rip off my left arm if you give this book to me - what the hell do I need my left arm for? Has anyone read it? Is it as monstrously wonderfully glorious as the rumors tell? It's like some sort of mystical talisman that if only we could all secure it and read it, all the world's troubles will be solved.

That is all.

90s Week Continues: An Interesting Equation - Lee + Claremont = Good

What's that you say? "Brian, 90s Week was a MONTH ago." Ah, but that is what you may have failed to pick up on, which is that 90s Week, just like the 90s itself, is filled with time travel for absolutely NO REASON AT ALL!! So therefore, this is the continuation of 90s Week, which did not end, but rather, was teleported one month into the future to save a world that was not its own! Its mission? To take a look at the good and bad of the last decade. Today, Jim Lee gets a lot of razzing from folks, as does Chris Claremont. That is why it is interesting to me to see how a story by BOTH men could turn out so good. The story I am referring to is Uncanny X-Men #273-277.

The story begins in Uncanny X-Men #273, which is a recap issue after the big X-Crossover, X-Tinction Agenda, which featured the X-Men, X-Factor and the New Mutants (led by Cable, soon to turn the group into X-Force). This issue is not particularly good, except for the collection of artists. The art in this book is handled by the following:

1. Whilce Portacio

2. Klaus Janson

3. John Byrne (in his first issue of X-Men since he left, 130 issues earlier)

4. Rick Leonardi

5. Michael Golden

6. Marc Silvestri

7. Jim Lee

8. Larry Stroman

How trippy of a collection of artists is THAT? Imagine an issue like this being released TODAY? How hyped would it be?!

Sadly, though, the story is strictly exposition. A lot of getting the reader caught up on various continuity matters. What readers today would be astonished to know is that, back when this issue came out (1991), the X-Titles really did NOT have particularly tight continuity. Therefore, this really was the first time that a lot of these characters truly interacted in a long time (yes, they just got over a crossover, but there was barely any interaction in it, just ACTION). And some of the continuity nods are especially weak, like Claremont's attempts to explain Magneto's actions during Acts of Vengeance and the Evil Scarlet Witch storyline.

Michael Golden's vignette stands out as head and shoulders ahead of the others. It is Wolverine fighting Gambit. This issue also marked the official "reunification" of the X-Men, who had splintered since the Australia years. The new "official" team was now Storm, Wolverine, Banshee, Forge, Psylocke, Jubilee and Gambit. In this issue, they all agreed to be a team and began wearing a variation of the X-Men "school uniforms" that Forge designed. The character moments were decent in the comic, but really, this was a "lunch box" comic, just existing to move things along, and we see at the end how things were moving along, as Lila Cheney (the interstellar pop singer and teleporter) shows up to teleport the X-Men across the universe to help their mentor, Professor X! Which is a cool cliffhanger. By the by, a quick aside...while I am not some huge Lila Cheney fan, I have to give it up to Claremont for the idea. An interstellar teleporter/pop singer? That's pretty cool, I think.

The next two issue begins a two-issue stint where the book splits stories. The majority of the comic follows Magneto, Rogue and Ka-Zar in the Savage Land, while the other half sees where the X-Men ended up.

The Magneto story is fairly straightforward, but interesting. Jim Lee's weakest art is in the Savage Land scenes. It almost seems like (besides Magneto) that he does not spend as much time on these drawings. Especially the layouts. Often confusing stuff happens. However, the basic story (Rogue, Ka-Zar and Magneto attempt to free the Savage Land from Zaladane, as Claremont attempts to resolve a story he set up a few years earlier (Zaladane, who had Polaris' powers, took over the Savage Land, and was now being a mean ol' tyrant). There is a lot of moaning by Magneto about how rough his life is. There is also a lot of sexual tension between Rogue and Magneto. Rogue, at the time, did not have her powers (she had just recently finally split off from Ms. Marvel in her psyche, and the result left her powerless).

The X-Men in space story shows them at the mercy of their old enemy, Deathbird, who apparently is there to ask them for HELP! She wants them to KILL Charles Xavier! Nice cliffhanger.

#275 has a nice big gatefold cover, and is double-sized (as, you know, it is the 275th issue. Which has a lot of meaning and significance...hehe). This issue was just wall-to-wall action, but here, Lee and Claremont work together very well. Lee gets to draw the Starjammers fight the Imperial Guard. This was about the last time that Claremont really was able to fully get away with making jokes about how many times the X-Men's roster has changed. There is a double-paged battle between the X-Men, the Imperial Guard and the Starjammers that has the line "For the unitiated among you (who may have lost track over the decades) a line-up." Claremont still makes those type of jokes nowadays, but then, it still seemed kinda charming.

The X-Men end up beating up the Imperial Guard and winning the day. Lilandra reclaims her crown from Deathbird (Wolverine beats her up), and the X-Men begin to celebrate.

Meanwhile, Claremont finishes the Zaladane/Magneto story. Nick Fury guest stars, and this was back when Nick Fury guest-starring was actually kind of unique. The story was pretty good, with Magneto ultimately killing Zaladane (while Rogue regains her powers). A looooooooot of speechifying.

Back in space, Gambit and Jubilee discover Gladiator and another Imperial Guard member being tortured....by CHARLES XAVIER!!! Three good cliffhangers in a row!

The next two issues are just about the X-Men in space, and really, you can tell that both Claremont and Lee are having a blast. I do not think that I can remember Lee ever being as creative with his art as this storyline. In fact, I do not recall seeing Lee have this much FUN with his art since here, either. Shots of Lila Cheney with a big gun and her poodle skirt, blowing a big gum bubble...fun stuff.

The plot in this issue has Gambit and Jubilee on the run from Xavier, and we see Wolverine apparently KILL Xavier! This, of course, turns out to be a big Skrull ploy. The Skrulls are impersonating the Imperial Guard, the Starjammers (even a couple of X-Men), all in an attempt to take over the Shi'ar empire.

The X-Men then must go on the run, but return to stop the bad guys and save Xavier and the captive X-Men (these are special Power Skrulls who hook people up to some devices so they can mimic their powers).

The battles that ensued include a lot of cool scenes, like Gambit charging up a whole deck of cards to beat the faux-Gladiator. Fake-Wolverine getting killed, and Xavier saving the day. Just good, fun stuff. Even Jubilee was not that annoying of a POV character in this storyline!

So yes, folks, in 1991, Jim Lee and Chris Claremont were, well, GOOD.

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Comics News Revue: Scouring the Comics News Sites So You Don't Have to -- Week of 10/16

There have been a few news items in the past week that caught my eye and I thought I'd share those. You may have seen them, too, but if not, take a look. Some of these are worthwhile projects that could always bear some additional exposure.

Robotika: Newsarama has ten preview pages of this upcoming Archaia Studios Press series by Alex Sheikman described as a "steampunk sushi samurai western." Seriously. If the article had those four words in any combination, even without the lovely preview pages, I would have considered checking this out. But the pages themselves reveal a highly stylized and distinctive vision of the future, so this may be more than just a hodgepodge of influences. It looks promising. The first issue is being solicited in this month's Previews, so order now. Look for the great Ryan Sook cover.

Shaolin Cowboy: Continuing the theme of Asian-influenced westerns -- or maybe that should be cowboy-influenced kung fu -- Burlyman Entertainment provides a couple of preview pages to this series by Geof Darrow and the Wachowski Brothers. It looks like more of the over-the-top violence and zaniness we've come to expect from this series. I loves me some Burlyman comics.

Frank Cho: The Liberty Meadows creator and master of the female form (check out the piece that has Klaw blasting the hell out of Warbird) provides some details regarding his exclusive Marvel Comics contract extension as well as some upcoming projects. It appears we'll be waiting a while longer for Liberty Meadows #37 as Cho gives priority -- as one would expect -- to "Marvel deadlines and family matters." He says he hopes to work even more with Marvel's female superheroes during this contract period. In addition, he and writer David Tischman are collaborating on a series called Voodoo Dolls and he's got a new art book in the works from Image Comics.

Savage Dragon: Speaking of Image Comics, publisher Erik Larsen has announced the return of his fin-headed hero in 2006 with the release of Savage Dragon #122. With his time largely consumed in recent months by the "publisher gig," the series has slipped from the schedule. Now largely into the swing of things, Larsen anticipates a more regular schedule for the Dragon.

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: From Dragon to dinosaurs (and more cowboys!). Jim Ottaviani discusses with Comic Book Resources his recent book detailing the feud between dinosaur men Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. Not typical fodder for comic books and, thus, intriguing to me (although I dig some of the typical fodder, too). I pre-ordered this and received it recently. Now I just need to read it!

Pasqual Ferry: Please note the spelling. The Newsarama interviewer and Ferry take pains to emphasize it right off the bat since there have been variations floating around over the years. In addition to that, this is a pleasant little recap of Ferry's career thus far, including his apparent disappointment over the reception of his Superman-related work, the more favorable reception of his work on Adam Strange, and his transition from the Grant Morrison-penned Mister Miracle over to the Marvel Ultimate line.

Dr. Doom: Like a lot of comics readers, Dr. Doom is one of my all-time favorite villains -- anywhere. So I've been looking forward to Ed Brubaker's handling of the character in The Books of Doom. Brubaker explains, "My goals were really to take the key points of his biography as they're known, and weave them together into one big narrative, fill in all the blanks, and try to provide motivation and explanation for things that were always a bit unexplained. " Specifically, Brubaker will answer questions like:

1.) Why was an Eastern European enrolled in an American university during the Cold War?
2.) What was the U.S. military's role?
3.) Why does Doom go right from college to the mountains?

He adds, "Breaking the timeline of the miniseries down, issue #1 is his younger days, until he leaves Latveria for college in the US. Issue #2 is his time in the US. Issue #3 is the lost time between leaving the US and going to the monks on the mountaintop, showing what he did and how he learned about the Tibetan monks. Issue #4 is his time with the monks, and how he came to be their leader, and decided to encase his body in a metal suit. And issues #5 and #6 are the tale of his return to Latveria and how he takes over the country."

Malinky Robot: I missed Sonny Liew's original 2003 Malinky Robot story, Stinky Blue Fish, but did not miss his subsequent work with Mike Carey and Marc Hempel on Vertigo's My Faith in Frankie, which was really great. I'm planning to check out the new Malinky Robot installment, Bicycle. Liew elaborates on this story, which is being published by Slave Labor Graphics.

Disney Comics: I mentioned recently that I'm a regular reader of Uncle Scrooge but, additionally, I read most of the Disney comics that Gemstone publishes. The Scoop plugs the Disney releases that came out on 10/12, Mickey Mouse and Friends #282 and Donald Duck and Friends #333, with both placing special emphasis on some classic foes of the world's most famous mouse and duck.

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