Halfway through the year, and some good stuff you may have missed

I don't know if you saw this, Brian, but someone out there really likes you. I'm going to steal some of the reflected glory, since he mentions the whole site, but it's you he steals (I assume it's a guy, sue me if it's not). "This is one of the best comic review sites out there." That's what he says, I swear!

We're halfway through the year, and some comics have been good, and some not so good. I'm not going to focus on the not-so-good ones, because what's the point, but I am going to remind you about some excellent stuff that you may have missed. These are just trade paperbacks and original graphic novels, because most of you seem interested in that stuff and not necessarily the monthlies. Also, that would take too long. So, in alphabetical order, here are the TPBs and OGNs I think are the best so far this year:

The Batman Chronicles Volume 1 from DC. Yes, I excoriated it on this very web site! But it's awesome. It's a great idea, and one that I hope DC follows up on (I thought I heard something about more of these coming out, but I'm not sure), because I would buy more, even if they did Superman (and I don't like Superman). Read all about it and then buy it here. You will so not regret it. Maybe Nik will stop by and say how awesome it was, since I sent him a copy.

Deep Sleeper from Image. I reviewed Deep Sleeper in the first part of this post, so I can't really say anything new. It's marvelous. Technically it's a horror book, but it delves into the nature of reality, the nature of identity, religion - and it makes you squirm. A simply fabulous book. Go read what else I wrote and then buy it here.

Different Ugliness, Different Madness from DC (Humanoids). In the second part of this post, I talk about this graphic novel, which is one of the best OGNs I've read in a long time. It's a beautiful book, one that came and went with little fanfare, but can be purchased here. I highly recommend this.

Filler from AiT/Planet Lar. Filler is a weird little book that a bunch of people in the blogaxy read and liked (for the most part), but here is where I discussed it. It's a twisted little noir tale, and for a short book that deals basically with a crime and a revenge plot, it makes you think a little. Pick it up here.

The Legend of GrimJack Volumes 1 & 2 from IDW. I have been raving about the new GrimJack mini-series, but not as much about the old series being republished in trade paperback form. I never read the old series (yes, I suck), and this is a wonderful way to read them and experience the Ostrander/Truman magic. These are really fun, all-action, blow-shit-up kind of comics, with Ostrander throttling forward and John Gaunt rising above the stereotype of a grizzled old mercenary to become a truly fascinating character. The stories are (so far) no longer than three issues, and they are packed with information and crazy villains. By setting what is basically a film noir hero in a pan-dimensional city, Ostrander can keep things gritty and "realistic" while indulging Truman's ability to draw almost any crazy thing. The evolution of Gaunt, even in these early issues, is nice to see too, as Ostrander is able to grow his character without engaging in 22-page bitchfests about how his girl doesn't love him anymore. After pages and pages of Stephen Strange looking stoic but not doing a damned thing (sorry, belated shot at Bendis), reading GrimJack is like chugging Red Bull and Dr. Pepper while barreling down a mountain in a runaway truck (and there's no ramp in sight) and listening to AC/DC. What the hell are you waiting for? Buy Volume 1 here, and pick up Volume 2 here. Volume 3 should be out soon - look for it!

Kingdom of the Wicked from Dark Horse. Brian did a nice synopsis of this book here, so I'm not going to go into it. It's a very nifty book, although I'm not sure if it came out this year or last (it has a 2004 date on it). I know I only saw it this year, so this year it is! It's a pretty book to look at, and it asks questions about growing up and when we leave childhood behind, plus it's a little creepy. Buy it here if you're interested, and look for Edginton and D'Israeli's Scarlet Traces: The Great Game, which should be good.

Nil: A Land Beyond Belief from Slave Labor Graphics. I talked about how cool Nil is here, so if you're interested, check it out. Nil is one of those books that is really unlike almost anything you've ever seen, and although, as somebody somewhere in Internet land pointed out, it doesn't end terribly satisfactorily, I think that's part of the point. As I mentioned in my review, it's terrific value for 13 dollars - well over 200 pages, and although 200 pages wouldn't be good value if it was crap, it's not crap. Buy it here and check out Rex Libris by the same author/artist when it hits stores soon. And if Layne ever stops by, he can tell us if it's as awesome as I say it is, because I sent him a copy. See? I'm democratic!

Scurvy Dogs from AiT/Planet Lar. Brian again gives us the goods on this book, and I liked it even more than he did. This is one of the funniest things you will read this or any other year. If liquid doesn't come out of your nose at least once while you're reading this, you're either a heartless Commie or, you know, you're not actually drinking anything (not that that's an excuse!). I still chuckle when I think about how funny this is. "Shillings in the belly. The oldest Portuguese leper trick in the book." Bwah-ha-ha-ha! Don't get me started, or we'll be here all day. If Harvey happens by here, he can back me up on this, I'm sure. Unless he's a Commie. You will buy Scurvy Dogs here! This is not a request.

See? Good comics abound in our world! Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

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Why Tribeca Sunset Will Be Good

Tribeca Sunset GN is solicited in the July Previews by IBooks.

The writer/artist behind the book, Henrik Rehr, chose to offer up the following review from Andrew Arnold of Time.com...

Rehr has an exceptional talent for creating compelling and nuanced urbanite characters.------He invokes the tone of post 9/11 New York by drawing in black and white, with a light grey wash for highlights. The artwork throughout has a richness of detail that adds tremendously to the verisimilitude of the story. ------ 'Tribeca Sunset' sets itself apart as the best work of fiction involving 9/11 I have seen, and also one of the best ensemble comics. An insightful, funny and moving portrait of four friends.

If that sounds like it would be up your alley, the ordering code is JUL052913. The book is thirteen bucks.

Why Insomnia #1 Will Be Good

Matt Broersma's Insomnia #1 is solicited in the July Previews by Fantagraphics Books.

Here is the copy for the book, ""Insomnia is an ongoing series designed to present larger stories, piece by piece. The first issue introduces Eldorado, which follows Marco Clay, petty criminal, bartender and sometime corporate insurance accountant, as he evades the forces of the law on his way to the Mexican border."

Here is Broersma himself, explaining the book...

It's structured as a kind of jigsaw puzzle. The idea is it looks at a few characters whose stories interlock in some way. Not to make some big philosophical point necessarily, that's just a way for me to work and tie it all together.

The first part is about Marco Clay, who's exiled down in Mexico waiting for the statute of limitations to run out on some stuff he's wanted for. It's basically about his problems. The first issue is self-contained, the main story is called "Eldorado" and there's also a shorter one called "Four Kings".

In addition, Broersma offers up the following link to his website, where he has a section for Insomnia, including a sample page. Click here to go there.

On a lighter note, Broersma would also compare reading Insomnia #1 to "the first time you ever ate one of those Krispy Kreme donuts. In fact is has a kind of hypnotic aura about it, so that once you start reading it you are sucked into the world of Insomnia and part of your brain will stay there forever."

Hehe...can't beat that.

If that sounds like your cup of tea, be sure to tell your retailer! The code is JUL052853! The book is eight bucks.

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Awash in a Sea of Solicitations

One thing that has always annoyed me about the Previews magazine (and I do not REALLY blame Previews themselves for this, as they know what side of their toast has the butter on it) is the fact that since there are SO many solicitations during a given month that the back of the book solicitations, and even the solicitations from the smaller "big" companies (like Image, Devil's Due, Fantagraphics), require real effort to find for the average Previews reader.

Therefore, since we are all about good comics here, I figured I should let some of the back of the book/smaller "big" company folks appeal directly to the readers here (as presumably, you people are interested in good comics - that is what the place is called...hehe) regarding their solicited works.

Note that I have not read these books yet, so I do not know if they are good, but I will let the actual creators explain why they (or a reviewer) think you people would dig their stuff, and should then tell your retailer to order it in the July 2005 Previews.

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This Comic Is Good - Solo

I have enjoyed Solo since it began, and I was considering doing a bit like this on the title after Howard Chaykin's, but then I figured I would wait for Darwyn Cooke's Solo, and I felt really smart for waiting, as Cooke's Solo was probably the best one yet.

In case you do not know what Solo is, it is a title from DC that stars a single artist. This artist basically can do whatever they want, using any DC character that they like.

They can write their own stories, or they can work with a writer.

The first Solo was Tim Sale. It was a bit lackluster. There was a nice story written by Darwyn Cooke, but bascially, it did not seem like Sale really embraced the concept, using it instead as just a collection of short stories.

Richard Corben and Paul Pope followed with similar approachs. They both wrote their Solos, and both did a good job, but neither of them seemed to get out of the comic as much as they can.

Do not get me wrong, Corben's stories were good and his art was strong.

Pope, meanwhile, was EXCELLENT.

The stories were good, and the art was a-may-zing.

However, once again, it was a collection of stories. Stuff you'd see in the back of Detective Comics or Gotham Knights (back when Gotham Knights had backups).

Stuff you'd be really impressed by if you saw it in the back of a comic or in an anthology (especially Pope's work, as he did some really, really nice work in his Solo), but still, essentially a collection of stories.

Howard Chaykin was the first to go beyond this with his Solo.

In his, Chaykin had an overarching idea behind his stories, and wrote them accordingly.

His Solo was a love letter to the stories of his youth (Take note, creators who say you are writing a love letter - THIS is how you write an actual love letter).

In doing so, this issue became the first Solo that also served a purpose to HELP the creator.

To wit, by forcing himself to adhere to a set pattern, Chaykin expunges some of the excess mannerisms and tics that he has shown on recent projects. By holding himself to a stricter standard, he ends up with much more enjoyable stories, yet the stories remain purely and unmistakably Chaykin efforts.

None of these stories could have been done by anyone by Chaykin, and even Chaykin himself recently did not seem to be able to achieve the level of storytelling before this issue of Solo.

So I was really surprised and extremely impressed.

Suffice to say, I really enjoyed Solo #4.

However, none of the Solos could have prepared me for Darwyn Cooke's complete and utter embrace of the concept of "X amount of pages for ANYthing I want to do."

The first three creators took "anything I want to do" as "some short stories."

Chaykin took "anything I want to do" as "a group of short stories under an overarching theme."

Cooke took "anything I want to do" as "filling every single page with an explosion of comic book love."

I will even admit that I did not love all the stories. Some could have been a bit sharper, I thought.

However, I cannot fathom anyone matching the sheer energy level put forth by Cooke in this comic book.

It is like seeing a child with a pad of paper. That kid is going to use up every last inch of that pad with stuff.

Cooke does the same.

And his love for the medium shines through on every page.

I enjoyed Solo #1-3 (especially Pope's strong efforts in issue #3).

I really liked Solo #4.

I loved Solo #5.

Almost as much as Cooke loves comic books.

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What I bought - 29 June 2005

Billy The Kid's Old Timey Oddities #3 by Eric Powell and Kyle Hotz
$2.99, Dark Horse

As we hurtle toward the conclusion of this mini-series, Powell gives us some insight into why Billy is the way he is, someone gets brutally murdered (off-screen, but we see the results), and at the end, everyone is in a bit of a sticky wicket, and salvation appears to be coming from an unlikely source. I like that Dr. Frankenstein does not suffer the rudeness of his prisoner, Billy the Kid, although, as usual, it's an example of a villain leaving someone alive who will come back to haunt them. If you don't like Billy, Dr. Frank, just kill him! This is pure entertainment - nothing fancy or cute. It's a fun book. As usual, nice weird art by Hotz. And it's actually kind of creepy, which is nice to see in a comic book.

Elsinore #2 by Kenneth Lillie-Paetz and Brian Denham
$2.99, Alias

This issue was a little disappointing after last issue, mostly because I have no clue what is going on in the first seven pages. Is it taking place in the past, or the present? What connection does it have to the main story of the asylum or the new doctor? I assume (I hope) that these things will be explained - they do reference the events later, but I'm still confused. Greg dislikes confusion! (Which is kind of sad, because I often am.) Anyway, once we get back to the asylum, things get better. We learn a bit more about our "hero," Dr. Murchison, who acts a bit weird at certain places in the issue (I'd say "against his character," but we don't really know a whole lot about his character yet) and then gets involved with a female patient at the end, to his eternal regret. And we find out that things at the asylum are quite ... well, bizarre, I suppose. This is another somewhat creepy book, and I'm sticking around for a bit, because it's very nice to look at and it obviously has something on its mind. Please, creator-gentlemen, no more confusion! Confusion makes Greg's head hurt.

JLA: Classified #9 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Joseph Rubinstein
$2.99, DC

BLOGGER JUST ATE MOST OF MY POST. GOD I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS. FUCKING BLOGGER.

Well, now I'm mad. I was cruising along, too. Good stuff. Clear, concise reviews, all with the jaundiced eye of the true comic-book veteran. It was gold, baby, gold!

This issue is okay, but not as good as the ones preceding it. It felt too much like the latter issues of the earlier Justice League incarnation - the Wally Tortellini issues, to be precise, in which the slapstick threatened to overwhelm the nice comedy the guys had going. There are some very nice scenes in this issue - Mary Marvel talking to Guy (!), Ted talking to Bea, but it doesn't have the power of the earlier issues. The humor in this title (and in the old Justice League titles with these creators) worked best when it was character-driven, and not just the stupid situations the heroes found themselves in. Therefore, in this issue, Ralph getting turned on by his alternate universe wife and then trying to explain to Sue is funny, but giant G'Nort scratching the heroes away - not so much. Dr. Fate getting angry at Max is funny, but alternate universe Booster not knowing how to spell "Booster" - you get the idea. It's still a good read, just a bit disappointing. We get to see the team in action, and that was another thing that bothered me about the later issues of the original run - these guys could be formidable if they were allowed to be, but too often they weren't. I enjoyed this story, but I just think this particular issue was a bit too goofy.

Mr. T #1 by Chris Bunting, Neil Edwards, and Randy Emberlin
$3.50, APComics

In the comments of Brian's weekly look at what's coming out, Mr. Christopher Burton wrote that he would pity the fool who bought this. Well, I bought it, because then you won't have to. Trust me, this is not a good comic.

I wanted to like it, I did. It's right there on the cover - "1st Awesome Issue." Unfortunately, only two of those things are true. The art is nice, but the dialogue really drags this down. That and the fact that we only see T in full pose at the end of the book, when he makes a dramatic entrance. Come on, his name is the name of the freakin' book - we know he's in it, so show him earlier! He's always in shadows for the rest of the book, as if he has something dark and disturbing weighing on his soul. Well, apparently he does, but I never read any old Mr. T comics, so I don't know what it is (and no, I don't care). Here's some of the awful dialogue, just so you know I'm not simply being a jerk: "Poison like that gonna thrive in a tough 'hood like this," " 'Will you help?' '... I ... can't ...' "(that's three ellipses, two words), "A lot of friends, yeah. An' a lot of enemies ..." (work those ellipses, T!) I'd do more, but you get the idea. And on page 18, T talks to someone with black dialogue boxes. We think it's the doctor, but I don't think it is. What the hell? And there's an "interlude" with a snotty clerk at a comic book shoppe that doesn't seem to belong in this book.* This, my discerning friends, is not a good book.

* What's the deal with comic book creators treating their fan base like shit? We have this issue and the first issue of GLA in the recent past (and don't even get me started on Wanted). I mean, George Lucas doesn't go around insulting the crazies who worship him, and I don't hear Brad Pitt saying that anyone who goes to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith is an idiot (I'll say it, but he doesn't). What's up with comic book creators?

Planetary #23 by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday
$2.99, DC/Wildstorm

Every few months an issue of Planetary comes out and reminds us all why we fell in love with Ellis in the first place and what a shame it is that Cassaday is slumming on an X-book (I haven't read it and I know it is generally well-liked, but face it: he's slumming). Holy crap, this is a good comic. We get the Secret Origin of the Drummer, we get more hints about Elijah, we get some indications of tension within Planetary, and we get a cool flashback to the rescue of the Drummer from the clutches of the Four. Jakita kicks some guy's guts out. And Ellis, glorious bastard that he is, makes his partner in crime draw a bunch of children's head exploding. What a glorious sight it is. In a world of political correctness, sensitivity to everyone's feelings, a world where Sue Dibny can be raped and killed by another woman (the second part, not the first) and when animals and children routinely survive stuff in entertainment that no one could possibly survive (that dog in Independence Day would have been fucking fried!), Ellis kills a bunch of kids. Beautiful.* We also learn that Elijah may have plans for Ambrose Chase. Yes, he's dead, but when did that stop comic book heroes? This is a wonderful comic book, and you really ought to be reading it, at least in trade paperback format. It's a masterpiece (not necessarily this issue, but the whole run).

* I don't condone killing actual children at all. The children Ellis kills are drawings! Did anyone really think "Sue Dibny" was a real person? It doesn't matter that all those "children" "died." If the story calls for it, kill 'em!

Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight #3 by that bald MOTU (Master of the Universe) and Simone Bianchi

Once again, I will attempt my "I don't need to read the book to do a stinkin' review" review, since I didn't read this.

Justin learns some more things about the Sheeda. Tiny Sheeda warriors attack him (okay, I cheated and looked at the cover). That weird chick from issue #1 shows up and drops more hints in Morrison-esque language. There are vague references to the other Seven Soldiers. The horse will play an important role in the final issue. I looked at the last page. Yuck.

How'd I do?

The Surrogates #1 by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele
$2.95, Top Shelf Productions

This is a strong first issue of a five-issue mini-series, and I recommend checking it out. The concept is neat: in 2054, people use robots into which they download their consciousnesses, and then they can be whomever they choose. So a fat construction worker can score with hot babes, and those same hot babes can have the consciousness of a guy (take that, fat construction worker!). In the middle of this is a masked figure who can generate electricity from his hands, who fries the two robots and brings the police in. It's police procedural time!

But it's a good police procedural. There's a lot of parallels to our own time, and although a text piece at the end makes it clear that there are a lot of benefits to having a surrogate, what is the cost to our humanity? Not everyone likes the idea of surrogates, either - are they plotting something? The cops investigating the crime use surrogates, as well. It's a nice little mystery with some interesting social commentary thrown in. The art is rough but good, and the story hums along. Check it out.

X-Men #172 by Peter Milligan, Salvador Larroca, and Danny Miki with Allen Martinez
$2.50, Marvel

It was Brian who suggested that Foxx is Mystique, and while that wasn't too big a leap, you have to give it up to him. I'm not really giving away too big a mystery, since Foxx was only introduced last issue. I like this issue, because it doesn't have any huge threat for the X-Men to fight, and deals with the thing that always makes the X-Men great: interpersonal relationships. Gambit is tormented by not being able to hit it wit Rogue. Emma is trying to help them telepathically. Rogue gives Gambit permission to sleep with "Foxx." Gambit's students are upset because "Foxx" is upsetting the delicate balance in the group. Mystique offers to sleep with Gambit because she doesn't want to see her "daughter" (Rogue) upset. It's all very interesting. I like the fact that we're seeing these people interact on a human level and that some of the tensions in the group are being addressed. One small point: in Uncanny X-Men #350 (I think) Gambit and Rogue do hook up, because Rogue's powers are being dampened. It's a stupid story from a stupid time in X-Men history, but still - someone should have mentioned it, right?

I'm gradually gaining confidence in Milligan's run on this book. He even is laying the foundation for a long-term mystery, as we still don't know quite what happened up in space with Golgotha. The art, as usual, is fantastic. Wasn't that nice of Larroca to provide us all with a full-page shot of Mystique in leather?

Anyway, Blogger sucks. Just so you know.

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Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #5!

This is the fifth in a series of examinations of comic book urban legends and whether they are true or false. The first one can be found here , the second can be found here, the third can be found here and the fourth can be found here.

Let's start!!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: All-Star Comics #3 was an inter-company crossover.

STATUS: True

A good deal of comic book fans are familiar with All-Star Comics #3, as the late 1940 comic features the first appearance of the Justice Society of America.

Written by comic legend Gardner Fox, the team was made up of (in their first pairing) Flash, Hawkman, Sandman, Atom, Spectre, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, and Hourman.

However, what may not be as familiar to some readers is that these characters did not all belong to the same company!

What we now refer back to as DC Comics in the early Golden Age was actually three separate companies, publishing under the same banner.

The three companies were:

• Detective Comics, Inc. (founded by Harry Donenfeld and J.S. Liebowitz),
• National Allied Publications (founded by Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson) and
• All-American Publications (founded by M.C. Gaines).

In 1937, Donenfield and Liebowitz bought out Nicholson, but Gaines' All-American Comics continued to exist as a separate company.

In fact, at one point in the 1944, All-American Comics were published with a different logo!!

Eventually, Gaines sold his company to Donenefield and Liebowitz as well, when he left to go form EC Comics.

However, in 1940, All-American was still its own company, so a quarter of the original JSA were NOT DC/National characters!

Those characters?

Green Lantern and Atom.

Other notable All-American creations were Red Tornado, Doctor Mid-Nite and Sargon the Sorceror.

So Marvel and DC were about thirty-five years late when they came up with their Superman and Spider-Man meeting.

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Marvel changed the names of X-Force, Deadpool and Cable to avoid paying Rob Liefeld royalties.

STATUS: False

In 2002, Marvel Comics relaunched three of their series, Cable, X-Force and Deadpool.

Deadpool, by Gail Simone and UDON Studios, became Agent X.

Cable, by Darko Macan and Igor Kordey, became Soldier X.

X-Force, by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred, became X-Statix.

At the time, some conspiracy theorists argued that the move was done by Marvel because of a clause in Rob Liefeld's contract with Marvel that stated that they had to pay him royalties on sales of any titles created by Liefeld, which would include Cable, Deadpool and X-Force.

However, this appears to be extremely unlikely (so much so that I categorize it as false).

For one, it is highly debatable that simply changing the names would change any deal Marvel had with Liefeld.

But most importantly, the move would not make sense...because Marvel WASN'T PAYING Liefeld ANY ROYALTIES at the time!!

Here's Liefeld on the situation,

So the idea that they would kill the books in order to save on royalty payments to people like myself is simply unfounded. It would be much more devious if the books were selling exceptionally well and Marvel re-named them in order to keep the riches for themselves, but in the case of these titles, there are no riches to keep as they are barely posting profits at all.

Liefeld had not received royalties on the books in years.

It was likely that any royalties would kick in at 100,000 copies sold (or perhaps even higher).

The sales on all three titles barely (if even) reached 40,000 before the relaunch.

And none of them improved dramatically post-relaunch.

Therefore, I think it is safe to say that Marvel was just trying to jumpstart low-selling titles, and give what they felt were good creative teams (in particular, the critically-acclaimed, but low-selling Milligan/Allred combo) a boost of publicity.

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Woody Allen was once featured in an issue of DC's Showcase.

STATUS: True

In the late 60s, DC was searching to try to duplicate anything that was popular for any other comic company (specifically Archie), and the best place to try these concepts out was, naturally, Showcase, which served host to so many successful comic debuts for DC.

The success of Archie led to the creation of Binky, and with the success of Josie and the Pussycats (who debuted in 1963), DC tried a fictional rock band, and so the Maniaks were born!

Writer E. Nelson Bridwell not only wrote the series, but also supplied songs!!

With art by Mike Sekowsky, the Maniaks weren't just musicians, they were MOD musicians!

In their final Showcase appearance (and I believe their final appearance period), the Maniaks had a special guest - a comedian who was quite famous at the time, but not for the slightly higher brow stuff of the 1970s, Woody Allen!

Here is the cover...



It seems poor Woody was trying to get them to star in a movie by him (isn't it funny that the same jokes made about Allen in 1967 are appropriate in 2005?).

Shouldn't have turned him down, lead singer Silver Shannon!! You might still be being published today!

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New Comics You Should Own is up

If you're interested, you can check out my latest installment of Comics You Should Own here. It's all about Avengers Annual #10 - the first appearance of Rogue! If you don't own it, shame on you!

Current Comics Report for 6/29

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 6/29 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: June 22, 2005

DARK HORSE
JAN050091 BETTIE PAGE MINI BUST $44.95

Man...give Bettie esteem issues, why don't you!!

APR050019 BILLY THE KIDS OLD TIME ODDITIES #3 (OF 4) $2.99

What? Oh yeah, I totally knew that they were doing this project. No way did it slip my attention.

No way.

I am NOT a moron who missed out on a project by a creator (Eric Powell) that I like!!

Just saying.

DC COMICS
APR050388 ALBION #1 (OF 6) $2.99

I predict that this will be better than any previous Leah Moore project.

APR050390 AUTHORITY LOBO SPRING BREAK MASSACRE (MR) $4.99

I just love that Giffen, Grant and Bisley are still revisiting the Paramiliary Christmas Special FOURTEEN years later.

If I had told you, "Yeah, this would still be done in 2005" in 1991, would you have believed me?

APR050307 BATGIRL #65 $2.50
APR050302 BATMAN #641 $2.50
APR050308 BATMAN ALLIES SECRET FILES 2005 $4.99

I think that this is sort of a sign, don't you?

When a character "needs" TWO SEPARATE "Secret Files" to handle all his supporting cast...maybe the character is being extended a bit too much.

Just maybe.

Just throwing that out there.

A point to ponder.

One to grow on.

(As an aside, they make this big deal over Batman's helpers all leaving Gotham, but then they do an "Allies" Secret Files. Weeeird)

MAY050310 BATMAN JAPANESE IMPORT AF CASE SERIES 3 ASST PI

How did they sneak past the border patrol?!?!

APR050327 BATMAN SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN TRINITY TP $17.99
APR050365 CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #10 $2.25
APR050394 CITY OF TOMORROW #3 (OF 6) (MR) $2.99

Maybe Chaykin is just losing me...but I just have not enjoyed this series.

JAN050387 CLASSIC ICONS OF THE DCU POSTER $7.99

Okay...get this.

"Classic Icons of the DCU" is....

Wait for it.

The cover of Superman/Batman #10.

Am I the only one who finds that kinda odd?

APR050383 COMPLETE INDIGO PRIME TP (MR) $19.99
APR050375 DEVIL DOES EXIST VOL 2 $9.99

Of course he does...

APR050335 FLASH #223 $2.50

...case in point.

APR050338 GREEN LANTERN #2 $2.99

"You know who isn't used enough? The Manhunters."

Yeah...pretty sure that phrase has never come out of any reader's mouth.

APR050407 HELLBLAZER #209 (MR) $2.75
APR050340 JLA CLASSIFIED #9 $2.99

I estimate that this will be the last truly enjoyable JLA Classified for awhile...unless you count dusted off Ellis scripts.

FEB050346 LOEG THE ABSOLUTE ED VOL 2 OVERSIZED HC $75.00

The absolute series continues to be absolutely awesome.

APR050403 LOSERS #25 (MR) $2.99
APR050408 LUCIFER VOL 8 THE WOLF BENEATH THE TREE TP (MR) $14.99
APR050349 OMAC PROJECT #3 (OF 6) $2.50

Question for the audience - do you think Rucka had the future Checkmate plot in mind when he made Sasha a member. I am not talking specifics (like Big Brother or Maxwell Lord, but just that Checkmate was going to be this big, evil organization run by bad guys), just generally...do you think he did?

APR050355 OUTSIDERS #25 $2.50

In last week's Teen Titans, Johns had one of the Outsiders say something about an other Outsider, and right there, in, like, two sentences of dialogue, Johns gave them more characterization than in the first 24 issues of this book.

MAR050468 PLANETARY #23 $2.99
APR050351 SEVEN SOLDIERS SHINING KNIGHT #3 (OF 4) $2.99

I predict that this book will be excellent.

APR050353 SOLO #5 $4.99

I estimate that Darwyn Cooke will embrace the Solo format more so than the first four participants.

JAN050388 SUPERGIRL FROM KRYPTON POSTER $7.99

I love it! They're just using up that entire run's covers!! Yeah, you work that Turner, DC!

MAR050392 SUPERMAN INFINITE CITY HC $24.99

Am I the only one who sometimes does not even know what the hell Carlos Meglia is drawing?

MAR050428 WONDER WOMAN #217 $2.25

My problem with the current Wonder Woman is that there is a decided lack of balancing her former selves on her head.

More balancing Wonder Woman's former selves on her head!

And don't forget them all surfing, too!

IMAGE
APR051656 AVIGON GODS & DEMONS GN (MR) $19.95
APR051658 BLACKLIGHT #1 $2.99
APR058297 GIRLS NEW PRTG #1 (MR) $2.95

New printing?

Do you think maybe they took out all the dialogue that made the STAR of the book into a gigantic asshole?

I'd like that.

FEB051642 KEU CHA PIRATE DARKNESS LITHO $19.99

Still searching for a Fourth of July present?

Search no longer!

FEB051594 LULLABY WISDOM SEEKER #3 (OF 4) $2.95
APR051686 PACT #3 (OF 4) $2.95

So far, this series is 1-1...this is a big issue then...which way will it go?

APR051690 SPAWN #147 (RES) $2.50
MAR051729 WITCHBLADE #86 $2.99

MARVEL
APR051884 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #521 $2.50

ALREADY with the "Isn't it weird that MJ and Peter live in a fancy building?" storyline?

Sounds to me like their stay is not going to last long, as JMS is buring off plot points like they was no tomorrow.

MAR051882 ARANA HEART OF THE SPIDER #5 $2.99
APR051964 BEST OF SPIDER-MAN VOL 4 HC $29.99

Do you think when they titled this project, they felt a LITTLE guilty?

I mean...Sins Past is "Best of Spider-Man."

That's shameless.

FEB058021 CAPTAIN AMERICA LTD ED VARIANT #6 $2.99

"Ya see, we only make a few second printings, right?"

"Right. So?"

"Well, since we only do a few, that makes it LIMITED EDITION, right?"

"I like where you are going with this!"

APR051898 FANTASTIC FOUR #528 $2.99

Kurt Addams had a great line about the Thing's money windfall when he pointed out that, hey, if Reed is having money problems, why doesn't Ben just lend him money?

BUSTED, JMS!

APR051950 FANTASTIC FOUR THE MOVIE TP $12.99

As I mentioned the other week, this was a smart move by Marvel, coming up with the idea of packaging the movie adaptation with a bunch of reprints.

Shrewd, Marvel.

SHREWD!

APR058048 HOUSE OF M COIPEL GATEFOLD VARIANT #1 (OF 8) $2.99
APR051881 LAST HERO STANDING #5 (OF 5) $2.99

FINALLY, Lyja is being shown her due!!

APR051906 MACHINE TEEN #2 (OF 5) $2.99

I'm sorry...this is taking too long.

He has GOT to know he's a robot by the end of #2.

Not "I think I am a robot!"

But his father has to let him in on it by the end of #2.

Not the beginning of #3.

End of #2.

Otherwise, this is taking too long.

You only have five issues to work with here, Marc!!

APR051920 MARVEL HEROES FLIP MAGAZINE #1 $3.99

What does this issue include?

APR051961 MARVEL MASTERWORKS CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL 2 HC VAR ED $54.99
APR051960 MARVEL MASTERWORKS CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL 2 NEW ED HC $49.99

Okay, so the variant is that one has a nice slip cover.

I apologize Marvel, that is a legitimate expense.

APR051910 MARVEL MILESTONES DR DOOM SUB-MARINER & RED SKULL $3.99

I guess I like this concept...but since this is basically just a big ad for the hardcovers...couldn't they lower the price a tad?

APR051924 MARVEL SELECT FLIP MAGAZINE #1 $3.99

And this one?

APR051968 NEW INVADERS TO END ALL WARS TP $19.99
APR051928 NEW X-MEN HELLIONS #2 (OF 4) $2.99

This series has been good.

It is a good thing they got rid of these writers from New X-Men.

That was sarcasm.

Just wanted to make sure you knew.

APR051900 OFFICIAL HANDBOOK MARVEL UNIVERSE FANTASTIC FOUR 2005 $3.99
APR051915 RUNAWAYS #5 $2.99

I estimate that we will hear about only one cry of

SPOILER WARNING!!!

Aww...it WASN'T Doom!!!

Just one.

SPOILER WARNING OVER!!!

MAR051888 SPIDER MAN HUMAN TORCH #5 (OF 5) $2.99

I really hope this is not the last we see of Ty Templeton for awhile.

He is a very good artist.

APR051933 X-MEN #172 $2.50

It IS kind of strange that Foxx's whole reason of being is that she looks really hot...but then when you see her, she's kinda weird looking.

Strange artistic decision on Larocca's part.

APR051871 X-MEN KITTY PRYDE SHADOW & FLAME #1 (OF 5) $2.99

I predict that this project will be improved immnensely by just concentrating on Paul Smith's awesome art, and skip the "story" aspect of the book.

APR051963 X-MEN PHOENIX ENDSONG HC $19.99
APR051914 YOUNG AVENGERS #5 $2.99

"The Young Avengers have a GAY old time!"

As I told Dorian, that is the natural progression for the solicitations for this comic, which have progressively gotten weirder and weirder with the whole "bring the gay thing up a lot in the solicits, but make sure we never actually address it IN the comic."

WIZARD
MAY052334 WIZARD COMICS MAGAZINE FANTASTIC 4 PHOTO CVR #166 $5.99
MAY052333 WIZARD COMICS MAGAZINE HOUSE OF M CVR #166 $5.99

COMICS
APR052948 (USE APR058144) ANGEL THE CURSE #1 (OF 5) $3.99

I do not know why it wants people to use a different code. Is this some kind of scam? Is the money from the sales of Angel The Curse #1 going to help some Nigerian guy move his money out of the country?

MAR052512 10TH MUSE VOL 2 #2 $2.99
MAR052513 10TH MUSE VOL 2 PHOTO CVR FOIL ED #2 $4.99

Wouldn't it be great if the cover was a photo OF a piece of foil?

APR052985 A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #15 (A) $4.99
MAR053512 ALL TRANSFORMERS ENCYCLOPEDIA SC $17.99
MAR053503 APOCRIPHA 0 OFF BK $39.99
APR052638 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #162 $3.59
APR052721 BART SIMPSON COMICS #24 $2.99

What else has Jason Bates done?

APR052639 BETTY #148 $2.25
APR052934 BLACK ENCHANTRESS #3 $2.99
MAR053504 BRAVE FIGHTER SERIES MEMORIAL BK $52.99
MAY052561 BRIAN PULIDOS BELLADONNA MOONLIGHT ED #4 (OF 5) $5.99
MAY052565 BRIAN PULIDOS LADY DEATH SWIMSUIT PRISM FOIL CVR 2005 $12.99

When ISN'T Lady Death in a swimsuit?

MAR052652 BRIAN PULIDOS MEDIEVAL LADY DEATH #4 $3.99
MAR052655 BRIAN PULIDOS MEDIEVAL LADY DEATH FOIL INC #4 PI
MAY052560 BRIAN PULIDOS MEDIEVAL LADY DEATH PORTRAIT ED #1 $5.99
MAR052654 BRIAN PULIDOS MEDIEVAL LADY DEATH PREMIUM CVR #4 $9.99
MAR052653 BRIAN PULIDOS MEDIEVAL LADY DEATH WRAPAROUND #4 $3.99
MAY052563 BRIAN PULIDOS UNHOLY PRISM CVR #1 $12.99
MAY052564 BRIAN PULIDOS UNHOLY SURE SHOT CVR #2 $5.99
MAR052656 BRIAN PULIDOS WAR ANGEL #3 (OF 3) $3.50
MAR052658 BRIAN PULIDOS WAR ANGEL ADRIAN CVR #3 (OF 3) $3.50
MAR052660 BRIAN PULIDOS WAR ANGEL PREMIUM CVR #3 (OF 3) $9.99
MAR052659 BRIAN PULIDOS WAR ANGEL RYP CVR #3 (OF 3) $3.50
MAR052657 BRIAN PULIDOS WAR ANGEL WRAPAROUND CVR #3 (OF 3) $3.50

I think all of this probably derived from a childhood trauma where Pulido called a seat, but his siblings ignored it.

So now, he lays claim to everything.

MAY052920 BURING SANDWICHES (MR) $7.95
MAY052907 CAVALCADE OF BOYS VOL 2 TP (MR) $14.00

Lyle recommends this series here.

Check it out.

He is neat.

APR052970 COMPLETE JON SABLE FREELANCE VOL 2 TP $19.99

With all these DVD collections and TPs, it is like the 80s never ended!

MAR053536 COSMODE #7 $24.99
FEB052758 COSPLAY KOROMO CHAN VOL 1 TP (RES) $9.95

A comic about cosplay could be funny, but geared towards cosplay READERS?

Maybe not so good.

APR052979 CSI SECRET IDENTITY #5 (OF 5) $3.99
APR052981 DAMPYR #3 SAND SPECTERS $7.99
MAR053505 DEAD OR ALIVE ULTIMATE BEST SHOT SC $44.99
MAY052572 DEMONSLAYER VOL 1 TP ALT CVR $19.95
MAY053042 DICK TRACY UNHOLY MATRIMONY $9.50

A collection of Gould strips from 1939.

How cool is THAT?

MAR053506 DIGITAL ANIME ARTWORK SC $64.99
MAR053544 DOLLY DOLLY MAG #6 $39.99
APR052944 ELKS RUN VOL 1 #2 $3.00
MAR052508 ELSINORE #2 (OF 9) (NOTE PRICE) $2.99
JAN052366 ESSENTIAL ARSENIC LULLABY VOL 1 HC SGN $45.99
MAY052575 EXPOSURE SECOND COMING #1 (OF 2) (O/A) $3.50
MAY052576 EXPOSURE SECOND COMING #2 (OF 2) (O/A) $3.50
MAY052577 EXPOSURE SPECIAL #1 (O/A) $3.50

I can't believe Al Rio has to share credit with a writer for this book!

I mean, come on, man!

Busty female detectives?!?

You don't need a writer!

This writes itself!

FEB052562 EZRA VOL 1 EGYPTIAN EXCHANGE TP $9.95
APR052799 FORGOTTEN REALMS DARK ELF HOMELAND CVR A #1 (OF 3) $4.95
APR052800 FORGOTTEN REALMS DARK ELF HOMELAND CVR B #1 (OF 3) $8.95

Why is Cover B so much more expensive?

MAR053515 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ANIME COMIC #2 $17.99
MAR053518 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST MANGA #9 $7.99
MAR053516 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST TV ANIMATION ART BK #2 $24.99
MAR053517 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST TV ANIMATION COMP BK MATERIAL SIDE $34.99
APR053264 FUSHIGI YUGI VOL 7 2ND ED TP $9.95
APR052904 GENIE #1 $2.95

Is this the manga Genie?

MAY052681 GI JOE AMERICAS ELITE #1 $2.95

I question the artist choice for this book.

MAR052590 GO GO GORILLA & JUNGLE CREW SUMMER SP $2.95
APR053113 GRAVITATION VOL 12 GN (OF 12) (MR) $9.99
APR053084 GRIMOIRE #4 $2.99
APR052964 HELL HOUSE VOL 4 TP $6.49
APR052905 HELL MICHIGAN #1 (MR) $2.95

Jolley fans! Pay attention!

I think this will be good.

FEB052759 HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOL 3 TP (RES) (MR) $9.95
MAR053507 HOWLS MOVING CASTLE FILM COMIC #1 $12.99
MAR053508 HOWLS MOVING CASTLE FILM COMIC #2 $12.99
MAR053509 HOWLS MOVING CASTLE ROMAN ALBUM $24.99

See, save a whole buck by buying the collection!!

APR053085 HUNGER #2 (MR) $2.99
MAY052721 I NEVER LIKED YOU (STAR15467) $15.95

We are lucky that this is available again.

Chester Brown is good.

APR053121 IMMORTAL RAIN VOL 6 GN (OF 6) (MR) $9.99
JAN052661 INFINITE RYVIUS VOL 2 TP $9.95

That is going to be a LOT of ryvius.

MAY052773 INTERNAL FURY #1 $2.00
MAY052578 JADE WARRIORS SLAVE OF THE DRAGON #1 (OF 3) (O/A) $3.50
MAR052506 JOHNNY CARONTE VOL 1 ZOMBIE DETECTIVE & REVOLVER GN $5.99
MAR053510 JUBEI CHAN 2 OFF GD BK $29.99
APR052644 JUGHEAD #166 $2.25

Should Jughead date girls?

APR053118 KARE KANO VOL 16 GN (OF 18) $9.99
FEB052761 KING OF FIGHTERS 2003 VOL 1 TP (RES) $13.95
APR053000 KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #104 $3.99
MAY052566 LADY DEATH LEATHER & LACE 2005 KILLER BODY ED $5.99

DON'T BUY THIS!

It doesn't say Brian Pulido on it!!

I am sorry I ever doubted you, Brian!

I see now why it is important to protect your brand!

Stinking ripoff artists out there!!

MAR052515 LEGEND OF ISIS #1 (OF 4) $2.99
MAR052514 LEGEND OF ISIS VOL 1 BEGINNINGS TP $9.99
APR052504 LICENSABLE BEAR #1 (O/A) $2.95
APR052503 LICENSABLE BEAR #2 $2.95

Come on.

It is about a cute cuddly bear who goes around licensing himself.

That is just awesome.

APR052912 LIFE AND TIMES OF SCROOGE MCDUCK TP $16.99

Stony should loooove this. I can't believe it wasn't available before.

APR052956 LURKERS TP $17.99

This is a nice pick-up to read in trade form.

APR053250 MAR VOL 2 GN $9.99
MAR052965 METAL GEAR SOLID VOL 1 S&N HC $50.00
APR052913 MICKEY MOUSE ADVENTURES VOL 4 TP $7.95
MAR052582 MR T #1 $3.50

Nice.

APR053004 NAT TURNER #1 $3.00
APR052788 NEGIMA VOL 6 GN (MR) $10.95
MAY052475 NHS ALPHABET PACK PI
APR052789 OTHELLO VOL 4 GN (MR) $10.95
MAY052477 OZ THE MANGA #2 (OF 8) $2.99
MAR052516 PAKKINS LAND VOL 2 #2 $2.99
MAR053519 PASH #1 $12.99
MAR052517 PENNY & AGGIE #1 (OF 4) $2.99

This is a fun collection of a fun strip.

APR052790 PERFECT DAY FOR LOVE LETTERS VOL 1 GN (OF 3) $10.95
MAR053511 RETURN OF NADIA SC $57.99
MAY052401 RICA TTE KANJI GN (MR) $15.00
MAR053542 S MAG WINTER 2005 $24.99
APR052836 SATIROPLASTIC HC (MR) $19.95
APR052951 SHAUN OF THE DEAD #1 (OF 4) $3.99
APR052952 SHAUN OF THE DEAD #1 SIGNED ED $19.99

A little trivia for you.

This project is drawn by Zach Howard, and it is because he was signed on to do THIS book that he passed on Batman Year One Scarecrow, but led him to suggest his studiomate, Sean Murphy, for the job.

The rest is "This Artist Is Good" history...hehe.

MAY052530 STARGATE SG1 DANIELS SONG ROYAL BLUE ED #1 $75.00

Holy crap!

72 bucks more because it is BLUE?!!?

I think more companies should just charge 1000 per book.

They'd only need a few dudes to buy it!

MAY053045 SURROGATES #1 (OF 5) $2.95
APR052935 TALES OF THE CHAMPIONS #1 $2.99
APR052732 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE VOL 3 TP (MR) $24.99

They should have called it Vol. III.

Roman numerals are classier.

And Tarot is a classy, classy book.

MAR053513 TRANSFORMERS FIRST SERIES COMPLETE SC $57.99

Wait...that can't be right, can it?

Is this like the Bone thing?

If so, that's kinda cool.

MAR053532 TRIGUN MAXIMUM MANGA #10 (NOTE PRICE) $10.99
MAR053533 TRIGUN MAXIMUM MANGA #11 $9.99
MAR052884 UNDERLORDS #4 $2.95
FEB052557 VAMPIRE PAGEANT ONE SHOT $3.50
FEB052641 VAMPIRE PAGEANT ONE SHOT SP ED PI
MAR053514 VIRGIN YOSHITAKA AMANO HC $77.99
MAY052797 W.I.T.C.H. VOL 1 GN $4.99

What in the cheese hell is this book about?

APR052791 WALLFLOWER VOL 4 GN (MR) $10.95
MAY053101 WOLFS RAIN VOL 2 GN (O/A) $9.99
JAN052570 X-FILES VOL 1 TP $19.95

Why hasn't THIS been put out yet?!?!

APR052552 XIII #1 (NOTE PRICE) $0.75
MAY052402 YURI MONOGATARI GN (MR) $15.00
FEB052584 ZOMBIE TALES #1 $6.99
APR053027 ZORRO #2 $2.95

That is it for me!

Well, those are my estimations!

Feel free to share your own, or just check back to see how wrong I was!

Read More

An Unnecessary Guide to Albion

Today, DC (in conjunction with IPC Media) is releasing the first issue of Albion, with plots by Alan Moore, scripts by Leah Moore and John Reppion, art by Shane Oakley and George Freeman and covers by Dave Gibbons.

Albion is about catching up with classic British superheroes of the past, and while I am sure that they will write it so that you do not have to be familiar with the histories of the characters (heck, for all I know, knowing all this might HURT your enjoyment of the comic), but I figured I would give you all a guide to the characters featured in the story anyways.

First off, this guide would be in extremely weak shape if it were not for International Superheroes, whose fine site was an EXCEPTIONALLY important resource for this guide.

The feature of of the cover of Albion #1, Robot Archie first appeared in Lion #1, in 1952.

Archie was a powerful robot created by Professor C.R.Ritchie.

Archie went on adventures with the professor's nephew, Ted Ritchie and Ted's best friend, Ken Dale.

At first, they travelled the world seeking adventures (at first, Archie could not speak - this was fixed as the series went on), but in 1968, they began a series of adventures through TIME!

Robot Archie ceased publication in 1974, and besides some odd appearances in Grant Morrison or Alan Moore comics, he has not appeared in English comics since (this is the same for most of these characters. Moore killed off a few characters in his Captain Britain run, and Morrison did a lot of parodies in his Zenith work).

Here is Robot Archie...



Robot Archie was drawn mainly by Ted Kearnon.

The Spider was a former criminal, who was just so good at being a criminal that he decided that FIGHTING crime was a bigger challenge.

He had a suit that would enhance the user's strength and agility, and he had a gun that would shoot webs (similar to Spider-Man's web-shooters).

Spider first appeared in Lion in 1965, and was featured regularly last in 1976.

However, while also appearing in the same parodies as Robot Archie, Spider also was revived by Paul Grist in Jack Staff, in a very nice treatment by Grist (then again, this is Grist we are talking about here, of course it was a nice treatment).

Here is The Spider...



The Spider was written by (and MAY have been created by) Superman co-creator Jerry Seigel.

Janus Stark made his first appearances in the page of Smash! in 1969.

He was an orphan in Victorian England, where he was imprisoned in a cellar by a bad guy.

His bones are like rubber, so he can contort himself to squeeze through the tiniest of spaces.

Once he freed himself from his cellar prison, he met a man named Blind Largo, who taught him the tricks of being an escape artist.

Now grown, Stark becomes an "escapologist." He became famous in English society for his abilities, as well as his mystery solving (often, because of his lockpicking skills and his super powers, he is suspected of the very crimes he is investigating!!!).

Here is Janus Stark...



He was created by Jack Legrand. His stories were most handled by the creative team of Tom Tully (writer) and Solano Lopez (artist).

Grimly Fiendish made his debut in Wham! in 1963.

He was the main for Eagle-Eye, Junior Spy, who was a child super spy.

He used monsters to try to take over the world, and he was always stopped by Eagle-Eye.

Fiendish also usd crazy Batman TV series-esque devices to kill Eagle-Eye.

The band, the Damned, wrote a song titled Grimly Fiendish, too.

Here are the lyrics to the song.

Apparently, there is also a band called Grimly Fiendish too, from Hertfordshire England (although one would think that they are more influenced by the Damned song than the comic book...but I do not know).

Here is Grimly Fiendish...



Fiendish was created by Leo Baxendale.

The last two characters both made their first appearances in Valiant #1 in 1962.

Captain Hurricane owned a tramp steamer, until the Nazis sank it.

You can mess with a man...but never mess with his BOAT!

So Hurricane enlisted in the Royal Marine Commandoes, and took the fight directly to the Nazis and the Japanese armies.

The angrier he got, the stronger he got - and the strongest he got was when he was in one of his "ragin' furies."

Hurricane was also featured in Paul Grist's Jack Staff.

Here is Captain Hurricane, in color...



and one of the good Captain in action!



Scott Goodall and Jon Rose both wrote on the character.

The Steel Claw is Louis Crandell, who had a prosthetic hand from a lab accident.

A SECOND lab accident (see, Barry Allen's lab isn't the only accident prone area in comics!!) made it so that, when struck with electricity, Louis would become invisible - except for the hand!

The Steel Claw was first a criminal, as Louis went a bit nuts due to the accident.

Later, he worked as a secret agent (with devices being implanted in the hand), and even later, he was a superhero!!

Here is The Steel Claw...



The Steel Claw was written by Tom Tully and mainly drawn by Jesus Blasco.

Well, that is all of the characters that Leah Moore has confirmed will be appearing in the series.

When I hear of any more, maybe I will come back and update it.

Cheers!

Read More

Scouring the comics news sites so you don't have to.

There have been a few news items in the past week or two 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.

Gødland: Comic Book Resources is featuring six preview pages from this upcoming Image Comics title by Joe Casey and Tom Scioli. The series is inspired by the cosmic epics popularized by Jack Kirby and others during the 70s. Artist Tom Scioli's art is heavily influenced by Kirby so that adds to the feel of the book. In the preview, we learn a few points:

1. Adam Archer, the book's hero, lives in the Infinity Tower in the heart of Manhattan. It reminds one of the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building.
2. Adams' three sisters apparently live there as well. This seems to cramp their style.
3. Adam is "on call" to deal with crises as they arise.
4. A meteor giving off "significant organic readings" has hit China.

Personally, I'm hoping it's a gimongous monster.

Winsor McCay: Early Works: In a press release, Checker Book Publishing Group has announced the seventh and eighth volumes of their series collecting the early work of seminal cartoonist/animator Winsor McCay. When I first heard two or three years ago that Checker were going to publish this series, I figured it would be three or maybe four volumes, not just because I wasn't sure there was a market for it, but also because I didn't know that McCay had produced this much material. Eight volumes of stuff that most people don't even know exists let alone have actually seen! I think it's great that Checker is preserving this stuff for new generations. I just wish the pages were bigger. McCay liked the detail and some of it is lost on a typical TPB page size.

Girl Genius: I remember reading Phil Foglio's work in Dragon Magazine back in the day. I still have the copy of Illegal Aliens that I bought when it was first published in 1989 as well as the Angel and the Ape and Stanley and His Monster miniseries he did for DC in the early 90s. I like Foglio's work. It's funny and imaginative. Girl Genius is his best so far. He has provided an interview at Newsarama and Girl Genius may now be read online at www.girlgeniusonline.com.

Dennis the Menace: The Pulse's Jen Contino interviews Fantagraphics publisher, Gary Groth, on the upcoming Dennis the Menace collections and what made Hank Ketchum's definitive work so remarkable. Of the series, Groth says, "One of our goals with the Complete Dennis is to resurrect Dennis from the slag heap of cross-media licensing and merchandising that has eclipsed the comic itself, and to demonstrate in the most vivid way we can how great Ketcham's cartooning was."

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: Yet another interview by Jen Contino, this time with Jim Ottaviani of GT Labs on a tale of paleontology. The book depicts the "Bone Wars" -- a scientific feud between early dinosaur men O.C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. Ottaviani says that the story is based on true events although he's taken some literary license. I was drawn to the book mainly due to the Mark Schultz cover, but the interior work is courtesy Big Time Attic Studios: Zander Cannon, Kevin Cannon, and Shad Petosky. I pre-ordered this one and am looking forward to it.

Mike Mignola: Broken Frontier's Fletch Adams provides an encapsulization of Mignola's career thus far. With regards to his pre-Hellboy work, Rocket Raccoon still holds a special place in my heart and Cosmic Odyssey is a great turn at the cosmic epic.

Shuck: I haven't read any of Rick Smith's Shuck yet, but Eliot Johnson's review of Shuck the Sulfurstar #1 makes me look forward to it. One doesn't normally associate the words "demon" and "charming."

Mad: The Chicago Tribune has included Mad in their list of the 50 Best Magazines. Mad editor John Ficarra questions the Tribune's judgment in Mad's typical self-deprecating style.

Pie: In an unfortunate turn of events, those of us attending Comicon International: San Diego will not receive free Home Run Pies from the Image Comics crew. Such giveaways are subject to charges by the Convention Center, which would cost Image four times the amount of the pies' retail value. So, if you want Home Run Pies, bring your own. (For the record, CCI starts in 15 days!)

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This makes me want to go see the movie

Did everyone see this?


The tagline itself makes me want to see it. I don't know if it's going to be this cool, but it has promise. 

Would You Support Redrawn Comics?

So, Igor Kordey gave a nice interview here with Tim Leong.

Reading it, and seeing again how nice his art on Smoke looks, it really makes me feel sorry about the fact that he was so rushed on New X-Men (and I have no idea what his problem was on X-Treme X-Men).

So what I was wondering is, if it were possible, would you support special editions where a different artist came in and redrew issues based on the scripts?

For instance, if possible (as in, it would not interfere with his current projects), would you support Frank Quitely going back and drawing Kordey's fill-in issues on New X-Men?

Or Bachalo's issues?

Or Jiminez?

Or even Kordey going back and spending more time on the project?

Or do you think this is akin to colorizing films, in that it is not being true to the creative spirit of the works?

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"My God, my God, why have [comic book writers] forsaken [you]?"

Why aren't there any Christians in "mainstream" comics?

Hell, for that reason, why aren't there any Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Shintos ... you get the idea.

I'm not talking about Reverend Stryker. I'm talking about honest-to-goodness spiritual people in everyday life. I'm just wondering.

I've been thinking about spirituality in comics, and I wonder why we don't see more of it. It's not like these people in comics aren't used to the supernatural. I ranted a while back about why comic book writers hate democracy, and I have to wonder: do they hate religion too?

There are two ways you can go to have Christianity (I'm going to use Christianity, but insert any religion you like in whenever I use it) in your superhero book. (I'm sorry to use superheroes, but as usual, they are the dominant trope in comics, and what I say here could easily apply to any non-superhero book as well). One, you can have the book be an examination of Christianity (or an religion, really); two, you can characters in the book actually espouse some Christian ideas and live by them. I want to talk briefly about the first before moving on to the second.

As usual, I'm totally going off the top of my head here, so I count on you, the thoughtful readers, to point out any I've missed, but I can think of only a few mainstream comic books that deal openly with religion, good or bad. Let's see: Grendel was one, although I'm not sure that Grendel is all that mainstream. DeMatteis's Dr. Fate. Ostrander's Spectre. Preacher. Jurgens' Thor, interestingly enough. I can't think of any more. Two of these (Grendel and Preacher) were openly contemptuous of Christianity, but at least Wagner addressed the problems of what happens when religion gets too involved in politics and Ennis looked at what happens when we lose our faith. Yes, they held Christianity in contempt, but these books also treated Christianity as something to be examined and studied and questioned. Not bad. Dr. Fate and The Spectre were much kinder to religion. Dr. Fate didn't really deal with Christianity, but DeMatteis, who really likes these kinds of things, looked at reincarnation, the power of love, what it really means to be spiritual, and how we can achieve greatness through spirituality. Dr. Fate remains, I would say, the most absolutely spiritual mainstream comic ever. Ostrander, who once was in the seminary, gives us a brutally honest examination of Christianity and its problems, but also gives us Father Richard Craemer (okay, he was in Suicide Squad, but he really shines in The Spectre), who becomes Jim Corrigan's spiritual advisor and eventually allows him to see why he's been the Spectre all these years: it's not his job, and it's not his punishment, and it's not because God hasn't forgiven him - it's because he hasn't asked for forgiveness and allowed himself to be forgiven. The Spectre, despite its occasional harsh criticisms of Christianity, ultimately, like Dr. Fate, shows the power of spirituality. Ostrander goes further than most by including Jews and Muslims in his book, all portrayed like human beings instead of stereotypes. Have I mentioned before what a good writer Ostrander is? Finally, Dan Jurgens explored what would happen if an actual god (Thor) took over the world. This was more of a popcorn superhero book, and it suffered from inconsistent art, but it was a relatively complex look at what would happen if one of the gods of the Marvel Universe (and let's face it, there are a lot of them running around) decided to assert his divinity. Thor is shown to be a lesser god than, say, THE GOD (who never gets any ink in the Marvel Universe, much less face time), but that doesn't mean it's not a fascinating story about what true religion is and how people worship in both good times and bad. More complex than a lot of standard superhero books, I can tell you that much.

It's not that I want more books like that, specifically. I wouldn't mind it, because religion and what compels people to worship is very interesting to me, but I understand that none of those books (with the possible exception of Preacher, the least overtly religious of them) sold particularly well. However, I do wonder why more characters in mainstream comics don't seem to be religious. Again, I wonder if it's a function of who is writing them. I mean, does Peter Parker go to church? Aunt May probably does. What are sermons like in a Marvel Universe where gods walk around in New York? The only time we ever see a reverend in comic books is at a funeral. If we do see a Christian, he (or she) is usually portrayed negatively. I'm not saying there are a lot of lousy "Christians" out there in the world, but there are probably a lot more "good" ones. (Define "good" any way you want.) We have seen Reverend Conover and his wife (yes, I'm dropping some X-knowledge on you), but they appear VERY rarely (and the last time they did, as far as I know, Ostrander wrote them), and Millar, surprisingly enough, gave us a sympathetic portrait of a priest in Swamp Thing, and I'm sure there are a handful of others, but usually in comics, Christianity = evil. I'm not even that interested in a portrayal of Christianity. Wouldn't it be neat to see a service at the Church of Thor? There has to be a Church of Superman out there, doesn't there, where the worshippers aren't all crazy. Religion is a very important part of people's lives, and it would be kind of interesting to see it in the world of mainstream superhero comics.

Again, I'm not asking for it to be pervasive. But I think it would be neat to see, for instance, Barry Allen objecting to the brainwashing of every bad guy the Justice League has ever encountered (yes, I'm still bitter about Identity Crisis) because it goes against his Christian beliefs. Or Stephen Strange wrestling with his position of Sorcerer Supreme because it conflicts with his Christian upbringing (I have never read Dr. Strange, so maybe they've done that already). I always thought making Nightcrawler a priest was fascinating, but they retconned that right out of there, because it would require too much thought to keep up that story. I just think it's something that isn't addressed in comics, and the potential for great stories is there. Comic book writers miss the boat on a lot of great ideas, and I wonder why. Is it that the writers aren't interested in it (that's probably part of it, but come on - Claremont can't seriously still be interested in Mojo, can he?), or that the editors are afraid of controversy (last time I checked, controversy helped get publicity, which helps sell books), or that they have done polls and the fanboys don't want it? I don't know. I just find it unusual. That's all.

If you're interested, pictures of my new daughter are up here. Yes, it's a shameless plug. That's what I do!

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Even Mini-Series Designed To Clear the Slate for a New Ongoing Series Should Be Good

Our own Pól Rua had a comment on this here blog about Green Lantern: Rebirth when it came out that I liked a lot.

The blog entry is no longer here, but I managed to save Pól's comment, which I like so much that I think it is worthwhile to reprint it here for both your reading pleasure and also for posterity.

Green Lantern Rebirth sucks because it panders.

Now, now, comics have been pandering for a long time.

A nice example of pandering done right was that silly-arse Arthur Adams thing where the Fantastic Four were replaced by Spider-Man, Ghost-Rider, Wolverine and the Hulk... and then went on to fight giant monsters on Monster Island or whatever.

Basically, pandering to Art Adams' desire to draw Superheroes fighting giant monsters and pandering to the fanboys' desire to see the aforementioned commercialest comic book heroes in the world all fighting giant monsters for no readily apparent reason.

The reason it worked is that it knew it was stupid.

It pulled the piss on itself constantly and self-referentially.

It was good dumb fun.

This Rebirth crap on the other hand is NOTHING BUT PANDERING.

It sounds like what happens when you get a bunch of whining HEAT-babies, cram them into a sack for a week, squeeze it and drink the juice. Nothing but puerile, half-arsed deus ex machina bullcrap with no story, no plot, no characterization.

Well, shit, we don't need any of that hifallutin' bollocks as long as Hal never really killed nobody.

Bullshit.

It's a story.

It needs plot, characterization, all that stuff.

Otherwise, it's not a story... it's a footnote.

It's an essay.

"Write in 3000 words or less why Hal Jordon is a good man who never killed nobody. Answers by the end of the day."

I work in a comic shop. There are a zillion people who come through the door every day who can tell me about the minute details of Hal Jordon's life and history, but they're not writing Green Lantern... and why not? Because they're not writers.

They're boring, obsessive, anal fanboys who wouldn't know how to tell a story if it came up to them and clubbed the shit out of them with a lump of two by four with a nail in it.

Explain to me why someone got PAID for Rebirth?

I particularly love the bit where he says, "It needs plot, characterization, all that stuff. Otherwise, it's not a story... it's a footnote. It's an essay. 'Write in 3000 words or less why Hal Jordon is a good man who never killed nobody. Answers by the end of the day.'"

That, to me, summed up Rebirth so extremely well.

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This Artist Is Good - Sean Murphy

Recently, I did a bit on Year One Batman Scarecrow.

Today, I feel as though I should further spotlight the impressive work of the young artist on the title, Sean Murphy.

Murphy first gained notice working on some Star Wars Tales short stories, and later did a book for Dark Horse called Crush.

He is working on a project for Oni titled Off Road, which he also wrote, which is about a group of friends in a jeep getting stuck, well, off-road.

But this Batman project is, by far, the most popular thing he has done so far, but I do not think it will be the last, as his stuff is good enough that he looks like he has a very promising artistic future.

Chris Arrant had a nice interview with him at Newsarama where Murphy told some interesting stories (such as just how a practical no-name was picked to draw a major Batman mini-series. Think about it, the other Batman Year One mini-series is drawn by Paul Gulacy! Pretty heady company), and showed his appreciation for the medium with his quite astute picks of artists who influenced his work, including the late, great Jorge Zaffino (who is well-respected by most artists, but his name rarely comes up...here is a great website devoted to Zaffino's work).

The following examples of Murphy's art (except for the cover art, which I just snagged from a solicitation) are taken from his nifty website, which you can find here.

First off, look at the very nice costume redesign he did for the Scarecrow.



I have to give DC credit for letting a new artist do a redesign like this. It doesn't hurt that it looks quite good, though.

Murphy has a real dynamic style, which is in full effect in this page...



He is also comfortable using shadow/silhouettes to good effect, which I am always impressed by (this piece uses shadow AND a flair for the dynamic)...



Murphy also does a good job with using body language to convey personality, like this page...



This is important for when he is working with new characters, like Off Road, as the reader must have the characters' personalities supplied solely by Murphy (unlike, say, Batman and Robin, where the reader already has a pretty good idea what they are like...hehe).


Finally, Murphy shows he is not above just wanting to draw really cool things...like a Bat-jet...



That's it for me.

What are all your thoughts about Murphy, who I think is destined for big things?

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A few random thoughts on the Marvel solicitations

I don't believe I've made it a secret that, in general, Marvel's not really doing it for me these days. I don't really see them doing much different than they've done the past few years. I think they're coasting. They can spin House of M any way they like but, to me, it's the same old Marvel heroes and villains doing the same old Marvel heroic and villainous things. (For what it's worth, I kind of feel the same way about DC proper, but they also have Wildstorm, Vertigo, Johnny DC, CMX, Mad; and they had Humanoids and 2000 A.D. So, they're trying, at least.) As a qualifier, I'm verbalizing my gut reactions to these books sight unseen. I won't pass final judgment until I actually see the books.

First off, Maximum Fantastic Four. I dunno. This might be interesting, but not $49.99 interesting. Seems like they could do the exact same thing in an issue of Jack Kirby Collector and just charge $9.95 for it. Was the decision to do this based strictly on the upcoming movie? Will that movie really generate much interest in the classic FF? Seems tenuous to me, but I'm not in publishing and not a comics retailer, so what do I know?

Chris Bachalo is doing the X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #464) again. My impression is that he's hit or miss with a comics fandom in general. I love his work although he definitely benefits from the right colorist. His work has a tendency to be colored too darkly, I think. As much as I like his work, it's unlikely that I'll pick this up in serial format. If I read this at all, it'll be in the trade.

Exiles #69 and 70. People are still reading this?

Black Panther #8 has a Frank Cho cover. It's a semi-nude Storm. I like Frank Cho. And semi-nude Storm. I pick Amazing Spider-Man #524 is the Marvel cover of the month, though. It's by Tony Harris and I like the green. Plus, if you look more closely. Those purple things are skulls. Cool.

To borrow a joke from David Spade, Sentry was better when he was called Superman.

If there is one Marvel book that I'm actually looking forward to this month, it might be The Fantastic Four Presents Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius. I love humor comics if they're done well. I didn't read Power Pack, so I might check this out.

The other book I might look forward to is Defenders #3. Giffen. DeMatteis. Maguire. 'Nuff said.

Paco Medina has joined Robert Kirkman on Marvel Team-Up. Medina is a very underrated artist with a style reminiscent of Mike Wieringo. In fact, when he filled in for Wieringo on an issue of the Fantastic Four, that's one of the most consistent artistic choices Marvel editorial could've made.

Jim Cheung provides the cover to Young Avengers #8. Why is he doing covers? Put that man on a regular book! Or maybe he is and this is just a month off?

Since they have Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire on Defenders, I guess Marvel decided that they could swipe the "team looking up slightly into the 'camera'" covers that were made famous on this artistic team's run on Justice League. There's such a cover on The Pulse #11 by Michael Gaydos although Gaydos cleverly re-works it.

The Imperfects makes me long for an inter-company crossover with DC's Inferior 5. Nothing would sum up the state of superhero comics better.

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Three 6/22 Books 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!!

Ultimate X-Men #60

So the basic gist of this issue is that Deathstrike tries to terminate Ororo and Logan for Dr. Cornelius.

She doesn't.

Not the deepest of plots...hehe.

What I really want to discuss, though, is the bass-ackwards approach towards continuity in Marvel titles, but this title in particular.

Marvel wants this book to be totally approachable, with no previous knowledge of continuity necessary, and to help aid this, there are no captions (and certainly no footnotes).

Well, I happen to think any sort of "you can't do THIS with the story" type of proclamation is usually a bad idea, but it is even WORSE in this instance.

Why?

Because Vaughan is writing a book where knowledge of previous continuity is not just useful, it is almost absolutely neccesary!!

Major parts of this issue tie in to what Mark Millar had happen in his SECOND arc on this title (in other words, about FIFTY issues ago!), and other big parts tie in to events from fifteen issues ago, during Bendis' run.

You can't tell such a continuity-derived story and then put the book together in such a way that you do not give any aid to the reader!!!

If you don't want to use footnotes, then don't write stuff that needs it!

And if you want to write stuff that needs it, use footnotes!!

On another tangent, Stuart Immonen's art (inked by Wade Von Grawbadger) is really great on this comic, except for his Wolverine...which is kinda weird. How do you rock on everything, but make Wolverine look ridiculous?

Not recommended.

Year One Batman Scarecrow #2

About ten years ago, DC had a nifty (I thought) idea for their Annuals.

Each Annual was a "Year One" story.

For the characters who already HAD Year Ones (Batman and Superman), they did two different takes. On Batman, they did Year Ones for the villains, while in Superman they showed Superman's first meetings with ____ (New Gods, magic, other superheroes).

Well, Louise Simonson and John Paul Leon got together to tell the story of Superman's first meeting with other heroes, and what they basically did was just retell most of Byrne's Man of Steel (as the Batman team-up from Man of Steel #3 was highlighted, as well as the scene where Superman learns he is Kryptonian).

It is a well-told story, but at the end of the day, it is a good writer and a very good artist just telling us a story we have seen already.

Well, that is what Bruce Jones and Sean Murphy give us with Year One Batman Scarecrow #2.

It is a well-written story, with very good art by Sean Murphy (especially his Screcrow costume design) - but it really not all that different from every other Scarecrow story.

Sure, Jones attempts to add a little more depth to Scarecrow, but really, it falls a bit flat (partially because the character is so "what you see is what you get," character-wise.

Not Recommended.

Conan #17

Dave Stewart really is amazing.

It really does not matter WHAT shape Cary Nord gives him the pencils in, Stewart makes them look good with his digital coloring.

If Nord were ever truly ON this book (rather than rushing to get the book out), then this book would just be astonishing art-wise, as it looks great with Nord's rushed pencils getting the great treatment by Stewart (by the by, it was nice to see Scott basically admit in the letters columns what a lot of us thought, that Nord was rushing his pencils).

This story is a simple tale of Conan learning the ins and outs of the thieving business, with the subtle approach Conan is famous for...hehe.

Another strong issue.

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 -

Man With the Screaming Brain #2

Savage Dragon God War #3

Doc Frankenstein #3

Shaolin Cowboy #3

Judo Girl #2

Thanks!

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