Were The Eisner Choices Good?

Today, the winners of the Eisner Awards were chosen.

I will list the nominees, then the winner and then whether I thought it was a good pick.

Best Short Story

NOMINEES

“Eve O’ Twins,” by Craig Thompson, in Rosetta 2 (Alternative)
“Glenn Ganges: Jeepers Jacobs,” by Kevin Huizenga, in Kramer’s Ergot 5 (Gingko Press)
“God” (story on wrap-around dust jacket) by Chris Ware, in McSweeney’s Quarterly #13 (McSweeney’s)
“The Price,” by Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli, in Creatures of the Night (Dark Horse Books)
“Unfamiliar,” by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, in The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft (Dark Horse Books)
“Where Monsters Dine,” by Troy Hickman, Angel Medina, and Jon Holdredge, in Common Grounds #5 (Top Cow/Image)

WINNER

“Unfamiliar,” by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, in The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft (Dark Horse Books)

GOOD?

Of the stories above, this was my favorite, so I think this was a good pick. Although, as usual, the choices in this category were strong, and I would not have had a problem with almost any story winning...except maybe Hickman's piece, as that was NOT one of the best Common Grounds pieces and Gaiman's, which did not seem all that extraordinary to me.

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)

NOMINEES

Demo #7: “One Shot, Don’t Miss,” by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan (AiT/Planet Lar)
Eightball #23: “The Death Ray,” by Dan Clowes (Fantagraphics)
Ex Machina #1: “The Pilot,” by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Feister (WildStorm/DC)
Global Frequency #12: “Harpoon,” by Warren Ellis and Gene Ha (WildStorm/DC)
The Goon #6: “Ilagarto Hombre!,” by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)

WINNER

Eightball #23: "The Death Ray," by Dan Clowes (Fantagraphics)

GOOD?

No argument from me. First off, Global Frequency #12 was not even the best issue of that series. I liked Ex Machina #1, but I think Clowes' two biggest competitors were Powell and Wood and Cloonan. Since Powell was going to have other opportunities later, I have no problem with this pick.

Best Serialized Story

NOMINEES

Astonishing X-Men #1-6: “Gifted,” by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday (Marvel)
Ex Machina #2-5: “State of Emergency,” by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Feister (WildStorm/DC)
Fables #19-27: “March of the Wooden Soldiers,” by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and Steve Leialoha (Vertigo/DC)
Planetary #19-20: “Mystery in Space/Rendezvous,” by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday (WildStorm/DC)
Y: The Last Man #18-20: “Safeword,” by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and José Marzan Jr. (Vertigo/DC)

WINNER

Fables #19-27: “March of the Wooden Soldiers,” by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and Steve Leialoha (Vertigo/DC)

GOOD?

Wow...not exactly the greatest category here. Of the group, I enjoyed the winner the most, so I can't complain...but I CAN sorta complain about this story being the best of the year. Seems hard to believe (I DID like it, though!).

Best Continuing Series

NOMINEES

Astonishing X-Men, by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday (Marvel)
Ex Machina, by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Fesiter (WildStorm/DC)
The Goon, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)
Stray Bullets, by David Lapham (El Capitan)
Y: The Last Man, by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and José Marzan Jr. (Vertigo/DC)

WINNER

The Goon, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)

GOOD?

I liked this pick a lot. I think the only real challenger to the Goon would be Stray Bullets, and, well, let's be honest...we all know Stray Bullets is good. Powell could use the Eisner more than Lapham. I like Y and Ex Machina both, but not nearly as much as Goon.

Best Limited Series

NOMINEES

DC: The New Frontier, by Darwyn Cooke (DC)
Demo, by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan (AiT/Planet Lar)
30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow, by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith (IDW)
WE3, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (Vertigo/DC)
Wanted, by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones (Top Cow/Image)

WINNER

DC: The New Frontier, by Darwyn Cooke (DC)

GOOD?

OUCH...what a tough call this was. I think I would go with the winner here, over WE3...but MAN, was this a tough category.

Best New Series

NOMINEES

Astonishing X-Men, by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday (Marvel)
Doc Frankenstein, by the Wachowski Brothers and Steve Scroce (Burlyman)
Ex Machina, by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Fesiter (WildStorm/DC)
The Shaolin Cowboy, by Geof Darrow (Burlyman)

WINNER

Ex Machina, by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Fesiter (WildStorm/DC)

GOOD?

The Burlyman books are fun, but I think Ex Machina was a fine pick here. I would concur with the selection (although, did nothing else good start new this year? Only four nominees?!)

Best Publication for a Younger Audience

NOMINEES

Amelia Rules!, (Renaissance Press) and Amelia Rules! What Makes You Happy (iBooks) by Jimmy Gownley
Courtney Crumrin in the Twilight Kingdom, by Ted Naifeh (Oni)
Owly, by Andy Runton (Top Shelf)
Plastic Man, by Kyle Baker and Scott Morse (DC)
Tommysaurus Rex, by Doug TenNapel (Image)

WINNER

Plastic Man, by Kyle Baker and Scott Morse (DC)

GOOD?

I totally agree with Plastic Man being the best of this group, but I didn't know Plastic Man was FOR a younger audience. If we WERE to not count Plas, I would go with Courtney Crumrin JUST a bit over Owly.

Best Humor Publication

NOMINEES

Angry Youth Comix, by Johnny Ryan (Fantagraphics)
Birth of a Nation, by Aaron McGruder, Reginald Hudlin, and Kyle Baker (Crown)
The Goon, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)
Kyle Baker, Cartoonist, by Kyle Baker (Kyle Baker Publishing)
Plastic Man, by Kyle Baker and Scott Morse (DC)

WINNER

The Goon, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)

GOOD?

Definitely one of the best books out there, so I enjoyed this pick, although I do like Kyle Baker a lot (as does the Eisner nominating committee...hehe).

Best Anthology

NOMINEES

Common Grounds, by Troy Hickman and others, edited by Jim McLauchlin (Top Cow/Image)
The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft, edited by Scott Allie (Dark Horse Books)
The Matrix Comics, vol. 2, edited by Spencer Lamm (Burlyman)
McSweeney’s Quarterly #13, edited by Chris Ware (McSweeney’s)
Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, edited by Diana Schutz and David Land (Dark Horse)

WINNER

Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, edited by Diana Schutz and David Land (Dark Hors

GOOD?

If the category was "best collection of talent," then yes, I would agree, but I do not think the Escapist was as good as the Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft OR McSweeney's Quarterly #13 OR Common Grounds!

To be fair, though, I really enjoyed Book of Witchcraft, Common Grounds and McSweeney's Quarterly, so that is not meant as an insult of the Escapist, which I have enjoyed.

Best Digital Comic

NOMINEES

Athena Voltaire, by Steve Bryant www.athenavoltaire.com
Bento & Starchky, by zer0 (Peter Branting) http://www.noapologiespress.com/zer0comics/bento.htm
Copper, by Kazu www.boltcity.com/copper_home.htm
Jonny Crossbones, by Les McClaine www.evilspacerobot.com/comics/jonnycrossbones/index.htm
Mom's Cancer, by Brian Fies www.momscancer.com/eisner.htm
ojingogo, by matt forsythe www.comingupforair.net/comics/ojingogo.html

WINNER

Mom's Cancer, by Brian Fies www.momscancer.com/eisner.htm

GOOD?

I would have chosen Copper, because I think it is super cool, but Mom's Cancer is a good choice as well. I believe it is being collected into print soon...well deserved.

Best Graphic Album—New

NOMINEES

Blacksad Book 2: Arctic Nation, by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (iBooks)
It’s a Bird . . ., by Steven T. Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen (Vertigo/DC)
The Originals, by Dave Gibbons (Vertigo/DC)
Suspended in Language, by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis (GT Labs)
Tommysaurus Rex, by Doug TenNapel (Image)

WINNER

The Originals, by Dave Gibbons (Vertigo/DC)

GOOD?

I wrote here about how much I liked the Originals, but I think I would have gone with It's a Bird...

But Originals is good, so I cannot quibble much.

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

NOMINEES

Age of Bronze: Sacrifice, by Eric Shanower (Image)
Bone One Volume Edition, by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books)
The Book of Ballads, by Charles Vess and others (Tor)
Clyde Fans, by Seth (Drawn & Quarterly)
In the Shadow of No Towers, by art spiegelman (Pantheon)
Locas, by Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics)

WINNER

Bone One Volume Edition, by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books)

GOOD?

This was really a no-brainer. No offense to the other nominees, but the ENTIRE run in one volume!!! Who can beat that??!?

Best Archival Collection/Project

NOMINEES

The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker, edited by Robert Mankoff (Black Dog & Leventhal)
The Complete Peanuts, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
DC Comics Rarities Archives, vol. 1, edited by Dale Crain (DC)
Krazy and Ignatz, edited by Bill Blackbeard and Derya Ataker (Fantagraphics)
Russ Manning’s Magnus, Robot Fighter, vol. 1, edited by Katie Moody, Mike Carriglitto, and David Land (Dark Horse Books)

WINNER

The Complete Peanuts, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)

GOOD?

This is another one where the frontrunner was going to be hard to beat, and I agree with the decision, although Dark Horse's Gold Key remakes are beautiful.

Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material

NOMINEES

Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima, vols. 1-2, by Keiji Nahazawa (Last Gasp)
Blacksad Book 2: Arctic Nation, by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (iBooks)
Buddha, vols. 3-4 by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon)
Tokyo Tribes, by Santa Inoue (TOKYOPOP)

WINNER

Buddha, vols. 3-4 by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)

GOOD?

I would have preferred Blacksad, but I cannot quibble much with Buddha, as it is a fine title.

Best Writer

NOMINEES

Steve Niles, 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow; 30Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales; Aleister Arcane (IDW); Freaks of the Heartland; Last Train to Deadsville (Dark Horse)
Greg Rucka, Queen & Country (Oni); Gotham Central (DC)
Brian K. Vaughan, Y: The Last Man (Vertigo/DC); Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC); Runaways (Marvel)
Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel)
Bill Willingham, Fables (Vertigo/DC)

WINNER

Brian K. Vaughan, Y: The Last Man (Vertigo/DC); Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC); Runaways (Marvel)

GOOD?

From the amount of nominations his titles got, this seemed clear. Of those choices, he is probably the best pick. Willingham is rocking on Fables, but is disappointing on Robin. Niles continues his (in my mind) impressive stretch of writing, but his highlight series of the year (Return to Barrow) just wasn't that good, I do not think. His non-30 Days work, though, has been excellent.

Best Writer/Artist

NOMINEES

Paul Chadwick, Concrete: The Human Dilemma (Dark Horse)
Dan Clowes, Eightball #23 (Fantagraphics)
David Lapham, Stray Bullets (El Capitan)
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (Dark Horse)
Adrian Tomine, Optic Nerve #9 (Drawn & Quarterly)

WINNER

Paul Chadwick, Concrete: The Human Dilemma (Dark Horse)

GOOD?

I like Chadwick, but I just don't get this pick. I would have figured it would go to Clowes or Tomine...mainly because I think they are better than Chadwick.

Best Writer/Artist—Humor

NOMINEES

Kyle Baker, Plastic Man (DC); Kyle Baker, Cartoonist (Kyle Baker Publishing)
Phil Foglio, Girl Genius (Airship Entertainment)
Scott Kurtz, PvP (Image)
Eric Powell, The Goon (Dark Horse)
Johnny Ryan, Angry Youth Comix (Fantagraphics)

WINNER

Eric Powell, The Goon (Dark Horse)

GOOD?

Poor Baker. He is excellent, but this year at least, Powell is doing a bit better. Good pick.

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

NOMINEES

Charles Adlard, The Walking Dead (Image)
John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel); Planetary (WildStorm/DC); I Am Legion: The Dancing Faun (Humanoids/DC)
Geof Darrow, Shaolin Cowboy (Burlyman)
Cary Nord/Thomas Yeates, Conan (Dark Horse)
Frank Quitely, WE3 (Vertigo/DC)

WINNER

John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel); Planetary (WildStorm/DC); I Am Legion: The (Edited to add: Frank Quitely, WE3 (Vertigo/DC))

GOOD?

Well, there's got to be SOME reason why Astonishing keeps popping up on the nominees list, and Cassaday is as good a reason as any. I think Quitely did a better job on WE3 than Cassaday, but Cassaday also did quite a bit more work than Quitely this year (and his art IS quite good), so I have no problem with this win. (EDITED TO ADD: Apparently, Quitely tied Cassaday, so I have no complaints...hehe).

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

NOMINEES

Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad, Book 2: Arctic Nation (iBooks)
Teddy Kristiansen, It’s a Bird . . . (Vertigo/DC)
David Mack, Kabuki (Marvel)
Ben Templesmith, 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow (IDW)
Michael Zulli, Creatures of the Night (Dark Horse Books)

WINNER

Teddy Kristiansen, It's a Bird... (Vertigo/DC)

GOOD?

It is good to see It's a Bird... get attention, but I don't think there is an artist out there who is doing better paint/multimedia work than Mack.

Best Coloring

NOMINEES

Peter Doherty, Shaolin Cowboy (Burlyman)
Steven Griffen, Hawaiian Dick: The Last Resort (Image)
Laura Martin, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel); Ministry of Space (Image); Planetary (WildStorm/DC); I Am Legion: The Dancing Faun (Humanoids/DC)
J. D. Mettler, Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC)
Dave Stewart, Daredevil, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Six, Captain America (Marvel); Conan, BPRD (Dark Horse)l DC: The New Frontier (DC)

WINNER

Dave Stewart, Daredevil, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Six, Captain America (Marvel); Conan, BPRD (Dark Horse)l DC: The New Frontier (DC)

GOOD?

Stewart is doing amazing work on Conan...just ay-may-zing. One of the best ARTISTS in comics today, I think...so yeah, I think this was a good pick.

Best Lettering

NOMINEES

Todd Klein, Promethea; Tom Strong; Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales (ABC); Wonder Woman (DC); Books of Magick: Life During Wartime; Fables; WE3 (Vertigo/DC); Creatures of the Night (Dark Horse)
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (Dark Horse)
Dave Sim, Cerebus (Aardvark Vanaheim)
Craig Thompson, Carnet de Voyage (Top Shelf); “Eve O’ Twins” in Rosetta 2 (Alternative)

WINNER

Todd Klein, Promethea; Tom Strong; Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales (ABC); Wonder Woman (DC); Books of Magick: Life During Wartime; Fables; WE3 (Vertigo/DC); Creatures of the Night (Dark Horse)

GOOD?

The sun rises in the east, sets in the west, Todd Klein is a great letterer...some of the facts of life. Fine pick.

Best Cover Artist

NOMINEES

Kieron Dwyer, Remains (IDW)
James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); Green Arrow, Batgirl (DC)
Tony Moore, The Walking Dead (Image)
Frank Quitely, Bite Club; WE3 (Vertigo/DC)
Michael Turner, Identity Crisis (DC)

WINNER

James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); Green Arrow, Batgirl (DC)

GOOD?

Michael Turner wuz robbed!!

Seriously, Jean is also amazing. Great pick.

Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition

NOMINEES

Frank Cammuso (Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective)
Bosch Fawstin (Table for One)
Matt Kindt (Two Sisters; Pistolwhip)
Sean McKeever (A Waiting Place; Mary Jane; Inhumans; Sentinels)
Raina Telgemeier (“Smile,” Takeout)

WINNER

Sean McKeever (A Waiting Place; Mary Jane; Inhumans; Sentinels)

GOOD? I didn't like this one. I like McKeever and all, but the guy is MAINSTREAM! How do you give "needs more recognition" to the guy who is mainstream?!? It just seems so unfair and against the purpose of the award. He IS good, though.

I wrote about the nominees here.

Best Comics-Related Periodical

NOMINEES

Comic Art, edited by M. Todd Hignite (Comic Art)
Comic Book Artist, edited by Jon B. Cooke (Top Shelf)
Draw!, edited by Mike Manley (TwoMorrows)
Indy Magazine online (www.indyworld.com), edited by Bill Kartalopoulos (Alternative)

WINNER

Comic Book Artist, edited by Jon B. Cooke (Top Shelf)

GOOD? I like all the nominees here, so CBA is fine by me.

Best Comics-Related Book

NOMINEES

The Art of Usagi Yojimbo, by Stan Sakai (Dark Horse Books)
Chris Ware, by Daniel Raeburn (Monographics/Yale University Press)
Give Our Regards to the Atom Smashers, edited by Sean Howe (Pantheon)
Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book, by Gerard Jones (Basic Books)
Strangers in Paradise Treasury Edition, by Terry Moore (HarperCollins Perennial)

WINNER

Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book, by Gerard Jones (Basic Books)

GOOD? I liked his book (he is a much better author than he was comic book writer), but I thought it was missing a bit in some areas. Still, good book, and a deserving winner, I think.

Best Publication Design

NOMINEES

The Art of Usagi Yojimbo, designed by Cary Grazzini (Dark Horse Books)
Clyde’s Fans, designed by Seth (Drawn & Quarterly)
The Complete Peanuts, designed by Seth (Fantagraphics)
In the Shadow of No Towers, designed by art spiegelman (Pantheon)
McSweeney’s Quarterly #13, designed by Chris Ware (McSweeney’s)

WINNER

The Complete Peanuts, designed by Seth (Fantagraphics)

GOOD?

Seth is a fine artist, so this was no surprise. Striking design. I enjoyed it a lot.

Hall of Fame

Judges’ Choices: Lou Fine; René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

NOMINEES (Four will be selected from them)

Matt Baker
Wayne Boring
Nick Cardy
Yves Chaland
Gene Colan
Johnny Craig
Reed Crandall
Floyd Gottfredson
Frank Hampson
Graham Ingels
Robert Kanigher
William Moulton Marston
Hugo Pratt
Frank Robbins

WINNERS

Nick Cardy, Gene Colan, Johnny Craig, Hugo Pratt

GOOD?

Colan and Craig are no-brainers.

As for the last two, Pratt and Cardy are fine, although I would have substituted Boring for Cardy and Crandall for Pratt. But the four choices are fine. No real shocks.

All in all, I thought the voters did a fine choice. Most of the ones I thought SHOULD win DID win, which was nice.

Well, that's it for me.

How about the rest of you?

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This Comic Is Good: Nat Turner #1

Nat Turner #1
Kyle Baker Publishing

Nat Turner was born in 1800 as a slave in Virginia. From his childhood, he had visions and prophesies, and was widely known among his fellow slaves as an intelligent and powerfully spiritual man of God. He learned to read, a forbidden practice among slaves. Then in August of 1831, Turner led a full-fledged slave rebellion, the largest in American history.

Turner felt he was an instrument in the hands of God. He saw visions of white spirits and black spirits in battle; he found hieroglyphics on leaves and saw forms of men portrayed in blood that matched the visions he saw in the skies; and he felt that judgment day was at hand.

Turner’s rebellion was never all that large, topping off around forty people. The group traveled from house to house, freeing slaves and murdering all of the white people in their path. By the time Turner’s forces were crushed, they had killed fifty-five people.

In the aftermath, fifty-five black people were executed for their (real or imagined) part in the rebellion and two hundred more were killed by mobs. Turner himself was caught, tried, convicted, and executed in November 1831.



Kyle Baker has adapted the life story of Nat Turner into a four-issue miniseries. The story of Turner and the rebellion has tremendous potential for storytelling: the tragedy of slavery, the struggle for human dignity, the religious fervor of Turner, the further tragedy of the slaughters both during and after the rebellion. It’s not something to be taken lightly or simply.

Judging by the first issue, Baker may be just the man for the job.

The first issue of Nat Turner is gripping. Baker took an unusual tack in setting up the tale: the beginning of the story is entirely without words. Page one shows a marketplace in an unnamed African village. A man flirts with a woman. Children laugh. Then comes a cry of alarm we cannot hear. Slavers arrive on horseback and take all the people they can.

The story begins to follow a single woman who kills two slavers then tries to commit suicide, only to be saved at the last moment and taken away in chains with the rest of her village. She is stripped naked, shorn of hair and branded. Then comes the nightmare of the slave ship, which Baker evokes all too well.

The silence of the story is a brilliant technique. What village was it? What is the name of the young man who charms the young woman? By avoiding the use of names and dialogue, the story is not fixed in time and space, but rather becomes a universal village. The men and women taken by the slavers are individuals, but their silence makes them stand for all of those taken. Had the young woman been named, the reader would have become more fixed on her as a particular person than her situation.

Baker’s art is flexible and extraordinary. The people of the story are drawn using rough lines and dynamic shapes, making them feel alive. The lines in the Africans’ hair was particularly fuzzed, creating a sharp contrast to their forcibly shaven heads. During the voyage, sharks circle the slave ship, awaiting the inevitable feeding they’d receive from the corpses of people who died en route. These sharks were drawn using a few thin lines, rendering them inhuman and cold.

Baker’s linework shifts to match the mood of the panels, and is amazing throughout. He’s been an exceptional artist for years. Nat Turner shows he’s grown better with age.

What interests me is how Baker will treat Turner and the rebellion itself in later issues. His rebellion was both a response to horror and a horror itself. The stirring tale of freeing slaves was marred by the slaughter of women and children. To my eyes, the rebellion is a complex mixture of heroism and cruelty, a tragedy born of tragedy. I can’t help but believe Baker will do it justice.

This comic is worth your money. Kyle Baker is a great cartoonist. He tells a difficult story with grace and humanity.

Go! Buy it now!

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I know my posts suck, but this is just silly

Did I miss something? Did my post destroy the whole blog? Is it just me? Where is everything from before yesterday?

Further Proof That Geoff Johns Is Evil

From Newsarama: Johns said Hal will have “many” love interests. “He’s William Shatner, but not a bad actor. And he has good hair.”

Bad actor!?

Someone must not have seen Boston Legal. (Or Robot Chicken, where Shatner's hair is an international adventure hero.)

Clearly, this is unforgivable.

What I bought - 13 July 2005

There was actually a lot of good comics this week, overshadowed, unfortunately, by the one big craphole that came out from DC. But after that, stuff was good!

All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder #1 by Frank Miller, Jim Lee and Scott Williams
$2.99, DC

Pól did a quite funny and spot-on review of this, but I'm going to examine why this is horrible, rather than pointing out its horrible-ness.

This is soft-core porn. This is as if Steven Spielberg directed Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in a porn movie. It's big-budget comic-book porn. Do we really need that?

Pól points out the lingerie model on page 3. For those of you who (smartly) didn't buy this, here it is:

 

See? There's no reason for Vicki Vale to be hanging out like that, except Lee wanted to draw a hot chick in lingerie and fanboys wanted him to. Sad.

Kevin says Miller isn't taking this seriously, and neither should we. Well, I have to disagree with him. There's a difference between "not taking something seriously" and "putting no craft into it at all." Giffen and DeMatteis in some of the Justice League stuff they did - that's not taking it seriously. However, the craft is still there - they're trying to make a good comic, even though they don't take the concepts all that seriously. Here, Miller is, as Pól says, sleepwalking. Here's the idiotic things in this book:

1. Vicki Vale's apartment. Yes, it's fantasy, but she's not Lex Luthor.
2. Alfred calling Vicki Vale "love." WTF?
3. The reworked origin of Robin. Kevin, again, says that if we want "grim-n-gritty"®, we should watch the movie. Well, Dick's parents take two bullets in the head, so that's pretty "g-n-g," if you ask me. It's just stupid. The whole point of the murder in the first place was that it didn't look like a murder, because Zucco didn't want it to look like a murder. What's the point of the bad guy shooting them in the head?
4. How stupid is Vicki Vale? Bruce disappears after the murder, and she never asks about him! Not even the obligatory, "Where did that Bruce go? He must be a coward!" That's just laziness on Miller's part.
5. The cops. Yes, the cops are dirty in Gotham, blah blah blah. But for a ridiculously decompressed piece of crap, lots goes unexplained here, like why Vicki knows that the cops are involved and are going to kill Dick. Why does she know this? There's no reason - it's just Gotham!
6. Batman calling Dick "soldier." It worked in Dark Knight. It's stupid here.

I have no issue with Lee's art. I know some people don't like it, but I do. However, he has turned into Adam Hughes and should probably stick to pin-up covers. That's all he's doing inside anyway. It's pretty, but, well, pornographic.

I'm glad this sucked from the beginning. Identity Crisis was good for a while, and I kept buying. Now, I can quit buying this with a clear conscience. For that, I thank Miller and Lee.

Fables #39 by Bill Willingham, Lan Medina, and Dan Green
$2.75, DC/Vertigo

Now we can move on to the good comics. Boy, Fables is a good comic. This is an interlude as we return to Fabletown to catch up on what's been happening since Boy Blue was having his adventures. It's a typically excellent issue. Mowgli is the main character, as he returns to Fabletown after years in the "real" world. He wants to free Bagheera, who is being held at the Farm for his involvement in the rebellion a few years ago. He's willing to do anything to help, so Prince Charming enlists him to find Bigby. Now, in a comic book written by certain writers, that would be the whole issue. Actually, the conversation between Mowgli and Bagheera would be the whole issue. But Willingham adds the plot of a traitor being discovered and punished. Holy cow! And, as usual, we get nice character moments and some more information about the relationship between the Homelands and Fabletown. And the fill-in art by Medina is nice. I wish I could say something bad about this book, but I find it difficult. Buy the trades, please!

Gravity #2 by Sean McKeever, Mike Norton, and Jonathan Glapion
$2.99, Marvel

Here's another fun comic. It's the kind of thing that Marvel and DC should be publishing to bring in kids - it fits into Marvel continuity, but it doesn't use "square" superheroes that lame-o parents like. Of course, it won't sell, which is a shame. If you like fun superhero stuff, don't buy ASB&RtBW, buy this. Much more fun.

Greg is making the moves on Lauren, the girl he met at the end of last issue (and first of all, I actually remembered what happened last issue, which doesn't always happen, another mark that the book is good, and second of all, Lauren is Indian, and it's nice to see that she's Indian without anyone making a big deal about it), when the Rhino shows up. He tells her he "wants to watch" (eeewwww!) so he can go be all superheroic. He beats up the Rhino and all is well. She suspects - oh yes she does! - but that revelation will come later in the series, I assume. Greg teams up with another hero you've never heard of (or at least I haven't - I assume Greenwich Guardian is made up for this issue), but the Guardian isn't as great as Greg thinks he is. It's nice how McKeever makes us see this, but Greg remains starry-eyed. It still doesn't feel like Greg is an idiot - he's just a guy who wants to be a hero and overlooks some of the darker things that are going on. He breaks a date with Lauren to go on patrol with the Guardian, and she of course thinks he doesn't like her. McKeever puts a great line in the book here - "Spider-Man never had problems like this." Again, the kids will ignore the line, but old-timers like me can appreciate the nod to history. Finally, big bad guy Black Death shows up at the end. Next issue: SHOWDOWN!

The nice thing about this book is the characterization. Yes, the fights are nicely done, but Greg is interesting because of his pursuit of fame. I assume the arc of the story will be how he learns it's not all about fame, but his journey is interesting, because we know that he should go out with Lauren, she knows he should go out with her, but he doesn't. It's a good book because if you take away the superhero trappings, it's still a story about a young man learning how to live life. And that's a good story.

Desolation Jones #2 by Warren Ellis and J.H. Williams III
$2.99, DC/Wildstorm

I took Ellis to task last week for the last issue of Ocean, but he's still a good writer. This book is why I want him to do something different than the standard "the hero is a bastard with a heart of gold who has to kick people in the balls and there's weird crap involved" story. Pages 5-12 - the scene with Jones and Emily - are beautifully written and painful yet wonderful to read. Ellis could write a great romance comic, I bet. These are two people who have, in different ways, been fucked over by life, but they can come together (and not have sex!) and be there for each other when they need it, even though they know nothing will come of it. The rest of the book is good, but every once in a while, Ellis pulls this shit out of his ass (the final scene of Lazarus Churchyard, parts of Transmetropolitan, the cemetery scene in StormWatch vol. 2) and you wonder why he hasn't written a straight romance. It would be great.

The Middle Man #1 by Javier Grillo-Marxvach and Les McClaine
$2.95, Viper Comics

This is one of those books that might be hard to find, but I highly recommend tracking it down. It's a very fun book about a mysterious fighter of evil who recruits a no-future temp with a gay boyfriend (okay, maybe not, but everyone thinks he is). We meet Wendy as she's working as a receptionist at A.N.D. Labs - "Rescrambling Your DNA!" Something bad happens and a huge, nuclear-waste vomiting monster appears, apparently made up of the scientists who were working on it. Have no fear, though, because the Middle Man appears and destroys it! The cool thing is - no one knows he exists! According to the tag line on the back of the book, he fights evil "so you don't have to." He disappears, but apparently he liked what he saw of Wendy, because she eventually gets a call for a job in his business. Will she hold up under pressure????

This is, as I mentioned, fun. It has an intriguing premise and a roller coaster ride attitude, and there's a subplot involving the Mafia. The art is cartoony without being obnoxious. It's chock full of action and funny lines and is just what you should be reading. Go buy now!

Mnemovore #4 by Hans Rodionoff, Ray Fawkes, and Mike Huddleston
$2.99, DC/Vertigo

Things take a decidedly weirder turn, and in this book, that's saying a lot. When I asked why people weren't buying this last month, someone said the first issue didn't do it for them. That's fine. I would greatly encourage you to get the trade if it comes out, because this is shaping up to be one of the best mini-series of the year. I actually like the monthly issues, because each ending leaves me more creeped out than the last, and reading the resolution right away wouldn't have the same impact. Kaley finds out things are even less certain than she thought, and the one person she thinks she can trust might be the person behind it all. Meanwhile, Mike continues to be creepy and weird and doing awful things to his family. This is a great series.

Seven Soldiers: The Manhattan Guardian #3 by Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart

Nope, I didn't read it again. I just thought I'd mention that I bought it.

Small Gods Special #1 by Jason Rand and Juan Ferreyra
$2.95, Image

Another fine book that deserves a bigger audience. This is a perfect story to pick up, too, since it brings in the two main protagonists from the previous two arcs (Owen Young and Bobby Pope) but is a completely self-contained story that doesn't require you to read the whole series. Bobby is in the police station, and Owen is interviewing him. It's after a hostage situation at a jewelry store, a robbery gone wrong that Bobby and his girlfriend, Lucy, happened to get caught in. Owen is part of the force that takes down the bad guys. Rand gives us a little backstory on Bobby, letting us know that he owes someone something (it's explained in his arc, but again, you don't really need to know it here) and he works for this person, who happens to be a dirty cop (we don't know whom). He is ordered to go to the jewelry store and make sure there is a hostage situation lasting at least four hours. Why, he doesn't know, and we don't find out until the end. The whole story is told in flashbacks, as Owen tries to determine exactly what Bobby's role in the whole thing is. It's an interesting confrontation between the two, and as usual with this title, makes good use of the pre-cognitive and psychic aspects of this world without beating us over the head with it. At the end, we don't really get anything new about either character, but we have been told a good story and we understand Bobby's role a little more.

The art, as usual, is beautiful. This is just another book that you could spend your money on instead of ASB&RtBW.

Ultimate X-Men #61 by Brian K. Vaughan, Stuart Immonen, and Wade von Grawbadger
$2.50, Marvel

Another nice book, because ... hey! something happens! Bobby has been secretly communicating with Rogue, and Kitty gets pissed. Oh, the soap opera! Actually, the main story in the issue deals with Emma Frost's school, which is humming along nicely. Some dude named Roberto DaCosta shows up, but soon the head students, Alex Summer and Lorna Dane, are called away to assist with a fire rescue. While there, Lorna's powers seemingly go nuts and she starts killing firemen. Man, that ain't nice. Alex has to take her down, in a nice, brief, emotional scene that isn't overwritten but still packs a punch. Nick Fury gets involved, as the only place they can hold Lorna is currently occupied by a certain master of magnetism ... which was his plan all along!!!! Oh, that Magneto - he's crafty. What I like about the Ultimate Universe (especially the X-Men) is that Lorna is allowed to kill the firemen. I don't want blood and guts and hardcore violence in every comic (there's a time and a place), but in the "real" X-books, the deaths would be off-panel or the firemen would be simply knocked unconscious. If Lorna went nuts, she would kill people. It's a small reason why this is the only X-book I have bought consistently for five years. It has nice characterization and hasn't become too bogged down in continuity (it's getting there), and it's willing to examine stuff like what happens in this issue. And any comic where Doug Ramsey is still alive, even off-panel, is a good one.

See? I can be nice. Stuff happens in these comics, and I appreciate it. I'm just sad that the good stuff might get ignored in favor of the giant suckpit of Miller and Lee. Resist, my discerning comics fans! Reeeessssiiiiisssst!

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Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #7!

This is the seventh 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, the fourth can be found here ,the fifth can be found here.
and the sixth can be found here.

Let's begin!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: DC had an ongoing comic that simply repackaged old TV tie-in comics.

STATUS: True

In 1969, in the 81st issue of Showcase, DC tried out a new pair of teen characters, Windy and Willy, who were two hippy friends.



The first story was titled "The Haunted Hippie."

The story was popular enough to launch a Windy and Willy ongoing title, which only last four issues.

However, the really interesting thing about Windy and Willy is that they were really Dobie Gillis and Maynerd G. Krebs!!

Ya see, DC once put out a tie-in comic based on the TV series, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Well, years later (while DC was in the midst of still trying to compete with Archie for the, well, Archie demographic), DC dusted off the Gillis stories (from 5-6 years earlier), retitled the characters, changed their hair colors, and switched out any outdated references, and ta da....

This comic (Dobie Gillis #18)....



became THIS comic (Windy and Willy #1)...



Luckily, Bob Oksner drew the first series and was still available to do the retouches.

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: The woman on the cover of House of Secrets #92 (Swamp Thing's first appearance) is Louise Simonson.

STATUS: True

Here is the 1971 cover...



I cannot do it any better than he can, so I will let artist Bernie Wrightson explain (courtesy of this excellent interview:

I recall Len offered me the 'Swamp Thing' short story to draw that night. The deadline was really tight and I remember doing most of the work on a weekend. I had help from Kaluta, Jeff, Weiss and Louise. I remember that to save time we photographed the whole thing. The bad guy is Kaluta who could make himself look really oily. I parted his hair in the middle and he had this great moustache. Of course, I was the hero because the girl was Louise Jones, Jeff's wife, who I had a crush on and I got to put my arm around her.

Cool, huh?

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Superman once got into trouble for spilling American nuclear secrets.

STATUS: False

Alvin Schwartz wrote Superman stories in the 1940s and 1950s, including the daily comic strips at one point.

In one story, Superman fought Professor Duske, who had a cyclotron (one of the earliest types of particle accelerators).

According to the Amazing World of DC Comics #16, the United States War Department was alarmed by this story, and in a letter from the War Department to the District Engineer at the United States Engineer Office in Tennessee, expressed their concern.

They were not, as some people feared, upset about the level of detail the books went into, but rather, the fact that having a cyclotron appear in a comic book would cause the public to take the device less seriously, and the government wanted its citizens to have a healthy amount of fear about the nuclear devices the government used.

So no, Superman was never a Benedict Arnold!

That's it for 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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Holy Blogosphere!

I guess it’s the season or something for dandy introductory posts, because here’s another one. The name’s Bill Reed (yes, I have a very boring name, and I am, apparently, Harvey Jerkwater’s father), and I too have just been recruited into this fine comics commentary cabal er... dealy. And when I say recruited, I mean Our Insidious Dictator Cronin and some of his more muscular henchmen hit me over the head, threw me into the back of a truck, and then tortured me for hours until I agreed to write something for them. And by all that, I mean he asked.

You may know me from my writings over at my own blog, The Lithium Age, which is listed somewhere in that great expanse of links to the right, but you probably don’t, as my audience there is mostly imaginary. It’s much more likely that you’ve seen me in the comments section on this very site. Now I’ve been updated to a full-blown staff position. If you are anything like me, you might be currently chuckling at the previous sentence, as it sounds kinda dirty when you think about it. Anyhow, it’s an honor to be here (they really needed another Grant Morrison fanboy). Plus, it’s all part of my nefarious plan to conquer the comic blogosphere. Mwahahaha!

Speaking of the comics blogosphere... it’s pretty damn huge. Just last night, for fun, I was perusing said blogosphere, and I was lost for hours. There’s an awful lot of sites out there where lots of smart people hang out and talk about the face and fate of the comics industry. I, for one, am glad to see it, as it shows that people care. And for that, I give them all hearty pats on the back for fighting the good fight (okay, some of them might be Johns fans, which means they’re not quite human like the rest of us. But I forgive them anyway.

So I’m here to talk comics, and, hopefully, good comics, but that’s not necessarily going to happen all the time. Every once in a while, a bad comic just needs to be decapitated, disemboweled, and put on a pike outside the city walls as a warning to all the other bad comics. After all, I’ve got a reputation as an elitist bastard to uphold.

By now, everyone that would normally be reading this site is having the time of their lives in San Diego, unless they are a poor student trapped on the East Coast, like I am. Welcome, students. It’s good to be here. And remember... comics should be good.!!

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Current Comics Report for 7/13

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 7/13 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: July 13, 2005

DARK HORSE

APR050036 BERSERK VOL 8 TP (MR) $13.95
MAY050042 BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL #103 (MR) $2.99
MAY050041 MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN #3 (OF 4) $2.99
MAY050017 MICHAEL CHABON PRESENTS ADV O/T ESCAPIST #7 $8.95

Hint to any future comic writer who wants to work with lots of famous artists - win a Pulitzer Prize.

It seems to help your bargaining power.

APR050089 QUIMBY THE MOUSE WOODEN TOY (RES) $29.99
MAY050013 SERENITY CASSADAY CVR #1 (OF 3) $2.99
MAY050014 SERENITY HITCH CVR #1 (OF 3) $2.99
MAY050015 SERENITY J G JONES CVR #1 (OF 3) $2.99

It is funny, but I can't seem to get angry about these alternate covers because I am a fan of the property.

In addition, having Hitch, Cassaday and JG Jones do alternate covers is a fair bit different than having a "exta gory cover" or "wraparound nudity"!

APR050061 STAR WARS TALES #24 $5.99
APR050062 STAR WARS TALES PHOTO CVR #24 $5.99

IS this the last issue of this series?

That is too bad, there's been some good stuff in this series.

APR050059 SUPER MANGA BLAST #53 (MR) $5.99
MAR050052 TOO MUCH COFFEE MAN HOW TO BE HAPPY TP $12.95

DC COMICS

MAY050288 100 BULLETS #62 (MR) $2.75
MAY050214 ACTION COMICS #829 $2.50

I think this issue will have its legs cut out from it by the events of OMAC Project #3.

We already know what's going on!!!

MAY050190 ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #1 $2.99

How does DC get away with making the covers EQUAL allotments?!?!

APR050374 APPLESEED VOL 1 (MR) $12.99
MAY050195 BATMAN #642 $2.50

Drop all plotlines, more War Games stuff!!!

MAY050255 BATMAN STRIKES #11 $2.25
MAY050223 BREACH #7 $2.50
MAY050276 DESOLATION JONES #2 (MR) $2.99

I predict that people who think Ellis is repeating hero-types might not appreciate it, but I for one dig the vibe he gives out with this comic. Surprisingly mellow and sweet.

MAY050293 FABLES #39 (MR) $2.75
JAN050384 FLASH VS GORILLA GRODD STATUE $195.00

They first tried to make a statue of Turner's Supergirl, but the top of the statue kept breaking off...too much weight, and not enough support in the middle.

MAY050267 FROM EROICA WITH LOVE VOL 4 $9.99
MAY050228 GREEN ARROW #52 $2.50

I estimate that Black Lightning will be grim and gritty in this issue, like he's MEANT to be (sarcasm alert)!!

MAY050233 HAWKMAN #42 $2.50
MAY050235 JLA #116 $2.50

In this issue, we learn that Martian Manhunter's cape buckles also work as coasters.

In addition, we learn that the Red in Flash's costume is lukewarm to the touch, while the yellow is like jello.

And Green Arrow's hat? It is lined with tin foil to keep from being brain-wiped.

MAY050260 MAD MAGAZINE #456 $3.99
MAY050278 MAJESTIC #7 $2.99
MAY050297 MNEMOVORE #4 (OF 6) (MR) $2.99
MAY050204 NIGHTWING #110 $2.50

I am no Devin Grayson fan, but even I have a problem with Villains United crouching in on her (admittedly silly) storyline.

MAY050299 PREACHER VOL 4 ANCIENT HISTORY TP NEW EDITION (MR) $14.99
MAY050301 PREACHER VOL 6 WAR IN THE SUN TP NEW EDITION (MR) $17.99
MAY050300 PREACHER VOL 7 SALVATION TP NEW EDITION (MR) $17.99
MAY050245 RANN THANAGAR WAR #3 (OF 6) $2.50

This and Return of Donna Troy have a nice "imcomprehensible storytelling" contest going on.

Donna Troy #2 was a big improvement, storytelling-wise.

Will Rann/Thanagar #3 match?!?

MAY050265 SCOOBY DOO #98 $2.25
MAY050251 SEVEN SOLDIERS GUARDIAN #3 (OF 4) $2.99

This book will be cool.

APR050325 SUPERMAN BATMAN VOL 3 ABSOLUTE POWER HC $19.99
APR050359 WONDER WOMAN #218 $2.50

A Countdown to Infinite Crisis tie-in!

Just in time!

MAY050306 Y THE LAST MAN VOL 5 RING OF TRUTH TP (MR) $14.99

IMAGE

MAY051543 ARMOR X #4 $2.95

Anyone else reading this?

MAY051527 BODY BAGS FATHERS DAY #1 (OF 2) (MR) $5.99
DEC041519 CHOLLY & FLYTRAP #4 (OF 4) $5.95

I think that this is one of the more "out of the box" comics of recent months...I just don't know if that's a GOOD thing.

MAY051595 CITY OF HEROES #3 $2.99

This book sounds right up Troy Hickman's alley, so it is good to know he's getting the next crack at it.

MAR051740 DALE KEOWN DARKNESS #18 LITHO SGN $29.99

Still looking for presents for upcoming summer weddings?

Look no further!

MAY051588 FRESHMEN LINSNER CVR #1 $2.99
MAY051587 FRESHMEN MIGLIARI CVR #1 $2.99
MAY051589 FRESHMEN PEREZ CVR #1 $2.99

Question...how big of a celebrity do you have to be to have a comic launch based on your name?

Would Jason Ritter be famous enough?

How about J. August Richards?

I wonder about these things so that you don't have to.

MAY051531 GUNCANDY #1 (OF 2) (MR) $5.99
MAY051562 HERO CAMP #3 (OF 4) $2.95

This is it, the ever important "rubber issue." #1 was not so good, #2 was super cool...what will happen to #3!??!

APR051679 INVINCIBLE #24 $2.99
FEB051643 KEU CHA PIRATE DARKNESS LITHO SGN $29.99

Hmmm...this is a tough one. Which to buy? Which one did the bride and groom register for?

APR051668 RIDE VOL 1 TP $9.99
MAY051572 SHADOWHAWK #3 $2.99
APR051661 SMALL GODS SPECIAL #1 $2.95
MAR051705 WALKING DEAD #20 (MR) $2.99

This issue is going to rock so much.

FEB051575 ZOMBIE KING #0 (MR) $2.95

How does Brian Pulido NOT have a Zombie book out?!!?

MARVEL

MAY051833 AVENGERS GRUMMETT POSTER $5.95
APR051975 ESSENTIAL AVENGERS VOL 1 TP NEW PRINTING $16.99
MAY051831 ESSENTIAL KILLRAVEN VOL 1 TP $16.99

What Killraven is exactly MISSING from this TP?

APR051974 ESSENTIAL THOR VOL 1 TP NEW PRINTING $16.99
MAY051785 GRAVITY #2 (OF 5) $2.99

I estimate that McKeever will give us another fun issue of superheroing.

MAY051767 HERCULES #4 (OF 5) $2.99

When you think about it, Frank Tieri is really the closest we've ever come to basically a messageboard poster writing comics.

MAY051829 MARVEL KNIGHTS 4 VOL 3 DIVINE TIME TP $14.99

While the art is not great, I believe this is one of the finest superhero comic writing we have right now.

MAY051780 MARVEL NEMESIS IMPERFECTS #3 (OF 6) $2.99

I sure hope Greg Pak did not sign an exclusive with Marvel to write stuff like this book.

MAY051741 MUTOPIA X #1 (OF 5) $2.99

Will Hine use this as his last chance at Marvel or as a fond farewell as he moves on to Spawn?

MAR051905 NEW AVENGERS #7 $2.25

Two issues within a month of each other?! I cannot fathom this!

JAN058021 NEW AVENGERS NEAL ADAMS VARIANT #7 $2.25

When do you think the variants will stop?

Place your bets, place your bets!

MAY051791 NEW THUNDERBOLTS #10 $2.99

I predict we will get more clues that I am right, only serving to irritate me more when it turns out that Nicieza is screwing me by making it someone else!

MAY051790 NEW WARRIORS #2 (OF 6) $2.99

The art on New Warriors - what say you? Yay or nay?

MAY051801 NYX #6 (MR) $2.99
MAY051810 PUNISHER #23 (MR) $2.99
MAY051758 SPIDER-MAN BREAKOUT #4 (OF 5) $2.99
MAY051759 TOXIN #4 (OF 6) $2.99

I predict that this will continue to be amazingly good for a comic about the spawn of the spawn of Venom.

MAY051750 ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #21 $2.50
APR058305 ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR VARIANT ED #21 (PP #676) $2.50

This universe crossover is intriguing, because it makes sense...Marvel and DC have traded places!!!

Marvel has House of M comics available for reorder.

DC "sells out" of every Infinite Crisis tie-in.

Marvel lets retailers pick which cover they want.

DC forces them to take half of their order with a less sellable cover.

Marvel is #2.

DC is #1.

Creeepy.

MAY051798 ULTIMATE MARVEL FLIP MAGAZINE #2 $3.99
MAY051799 ULTIMATE TALES FLIP MAGAZINE #2 $3.99

Does anyone's comic store sell these?

MAY051754 ULTIMATE X-MEN #61 $2.50
APR058296 ULTIMATE X-MEN COIPEL VARIANT #61 (PP #675) $2.50
MAY051826 ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 11 MOST DANGEROUS GAME TP $9.99

I like the price point.

MAY051803 WEAPON X DAYS OF FUTURE NOW #1 (OF 5) $2.99
MAY051822 X-MEN GOLGOTHA TP $12.99
MAY051809 X-MEN THE END HEROES AND MARTYRS #5 (OF 6) $2.99

WIZARD

MAY052336 TOYFARE MARVEL HOUSE OF M CVR #97 $4.99

COMICS

APR052509 AC SUPERHERO MARATHON PACK $24.50
MAY052380 ACTOR TEEN TITANS #20 SGN $19.99
MAY052381 ACTOR WHAT IF GENERAL ROSS HAD BECOME THE HULK SGN $19.99

No mocking for Actor!

Actor is cool.

MAY052828 ANGEL THE CURSE #2 (OF 5) $3.99

I did not like #1, so I estimate that I will not like #2.

APR052631 ASSASSIN #1 $4.95
MAY052894 BANANA SUNDAYS #1 (OF 4) $2.99

This sounds just quirky enough to give it a try!

APR052641 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #158 $2.39
APR052931 BRONTES INFERNAL ANGRIA #1 (OF 3) $4.00
APR052743 BRUNNERS CARNAL DELIGHTS #1 (A) $9.95
MAY052624 BRUNNERS CARNAL DELIGHTS ALICE CVR #1 (A) $9.95

Wow...Frank Brunner sure likes his erotica.

A whole BOOKFUL of it!

MAY052741 CANVAS ONE SHOT (MR) (O/A) $9.95
APR052745 CARNAL COMICS BLONDE BABES MULTI PACK (A) $9.95
APR053235 CHEEKY ANGEL VOL 7 GN $9.95
APR052971 COMPLETE JON SABLE FREELANCE VOL 2 HC $39.99
MAY052830 DAMPYR #4 NOCTURNE IN RED $7.99

Nice art, but a bit pricey.

MAR052820 DELETE #2 (RES) $2.99
APR053259 DESCENDANTS OF DARKNESS VOL 6 GN $9.99
APR052554 DEVILS KEEPER #1 (NOTE PRICE) $0.75
MAR052849 DF BATMAN SCARECROW YEAR ONE #1 SGN $29.99
APR052849 DF HOUSE OF M #1 SGN $19.99
MAR052838 DF MONSTER WAR FOIL CVR #2 $10.00

Did they make this book up?

Oh wait..is this the Tomb Raider one?

MAR052862 DF NEW AVENGERS #2 DOUBLE SGN $49.99
MAR052871 DF PHOENIX ENDSONG #1 & #2 SGN SET $49.99
MAR052869 DF ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #19 SGN $19.99
MAR052876 DF ULTIMATE IRON MAN DLX SGN ED #1 $49.99
MAR052853 DF VILLAINS UNITE #1 SGN $19.99

Now they're even giving them special copies with different titles!

When will it stop!?!?

FEB052770 DF WANTED KILLER REVEALED LTD ED FOIL CVR #6 SGN (MR) $29.99
APR052857 DF WOLVERINE #26 ROMITA SGN $19.99
JAN052657 DORK TOWER #31 $2.99
JAN052658 DR BLINK SUPERHERO SHRINK #2 $3.49
MAY052459 EIKEN VOL 1 GN (MR) $9.99
MAY052854 FAIRY DREAMS & WET MEMORIES (A) (O/A) $14.95

Best comic title ever.

MAR053007 FATHOM #12 MICHAEL TURNER SIGNED HOLOCHROME ED $19.99
MAR052474 FEMFORCE #132 $6.95
MAR053284 FLAME OF RECCA VOL 12 TP $9.99
APR053261 FROM FAR AWAY VOL 5 GN $9.99
APR058266 GI JOE #0 2ND PTG (PP #674) $2.95

I estimate that this comic needed a less cartoony artist.

APR053270 HERE IS GREENWOOD VOL 5 GN $9.99
MAY052746 HOLY MOLY (MR) (O/A) $4.95
MAY052855 HORNY BIKER SLUTS VOL 1 TP NEW PTG (A) $19.95
FEB052936 HURRAH SAILOR VOL 1 GN (OF 2) $9.95
APR052645 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #114 $3.59
MAR052936 LACKLUSTER WORLD #3 (MR) $3.95

This comic from Eric Adams sounds interesting, I just wish I could find a copy of #1 first...

APR052548 LEGEND OF ISIS #2 $2.99
MAR052920 LIVING WITH ZOMBIES #3 (MR) $2.50

Seriously, Pulido has not yet had a zombie book?!?

What is KEEPING him?!!?

MAY052748 LIZARD ZEN (MR) (O/A) $9.95
MAY052891 MAX HAMM FAIRY TALE DETECTIVE VOL 1 TP $14.95

Eisner nominee!

This comic is quite cool looking!

MAY053063 MIDDLEMAN #1 (OF 4) $2.95
APR052616 NEW REALMS OF SORCERY MIKE HOFFMAN SKETCHBOOK W SGN PRINT $16.95
MAY052446 NIGHTMARES & FAIRY TALES VOL 2 BEAUTIFUL BEASTS TP $14.95
APR052573 NIGHTMARES AND FAIRY TALES #13 (MR) $2.95

This series is intriguing, and I like that the trade comes out when the latest storyline starts.

Smart planning!

APR052547 PAKKINS LAND VOL 2 #3 $2.99
APR052549 PENNY & AGGIE #2 (OF 4) $2.99
MAY052754 PIN-UP ART OF BILL WENZEL (MR) $18.95
APR053278 PLOT SECRET STORY OF PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION $19.95
DEC042703 POPO CAN VOL 1 GN $9.95
APR052647 SABRINA VOL 2 #68 $2.25

I estimate that this will be good.

APR053253 SAIKANO VOL 5 GN (MR) $9.95
MAY052460 SAMURAI MAN VOL 1 GN (MR) $9.99
APR053254 SEXY VOICE AND ROBO VOL 1 GN $19.99
APR052592 SHRIEK SHOW MARK OF SHADOW #2 (MR) $2.99
MAY052447 SILENT DANCE GN $14.95

Matteo Casali had a decent Catwoman fill-in arc.

I predict that this story will be interesting.

MAY052765 SILKY WHIP #7-12 SET (A) (O/A) $20.00
MAY052766 SILKY WHIP EXTREME #1-7 SET (A) (O/A) $24.00
MAY052764 SILKY WHIP VOL 1 TP (A) (O/A) $16.95
APR052961 SMOKE #2 (OF 3) $7.49

What did you folks think of Harvey Jerkwater's first review here, about #1?

APR052649 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #151 $2.25
MAR053008 SOULFIRE #1 JAY CO VARIANT (O/A) $12.99
MAR052724 SOULSEARCHERS #72 $2.50
MAY052893 STRANGE DETECTIVE TALES DEAD LOVE #1 (OF 3) (MR) $3.95

With this AND the fairy tale detective out, you have every detective angle covered!!

MAR052939 UNIVERSE OF LIBERATORE HC $19.95
APR052893 USAGI YOJIMBO VOL 4 SC $16.95
APR053277 W JULIET VOL 5 GN $9.99
MAY053044 WAHOO MORRIS VOL 2 #1 (MR) $2.75
MAR053010 WITCHBLADE WWLA LTD DIGITIALLY PAINTED ED $24.99
MAR053009 WITCHBLADE WWLA LTD SKETCH ED $19.99
MAR053011 WITCHBLADE WWLA LTD SKETCH S/N ED $29.99

Digitally painted is almost as much as a sketch SIGNED!

My world is upside down!!!!

FEB052975 WYATT EARP DODGE CITY #2 $2.95

I really liked My Darling Clementine.

Wyatt Earp is a great freakin' cowboy.

Well, that's it for me!

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

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Wee-haw! New cat on the premises!

Howdy do. My name's Harvey Jerkwater. Seeing as how the fine folks at Comics Should Be Good recently lost one of their writers, I figured I'd volunteer my services.

My first review, of Smoke #1 is below. A review of Kyle Baker's Nat Turner #1 should be a'comin' shortly.

Should you be so interested, my regular blog is Filing Cabinet of the Damned, a veritable festival of bizarre opinions, essays, and whatnot. My idea is to supply Comics Should Be Good with reviews, while the longer or stranger stuff will go in Filing Cabinet.

My thanks to the guys here at CSBG for a shot. Hopefully I won't get canned for at least two weeks.

--Harv

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A Near Thing: Smoke #1

Smoke #1 – Alex de Campi and Igor Kordey
IDW Publishing

Hyping her upcoming miniseries Smoke in Newsarama, writer Alex de Campi stated “I’m more of an auteur than a mainstream writer, anyway. I’d rather be known for creating five amazing books, and five awful ones, than for being ‘Little Miss Continuity’ who wrote 50 mediocre books.”

I love artistic bravado. Upon reading those two sentences, I knew I’d have to give the book a try, even at $7.50 an issue.

Critics all over the blog-o-sphere love Smoke. They rave about the world it depicts, the slam-bang action, the social and political satire.

And yet, and yet, and yet.

Ms. de Campi and Mr. Kordey earned my respect and my interest by trying to create a book that was about things more importnant than new and inventive ways to make things go boom. This is a fine ambition. They're both skilled creators. It could work.

However, by reaching for a higher goal than brainless entertainment, the book submits itself to a high critical standard. Against this standard, Smoke falls short. It's decent, not great.

There’s a lack of originality in the story and its constituent elements. Boiling the plot to a single sentence, Smoke is about a black ops soldier in the near future who turns against his masters and fights against their corruption of society. Certainly a plot that's darkened many comics, novels and movies over the last few decades.

The assassin, named Cain (ye gods), has an ex-girlfriend for whom he still harbors feelings (ye gods). She almost certainly reciprocates these emotions (ye gods). Who is she? Why, she’s the daughter of his ex-boss, the man whose murder sets the plot in motion (ye gods)! Cain is, of course, an outsider who lives among colorful criminals and is tortured by his memories of a dark past. Ye gods.

Cain is an albino. This was either a canny move (in the visual medium of comics, he stands apart from other characters very effectively) or dumb (An albino assassin? Isn’t that a cheap technique from bad thrillers, like The Da Vinci Code and the Chevy Chase movie Foul Play?)

The female lead of the story is a young reporter (sigh) who’s been overlooked her whole career (sigh) who’s about to get into big trouble pursuing The Big Story (sigh).

Granted, this does not doom the comic. Many classics of the medium are shameless in their recycling of old material. What separates a fascinating reinterpretation from a boring rehash is the artistry used to implement them and the ends towards which these materials are directed.

And that is where Smoke #1 breaks down.

At no point in the issue did I think I was reading a fresh perspective or anything particularly insightful. In short, where is the story going? What are Ms. De Campi and Mr. Kordey trying to say? "Government is filled with corruption?" "Oil money controls power?" "Stupid and deluded people resort to violence to achieve stupid and deluded ends?"

I’d wager everyone reading this blog is well acquainted with all of these propositions. Hey, I live in the Washington DC area, ground zero for corruption, violence, and politically-motivated lunacy. Such ideas are not bold around here; they’re accepted as simple truths.

Then there’s the satire. It also feels unimpressive. Though Ms. De Campi is not British by birth (she’s lived in the UK for a little less than a decade), the book is steeped in British satiric clichés.

For example, the issue starts with the Prime Minister shooting pheasants at the behest of a villainous cad. As the PM kills bird after bird, his face distorts, and he is depicted as reveling in the sweaty, drooling sadism that lay hidden beneath his timid, feckless exterior. Later, the King of England is depicted as a drug-addled degenerate, seen only in the company of numerous unconscious sex partners.

Smoke shows that beneath the surface of powerful men lies not just greed and cruelty, but a slavering bug-eyed depravity, eager to burst forth and commit horrible acts for the sheer pleasure of them. Yeah, yeah. This particular flavor of overblown cynicism is distinctly British, and one very commonly found in the UK’s pop (or at least comic book) culture.

Like an American story showing an industrial magnate coolly ruining lives for a nickel’s profit or a moralizing man of the cloth who secretly molests children, the “revelations” brought by these characters felt less than revealing. They felt instead like stock villains that Ms. de Campi and Mr. Kordey believed, for some reason, we’d find shocking and insightful. The points to be made by these portrayals are blunted by overuse elsewhere.

Also lumped under satire is a terrorist organization manipulated by the villains, the “Right to Beauty Brigade.” The RBB is made up of the beyond-morbidly obese, out to secure cosmetic surgery through violence.

If I may go out on a limb, based on my recollections, using such grotesqueries seems to be a particularly British/Irish approach. Garth Ennis made use of the grotesquely obese in Hitman and Preacher for satiric effect. That icon of British comic book satire, Judge Dredd, faced a similar criminal group known as “The League of Fatties” back in the mid-eighties.

I may be wrong, and this satirical device may also be used by American or Japanese writers. If so, well, my apologies. Regardless, it’s not much of a satiric device. Rather, it’s a visual shock meant to revulse and produce snide giggles. Not the same thing, really.

Finding the satire weak and the political views to be standard-issue disenchantment, Smoke #1 struck me as a book that lacks a compelling viewpoint. What’s then left is a routine thriller plot set in a standard-issue near-future and infused with a healthy dose of English comic clichés.

The comic is not badly made. Ms. De Campi and Mr. Kordey unfold a lot of material into the story smoothly, a not-inconsiderable feat. I love the art. There are also moments of wit, such as the illustration of why one should not fire guns straight up and an excellent use of the phrase “freak pickling accident.” It’s a solid book.

But dang it, it just doesn’t reach the heights at which it aims. Frustrating.

Smoke is a good comic that tried hard to be great.

-----------
Postscript: I feel like an asshat writing this. I’ve read some of Ms. de Campi’s writings elsewhere on the internet, and she seems like a cool person.

I can also hear the counter-criticism of “hey, who the hell are you to be so rude?” Who am I? I’m Harvey Jerkwater, roving blowhard, that’s who I am.

If and when I ever finish my own project, I invite Ms. de Campi and Mr. Kordey to publicly criticize it, should they see fit, using the words "vapid twaddle" and "brain-spearingly awful" as they like. It’s only fair.

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No Holds Barred Comics Review!

I don't know why I titled the post that - it just popped into my head. Of course holds are barred!

So, Omaha Perez of the enigmatically-named O-P-P Press sent me some comics. Yes, I know I'm not special, since he sent some to Cronin as well, and if he thinks Cronin's opinion is valuable, he obviously has some problems. Since Brian already gave us his opinions of some of the books (and I basically agree with him), I'll just focus on the book he didn't review: Bodhisattva.

 

Bodhisattva is written and drawn by Mr. Perez, with script assistance from Richard Raleigh and Dr. Michael McLaughlin. It's $11.95 for a pretty good chunk of book. According to Mr. Perez, it will be in bookstores this very month, so this review is awfully timely!

So, is it any good? Well, despite the somewhat disappointing ending, yes. Since I'm not necessarily an art guy, I'll briefly talk about it. It's good. Rough, sure, and a bit stilted at times, but good throughout. The scenes in 1591 B.C., when the Indian dudes meet the "gods," are particularly well done, conveying a nice sense of majesty and mystery. The final showdown, while disappointing in its execution, was also nicely rendered. Perez has a good grasp on the Hindu gods (Ganesh is especially powerfully drawn) and his characters are easily distinguishable from each other. That may not sound like much, but it is. Everyone can't look the same, people! That's why superheroes wear costumes, after all - so we can tell them apart!

The story is intriguing, because it's not something we see every day and it's a nice mystery wrapped up in religious overtones. In Periphery #1, Brian liked the story of Ganesh, while others didn't. In this book, we get a lot more Hindu mythology, and although it threatens occasionally to overwhelm the story, Perez manages to keep from doing so. A slight knowledge of the Hindu pantheon couldn't hurt, but it's not like you need to have read the Ramayana to get it.

The main characters are Bodhi, a monk living in 1591 B.C., and Alex, a schizophrenic living in San Francisco. Back in the day, Bodhi and his group of acolytes met up with the gods and received their power. Another monk, Rahula, receives power from Kali, and that's never good. Rahula and Bodhi both survive until the present day, avatars of their gods (Bodhi gets his power from Brahma, the "good guy" of the gods), each striving to bring about their deity's vision on earth. For Rahula, this means a lot of destruction. What is interesting about the scenes from 1591 B.C. is how Perez suggests, subtly and not-so-subtly, that the gods are actually aliens who have to leave Earth. He never comes right out and says it, and Ganesh's appearance at the end seems to argue against it, but it's still there, and it adds a nice layer of mystery to the proceedings. Erich von Däniken would be so proud.

In the present day, we meet Alex and Jack Costello and a few others, all in the loony bin where Alex is sent. He's not really schizophrenic, he just happens to see Bodhi floating around a lot, and no one else can. The scenes in the asylum are the most interesting in the book, as Perez comments on the state of the mental health industry and who exactly is crazy and why these people never get any better. Costello, the orderly, is a horrible human being, while the inmates, although crazy, don't seem to pose any threat to society. This borders on stereotype, but Perez redeems himself with the mini-story of Hatar Singh, who did a bad thing years earlier and seeks forgiveness. He finds it, but not in the way we expect, which is nice. It takes a while for us to find our footing with the story, because we're not sure exactly how everything fits together, but eventually we're on a clear path, and all makes sense.

Unfortunately, it makes too much sense, I think. For most of the book, it's a meditation on what makes us good and evil, and why we make the choices we do, and how we can find redemption. It's elevated above standard comic-book fare by these themes and the unusual vehicle - Hindu mysticism - that Perez uses to convey these themes. In the end, however, it disappoints, because it turns into a superhero fight. It's not a bad superhero fight, and the art, as I mentioned, is as good as the rest of the book, but the scene wouldn't feel out of place in a Dr. Strange comic, and I don't want that from this book. It just seems like it could have been much more, and Perez took the easy way out. It's a shame.

Is it worth it? It's 12 dollars, after all, and I always try to look at the value you get for your buck. It's a cynical way to review things, I know, but that's the way it is. I would say it's worth it for the nice art and the first three-quarters of the book. It takes you to a world we in the West know little about, and it forces you to look at the world a little differently. That it ultimately doesn't deliver isn't the worst thing in the world - it's not an illogical ending, just a disappointing one. Other than that, I would check it out. It's neat. And you can listen to Steely Dan while you read it!

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This Artist is Good - Brian Michael Bendis

Brian Michael Bendis is currently a very popular writer, but one significant drawback in the volume of his work output these days is, in my opinion, the decrease in the amount of art he is doing...a decrease from "drawing all his work" to "drawing nothing," which I think is a shame.

Bendis' early work in comics is admittedly a bit rough.

Looking at his pieces here from some of his early comics, you can see that they can be a bit more polished...





But what each piece possesses is a remarkable sense of storytelling abilities.

An artist can always polish his or her work, an artist cannot always learn how to be a good storyteller.

Bendis achieves this in his work, and adds a nice sense of drama to the pieces.

In addition, he works well with shadows, which always impresses me.

As his dramatic work progressed, Bendis began to work with photographs for his work, which I think helped a LOT.

Think about it...he already had the storytelling and the mood down, so all he needed was to polish his characters...well, one way to do that is to import the characters from photographs.

This was used by Bendis is perhaps his greatest work to date, Torso....





Aren't those pieces striking?

Finally, Bendis also has a very entertaining cartoon style, as seen here in his Fortune and Glory story.



So while Brian Michael Bendis might be a popular writer, I also think he is a good artist.

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Chats Should Be Good, Too

Tomorrow night, I am moderating a chat with Mark Smith and Dan Hipp in the Comic Book Resources chat room about their comic, Amazing Joy Buzzards, so feel free to stop by.

It's an "In the Midnight Hour" chat, as it is 9:00 PM PST/Midnight EST, Tuesday night.

You have to register to chat, but that's no big deal, as it is free. Click here to register.

Hope to see some of you folks there!

Just a thought (it might be a stupid thought, but it's the only one I have!)

I was thinking about Previews and why some people out there might be missing out on stuff that is outside the "Big Two Axis of Evil." I know you can find Marvel and DC solicitations on the Internet, but I don't know about everything else. Back in the day, I didn't get Previews because I didn't think I needed it. Oh, I was a foolish mortal! Also, the damned thing is 5 dollars! So I'm just wondering if people who want to find non-mainstream comics don't because they don't want to plunk down the ducats for something they're going to recycle in a month anyway. My point is: my local comics shoppe gives Previews away. I'm thinking if the owner of my store, who is a nice guy but very conservative in his business, can afford to give it away, most stores can. If you would like Previews but don't want to pay your hard-earned cash, you might suggest to your local entrepreneur that he (or she, I suppose) give it away. You would order more comics, which would make him mo' money. Or that's the way it's supposed to work. Anyway, it's just a thought. You can return to your much more fascinating lives now.

Three 7/7 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!!

Wildguard: Fool's Gold #1

Todd Nauck has done a fine job with this title so far, and this issue continues the streak.

It is interesting...a lot is made of the gimmick of this title. That is generally what gets promoted most...American Idol for Superheroes! Heck, the whole back cover practically is covered by Peter David telling us how great the idea is.

But while this might be useful in getting people to pay attention to the title (which is nice), it almost distracts from the fact that, really, the comic is fine without any gimmick. It is just a well-told, well-illustrated superhero comic book.

This storyline shows the team involved in a fashion show that turns into a mystery when all the jewelry in the area disappears.

There is also a lot of more subtle character interaction in the back, such as Freezerburn's frustration at the group teaming up with another superhero (not wanting the other hero to get the exposure he feels HE deserves), the questionable motivation of a hero's girlfriend and the whole atmosphere of seeing heroes react to the news that a team added a new member. Well done stuff.

In addition, the "confessionals" that are sprinkled in the book to give exposition and back story (as the whole thing is on TV) are fun. Clever idea, especially since the confessional format is so familiar to readers from TV that they do not even blink at them, even when a writer is using them as basically an info dump.

Recommended!

Justice League Unlimited #11

This issue reminded me of the scene in Jerry Maguire. The "you had me at hello" scene.

As soon as I saw that Adam Beechen was having an issue of JLU devoted to a Stargirl/Aquaman team-up, he basically had me at hello.

What a neat, unexpected (almost random) team-up!

It is combos like this that really highlight the greatness of Justice League Unlimited. Heroes who you would never expect to see working together...well....working together!

The key to this issue is Beechen's characterization of Stargirl and Aquaman, but he makes sure to provide a lot of action for Carlo Barberi to draw (as I have said in the past, there are certain projects that Barberi is geared towards telling. This is one of those projects).

Beechen takes a risk by perhaps making Stargirl appearing too annoying or making Aquaman appear too arrogant. This is the sort of thing that few writers can pull off, which is why you rarely see it (or when you DO see it, it is done poorly, as the writer never redeems either character, so you just have a comic where the stars are jerks).

Beechen also throws in little tidbits about what life in Atlantis is like, which is nice and interesting.

The action could have been a little better, but, like I said, the real key here was the relationship between Stargirl and Aquaman, and that paid off in spades.

Recommended!

Spider-Man Unlimited #10

An interesting question was puzzling me at the end of Marc Sumerak's story "Banner Weblines" in this issue.

Did he come up with the idea for the ending FIRST, and then build a story around it?

Or did he come up with the story and THEN come up with the idea for the ending?

In any event, it was a nice story. I was a huge fan of Roger Stern on Amazing Spider-Man, and this story reminds me a lot of Stern's Spider-Man, even down to Greg Tocchini's art, which reminded me of JRjr's work on Amazing back when Stern was on the book.

The story is about an assistant that J. Jonah Jameson hires who hates Spider-Man as much as Jameson does, and this issue sees if Spidey can change his stance.

Good stuff.

The second story, however, is not as good. Pia Guerra, as usual, supplies nice artwork, but Maria-Emiko Macuaga's story is creepy...and not in a good way.

I certainly hope she was going for a bizzarre ending, as I would really hope that she did not think that the "happy" ending of the story was an ACTUAL happy ending.

Because that ending was NOT a happy ending.

Girls who are obssesed with people enough that they build bombs to show the person how they hurt them...well...those people do not really deserve "Oh, I learned my lesson!" endings!!!

People like that are seriously disturbed!

They need HELP!

It is not GOOD if she just transfers her psychotic crush to another person!

Unless, of course, that is not the intent of Macuaga, but in THAT case, she did not do a very good job of making that clear, that the ending was NOT meant to be a "happy ending" but rather, a disturbing ending.

One good story and one not-so good story...not enough....

Not 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:

Strange Girl #2

Blackpool #1

Dead Eyes Open #1

Judo Girl #3

Thanks!

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