New comics day.
I believe as I was talking to pal Tom at the shop yesterday, I referred to the newest issue of Marvel’s Secret War as “a bunch of horse****” — okay, granted, I’d been vaguely irritated for most of the day, and thus not in the best of moods, so maybe that description was a little over the top. But, really, it’s only half comics, with the other half filled with dossier files or some damn thing, and a bunch of pin-ups in the back, including an unfinished Spider-Man sketch that apparently was left over from one of Marvel’s 9/11 exploitation books. Feh, sez I.
As long as I’m piling on Marvel…are there any betting pools out there as to whether or not this newest Daredevil mini-series (Daredevil: Redemption) will be the one that actually finishes? Or will it join Daredevil: Father and Daredevil: That Bullseye Mini No One Cares about Anymore in limbo?
Just so I’m not all anti-Marvel…the new Essential Tomb of Dracula volume is out, reprinting a bunch of stories from Marvel’s 70s horror mags. It’s as good-looking as the previous three volumes, and the only downside is trying to find the time to read it. Let’s hope Marvel gets around to an Essential Man-Thing volume (though judging by advance word on this movie, Marvel may be trying to forget they ever published a comic by that name).
The new bull in the china shop for the comics industry is DC Countdown, which I already briefly talked about last week, since I cheated and read the preview copy we received. Like it or hate it, comic fans are buying it, and this new expanded DC Universe cross-continuity business (of which this title is an integral part) is helping to improve sales across the board on DC’s titles, at least at our shop. I’ve even started buying Teen Titans again, and I’m considering picking up the new, slightly more superhero-y Batman, a series I haven’t read regularly in probably about 15 years.
SPOILERS AHOY
Speaking of Batman, it appears that the big mistake of not making you know who the villain of Hush is being rectified in this “Red Hood” storyline, as the character everyone thinks the Red Hood really is, is revealed to be…the character everyone thinks he is. Whether it’s yet another big fake-out remains to be seen.
THUS ENDETH THE SPOILERS
Another annoyance was the arrival of yet more Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith comics that we can’t put out for sale until April 2nd…the first issue of the mini-series adaptation, plus the trade paperback of the whole shebang. Yes, I peeked at the end. Boy, is the trailer misleading. The art, by Mark Wheatley, sure is nice, though.
There are a lot more new faces on the Comics Weblog Update-A-Tron 3000, and I need to get around to adding them soon…but one I definitely need to add is Jumbotron 6000. Good readin’!
God bless you, Corey Beckner. You are truly a prince among men.
