They don’t write ’em like this anymore.
And now, another moment with Cap the Scorpion and the Falcon:
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Sin City stats for your Dark Champions role playing game. Includes a list of characters (plus stats for specific ones), locations, and a timeline. Wow.
And yes, I’ve seen the new Sin City trailer. Well, at least there’s more Miho in it. Here’s hoping they don’t keep the camera trained on Mickey Rourke’s Marv make-up for too long.
I know, I know, I shouldn’t be so negative…but I tend to approach every new movie as if it’s going to be awful. Too often, I’m right.
I do like this image from the new trailer, though:
EDIT: Couldn’t resist:
Comic book word balloon ‘n’ caption stencil. (upper left hand corner)
“Seven Mistakes Superheroines Make” – “4. Do wear trendy clothes. Don’t wear fetish clothes.”
“His strength rivals that of volcanoes.”
“City of Heroes Gets Its Own Comic Book” – no mention is made of the comic book it already has.
“From Comics to Crap” – a look at comics-to-movies translations. Pegs what’s wrong with the forthcoming V for Vendetta movie.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t get enough of people dressed as Stormtroopers at conventions. All images from the official site of the Golden Gate Garrison, the 501st Stormtrooper Legion: “available for appearances at any variety of public or private events.”
“A vague sense of hope.”
Regarding this cartoon I posted earlier today: I swear I’m a well-adjusted, emotionally-stable human being. Just my cartoons are pure evil, I promise. A lot of my comic strips from the Wood-Eye family o’comics digests were very, very dark-humored…why, I’m practically “goth,” I am.
The Doonesbury tribute to Hunter S. Thompson.
Via This is Pop, All The Rage discusses the dropping sales of the current Doom Patrol series and the possibility that its “reboot” of the team will be eventually reverted after the series’ cancellation. The idea noted in the column that this series may be considered to be a “Doom Patrol” TV series within the DC Universe reminds me of how Marvel explained away the stories in the Hulk black and white magazine as movies made by an alien filmmaker. Or how Steve Gerber planned, in this unpublished script, to retcon the Howard the Duck stories he didn’t write.
Like All The Rage, I don’t think DC needs to bother, should things come to this. It doesn’t appear anyone was paying any attention to the team’s rebooted status, anyway, given the throwaway gag in Identity Crisis referring to old DP continuity, not to mention Geoff Johns’ “revamp” of Beast Boy’s origin (which, from my brief glance at the story, just looks like he retold the origin without mentioning the DP’s involvement). In other words, the Doom Patrol’s reboot status has had little or no impact anywhere outside the Doom Patrol title itself, so, you know, big whoop.
There is no official news about cancellation of the title, but sales at least at our store have dropped quite a bit. The first issue sold quite well, but essentially continuing plotlines from the critically-slammed JLA story was a mistake, crippling the comic from the get-go. The book improved shortly after that initial two-parter, but too late to get the readers back, I’m afraid.
An old article about Archie toys that has a nice shot of a vintage action figure. (The possessive version of “it” is “its” – its!)
Reshoots on Fantastic Four planned for later this week. Insert your own joke/snarky comment here.
“Never been very popular.”
(click here for page two)
from Wood-Eye #7 (December 1995) – “cartooned” by yours truly
“Wow! It was like a symphony!”
Today at the store, one of my regular customers asked if I would pose for a gag picture with him and his buddy. They stood at the comic rack, making as if they were just standing there reading the comics in a “hey, this ain’t a library” sort of way, and I was standing behind them, holding the store’s wooden baseball bat in an “I’m gonna knock you punk kids into next week” sort of way, while trying to maintain an angry grimace.
No, it’s not blackmail material…these guys are cool. And yes, the store has a wooden baseball bat. We call it “The Peacemaker.”
If I get a copy of the picture, perhaps I’ll post it here, providing I don’t appear too horrible-looking…my camel-hair toupee was having an “off” day, so God knows what it looks like in the photo.
I’ve been meaning to say something about this, and I kept forgetting…thanks to The Comic Treadmill for reminding me: my Canadian twin has posted on Flat Earth again, to remind us all to “Read A Comic Book Naked!” He also put up a panel from the Archie nude beach story (which fits in quite nicely with my look at bizarre Archie happenings last week). Good to see him again, and let’s hope he posts again soon!
And now…another moment with Cap and the Falcon:
from Captain America #138 (June 1971) by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., & Tony Mortellaro
1. Sell-outs, baby! We actually blew through our copies of the first issue of Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, selling more copies than we normally do of Adventures of Superman and Action. We also sold out of Firestorm #11, which makes it like the second or third issue of this series in a row to sell out on the rack. (I’m pretty sure we’d adjusted orders, so we should have enough of the next issue.) Also, surprisingly and/or annoyingly, G.I. Joe Reloaded has sold out…the G.I. Joe comics as a whole slowed down, we cut orders, and now sales are suddenly back up. I hate when that happens. Um, not the “increased sales” part, the “trying to guess customers’ random buying patterns two to three months ahead of time” part. There are just some things cycle sheets can’t predict.
1a. Not that I cared for this comic at all, but I could use a reprint or something of Space Ghost #1. Of course, this late in the series we’re not likely to see one, but I still have people asking us for copies all the time.
2. On Wednesday…it only took two people asking me if the new Age of Apocalypse one-shot and mini-series were reprints of the original ’90s series to make me to put up “ALL-NEW!” tags with those comics.
3. Bjorn hits us with his 100 Things He Loves About Comics, German-style. He was good enough to list members of the ACAPCWOVCCAOE as some of his favorites, which we all appreciate. Thanks, Bjorn!
3a. Speaking of which, I need to add several more links to my list of other Top 100 lists, but I’m still pondering what direction to go with the sentence o’links…I’m running out of ideas! In the meantime, Fearless Fred Hembeck is keeping track here, just past the halfway point on the page. (More like the 5/8ths point.)
4. So we currently have the Casper photo clip thingie in stock, and I’ve had more than one customer refer to it as, um, the Casper “roach clip.” Complete nonsense, of course. However, it does look great on our shelves next to the Hot Stuff “birdseed scale,” the Baby Huey “indoor greenhouse,” and the Little Lotta “novelty water pipe.”
4a. (It’s a sad world that makes this necessary.) I’m only joking.
4b. Everything I know about “drug culture” I learned from The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Does it show?
5. Last yesterday afternoon I started swapping around some of the promo posters we have above the new comics shelves…one of the new posters was for the forthcoming event comic DC Countdown. Boy, they didn’t do any favors to this image by blowing it up to poster size, did they? Get a good look at it the next time you’re in your local comics emporium.
Imagi-Mation Magazine #1 (1989) – art by Michael Friedman
Now, the odd thing about this book is that the art, on the cover and throughout the interior pages, appears to have been stretched to fit the proportions of a standard comic book.
The actual aspect ratio of the artwork may be a little closer to this:
Here’s one of the interior panels:
And corrected:
Incidentally, the second issue of this parody comic featured “Dr. Whom Meets Star Wreck,” but, alas, I don’t have a copy of that one to share with you.
1. Johanna has reported that her copy of the new Little Lulu volume from Dark Horse, Lulu Takes A Trip, has a few pages out of order. And, I’m sorry to report, my copy does as well. It seems unlikely that Dark Horse will recall all copies and issue corrected volumes…you all may have to wait for the second printing.
2. Scott Saavedra brings us Captain Marvel versus Captain Marvel. “Split!”
3. Dave at Yet Another Comics Blog has a Spider-Girl digest giveaway. You only have ’til March 11th to enter, so get cracking!
4. Beaucoupkevin, I command you…to continue making me laugh!
4a. Speaking of Galactus, here’s an overview of that epic meeting of Galactus and Dazzler. And here is some computer-generated fan art.
5. Spider-Man Dog Costume. “Images deemed reliable.”
In which Mike doesn’t learn from history.
Why didn’t you stop me? Why? Because you demanded it, and I wasn’t smart enough to say “no,” I once again take a look at every regular plain ol’ funnybook that darkened our doorstep this Wednesday. Like before, these are just the comics…no graphic novels, magazines, or manga. No [cite] tags, either. Also as before, due to the vagaries of distribution, some books on this list may not be available in your area, and some books available at your local shop may not have made it to our distribution center yet.
A1 SPECIAL BRICKTOP CON ED – This comic (the non-variant version, anyway) has sold fairly well, particularly since there’s no logo on the front cover. Glenn Fabry sells comics!
AFTERMATH DEFEX #5 – So there’s Marv Wolfman! Nice cartoony art by the Cossin Brothers.
ANGRY YOUTH COMIX #8 – It seems to me that I probably would have liked this comic a lot more when I was in my early 20s, when I was more into this kind of angry/tasteless/over-the-top kind of cartooning. Just not into it anymore, I guess, now that I’m a creaky-boned senior citizen.
AP HOW TO DRAW MANGA NEXT GENERATION #2 – QUIT INVOICING THIS UNDER “AP!” Um, ahem, sorry about that.
ARANA HEART OF THE SPIDER #2 – Points to Marvel for trying, I suppose, but it doesn’t appear to be attracting the hoped-for new audience. Sells okay to the same people who have always bought Marvel Comics, though.
ARCHIE #555 – There’s a security camera joke on the cover of this issue…it’s not really untimely, but just by virtue of being on the cover of an Archie comic, that makes it seem outdated.
ARTBABE PRESENTS LA PERDIDA #5 – I expect this to sell well as a trade, when it eventually comes out in one.
CAPTAIN AMERICA & THE FALCON #13 – I’ve been enjoying looking back at Cap and the Falcon funnybooks of the ’70s, but this series doesn’t seem to be as much goofy fun. That said, it’s not too bad as your standard issue superhero comics go.
CASEFILES SAM & TWITCH #14 – Now, in this Shadow series, there was a character named “Twitch,” if I recall correctly, who looked kinda/sorta like the Twitch from the Spawn series. Just sayin’, is all.
CITY OF HEROES #10 – actually seems to sell okay, even to people who don’t play the accompanying computer game. It actually doesn’t look that bad, given the video game origins.
CVO COVERT VAMPIRIC OPERATIONS ROGUE STATE #4 – “Vampire CIA agents” is pretty much the definition of “high concept,” don’t you think?
DARKNESS #19 – Actually still sells okay for us…the back issues no longer move as quickly as they used to, either for this series or the previous one.
DEADSHOT #4 – Had I known ahead of time that this comic was going to be filled with violence and perversion, I probably would have been reading it from the beginning. Oh, if only there were some kind of website out there somewhere that could have let me know.
DETECTIVE COMICS #804 – I do like the fact that DC is attempting to treat this as the anthology title that this used to be, by plugging in a non-Batman back-up. Too bad the price point had to go up.
DOCTOR SPECTRUM #5 – I have people on my comic saver lists who want Supreme Power, but don’t want this spin-off. Huh.
EXILES #60 – Ties into the Age of Apocalypse mini-series! Pal Dorian sez “read this first!”
FALLEN ANGEL #19 – Sigh…apparently this series isn’t long for this world, though it’s nice to see Peter David and George Perez’s characters Sachs & Violens pop up again. David hints that all is not lost, however.
FIRESTORM #11 – The longtime Firestorm fans will finally be happy with this series, I think. Of course, I think it’s been pretty darn good this whole time.
GI JOE RELOADED #13 – I am just old enough to have missed the whole “new” G.I. Joe cartoons and comics from the early ’80s, so this G.I. Joe nostalgia thing (along with the Transformers one) is passing me by entirely. Besides, these are G.I. Joes, my friend.
GOLD DIGGER #61 – I can’t believe this comic is still going after all these years, and it still sells. More power to it.
HELL HOUSE VOL 2 – Okay, it’s actually invoiced as a trade paperback, but it looks like a comic book to me. It straddles that fine line, particularly with a $7.49 price point. Dorian says it does look good, but he’s waiting for the trade…but what if this is the trade?
HOT MOMS #5 – If there’s one thing I appreciate about Fantagraphics’ Eros line, it’s the very straightforward way each Eros book caters to a particular fetish. “Say, good sir, have you any comics with hot moms in them?” “Why, as a matter o’fact, I do indeed have this copy of Hot Moms, fresh off the printing press!” “Huzzah!”
HUMANKIND #5 – I don’t really have anything to say about this comic, so here’s a link to the FAQ of a writer who isn’t the comic book artist Tony Daniel.
INTIMATES #5 – The “Hivejournal.com” noted on the cover takes you to Newsarama. Really, try it out. (I hope this isn’t old news.)
JACK HUNTER GI SPY PREVIEW – I like the $1.99 price point on this, and unlike most preview comics, it actually gives you a readable story. It’s more like a #0 than a preview, I guess. Looks pretty good…here’s the official site.
JOHN CONSTANTINE HELLBLAZER SPECIAL PAPA MIDNITE #2 – Unfortunately, I think the window of opportunity for selling extra Hellblazer/Constantine stuff to people who weren’t already reading the comics has passed. Luckily, it’s a good comic, so we longtime fans can appreciate it.
JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE #9 – Now, I liked Joe Kelly’s run on JLA a lot more when I sat down and read the whole thing in a relatively short period of time. Subtle plot points that could easily be forgotten from month to month of reading, well, too many comics, were suddenly seen to build over consecutive issues. Not a perfect run, but a lot better than I remembered it as being (though, as Dorian has said to me when I told him this, it may just look better in comparison to what came after). Anyway, my point being that I’ll probably get the trade paperback of this, as I’m sure it’ll read better in that format.
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #7 – I know how much like a reactionary comics fan this is going to make me sound like, but isn’t it a weird that DC had to go out of its way to make a Justice League comic that’ll appeal to kids?
KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #100 – A hundred issues? Really? Despite the rather…utilitarian art style, it’s generally well-written and very funny.
LEGEND #1 – While this is Howard Chaykin and Russ Heath doing their take on Philip Wylie’s Gladiator, and it’s really good…it’s still $5.95 for a staplebound comic.
LEX LUTHOR MAN OF STEEL #1 – Very dark, very unlike your standard Superman comic…very good as well. Luthor comes across as slightly sympathetic and menacing.
LOONEY TUNES #124 – There are just some comics that should always be around…there should always be a Superman comic, there should always be Disney comics, and there should always be Looney Tunes comics. (I wonder if we’ll get a Loonatics comic.) And, hey, bondage cover!
LUNAR LIZARD #1 – A fun kids-friendly comic, with a super-intelligent lizard scientist and his monkey pal. This issue is dedicated to Burt Reynolds. What, you need more reasons to pick it up? Check out the official site.
MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #1 – Now that you’ve got people used to the “Marvel Age” brand, what’s the use in changing it to “Marvel Adventures” now? (Though, like Dorian said, it’s to ride the success of DC’s “Adventures” comics.)
MARVEL TEAM-UP #6 – I’m always shocked when Marvel actually, willingly, removes Spider-Man, even temporarily, from a comic that traditionally is a Spider-Man title.
METAL GEAR SOLID #6 – This started off slow for us, but now it’s selling fairly steadily, both as a new issue and as a back issue.
NODWICK #27 – I’ve been trying to think of something to say about this comic. Gamers like it, which is nice. Here, check out the online strip.
THE NORM MAGAZINE #7 – for some reason, this is the comic I most associate with pal Tom. He kinda looks like The Norm, a bit.
OCTAVIA #3 – Very softly rendered buxom women running around doing fantasy adventure things…I get a strong ’70s vibe from it, and I don’t mean that in a bad way.
PANZER 1946 #4 – I realize this is an “alternate history” comic, but still, the whole “look at the cool Nazi planes” angle is just a tad unsettling.
PER SKIN PAR SOUL – The front cover disturbs me. Like, a lot. And I’m not even sure what I’m looking at.
RAZORS EDGE WARBLADE #5 – This is a surprisingly downbeat and depressing series. It’s a long way from those bright-eyed happy-go-lucky Jim Lee WildC.A.T.s days.
RISING STARS #24 – after all these years…finally over! Now everyone can stop asking me about it! (“Hey, when’s #25 coming out?” “AAAAGH!”)
SEVENTH SHRINE #1 – When I showed this to Dorian, that it was not a comic, but text with illustrations, his exact words were “oh, for f***’s sake.” And I agree…these things are always hard sells.
SHANNA THE SHE DEVIL #2 – Why did Marvel even bother with being coy with this comic? The kind of person inclined to complain about this sort of thing will complain anyway, whether or not the art has been altered to cover up all the nudity. It’s almost like a game, flipping through the book and trying to point out where all the art changes were made.
SOULSEARCHERS & CO. #70 – Hey, Peter David fans! You know he’s writing this comic, right? And this is a special “Jump on!” issue, too, so what are you waiting for?
STARGATE SG1 DANIELS SONG #1 – Oh, dear. Avatar likes their multiple covers, don’t they?
STARGATE SG1 DANIELS SONG PHOTO CVR #1 – See? Here’s a photo cover cobbled together from whatever publicity stills the Stargate people sent Avatar’s way.
STARGATE SG1 DANIELS SONG PLAT FOIL INCENTIVE #1 – Just like the regular cover, but with silver foil on the logo and a higher price point. Oh, and a polybag.
STARGATE SG1 DANIELS SONG WRAPAROUND CVR #1 – In case you’re wondering, these do sell for us, so I’m not complaining, really.
SUPERMAN STRENGTH #3 – The wrap-up to this fun mini-series…some of you were turned off by the art, I know, but I swear to you, the art is perfect for Scott McCloud’s story. And, as I’ve mentioned before, some of these layouts are pure McCloud.
SWAMP THING #13 – I barely count this as a comic for this week, as I always bogart the preview copy from the week before. Hey, let me have my one perk.
30 DAYS OF NIGHT BLOODSUCKERS TALES #5 – I don’t mean this as a slam at the quality of this comic, which, while not aimed at me really, seems to be fine. But is it just me, or did demand for 30 Days drop once the “hot collectible” aspect of this comic dried up?
TOE TAGS FEATURING GEORGE ROMERO #6 – A zombie comic by George Romero should sell like gangbusters…it sells okay for us, but really, you’d think something like this would be huge.
TOP COW 2005 PREVIEW BOOK – At least it’s only 99 cents. Okay, that’s unfair. I suppose it’s neat if you’re a Top Cow fan.
TWILIGHT EXPERIMENT #2 – This was a comic that people seems to be interested in before it came out, but now isn’t selling for us. I hate when that happens.
ULTIMATE IRON MAN #1 – What a surprise to find this comic opening with the marriage of Tony Stark and Happy Hogan! Oh, okay, not really.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #73 – I was going to make a snarky comment about “hey, finally, a cover on an Ultimate comic that sort of reflects the actual contents,” but a look at the series seems to show about a 50/50 split on content reflecting vs. Spidey just sorta hanging around.
VERONICA #159 – I don’t care what they put in this comic, there’s no way it can compete with the Archie comics of yesteryear. And how is Veronica talking on a cell phone in space? (Unless she’s touching the phone to her space helmet, and the sound vibrations of her voice are…oh forget it.)
VICTORIAN #25 (Of 25) – Was this intended as a 25-issue mini-series? I didn’t read it, so I don’t know. But I’m glad they were able to finish the story…so many indies start off with high hopes and big plans, and vanish immediately.
WALKING DEAD #16 – How close are we to a Deadworld revival?
X-MEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE #1 – Given that, all these years later, we’re still selling back issues on the original Age of Apocalypse comics, I imagined that this would sell really well…and it certainly has.
X-MEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE ONE SHOT – I really wish this didn’t come out at the same time as the #1. Read this before the mini-series, but after Exiles #60.
X-MEN FANTASTIC FOUR #4 – This series actually sold pretty well for us, which surprised the heck out of me.
ZEN BOUNTY HUNTER #1 – Somewhere out there is the World’s Biggest Zen Intergalactic Ninja Fan, who owns every issue and every variant cover of every incarnation of this series. Perhaps it’s the same person who used to pop up on the America Online comics board all those years ago and shamelessly shill for each new issue of Zen as it came out.
***
Ack. No guarantees that I’ll do this again next week…we’ll see if I have the time and/or patience for it!
