In which Mike complains a lot, but ends on an up note.
So, between my mentions of “gay sex” and “topless Adrienne Barbeau” over the last couple of days, I should be getting some interesting Google searches in my referral logs, I imagine.
And I would correct the title of this post to reflect the most likely reason why that dialogue balloon was cut, but I don’t particularly want the kind of Google searches that word would bring me.
New comics day…feh:
I’m sure you all remember the glory that is…Rob Liefeld’s Captain America:
This has been held up as the real nadir of questionable anatomy from the height of the Image Comics-era (and you can see more about it at, appropriately enough, Grotesque Anatomy). However, I think we have a new contender from this week’s Wolverine: Origin #1:
You can go to this Newsarama article for a better look, if you dare. It’s quite admirable, really, how Wolvie overcame his hunchback disability to become a superhero.
LET THE GRIPE-FEST CONTINUE:
The Superman in the 80s trade paperback starts off well, with the two-part “Return of Jonathan Kent” storyline, a particular favorite of mine, from back in the days when Supes’ adoptive parents were dead. However, the three part storyline from DC Comics Presents which introduces Mongul is represented only by the third installment, guest-starring the Spectre. Shame, really, since that run (also featuring the Martian Manhunter and Supergirl) is a good’un, and well deserving of a full reprinting. And while, yes, the early post-Crisis Superman comics were from the ’80s, I would have liked to have seen more pre-Crisis stuff in this book. Isn’t DC in the process of reprinting most of that post-Crisis Superman stuff in chronological order, anyway?
I understand the financial considerations involved in moving from publishing semi-quarterly mags to online strips and trade paperbacks, but still, some of our customers balked at buying the new $20 Girl Genius book to get the 1/4 of it that’s new material. I love the Girl Genius stuff, but man, that’s frustrating. (I imagine it’s frustrating for the Foglios, too.)
Apparently, this isn’t a new American Splendor book, even though the most prominent feature on the cover is the American Splendor logo.
Red Sonja #9/Stargate SG-1 Ra Reborn Prequel/everything from Avatar/et al – I realize that publishing multiple covers of every single issue is pretty much the only way to inflate your orders to somewhat more reasonable levels (particularly with the threat of Diamond dropping titles that don’t reach a certain level of profitability), but, honestly, it’s getting to be a drag.
And whom do I have to bribe to get Serenity trade paperbacks in stock? They finally showed up in Diamond’s stock listings a few weeks ago, I put in my reorder…and they were put on back order, which was eventually cancelled. I tried again a couple weeks later, got the order confirmed, and they were on the invoice for this week…and they didn’t show up. A note from the distributor indicated that they didn’t have enough copies to go around, and that replacement copies should arrive next week. I’ll believe it when I see it. I imagine in a few months, once nobody cares about Serenity anymore and Borders and Barnes & Noble return all their copies, I’ll be able to get as many copies as I want. Or have I said that before? Probably. Seems to happen every time something hits it big (or even “cult big,” like Serenity) in the “real” world, outside the comics industry.
“Okay, Mike, did you like anything this week?”
Yes…yes, I did. Little Lulu Vol. 9 – Lucky Lulu. She can totally kick that wimp Goku‘s ass.
Speaking of kicking ass, Fearless Fred Hembeck has a swell Swamp Thing cover repo currently up on the eBay. I can’t swing it…alas, still recovering from recent expenditures, but I’m sure one of you fine folks can give it a good home. I mean, just look at it!
