Because you demanded it…more Wolverine. (And some new comics day stuff, too.)
“I’m a creature of the wild. I hate cities…hate civilization, with all its idiot rules. Gimme the free, open, elemental spaces of my mountains…where a man holds his fate in his own hands, no lies there, no deception, no compromise.”
–from Kitty Pryde & Wolverine #3 (Jan. 1985)
So pal JP was asking me about the whole “One Year Later” thing at DC, and I explained to him that following the events of the Infinite Crisis crossover, the DC universe continuity jumped ahead a year and during that time, Superman had no powers, Batman and his Bat-pals wents on a trip around the world, and….
Pal JP then jumped in with the greatest idea ever.
Remember those Dennis the Menace travelogue comics? You know, like Dennis the Menace in Mexico or Dennis in Hawaii? How ’bout a bunch of Batman specials filling in that missing year, with Batman in Australia or Batman in Germany or Batman in France? “You know, Normandy really makes you think, doesn’t it, Robin?”
Because, honestly, if it’s one thing we need, it’s more Batman mini-series and one-shots.
“I’m an X-Man. Mutants like me, band of super heroes, good people, idealists, dreamers — forever looking for the best in others. With them, killing is a last resort. With me, it’s second nature. I take the world as it is, an’ give better than I get. Come at me with a sword. I’ll meet you with a sword. You want mercy. Show a little first.”
–from Wolverine #1 (Nov. 1988)
A few of the goodies we received for new comics day:
Totally Spies #2: I Hate the 80s! – Okay, I’m already feeling my age a bit as it is. But not only is it bad enough that the villain of the book is using a “retro-gun” (or something like it) to turn back time (and fashions) to the 1980s, but one of the characters says this:
“Who would want to go back to the 80s? That was, like, 100 years ago!”
AAAAUUGH.
Hero Squared #3 – I think what I like most about this series is its poking holes in the conventions of the genre without going out of its way to tell you that it’s “deconstructing” the superhero. It simply pits the normal non-super Milo versus his superheroic alternate-Earth counterpart and lets the conflict between their perspectives arise naturally. Which isn’t to say that it’s not a fun superhero book…okay, this issue is mostly characters talking to each other and getting on each other’s nerves (with “more hitting” promised in the next issue), but the book’s dialogue is its real strength and a pleasure to read. As always, recommended.
All-New Atom #3 – Gail Simone is now my new Favorite Person, simply for finding a way to sneak Swamp Thing back into the regular DC universe (as I had noted about the last issue), giving him a brief, shadowed cameo in this very issue. He sorta, kinda appears later in the ish as well, in a way that I won’t spoil here. So, well done, Gail Simone…you’re swell in my book.
Fred Perry’s S-Guild #1 – I don’t know what happened here, if they assembled the book before the ink was dry or what, but in all our copies the edges of all the pages were, um, stuck together. They pulled apart with only minor effort (and some very light discoloring on the paper that, hopefully, won’t bother anyone), but still, that was a little annoying.
Life and Times of Uncle Scrooge McDuck Companion trade – I sold tons of the original Life and Times volume, and I expect this new book, featuring the Don Rosa stories that tied into his biography of Scrooge, to do just as well. In fact, we nearly sold through what we did get in.
Making Comics trade – I shouldn’t need to tell you about Scott McCloud’s new book…if you have any interest in the medium, whether you intend on creating, selling, or just plain reading funnybooks, you need to give this book a glance. I just got my copy today, and no, I haven’t read it, but his previous books (Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics) are essential reading, and I can’t imagine this new book will be any different. (And he’s touring the fifty states in promotion of this tome, and you can keep up with his adventures right here.)
“Long before I hear his approach, the wind carries the smell of him. Him…and the blood of his prey. He’s a rogue. A killer. So am I. And tonight…the need is on us both. And tonight…my need, like my hunger, is stronger.”
–from Wolverine #17 (Nov. 1989)
We also got this book in today…I wasn’t planning on buying it, but, well…it’s not just a Creature from the Black Lagoon original novel…it’s a time travel Creature from the Black Lagoon original novel. This tickles the same spot in my brain that the Hex series did…taking some old comic, movie, book, what have you, and doing completely inappropriate things to it. In this case, “mix[ing] the best elements of 1950s Cold War science fiction” — in other words, a movie about a guy in a rubber suit menacing girls in swimsuits — “with today’s cutting-edge cyberpunk.”
No, honest, that’s what it says on the back cover. Here, read it yourself. Fantastic.
