Come again?

§ September 13th, 2007 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on Come again?

The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus came out this week…a fat ol’ hardcover containing the entire Doomsday/Funeral for a Friend/Reign of the Supermen brouhaha. Given that it’s pretty light, it looks like DC went with the thin, newsprinty paper a la the Jack Kirby Fourth World hardcover. But that’s fine…that’s not my beef.

This is my beef:


For a $75 archival hardcover edition of these stories, one that’s intended to stand the test of time, to remain a part of the family library for generations to come (assuming it’s not just thrown out or given to the thrift store when you die…oops, sorry, downer), I don’t know that I want a blurb for a DVD release printed on the dustjacket. Not a sticker (unless it’s an incredibly thin sticker and I couldn’t feel its edges through the shrinkwrap), but an actual part of the cover’s artwork.

You know, DC, you’re already charging seventy-five bones for a collection of comics that have far more than paid for themselves over the years through various reprintings. Next time, spring for a sticker on the shrinkwrap.

Of course, if that actually is a superthin sticker, then that makes my beef soyburger, and I apologize.

A couple other new releases:

Countdown Presents The Search for Ray Palmer: Wildstorm #1 – You know, there really isn’t much to this book. Donna, Jason Todd, Kyle Rayner, and a Monitor travel to the Wildstorm Universe, discover Things Aren’t Like How They Are Back Home, find themselves in conflict with the personalities there, and then move on to the next universe. As slight as it was, and some of the interactions are no more than a panel or two long, it was still good for some old fashioned fanboy entertainment. Dumb, harmless fun.

Groo 25th Anniversary Special – You did buy it, didn’t you? Because if you didn’t, remember what I said on Tuesday: I HATE YOU.

There’s nothing particularly anniversary-ish about this comic, aside from being extra-long with two stories and an “Alphabet of Groo” feature. Oh, and the silvery ink on the front cover. The alphabet bit (along with one of Evanier’s patented text pieces) is about as retrospective as it gets, with short poems about Groo‘s various cast members. But the stories themselves are classic Groo, and whets the appetite for the new mini (Hell on Earth) which is coming Very Soon Now.

Showcase Presents Batman and the Outsiders TPB – Sold out the first day we had it. Some Showcases just sit there, others just fly out the door. Wish I could reliably predict which will do what.

Naruto volumes 16, 17, and 18 – Three at once? I know, they’re trying to catch up to the Japanese release schedule or something like that, but it’s still a tad annoying. Okay, they’ll sell, so that alleviates the annoyance a bit. But I do have a few kids who are scraping together change to buy their new Naruto volumes who probably won’t be happy to find out they’re suddenly three installments behind.

Heroes for Hire #13 – Ah, this seminal cover which had folks in the comics internet shooting out loads of white-hot anger, leaving them breathing hard with their passion, has found its release this week to, at least at our shop, no in-store ejaculations of outrage. So at least there’s a happy ending.


Someday I’ll get around to commenting on and responding to Tom Spurgeon’s excellent essay on Why Comic Book Stores Still Matter…well, at least in a way that I haven’t already done so in nearly four years of posts on this site, and in my old Comic Book Galaxy columns. But if you haven’t read it, go take a gander.

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