New Comics Day. But first…the taste of the whip.
So pal Dorian was giving me a wee bit of grief over my bringing up Snakes on a Plane the other day. I let him know that I had to bring it up again, because there’s a novelization, for God’s sake!
At that point, Dor tells me that it’s a novelization by “a bondage model.”
Wha–? No way, dude, I sez. It’s gotta be a coincidence…it just so happens that the author of the Snakes on a Plane novelization has the same name as the model, right?
Is there anything associated with this movie that isn’t 100% fantastic?
Okay, new comics day:
Tom Spurgeon linked to Brian Hibbs’ mad-on for Avatar this week, and I have to agree. It’s bad enough when Marvel pumps out a half-dozen or more X-books in the same week, but those generally will still sell, eventually. When Avatar cranks out multiple issues of all their licensed horror titles, including two consecutive issues of the same series (Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Grind #2 and #3), all of which have multiple covers, that’s gonna impact sales to a fanbase that hasn’t quite decided that they want to follow these comics. “Too much to follow, forget it” has killed more than one franchise and/or company.
That said, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre comic that has the die-cut hole on the cover in the shape of Texas (with Leatherface peekin’ out) is pretty swell. And our die-cut cover variant of Nightmare on Elm Street still had all the bits that were supposed to be cut out still just barely attached in the holes. “RARE UNPUNCHED DIE-CUT VARIANT H@T CGC SEXY NO RESERVE – opening bid $1,000.” Anyway, should have scanned it, sorry. Maybe I’ll have it up this weekend for all to enjoy.
The second series of the Crisis on Infinite Earths action figures are out, and, being the sad old fanboy that I am, I need an Earth-2 Superman to add to my Justice Society set. The Flash figure comes with an extra orgasm-face (that sample at the DC site looks all withered and pained…in real life, it just looks like the Flash is shouting at somebody), and Armor-suit Luthor comes with no peripheral vision whatsoever. You know, I never really thought about that before…I think seeing an actual 3-D representation of Lex in that armor finally drove it home.
You know, I totally forgot that the new Hate Annual was due. And I laughed out loud in the shop when I realized that was Stinky’s body on the cover. Yes, I laughed. I’m not really a very nice person.
Couple new Boom! Studios books out this week: I was intrigued by Talent‘s first issue, but this second issue really drove the concept home for me. Nick survives a plane crash, only to discover that not only has he somehow acquired the skills and knowledge of the crash victims, he finds himself driven to take care of their unfinished business. It’s a great idea that really lends itself to an ongoing series, particularly when the fantastic elements of series’ premise find themselves butting up against some more down-to-earth investigators (who find Nick’s odd behavior clearly indicates criminal activity) and the brutally-violent methods of the mysterious group that wishes to control him. Compelling and suspenseful reading.
War of the Worlds: Second Wave #4 continues the fun movie serial/cliffhanger-style adventure, as Miles and his band of survivors find themselves facing one obstacle after another, some from within their own group. Keeping the aliens offstage this issue (beyond a dead ship and some aliens looming off in the distance) add to the feeling of impending menace. It’s a fun series, with a slowly-increasing cast of unique personalities, that would appeal to anyone who enjoys the similarly-constructed Walking Dead series.
Licensable Bear™ #3 from Nat Gertler and About Comics is unleashed upon the world this week. Now, I know Nat, so I might be a bit biased, but Licensable Bear™ never fails to amuse. He’s just a cute little bear who wants his image to be put on every kind of product and/or service possible, and the stories center around his continuing efforts. His licensability is even a superpower of sorts, as he comes to the aid of a gay couple in “Licensable Bear™ Forms A Union.” Funny and witty, and Licensable Bear™ is cute as all get out.
Had at least one person ask if the new issue of Jonah Hex (#9) was a reprint, since the black and white image (with some red spot-coloring) looks somewhat similar to the “sketch” covered second or third printings both Marvel and DC have done recently.
In other news:
Linkable Laura notes that a single-issue version of Girl Genius #14 should soon be available via a print-on-demand service. That’ll be good news to my many customers (hi, Rob!) who were pretty ticked at the prospect of buying a full trade paperback reprinting three issues they already had just to get the 1/4 of the book that was new. I like the Girl Genius comic and online strip, I understand the economic reasons for going away from single-issue publishing to trades-only, but that “missing issue #14” thing really turned off a lot of folks at our shop. I’m glad this is finally being addressed.
