Mikester

The winners of the Demo giveaway have been announced…they’re all top-notch, but my favorite is the Special Prize Winner at the very end.

New comics this week:

• Seaguy #1 is just as absolutely mad as I was hoping. We’re plopped right down in the middle of an established superhero “universe” — it all seems completely insane, but it’s no more nutty than the stuff we accept with regularity in X-Men or Superman. This is probably as close as a long-time comic reader like me (or most of you, for that matter) will come to sharing the experience of someone who has never before read a comic book perusing an issue of, say JSA.
• Justice League: Another Nail #1 (speaking of crazy continuity) picks up where Justice League: The Nail left off…or rather, glossed over, as the Green Lantern Corps/New Gods war that happened off-stage in the last series is detailed at the beginning of this new series. The art of Alan Davis (with Mark Farmer) is as great as it always is. Makes one wish he’d draw a good comic series on a regular basis.
• I think the new Invincible (#12) took me all of about two minutes to read, but that’s okay, because the emotional impact of this story more than made up for its apparent brevity. I want #13 in my hands by next week, Kirkman!
• Also picked up the new Demo (#6) — darn you, Larry Young, for getting me hooked on yet another comic series! (That sound you hear is the evil laughter of Big Larry.) Yes, it’s good. Do I need to tell you that?
  

Geek talk alert: so I’m chatting with pal Corey, pal Ian, and pal Dorian about the Spectre today. I’m still pushing for the quite-possibly-soon-to-be-late Sue Dibny to be the new Spectre. Pal Corey suggested Arthur Curry, Jr. (yes, that’s right, the deceased Aquababy – “I’m the Spiwit of Vengeance!“). Pal Dorian wants a fresh start…a brand new character as the Spectre. I believe pal Ian suggested former Robin Jason Todd, but I think we’re all holding out the possibility that he may come back (re: events at the end of Hush). Pal Corey also said, joking aside, that it could be Adrian Chase, AKA Vigilante…pal Dorian believes that might involve a little too much back story, but I think a page of flashback might be enough to get folks up to speed.

Yes, I know that’s extremely geeky. Whaddaya want from a comics weblog?

Boris Karloff Thriller #1 (October 1962)

Long day at work, so I think all I’ll do today is post this cool cover. Neat, huh?

Kid Colt Outlaw #117 (July 1964)

Greg over at Viper Comics recently posted a great Kid Colt Outlaw cover, so I thought maybe he’d like to see another one. Hmmm…Kid Colt got a little off-topic every once in a while, didn’t it?

I know I’m Johnny DC-come-lately in linking to the new DC solicitaion information, but I had to comment on this:

“JSA: STRANGE ADVENTURES #1 …Johnny Thunder decides to become a big-time pulp writer by chronicling the adventures of the JSA. Taken under the writing wing of legendary, real-life science-fiction Grand Master Jack Williamson, Johnny tries his best….” Well, that’s pretty neat! What I wouldn’t give to see Williamson on a cover fighting, oh, I don’t know, the Fiddler or something.

And I’m with Fanboy Rampage…I’m excited about Weird Secret Origins 80-page Giant, too…it’s the Book of the Month, as far as I’m concerned. This part of the solicitation worries me, however: “The final 80-page Giant has been rescued, bringing a close to a beloved era.” Really? No more “lost” 80-pagers? That would be a shame.

Well, I was going to post a sprawling screed about “middle-ground” comics magazines (discussed here, here, here, and here, and probably other places too), but then pal Dorian did it a heck of a lot more succinctly than I would have.

Basic gist of my post That Will Not Be…I want Amazing Heroes back. It covered both the superhero beat and the indies, and usually did so with intelligence and irreverence in the proper proportions. And most importantly…no price guide!

I also came to the realization as I was writing that post that I’d been reading The Comics Journal since I was 13…that means I’ve been buying an issue of TCJ every month (or so) for 22 years. Good gravy. And I don’t know if I’d describe the mag as “elitist” — I think if I were to be as bold as to sum up TCJ‘s publishing philosophy, it would be “entertainment doesn’t have to be stupid.” That’s a dangerous attitude to have in a society that encourages this sort of behavior, but there you go.

In other news:

• Once again, Milo George comes through with some nice flavor text for a cover I posted.
• More Grimjack news can be found here and here. I’m very happy about this…Grimjack was one of my favorite titles, and I still remember a long-ago interview with John Ostrander about future plans for the character that, due to the fall of First Comics, never came to pass.
• A new trailer for The Incredibles is up…turns out there’s a character in this film called “Elasticgirl.” Isn’t that name taken? (Okay, so there’s a hyphen missing.)
  

And, at long last, a review of another Ait/Planetlar book…it’s Electric Girl Volume 1 by Michael Brennan. It’s a fun and very charming book, focusing on a young lass named Virginia who has been given powers over electricity by…well, an invisible gremlin (named Oogleeoog) that only Virginia can see. Now, these aren’t Lightning Lad-type hurling electrical bolts-type powers…these are more like kicking back on the couch and recharging batteries-type powers.

This is a superhero comic stripped down to its barest essence…yes, you have the standard “villains” (killer robot, zombie, mad inventor) but treated in a light fashion, and filtered through the matter-of-fact perspective of the protagonist. It’s all great fun, and it feels more like you’re just following the life of a normal girl (er…as normal as you can get with electric powers and an invisible gremlin) than like traditional super-adventures.

The supporting characters are a hoot, too…Oogleeoog functions as an annoyance in Virginia’s life, but you get the feeling that, despite the fact that his job is to cause problems, he really does care for Virginia and her welfare (most evident in the story, which takes place when Virginia is much younger, where the gremlin tries to circumvent the rules under which he must operate in order to protect her from a possible kidnapper). And then there’s Virginia’s dog Blammo (whose name is the result of another of Oogleeoog’s pranks)…this squat little fellow is quite a character himself, a nice visual gag whose interactions with Oogleeoog and his own solo adventures are always good for a laugh.

The art is very simple and cartoony, and very emotive…faces aren’t much more than a couple dots and dashes, but Brennan squeezes a great deal of expression out of them.

This book is a lot of fun…I have volume 2 here as well, and I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I expect it’ll be just as good as the first one. Recommended for fans of Andi Watson’s work…and it’s an All Ages book, so I recommend it any comics-inclined kids as well.

Word on the street (well, on Johanna’s weblog) is that Grimjack is finally, finally, coming back.

Read more about it on Grimjack co-creator John Ostrander’s message board.

Wonder Woman #159 (January 1966)

Peter David’s new project for Marvel was apparently announced at the Motor City Comic Con today…Madrox, starring that multiple-mutant Jamie Madrox, according to the people who attended said convention (look in the comments section of this post).

Best part? The return of Strong Guy! Hey, stop laughing, you — I liked him!

You know, as long as DC Comics is doing replica editions of old annuals and 80-page giants, why not do one of the 1962 Tasmanian Devil and His Tasty Friends 80 page one-shot from Gold Key (image here)? I mean, DC is owned by Warner Brothers, and they’ve reprinted stories from the Dell and Gold Key Warner Brothers comics before. I get asked for Tasmanian Devil comics all the time…sure, half the time it’s people looking for reference art for tattoos*, but still, kids and adults want their Taz, and it’s getting harder and harder to track down Taz stories in the Looney Tunes comics (both old and new).

* Okay, more like 75% of the time.

So a couple days ago I made a passing mention of the retailer accepting returns on Micah Wright’s comics, and made the comment that I wasn’t sure if anyone was really buying those comics based on Wright’s invented military service. Well, the retailer in question popped in and noted that he said the same thing in the column I linked to, which I somehow managed to overlook in my rush to get my post done that day…otherwise, I would have mentioned it. He also notes that no one’s taken him up on the deal yet, but you know what? That doesn’t really matter. The offer alone is enough to generate a great deal of goodwill among your customers, even if they do decide to hang onto their Stormwatch issues. Plus, since this particular topic has been all the rage in the “comicsweblogosphere” and in the real world, this is a good way to get people talking about your store. Hey, as a longtime seller of funnybooks myself, I can appreciate a good publicity stunt when I see one! Like I told him…wish I’d thought of it myself.

I’ve actually been thinking a bit about store publicity lately, as the store I manage is quickly approaching its 25th anniversary and I’d like to try to cook up something special…like a big party for the customers, or a commemorative comic book, or something. (What…”a sale?” Okay, who said that!) I haven’t used this weblog to plug my place of employment, if only because I don’t want any hard feelings generated (inadvertently, certainly) by this site to reflect poorly on the store (or vice versa, har har), but maybe once the 25th anniversary arrives, I’ll have to change that policy.

On other topics:

Near Mint Heroes and Thought Balloons are link-posting madmen! I tried to do the links-weblog thing very early on, but not to the extent that these folks can manage. Journalista may be resting at the moment, but these guys more than make up for it.

My evil Canadian twin Steven Wintle, beneath a great Night Nurse cover, makes a brief mention of Flat Earth’s impending “termination date”…wha huh? What did I miss? Surely this can’t be so!

I’m not entirely sure what to make of Beatles and Bizarros, but thank God it exists.