this week’s comics

So this is yet another one of those crossover event series where I’m only getting the chapters that happen to appear in comics I’m already reading (in this case, Justice League Dark) and missing the chapters that are in comics I don’t read (the other two Justice League series). I even took home part one, in Justice League #22, but still it sits there, unread. But I’ve been down this road before, and we’ve all read enough comics to put the pieces together, and I’m not going into this completely blind since I’ve read that Pandora #1 which leads into this whole hoohar. Excuse me, Trinity of Sin: Pandora, which is the official title, I guess, though I’m just racking it under Pandora on the shelf, though I suppose if I rack it along the title now suddenly known as Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger and put ’em both in the Ts, perhaps that’ll goose sales on the both of them, even though they’re selling just fine as is so who am I to upset this delicate funnybook balance and now to end this sentence before I use the word “though” again.

Anyway, I liked seeing the JL:D cast interact with the other, more traditional superheroes, which was fun, and there was a lot of shouting and running about regarding Superman being under the thrall of some bad guy or ‘nother and I’ll just assume everything’s going to work out in the end in one of those other Justice League titles I’m not reading. Also, as one might expect, JL:D sales, usually only about 1/2 to 1/3 of its JL brethren, sold just about equal numbers to his city cousins, so hey, sometimes crossovers work, gang. Not sure how long it’ll work in this case, but I’ll find out when I see my sales on a non-crossover issue of the series.

Speaking of crossovers, Constantine and Captain Shazam or whatever his name is now wander out of the pages of the previous comic and into issue #5 of John’s own series, and like I said on the Twitter last week:

Also, y'all are going to poop your pants when you read the new CONSTANTINE.

— Mike Sterling (@mikesterling) July 24, 2013

This seems to have been the issue where folks still holding out hope this series would be more Hellblazer-ish than not have decided that it’s not what they wanted, given the couple of pull-list drops I’ve experienced. I thought the particular sequence in this issue I won’t spoil here was kind of amazingly crazy and enjoyed the heck out of it, though I suppose I can understand why someone might be put off a bit. Plus, it’s hard to read that sequence and not think of this, the link to which you probably shouldn’t even mouse over if you don’t want to be spoiled.

I do enjoy this direction, both in Constantine and in the new Swamp Thing series, in which they give weird and horrific interpretations of DC’s traditional characters. It’s a bit of nostalgia, I suppose, for the early days of seeing the Justice League in Saga of the Swamp Thing and thinking “whoa, what the heck” while immediately plowing through the pages. I may be all old and jaded and stuff now, but sometimes a little youthful exuberance slips through the cracks.

Another one of those cases where I know what numbers Rocketeer usually sells for us, what numbers The Spirit used to sell for us, and then getting sales on the crossover that exceed both numbers combined. Ah, well, What Can You Do? Reminds me of the story that the comic crossing over Cerebus with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles received orders well in excess of their usual monthly printruns combined. (Should also note the same thing happened to me on that Army of Darkness/Hack Slash crossover that also came out last Wednesday.) People (Or At Least Retailers Doing The Ordering) Like Their Unlikely Intercompany Crossovers, is the lesson learned here.

It helps that Rocketeer/Spirit: Pulp Friction is a good, fun comic. Alas, Paul Smith has left the book after drawing the first issue, but Loston Wallace takes over with #2, though his work looks like it’ll fit right in.

That this series reprinting the original 1940s/1950s Popeye comic books made it this far frankly surprises the heck out of me. (The companion series by Roger Langridge is apparently over and done with, which I didn’t realize…I just figured it was late or on a planned hiatus or what-have-you, but nope, it’s gone, which is a real shame.) I don’t know if Classic Popeye, featuring work by Popeye strip artist Bud Sagendorf, will be around to reprint all, what, 70, 80, whatever, of the original comics, but I certainly will appreciate whatever we can get. And, at the very least, I hope they get at least to 1962 so I can have a print copy of this cover.

I have to be completely honest with you, when I started to read this comic, for about half a second I thought “oh dear, the color printing is off-register” until I realized I was being stupid and that it was entirely intentional. It’s a pseudo-retro look that doesn’t really look like anything associated with this particularly property before, but still works perfectly well, like you’re watching an old TV show on a color television that doesn’t have the “hue” and “tint” dials set quite right…a feature, not a bug.

The comic itself gets the tone of the TV show about as close as it’s able, given that most of the actual impact of the show comes from seeing actual adults dressing in these costumes and acting out plots and situations right out of the comic books. (I went into more detail about this some time ago.) Twisting it back into a comic book makes it a peculiar artifact of a short-lived fad from before a whole lot of us were born…but that’s okay, because the comic gets much of what made the show so endearing. The earnestness and sincerity of the heroes, the goofiness of the villains, the moral lessons, the big ol’ sound effects, the overall cheerfulness…it’s a Batman comic that makes you smile, and when was the last time that happened? Yes, it lacks Adam West reciting the dialogue out loud to you, but trust me, you’ll hear him in your head anyway as you read.

This is one of those comics that I buy every month, out of my long-standing interest in Clive Barker’s creations, but is another case of my perhaps having lost the thread of the plot(s) over the last, what, couple-or-three dozen issues, reading one a month, every month, for years. I should, like I did with B.P.R.D., bust out all the issues of Boom’s Hellraiser run and read ’em in a row. Like with B.P.R.D., I still “get” the general thrust of the series, but I certainly feel like I’m missing some nuance and some subtle points here and there. I mean, as nuanced and subtle as you’d expect a Hellraiser comic to be. Anyway, while I’m still enjoying the individual installments as they come, a reread is definitely in order.

So the last few issues of this series, formerly Batman and Robin until the latest Robin’s untimely death, have been sort of entertaining in a completely bonkers kind of way, with Batman teaming up with various members of the Bat-family and generally yelling at them and being a jerk in the context of apparently mourning and rejecting the finality of his loss. Which, you know, that’s a not-unheard of response to someone’s death, but it makes for some odd funnybook reading. A few months of this was probably enough, and it looks like there’s some turnaround in this new issue…some closure and healing, I guess, in the appropriately superheroic and melodramatic manner…but not completely closed in order to string along the subplot of Carrie Kelley still thinking her former-student-who-was-secretly-Robin is still alive.

And that’s another weird thing about this series, taking Carrie Kelley from Frank Miller’s beloved Dark Knight Returns (and slightly less beloved but still, I think, bizarrely wonderful Dark Knight Strikes Again) and plugging her into the New DC Universe. The conventional wisdom is that, like in Miller’s works, she’ll become Robin…the subplot of Bruce allowing her to think Damien is still alive certainly seems like one road to that result…but really, who knows. It still feels a bit odd to see her removed from her original context, but maybe if she does eventually become the new Robin, maybe when Marvel and DC start their intercompany crossovers again she can team up with Elektra.

Pretty much Superman’s only horror story, brought to us by Steve Gerber and Gene Colan (with a follow-up drawn by Rick Veitch), finally under one cover and with non-muddy printing. There is a bit of dissonance seeing the art reproduced so cleanly and brightly after reading it on decaying newsprint for so many years (similar to my reaction to the Irv Novick Batman book), but it really is one of the best Superman stories of all time, and if you haven’t read it yet, you should read it now. I wrote a spoiler-filled review of it for another website if you want more info. But really, just get it. It’s great.

Well, it’s definitely in the Dexter novel continuity as opposed to the TV show continuity, based simply on the fact that his sister’s name is spelled “Deborah” and not “Debra.” Oh, and the fact that the comic is written by the novelist who created Dexter, so it’s probably a given that it’d follow the books over the show.

Actually, all things considered, there’s not really anything here to trip up a fan of the TV show who’s never read the books, given that likenesses of the characters are general enough to be kinda/sorta like the show’s actors, if you squint a bit, and the presence of one particular character who’s…no longer around can be chalked up to the series being a “flashback,” if you’re really that concerned. And Deb is called “Sarge,” which is a rank I don’t think she ever held in the show. And the familiar supporting cast of the rest of Miami Metro Homicide aren’t involved, thus far.

Of course, this can all change with #2. An interesting trick they’re doing with the covers, which they’re apparently continuing based on the “next issue” ad in the back, is covering most of Dexter’s face, sidestepping the whole “this doesn’t look like Michael C. Hall” problem that might turn off folks browsing the racks.

The comic’s good, by the way. Dex goes to his high school reunion, encounters a former bully of his, and suddenly murders ensue. I think Dexter fans of either stripe, or both stripes (like me) will enjoy this.

It’s odd, but Clive Barker comics, aside from that brief period in the ’90s when anything that was vaguely comic-shaped would sell, are not big movers for us. The Hellraiser anthology from Marvel/Epic was the biggie, followed by Eclipse Comics’ Tapping the Vein, and then Nightbreed a distant third. Everything else (and frankly there’s not much else) never really sold that well. (Don’t get me started on Razorline.) Even the recent Hellraiser series from Boom!, which started off strong, has withered away to only a few hangers-on (including me, in case you’re wondering), as the structure of the series is mostly nonforgiving to latecomers (aside from the mostly self-contained Road Below mini, which had slightly higher sales).

I had high hopes for Next Testament (formerly New Genesis, until DC Comics suggested otherwise) which is perfectly fine religiously-themed horror and an entertaining read, but, well, the first issue sold okay, not great. Having “Clive Barker” splashed across the front cover isn’t the sales incentive one would think, at least with our clientele. Your future-of-horror mileage may vary at your own funnybook store.

ATTENTION:

SWAMP THING COVER CAMEO

Well, it’s tying into the “Trinity War” event, but I like the premise of the first issue, following Pandora over the centuries as she lives out her eternal curse, so we’ll see how it goes. I’ve read enough comics that tie into events I’m not otherwise reading to know how to deal with it, and so have all of you.

Yup. Still good. Still feels like classic pre-Vertigoization Swamp Thing comics. I’m not quite committed to the “actual Alec Holland in Swamp Thing’s body” status quo, but I’m coping. The vapors no longer come upon me quite so suddenly.

I think what surprised me the most about this issue was despite the hoohar over Carrie Kelley (Robin from Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) making her first in-whatever-passes-for-DC-Universe-continuity appearance, there wasn’t an immediate rush on copies by folks looking to make a quick eBay buck. It’s selling…okay, like a normal issue of Batman and Robin, without the recent sales bumps fed by “Death of a Family” and the death of Robin follow-up issues. I suppose in a few months, if Carrie Kelley sticks around (and that linked article explains that is the intent) sales will pick up on this issue. It helps that the Kelley material in the book is actually the best part, compared to the very odd Batman/Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. crossover that makes up the rest of the story. Always nice to see Frankenstein again, even if pitted against what feels like a strangely out-of-character-even-if-grieving Batman. Interesting, even if it didn’t…feel right, you know?

This is the “DEMO” cover for the Mad Magazine variant for Batman #19 (even says “DEMO” up in the corner, there), provided one per comic shop to allow interested parties to see the fold-in in action without daring to damage their rare collectible item. …Well, I have to admit, decades of funnybook-sellin’ have instilled in me a deep resistance to deliberately folding creases into a comic book cover, even on comics explicitly intended for that purpose. I suppose if I had to, if someone insisted on it, I, with tears in my eyes and a trembling hand, would fold the cover over to reveal Mr. Jaffee’s hidden image. Or I could just take that scan and do a little area selection/dragging to do the same thing on the store computer.

Judging at least by our store’s sales, most of the people who read Constantine #1 came back for #2, either still in the “trying out the book” stage or, maybe, are attracted by the prospect of long-consigned to the Vertigo universe properties once again tied back into the DC Universe. The direction for the series seems to be tying itself together a little further…it’s a quest storyline, with John chasing down various pieces of a mystical artifact while running into a couple of old magical DC folks. It’s a stronger effort than the first issue, I think, presenting John trying to squeeze out of some tight spots with the gift of gab and a wee bit of magicking, which, you know, is pretty much what I want from a Constantine comic. And yes, I’m enjoying the novelty of the DCU tie-ins, too.

So after my recent Great B.P.R.D. Reread Project (status: complete; next Great Reread Project yet to be decided) and the issue numbering concerns thereof, I thought I should mention that this new Abe Sapien #1, “An All New Ongoing Series” as it says there, is in fact, according to the inside front cover, #11 in the overall history of Abe Sapien solo series and / or one-shots. So:

Anyway, the series takes off from recent events in the B.P.R.D. comics, following the even-further mutated Abe as he eludes his former pals at the Bureau. I don’t know if this is really a good jumping-on point for new readers…dialogue-driven exposition for recent Hellboy-Universe-Events-That-Don’t-Really-Involve-Hellboy, in particular Abe’s recent changes, catches folks up, but it seems more like preaching to the converted rather than its own thing. This may just be symptomatic of the series’ origins in B.P.R.D. and the ongoing circumstances there, and it feels more like another B.P.R.D. mini rather than an Abe Sapien solo title. We’ll see what happens once the series begins to form its own identity a few issues down the road.

As I said on Twitter yesterday, I was bracing myself to read a Thanos story that didn’t involve Jim Starlin somehow, but so far Jason Aaron and Simone Bianchi aren’t doing too bad a job telling the adventures of Li’l Thanos. It lacks the inherent weirdness of Starlin’s storytelling, and thus is a more conventional “here are the bad things that formed this bad guy” tale. Still, it’s a solid enough introduction to the character, and will likely make a nice trade paperback (or, more likely, hardcover) to sell to the curious once Marvel’s Phase Two films (presumably involving Thanos) start making more of an impact.

It’s Hulk versus Thor as drawn by Walt Simonson. If reading that sentence doesn’t make you immediately pull out your wallet and start throwing money at the computer screen, well, I don’t know that I can help you. But pick up that money and go throw it at Ye Olde Local Comic Booke Seller instead, because publishers getting Simonson to draw comics is a behavior I’d like to encourage. And things look like they really begin to pick up in Part the Second, so jump on now, he said like the funnybook salesman he is.

This is probably the first of the New 52 Swamp Thing comics to feel like an old Swamp Thing comic. In particular, like the Alan Moore or Rick Veitch issues where Swamp Thing would encounter some established bit of the DC Universe and we’re suddenly given a new and almost certainly creepy take on it. Well, that was then, this is now, and it’s hard to do a creepy take on a character like the Scarecrow when the trend lately in the Bat-books has been to make things especially weird and creepy in the first place. Instead, the fun here is in Swamp Thing’s reaction and interaction with the Scarecrow, rather than any kind of dramatic reinterpretation.

Also, new writer Charles Soule takes a few panels to explain the deal with Swamp Thing’s New 52 status quo, his relation to the previous Alec Holland-less Swamp Thing, recent events in the comic, and so on. Probably a good issue to sample if you’ve been tempted, but didn’t want to jump into the middle of the 300-part “Rotworld” crossover.

It’s Popeye and Barney Google! CRISIS OF GRANDPA’S INFINITE COMIC STRIPS! I actually didn’t get into this issue as much as past installments of this series…Barney Google isn’t a strip character for whom I have any particular affinity, and the horseracing gags weren’t really my thing. But, even an issue of Popeye that doesn’t quite butter my bread is still a whole lot better than just about anything else, so I ain’t complainin’. Plus, series writer Roger Langridge takes on the art chores yet again and everything looks flawless and beautiful…and Langridge even gives us a boxing back-up story starring Swee’pea, and it’s plenty cute.

And for the digital comic inclined, there’s Task Force Rad Squad. Click the link, pay what you want (or even nothing at all, but c’mon, give ’em a buck at least) and download in your choice of format. It reminds me of late ’80s/early ’90s crazy indie comics…I sort of get a Tank Girl vibe off it, but maybe that’s just me. Anyway, it’s lots of fun packed into 36 pages, and you get a sizable preview prior to throwing your money down. Go check it out, and tell ’em Mike sent you. If they ask “who’s Mike?” just say “you know, Mike” and that should do it.

So as Tim noted on the Twitters, reference is made in Green Lantern Corps #18 to a particular tragic event in John Stewart’s life that, in its original context of the Cosmic Odyssey mini-series, could not have happened as presented given the brave New 52 world that all the DC Universe comic books live in now. It probably doesn’t take much of a stretch to imagine that said event could still have happened under some as-yet-untold new continuity circumstances, but until that tale is told, there it sits, a fossil of a shared universe that’s had its rooms torn down, rebuilt, or otherwise redecorated.

Also, I’m already a little tired of this “First Lantern” thing…the “here’s how your life could have been different” torture he’s putting characters through is already run to the ground. Plus, that’s not even considering the fact that your characters’ histories just went through a huge reboot anyway, so what’s at stake, really? …I’ve been generally enjoying the GL books as a whole enough to put up with this, I guess, but I’m ready for the story to progress.

Okay, everyone can come out of their homes…the Before Watchmen initiative is nearly over, though we still have an issue of Comedian to go, and there’s a missing-in-action epilogue that’s supposed to wrap all this up, though, technically, wouldn’t that epilogue just be Watchmen?

Amusingly, the Wikipedia entry on the series notes critical reaction to most of the titles, ranging from “mostly negative” to “mixed” to “mostly positive,” leaving out the possibly more accurate “entirely appalled” reflecting some commentators. Of the bunch, this series, Ozymandias, was probably the best, possibly because it was written by someone (Len Wein) who’d been involved in the original series. It’s certainly beautifully illustrated…that Jae Lee sure does draw purty. Of course, that’s all aside from the arguments of “was this trip really necessary?” (not really), and as far as sales go, it went from “strong interest from customers,” to “oh crap, there are a lot of these, aren’t there,” to “well that was several weeks without a new Before Watchmen, I guess I’m no longer interested in buying these” to becoming solid mid-range sellers. Not moving huge numbers, but okay, dependable numbers. When the solicitations for the reasonably-probable Before Watchmen 2 or After Watchmen eventually pop up in Previews, I’ll know what to order.

And over the course of the multiple series, we did get “THE SECRET ORIGIN OF RORSCHACH’S ‘END IS NIGH’ SIGN,” and thus did the event justify itself.

The previous series, Cargo of Doom, did only so-so for us, which surprised me considering the strength of its creative team of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee. I’m chalking that up to Too Many Rocketeer Comics Too Quickly, since we just came off that Rocketeer Adventures 2 anthology, whose sales weren’t even really a patch on the previous Adventures anthology. However, this series, by Roger Langridge and J. Bone, is receiving extra interest and pull-list adds from our customers. Hopefully I can talk some of them into checking out the previous mini, which is just as fun as this new series.

While I like Hollywood Horror, and I do love the work of Walt Simonson, I can’t say that the Simonson covers on this series are doing anything for me. While we’ve now seen that the Rocketeer franchise can succeed in storytelling without slavishly copying creator Dave Stevens (J. Bone’s looser, more cartoony style being a whole different world from Stevens’ more representational, yet still lively and fun, work), Simonson’s Rocketeer…I don’t know, just doesn’t feel right to me, both here and on the previous cover. I feel bad saying that, but it doesn’t say “Rocketeer” to me, like it’s not…”streamlined” enough or something. Or it’s the awkward figure posing. Man, I don’t know how to explain it. I mean, maybe it’s just me. Don’t pay any attention to all that…just buy the comic.

So it’s just plain ol’ Original Trilogy Star Wars action with no interminable ancient histories starring Darth Menacingname or future events with 70-year-old Luke, Leia and Han telling invading aliens to get off their space-lawns while their likely-to-be-retconned-out-of-existence children run around and fight battles and have romances with new Expanded Universe characters nobody cares about. And it’s a lot of fun, and requires no knowledge of Star Wars stuff beyond what you’ve seen in the films. And unsurprisingly, it’s the best selling Star Wars comic in years.

It’s probably doomed as soon as the comics license reverts to Marvel and the big Star Wars Episode 7 push begins, but I’ll happily enjoy it in the meantime.