this week’s comics

And then there were some new comics this week.

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The weird thing about coming across previously unreprinted strips in The Complete Bloom County (volume 3 of which was released this week) is that you feel like a bunch of your friends finally got around to telling you about this great time they all had a while back, and, oh, wait, we never told you? Man, you should have been there, it was awesome. And you’re all: “I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about any of this. I’ve been missing out all this time” and you feel just slightly put out about it.

Or maybe that’s just me. I did read all the original Bloom County collections to the point of memorization, almost, so seeing “new” strips comes as a strange shock, even more so than seeing long-lost Peanuts strips in the Fantagraphics collections. Not sure why that is, really…perhaps that there are so many Peanuts strips and strip collections and so on that it doesn’t feel odd when you spot a strip you hadn’t seen before. Whereas the number of Bloom County books are, what, less than a dozen? And it feels more like a “continuity” strip than Peanuts…when a sequence is suddenly placed back into its original context in the middle of other much more familiar storylines, the effect is jarring.

And there I go overthinking it. I’m just glad there is a Complete Bloom County series at all. I kinda wish creator Berke Breathed supplied more strip commentaries, as those have been entertaining, but…well, I’m not gonna complain.

By the way, in volume 3, there exists the single most terrifying image ever presented in the comics format: the reveal of Opus the Penguin’s post-plastic surgery nose. To this day that disturbs me with its unnaturalness. (No, I’m not posting the picture here. You’ll have to go find it yourself.)

Some other brief thoughts about this week’s new comics:

Issue #4 of The Simpsons spin-off Comic Book Guy actually has some Comic Book Guy in it, which is nice…series has been a fun read overall • • • Incredible Hulks #614 is almost like daring me to read it…I couldn’t care less about Hulk’s son, Skaar, or whatever, and the only reason I picked it up is because I’ve been reading this comic since I was 12, which is the worst reason in the world to read anything and I’ll have more thoughts on this (and another long-read title that I really am dropping) in a future post • • • I do like Green Lantern comics an’ all, but we don’t need three ongoing titles (two of which came out this week)…so, no reason at all why the story in the Emerald Warriors comic couldn’t have been folded into Green Lantern Corps? • • • Irredeemable #18 drops about as nasty a bit of business performed by a “hero” as I’ve ever seen in a superhero book, and I don’t mean by the series’ main antagonist, the Plutonian…a genuinely upsetting reveal • • • So, is Batman saying “‘the average guy’ isn’t our problem” in Superman #702 quite possibly the worst characterization of Batman ever? And like people asked me when I brought this up on the Twitter…which Batman is this, anyway? The still time-lost Bruce Wayne or current cape caretaker Dick Grayson? disregard that…it’s Dick • • • Muppet Sherlock Holmes #2 continues to cater to my strange fascination with Sherlock Holmes pastiches. And it’s Muppets, and Muppets are always wonderful. If you do not love the Muppets, then we have nothing more to say to each other. …I SAID GOOD DAY • • • Untold Tales of Blackest Night is entirely unnecessary, but if you needed more Blackest Night stuff, here it is, and it’s about as good as you’d need it to be. The Animal Man segment feels like a set-up for a new series • • • I like Hellblazer, so I’ll be reading this City of Demon mini-series, but honestly, it’s not like Hellblazer is selling so crazy-hot that we need what amounts to two of ’em on the shelves at the same time. Should have been folded into the regular series • • • the first issue of Strange Tales II (indie artists take on Marvel Comics) didn’t start off with a bang like the first issue of the previous series did…still, entertaining reading, with the standout being the Galactus/Magneto team-up by Perry Bible Fellowship‘s Nicholas Gurewitch • • • Turok Son of Stone #1 is out, and…I don’t know, I love the old Dell / Gold Key Turoks, and every time there’s a new revival, I realize you Can’t Go Home Again. Kinda like Turok himself, in a way…okay, I’ll stop • • • nice of DC to announce their intention to keep the $2.99 price point, saving customers money, just the week before releasing four Bruce Wayne The Road Home one-shot tie-ins at the same time, or five if you count Return of Bruce Wayne • • • Tiny Titans / Little Archie may actually contain too much cute. It’s a beauty to behold.

I WILL OCCUR AGAIN.

filed under Categories smurfs, this week's comics 6 Comments

Today’s post title comes from the wide selection of only the finest comment spam my site receives on a daily basis, where, in broken English, the “commenter” extols the virtues of my webpage, describing how my writing “brings great informative on this topic that I find interest,” and ends the response with a promise to “return in short to find more of this content” or, as above, “I WILL OCCUR AGAIN.” It’s like an excerpt from the first draft of General MacArthur’s speech: “‘I will occur again!’ No, no, that’s not it…wait! ‘I SHALL RETURN!’ That’s PERFECT!” Except, you know, with links to v1ag4a sites.

Anyway, enough about that, let’s look at some comics:

  • Jeff Parker takes over writing chores on Hulk with #25, bringing the book from its big, loud and stupid beginnings and moving it forward into a big, loud and not-quite-as-stupid future. Not that I’m slamming the Loeb issues…ain’t nothin’ wrong with a comic book that’s just action action action and not a brain cell in sight, so long as it’s fun (and I have been enjoying the book, despite the “event” tie-ins that frankly I’m having less and less patience with). And really, Hulk should be big and loud with lots of action. It’s a Hulk comic, for God’s sake. Anyway, Jeff Parker: good start. Nice art by Gabriel Hardman, too.

  • Fantastic Four #583 kicks off the whole “Death of One of the FF” storyline, though nearly everyone who’s reading the book knows that whatever character they kill off, that character will be back sooner rather than later, so it’s kind of quaint that they’re putting this much effort into hyping this storyline. Of course, Hickman is a good writer, and has been doing a strong job on the book, so I expect we’ll be getting more than the typical “oh noes [REDACTED] is dead and gone forever, how can the team go on” kind of thing. …This first chapter is nicely done, and sets up an unexpected alliance between a couple of characters whose interaction certainly grabbed my interest.

  • Boom! Studios has a new Muppet Show (#10) written and drawn by Roger Landridge this week, and as usual, it’s perfect funnybooking, and pal Ian has another issue of his Darkwing Duck comic on the stands, and, oh, I guess it’s okay, if you like that sort of thing.

  • I haven’t had a chance to read the new Zippy the Pinhead collection, Ding Dong Daddy from Dingburg, but Zippy hasn’t disappointed me yet, and I don’t expect this to be the exception.

  • Pal Dorian already reviewed the new editions of the two Smurfs volumes released this week, and I concur with the statements made by the gentleman from Santa Barbara. I would also like to reiterate the apparently near-universal complaint that they used a lousy font on these books, and that it’s too slight and tiny to comfortably read, especially at the sizes these books are printed at. Otherwise, this is classic cartooning and well worth seeking out. Have your jeweler’s glass handy, though.

  • The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror #16 isn’t as relentlessly weird as last year’s installment, but filled with some good ol’ fashioned Simpsons-style, kid-pleasin’ gore and violence anyway. Particularly in the lead story by Evan Dorkin, which is almost Milk ‘n’ Cheese-esque in the amount of Grand Guignol-ish mayhem dished out on each page.

    Lemmy from Motörhead is the celebrity contributor for this ish, contributing the story (with a script by Tom Peyer) for the last segment of the book. Needless to say, this would be the Most Metal Comic Book Story on the stands this week.

    BONUS FEATURE: inset sheet of Marge Attacks trading cards. It’s exactly what you’re thinking, and it’s fantastic.

  • Justice League: Generation Lost #10 – You know what? I like this series. A lot. It’s very well done, fast-paced, with strong, witty dialogue, and most importantly, doesn’t feel too padded like DC’s last couple of year-long series…which I’m sure cutting the number of issues in half helped with quite a bit.

    Also…I liked Kingdom Come. Liked it well enough to get that Graphitti Designs slipcased edition with the Mark Waid and Alex Ross autographs and the extra sketchbook and all that other hoohar.

    …But seeing Kingdom Come pop up in Justice League: Generation Lost made me groan just a little. I think I’ve reached my KC saturation point during that eighteen-year-long storyline in Justice Society. I mean, Generation Lost hasn’t disappointed so far, and I’m sure they’ll handle the KC stuff just fine, but…man, I can probably do without seeing any more references to KC for a while. Unless it’s KC and the Sunshine Band, because that’s the way (uh huh uh huh) I like it (uh huh uh huh).

  • And I also got Fables #98, which I’m still enjoying, and Legion of Super-Heroes #5, which, I’m sorry to say, the recent relaunch of which hasn’t helped sales any, at least for us.

  • Also, I’m still not buying The Flash. Am I missing anything there?

Yes, I told our customers that all of his scripts had allegedly been turned in ahead of time.

filed under Categories sir-links-a-lot, swamp thing, this week's comics 1 Comment

 

  • Rich from Roots of the Swamp Thing e-mailed me about this interview with Guillermo del Toro, in which the interviewer asks del Toro if he could consider making a Swamp Thing movie. And in response?

    “I would love to make a Swamp Thing movie….”

    Of course, that doesn’t mean he is going to make a Swamp Thing movie…he’s got a few years’ worth of projects to tackle first, but at least he’s got the idea in his head.

    After seeing the giant plant monster in his Hellboy II flick, I imagine his Swamp Thing would work quite nicely.

  • Blah blah new Watchmen trailer blah blah gravely Rorschach narration blah blah finally gives uninitiated an idea of the plot blah blah Dr. Manhattan talking blah blah bullet time ahoy blah blah parts look straight out of the comic blah blah blurred blue penis blah blah cgi human bean juice blah blah Civilian Dan looks good blah blah Manhattan freaking out = cool blah blah sorry folks that one part is actually from a dream sequence blah blah.

  • A new comic or two: Batman: Cacophony #1 is Kevin Smith’s first new comics work since the aborted Daredevil mini and the horrendously-delayed Spider-Man/Black Cat. Funny, our customers don’t seem to be going out of their way to pick up this new thing. Can’t imagine why not.

    The comic itself is a mixed bag…while there’s some cleverness involving Deadshot, there’s also a lot of leaden dialogue that’s apparently meant to be witty and/or outrageous and just comes off as “trying too hard.” Or maybe I just don’t have the patience for it any more. Your mileage may vary, as they say.

    Justice Society of America: Kingdom Come Special: Superman, or something like that – I think we could have safely lost the extra sketch pages, and just published the 23-page story in the standard format for $2.99 and saved everyone a buck. Art’s nice, though…not quite as mannered as Ross’ usual painted work.

    The Black Terror #1 – latest installment in the ongoing Project Superpowers Golden Age superhero revival thing, and…not quite sure what the point of it all is, really. Feels like one of those comics that I like more in concept than in execution. While I enjoy seeing some of the off-brand Golden Age superheroes in action, and it all looks nice, the actual stories themselves have yet to grab me.

    Fall of Cthulhu: Godwar #3 – I don’t have much to say about it, really, other than I’ve been enjoying this ongoing serial involving Lovecraft’s space monster mythos. The shorts Boom! Studios have been doing in their Cthulhu Tales books are fine and all, but I appreciate the longer-form stories of Fall of Cthulhu a bit more, if only because there’s more space to get to know the characters, and of course to build the creepiness and the horror. Perhaps part 3 of a 4 part series, following up on a previous dozen or so issues, may not be the best time to recommend a series, but at least look for the trades if you’re big on the Lovecraft thing.

    Stephen King’s The Stand: Captain Trips #3 – Issue #3, and we’re only how far into the story? This adaptation is going to be ONE MILLION ISSUES LONG.

  • Hey, once former and now part-time employee Kid Chris is on the Twitter. Add him to your Twitter list, and maybe he’ll post something on there again.

A brief look at new comics, and the End of Civilization. (Warning: Mike is a tad cranky.)

filed under Categories End of Civilization, this week's comics

New comics day:

Battlestar Galactica #1 – Well, nobody wanted the #0 for a quarter, so I’m not holding out hope for this new issue, priced at $2.99, to do any better.

Mythos: Hulk – Yet another retelling of the Hulk origin, only with murkier artwork? Oh, good.

Snakes on A Plane #1 – Had a couple folks tell me “I can’t believe I’m buying a comic by Chuck Dixon,” but such is the power of Snakes on A Plane! Well, theoretical power, anyway, given its underperformance. Hey, it’s gonna kill on DVD, you just watch.

Little Lulu Color Special trade paperback – Reprints material yet to appear in the regular black and white reprint books…and it looks like some care was taken in the choice of material, as at least a few gags and/or plot points depend on being able to see the colors of things in the stories. As always, recommended.

Action Comics #842 – Cute Simpsons gag on the cover.

X-Isle #2 – Sorta review-proof: either you want to read a comic about a group of folks stuck on an island filled with monstrous creatures and man-eating plants, or you don’t. Fast-paced, yet creepy, with moody art (though it still has that slight “stretched to fit the page” look I’ve mentioned before).

CSI: Dying In The Gutters #1 – The CSI comics license gasps out its last breath as it abandons the CSI TV show fans who weren’t buying the comic any longer anyway, and focuses its attention entirely on insular comics fandom references. To be fair, it’s not completely terrible (and the strategy worked, since it got me to look at it and I’ve never seen an episode of CSI), but the comic might as well have been called CSI: One Last Grab at Direct Market Sales. Still, kinda worth it if you want to see a bunch of comics pros being presented as if they’re performing in a Murder Mystery Train Dinner Theatre.

Oh, and re: the Tokyopop situation: yeah, I really want to be used as a feeder store for Tokyopop’s online shop. Here, let me try to build an audience for your titles so that you can take them away from us and sell them yourself. That really makes me want to support your future releases. (This reminds me, in a way, of the Games Workshop strategy, where we sold GW product successfully for many years, building up a large local market for their material, and then, gee, GW opens up one of their retail stores about a mile away from us. Coincidence, I’m sure.) I know it’s their right to sell their books however they’d like, but it sure seemed to me over the years that Tokyopop saw having to offer books to comics shops as an inconvenience, or at least as an afterthought. I’m surprised they’re still bothering.

And now, Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization. Crack open your copy of Diamond Previews dated Sept. 2006, and follow along. (Previous installments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18)

p. 192-3 – Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze Bust:

Commemorate the forthcoming repeatedly-delayed box office car wreck with a statue that vaguely approximates the appearance of the starring actor. Only $79.99.

p. 431 – Moses Plush:

This has to be some kind of sin. I mean, doesn’t a plushie version of Moses violate at least a commandment or two?

p. 438 – Archie Modern Reggie Bust:

Have any of these Archie statues even slightly resembled the comic book characters they’re based on?

p. 448 – Hot Golfer Statue:

Yet another addition to my proposed “thisisafetishforsomebody.com” website.

p. 448 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Book of Darkest Magick Prop Replica:

“Carefully matched to the pivotal prop’s every detail, each book features a genuine leather binding complete with closing clasp. In addition, with over 500 blank pages at your disposal you can create your own spell book or start a demon database (or a diary or sketchbook)!”

Here’s a hardcover sketchbook…true, it’s only 192 pages, and it doesn’t look like something you once saw on a TV show, but it’s only $5.99 ($5.39 for Barnes & Noble members) versus the nearly ninety bones you’d be dishing out for the prop replica.

p. 450-1 – Rocky “The Italian Stallion” Robe Replica:

Sylvester Stallone’s porn film seems like an odd thing to commemorate in a prop replica, but, hey, more power to you.

p. 495 – Peanuts “Psychiatric Booth” Salt & Pepper Shakers:

Okay, I’m not posting this to make fun of it; I’m posting it because it rules.

Okay, sorry for the crankiness above; here, have some cute.

And now…

filed under Categories retailing, this week's comics 1 Comment

…sixty-nine copies of Marvel’s Time Bandits adaptation:


We recently found ourselves in possession of a collection that consisted of lots of multiple copies of various titles from the early ’80s, primarily extra-sized comics, anniversary issues, and annuals. We paid well for the stuff we could use, and everything else (sloppily packed into old and decaying cardboard boxes) ended up getting dumped on us.

But that’s okay…as a result, you may be getting more pictures like the above in the near future. In fact, on Wednesday, on new comics day, instead of doing actual work, there I was, carefully spreading out Time Bandits comics on the floor, then balancing on top of the aluminum ladder that I dragged out of the back of the store in order to get the right angle for my shot.

The things I do for this site.

Hey, look, I have an article over on Cracked.com….”Awesome Super-Powers (And Why You Don’t Want Them).” (EDIT 9/9/12: Link dead. Just as well…it wasn’t that good.) Go read, you.

I can’t take credit for the swell job done on the graphic element of that article, but those Cracked guys sure dressed up my textual drivel right purty.

Speaking of new comics day (as I was, up there, somewhere), we received our case of Spawn Series 29, the one supposedly containing the Man of Miracles figure (based on Marvelman/Miracleman, ownership of which is…contested, to say the least). I say “supposedly” because our case didn’t have one. Comments I’ve seen here and there have stated that this figure is the short-pack of the case…if so, ours was so short-packed we didn’t even get one.

We also received the figures based on Michael Turner’s artwork from the nigh-unreadable Superman/Batman “Return of Supergirl” storyline. Oh, Sweet Mother McCrea, these figures are even more appalling in person. Supergirl is frightful, and Corrupted Supergirl, even more so.

While Googling up some info on the Man of Miracles figure, I came across a reference to the character on this Wikipedia disambiguation page:

“A thinly-veiled rip-off of Miracleman, ‘created’ by Todd McFarlane for the comic book Spawn.”

That instance of opining has been removed from the current version of the page. As noted in the page history file:

“(Removal of POV (even if I agree with it!) from disambig.)”

Well, I thought it was amusing, anyway.

I’m not going to talk about this today, but how long do I have to wait before I discuss the “surprise” twist from the end of this week’s release of Civil War #2, without having to surround it with SPOILER WARNINGS? Is it safe to assume that anyone online with any interest in the story already knows it? (Here’s the reveal if you hadn’t heard.)

You know what? Forget it. I am going to discuss it. so current SPOILERS in effect, kids.

So the big reveal at the end (the same reveal that ended up in this week’s Thunderbolts, so everybody found out about it last week when they read that comic in the Marvel preview pack) is almost certainly going to get reversed in short order. A friend of mine, whose first initial is Dorian, has noted that Marvel’s current talking point is that this character’s current relationship status quo is a bad idea, and shouldn’t have been done…probably to get folks ready for something to happen to that status quo during the course of Civil War. Probably not death or divorce, as the Marvel folks seem to be against that.

Well, my guess is that whenever they reverse the reveal from Civil War #2 (maybe Dr. Strange casting a spell, or time travel, or however they do it), the hero in question will ask that his relationship be undone, retconned, “made never was,” to protect his loved ones from any harm being caused by their proximity to him. Particularly if said loved ones undergo some kind of traumatic experience as a result of the reveal. And vee-ola, we’re back to square one.

That’s just my guess, anyway. Could be completely off.

I did like the reaction of the hero’s boss to his reveal, though. Very funny.

Super F*ckers “#277” by James Kochalka is out this week…more charming, wistful, violent, silly, and remarkably potty-mouthed superhero funnies. It’s probably my favorite superhero book of the week. It may be five bucks for 24 pages, but it’s so densely-packed that you certainly get more than your money’s worth. (Unlike, say, my experience with last week’s Wonder Woman #1, which felt like I got from one cover to the other in no time at all). Kochalka says a few words about Super F*ckers (and other topics) in Alan David Doane’s Five Questions interview.

I don’t have much new to say about it, but I always like to note when the new volumes of Little Lulu arrive. This one is Volume 10, All Dressed Up, and John Stanley and Irving Tripp’s work is about as close to “perfect” as comics can get. Classic, funny, and ageless material.

For reading all this, you get a picture of twenty-eight copies of The Life of Pope John Paul II:

I ain’t scared of no weekly comical book.

filed under Categories this week's comics

Your out-of-context quote from new comics day:

“Devo sweat? You’re soaking in it!”

Okay, so it was I who dared to say such a thing, while I was reminiscing with pal Tom about how I saw Devo during their first reunion tour in the late ’80s. I was pressed up against the dead center of the stage, with Mark Mothersbaugh flinging his Devo sweat right upon me. AND I NEVER SHOWERED AGAIN.

Anyway, back to comics:

Kid Chris speaks briefly about that comic book-themed UCLA radio show he was on yesterday morning. I only got to listen to it for about half an hour, just long enough to hear pal Ian‘s call and his vain attempts to get a word in edgewise what with all the excitable college students and uncooperative equipment. Plus, I heard Kid Chris totally slam Swamp Thing. Hey, Chris, remember that “former employee discount” you used to have….?

Oh, relax, Kid Chris fans, I’m just joshin’ him. Maybe.

52 #1 – Well, here we go, the first installment of the next year of your comics-readin’ life. I do like the idea of a weekly comic, and this issue is a strong start, with a nice interweaving of several characters and plotlines (and a cameo appearance by Mr. Mind, a fave of mine). Nice art, strong creative team, interesting concept…I think there’s a danger of some weekly-comic fatigue from the fans after a few months, though, particularly from the people who don’t want to still be thinking about the impact of Infinite Crisis nine months after the fact.

But I’m not some ordinary, weak-kneed, lily-livered comics fan. You think a weekly comic can break me? Bring it, suckas.

Quick shots:

Mad Magazine #466 – Since Stephen Colbert has been in the public eye of late, I thought I should note that the new ish of Mad contains screenshots and a transcripts of The Colbert Report‘s birthday tribute to Fold-In master Al Jaffee.

Angel Spotlight: Illyria – A sorta sad and quiet issue, um, aside from the action scenes, nicely written by Peter David.

Spike: Lost and Found – An improvement on the last one-shot, which was pretty crappy, with a story more of interest to longtime fans, regarding a second Gem of Amarrah. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that means…I do, but then I’m a professional nerd.

Last Planet Standing #1 – Employee Nathan pointed out Galactus’ use of the term “Final Solution” in this comic, which we all agree seems like kind of a bad idea.

Will Eisner’s John Law: Angel’s Ashes Devil’s Dust #1 – No comment about the contents…just wanted to say I got a real Kitchen Sink Press vibe off the way this comic looks.

Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 4 – More crazy JLA/JSA team-ups, including one that throws in the Legion of Super-Heroes too. They better have given artist Dick Dillin hazard pay for that story.

You know, doing these really brief comments about various comics make me want to do another discussion of every comic that comes out in a single week (here’s the last time I did it). But then I wait a while, and the feeling eventually goes away.

In other news:

E.C. Segar’s Thimble Theatre is being rereleased in hardcover. GOOD. I missed Fantagraphics’ reprinting the first time around (though I’ve been able to borrow and read ’em). Six affordable volumes, which I think are going to reprint the whole run…this is good news. Tom Spurgeon promises more info, so watch this space. Or, rather, Tom’s space.

Via pal Dorian:

BUY ME THIS:*


It’s a freakin’ Grumpy prop from Land of the Lost. If you buy me this, I’ll be your special internet friend. (But not with “benefits” — sorry, Kevin.)

* You don’t really have to buy me this. Honest. I’m not legally responsible if you spend several thousand dollars on this item to send to some guy you’ve never met, just because he told you to do so on his stupid weblog.

It’s…(sniff)…it’s okay.

I’m writing the title of this post in 2021, and I have no idea which version of Doom Patrol I’m referring to here.

filed under Categories this week's comics

A few New Comics Day comments:

I finally got my signed and numbered copy of Freak Show (#139/700), several months after the regular unsigned edition was released…nice big, fat autographs of Bruce Jones and Bernie Wrightson on the endpapers. You can see a five-page preview of graphic novel here (even though the title of the page says “Flaming Carrot #1 preview” – this ain’t Flaming Carrot, I assure you). The reproduction is fine, the detailed linework is nice and clear, though the initial title splash page is printed much darker than the rest of the book. I’m assuming it was intentional, but it’s hard to tell.

The Image Comics 13th or 14th anniversary hardcover is out. Really. Honest. I held it in my very hands. I saw it with my own eyes. It exists! I will admit I am curious about the Savage Dragon story, which features the first ever telling of the character’s origin. Even though I haven’t been a regular reader of Savage Dragon, I have admired Larsen’s ability to stick with his project as long as he has (despite the current hiatus caused by his new Image head-honcho status). And I do flip through the new issues when they come in…sorta makes me wish I’d stuck with it (I did read the mini and the first five issues of the regular series). Well, maybe someday they’ll do a Marvel Essentials/Showcase Presents-style reprinting of the comic so I can catch up for cheap.

Adventures of Superman #646 has a understated and downright attractive cover…featuring Mr. Mxyzptlk, of all people. I think the post-mid ’80s reboot Mxyzptlk has undergone an interesting evolution, having started off as a downright nasty piece of business, openly hostile toward Supes, then turning into essentially a wacky cartoon character in the hands of Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove in the early ’90s, and, in recent comics, becoming a far more sympathetic being…gentler in a way than even the Silver Age Mxy.

The current incarnation of the Doom Patrol has limped to its conclusion, leaving me to wonder when the next version of the team is due to appear. Who wants to bet that we’ll be back to the old continuity with the next series, ignoring (or perhaps incorporating, as some kind of “alternate timeline” storyline) the “reboot” status of this series?

And, oh, Good Lord, about a zillion manga paperbacks came in. Somehow pal Dorian is to blame for this, I just know it.

Whining, new comics, the future, and eBay.

filed under Categories the eBay, this week's comics

I hate it when we have a rainy new comics day, mostly because we’re scrambling to unload the funnybook-filled cardboard boxes out of the truck without getting them too wet. Yeah, I know, “boo hoo, try dealing with three feet of snow, you pansy.” What can I tell you, I’m in Southern California and thus not used to the inconvenience of this “weather” you speak of.

Anyway, we got ourselves some new comical-type books yesterday, and, well, insert your own clever transition here, because I sure can’t think of one at the moment:

Infinite Crisis #2 – I just want to comment on my surprise at seeing the extremely negative terms used within the story to describe recent events in the DC Universe. Like pal Dorian said when I pointed it out, “I wonder if they used any quotes from comic ‘blogs?”

America’s Best Comics A-Z: Greyshirt & Cobweb #1 – Okay, first, why is each installment of the ABC A-Z series considered to be a stand-alone one-shot? Why isn’t this issue ABC A-Z #2? (That’s rhetorical – I already know the answer.) Second, if at some point of your story you make reference to a character’s “ice blue eyes,” maybe you shouldn’t have an extreme close-up of that selfsame character’s brown eyes. Oops. Anyway, that Greyshirt story is by Rick Veitch, who is a very, very bad man, and I hope he never changes. Those poor apes….

House of M Decimation Day After One-Shot Hey Wolverine’s Probably in It Whatever It’s Called #1 – Is anyone genuinely interested in this storyline? It seems like most of my customers that are buying this series are sort of doing so grudgingly. “Oh, the X-Men are in it, I suppose I’d better get it. (Sigh).” And not one of them seems terribly convinced that the “permanent” results of this series are any such thing…nor should they be. (I liked pal Corey‘s comment: “These people don’t know how good they had it when Grant Morrison was writing X-Men.”)

Men of Mystery Blockbuster Special – Okay, that is a lot of pages for this item, and I realize that the costs involved in producing this small-press item are probably astronomical. But still…$24.95 for a staple-bound comic book? I know there are solid economic reasons for this, but still it stopped me a bit short. Holy cow.

Friday the 13th: Bloodbath #1 – Here is the list of variants for this item, copied ‘n’ pasted from this site:

Friday The 13th Bloodbath #1
Friday The 13th Bloodbath Foil Incentive Cvr #1
Friday The 13th Bloodbath Gore Cvr #1
Friday The 13th Bloodbath Leather Cvr #1
Friday The 13th Bloodbath Red Con Foil Cvr #1
Friday The 13th Bloodbath Terror Cvr #1
Friday The 13th Bloodbath Wraparound Cvr #1
Friday The 13th Sp Surprise Cvr #1

I’m sorry, I don’t remember what the “surprise” is…beyond the number of covers, that is, but I don’t know if that counts as a surprise, anymore.

Corpse Bride action figures – Now, normally, we wouldn’t have bothered to order these, but we had sufficient interest in this action figure series that we went ahead and ordered a case. In July. It finally showed up this week, several weeks after the movie’s opening. Hopefully the interested parties are still as such. Ah, well. Plus, I can’t shake the feeling the primary reason for this film’s existence is to sell more and different merchandise to the same crowd that had been eating up the Nightmare Before Christmas goodies.

I had a young man looking for #2 of a particular Marvel comic series. I thought he meant the actual issue #2, but eventually I figured out that he meant the second trade paperback. In fact, he was confused by the very idea of individual, monthly comic books being reprinted under one cover. Such is the way of the future, I suppose.

“THE SIMPSONS Homer as Deathstroke”

“Just imagine Bart as Robin, Lisa as Raven and Milhouse as Beast Boy taking on Homer as Slade Wilson.”

I’ve imagined it, and now I can’t get it out of my head.

EDIT: Since this auction will be deleted from the eBay’s servers eventually, I thought I’d steal the image and put it up here for posterity:

Black Orchid and newer comics.

filed under Categories this week's comics

H at the Comic Treadmill wrote up a nice overview of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s Black Orchid mini-series, which featured a guest-appearance by your favorite swamp creature and mine, Swamp Thing. It also featured an appearance by a character named “Sterling,” and, in honor of yours truly, H was good enough to illustrate his post with images that referenced this Mr. Sterling.

And that’s where I got my new picture in that upper right hand spot on my website, featuring a phrase I’m sure at least some of you have thought to yourselves when reading my site in the past.

New comics day was yesterday, and unfortunately Diamond didn’t ship several books to us (including Nightwing, Black Panther, Powers, and, alas, Blowjob)…hopefully they’ll take pity on us and do an emergency ship for everything we were missing.

The new Alter Ego features articles and a checklist for the highly-regarded Golden Age artist Matt Baker, who died far too young. I’ve not seen this much information on him in the past, and, to be honest, I don’t think I’d even seen a picture of him before. One of the articles does state that he passed on in ’59, and apparently that had been a point of contention in the past (since Lambiek states he died in ’57, while Wikipedia says ’63). Whatever the year, I think we can all agree it was too tragically early. At any rate, the new AE has a lot of good info and plenty of art samples by Baker, and it’s well worth picking up.

Hey, Brother Voodoo is in the new issue of Gambit! Finally, a popular character is appearing in that book! (Oh, relax, I kid.)

The new issue of New Thunderbolts (which is new, you know) has an in-story reference to a website called “Thunderblog” — the address for which is www.marvel.com/thunderblog…and sure enough, it’s live (and doesn’t just redirect you to Newsarama, like the Hivejournal.com link from Intimates #5 does). For a second there, I thought the weblogs listed under “Blogs I Like” had live links as well, but alas, they’re just there as sight gags. The very least they could have done is have “Hulk Blog” link to the one true Hulk weblog. I did smile at the Judy Blume joke, though.

And no new comics day can be entirely bad if there’s a new issue of Flaming Carrot on the stands.

For no good reason whatsoever (aside from the fact that pal JP and I were talking about this particular item yesterday)…the DC Direct Bottled City of Kandor statue!

This isn’t the brightest thing I’ve ever done…

filed under Categories this week's comics

…and that’s including my seeing both Mannequin and Mannequin 2: On The Move in the theatres. I thought I’d do a brief comment or two on every comic book that we got in on Wednesday. Some caveats: first, as a full-line comic shop, that means we carry purt’near every comic book that comes down the Diamond pike…though, due to the vagaries of distribution, some titles that arrived elsewhere may not be here. Second, it’s just plain ol’ comics I’m looking at…digests, magazines, graphic novels, and the manga are left off the list to keep me from going insane. Well, more insane, at any rate. Also, I just cut ‘n’ pasted the list from our invoice…I’m mostly not bothering with the [cite] tags.

So, here we go:

AFTERMATH BREAKDOWN #4 – I swear, they had better start 1) putting “AFTERMATH” in big letters on the cover, or 2) just calling it “BREAKDOWN.” Not a big deal, I know, but it’s really beginning to grate on me.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #517 – We lost a couple subscribers at the store once John Romita Jr. was off the book. Hmmm.

AVENGERS EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROES #8 – Actually sold fairly well for us, overall. Probably could have sold more if reorders were available on earlier issues. You know, the same old Marvel story.

BART SIMPSON COMICS #22 – A long time ago, prior to their existence, we were asked every day for Simpsons comics. Day in, day out, “please, sir, can we have some Simpsons comics?” And then the requests faded away…and that’s when the Simpsons line was announced. We all thought, “oh, great, wonderful timing,” figuring the line would crash and burn right away. Well, I am very happy to say that it’s still around, and still doing just dandy for us. Well played, sirs.

BATGIRL #61 – I haven’t actually looked inside an issue of this for several months now. Is she still in that creepy costume that turns off every parent looking for Batgirl comics for the young’uns?

BATMAN #637 – …versus Amazo in this issue. It’s always interesting to see Batman square off against someone not in his regular rogues gallery in his own book. That sort of behavior is usually reserved for JLA.

BATTLE HYMN #1 – Flip cover…the “Nazi villain threatening the pretty girl” cover is the best, reminding me of an old pulp magazine.

BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #69 – New format…now a “girl’s interest magazine!” Still looks like a comic to me. Check it out.

BIGFOOT #1 – You had me at the Richard Corben, lost me at the Rob Zombie. Sorry, man.

BLACK WIDOW #6 – Bill Sienkiewicz on inks. That weirds me out.

BPRD THE DEAD #4 – I like this comic an’ all, but I hope to see some actual Hellboy some time soon.

BURGLAR BILL #2 – I really should pick this up, since I got the first issue from its original Trident Comics release and liked it. But then, it’s probably been well over a decade since I’ve read it….

CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #6 – we’re not going to see any more Cartoon Network Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast comics, are we?

CONAN #13 – It still stuns me that Dark Horse not only managed to get a Conan comic out in this day and age, but was able to achieve some success with it. Amazing.

CSI SECRET IDENTITY #1 – This comic attracts the attention of non-comics readers who wander into our store, but it’s an uphill battle to get them to buy it. Go figure.

DEAD AT 17 REVOLUTION #3 – Always nice art on the Dead at 17 books. Viper Comics does quality work.

DESPERADOES BANNERS OF GOLD #3 – We really need more Western titles. Who doesn’t like cowboys?

DR BLINK SUPERHERO SHRINK #1 – A long time ago, Rob Liefeld had some kind of “superhero psychologist” thing going as a potential movie project, didn’t he? And then there was Supertalk…there was some kind of minor trend regarding this topic going around, wasn’t there?

ELVIRA #142 – I wonder if, 15 or 20 years ago, Cassandra Peterson holed up in a studio somewhere and took thousands upon thousands of photos of her dressed up as Elvira, and is now slowly doling them out in advertising, calendars, covers for the comics, and so on. Then again, maybe not, since I’m sure we’ve seen some of these photos more than a few times….

ENNIS & MCCREA’S DICKS WINTER FUN SP #1 – I like Ennis. I like McCrea. Never warmed to this comic. No idea why.

ERIC RED’S CONTAINMENT #2 – First issue actually sold okay on this.

EXCALIBUR #10 – How many of you dumped this book after the Magneto reveal?

FANTASTIC FOUR #523 – I’ve noticed a decline in our sales on all FF-related books following the widespread release of the FF movie trailer. Coincidence?

FLARE #4 – Of all the ’80s comics I did not expect to come back….

FLASH #219 – Hey, who got Wonder Woman subplots in my Flash comic?

FOLLOWING CEREBUS #3 – “Dave Sim Interviews Harvey Kurtzman:” “Hey, Harv, you hate feminists too, right?” “Um, what?” In fairness, this issue does have a killer foldout cover. The countdown continues to Cerebus: The Untold Adventures….

GI JOE #40 – Dear God, number 40???

GRIMJACK KILLER INSTINCT #2 – I sold this comic to someone on Wednesday with two words: “Ostrander. Truman.”

HELLBLAZER #205 – Hey, this looks nothing like Keanu! Seriously, though, I’m wondering if Hellblazer TPB demand will drop now that the movie’s finally out. No one asked for any on Wednesday….

HUNTER KILLER #1 – Too bad the artist is leaving with issue #…I’m kidding, I’m kidding!

INVINCIBLE #20 – I’m only reading this in trade form (I like the look of the trades, and they come with lots of extra goodies), so looking at the monthlies is like looking…into the future! “Hey, who’s that guy? What’s he doing there…hey, what?”

JINGLE BELLE #3 – It’s a hard sell outside of Christmas-time.

LADY DEATH 10TH ANNIV ED QUEEN OF DEAD #1 – I have no idea if this is actually new, or a variant cover on a previously released comic, or a replacement on something that was shorted…Avatar can really try my patience, sometimes.

LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #3 – I’ve always loved the Legion, so I’m hoping this series will grab at least a few new readers and keep it alive. I liked the first issue, and the second really didn’t do anything for me (though, oddly, most everyone else really dug it). The new issue was an improvement, with a nice reimagining of Triplicate Girl.

LOSERS #21 – I probably should have been reading this comic. Ah, well, can’t read everything. Sorry.

MANGA CALIENTE #4 – Your choice porn selection of the week.

MICHAEL CHABON PRESENTS ADV O/T ESCAPIST #5 – The first issue of this series sold incredibly well, given the price point. Later issues have been harder sells, probably because they’re all waiting for the collections.

MYSTIQUE #24 – Sells okay for us…if you want to save it from cancellation, why, here’s an online petition you can sign. Online petitions always work!

NIGHTCRAWLER #6 – Isn’t Nightcrawler supposed to be fuzzy? That’s awfully smooth skin I see on the cover, there.

NIGHTWING #104 – I have a few people picking this up just for the Year One storyline.

NINJA HIGH SCHOOL #124 – A long time ago, I was chatting with an editorial higher-up at a former publisher of this comic, and I mentioned to this person that every time I looked at NHS, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what the heck is going on. That person’s reply? “Neither can I.”

OUTSIDERS #21 – Batman and Nightwing yell at each other for several pages. References to Identity Crisis are made. Hijinks ensue.

POWERS #9 – You know, I’m always this close to thinking that this is a comic I would really like. But every time I pick it up…I don’t know. It’s not the art…it’s always nicely illustrated. It’s not the writing, as such, I guess. Perhaps it’s that it suffers in comparison to the similarly-themed Top Ten, which I adored. Wheras Top Ten is about exploring the reaches of its particular milieu, Powers seems to be more about shock value. There’s nothing wrong with shock value, of course, but I guess I want something with a little more meat on its bones. Unfair? Probably. I’m glad other people really like it, though.

RICHARD DRAGON #10 – I still can’t believe, of all characters, DC revived this one. I mean, that’s fine and all, I guess. But where’s my Rima the Jungle Girl revival?

RIDE FOREIGN PARTS ONE SHOT – This was the series that, in the first issue, had a woman shooting a big gun at a bus while, er, touching herself, right? Well, you do have to admire a certain clarity of vision. This new issue features no women touching themselves, as far as I can tell, but it does have Ron Marz and Chuck Dixon. Whether that’s a warning or a promise is up to you.

ROGUE #8 – Does Rogue still look like the actress from the X-Men movies? I forgot to check.

RUULE KISS & TELL #8 – Well, give Beckett points for keeping the price points down.

SAVAGE DRAGON #120 – Little late for election humor, isn’t it? Ah, well, that’s okay, it’s still stuffed with Larsen nuttiness.

SEVEN SOLDIERS #0 – The first person I hear at the store say “I don’t get it” is going to get a sound thrashing. It’s Grant Morrison…just grab a hold and hang on, baby.

SILENT HILL PAINT IT BLACK – Dear God: Please, no more comics based on video games. Well, maybe Sonic, but that’s it.

SLEEPER SEASON TWO #9 – You know, almost two years in, I have no idea what this comic is about. None. Not a sausage. I know it sells well. I stock the trades. Couldn’t tell you a thing about it. Just one of those things, I guess.

SMALL GODS #7 – Sells well via mail order.

SOLO #3 – Full of Paul Pope goodness! I really like this man’s work.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #146 – I wonder how many kids that buy this are even aware that this was a video game character?

SPAWN #143 – Remember when this comic used to outsell X-Men books? How the mighty have…well, you know.

SPIDER MAN HUMAN TORCH #2 – “Finally, a Spider-Man comic I can sell to kids!” (“But, Mike, what about the Marvel Age Spider-Man?”) “Finally, a Spider-Man comic I can sell to kids that kids will actually want!”

SPIDER-MAN INDIA #4 – The only customers at our store who bought all four issues? Two comic savers: one who gets all Spider-Man, and another who gets all Marvel mini-series. No one…and I mean no one…looked at this comic and said, “hey, what a great idea! I can’t wait to read the continuing adventure of Spider-Man: India!” As far as I can tell, the express purpose of this series was to piss off actual Indian people.

STAR WARS EMPIRE #29 – Dark Horse tries to tie in the original Star Wars trilogy with the current movie series by having Luke encounter people who react negatively to his Skywalker family name. Not a bad idea, I guess. Like pal Corey has said in the past, Luke’s dad was “Space Hitler” — that’s not something people are going to forget too quickly.

STAR WARS TALES #22 – We were drastically shorted on our order of this issue. Poop. Though people are beginning to lose interest in this title anyway. I don’t understand why there had to be a format change, anyway…people liked the less-serious Star Wars stories. I’m sure, though, there were some exceedingly vocal fans who didn’t care for the non-reverential treatment occasionally given the saga who just couldn’t stop complaining about it. Ah, well.

STARGATE SG1 FALL OF ROME DRAKE PAINTED CVR #2 – Like Lady Death, above…no idea if this is new, restock, or what. Sigh…I guess I’ll check the paperwork today.

STRANGE #4 – Is anyone out there liking this series? Everybody seems to just grumble about it. Oh, and this is another series that has suffered because first issues aren’t available. If I could get more #1s, maybe I can move some of the #2s and #3s that are gathering dust.

STRANGERS IN PARADISE #71 – Feh.

TEEN TITANS GO #16 – Still sells great for us.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #20 – Completely shorted on our order for this title. Not that we’re really selling all that many of them.

ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE #5 – Glad to see Marvel has stopped being coy and called the trade paperback for this series Ultimate Galactus. Nobody was fooled, were they? Good stuff, though…Ellis’ tough guy dialogue for Nick Fury is a hoot.

UNCANNY X-MEN #456 – Alan Davis on art was almost enough to get me to buy it. Almost.

UNCLE SCROOGE #339 – New Don Rosa!

WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES #654 – New William Van Horn!

WITCHBLADE #83 – If nobody likes this comic, why is it at issue #83? Goodness.

WITCHING #9 – Has a small following among our customers, but it never really grabbed me, I’m afraid.

WONDER WOMAN #213 – Why is Wonder Woman still blind? Is there no post-Crisis Purple Ray on the Amazon island? Is that previous sentence something I ever imagined myself writing?

X FORCE SHATTERSTAR #1 – God bless Rob Liefeld for, you know, just being Rob Liefeld.

X-23 #1 LTD ED VARIANT COVER – I.E. “Reprint.” Just say “reprint,” Marvel, we won’t laugh.

X-23 #3 – There’s nothing I can say about this comic that can beat pal Dorian’s review (under Jan. 31st).

X-MEN #167 – Even with Peter Milligan on the book, it has a long way to go to recover from the post-Morrison plummet.

X-MEN PHOENIX ENDSONG #2 LTD ED VARIANT COVER – For all the grief I give Marvel, at least they’ve finally seen the light and are offering reprints on in-demand books. They still do the Marvel Must-Haves, which nobody likes, but they’re trying, anyway.

X-MEN PHOENIX ENDSONG #3 – I wonder if it’s selling so well because it’s explicitly picking up from Morrison’s X-Men plotlines? Or are people just that enamored with the Phoenix character?

Y THE LAST MAN #31 – this comic is the perfect marriage of trades and monthlies. The trades support sales on the monthly book, rather than people waiting for the monthlies to get collected. They buy the first book or three, then buy back issues from after the end of the last book to the current issue. And Y monthly sales haven’t taken a hit. Well done.

***

Whew. I’m never doing that again.

Well, maybe.