this week’s comics

I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Actually, I did enjoy seeing these snapshots of what everyone out there likes in the way of funnybooks. Well done, internet pals.

I know one or two people out there weren’t happy with these lists being all over the place, but considering that I usually tend to run off at the mouth on this site of mine, I figured a simple list would be a nice break for you! Besides, it was just one list (occasionally two) per weblog…tough it out, you’ll live. Not every post can be lesbian unicorns.

Besides, it made Fred Hembeck happy, and certainly that’s a worthwhile goal! Anyway, keep an eye on this post for future updates on other Top 100s, at least until it finally drives me insane.

Anyway, on to the new comics for the week…let’s see if I can keep it relatively short this time:

Tom Strong #31 – Michael Moorcock and Jerry Ordway are the creative team on this issue. It’s a beautifully illustrated comic, and anything that can give me a gorilla dressed as a pirate is dandy with me.

Promethea #32 – it’s not a good sign when the inside front cover explains how to disassemble and reassemble the comic in order to read it the way it was intended. Yes, it does say that the comic can be read as is, but several of the pages are upside down, and…sheesh, I didn’t have the time for it today. I’ll take the comic apart tomorrow and figure it out then. By the way, for some reason the store got the autographed Promethea cover gallery, but not the accompanying hardcover. My reaction to the cover gallery? “Is it safe to touch something that Alan Moore has handled?”

Adventures of Superman #637 – there’s something about Superman’s face on this cover that bothers me. It’s not quite Alfred E. Neuman-esque, but it’s close…I can’t put my finger on it.

JLA Classified #4 – I admit, it is a little disturbing that the recently-deceased Sue Dibny is runnin’ around in this comic, complete with jokes about her possible pregnancy. However, if you read it with the knowledge that, sooner or later, Sue will most likely be brought back somehow, it’s suddenly a little easier to take.

Apocalypse Nerd #1 – good to see Peter Bagge back in action…not laugh-out-loud funny, but still amusing. Speaking of which, the 300+ page Buddy Does Seattle is now out, collecting the stories from Bagge’s first 15 issues of Hate. A steal at $14.95.

Pin-Up Art of Dan DeCarlo – I’m not generally a collector of girlie-cartoons, but it’s difficult to resist a book full of DeCarlo’s fine artwork. As pal Dorian notes, the fact that all the girls look like they stepped right out of an Archie comic is a wee bit disturbing…or appealing depending on how much of a pervert Betty & Veronica fan you are. And yeah, there’s a lot of orange spot-coloring in this book…Dorian didn’t care for it, but I thought it looked neat. It’s a gorgeous book, with great DeCarlo art…well worth picking up.

Green Lantern: Rebirth #4 – I didn’t realize how much I missed having GL arch-nemesis Sinestro around. What a great villain, with a great name (the only super-villain name that tops it is Captain Nazi*…now that’s evil). Plus, there’s a good sequence in this issue about why not just anyone can pick up a GL ring and start goin’ to town with it…it’s hard to work the ring. I get the feeling this may contradict previous stories, but, eh, big deal. I like this interpretation better.

We received our new Sin City trades today…might as well enjoy ’em while I can, because I don’t have any faith that we’ll get reorders on them anytime soon.

Tomb Raider #50 – last issue, apparently. I wasn’t a fan, but this comic had a fairly faithful following with some of our customers…at least one or two who only read this title.

I cheated, and read our sneak peek of Fantastic Four #523, due next week…the one that picks up with Galactus being stripped of his powers and reduced to being a normal human. Pal Dorian grumbled a bit about it, but I tell ya, this comic was just as great as I was hoping it would be. Made me laugh out loud in parts, it did.

* Speaking of Captain Nazi, halfway down this page, on the right-hand side, is one of those cutesy “super-deformed” icons of Cap’n N. Honestly, what’s up with that?**

** Try doing a Google search on “Captain Nazi” sometime…you can just feel your name getting put on government watch lists somewhere.

Yup, it’s the inevitable new comics day post. SPOILERS ahead…I mean it this time. Especially in the Fantastic Four bit.

The Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis II is a perfect follow-up to the previous series from a couple years ago…it picks up right where the previous series leaves off, with the Simpsons invading the Futurama world. The reference to Frink’s “thick Canadian accent” kills me.

Planetary #22 has one of those covers that looks like it’s been weathered and beaten to pieces, and even though I know it’s just printed to look like that, I will do a double-take every time I see it for, most likely, the rest of my life. How do I know this? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #15, that’s why. Anyway, another fine issue, this time taking on the Lone Ranger (complete with a reference to the Ranger’s relationship to the Green Hornet).

Fantastic Four #522 – I’m totally spoiling the ending here, so skip ahead if you don’t want to know. Really. I mean it. Okay, you asked for it…now, pal Dorian groaned when he read the preview copy of this last week, but you know, I got a kick out of it, and I can’t wait to see how the next issue wraps things up. Basically, though the shenanigans in this issue, Johnny figures out a way to strip Galactus of his powers (based on the methods used to switch his powers with his sister)…leaving us with a powerless Galen at the end of the ish. Okay, I know we’ve seen this kind of story in comics and science fiction before, where a an extremely powerful (or just inhuman) being is reduced to mere humanity (cough cough Secret Wars II cough), but as a longtime Galactus fan this has me anticipating the last part of the storyline something fierce. (Yes, I have an empty life, why do you ask?)

WE3 #3 – Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s strangely affecting story about cyborg-animal weapons comes to its conclusion…it wouldn’t say it’s an entirely happy ending, as Dorian suggested to me yesterday, but it’s a tad bittersweet. I’m not sure how a sequel would come together, but I’d love to see one…three issues just didn’t seem enough.

JSA: Strange Adventures #6 – well, it’s over, and probably largely unnecessary, aside from getting to see the original Justice Society back in action again. However, any comic that can work in this line of dialogue:

“What have you done, Jack Williamson? Did you betray Lord Dynamo’s plans to the Justice Society?”

is okay by me. Plus it’s always fun to see Johnny Thunder get his due.

Lessee, what else…Luba #10 (the end of the series…a few nice call-backs to Poison River in here), Flash #218 (the Heat Wave life story…you know, these Rogues Gallery-focused issues sure cast some of the original Barry Allen Flash stories in a new light), and Legion of Super-Heroes #2 (okay, but hasn’t convinced me a reboot was needed).

We also got a letter from Dave Sim, announcing a price increase on the Cerebus trades…how long do you think it’ll be before we see a Tales of Cerebus series, with stories from various periods of Cerebus’ life? Oh, and the letter is hand-signed by Sim, so I fully expect someone to put it on the eBay. (Not me…I’m not that much of a jerk.)

And the new Wizard (we got a double-order of one cover instead of receiving both covers, for some reason) has a preview of Mark Millar’s run on Ultimate Fantastic Four. The preview reveals an upcoming storyline in which Reed finds an “alternate universe” or some such thing during a visit to the Negative Zone – a universe where Reed and Sue are older, married, and have two kids. Basically, the article implies that “Ultimate” Reed has found the regular Marvel Universe. Now, I am fully expecting an Ultimate Universe/Marvel Universe crossover at some point in the future (probably when they decide to do away with one or the other), but I’m thinking this isn’t going to be it. I’m expecting the “alternate” FF to be interdimensional monsters in disguise, or something similar.

The first volume of the Scholastic Books color Bone volumes came out this week…I’m not sure how I feel about them. The color is nice, though the pages do have a slight “scanned and Photoshopped” feel to them, and it’s hard to beat $9.99 for the package. I’m tempted by it, if only because of some of the minor art changes between the comics and the collections, and because the spine on that complete Bone volume, while appearing to be fairly solid now, seems like it won’t survive the test of time.

And, those of you who decided to order your copy of the Simpsons Season 5 DVD set through your comic shop, like I did…it’s out finally.

It was new comics day…

Bob Burden also plugs another couple of his projects in the back pages…Mullet Force 6 and Dynamite Girl, to which I say…um…hey, Flaming Carrot’s back!

Other books out this week:

Superman: Strength #1 – the first part of Scott McCloud‘s prestige format series has come out, and it’s a lot of fun…the art by Aluir Amancio and Terry Austin took a while for me to get used to, but it did grow on me as I read though this issue. The art is over breakdowns by McCloud, and if you look at the first panel on page 5 (the “My God he’s fast!” panel), that’s pure McCloud layout if ever I’ve seen it. The story itself has Supes facing a group of villains in Metropolis, as Pa Kent is relating a story of Clark’s youth to Lois, and I’ll say that the flashback story is the more interesting of the two, so far.

Peter David‘s long-awaited return to the Incredible Hulk has arrived, and after years of either “Hulk smash,” various writers trying to emulate David’s approach to the character, and Bruce Jones’ non-Hulk Hulk run, here’s hoping David will bring back some freshness to the character. He manages to give the Hulk a new ability, as well as flashing back to Bruce Banner’s high school days (a period I don’t think has been covered much in prior Hulks). It’s all set-up, but it’s interesting set-up, and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

In case you all thought you were finished with Identity Crisis, Flash #217 continues the crossing-over action, as the Rogues Gallery hold a funeral for their fallen comrade. Whatever you though of IC, at least Geoff Johns seems to be following through on that series’ implications very nicely.

Swamp Thing #11 – you know, every single issue of this comic could just be Swamp Thing fighting Arcane while zombies wander around Houma, like this issue is, and I’d be perfectly happy.

Other new releases:

DC Horizon is a freebie item that your local funnybook purveyor should have available, and this new edition is all about Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory project. You know, if anyone else claimed that they’d be doing a 30-something issue series (in the form of multiple mini-series) featuring secondary DC characters, I’d wonder what they were smoking. But Grant Morrison? I know he loves this stuff, and after reading the preview, it’s going to be brilliant. (But I’m still wondering what he’s smoking.)

Girl Genius Vol. 3 hardcover – I already have this material, but this is a high-quality package. It has puffy hard covers! Pick it up and squeeze it…it’s downright huggable!

There are far too many Elektra books out this week. It’s almost as if Marvel expects the movie to do well.

The Constantine movie adaptation is here…the art, by Ron Randall, is actually pretty good. I don’t know about the story…I flipped through it, and if it’s any reflection of the actual film, apparently we’re going to be told over and over and over and over and over and over again that Constantine is “damned.” “Hey, is that John Constantine?” “Yeah, he’s damned.” “Hi John, howya doin’?” “Oh, I’m damned. You?” Also, I really hope Garth Ennis is getting some money from this film.

The Constantine movie trade paperback is out as well, reprinting the adaptation as well as some select stories from the Hellblazer run. I swear to you, the Garth Ennis story is part one of his first storyline on the title, and it ends with a caption that says “read the rest of this story in the Dangerous Habits trade paperback!” Those bastards!

The Doctor Solar Man of the Atom hardcover from Dark Horse appears to be shot from the original printed pages of the Gold Key series, but it actually looks nice, I think. If only that Battle of the Planets Gold Key reprint book could have done the same, instead of featuring low quality black and white scans; maybe we could have sold a couple copies, back when anyone cared.

Your “too late for Christmas” Christmas covers for the week: PVP #13 and Strangers in Paradise #70. Eh, maybe they’re just early for this coming Christmas. Same with our much-delayed free Cerebus autographed Christmas cards. Sigh.

Youngblood Imperial #1 prominently features Alan Moore’s creation Doc Rocket on the cover, notable for being one of the few female superheroes to be referred to as “Doc” or “Doctor,” as far as I can recall. (Here’s another.) I liked the character during Moore’s all too brief run on Youngblood, but, um, I’ll pass this time.

Belly Button #2 – I only took a brief look through it, but it doesn’t look like the name “CRUMB” appears anywhere on it. I mean, I understand and all, that Sophie doesn’t want to look like she’s riding on Pop’s coattails…but wouldn’t most people interested in this book already know she’s R.’s daughter? Losing the last name would seem a little disingenuous…unless it’s an intentional meta-joke of some kind. (Of course, if her full name is in the book and I missed it…well, never mind.)

I’m sorry I don’t talk enough about the manga that comes in, since, while I am familiar enough with it to note what’s selling and what isn’t, I really am not enough of an aficionado to really go into details on individual books. Hey, but we do carry a lot of them…still friends? I will note that $24.95 for the new digest-sized Ghost in The Shell book seems a little excessive. I’m sure it’s necessitated by production costs and licensing fees and whatever, but that price point guarantees that it’ll be going into the hands of hardcore manga fans and not to casual readers who may have seen the movie on cable.

Oh, and did I mention that Proof of Concept is out? Proof of Concept is out. Here’s my review, and here’s Pal Dorian’s.

New comics yesterday, I talk about ’em today! SPOILERS AHEAD – I mean it this time! Avert your eyes!

• Well, Good Lord, Identity Crisis #7 is out, and as it turns out, one of my joking theories* about the identity of the killer was, well, sorta on target (except my idea was much sillier). Of course, I didn’t say anything about motivation, which is just barely less than the actual motivation given to the killer. Anyway, if you didn’t like this series, don’t worry; as soon as the inevitable hardcover and softcover collections stop selling, everything that happened in this series will be undone. Sue Dibny: Rebirth, coming in 2008!
• Fantastic Four #521 – here is the discussion pal Dorian and I had last week, after Dorian flipped through the advance copy of this comic:

  D: “So, the new issue of Fantastic Four is using a mostly-forgotten bit of trivia about Galactus as a plot point.”

  M: “That he has some sort of familial relationship with Death?”

  D: “No….”

  M: “That he grows smaller as he grows weaker?”

  D: “No….”

  M: “That he originally came from the universe that precedes the current universe?”

  D: “No….”

  M: “That he’s perceived differently by everyone who sees him?”

  D: “Yeah, that’s the one.”

  M: “Did I disgust you with my Galactus knowledge?”

  D: “No, no…I knew most of that.”

  M: “Well, how ’bout that his real name is Galen? Or that he’s from the planet Taa? Or that his space station was called Taa II?”

  D: “Okay, now I’m disgusted.”

• Girl Genius #13 – each issue of this series just gets better and better…Agatha and Krosp learn more about the peculiar personalities of the circus with which they’re traveling. Lots of fun, and can’t wait for the next issue.
• Plastic Man #13 – Plastic Man takes on the evils of (gasp) File Sharing! Though hardly the prime focus of the issue, it’s still a nice little thumbing of the nose at those scare tactic anti-file sharing ads that have been popping up in the comics lately.
• Deep Fried Vol. 2 #1 – if there’s a comic more filled with wrong fun than Jason Yungbluth’s, I don’t know what it is. Featured terrifying strip: “Ghastly Cash – The Poor Little Rich Ghost!” Yes, it’s another play on the old “Casper is the ghost of Richie Rich” thing, but Yungbluth does it better than you’ve ever seen it.
• Shaolin Cowboy #1 – I didn’t know what Dorian was talking about when he mentioned a 10-page single panel, until I had a chance to look at it myself. He’s right…it’s one panel spread over 10 pages, as drawn by Geof Darrow. I haven’t read it, I have no idea what it’s about (aside from mayhem), but it’s drawn by Darrow in his usual highly-detailed style and looks fantastic.
• Zippy: From Here to Absurdity – another collection of a year’s worth of Zippy the Pinhead strips by Bill Griffith, complete with footnotes. Look for the disturbingly Nancy-esque cover. Always good stuff, though reading a year’s worth of Zippy within a relatively short time is probably not recommended…it kinda affects your perceptions, you know?
• Ocean #3 – the latest issue of the Warren Ellis and Chris Sprouse series, with a scary science fictional idea re: controlling one’s employees that I don’t think I’ve seen before. I also want to note Chris Sprouse’s expressive art…the range of emotions he conveys is impressive.
• Ex Machina #7 – this issue contains probably the most reasonable real-world reaction a person would have upon seeing someone’s “ray gun.” That’s not a euphemism, but, in context, it could very well be. Yeah, I know, I’m being coy for someone shouting about “spoilers” earlier.
• Alter Ego #43 – all I gotta say…El Santo! This issue contains a long article on Mexican comics of the Silver Age, including reprints of American comics as well as original comics produced in that country. No chance to read it yet, but a flip through the issue reveals (as is usual for this magazine) a wide variety of great illustrations.
• Madrox #4 – somehow forgot to get a copy for myself. Gosh darn it.
  

Other new releases, not bought but notable:

• DC Rarities Archives – Oh, dear me, $75.00? I so want this book (reprinting the New York’s World Fair comics and the Big All-American Comic Book), but I really, really, really can’t justify the expense right now. I’m especially frustrated since Big All-American is one of those comics I’ve wanted for years. Ah, well.
• Wizard King Trilogy Book 1 softcover – this collection of Wally Wood’s work is in color and…um, I believe it’s slightly edited. As in some of the nude figures now have had nipples painted away and/or recolored to make them appear as if they’re wearing clothes. A quick Google search reveals that Evan Dorkin has noticed this as well.
• Swamp Thing: Bad Seed TPB – I appreciate DC putting low price tags on the first volumes of their trade paperback lines. Having the first Fables at $9.95 really helps us sell the book. Granted, this particular series of Swamp Thing may be a slightly harder sell, but good on DC for keeping the price down.
• Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Year One #5 – did they really drag out a five issue mini-series over most of a year, or am I imagining things? (I’ll have to check the cycle sheets at work and find out).
• Spider-Man: India #2 – we managed to sell a couple of the first issue to people who buy all Marvel #1s. Without that incentive, I don’t imagine we’ll sell any copies of the second issue.
• Krazy & Ignatz in “Necromancy by the Blue Bean Bush” – I have to hand it to Fantagraphics…they put out some handsome comic strip reprints. I don’t think these strips have ever looked better.
  

Other fun on new comics day…having a glitch on our credit card machine wipe out all its programming, so I have to spend the better part of an hour on hold with the card processing company and letting the software download into our machine at 1200 baud. Luckily, this was at the end of the day, and I only ended up having to turn away one credit card customer (a regular, thankfully, so he’ll be back for his goodies later). Still, put that on my list of things not to do on new comics day.

* Thanks to The Comic Treadmill for finding my post for me!

(SPOILERS, as per usual. Don’t blame me, buddy!)

Let’s get it out of the way…Space Ghost #1 came out yesterday, and it’s selling reasonably well for us thus far. I imagine I’ll probably have to put in a reorder before too long (assuming reorders are available, of course).

As for the quality of the book…well, you can take a vacuum to the desert, and you can vacuum for hours and hours and hours, and when you’re done you’ll still have a desert.* That’s sorta like this Space Ghost comic…you can dump as much “serious” content into this comic as you’d like, but you’re still gonna end up with freakin’ Space Ghost. Say, Space Ghost has a pregnant wife? I’m sure nothing’s going to happen to her!

That said…it’s not a bad-looking comic. It’s one of those rare instances of fully-painted superhero comic art actually looking like cartooning, and not like a long series of photo references. The art, by Ariel Olivetti, has a goofy charm that’s totally in contrast to the story’s events. And I also want to note the unusual shade of blue at the bottom of front cover…looking at a scan of it online doesn’t do it justice. It’s a painfully…neon? electric? shade of blue that you need to see in person…very eyecatching.

If you’re looking for a version of Space Ghost that’s slightly more serious than the one that’s on Cartoon Network, but not quite as “grim ‘n’ gritty” as this new version, find yourself a copy of the 1987 Space Ghost one-shot from Comico. It’s just as serious as it needs to be (i.e. as serious as the original cartoons were) and it’s chock full of Steve Rude goodness.

Other new funnybook arrivals:

Adventures of Superman #634 – absolutely fantastic. Last week, when we got our preview copy of this issue, pal Dorian showed me the cover, and pointed out the very subtle (and slightly disturbing) hidden images. I may never had noticed if he hadn’t drawn my attention to it. The interior is a lot of fun, too, as Mr. Mxyzptlk gets mixed up in a battle between Superman and the Parasite Twins. As a result, Mxy ends up in the “real world,” interacting with DC Comics’ staff in some of the clearest photos I’ve ever seen used in a comic book story…we’ve come a long way from those grainy black and white photos that used to pop up in the Bullpen Bulletins every once in a while. Also appreciated is the much more sympathetic portrayal of Mxy, as opposed to the evil little S.O.B. he was following the mid-80s Superman revamp.

Terra Obscura Vol. 2 #4 – did anyone else think this issue read really fast? I got to the end of the comic and thought, “wait, is that it?”

Ex Machina #6 – there’s a discussion between a couple subway workers near the end of the book that made me blush, and I’m someone who has to hear discussions about gay porn on a fairly regular basis. So, fellow retailers…for God’s sake, don’t sell this to kids! Well, otherwise, another fine issue…I find myself really enjoying the flashback sequences that take place during Mayor Hundred’s career as a superhero…they have a “real” world Astro City-esque feel. A

JLA #108 – anyone disappointed that the first issue of Kurt Busiek’s run didn’t feature enough of the Crime Syndicate will be happy with this issue, which has the Syndicate almost to the exclusion of anything else. Well, there are some Qwardians in there, too…I wonder if this is a nod to DC’s brief attempt at retconning the original Crime Syndicate into Qwardians a few years back. Anyone else remember that? I seem to recall a giant Phil Jimenez drawing of all the Justice League villains that had those big Qwardian bug-eyes badly edited onto the faces of the Syndicate members.

Fantastic Four #520 – I love the FF, but aside from Stan ‘n’ Jack, and a couple other people since then, the book is rarely done well. I have been enjoying Mark Waid’s run on the title, and this issue had a good laugh out loud line (regarding Reed’s fear that Johnny may try Galactus’ patience)…it’s a shame that Waid’s leaving the book after this storyline, especially given the big brouhaha when he and Wieringo were temporarily forced off the book a while back.

Cosmic Guard #4 – I’ve given up on this comic. I normally enjoy Jim Starlin’s work, but I think my patience has officially run out on this particular title. It’s not bad work** by any means, but I don’t think I need to see yet another variation on the “kid gets superpowers he’s not ready for” storyline. The cosmic stuff from the first issue hasn’t made a reappearance, and the “hero corrupted by power” theme is currently being done better in Firestorm.

Green Lantern Rebirth #1 2nd printing – this cover, featuring Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, was probably the one they should have used in place of the Hal as the Spectre cover on the first printing. Oh, and we were shorted half our order on these for some reason.

Identity Crisis #1 3rd printing – just wanted to mention that this came out as well, in case anyone still needs a copy.

Plastic Man On The Lam trade paperback – it’s formatted like that Chip Kidd-designed Plastic Man book from a few years ago…you know, with the cover slightly larger than the pages inside. Oh, and hold your nose if you take it out of the plastic sleeve…the book is quite pungent. Hoo boy. Good comics, though.

In other news:

Those of you who bought the first two volumes of The Complete Peanuts as they came out, and were a little miffed that a slipcased set was released…the slipcase is now available for order from Diamond, separate from the books. It’s only $4.95, so start nagging your retailer today!

Commenter Anonymous points back to that Love Is eBay auction I mentioned the other day…it ended at $274.99. Let me repeat that…$274.99.

* Why, yes, I am master of the analogy. Why do you ask?

** Your mileage may vary, depending on your Starlin tolerance levels.

New funnybook day! Spoilers may be afoot, so watch your step (or, um, something like that):

• Essential Tomb of Dracula Vol. 3 – man, this is a fat, fat book. It’s gonna take me forever to plow through this thing…given I just finished the Essential Monster of Frankenstein, I’m not sure I’m ready to start another marathon Marvel monster session. Yeah, I know, “boo hoo, I’ve got too many comics to read!” But it looks good, like the previous volumes…one of the stories from the Tomb of Dracula magazines reprinted herein is by Steve Ditko, so you Ditko fans take note!
• Ocean #1 – this is the first of the mini-series by Warren Ellis and Chris Sprouse which, while it had my interest, I had pondered waiting for the eventual book release (because that’s just the kind of killing-the-comic-industry guy I am). Pal Dorian had a compelling argument for not waiting, in that it’s a six issue series and bimonthly, so it’s well over a year wait for a trade…thus convinced, I went ahead and grabbed it. And it’s good — all set-up (Inspector Kane is a prototypical Ellis bastard/hero on his way to investigate shenanigans on Europa), and it got a nice cynical chuckle out of me regarding a reaction to a book Kane is carrying.
• Plastic Man #11 – Didn’t spot Plas on the cover right away, which made me feel very silly a little later when I did notice him. Which is okay, since this is a very silly issue…DC continuity freaks stay away, as this issue will give you heart palpatations. Baker gets in some good jokes regarding the whole Luthor-as-President storyline, Smallville, and our own real-life President. Edwina, the vampire’s daughter from last issue, is surprisingly still around. The art style is slightly different as well, it seems to me…a little simpler, with machine-lettering instead of Baker’s hand-lettering. Anyway, another great issue, and I hope Plastic Man sticks around for a while longer. (EDIT: I’m told that Baker does all his lettering by “machine” – or, rather, computer…which makes sense…so let me amend my statement to “machine-like lettering.” I still like its look.)
• Identity Crisis #5 and Firestorm #6 – okay, read Firestorm after IC. Not that there are any major spoilers or anything, but it’s probably better for both stories if you do so. In IC, a lot of theories some of us had about the identity of the killer(s) may be thrown out after this issue, and…well, I want to say more, but I really don’t want to spoil anything. And Firestorm is still quite interesting, as the “hero” of the book continues his apparent moral decline. He goes through some of the superhero motions, but keeps makng increasingly selfish decisions…he gets called on it by a couple of superhero Big Guns, but one gets the feeling the new Firestorm doesn’t really take the hint.
• Madrox #2 – Peter David’s mutant-detective comic continues, with some revelations about the nature of Madrox’s duplicating powers, particularly the slight personalities differences among his duplicates. (I’m not a regular X-comic reader, so I could be wrong that this is new.)
• Other new arrivals: Luba #9 (more goodness from Beto, with a shock ending!), JSA: Strange Adventures #3 (Johnny Thunder proves why he gets to hang out with the Justice Society — it’s a scene we’ve all seen a hundred times before, but still effective), Fantastic Four #519 (I’m a sucker for Galactus stories; the only reason this is an Avengers: Disassembled crossover is apparently to explain why the Avengers aren’t also facing this threat to New York, it appears), 1000 Steps to World Domination (trade collection of Rob Osborne’s mini-comics…I particularly like when Rob reveals to his wife that he’s making a list of things to do in order to dominate the world, and her response is “I don’t want anything like that in the house”), and Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #10 (the Pat Boone-scripted story is hysterical!).
• That new printing of Identity Crisis #1, the one with the original Turner pencils printed in a “negative”-style reversed black and white, is terribly unappealing. Not that the image was all that great to begin with, in my opinion, but doing this to it didn’t do it any favors.
• Jimmy Olsen Adventures Vol. 2 by Jack Kirby – another fine full-color trade paperback reprinting Kirby’s nuttiest DC work. If only we could get a good color reprinting of the other Fourth World comics (those black and white volumes just didn’t do it for me).
  
  
  

• Dorian pointed this one out to me: Neferu the Cat, a hardcover album from Safcomics…didn’t get much of a chance to flip through it, but the cartooning is top-notch from what I’ve seen, and the plot (Neferu and his cat-friends stuggle to protect themselves from the encroaching dominion of the dogs) may not sound like much, but it really looks entertaining.
• Archie #552 – am I the only person who saw this particular word balloon (located to the right), and pictured Archie keeping Dilton Doiley in a pit, telling him to rub its lotion on its skin? No cover gag Archie Comics could come up with could compare, surely.
  

You like the new comics, hmmmmm?

• One gets the feeling that Chuck Austen’s run on JLA (which ended with today’s release of #106) may have been better had it been cut down to, oh, say, one issue. This particular issue was slightly better than the previous parts, and did get an honest laugh out of me (Batman’s line “I just have a way with children”), but boy, this storyline was near Marvel-esque in its eventual-trade-paperback-release padding.
• Palookaville #17 is a very frustrating experience. It’s the latest installment of the “Clyde Fans” storyline, and it’s beautiful and brilliant, as each chapter has been previously, but the huge gap between issues is driving me crazy. Not quite as bad as, say, Charles Burns’ Black Hole, but I wish I could get more than one issue a year.
• Green Lantern #181 wraps up this iteration of the GL series in sort of a “blah” fashion. While it was nice to see Kyle get his revenge on longtime nemesis Major Force, some plot points sort of bother me. Yeah, I’m gonna have SPOILERS, so skip or deal, mister. Okay, first, I didn’t buy that Kyle would just hand over his ring to MF* — seems a little out of character. And second, Major Force is a killer, who had murdered Kyle’s girlfriend way back when…is Kyle really taking MF’s word that he didn’t kill Kyle’s mom? What the…? And after all is said and done, Kyle never bothers to check on Ma and make sure she’s okay, and just zips off into space? Sheesh.
• DC: The New Frontier #6 wraps up this heavily 1960s-flavored series with a final battle against the giant walking-island alien monster thingy. Yeah, it sounds stupid, but it’s a good excuse to get all the classic DC heroes together, and when it all looks this pretty, you don’t worry too much about the plot contrivances. There’s a stunning two-page spread featuring all the heroes going off to battle…it’s a scene right out of every 90s action movie, where the group of heroes are walking side-by-side toward the camera in slow motion…you know, that scene, the one we’re all sick of seeing by now. Well, there’s one of those in this comic (only without the whole “slow-motion” part) and it looks great. And the epilogue on this comic is something else…a variety of snapshot images of DC’s Silver Age, presented with a speech on the New Frontier by President Kennedy. A nice ending to an enjoyable book.
• Adam Strange #1 – this must be the week for purty comics, because this one is absolutely stunning. Even if you’re not an Adam Strange fan, you gotta pop open this book and take a gander. Another thing I enjoy about Adam Strange — not just in this book, but in most of his recent appearances — every time he’s on Earth and he’s trying to explain to someone other than another superhero about his space adventures, he’s treated like he’s nuts. It’s a cheap joke, but still funny. Yeah, I’m easily amused.
• I only get two comics-related magazines on a regular basis: The Comics Journal, which I’ve been reading for well over twenty years now, and Alter Ego, which generally has enough material of interest in each issue to keep me picking it up every month (though it feels like it’s been biweekly lately). There’s a lot of stuff packed into each of these magazines, and the older I get, the less time I seem to have to devote to reading them. Basically, I’m saying that I have a high resistance to picking up yet another comics magazine. However Back Issue #6 got me today, with their Halloween issue containing — you probably guessed it — articles on Swamp Thing. Gosh dang it! Features interviews with Swampy’s creators Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, plus Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch, and even a discussion of who came first, Swampy or Man-Thing. Also, I’ve learned in this magazine that there exists a 1984 promotional videotape from DC, featuring Alan Moore discussing his work on Swamp Thing. We’ve gotta have one of those around the back room of the store somewhere….
• Also picked up today: Hellblazer #200 (nice to see Steve Dillon on the book again, even if just for this special issue; comic now has the logo that emphasizes “Constantine,” which will probably disappear once the Constantine movie finishes its run); Luba’s Comics and Stories #5 (Gilbert Hernandez continues to do that voodoo he does so well…for some reason, the “ALL NEW!” on the cover really tickles me); Superman #209 (we’ve had about three issues’ worth of story in 10…but give me a national monument come to life to attack Superman, as in this issue, and much will be forgiven); and the Dark Horse Comics Halloween mini-comic (reprinting “Stray” by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson from the Dark Horse Book of Hauntings).
• Also arrived today: Superman: Man of Tomorrow Archives Vol. 1 (which I might have picked up if I weren’t broker than a broke thing that’s broke), more Classics Illustrated Junior reprints (I wonder if anybody other than Classics Illustrated collectors are buying these? Kids won’t touch ’em in our store), Captain Canuck: Unholy War #1 (what? Again? I remember the last time they tried to revive Captain Canuck…didn’t really go over too well then), Challengers of the Unknown Must Die trade paperback (I really liked this mini-series…and this looks like a nicely-packaged collection), and Tarot Witch of the Black Rose #28 (I’m not asking this to be critical, or to hold anyone up for ridicule, or anything like that…I’m honestly curious: if you like this comic, why do you like this comic? What is it about this comic that makes you buy it every month?**)
• Not arrived today: Superman/Batman #12, which is a no-show to stores serviced by Diamond’s Los Angeles warehouse. Well, we’ve all waited, what, two months? What’s another week?
  

In other news:

New theory on the Identity Crisis killer, hashed out with pal Corey: Bat-Mite! Who else could get past all the security equipment? And how does he benefit? By putting together a mystery that only his hero Batman can solve! See, it all fits!

Wow! Ed cuts to the chase about the perceived direct correlation between the low quality of certain comics and articles written about same.

In 1978, a young Will Pfeiffer, inspired by the recently-released Star Wars, creates his own comic book: Space Force Frog!

* For some reason, “Major Force” strikes me as a really dumb name, and I don’t want to type it any more.

** Of course, people can ask me the same thing about Liberty Meadows.

It’s new comics day, it’s new comics day….

• Flash #214 – do my eyes deceive me? Did I just see an in-continuity reference to The Best Doom Patrol Story Ever? (under March 31st…it may not come up right due to the way the pictures load) The events of Identity Crisis begin to have some impact outside of that mini-series, and this issue plays off the events very well.
• Plastic Man #10 – another “done-in-one” issue, featuring Plastic Man and friends versus a vampire! Very funny, as this series continues to be one of DC’s best.
• Teen Titans #16 – this is the first issue of a Titans comic I’ve bought in about 12 years, and I only picked it up because it guest-stars the Legion of Super-Heroes. It’s the beginning of the wrap-up of Superboy’s time-travel adventures, and a character drops a not-so-subtle prophetic hint about how this will be the last adventure of this version of the Legion.
• Tom Strong #28 – Brian K. Vaughan and Peter Snejbjerg are the fill-in creative team for this issue, which delivers a story focusing on the Strong family’s robotic manservant Pneuman. Nicely done.
• As is Vaughan and Tony Harris’ Ex Machina, where Mayor Hundred’s superheroic past begins to catch up with him. However, I hope there’s more to the reasoning behind the attacks beyond the theory presented in this issue…seems a little…too facile, you know what I mean?
• Haven’t had a chance yet to read Cosmic Guard #2 (it’s a Jim Starlin comic, which should be description enough for some people…if you like Starlin (and I do), you’ll like this) and Uncle Scrooge #334 (another fantastic-looking 34-page Don Rosa story). And that was pretty much all I bought today.
  

Other new releases:

• Army of Darkness: Ashes to Ashes #2 – asked about every day for the last month, sold like 3 copies today now that it’s finally out. I’m sure we’ll sell out eventually, but I just like how this sort of thing always happens.
• Doom Patrol Vol. 2 – The Painting That Ate Paris – if you haven’t been exposed to the true successor (in tone and spirit) to the original ’60s series, you’ve got to pick up this book. Also includes the above mentioned Best Doom Patrol Story Ever.
• Hino Horror volumes 9 and 10 arrived today…dear God, these things look absolutely terrifying. Seeing as how it was a horror-themed story that finally got me to pick up one of these darn manga things that we seem to have a whole wall of, I think Hino Horror may be next on the list. Plus, that’s a great photo of the cartoonist inside!
• Puttin’ The Backbone Back is a nice small softcover of sketches and flyer work by Jim Mahfood, well-priced and handsomely packaged at $9.95.
• Dictators: Saddam Hussein #1 from Antarctic Press…hot on the heels of the Dictators: Hitler series, of which we didn’t sell a single copy. So why did we order this second series, you may ask? Because every once in a while, we get Ted Nomura fans who must have everything he’s done, and boy, I don’t want to be the one to look into that fan’s eyes and say “Sorry, sir, we’re fresh outta Hitler.”
• Nightcrawler #1 – beginning Marvel’s newest short-lived X-Men tie-in series! Oh, I’m sorry, did I say “short-lived” out loud?
• Elric: Making of A Sorcerer #1 – now, I’m not a reader of the Elric novels (in fact, I just recently read my very first Moorcock book – a 34-year old paperback of Behold the Man), but I have to say this is a very attractive comic, thanks in no small part to artist Walt Simonson.
• And that Mr. Monster comic from Atomeka I mentioned yesterday is also out on the shelves. Entertaining mayhem, and well worth your attention.
  

In other news:

• So pal Corey and I are talking about Identity Crisis, and somehow we jokingly suggest that the murderer is going to be revealed to be the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen. We laugh about that for a moment…actually, I begin to laugh, then I start to think “you know, maybe….” And then I realized that fans hate DC now as it is because of this series, and making Barry the killer would only stir up the flames more…which only convinces me further that it’s a great damn idea.

  My other idea is that it’s Jean Loring who killed Sue Dibny, and that it was Sue Dibny from the past, having time-travelled from the past into the DC Universe’s present on some adventure or another with the Giffen-era Justice League, discovers her own murder, and attempts to do in Loring in revenge. Yeah, I know, but I have to keep occupied somehow during lulls at the store.

• Identity Crisis #1 has gone back to press for a new printing…doing a black and white “negative” of the art doesn’t do it any favors, especially considering that the cover wasn’t all that great to begin with. But some people do like the Mike Turner art, so we ordered plenty of the 2nd printing, and we’re sure we’ll sell through.
• You know what’s selling really well for us right now? The Akira Capsule Toy assortments. If you don’t know what these are, these are little opaque plastic egg thingies that contain one of an assortment of miniature toys based on Akira…the toys are packed randomly inside, and you have no idea which ones you’re getting. Our customers love these things.
  

And, um, that’s it, really. Oh, I’m also finally getting around to reading last week’s Alter Ego, which continues the Julie Schwartz tribute, and contains some Gil Kane goodies as well, not to mention an interview with Russ Heath.