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• Astro Boy Movie Adaptation #3 – Not selling at all at our shop, and we’ve dropped our orders down to one copy, just so we have it in case someone wants it someday. The movie itself isn’t due out ’til the end of October, and I haven’t heard a single customer express any interest in it. Maybe once the film is a little closer to being in theatres, we’ll start hearing some buzz.
• Chew #1 (4th print), #2 (3rd print), #3 (2nd print) – It’ll be nice to have copies of #1 again, since we got shorted on our orders of the previous reprint and they were never replaced. Lots of talk about this book online, and we’ve sold well on 1 and 2…though last I checked, we still have a few 3s left.
• DC Library – JLA by George Perez HC – I got into the Justice League comics when these were coming out, and I sure picked a good time to do so because, man oh man, Perez on the book was something else. It’ll be nice to have these on…well, slightly better paper than the paper they were originally printed on. This book includes the two-part Secret Origin of the Red Tornado, which is a particularly nostalgic favorite of mine.
• Dead Romeo #6 – Surely somebody somewhere must have read this.
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? #2 – The first issue of this Philip K. Dick adaptation had reasonably strong sales for us, the second issue not quite so much but still respectable. The series is getting a handful of folks though the door that don’t normally buy the funnybooks, and with any luck they’ll keep with it though the (good gravy) 24-issue run, unlike all the folks who bailed out on Marvel’s Dark Tower series.

  Also, I just noticed pal Ian is editor on the book. Ian, dude, I’m telling you: DECKARD VS. CTHULHU. It’ll sell itself.

• Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #5 – This ended up being the only one of the FC Aftermath books I followed, though I hear Dance is pretty good, too. Look, I can’t read everything. But something about the lead character in Run (Mike, the “Human Flame,” who killed the Martian Manhunter in Final Crisis, and the depths to which this guy is sinking in his ongoing quest to become a major player…there’s a dark, schadenfreude-ish humor to this series that I’m really enjoying in a horrible, sick way.
• Iron Man: Armor Wars #2 – Not sure why this needed to be a separate mini-series, aside from making sure there are as many new Iron Man trades and hardcovers as possible on the shelves when the new movie is releas…oh, never mind, I think I know the reason. And isn’t there an Ultimate Armor Wars about to come out, too? I was going to say something about retelling old superhero stories/events over and over again, but duh…that’s not a bug, that’s a feature, as they say.
• Irredeemable #6 – Sold through multiple reorders of the trade collecting the first four issues, as well as plenty of the 99-cent fifth issue. Looking forward to possibly strong sales on #6. This series has been a good read, though each issue feels like it’s too short…probably because you’re left anxiously awaiting the next installment. Like the recent Battlestar Galactica series, it manages to be dark and almost fatalistic without being oppressive, which can be a thin line to walk.
• Jonah Hex #47 – Ooooh, hang on, little buddy, the movie’s almost here! Sales should pick up right before then, so enjoy ’em while you can!
• Magog #1 – Not sure the world demanded a Magog series, but, you know, it is Keith Giffen writing, so it may end up being strangely entertaining.
• Marvel Zombies Return #1 – Originally was going to be a series of one-shots, but Marvel wisely decided to present it as a sequentially numbered mini-series, which may help sales a bit. Also features the return of the Marvel Zombies from the earlier series (like Spider-Man, Hulk, and so on) which may turn around the franchise a bit after the not-quite-so-well-received Marvel Zombies 4.

  Sometimes I look at what I’m writing about, and I just shake my head.

• Marvelman by Joe Quesada poster – Most of our posters at the shop tend to be bought by (or for) younger folks. I didn’t order very heavily on the Marvelman poster.
• Red Tornado #1 – Remember my mention of nostalgia for the Red Tornado origin story from JLA? That same nostalgia will probably drive me into at least looking at this series. “My name is Mike, and I have Red Tornado nostalgia.” “Hi, Mike!”
• Solomon Grundy #7 – Ended up being a pretty good little series, and though the last issue is a Blackest Night tie-in, Scott Kolins I think will make it all flow smoothly enough.
• Star Wars Invasion #2 – Not that the Star Wars franchise hasn’t done its share of backwards-looking, fill-in-the-gaps stories, but for some reason publishing a comic now that ties into one of the big Expanded Universe novel events that ended years ago feels a little peculiar.
• Strange Tales #1 – Marvel characters by Peter Bagge, Nicholas Gurewitch, Paul Pope, Johnny Ryan, James Kochalka, Michael Kupperman, Junko Mizuno, and many, many others…this is going to be one spectacularly weird book. This means (more or less) that Johnny Ryan is officially drawing Disney characters. What a world, what a world. (Here’s Johnny Ryan drawing a Disney character unofficially…don’t worry, it’s Safe for Work.)

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In other news:

• DAYS in the making! It’s the second action-packed installment of The Variants, the video webseries about the gang what works at a comic book store. Highly recommended!
• Pal Dorian asked for requests on what comics he should talk about, and he answers those requests right here with some thoughtful commentary and shocking opinions. (No, Dor, not The Killing Joke! Noooooo!)
• Secret Supreme Leader of the comics blogosphere, Neilalien, has been gathering links related to the Disney/Marvel hoohar, and Tom Spurgeon has links to some analyses as well. Also, Tom has an old Spider-Mickey pic illustrating his post, taken from Spider-Man Annual #5. I should have remembered that, when I made my merchandise prediction the other day, as we used to have the original artwork for the pages that image came from hanging in our shop. (Before you ask…nope, sold ’em years ago.)

I’m guessing you’ve probably heard that Walt Disney is buying Marvel Comics for a cool four billion bucks. Not sure what the full impact of this will be yet, but 1) I’m pretty sure Disney’s not shutting down the publishing end of it, so relax, your comics are probably safe; and 2) if you thought toy aisles were overflowing with Spider-Man and X-Men shit now, hold on to your Mickey ears.

There were jokes a’plenty online about this acquisition, as you might imagine (I saw plenty of references to Howard the Duck and Donald Duck teaming up, for example), but I think my favorite take is from The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats‘s Adam Koford. Though M.O.D.U.C.K. is pretty awesome, too. We’ll see how prescient these drawings are once the actual Disney/Marvel mash-up merchandise hits the shelves. I’m fully predicting Spider-Mickey.

I am wondering if we’ll see a story on a slow news day about “Disney publishing porn comics!” when they discover the existence of the MAX imprint. Not that Disney hasn’t handled adult material before in some of their subsidiary studios, but c’mon, this is comics we’re talking about. Everyone knows comics are solely children’s entertainment, so it’s not hard to imagine somebody making a stink about Disney property The Punisher saying “fuck” in a funnybook sold to Little Billy.

Yeah, it probably won’t happen, but it could…and as I talked about yesterday, it doesn’t take much for people looking for things to complain about to start complaining. Not that Disney’s any stranger to people complaining about the company, I realize.

So anyway, let’s see what happens. It’d be nice if the actual comics industry would see any benefit from this, but I’m not holding my breath. But I’d give anything to see this on our comic shelves.

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In other news:

• Another week, another brain-shattering installment of War Rocket Ajax, the podcast that puts the “kick” in “facekick.” Chris Sims and Eugene Last-Name-Unknown-at-This-Time have another great interview, featuring that apotheosis of annotation Jess Nevins. Go, download, listen…it’ll only take away an hour from what little time remains of your life, but let’s face it, you probably wouldn’t have been doing anything nearly as entertaining for that hour anyway.
• Speaking of interviews, comics internet stalwart Alan David Doane just released a PDF book of interviews he’s conducted with many, many comics creators over the years, including Kurt Busiek, Howard Chaykin, Colleen Coover, Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo, and oh, so many more. It’s a free download, and I know you people like the free stuff, so go check it out.
• Here, let me give you more stuff to read: the link to this PDF essay has been going around again over the last week or so, and given my particular love for the material discussed here, I feel I should present the link here as well. Ladies, gentlemen, others, I present to you – How to Read Nancy by Mark Newgarden and Paul Karasik.
• So last week was Jack Kirby’s 92nd birthday, and most of us posted a picture or two on our sites to commemorate the event. However, Bully the Little Stuffed Bull posted his little stuffed heart out on that day, presenting a Jack Kirby tribute post every hour. It’s an amazing feat, and well worth gazing upon in awe. Well done, my fuzzy friend.
• Who’s got the Previews for Gays? Pal Dorian’s got the Previews for Gays!
• Those of you who actually visit the site, versus reading me in a feed reader, may have noticed that I changed the Twitter thingie in the sidebar, there. This new widget is a little more interactive, and the links I post there are now clickable, so you don’t have to go to my actual Twitter page to click on them.

  Sure, the new Twitter box is a bit larger and more obnoxious than the old one, but it has that improved functionality I mentioned, it’s a little more readable, plus you get to see that little icon pic of me from when I was 13 years old, so things are better all around!

So here’s one thing I was curious about regarding the forthcoming complete Bloom County collections from IDW Publishing:

During the strip’s run, Berke Breathed had a storyline where Bill the Cat’s heavy metal music career was derailed when it was discovered that he’d been secretly reading the Bible with a wholesome woman by the name of Edith Dreck. Well, a certain Reverend Donald Wildmon and his media-watchdog group took great offense at the word “dreck,” and made a big stink about it.

The response from Breathed was basically “it was just a funny name, get over it,” but when it came time for these strips to be reprinted in one of the collections (specifically, 1988’s Tales to Ticklish to Tell), the name “Dreck” had been altered to “Drock,” as seen in this sample panel:

I remember seeing “Drock” in the book when it came out, and feeling a little disappointed that they caved, even in this small way, to this complaint. According to that article/advertisment I read in a recent Comic Shop News, IDW will be printing strips from the original art and newspaper proofs, when possible, so my hope is that we’ll be getting our dreck in all its unbowdlerized glory.

And yes, because someone out there will bring it up if I don’t…Reverend Wildmon also claimed Mighty Mouse “snorted cocaine” in one of his cartoons. No, really, he actually claimed that.

Hollywood producer Joel Silver was doing a press conference for the graphic novel-based film Whiteout, when he dropped this wee bit of information:

“I’m developing a picture now that I’d like to do,” he said. “I’ll hopefully do SWAMP THING, which is a movie we’ve had for a long time. We think that would be great to do in 3D.”

I’ve been asked what my thoughts on this are, given my Swamp Thing fanboyism, and, honestly, I don’t have a whole lot to say since I don’t really have much to go on. Well, the 3D part makes me think of Creature from the Black Lagoon‘s original release in 3D, which in turn makes me think a Swamp Thing movie totally done up as a black and white ’50s monster flick would be fantastic.

However, the main thing that comes to mind is that if a Swamp Thing movie does get greenlit, perhaps that’d be enough for DC to start up a new Swamp Thing comic book series to tie into it. And that’d be okay with me.

I am looking forward to the eventual Nancy and Sluggo movie as well. “ANGELINA JOLIE and VIN DIESEL are…NANCY AND SLUGGO in…THREE ROCKS. COMING SOON.” Or perhaps going the other direction, in something like Sid and Nancy.

…I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I wish I was better at Photoshop.

So last night on the Twitter, the topic of Nena’s hit song “99 Luftballons” came up, in the context of its usage in the Watchmen movie. I noted that any mention of “99 Luftballoons” (or the English version, “99 Red Balloons”) would remind me of a parody of the song by Tim Cavanaugh, entitled “99 Dead Baboons,” which used to pop up a lot on the Dr. Demento radio show in the ’80s.

Anyway, I went Googling about for some info on the parody, and found a Youtube video for the song. Not an official video, but rather a fan-made video where someone accompanied a playback of the song with a bunch of anime imagery:

Now, I’m familiar with the idea of fan-made music videos on the YouTube, where someone would, say, pull out-of-context stills or clips from the X-Men: Evolution cartoon, string ’em together into a slide show where it sort of implies that Wolverine is banging the gong slowly with Kitty Pryde, and then have it accompanied by “All Out of Love” by Air Supply.

I may be exaggerating slightly (very slightly), but in that theoretical case with Wolverine and Kitty, I can at least see the motivation of the person who made the video. But the parody song with the (seemingly) random anime pics? Just don’t get it. Unless the person was just being deliberately obtuse, but who knows?

I did look briefly into the YouTube comments for any info…yes, yes, I know, someone saying they’re going to look at YouTube comments is like watching a secondary character in a slasher film decide to wander off into a darkened hallway. You can’t help but think “no, you idiot, don’t do it!” And you’d be right…all looking at the comments did is make me fervently hope the Swine Flu will wipe out humanity.

So, anyway, there you go: “99 Dead Baboons,” with bonus anime. I find you people of Earth to be most peculiar.

So there are new comics coming tomorrow:

• Batman and Robin #3 and #2 second printing – Well, that second printing of #2 is here just in time, since I just put our last copies of the first print into the back issue bins. “$15 RARE HOT 1ST PRINT L@@K.” Okay, I didn’t really do that. But this series is currently our top-selling title that isn’t Blackest Night, which is nice, since it is a good, solid Bat-title. I am curious if we’ll see a slight dip in sales with the non-Frank Quitely-illustrated arc coming up. Not that Grant Morrison’s writing alone doesn’t sell the book, but the two-headed Morrison/Quitely comic-creating monster really has our customers’ interest up in this title.
• Batman: The Widening Gyre #1 – Well, Kevin Smith’s last Batman 3-issue mini-series was more or less on time, so DC’s tempting fate by giving him a 6-issue series. The debut issue of that first series sold well, though sales dipped a bit in the second and third…but, oddly enough, it’s been a strong back issue mover. Let’s see how this one does.
• Barack the Barbarian #2 – Hell, the customers liked the first one. Seems like the more bizarre the Obama comics become, the more folks seem to like ’em.
• Cerebus Archive #3 – Looks like I’m the only person at this shop still reading this. Hey, I think it’s neat.
• Citizen Rex #2 – This series by Mario and Gilbert Hernandez seemed to slip underneath the radar of many a Love & Rockets man, as we’re still pointing it out to folks who hadn’t heard about it. It’s peculiar and fun, featuring robots and bloggers, and I’m at least one of those things so of course I love it.
• Darkness/Pitt #1 – Every time I’m reminded of Pitt, I remember back in the ’90s when we got a case or two filled with Pitt #1s and we sold every last darn copy of it. Those were the days. And then I look at our relatively minuscule orders on this crossover book and I think “wow, I hope we can sell all these.”

  On the other hand, if one were to somehow cajole Dale Keown into doing a regular Pitt series again, I imagine it would do reasonably well.

• Fantastic Four #570 – First issue with the new creative team (Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham), which means it’s time for me to evaluate again whether I’m going to read the FF or not, like I do every time the creative team changes. Actually, it looks good, so I think I’ll probably stay on.
• Flash: Rebirth #4 – Boy, our customers really noticed how late this book was. Lots of demand for it, at least in our area. (And about that panel I reproduced yesterday from issue #3 – I’ve thought the art on the series so far has been okay, but man, didn’t anyone look at that Superman drawing and think “that looks a little odd; maybe it should be redrawn.” It was actually enough to kick me out of the story a bit.)
• Halo: Helljumper #2 – Notice customers are a little gunshy about picking up this series, given the incredible delays on the previous mini.
• Hulk #14 and Incredible Hulk #601, not to mention Son of Hulk #14 – Oh, no, we couldn’t space these out over different weeks, we HAD to have them all come out at the same time, and during a week where Marvel’s already putting out an assload of other titles. That’s fantastic.
• Last Days of Animal Man #4 – This has been a fun little series so far. Still not enough Green Lantern Whale in it for my tastes, however.
• Muppet Show TP and Muppet Show: The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson #2 – If you haven’t read these yet (well, okay, I’ll let you slide on Peg Leg #2 since it’s not out yet), I’m asking you…I’m begging you to check them out. Roger Landridge’s Muppet Show is about as close to perfect as comics get.
• Previews #252 September 2009 – Well, shit.
• Riftwar #3 – Nobody at our shop buys this. Nobody. Even the guys who get EVERYTHING didn’t buy it. Nothing against the title…I’m sure it’s a perfectly fine comic, but it’s just not fitting the needs of any customers I have.
• Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen Special #2 –
  

  “Jimmy Olsen has put all the pieces together regarding the mysterious Project 7734, and it’s worse than he imagined. With The Man of Steel temporarily out of the picture, though, it’s all up to Superman’s Pal to take action. Thankfully he has the help of Mon-El and Steel’s niece Natasha Irons – but will they be enough to defeat Codename: Assassin?”

  Sirs, I am not seeing any Giant Turtle Jimmy, Jimmy Olsen Fan Club, Jimmy crossdressing, Jimmy fighting Nazis, or any other Jimmy-appropriate shenanigans. There’d better be some inside.

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Speaking of Jimmy Olsen, Nazis, and crossdressing, noted Jimmy-ologist Chris Sims and his partner in pod-crime Eugene have built from spit, spare parts, baling wire, and good ol’ fashioned American know-how a brand new episode of War Rocket Ajax, with special guest, writer Caitlin Kittredge. Great fun as always, and be sure to check out that great drawing advertising the episode in question at that link.

BONUS:

Colossus knows our American pies are tainted by the rotten berries of…PORNOGRAPHY.

images from Marvel Comics Presents #10 (Jan 1989) by Ann Nocenti, Rick Leonardi & P. Craig Russell

So remember that time Doc Magnus’s human body was irreparably damaged and he became the Metal Man known as Veridium?

He may have been new to his robot body an’ all, but he still had time to make a nerd joke/reference to old Gold Key comics:

I’ve some mixed feelings about this series, and I wasn’t the only one since the “major changes/revelations” in this series have since been removed from the official DC Universe continuity. Like, for example, the big “twist” that the Metal Men were once living, breathing human beings: the foreshadowing for this revelation was presented in one of the Action Comics Superman team-up issues, where Doc Magnus is shown saying something along the lines of “I must never let the Metal Men learn the secret of Level 12!” I remember thinking at the time “oh, I bet the Metal Men were once human, and that’s where their bodies are,” and sure enough, it turns out in this mini-series that Level 12 was exactly that. Pretty sure no one had any problem interpreting that foreshadowing.

My other quibble with the series was too many cramped panels with too much dialogue, and that the dialogue we got wasn’t all that great….very much a “the food was terrible, but at least the portions were huge” situation. But I will say the series had one of my all-time favorite covers, on the first issue:

“Borrowed” that scan from The Comic Book Database, since my own scan of the foil cover didn’t turn out well. And this really is one of those cases where a gimmick cover enhancement really fits with the comic, with each Metal Man given the appropriately-colored “enchanced” treatment. It’s an absolutely beautiful-looking image, and even the Comic Book Database scan doesn’t really do it justice…try to see one in the wild, if you can.

Another thing I like about the cover: this great blurb on the first issue:

Makes the creative team on this comic sound like a group of super-villains, doesn’t it? Well, then again, turning Doc Magnus into “Veridium” seems like a bit of a villainous act to me.

images from Metal Men #1 (Oct 1993) and #4 (Jan 1994) by Michael Carlin, Dan Jurgens & Brett Breeding

HOW A BLOG POST IS BORN:

Kid Chris: “Hey, Mike, post these on your site as a swipe file!”

Me: “Well, maybe later.”

Kid Chris: “C’mon!”

Me: “Okay, fine.”

And that’s how yesterday happened. And just to be clear, no one thinks anyone was actually swiping anybody. We’re just amused by the similar poses. So there.

Anyway, from New Comics Day:

Normally when new Archie comics come in, we rack them on the All-Ages-specific rack we have by the front of the store, across from the register, next to the All-Ages-specific book shelving. However, since we had some extra copies of Archie #600 (the special Marriage Issue) kicking around, I racked some along with the regular superhero and indies New Arrivals rack…and sure enough, we picked up some sales from folks who don’t normally buy Archie books. Even had one fellow who’d been coming in for years declare that this was the very first Archie comic he’d ever read. Ultimately, however, it looks like we’ve got enough copies for the time being.

Also, I have to think about my orders on the forthcoming debut issue of Models Inc., which apparently got some media coverage about three or four months ago since it’s going to feature some cable reality show guy. (Okay, fine…Tim Gunn, Project Runway, etc.) I guess that’s all well and good, but I’ve heard exactly NOTHING from anyone looking for this comic. Usually, when something gets media coverage, I’ll get some nibbles, even if it’s months ahead of time. But…nada. Not a sausage.

Well, okay, Kid Chris told me one guy made a sarcastic “oh, I’m really looking forward to that” comment, but that’s been pretty much it. However, Gunn apparently was on TV Wednesday plugging the book again, so I’ll see if anyone says anything today about it before I have to turn in the final orders.

Regarding some previously-received comics, we’ve sold through yet again on the Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps mini-series, and general consensus among the employees is that displaying the three interconnecting covers on the rack side by side seemed to encourage sales. Fortunately, issues 2 and 3 are still available for reorder, and there’s a second printing of #1 on the way, so I’ll go ahead and order another batch.

And this is being reported to me by my faithful shop underlings: Marvel found a way to pick up sales on Amazing Spider-Man again, and that’s with Mary Jane Watson covers. Folks like the sexy MJ, even this, um, really plastic-looking version that I made fun of in a previous End of Civilization post. (My rejected joke: “In this issue, Peter gets a Realdoll!” …If you’re lucky enough to not know what that is, don’t Google it up.)

I don’t have an ending to this post, so here: read about the Batman fish.

The Stand: American Nightmares #5 (Oct. 2009)

Herogasm #1 (a couple of months ago, 2009)

1. It’s a joke. Relax. 2. It’s Kid Chris’s fault.