The Goddamn Batman's Guide To Being A Better Lover

Step 1: Gauge the texture of her tongue.
Is it smooth? Sandy? This will come up later, so it's best to know beforehand

Step 2: Keep your masks on. It's better that way.

Step 3: Remember that, in the final analysis, most women are ingrateful little stuck-up gold-diggers who will complain at a drop of a hat.

Step 4: Congratulations! You are now a graduate of
the Goddamn Batman School Of Better Love-Making. Go get 'em tiger!

It's Funny Because He's Teh Gay -- GET IT???

It's funny because Piper is TEH GAY! Get it?

He's a homosexual and he wears prom dresses!

Because that's what gay men do!

Just in case you forgot that Piper was teh gay --

That's so funny!

Milton Berle from 1955 sez:

"That's Comedy!"
Can you imagine that if instead of a gay man this was with a woman or an African-American?

"Oh, I get it -- he's black! I forgot! It's an offensive joke, but it's just Trickster being a dick, so it's okay!"

Feh.

Anti-Semitic Comment In "Countdown" #32?

The DC Message Boards have been buzzing with a discussion over whether the following words from the "Countdown" #32 backup story are a slur against Jews (here's the whole post by "phanboy216" for context):

I'm not normally sensitive about stuff like this but did anyone read the Eclipso origin this week? Something jumped out at me that really bugs me.

In the second panel, the narrative says "As the Old Testament gave way to the fairer and more balanced God of the New..."

Is DC saying that the Christians worship a better God than those who only believe in the Old Testament (like Jews)?

First, it's an ignorant statement - it's the same God

Second, even if unintentional, DC should give more thought when tying religious issues into comics.

Third - and this just makes me laugh, they make God sound like Fox News ("Fair and balanced"?!?!)

I know it's just a poorly-written 2-page story that is trying to explain 40 years of ridiculously convoluted continuity, but I just wanted to at least raise the point that DC writers need to be more sensitive and DC editors need to do their jobs...

another poster, "rsokolic," wrote,

"More importantly for DC Comics (although perhaps less so for the rest of the world), the page associates Eclipso, who has always been identified as a villain in the DC universe, with the Hebrew Bible, and the Specter, who has always been identified as a hero, with the Greek Bible.

The implication is that Judaism (at least ancient Judaism) was villainous and Christianity (at least ancient Cristianity) heroic. This is about as clearly anti-Semitic as one can be - saying Jews bad, Christians Good. This seems much closer to teh type of racial anti-Semitism that was the foundation for the Holocaust. In this conception, it is not merely that the Jewish faith, or the Jewish God is bad, but that Jews themselves are less good than Christians.

This is about as bad as the old portrayals of Wing and Pieface in the '40's, '50's and '60's. Julie Schwartz must be turning ovrer in his grave (Not to mention the Spectre's creator, Jerry Siegel, or Joe Schuster, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby or the other followers of a less fair and balanced God who created the comics industry).

Interestingly, this issue was published during the 10 days of Repentence, when Jews ask for foregivenness from those who we have harmed (part of the rituals ordained by our unfair and imbalanced God). Perhaps the writer and editor of this two page back up, or even the Senior Vice-President and Executive Editor on behalf of his staff, should make a suitable show of contrition or regret for this slur"

Was this short bit of narration anti-Semitic? Or, as other posters on the DC Message Board commented, is the original poster just being too sensitive & PC?

First of all, the idea of a "New" and "Old" Testament is Christian in nature. Jews refer to their sacred books as the Tanakh, and academics refer to them as the "Hebrew Bible."

So right off that bat, if you want to make comparisons between different characters in your comic and you put the Old & New Testaments in there, you're already sort of in the danger zone in terms of offending someone.

If the symbolism was indeed there in this "Countdown" story that evil Eclipso = Old Testament and Good Spectre = New Testament, then you've got some problems. But I haven't read the issue so I'm just going off of what I have heard.

As for whether it's a slur or just a lot of PC bellyachin', what do you think of this "BC" cartoon (published on Easter/last day of Passover):


Is this cartoon saying that Christianity has replaced Judaism? Or that even the Jews were responsible for killing Jesus? Or is this just a cartoon about cavemen who apparently have menorahs and elegant glassware?

It's verrrrry complicated. We tended not to use overt religious stuff in our books at DC. This is why.

Fangirl Fridays: The Underoos Edition

Welcome once again to "Fangirl Fridays," that fine magical place.

Ou Est Mas Evil?

Cyborg Superman

















or

Ragnarok?




















Cyborg Superman has the seniority, but Ragnarok has the cooler name.


Knight Rider Rides Again, This Time With Transformers

NBC is bringing back "Knight Rider" -- this time with evil transforming cars!

But the burning question is, who will play Michael Knight?

Who?












Who?










Who?











Who?












McDuffie on Diversity in Comics

From an excellent interview he's done with the BitTorrent blog:

BT: It seems that in an industry that’s based on pop culture, that things like race and sex would take a backseat…

DM: Well think about it, half the population is female, and how many female writers are there?

BT: Right exactly what I mean. It seems like that wouldn’t be an issue in this time. It’s 2007 how can that be going on?

Key Words Are Key

















Do you have any idea how many hits these two gave me over the last week?



Blasts From The Past: "Groundbreaking New Gay Superheroes"

CNN: December 9, 2002
"Marvel Comics plans to break new ground in the comic book industry by introducing the first openly gay title character in a comic book.

The character will appear in a revival of the 1950s title, "The Rawhide Kid." Marvel expects a February debut.

The new series pairs the original artist, John Severin, now 86, with Ron Zimmerman, a writer for the "Howard Stern Show."

The Rawhide Kid has been a Marvel character since the 1950s both as a main and a secondary character. However, it was not until Zimmerman approached Marvel with his idea of a homosexual Rawhide Kid that sexuality was mentioned in the discussion of the character.

and

CNN: June 2, 2006
"Kathy Kane's return as a socialite-turned-caped-crusader might not draw much attention outside the comic book world, but Batwoman's other secret is causing quite a fuss.

DC Comics says the character, who was brought in originally in 1956 as Batman's love interest, will be reintroduced as a lesbian as part of an effort to diversify its superhero roster. Kane is open about her sexuality with her friends, but has not come out to her family, executive director Don Didio said.

A quick Google search for "lesbian Batwoman" drew more than half a million hits with some blog posts calling it a sign of "the steady decline of our society," and others questioning whether a 5-foot-10-inch redhead in big boots and a skin-tight suit was a role model or a straight teenagers' fantasy."

"Aquaman," RIP

Well, the latest "Aquaman" series seems to be kind of cancelled. Mixed feelings, I helped edit the series way back for the first batch of issues. Our biggest problem with Aquaman was "reimagining" him -- trying to reposition him for today's readers. There was a really brief moment when we even toyed with the idea of making him subtextually bisexual. In the end, we settled for the water hand.

But in case DC is looking for ideas on how to reboot the character, may I suggest:

Flesh-colored Speedos and two-headed humanoid sea-horses. Gotta love 'em.

Lastly,

Teh Awesomeness:


Teh Not-So-Awsomeness:



No:




Bye, folks!

Smallville Premiere Liveblogging

picture from kryptonsite.com

Spoilers

7:59 - Family Guy ends, Luke Perry in bed with Adam West, sweet!

8:00: Episode recap. Oh look it's "Superman Prime." Is Lana dead? I don't think so. Lois is cuter than Chloe so Chloe must die! Magic tears! Bizarro Superman.

8:01: Didn't this dam breaking thing already happen in the first Superman movie?

8:02: Nice flood effect. Luthor is now underwater in a police car...and Clark is WTF in the woods. Kick to the face! Baa-cock!

8:03: Evil Clark's voice sounds like his balls dropped, what's with that?

8:04: Oh this so happened with the dam in the first movie! Now Clark is f**king with the flood... What's going on here? Can Clark stop time? No he's evaporated all the water. Of course.

8:05: New-ish intro. Last Lex season, sad emoticon. Yay Chloe boo Lois boo Supergirl.

8:08: Lex is at bottom of ocean, banging his big head against the glass to get out. Houdini! Oh snap, is he dead? No, he's seeing a beautiful blond woman. Oy vey! That's Supergirl. Lex's life saved by teh hotness.

8:09: Superman prime is impaled on his own petard, as it were. There's blood everywhere. He roasts some dude with his crazy heat vision.

8:10: Lois is pulling dead Chloe out of danger- - lots of dead floaty people. "Down here we float...we all float hahahaha..." Oh no it's evil little bastard superbaby clone! Kill him kill him!

8:12: Lionel Luthor is all washed up & some mystery guy pulls him away and we're back with Lois and the little evil boy a door breaks its Superman yayyyyyy "It looks like it caved in," duh.

8:13: Evil clark getting high off of the green crack...I like Welling playing evil, he's got that oh face, you know the one ohhhh...

8:14: Lex is alive and faced teh hotness of Supergirl -- a John Williamsy refrain, then she flies away.

8:19: Chloe is in the Smallville medical center. "Lois you gonna tell me what happened?" "Maybe I was dreaming." Thinking about it, she should have left that 8-inch knife in, Chloe might still be alive! Oy vey, the "warm light" stuff, very new agey.

8:21: Lois is going to f**k Lex up. Calls him "Dr. Evil" see because he's bald and evil. "Lois, there is something you should know..." "Make yourself useful for once, Smallville!" Dis!

8:22: Lex is alive and on the lam, looking at his wedding ring boo hoo hoo. "I was dead and there was this light..." all this stuff with the light, touched by an angel, etc.

8:23 "Her soft skin, her hair, that half-awake smile, that nice firm ass, those heaving..." He's turning himself in even though he is rich and doesn't have to.

8:24: Lois: "is that you Clark" oh no it's evil Clark but she doesn't know..he catches a look at her ass ah hahaha horny superman prime bizarro clark. She's getting turned on you can tell.

8:25: Uh oh it doesn't look good for Chloe, they get out the paddles she's dead so sad why did they drag this out?

8:29: Chloes alive...and naked. Clark: "Chloe's gonna be okay isn't she?"

8:30 What s**t is clark doing now? Is he psychic too? He finds Chloe yay "why am I in a morgue?" "she looks like crap"

8:31 Did Lex's guys do something to Chloe? She finds a labcoat that fits her pretty quick, oh no she found out about Lana too boo hoo

8:32: Lex in jail, totally OJ-ed.

8:33: Oh crap Lex is all born again now...and Superman Prime comes in conveniently enough, disembowels the lawyer, squishy sounds.

8:34: "You took Clark's body. "Just a few cells."

8:39: Product placement - Dell. Gotta get a dell! (We're not going to see Supergirl until the end are we?)

8:40: We miss Lana good cry wah! "Phantom Clark thing." "Chloe I don't know how to stop him." Chloe calls evil Clark "Bizarro." Damn Chloe those are some big earrings.

8:41: "Reeves" dam -- get it "Reeves." Ahhhh Martian Manhunter in a hot purple leather jacket. Looking good!

8:43: "That's why his face distorted when he got into the light." "Come into the light...all is welcome! All is welcome!" Good and Evil Clark have reverse color schemes.

8:44: Lex pulls a big gun oh snap Lex watch out he's gonna kill you. Throws him into those pipes. Oh now Evil Clark's got the crack fiending overdose buzzzzzzzzed...

8:45: Ohhhhhh slow motion punch! Watch out Clark he's on the green PCP! Tom Welling looks so fetching grimacing evilly.

8:46: Clark has a healing factor just l ike Wiolverine. He is going to kick evil boy's ass. Evil Clark looks like he has that tech virus from X-men, slow-motion rocky moves, he punched him into the air.

8:50: Oh no, Clark is all depressed. "Who's to say he's any more emo than I am?" Oh that's evil not emo.

8:51: "Hate is so clean." How old is the actress who plays Chloe now, 35?

8:52: "I'm not human." Emo! "The fact that you're from a galaxy far away..adds character."

8:53: Boo Lois. You're so bossy with your Farrah Fawcett hair. (finger goes into throat)
"If you ever grab my ass again, I'll be grabbing your head with me when I go." Evil Clark sex harass.

8:54: So Supergirl was like in this episode for less that two minutes? You could have had a prop in her place for those scenes.

8:55: More emo speech by Clark.

8:56: Chloe sets fire to her death certificate, "those producers will never get me off this show now!"

8:56: I hope they don't drag this whole Lex-as-born-again-martyr thing all season. BF: "this is Smallville - they forget about things." Oh yeah let him take that picture of him & his wife with him into prison sure.

8:57: Oh Lana is in this fake-ass China with this fake-ass wig. Laaaaaaaame!

8:58: Supergirl -- now has a full punk Earth outfit on, puts on her fashion accessories very solemn-like.

9:04 Watching The Office, still thinking about Lana in that fake-ass wig.

Occasional Interviews Presents: Scott O. Brown, "Man Of Comics"

Scott O. Brown is a man of many hats -- a great comic book letterer, an award-winning publisher through his imprint Cyberosia, and the writer of Platinum Comics' "Atlantis Rising."

Scott currently has the graphic novel "Nightfall" out from Platinum, about a tough Texas prison which is secretly run by vampires using the inmates to feed on.

OS: You refer to yourself as Scott O. Brown: "Man of Comics." What does that mean?

SB: I got a papercut from a radioactive copy of Watchmen purchased at a flea market for $3.00, transforming me into a Man of Comics, with the ability to write, edit, letter, pencil, ink, color, publish, and design comics and graphic novels.

OS: Your new graphic novel "Nightfall" is about vampires in a prison setting. What inspired you to write such a unique story about bloodsuckers?

SB: I was actually inspired by Joss Whedon's Buffy and Angel TV shows. I always thought the idea was so obvious it would inevitably show up on either show. When it didn't, I took the matter into my own hands and wrote a spec script for Buffy. Despite interest from agents, my complete lack of desire to move to LA at the time stopped me from pursuing a TV writing career, so in the end, to get the story out there, I retooled it into what became the graphic novel.

OS: Did you do any research about prison life for this book? Watch a few seasons of "Oz," perhaps?

SB: Just enough to hit the story beats. At 62 pages, there is a cost/benefit ratio to the realism. Trick with research is to do just enough to make sure a story like this has enough credibility to suspend disbelief. To make the story work, I actually had to do more research on UV lighting than prison life.

And I've never seen "Oz."

OS: Have you always had an interest in writing horror comics?

SB: I love horror comics. My latest, They Do Not Die!, with my long time collaborator Horacio Lalia is being serialized at Ambrosia Publishing: http://theydonotdie.ambrosiapublishing.com/

But the truth is, I just love writing comics. Doesn't matter if I'm playing in the horror genre or not. My first book, Second Soul, is a cyberpunk thriller. My second, Death Valley, is a western with slasher overtones. I have both a superhero and a high school comedy in development, as well as a political thriller. Horror is nothing more than a tool to explore whatever theme I feel the need to sink my teeth into.

OS: "Nightfall" has been previously available as a webcomic at Drunk Duck. What has been your experience with the webcomic format? Do you see it as in competition with print media or something that might compliment it?

SB: The thing with Nightfall is that it is written for the Euro-sized graphic album format. When I first wrote it, there was no immediate intent to publish it online. As Platinum's business model grew, then so did the opportunity to present Nightfall on the web.

I think using the Internet to compliment print comics is a great idea, though I don't believe it's really being used to its full potential. Zuda might be a step in the right direction, but I think something even bigger needs to be done to really make webcomics a cultural, creative, and financial force to be reckoned with.

OS: You were the founder of the acclaimed Cyberosia publishing imprint and are now working with Platinum Studios. Exactly how long have you been in the publishing side of the comic book industry? And how long have you been writing comics professionally?

SB: I actively published through Cyberosia for five years, but I've been writing professionally ever since 2000. My involvement with both overlapped a bit. With Cyberosia laying dormant for the most part, I've focused my energies on writing and lettering. In one form or another, I've been working professionally in comics for almost eight years.

OS: "Nightfall" seems like the perfect story and property for a Hollywood treatment. Have you considered that at all?

SB: That was the whole point of pitching it to Platinum. Just getting my foot out the gate at the time as a writer, they seemed like the perfect publisher to take advantage of it. It moves forward in fits and starts, and I suspect it'll get made eventually.

OS: You also have another series coming out from Platinum called "Atlantis Rising" -- can you tell us something about that?

SB: It's a sci-fi war epic about a Clash of Civilizations. A separate species of humans and their entire society have developed in parallel to ours beneath the ocean, and they launch a terror campaign against perceived injustices committed against them by surface nations. Reporter Angelica Danielson gets caught up in the middle, and learns firsthand more than she ever wanted to know about crimes on both sides of the surface.

The art is by talented newcomer Tim Irwin, with colors by Andy Elder. It's a gorgeous book, but don't take my word for it, it's being serialized online at

http://www.drunkduck.com/Atlantis_Rising/index.php, so you can see for yourself!

Or you can order the first issue for twenty-five cents from Diamond: AUG073922

OS: Thanks for the interview, Scott!

The Case For Reboots

Looking at the designs for the new Spider-Man cartoon on Newsarama, a thought came to mind -- is it more cost-effective for comic publishers to simply reboot their characters every generation or so for new readers (and new media venues), or does maintaining a character's continuity over the decades help grow richer characters and a more loyal breed of fan?

For example, what if DC had decided to stick with the Jay Garrick Flash instead of switching over to Barry Allen?

Though I have no idea if fans were as rabid then as they are now, picture this scenario:

You are a dyed-in-the-wool Jay Garrick Flash fan. Suddenly, your fave character, whose adventures you followed so lovingly in both his own title & All-Star Comics, has been replaced with this joker in red pajamas.

Horrors! It's an outrage!

And yet, I think the introduction of the Silver Age Flash & Green Lantern were key developments in revitalizing both DC and capes-and-tights comic books.

Now granted, Jay Garrick & Alan Scott were reintroduced, sort of, into the DC continuity -- though they were assigned to a different "Earth." And while these alternate Earths had occasional adventures with each other, the boundaries between each was clear.

And thus The Flash & Green Lantern saw successful reboots.

On the other hand, consider the case of Batgirl.


How much revenue in licensing and other income did DC lose by not keeping "active" the classic Barbara Gordon Batgirl?

Sure, DC managed to skirt around established DC continuity by licensing product based on the Barbara Gordon Batgirl of the animated "Batman" TV series. But that red hair, that bluish-violet outfit, that plucky attitude -- this version of Batgirl was highly popular among the masses and a proven moneymaker.

On the other hand, the rebooted Cassandra Cain Batgirl was not.

Then there are reboots of the same character that starts their history from square one. When you see shows like the new Spider-Man cartoon, "Legion of the Superheroes," "The Batman," etc., that's what you're essentially dealing with. New and yet the same. And playing out the same iconic, crowd-pleasing aspects of their established history -- meeting Mary Jane, fighting the Fearsome Five, the death of Batman's parents. And this extends out past the cartoons to the TV shows, the movies, etc.

After the mess of "Countdown," out of the tortured, twisted wreckage of mashing different Elseworlds in with each other, after this post-modernist orgy of collapsed and colliding continuities, the only way the Didio-era DC characters can be redeemed is to reboot them within themselves.


Square one.


It is the only way to fix the damage caused by punching holes in time & the entire "Amazons Attack." It is the only way to salvage a readership that is dead-exhausted with crossovers, "twist endings," and multiple character deaths.

So I propose a "DC Year One" thing that mirrors, in a broad sense, the basic continuities set by the DC movies and TV shows.

Superman first meets Batman. The Justice League forms. You know the drill.


It's sort of what happened after "Crisis" about 25 years ago. Which is a generation. Which means we're due.


Then you get top-flight talent for each relaunch. I'm talking Jim Lee, Adam Hughes, the Kuberts, everyone.

And no matter how bitterly long-time fans complain, pretty much if "Batman" is rebooted with Jim Lee or someone of that caliber everybody & their mother is going to pick up issue #1. We're talking "Hush" numbers, we might even be talking Jim Lee "X-Men" numbers.

And the complaining among the fans will continue. And the reboots go on, touching upon one classic historical moment in DC history after another. Superman racing the Flash for the first time, perhaps -- drawn by Ethan Van Sciver?

And a teenage Dick Grayson. What's not to love there? The classic Teen Titans roster?

By writing this, I am not personally endorsing the "slash-and-burn" full reboot approach.

But you have to look at the needs of the Market, and the dying media that is print.

Maybe computers won't replace print -- but if you read the media blogs every day like I do, you know that people in traditional media like newspapers & magazines are ready to jump out the frickin' window. It's dire.

While paper comic books in some form might always be with us, the focus is necessarily going to shift from the printed stuff to online & TV/Movies.

And the needs for online, TV, movies, and licensed material are for ground-up retellings, rebootings, streamlined versions free of the baggage of deep continuity. And that's that.

So I'm waiting & watching to see what happens.

Barbie Storm

Diamond Select's "Formalwear Sue Storm" limited edition statue.

Hey don't get me wrong, it's a nice statue and all...and a bit more respectable than that Mary Jane thing a while back (remember?).

But what makes this image distinct from just any old everyday good-looking blond in an evening-dress?

I mean, they could have at least made one of the arms in a see-thru resin or something to give the illusion that she was using her powers.

Who is the market for "Formalwear Sue Storm," anyway? She's too clothed for the "removable skirt" anime statue crowd.

"Formalwear Sue Storm"...you know what this reminds me of?

The Newly-Savage She-Hulk Cover Gallery

Ok, so the new Peter David She-Hulk isn't exactly "savage." But it's going to have a harder edge than Dan Slott's run. David did a good job with "Supergirl," in my opinion, so I think it's surely possible that this new run on "She-Hulk" will be good. But she's really going to be kicking ass.


And of course,


Gotta love "Google Images"

From Taboo To Mainstream

I must agree with those readers who feel Lois has become too oriented towards "social causes," "minority groups," and so on. A comic book must primarily be a source of entertainment if it is to sell, and it is easy to jeopardize its success in this respect by overemphasizing moral messages. This applies to Lois' Women's Lib convictions also.

--letter printed in "Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane" in 1972.

Here is a rehash of the old complaint that adding too much of the "social causes" of the day will wreck a comic book & alienate its audience. In this case, the complaints were about too much women's lib & "minority" issues in the "Lois Lane." You could easily hear such a complaint today about including gay characters in a comic.

Was it difficult for DC & Marvel to integrate characters of color into their books back then? Did they get complaints? Was the issue ever raised internally that expanding the diversity of their superheroes might alienate fans?

And once they had characters like Black Panther and the John Stewart Green Lantern in place, was there a taboo against having them in any sort of situation that might be construed as an interracial romance?

How did comics get to the point where Jessica Jones & Luke Cage could become a couple? It seems so normal in comics now, but was it a taboo twenty years ago?


Of course, twenty years ago you had Storm & Forge. Was there any controversy over their relationship? Why did it seem harder to have an interracial relationship in movies & TV at that time than in comic books?


I'm throwing these questions out to you now because I see a parallel with the way gay characters are handled in comics today.

Twenty years from now, will having gay characters in the Justice League & X-Men -- ones that are just mainstream high-profile members and don't get killed every issue -- be absolutely commonplace?


Is it all about the passage of time?

Or will gay characters, while included, still have that sort of metaphorical baggage in terms of being disproportionately killed off, having f**ked-up doomed relationships, etc.?

And while interracial relationships in current pop-culture seems somewhat mainstream, are they still suffering from the same metaphorical baggage?

The most overt example of this in my memory is the interracial couple in the "Dawn of the Dead" remake who have the demon zombie baby that has to be shot. And now you have Luke Cage & Jessica Jones's baby possibly Skrully.


Anyway, when will different types of people just be considered people in these pop culture narratives -- without baggage, without subtext, without things that undermine them built-into the script?

Or can that really be? Or do you need a wealth of diversity within the industry itself to achieve that goal?

Or can you really fully escape the baggage of a history of being misunderstood & discriminated against?

My Fake Psychic Comics Gossip Column -the humor edition

Welcome, trendseekers, to another edition of my big fat fake psychic comics gossip column!

My fake psychic abilities -- or spider-sense, if you will -- have told me that in an effort to stop leaked spoilers for "One More Day," Marvel Comics has decided to close down the Internet.


In other phony news, it has been announced that Zuda, DC's webcomic initiative, have, in the interest of "full disclosure," posted not only the contracts for their creators but their names, addresses, Social Security #, blood type, and MySpace passwords. In the interest of "full disclosure" DC is also working on getting those Area 51 documents and just as soon as they do, they will be sure to post them as well.


Hey, what about that Green Arrow, huh? I always knew that loudmouth Black Canary was also...A PAIN IN THE NECK!


Those crazy Swedish cartoonists who brought you Muhammad in various degrading images are back again, my fake insiders within the world of European comic art have told me. This time, they will be drawing naked pictures of yo momma. But that's okay, because it's all in fun.


Speaking of those damn high-brow intellectual comics, my cards are indicating to me that Dan Clowes will be asked by Hustler magazine to do a series of highly erotic pictures of flaccid pale white men standing in darkened doorways with existentialist expressions on their faces.



This just in: my fake moles within the DC Comics reprints division have said that plans to do an omnibus-sized hardcover slipcase edition of "Visionary: The Best Of Judd Winick" are in the works. It will come out right after a hardcover reprinting Dan Didio's run on "Superboy."


And finally, a rash of Steve Ditko sightings have been reported all across the country. Hundreds of reports of an unassuming older man in glasses and a suit who had created Spider-Man are flooding into local police precincts and media outlets every week. Cattle have been mutilated. Samples taken from the cattle indicate some sort of radioactive material. Cows are giving birth to eight-armed calves with superior strength and reflexes. The national guard have been called in. Taxi cabs are turning into giant-sized robots. It's a f**king mess.

Well, that's all the fake comic book gossip we have for now. Please come again.

Gun Marketers Sez: "Pink Is For Girls"

According to this article, gun shops across the country are stocking up on pink handguns and rifles to attract the all-important women market.

These female-friendly firearms include a Remington 20-gauge shotgun with a pink and black stock emblazoned with the slogan: "Shoot like a girl if you can!"

Dude!

I was curious if this was really going on, or just one of those cute "stranger than fiction" news items that turn out to be bogus. So for your viewing pleasure:

A Pink Glock



A Pink Girl's Rifle From Walmart -- Order Yours Here!

A Pink AK-47 Clone

The Rock's "Captain Marvel" Identity Crisis

The MTV movies blog reports that The Rock is in talks to play not only Captain Marvel -- but Black Adam as well!

It's unclear whether he will play one and not the other or both in the proposed "Shazam!" movie -- but on the MTV blog he puts the matter up to a vote for the fans.

Real Superheroines

Johanna at Comics Worth Reading pointed out this awesome Funky Winkerbean Sunday strip:

The context is three women supporting their friend as she's dying of cancer.
And is that John Byrne helping Tom Batiuk out on art?
More possible Byrne on "Funky Winkerbean": here and here

Batiuk's use of superheroes to illustrate the heroisms people perform every day -- whether it's facing a disease, supporting a friend, or overcoming a fear -- is a wonderful & positive use of the genre.

Weddingus Interruptus (More Green Arrow/Black Canary B*tching)

From a Newsarama interview with Judd Winick on the "Wedding Special":

NRAMA: Speaking of fun, and speaking of it coming to a screeching halt – that last scene. That was something that a lot of people were picking up on even before the issue. Was Ollie’s death in the mix from the start?

JW: Yeah – but actually, it was supposed to be Black Canary, but we changed our minds. How do you like them apples?

Four things:

1) So Ollie is dead -- deeeeed. Again. It's official After all that s**t to bring him back.


2) Were gonna kill BC from the start, eh? What a wonderful way to plot an event. All this foo-foo nice wedding stuff just so you could kill her off. That would have gone over WELL! Yeah, take a character Gail Simone is known for writing and give credence to the ol' "Women in Refrigerators" meme she started.

3) Then again, "WIR" also referred to majorly f**ked up things female characters have had to go through. So under Black Canary, next to "sexually mutilated and made sterile," you can write: "was forced to kill her own husband just before coitus on their honeymoon bed because he was going to stab her."

4) Ollie is DEAD! Deeeeeeed! Read:

JW: In Green Arrow/Black Canary #1, the world has moved on, but Dinah has only moved forward one inch. She’s having, to say the least, a very hard time coming to terms with Ollie’s death…almost to the point that she’s not going to come to terms with Ollie’s death. She’s going to set her own terms in regards to how she’s dealing with Ollie’s death, despite the fact that everyone else is moving on.

Deeeeeeeeed!!!! Deader than a dead parrot! Deeeeeeeed!!!!!

And Newsarama readers react:

"So glad I quit subsidizing Winick."

"L-A-M-E. They already killed Ollie, why do it again?"

"This was awful. In fact, it was so bad, I had to throw it away because the comic was stinking up the house."

"I really don't like wedding issue when we don't actually get to see them get married."

"Only in the Didioverse would they actually marry a character. Then kill him off... in the same issue. If it wasn't so pathetically predictable, it'd be funny."

"Canary is a master - a MASTER - of the martial arts having survived training by Shiva and that crazy woman sensei that she took Sin from. She has the canary cry - and her only recourse to save herself is to Jamie Lee Curtis him in the neck with an arrow??"

"This is more Final Crisis editorial stink! Yes, Ollie is really dead and a lot of the other icons are going to start buying it until FINAL CRISIS. DC Comics are going to blow for the next year and 3 monthes until this Final Crisis crap is over. Notice how everybook is taking a turn towards the worst?. Especially the memberships of the team books? I always feel like I wasted my money on Winick books. 5 minute read. Adolescent plots and obnoxious plot twists that destroy the characters for the sake of shock value."

"Absolutely f#cking amazing. No explanation for why the supposed martial-arts expert Dinah didn't simply render Ollie unconscious with her free hand instead of taking an arrow and stabbing him through the neck. And no explanation for why she didn't even attempt to use her Canary Cry. It's so laughably bad you expect this to be a deliberate red herring, but you know what? I honestly don't think it is. Winick is just that bad of a writer."

"when will Didio learn death doesn't sell unless if it's Batman or Superman."

and the immortal...

"I miss Kevin Smith."

There were some nastier comments that I've left out. And, on the positive side, feeling was pretty unanimous that Amanda Connor's art was great.

What I'm Buying This Week

Herez what I (I!) will be picking up this week, moneyz willin'...

BATMAN #669 $2.99

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #13
TEEN TITANS #51 $2.99

FRANKLIN RICHARDS MONSTER MASH $2.99

IRON MAN #22 $2.99

MARVEL ZOMBIES BOOK ANGELS DEMONS & MONSTROSITIES $3.99

BART SIMPSONS TREEHOUSE OF HORROR #13 $4.99

Has "Family Guy" Jumped The Shark?

I'm putting this out there to you because I'm a bit undecided.

Watched the much-hyped "Family Guy Star Wars Special" last night.

It was okay...but not great. The jokes were more hit-or-miss than in your usual Family Guy episode.

My favorite jokes were:

1) Moving the couch
2) Meg
3) R2D2 with the handgun
4) The "Robot Chicken" tirade at the end (bearing in mind that Chris is voiced by "RC" creator Seth Green)

Conversely, there were a bunch of jokes that just fell flat or I just didn't get. Also, it was a pretty paltry use of the enormous comedic talents of Stewie as Darth Vader. Rick Moranis did a much better job as Dark Helmet, in my opinion

I'm wondering how much is my disappointment stems from the fact that this seemed to be an episode written for hard-core "Star Wars" fans (me being a "soft core" fan). There were a lot of references to the sort of nitpicky flubs and details that such fans have always griped about -- which must have been as funny as hell to them, but which I just blink-blinked on.

It all brought me back to the general idea that even a funny show like "Family Guy" tends to jump the shark after a point, and I'm wonder if the Star Wars thing was it, or maybe it came before (like that Stewie DVD movie).

Superheroes (and villains) In Their Underpants

Girls With Slingshots artist Danielle Corsetto drew a ton of sketches of superpowered types in their underwear to help celebrate Comic Geek Speak's 300th episode. You can see more on the GWS site. I'm torn between MODOK & Supergirl as my favorite.

Hot Comic Book Action!

...dedicated to the roughly 30% of new readers I receive daily who stumble upon this site looking for some smokin' superheroine action.

Supergirl-as-stripper "Smallville" promo images from Comic-by-Comic

Picture from the window of Jim Hanley's Universe taken this Saturday

for those "fire and ice" more adventuresome members of the audience (because domestic violence can be *hot* -- and men are always more stronger than women so they can never *really* be physically abused, so cute with women hitting them with their itty bitty little balled fists...)

The Ms. Marvel Bingo Sheet

...and something for the ladies!

The real reason there are so many female Green Lantern fans

Penance: a very sensitive young man (at least his extremities are)

I Actually SAW Steve Ditko...

...for all of 30 seconds when I was just starting out as an assistant at DC. I had to drop off a script for "Batman Black & White" at his studio in Manhattan.

It was just this nondescript, ordinary-looking little office in a nondescript, ordinary-looking part of town. He had a little brass sign on his door that said "Steve Ditko."

The door opened a crack -- okay, really like a foot or so -- and he stuck his hand out and took the script.

Later, I found out that he rejected the script on the grounds that it had a supernatural basis, and that he didn't do stories with supernatural elements in it...


...anymore.

Anyway, enjoying the BBC documentary on his life.

The Marcia & Jan Brady "Affair" - UPDATED

UPDATE: Maureen McCormick's publisher denies that mention of a "Brady sisters affair" is in her new biography, and that it is an Internet rumor & nothing more.

Afro-Jan is NOT amused.

From Contact Music:

Wholesome former THE BRADY BUNCH star MAUREEN MCCORMICK is set to reveal the beloved 70s TV series' most shocking secret in a new book - she and her on-screen sister had a lesbian fling.

MCCormick's tell-all, Here's The Story, won't hit bookstores until 2008, but publishers are already buzzing about the big reveal. As well as talking candidly about her well-documented eating disorder and drug problems in the book, TV's Marcia Brady will come clean about a romance she had with co-star Eve Plumb, who played her sister Jan on the hit show.

A source tells America's National Enquirer, "The most explosive comments will be how the then-blonde, blue-eyed cutie developed a crush on Eve Plumb, which led to some sexual play."

I need a drink.

Seriously, I'm taking my computer to the local pub and getting a drink now.

Likes the "twist":


Interested in the movie rights:

Fangirl Fridays

Welcome to the latest edition of Fangirl Fridays, featuring a whole bunch of damn nice stuff.

Longboxes
Good God! I finally set up an office in the house. It has bulletin boards, Post-It notes, the whole schmear.

Comic books are everywhere in the apartment. Do you have this problem? We're thinking of getting longboxes to put them in. They're in regular bookshelves now (that ones that fit), but we might take the plunge and get the longboxes.

Once you get the longboxes, you're pretty hardcore. There is no real way to disguise your longboxes from the judging eyes of the non-comics initiated.

Yes, you could turn them into the frame for a bed. I don't recommend it.

Anyway, we heard there are plastic-coated longboxes for extra-special comic book goodness protection. Can a little spreadsheet on my computer with spaces to tick off variant covers be far behind??


Emo X-Men Fan Music Videos: My Torture
So we had the following argument at home as to whether Rogue from the "X-Men" movie phased like Kitty Pride when Wolverine put his claws through her. I could have sworn that she phased, but the BF insisted that she absorbed Logan's healing factor and that she was really stabbed.

Well, I was wrong -- so I was forced to watch emo X-Men fan music videos starring Hugh Jackman and Anna Paquin. And so you must share in my pain as Rogue & Wolvie cast longing eyes at each other to the tune of "Invisible Touch" by Genesis:



"The Meat Locker"
What erotic entertainment for wimmins looks like in the DC Universe:


Bored and went home early:

Pfeiffer's Day Off
Speaking of "The Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special," the infamous last three pages of that book have really taken the heat off of Will Pfeiffer for the ending to "Amazons Attack."

Who IS really plotting these DC events nowadays, anyhow?

Oh I know...



52.3 Gallons...
...the amount of collective snot punched out of Tony, Reed, and Stephen in "World War Hulk" so far. (One must assume somewhere along the line at least one of these gentlemen pooped their spandex as well)

The Character With The Saddest History In the Marvel Universe


His wife leaves him for Luke Cage, he gets cancer, and then he's killed in Civil War, draped with an ill-fitting tarp, and bulldozed into a grave.

Geez, somebody give this guy a one-shot or a Heroclix or something...


The Joys Of Comic Book Editing, Part One of Many


You really know you've been working in comics way too long when you get the spelling for "Dubbilex" right and the spelling of "Sterling" wrong. From "Countdown."


Special Thanks To My Sweet Babboo...


...for really helping me keep it real, honest, serious, on-track, etc. He takes a lot of interest in my work & my career and he's awesome!

See you next time on Fangirl Fridays!

Porn Comics Vs. Mature Readers Comics

If you haven't heard, there's a bit of a fracas going on in Guilford, CT concerning a teacher who gave a 14-year-old student a copy of Dan Clowes's "Eightball" to read.

The teacher has resigned, but the student's parents, who said that their daughter is now the target of other pupils angry that the teacher was forced to leave, think it's not enough of a punishment for him.

Add on top of that the fact that all these parents from the school district are seeing "Eightball," published by Fantagraphics Press and the book "Ghost World" appeared in, as "porn."

"Eightball" is not porn. "Wendy Whitebread, Undercover Slut" is porn. "Cherry Poptart" is porn.


Now, I read both "Wendy" & "Cherry" at the local comic shop where I worked when I was 16. Should I have had access to them? Was the shopkeeper responsible for keeping them out of the hands of me and my underage co-workers?

But what about comics like Gilbert Hernandez's "Birdland," which features crossover characters from "Love and Rockets" but has explicit sexual content? Or Kate Worley and Reed Waller's "Omaha The Cat Dancer?"


I read "Birdland" and "Omaha" too when I was in my late teens. I would posit that they have more artistic merit than "Cherry" and "Wendy," as the first two have somewhat of a story that exists outside of the sex and the latter two are straight porn narratives. (though that said, both "Cherry" and "Wendy" were well-drawn and occasionally witty, so it's not a knock on their creators)

For that matter, I read Judy Blume books written for teenagers with sexual content when I was 12!


The difference, I suppose, is in weighing the artistic merit of each work against its adult content. But who will do that? And will the citizens of Guilford have the same yardstick for assessing what is "art" as does New York City or Seattle? And does the medium of the graphic novel itself -- which has been so inextricably bound up in memories of their "funny book" roots -- confuse the issue even more?

Charles Brownstein of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund commented on this point to the local press:

"Somebody could do a superficial glance of the material and not put the contextual pieces together, thereby perhaps seeing a panel with violence, perhaps seeing a panel with nudity and taking the image out of context as something that it’s not," he said. "The more people are educated about the category, the less those sorts of misunderstandings occur."

And while we are on the topic of mostly "indie" comics, what of more adult content in mainstream superhero titles?

Why is this:


so much more different than this:


That's why we have debate, opinions, and laws, folks. It's not black-and-white.

Well, "Cherry Poptart" is rather black-and-white. She has a best friend named "Patty Melt" and a boyfriend called Johnny F**kfaster. But you know what I'm sayin'.

How Did We Get On This Topic: Above-the-Butt Tattoos, Raven, and Pregnancy

Okay, here's a topic I didn't expect to find while browsing through my comic blog feeds:

Avi at the Four Color Media Monitor brings up the case of Raven from The Teen Titans, who early in the Wolfman/Perez run warned females that using drugs could complicate their pregnancy. He points out that later on in the Geoff Johns run Raven gets an above-the-butt tattoo.

He then cites medical research that the ink from these tattoos could complicate a woman's pregnancy if an epidural injection is used.

The issue is whether it's safe to stick a needle through a tattoo in the lower back for an epidural -- an injection of painkilling medicine that can ease the discomfort of labor. There has been an explosion in recent years in women's lower-back tattoos -- often ornate designs that take up a lot of surface area near the vertebrae where epidural needles are typically inserted. In 2002, a pair of Canadian anesthesiologists published a report that questioned whether administering an epidural through such a tattoo could be risky. The doctors speculated that complications like inflammation or nerve damage may arise if the needle pulled a bit of dyed skin along with it, and then deposited it into the nerve-rich region outside the spinal column.

His point?

Raven's a hypocrite. Or DC. Or both.

Personally, I think he might be looking a little too far into the storyline. Was Johns aware of either Raven's previous stand on pregnancy or the potential complications of lower-back tattoos? Probably not.

But Avi does bring up the bigger topic of whether these superheroes, especially teenaged ones, are role models for young people and should not be presented smoking, drinking, getting jaguar paws tattooed on their butt cheeks, and so on.

On a related topic, I am still deciding what above-the-butt tattoo I want to have done. I'm torn between the following images:

"removable blouse and skirt"

"At last, the Shunya Yamashita piece for which fans have been waiting: Yamato’s CREATORS’ LABO #14: Shunya Yamashita - Arisa. Fashioned by Sunny Day of the sculpting team Cerebus Project TM, this bespeckeld girl in school uniform, precariously poised on her toes, is captivatingly irresistible, and a perfect companion piece to Yamato’s CREATORS’ LABO #12: Shunya Yamashita - Non Non (available October). Window boxed, Arisa comes with a host of accessories including bass guitar, eyeglasses, decorative arm parts, display base, and removable blouse and skirt. Available this winter for MSRP of $68."

This trend of female action figures and models with removable clothing almost has a "Barbie" flavor to it -- I wonder if the skirts and blouses are easier to remove than those damn 11-inch fashion dolls. They probably have a big slit in the back so you can just tear them off.

UPDATE: then check out this other one sitting on a mirrored (chortle!) base! It's killer! (sort of NSFW)

Gulacy Week: "Sabre"

Though I read Sabre (full title: "Slow Fade of an Endagered Species") with the intention of writing a piece about artist Paul Gulacy's work, I was inevitably drawn to examine the motivations & personality of writer Don McGregor. For as much as the graphic novel, first published by Eclipse Comics in 1978, is distinctive for Gulacy's singular and unique art, it is quite a frank personal narrative of a comic book industry maverick.

Sabre opens with a portrait of a dystopian American future that is both eerily similar to our own era and also reminiscent of a Libertarian's nightmare. Droughts, viruses, terrorists, and more have ravaged the U.S. -- but also enumerated among the threats are banal entertainment for the masses (read: television & presumably mainstream comic books), and "the government is taking away our guns."


McGregor's yearning for an earlier time of Romantic individualism, personified by the replica antique guns that are referred to in the story as a societal fad, is ultimately embodied in the person of Sabre himself.

Sabre is a black version of Clint Eastwood who walks the world like Caine in Kung Fu via Samuel Jackson as Jules from Pulp Fiction. Much like fellow maverick The Prisoner (of which much of the book is reminiscent), Sabre fights to be more than just a number, more than just one of the mundane brainwashed masses.


Sabre's one-man crusade against a fascist, fantastic neo-Barbarella society is echoed in other entertainment of the period, everything from the aforementioned Prisoner to John Ostrander and Tim Truman's Grimjack to Roger Corman's movie classic Deathrace 2000.

And though the graphic novel might seem dated with McGregor's bombastic, hyper-poetic narration & dialogue and Gulacy's spot-on photo-reference use of celebrities such as Eastwood and Woody Allen, Sabre is a vital link to future dystopian tales such as Transmetropolitan, Marshall Law, and some of Frank Miller's work.


Then again, as a friend suggested,

"It's all "It's all $&@#$ Philip K. Dick. All of them!"

Whatever the case, Sabre is a compelling, quirky graphic novel that deserves a look, if only for its historical significance. It was one of the first graphic novels for the direct market, and its success helped pave the way for more "adult" narratives in mainstream comics.

Paul Gulacy's art in the book, freed from the restraints of the comic code, presented in a larger tabloid-size, and rendered in glorious black & white, is stunning. I've always felt that Gulacy's play of darks against lights and intricate linework is best viewed in black and white, his signature style benefiting from the purity of the format. (This is exactly one of the reasons I lament the rumored copyright issues that have impeded the Essential Master of Kung Fu from Marvel.)


While some critics in this age of Greg Land & Bryan Hitch may bemoan the use of photo-reference, Gulacy's use of it is compelling. To have a character you have only been introduced to in an indistinct wide shot suddenly come into focus as a dead-on Woody Allen clone is not only amusing but gives the story an added layer of subtext in regards to the character and his significance to the story.

There are certain prickly parts of Sabre upon one may stumble. There is the "rape by animated skeleton" scene. And then there's Sabre's definition of the word "chauvinism," of which perhaps only Dave Sim might approve:

"...a short-hand label for a lot of self-pitying defeatists, who had found a way of blaming others for their failures."

And then there is the issue of Don McGregor's epic, at times overly-effusive writing style, which would have been perhaps more at home in a sprawling Ayn Randian prose narrative than a comic book.


But, like the character of Sabre himself, there is a certain allure to the figure of the Maverick, to the idea of one fighting against the world. McGregor in his afterward to the first edition of Sabre referred to the movie Network in relation to the production of mainstream comics -- a film about a rogue newscaster who starts a revolution. Ultimately, the revolution in that movie was co-opted by the "Man" and rendered impotent, declawed.

Sabre acknowledges this eventuality in the story but adds,

"The world shapers enforce their own delusions...but my own madness is so much more fun..."

Sabre was released in an affordable 20th Anniversary Edition by Image Comics in 1998.

Quentin Tarantino To Make Quirky 1970s European Sex Movie

With the sideburns and tan lines and everything.

But the cult film director cautions:

"If I actually do an erotic movie, I'm going to have to reveal what I find sexy, what turns me on..."

Which of course means:

When Superheroines Vomit

Because you asked for it!

The hard-hitting story about alcohol abuse and minors that only DC could dare tell!

Starring Melissa Sue Anderson as "Wonder Girl" and Linda Blair as "Supergirl"

co-starring Scott Baio as "Speedy"

From this week's "Countdown," courtesy of scans daily

Occasional Reviews - Penance: Relentless

Penance: Relentless
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Paul Gulacy

Penance: Relentless is really, really emo. It has to be.

The titular character (if you would excuse the expression) of the series, Robbie Baldwin, has rings on his nipples. And watches Marquis DeSade DVDs.

Robbie Baldwin.

Robbie Baldwin!

Robbie Baldwin, formerly Speedball, now Penance, is batshit insane. He wears an iron maiden (dude! Iron Maiden!) as a costume and is, in the parlance of his generation, a "cutter."

He is wracked with guilt over the Stamford Disaster, the accident that he inadvertently helped cause (unless you believe Squirrel Girl & Dan Slott), and now spends his hours reciting seemingly endless numbers and glowering in a black hoodie.


He was originally a rather crappy member of the Thunderbolts, due mostly to the fact that he is batshit insane, but recently takes a turn for the "better," scares the terrorists, gets the codes, and tells his supervisor Norman Osborne to piss off.

What is Robbie's plan?

When will the pain stop and the healing begin?


This is a decent little comic that needs to give me more information as to where it is heading in order for me to really get a sense of it. I've got some good starts with background on Robbie's mental disorders, the action with the Thunderbolts, and Robbie/Penance's new found defiance of his authorities.

Paul Gulacy's art lends the book and the character a very dynamic and edgy quality that truly signifies the "childhood's end" of this particular comic book character. Gulacy's Penance is a haunting figure with a very real face that gives what could easily be a ridiculous character (Speedball with nipple rings) a deep sense of gravity.

My own quibble with the art is that I don't think Gulacy's art lends itself (or really needs) color-holds. The strength of his work is in the lines themselves -- to give them the same treatment as, say, an Ed Benes or Jim Lee book and go crazy with the holds and other color "tricks" distracts from the purity of his design.

Occasional Reviews: Booster Gold #2 & Suicide Squad #1

Blasts From The Past: Occasional Reviews tackles DC's Booster Gold #2 & Suicide Squad: Raise The Flag #1!

Booster Gold #2
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund

Reading Booster Gold, I'm reminded of something I heard regarding Stan Lee's The Last Fantastic Four Story. Basically, you have to put Booster in context in order for it to "work."

Booster Gold the comic book, like the character, is caught in a time-warp. Say, circa 1991.

This is essentially a DC comic from the late 80s, early 90s. It has more talk than action, art that serves the story rather than the other way around, and a certain whiff of quaint naivete that most of today's comics don't have anymore.

The above is not meant to be an indictment on Booster Gold. There were a lot of enjoyable DC Comics in 1991.

Now, you might remember Guy Gardner as being particularly over-used in this era. So obviously he must make an appearance in Booster Gold #2.

It's all in here: a pre-Green Lantern Guy Gardner drinking his sorrows at the pub, feeling like a failure. Guy mistaking Booster for a homosexual who wants to pick him up. The warm fuzzy ending where Guy decides, "You know what? I don't think I'll be a dick today."

And Sinestro. Of course.

The book is not rocket science, but it's goofy & fun. And while Dan Jurgens's art may seem "dated" to the post-Image Comics crowd, it is professional and sharp and just tells the damn story. And just telling the damn story is a plus for me.

Suicide Squad: Raise The Flag #1
Writer: John Ostrander
Artists: Javi Pina and Robin Riggs

A good comic book you shouldn't have to make any excuses for. It should read good and smooth and be a seamless, enjoyable experience.

Suicide Squad: Raise The Flag is one of the best books DC has out right now. Sure, we can add All-Star Superman and such to the mix and quibble over which book is really the best. But I'm putting my money behind Suicide Squad.

If you remember that classic 80s/90s series at all and loved it as much as I did -- well, you won't be disappointed.

And if you've never heard of the book at all or just remember that short-lived revival a few years back -- Suicide Squad is pretty much like Thunderbolts. Villains pressed into service to assist a dubious American government. Substitute Songbird for Bronze Tiger and Penance for Deadshot and you're good to go.

Ostrander is one of the great comic book writers -- solid storytelling with a good sense of the craft. You don't have to have a running history of old Suicide Squad lore or the latest "Countdown" to enjoy this book.

Javi Pina & Robin Riggs provide fresh, clear, detailed art that looks great. And I never quite realized before how much of his own style & stamp Riggs had lent to his inking work until I admired it in this book.

I have two quibbles with Suicide Squad. First, the continuity, in relation to the rest of what's going on with the DCU right now, is a little uncertain. An editorial note says that this story takes place before Salvation Run. Also, Captain Boomerang is on the mission, and I'm pretty sure he's dead now. The fact that this book was in the pipeline & stalled from even when I was at working at the company probably explains that. And really, it is better off for it.

Second, while I like cover artist John K. Snyder's work, his art is too washed-out on this cover, the reds and yellows overpowering the inks. This leads to a weak cover image, which I'm pretty sure is going to effect sales on what is an otherwise awesome issue.

And there is one more reason to pick up Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag:

What Happened Before She Was Attacked In Her Bed

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!

Yah, yah, context and all that. Still, the juxtaposition in "The Wedding Special" of Black Canary -- who has already been the victim of sexual violence, mind you -- allowing herself the vulnerability of being sexy for her mate only to have him inexplicably go crazy and try to kill her in their honeymoon bed makes me ill.

For DC to play off this wedding as some light-hearted, almost "chick flick" event in books like "The Wedding Planner" and then to present the cliche "sex and death" gambit just ruins the whole experience for me.

And what now for Black Canary & Green Arrow?

1) It was really Green Arrow (for whatever reason) and now he's dead.
2) It was really Green Arrow and he lives but it turns out he wasn't in his right mind when he agreed to the wedding.
3) It wasn't Green Arrow but some sort of Skrullian dupe -- and the real Ollie never consented to the marriage in the first place. <-------most likely

Feh. I think sometimes actually making a happy ending work takes more writing skill.

Celebrating The Life Of Mike Wieringo in NYC

me, comic book writer Ben McCool, C.B.L.D.F.'s Charles Brownstein, and Heidi MacDonald

"What do I wear to an Irish wake," I ask Senor G. as we get ready to attend the wake for Mike Wieringo. "Something black?"

"Do you know anything about an Irish wake?" he asks me.

According to Wikipedia, an Irish wake "...celebrated the life of the deceased and shared food and drink throughout the wake. Music, dancing, and physical games made the wake feel more like a party...Though it is a time of sadness, the presence of friends and family makes it more bearable and there is generally great joviality as the deceased is fondly remembered."

This sentiment was later echoed by Todd Dezago, Wieringo's collaborator on "Tellos" and a close personal friend of his. He told the hushed crowd at Flatiron Joe's, where the wake was held, that Mike would have wanted us to enjoy ourselves and have a good time.

Flatiron Joe's donated the space and made a cash contribution to be split between The Hero Initiative, who put the event together, and the ASPCA. Both were favorite charities of Wieringo's.

If there was anybody who could bring together so many comics professionals into one place, it was Mike Wieringo. There was a heavy Marvel presence at the event, with Joe Quesada and Publisher Dan Buckley on hand as well as C.B. Cebulski, Tom DeFalco, James McCann, Jen Gruenwald, and many others. Walt Simonson, Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Tom Raney, and Nick Barrucci attended as well.

The Beat's Heidi MacDonald was also at the event, as well as Patty Jeres, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's Charles Brownstein, and writer Ben McCool who has an upcoming issue of "Justice League Unlimited" coming out.


One of the artists donating his time & pen to the wake's charity auction was Dennis Calero, who I've known since my days at Valiant/Acclaim. He told me of a really interesting new project that's coming up for him that's hush-hush at the moment -- though when he gets the "all clear" to talk about it, we'll definitely have an interview.

At some point during the wake, as the crowd began to swell, me and Senor G. found ourselves swept by the tide towards the front of the bar. And right at that moment, in the middle of this human carwash of humanity, Dan Didio stepped through the door.

I was standing maybe two feet away from Didio.

My boyfriend at that moment grabbed me in a big hug and sort of swept my head away from Dan so he wouldn't see me and we wouldn't literally bump right into each other.

After the near-miss (one of several that night), my BF had to step out and have a smoke to compose himself.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the charity sketch auction, and the wonderful pieces donated by the artists on hand.

There were great iconic head-shots of Thor, Loki, Cyclops, and tiger-warrior Koj from Dezago & Wieringo's "Tellos" by Walt Simonson, a Hulk by Tom Raney, a zombie Captain America by Dennis Calero, a Jonah Hex by Jimmy Palmiotti, and a still-life with flowers by Joe Quesada's young daughter.

I put $20 down for the Calero piece but was quickly outbid. Obviously I learned nothing from my eBay days about playing it cool & bidding at the last minute.

The artists were also doing charity commissions.

I also had a chance to briefly chat with Mr. Quesada, who was also instrumental in putting this event together. He was very gracious and even introduced me to Dan Buckley. It was a highlight for me.

All-in-all I had a great time, and felt that the Irish wake really lived up to its definition and celebrated the life of a great artist whose life ended far too soon.

You can read some great Mike Wieringo tribute stuff at this Newsarama link...

And you could always donate to Ringo's two favorite charities,

The Hero Initiative

and

The ASPCA.

"101 Things I Hate About DC," By DC Fans

From the DC Comics Message Boards:

101. The Superboy Prime reality punch.
100. Green Arrow making Black Canary believe her new foster daughter is dead
99. Amazons Attack
98. Having to wait for Hitman/JLA
97. The constant Superman retcons
96. Tim Drake having been ruined since Identity Crisis
95. Wonder Woman is now a bimbo who came from a society of barbaric murderesses.
94. Cassandra Cain being turned into a villain.
93. Jason trying to get with Donna Troy. *vomit*

at this point, the board starts to erupt in furious quibbling:


92. Superboy getting killed (and from what? getting thrown into a wall or something?)
91. Bart Allen dying so soon after becoming Flash.
90. The Trials of Shazam
89. Bringing back Ice, but not having a reunion scene with Guy Gardner.
88. Getting Grant Morrison to write yet another Crisis in an already long line of Crises.
87. Fill in teams on the Paul Dini Detective run.
86. Lack of artistic diversity on mainstream DC books.
85. Wonder Woman having no clear sense of direction since her relaunch.
84. Tie Ins to countdown
83. Lack of Adventures of Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane book.
82. No Batmite anywhere to be seen
81. A real Adventures of Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) villain of the week book that isn't All Star. What's the point of having a sidekick if he's just arm candy and nothing more?

I have to stop here and say that the idea of Robin as "arm-candy" for Bats is, well...


80. Slowly killing or otherwise ruining Young Justice characters
79. Geoff Johns still writes for them.
78. Grant Morrison is still obsessed with all that Robert Anton Wilson stuff he used in The Invisibles, and he keeps shoehorning it into superhero comics.
77. Batman's evil ninja son Damien
76. Citizen Steel
75. Robin trying to clone Kon-El
74. Supergirl panty shots


I could go on, but you really ought to go to the DC Message Boards and read the rest for yourself. While you're there, look around a little. Read the previews. Make yourself comfortable. Vote on the Elseworld Batman that you think is the coolest. Drink a smoothie.

Which Marvel Universe Chick Is Preggers?

Is it...

...Jennifer Walters?
...Namora?
...Sharon Carter?
...Jubilee?
...or Ultra Girl?

"World War Hulk" #4 Preview Pages: Bad@$$!

Here's a selection of preview pages from "World War Hulk" #4.
(click for full-size)

What, is Tony hitting the bottle again?


Wouldn't you?

"Why I Hate The Green Lantern Crab Mask"

Recently I made a post where I had a one-off throwaway line regarding my antipathy for the Kyle Rayner Green Lantern "crab mask."

The public spoke, and spoke loudly: "We love the crab mask!"

Well, after much debate, I have decided to spill the secret origin of why I hate this particular mask.

The story starts some five years ago, when I was an assistant at DC Comics and working for the "JLA office."

We had a big metal art file in the office, and it was crammed to the gills with half-drawn or mostly complete old JLA miniseries & specials that never saw the light of day and the majority of which were started before I was even hired.

When Dan Didio came on board, he inquired as to what was in that big metal art file.

And thus several miniseries that had been started years before but never published were pulled out of the file.

The dictate?

"Get these @&#$@$ books into production!"

But because the books in question were relatively "old," they featured Kyle with the crab mask, not the redesigned Jim Lee costume.

So I was told to go over every page with Post-It notes and find all the crab masks so they could be patched by the inker.

This was a long process, and over time I learned to hate the crab mask.

Ditto later on for Aquaman's harpoon-hand.

No, perhaps it is not a legitimate reason to disdain an admittedly stylish bit of Lantern Corp sartorial flair.

But it's my story & I'm sticking to it.

My Fake Psychic Gossip Powers Are True! Give Me Money!

Senor G. has just brought to my attention an old "fake comics psychic" thing I did for my old "Kamikaze Girl" column for Silver Bullet Comics a couple of years ago.

And I was actually right on some of them!

Let's see...

1) The Ultimates Universe gets merged with the standard Marvel Universe.
This remains inconclusive. Still could happen.


2. Ultimate Nick Fury fights the regular Nick Fury and the Ultimate Fury wins, thereby installing Samuel Jackson firmly in the Marvel U.
Like prediction #1, still could happen.

3. “Rebooting” Superman & Spiderman so their marriages never happened. Let’s face it, true believers--once a major superhero gets hitched, all those classic stories featuring horny alien women and cat fights between Lois and Lana get seriously flummoxed. Sure, you could have Peter or Clark “cheat” -- and risk having America’s Heroes look like douchebags. This is why Captain America is unmarried (his unhealthy obsession with Bucky & Rick Jones also perhaps playing a role). On top of this, you have unmarried Supes & Spidey in the movies & TV--where’s the synergy? The easy solution in Marvel’s case would be--make Ultimate Spiderman be the new “official” Spiderman. I can’t exactly see how the Supes reboot would work--unless you had some sort of...*infinite crisis* in his life.
--I AM A GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. The John Byrne "Doom Patrol" ends with it being just one of Crazy Jane's delusions, "Newhart"-style.
Of course, that's not how it ended at all...though I doubt you will see that muti-armed ape any time soon.

5. Eric Powell's "The Goon" gets optioned as a movie or MTV-style cartoon.
Still think this will happen.

6. The whole Emma Frost fad dies.
Well, doesn't take a psychic to see "character overkill."

7. Prince Namor goes back to being the enemy of humans everywhere, Golden Age style.
Has this happened yet? It would be interesting.

8. T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents get revived.
Just a matter of time.


9. "Comics Musical Chairs. This is based on the model that everybody in the industry ends up working for The Big Two plus several other companies at least once. So how about Alan Moore at Marvel? Johnny Romita Jr. exclusive to DC? If Didio & Quesada changed places, would that be analogous to the 2012 polar shift? And where does Bill Jemas fit into all this? Or Jim Shooter? Or Kevin Dooley? Or that guy who did that “Answer Man” column? And how many weeks before the event will the news find its way into Rich Johnston’s column? And what about that new car? I want my new car, damnit!"
Yes, where DOES Jim Shooter fit in all this. Muh-ha-ha-ha-ha!

10. "What would be more likely--Bart Allen or Barry Allen becoming the new Flash?"
Wow, this one sort of came true and went full circle, didn't it?

11. Hawkeye is Xorn.
Okay, this one was crap. BUT HAWKEYE WAS RONIN, DON'T FORGET!


12. "Okay...wait a minute...no, Hawkeye is definitely NOT Xorn. But you know that eventually, homey’s coming back. Sooner rah-ther than later. Comics these days don’t got the attention span to pull a Barry Allen and leave an iconic character dead for 25 years. And that’s the name of THAT tune!"
HA! GENIUS!

13. "Four words: “The Essential Son of Satan”. "
Of course, I was right.

14. The manga craze dies out.
Okay, give me another couple years.

15. Frank Miller makes "All Star Batman & Robin" a dirty book.
I was right! But my theory regarding Batman & Robin posing for d**k shots while kissing was indeed FALSE!

16. "Dan Slott becomes the new Brian Michael Bendis."
Well, the old boy is writing "Amazing Spider-Man" with John Romita Jr. I'm just saying.

17. "Legion of the Superheroes becomes an anime-influenced cartoon, a la “Teen Titans” but with more of a “Battle of the Planets” vibe."


AH-HA!

18. Charles Schulz comes back from the dead and orders Seth to stop reinking his "lost" panels. This did not happen, at least that I am aware.

So there you have it. My keen powers of fake psychic artistry proved to be an unstoppable force of earth-shattering fake proportions. Wow!

Obligatory OJ

Gulacy Week: "Master of Kung Fu"

This is the first installment of "Gulacy Week," a look at the great comics artist Paul Gulacy, who has the first issue of "Penance: Relentless" coming out from Marvel this week.

One can only imagine the reaction a kid had to a comic book as kinetically wild and relatively exotic as "The Master of Kung Fu" in the early 1970s. It certainly had an impression on a young Quentin Tarantino, who has been quoted as saying that the title was his favorite.

"Master of Kung Fu" was originally a blending of two different licenses Marvel Comics had at the time -- TV's "Kung Fu" and Sax Rohmer's pulp-era bad guy Fu Manchu. There was no official carry-over from "Kung Fu" into the new comic book, and while Rohmer creations Fu manchu and Sir Denis Nayland Smith made appearances, Shang-Chi, the star of the comic, was brand new.



I'm not an expert on martial arts movies, but I've seen enough of them to recognize Shang-Chi as the archetypal noble warrior/wanderer who would prefer not to use his extensive fighting abilities but of course is forced into using them anyway.

Raised by his evil father Fu Manchu to be a perfect killer, Shang-Chi murders one of his father's enemies on command only to feel remorse over the act. Realizing that his father is evil, Shangi-Chi rejects him and sets out on the path of redemption. (Sounds an awful lot like the origin of the Cassandra Cain Batgirl, doesn't it?)


The character of Shang-Chi first appeared in "Special Marvel Edition" #15 in 1973, written by Steve Englehart & draw by Jim Starlin. But it was not until the team of Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy settled in the title that it became a cult hit.

Gulacy's art in the earliest issues of his run look far different than the style he is revered for. Take "Master of Kung Fu" #20, for instance. While there are snapshot instances of the fine linework and hyper-realistic renderings that are trademarks of Gulacy's craft, for the most part the issue isn't very distinguished from other Marvel books of that period.

Compare that to #39, an absolute masterpiece that showcases Shang-Chi's showdown with the deadly Cat. This issue is Paul Gulacy at his finest -- crackling with a lean, raw, powerful style that makes you hear the "clack" of Shang-Chi's nunchaku and the grit of Cat's clenched teeth. Exciting stuff.


What accounts for the seeming rapid development in Gulacy's style between this span of issues? Was it the regular "learning curve" any young artist experiences on a run? Or did switching inkers from Al Milgrom to Dan Adkins play a role?

I can only imagine what it was like for inkers during this period to go from relatively "simpler" art (in terms of linework) to something like Gulacy's pencils. In an 2002 interview for The Pulse, Gulacy mused that it was hard to find inkers willing to go over all the lines and detail in his drawings.

"Master of Kung Fu" itself, at least based on the selection of issues I've read, was a curious blend of Bruce Lee and a distinctly British flavor of adventure tale along the lines of "The Avengers" and "The Prisoner." Shang-Chi was almost as likely to run into a mime as a ninja.


What kept the more outre elements of the series from overshadowing the action was again the stylized intensity of Paul Gulacy's work. Regardless of the occasional wise-cracking robot boy or incongruously posed glamour shot of a sexy female, the action scenes remain fresh, dynamic, and deadly earnest. It was that sort of artistry that raised "Master of Kung Fu" above the glut of other non-superhero product Marvel was putting out at the time.

Paul Gulacy's run on "Master of Kung Fu" ran, with occasional skipped issues, from #18 to 50. The series itself ran to #125, never quite regaining the acclaim it received during the Gulacy era (except for a brief run with the late artist Gene Day).

In 2002 Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy teamed up once again for a revival of "Master of Kung Fu," this time as part of Marvel's more adult Max line. Since then, Shang-Chi has made appearances in books like "Heroes for Hire," "Marvel Knights," and "The X-Men."


Because of copyright issues, however, it is unlikely that Shang-Chi's father Fu Manchu will ever make an appearance in a Marvel title again. It has been speculated that such concerns are why this excellent series has never been reprinted in a definitive trade paperback edition or as part of the "Essentials" line.

Next on "Gulacy Week," we look at what has been called the "first graphic novel" -- "Sabre"!

How I Got Tricked Into Buying A "Countdown" Special With Two Colons In The Title

See this face?

This is not the face of a happy girl.

I could have SWORN that the solicits copy said Jamal Igle was drawing "Countdown: The Search For Ray Palmer: Wildstorm."

But, as I found out on the train, this was not the case.

Luckily for me, the book ended up being a great value anyway. Because I got not just one but FOUR inkers on this book!

To go over in detail the merits or failures of this issue is, as Dr. Evil might say, in-con-se-squen-tial.

A few points, however:

1) Every time I look at Jason Todd, I think of Superboy punching a f**king hole in time. Which, in my mind, means that Todd doesn't deserve to live, because he came back to life in a stupid stupid way. Does that sound too harsh, too "Nancy Grace" an opinion?

2) Green Lantern "crab mask" -- agh!

3) I really don't think DC would have messed with putting "Wildstorm" characters in this series if they didn't plan to reabsorb them into the regular DC continuity. I really think it's part of the "plan."

4) This book might yield some bits of trashy fun for the fan who gets off on this crossover stuff (which is me SOMETIMES). But it's not a great book. It looks and reads very very very very rushed.

5) "Mr. Majestic" was a damn fine comic. Leave the character alone! He looks like Mr. Crappy McCrapmeister here.

Well, time to cleanse my palette:

The Highwaymen: An Autopsy

Writer Marc Bernardin muses why his Wildstorm series "The Highwaymen" was cancelled.

His possible reasons:

1) Not enough press

2) "...we've been told, in pitching other books, that black characters just don't sell."

Johanna Draper Carlson offers this explanation:

"There is no reason to buy a miniseries any more."

My own take?

Haven't read the series.

But. Here is some anecdotal stuff.

When I was working at DC, we got free comps every week of every book they put out.

The most unwanted comps, outside of Johnny DC (just known as "the kids' books" in those days) and Elfquest, seemed to be the Wildstorm miniseries.

They were just sort of dismissed.

Why? Ostensibly, many of those minis had good creative teams -- and most were in slick, well-colored packages.

But there was very little interest to try these series out.

They weren't even good enough to keep for our own individual swollen collections. THEY WEREN'T DC CANON!

So you would have Wildstorm miniseries comps littering the tops of file cabinets in the halls, tossed in corners, tossed in recycling bins. Even the Gen 13 stuff.

Vertigos that were not "core character" related (Hellblazer, Sandman, etc.), were treated similarly, but still the "Vertigo" brand was sometimes enough to convince one keep the issue -- the brand seemed to promise some sort of intellectual comic book reading experience that if "you liked Preacher & Transmet," you'd like "Outlaw Nation." Like that.

What might have been the problem with "Wildstorm?"

Branding.

What IS Wildstorm?

A wing of DC?

A publisher of "Old Imagey" type comics like "Gen 13," etc?

The edgy publishers of "The Authority?"

Purveyors of fine Alan Moore products?

A prestige artist's studio?

Vertigo II?

Publisher of licensed product like "World of Warcraft?"

What is Wildstorm?

What does the Wildstorm brand promise me so that I would run into "The Highwaymen" in the store and take a chance on it?

And the whole Wildstorm thing aside --

I don't buy miniseries unless I start with issue #1, because I always figure I can buy the trade.

This goes back to Johanna's point.

Of course, because I wait for the trade and don't buy the issue, the series does poor numbers and is prematurely ended.

So there's a neat little loop.

Anyway, because of Wildstorm ending "The Highwaymen," and Bernardin writing the post, I now have both Bernardin and his book currently on my radar. Which is what happens sometimes. I mean, the book even has its own "Occasional Superheroine" tag.

What I'm Buying This Week

MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #1 $3.99

CAPTAIN AMERICA #30 CWI $2.99

PENANCE RELENTLESS #1 (OF 5) $2.99

WORLD WAR HULK #4 (OF 5) WWH $3.99

ALTER EGO #72 $6.95

COMICS JOURNAL #285 $11.95

Fangirl Fridays

found on Scans Daily

"You Still Buy your Comics?"
What trade paperbacks do you recommend an ex-reader who is looking to sample something great?

That's the question I faced when my brother came to visit Tuesday from Chicago.

We tried to turn him on to "Cable & Deadpool," but my bro just couldn't get past the Rob Liefeld cover.

"But most of the book has nothing to do with Liefeld!" we assured him. But no dice.

We settled on:

1) Invincible Vol. 1
2) Fantastic Four: 1 2 3 4
3) What If? Vol. 1

Of course, we pushed the books on him despite the fact that he kept saying:

"But I can download any of this for free..."
"Read them on the plane!"


Big Laffs
I know this is off-topic, but watching Jessica Alba in the commercial for that "Good Luck, Chuck" movie makes me want to burn my eyes out. I love the scene with the obese African-American woman jumping Dane Cook. As Hollywood knows, there's nothing funnier than an obese African-American woman.

Begs to differ:


"Don't Work With Kids Or Animals"

These damn Flash kids are like the Jessica Alba/Ryan Reynolds of "Blade 3" -- kinda cute but don't need them, don't want them. They are like Brian Bonsall in stereo.


Also,Are these guys dead yet? Please?

Yeah, I know Dini was going for "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern." He got "Lenny & Squiggy."


Paul Gulacy Week Is Next Week On "OS"!


Dude!


Writing Exercise For All You Aspiring Comic Authors
Here is your panel. Write the next scene:


Dammit!
Jamal Igle is pencilling "Countdown: The Search For Ray Palmer: Wildstorm." Now I gotta buy it. Even though it violates my policy of never purchasing any comic with two colons in the title.


"Come Out With Your Hammer Up!"
If Thor & his neo-Asgardians get holed up in that fortress floating above Oklahoma and the Bureau of Tobacco & Firearms get called in -- it's gonna get ugly!


Buy the "Sullen Grey" Trade Paperback!

Do you like how I fit that in?
But really, Jocelyn Gajeway and Drew Rausch's gothic thriller is a hoot:

Welcome to Autumn's Grove, a quaint little town where your fears manifest, then devour you whole. Only a few people are willing to face the madness lurking behind the facade, and not all of them will survive. Includes deleted scenes, a brand new short story entitled 'Fear,' and creator commentary!

All for $19.95, or half the price if you use this service.
Pre-order from Diamond now!

Well, that's all the time we have for "Fangirl Fridays" today! I know it's a little more terse yet strangely peppy than usual, but I have a little tummy ache (delicate flower that I am) and I've gotta make it short tonite.

I want to leave you with the velvet vocal stylings of Christopher Lee:

Tarantino Nixes "Heroes" Episode 'Cause He's "Never Seen The F**king Show"

Quentin Tarantino turned down directing an episode of "Heroes," because he's never watched it & isn't a fan.

In the past the "Kill Bill" director has worked on such TV shows as "CSI" and "ER."

But "Heroes?"

“They were trying to get me to do one. I haven’t even seen the f**king show.”

Occasional Reviews: Thor, Working-Class God

Thor #1-3: "Working Class God"

With Straczynski's "Thor" we might have our first Red State major superhero. But he is of the post-Katrina Red State -- disaffected, dejected, and mistrustful of Authority (i.e. G.W. & Tony Stark).

But first let's discuss the proper way to read the new "Thor" -- in chunks.

The first time I read issue #1, I pretty much wrote off the series as vacuous, self-indulgent pap.

It took Chris from Wild Pig Comics in New Jersey to convince me to give the title another chance -- and throwing in a free issue as part of the bargain.

So I waited to collect #1-3 and read it as a section of a graphic novel, rather than judge each issue separately. The effect was stunning.


Call me a "Marvel Zombie" or fangirl all you want -- call me naive.

But I really thought this book was a masterpiece.

Of course, part of the impressiveness is Olivier Coipel's art.

Holy God, this guy is talented.

Coipel's Thor is at once massive and possessing a delicacy of soul. And when his thunder god grips Iron Man by the neck, he captures the sheer terror of Tony Stark like no other artist has done in the several versions of the post-Civil War "Confrontation Scene."

Thor's sense of betrayal by Tony Stark and the U.S. government is key to understanding this new series; it is a sense of betrayal that echoes hauntingly through the rest of the book -- in flood-ravaged New Orleans, in the sleepy God-fearing town in Oklahoma that Donald Blake decides to settle in.


Thor is the living embodiment of the frustrated Mid-Westerner, the disenfranchised Southerner -- he appeals so much to fans exactly because Straczynski has remade the character as the champion of the working-class hero.

He is an Aryan god who has built his fortress in the middle of the Bible Belt, a fortress under scrutiny and possible danger by the government and populated by down-on-their luck lower-middle-class Red Staters, Red Staters who have woken up from the dream/nightmare of the last seven years to ask:

"...where were the heroes?"


As if by fate, my boyfriend changes the channel and I'm faced with G.W. & another presidential address.

"...tonight our moral & strategic imperatives won."

"...our strategy is working."

"...we kept the pressure on the terrorists."

He's bringing some of the troops home.

G.W. looks tired. Tony Stark is humiliated and forced to limp home with his offline armor.

And somewhere in Oklahoma is the New Kingdom...

"Asgard..."

Occasional Reviews: "Justice League of America Wedding Special"

Our first images in "Justice League of America Wedding Special" #1 are close-ups of icon identifiers. Joker's acid-squirting flower. The "L" of Lex Luthor's armor. Cheetah's...well, never mind.

The point is that the Justice League is all about icons, of using the cream of DC's crop of both heroes and villains in a grand battle of good vs. evil. It is what "JLA" books are for (Grant Morrison can get away with being a bit more esoteric & obscure, Brad Meltzer not so much).

Dwayne McDuffie's gift is balancing the need for an iconic Justice League with the need for a human Justice League. Such a dance was absolutely necessary for his scripts for the animated "Justice League Unlimited" series to work -- and if you enjoyed those very popular cartoons, you will enjoy "Justice League Wedding Special."

The story opens up with Lex Luthor, Joker, and Cheetah going over possible recruits for their new super-villain team. Cheetah balks at Dr. Light, echoing what we all think every time we see him and his goatee -- "he's a rapist and murderer!"

One trademark of McDuffie's writing is the addressment of things we all know but are never usually acknowledged in polite comic book stories.

Take the status of the John Stewart Green Lantern. In one scene Hal tells John:

"You always end up having to take a lot of my crap. My backup. The 'Black Lantern' and all of that."

Or consider the case of the Jason Rusch Firestorm. This reboot of the character was slammed when first came out, and now his book is cancelled. With the 80's nostalgia orgy in "JLA" that first started when Joe Kelly tried to be clever and squeak through a disguised version of Apache Chief through (Raven Manitou's "Unuk-chuk" was a dead giveaway) and ran rampant in Meltzer's run, you would think the time is ripe to get rid of Rusch and bring Ronnie Raymond back.

So when you see the "new" Firestorm get a brutal beatdown for multiple pages that ends with the the Joker referring to the hero as "killed," you sit at the edge of your seat and take notice.

McDuffie knows this.

Of particular interest to me is the use of Red Arrow in this story. Though it is Connor Hawke who gets the new monthly series, Roy Harper is focused on quite a bit in "The Wedding Special." Particularly, he gets two scenes where he is is paired off in "peer" situations with established JLA members -- Hal Jordan & Batman.

When Batman has to choose someone from Oliver Queen's bachelor party to investigate what happened to Firestorm, he chooses Red Arrow. Out of all the other Justice League members.

It leads me to believe that he's being primed to take over the G.A. duties in some form and be an important player in McDuffie's "JLA." It also makes me wonder if Ollie himself isn't getting set up to take a fall. I mean really: who needs three archers? They aren't exactly a corps like the Green Lanterns.

The "Justice League of America Wedding Special" is how a top-tier title from DC should be. It's how any top-tier comic book should be. The story has a beginning, middle, end, and cliffhanger. It moves. It starts and ends with readily-identifiable characters like Joker, Luthor, and Superman -- drawing in both the new reader and the seasoned fanboy. And the art by Mike McKone & Andy Lanning is impeccable.

If I have a quibble with the issue, it is the cover by Ed Benes. While the idea of Superman jumping out of the cake at Black Canary's party is supposed to turn the idea of "cheesecake" on its head, it is Wonder Woman's big ass and the tight butts and well-rounded breasts of the female characters on the cover than clearly stand out. And how many of the depicted women on the cover have anything to do with the story? Only three, and Black Canary was too busy dancing with the Spartan Thong guy at her bachelorette to really give a damn.

And who can blame her?

Fun With eBay: "Warbird Extra Sexy Thong"

Looking at this, I feel guilty, like I'm looking at "toy porn." Buzz Lightyear gets hairy palms over these pics.

Yours for only $4.00 starting bid on eBay!

(thanks Senor G!)

The New Avengers Page Dr. Freud

Wizard Universe points to an interesting scene in the latest "New Avengers" where Dr. Strange uses a spell to reveal each character's secret motivations/aspirations.

Luke Cage: longs for funky 70s outfit
Iron Fist: has a sort of retro "barbarian knight" persona
Jessica Jones: longs to be a superhero again
Spider-Man: wants to be a teenager again
Echo: in Daredevil drag, "He is why I do what I do"
Ronin/Hawkeye: he is Captain America
Doctor Strange: is an actual doctor in a labcoat
Wolverine: is a samurai (natch)

Clint Barton as Captain America would be real interesting. If the Steve Rogers Captain America doesn't return via the past (as rumored), Clint would and should certainly be in the running to inherit the shield.

Perhaps it's a hint?

On another note, covers that don't reflect the actual action in t he story but rather a short dream sequence frustrate me a little bit. What, no female Daredevil?!

The One Where Bruce Banner Was Almost Gang-Raped At The YMCA

There's a very interesting discussion over at the John Byrne boards regarding an old story Jim Shooter wrote for "Rampaging Hulk" in which Bruce Banner almost gets gang-raped at the YMCA.

You can see scans of the scene here, but here's some dialogue:

Two thugs confront a naked Bruce Banner in the shower of the local YMCA:

Bruce Banner (knocked against the shower stall wall): "Hey! W-what do you guys want?"

Thug #1: Umm! You're soft! And all pearly white -- and you've got the cutest little cheeks! Think he'll whine, Dewey?

Thug #2: Yeah, Luellen -- an' I like it when they whine!

Banner (sort of weirdly picked up and his face smacked): Look, I -- Hey! Leave me alone! I -- uhh!

Thug #2: Shush, sweetie! It's all right! We just wanna play!

Thug #1: You go first, Dewey! I'll stand guard outside! Fair's fair! I went first with that chubby cutie from Akron last week!

And so on.

Byrne posts "No comment" regarding whether he thinks Shooter's story was homophobic. But he does quibble with him on a different point:

"BTW --- one thing on which I will comment. Shooter described the YMCA scene to me before he did it, and stated that 'Banner is so scared, he does not become the Hulk!' Talk about forcing the character to serve your story!"

Was Shooter's story for "Rampaging Hulk" homophobic, especially in light of the supposed "no homosexuality" policy he was supposed to have in his books?

Or was the story a product of the time?

And if Shooter really had such a policy, was it because of homophobia or economic considerations?

One Byrne Board poster commented:

"But I imagine that, if Shooter did have a policy of no homosexual portrayals in comics, that there were plenty of economic reasons for that. It may have been a business decision, not a personal one. Lots of companies played it very conservative back in the 80's... and comics had even more a reputation as a children's medium than they do now."

When Byrne is asked on the same thread whether there should be gay characters in comics, he says:

"There need to be Gays in comics because there are Gays in real life. No other reason. Same reason, in fact, that there are Blacks in comics. Asians in comics. Women and children in comics! The population of the fictional world should represent the real world."

I'll say that reading the scans of that YMCA scene made me absolutely cringe, though a lot of stereotyped portrayals of homosexuals during the 70s (and heck - 80s & 90s!) make me cringe. Jack Tripper doing his exaggerated "gay" routine to fool his landlords in "Three's Company" makes me cringe now.

Glenn Greenberg posts on the thread that he recently interviewed Shooter about this topic for an upcoming issue of "Back Issue" magazine, which should be interesting.

I leave you with another quote from that same scene in "Rampaging Hulk," when Bruce Banner (too scared to turn into the Hulk), pushing himself away from the grasp of his would-be rapists, says:

"You know...that big green monster who can crush steel balls in his hands? You hurt me and I'll turn big and green and tear your...head off!"

Fat?

her difficulties dancing & lip-synching at the Video Music Awards notwithstanding, is Britney Spears really fat?

Major newspapers and gossip columns have referred to her as "as big as a house," "lard," fat, etc.

But is this the face of "fat?"

Or is this an average woman's body clothed in a Las Vegas dance outfit and nobody will forgive her for breaking the illusion?

Well, I'm a little disturbed by the sheer volume of venom this obviously troubled woman has received.

But apparently not as much as this fellow:

My Fake Psychic Comic Book Gossip Column

Welcome to my latest edition of my fake psychic comic book gossip column!!!

Here you can get all the news that is wrong that I made up for non-sueable reasons of parody and mirth.

RUMOR BARRIER ZONE!!!!!!

"World War Hulk Shocking Twist!"
My fake comic book insiders gave me all the poop on the ending to "World War Hulk." Apparently, it is a finale of M. Night Shyamalan proportions.

"The Hulk morphs into Granny Goodness at the end of issue #6," my imaginary informer told me. "It's a pretty cheap joke, but that's all I got."

Warren Ellis! Whee!
Have you heard of the new "Geo Force" series Dan Didio hired Warren Ellis to write? Me neither.

Didio's Least WantedSpeaking of Dan Didio, the big gossip that never went around the Baltimore Con concerned Didio's irrational hatred of the beloved superman character Krypto, and his secret plans to kill off the famous pooch.

"Dan said that Krypto was extraneous to the Superman mythos," a mole within DC told a friend of a friend of some guy. "He feels that the core 'Superman' characters should be Superman, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and of course Otis."

Will Warner Bros. allow Didio to kill off this historically important cash cow, er I mean, canine? With Frank Miller reportedly signed up to write and draw the upcoming miniseries "Old Yeller II: Dogs in Capes," it might be that the days are numbered for Superman's other best friend.

Hell Has Froze Over!It's been alleged by some parties who will remain not only nameless but non-existent that there actually might be a Marvel comic out this month that doesn't show Tony Stark being confronted & beaten up.

A "Legion" of Fans
My incredible fake psychic power are telling me that Jim Shooter's return to the DC halls was met with great whoops of joy -- and a special party held in his honor!

My crystal bowling ball is showing me all the DCU editors waiting at the entrance of the 1700 Broadway building to escort Jim personally up to their 6th floor headquarters, using a step-ladder to put flower-strewn leis around his neck and offering him a humidor.

"Our official building policy requires no smoking," one DC staffer never told Shooter with a knowing wink, "but f**k it, I love you."

Mouse TrapA little birdy told me in a fevered dream of fakery that the rodents from Archaia Press's "Mouse Guard" and Image's "Mice Templar" are currently feuding. Mrs. Frisby was unavailable for comment.

Finally,
This just in: Mark Millar is set to rewrite the Bible with Bryan Hitch!

Well, that's all the time we have for his installment of my fake comic book gossip column.

We leave you with a few words from Don Rickles & Orson Welles:

Why I'm Supporting Sean McKeever & "Teen Titans"

I'm going on record here as saying that I completely support Sean McKeever's work on "Teen Titans" and am committing to reading six months of his run starting this month.

I had a chance to chat with Sean McKeever over at the Baltimore Comic Con. It was clear to me that he had a lot of enthusiasm and passion for "Teen Titans" and had good things planned for the title.

McKeever is best known for his work writing teenage and/or female characters in books like the Eisner-nominated "The Waiting Place," "Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane," "Sentinel," and "Mystique."

He will also be the new writer of "Birds of Prey."

I think a writer with that level of sensitivity and experience writing such characters is essential for a book like "Titans."

Once he gets through the very beginning of his run on "Teen Titans," and writes in all the requisite bits of exposition that makes switching teams on books initially a little rocky, I honestly feel he will get into his groove and be on a roll.

Of course, I'm not being Ms. Polly Pollyanna about this. Do I really know 100% that his run will be awesome? No.

But I have seen enough of his other work & talked enough with him to get a very good feeling and to trust enough to give the book a fighting chance.

So six issues of "Teen Titans" starting this month.

The "Comic Mix" Webcomic Revolution

a page from John Ostrander & Tim Truman's "GrimJack,"
appearing exclusively at Comic Mix "Phase 2"
(click for bigger image)

I've been hearing whispers about an intriguing "Phase 2" to the comic book blog/consortium Comic Mix ever since I ran into Glenn Hauman at Kyle Baker's charity baseball game. Glenn was pretty tight-lipped about the whole thing but I thought I heard "original content" uttered but for a second.

Well, at the Baltimore Comic Con, where I attended Comic Mix's press announcement regarding "Phase 2" -- which launches October 2nd -- I got to learn the full extent of the company's publishing plans.

More specifically, webcomic publishing.

"Let's face it, the traditional comic book format is a 15-minute, 20 minute experience," Comic Mix Editor-In-Chief Mike Gold told the audience. "Four bucks is a lot for a 15-minute experience."

Is there more than a bit of irony that legendary former DC Comics group editor & First Comics founder Gold and the other comic book veterans that make up Comic Mix's staff and creative roster would turn to this up-and-coming new medium to showcase their stories?

"The webcomic allows us to be free of many of the publishing constraints that we faced with the traditional format," Gold explained. "With webcomics, we don't need artificial cliffhangers at the end of an issue. We can just let the story tell itself."

And the other thing? The content is free.

Mike Gold: "You don't have to pay a penny."

The list of talent Comic Mix has on-board is impressive, including Mike Baron, Rick Burchett, Chris Burnham, Michael Davis, Ian Gibson, Dick Giordano, Mike Gold, Stuart Gordon, Mike Grell, Bo Hampton, Glenn Hauman, Marc Hempel, Lovern Kindierski, Linda Lessman, Jay Lynch, Frank McLaughlin, William Messner-Loebs, John Ostrander, Andrew Pepoy, Bob Pinaha, Michael H. Price, Bill Reinhold, Nick Runge, John K. Snyder III, Joe Staton, Martha Thomases, Robert Tinnell, Timothy Truman, Trevor Von Eeden, Mark Evan Walker, Matt Webb, Mark Wheatley, Skip Williamson, Marv Wolfman, and John Workman.

It's a lot of familiar names, with familiar properties like "GrimJack," "Jon Sable," "The Adventures of Simone and Ajax," and more.

But Comic Mix "Phase 2" is also about giving a voice to comic creators to tell the stories they've always wanted to tell.

a page from Comic Mix's "Demons of Sherwood," written by Robert Tinnell & painted by Bo Hampton (click for bigger image)

For example, Trevor Von Eeden's graphic novel "Jack Johnson: The Great Black Hope," about the first African-American heavyweight prize-fighter. It's a project that Von Eeden has wanted to publish his whole career. With Comic Mix, he gets that chance.

But what are my personal views on "Phase 2"?

By watching their presentation at Baltimore and just talking to Mike Gold and the other Comic Mix staff, I felt a great deal of energy and excitement coming off of them, an excitement that was quite contagious. They are obviously so passionate about the project.

But also, in their dedication to their talent -- and specifically to established talent some of whom, in my opinion, have been relatively ignored by the mainstream as of late -- I got a real sense of the way comics used to be. It's a family. It's looking at your talent and your staff as a big family. It is looking at the pool of comic book creators and editors who have helped make comic books what it is today -- issue-by-issue, character-by-character -- as a family, a family of people who just want to tell great stories.

And I think that spirit is very important. I think maintaining that continuity is important.

a page from "EZ Street," a graphic novel serialized on Comic Mix by Robert Tinnell & Mark Wheatley
(click for larger image)

But far from looking backward, Comic Mix is about moving forward with new technology that will revolutionize the way we read comics, technology that makes these stories accessible to a wider audience.

Of course, one topic that always comes up in these discussions about webcomics and new comic book publishing ventures in general is the topic of rights.

Gold confirmed that all the creators on Comic Mix will retain both their copyrights & trademarks.

The company will get their revenue from advertising and eventual "hard copy" trade-paperbacks of the stories they serialize on the site.

Related to the topic of the eventual trade-paperbacks, Comic Mix contributor Tim Truman wanted to point out is that "retailers have not been left out of the mix in this." He went on to make an analogy regarding DVD collections of TV shows. "When a show first comes out you don't want to watch all the episodes in one shot. But later, if you really like the show, you can purchase the DVD collection."

I for one am very much looking forward to what the company has to bring to the table (and my screen) come October 2nd. And my blog will be looking at specific Comic Mix projects in future posts.

Occasional Previews: What I'm Buying This Week!

Okay, here is the first official installment of my weekly focus on the books (and other various and sundry products) I am looking forward to this week.

The categories are YES! (definitely buying), MAYBE! (maybe buying), I SHOULDN'T DO IT! (stuff I feel compelled to buy that I'm sure I will regret), and LIKE IT/NO MONEY! (self-explanatory):

YES!
JLA Wedding Special #1 (for McDuffie)
Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag #1 (for Ostrander)
Daredevil #100
Thor #3


MAYBE!
Thirteen Steps #1 (Desperado Publishing, I heard this kicks ass)

I SHOULDN'T DO IT!
Booster Gold #2 (ah, it is so tempting! Just to see!)

LIKE IT/NO MONEY
Confessions of a Blabbermouth (tempting, but I just don't want to drop the $10 this week)
What are YOU looking forward to this week?

And what would you recommend?

What Comic Fans Talk About Over Drinks

Continuing my coverage of the Baltimore Comic Con, I report on a lively discussion me and a select group of comic fans had over drinks at the James Joyce Pub about comic books. It reminded me of Jon Faveau's IFC program "Dinner For Five."

I thought I would share an excerpt of the conversation with you. Keep in mind in the background is a bad cover artist singing "Piano Man" and "Wonderwall."

"You know who the biggest jerk is in the Marvel Universe? Peter Parker. Peter Parker is an emo bitch!"

"If you go out with Daredevil, you will DIE."

"Daredevil is always lying over a statue and crying."

"Everything is better than Bendis."

"But I like Bendis..."

"Remember when Brubaker brought Bucky back? Augh!"

"I thought it was very badass."

"I don't like cyborg arms."

"Yeah, it's very 90s."

"You know what was stupid? When Gambit got super-powers and could fly."

"Just saying 'Gambit' is fucking retarded."

"Brubaker put half half his X-Men team down. That's very badass."

"I liked how Shadowcat freaked out and phased Hulk into the ground."

"Shadowcat always threatened to do that, but she never did before."

"Well, Hulk bent back Colossus's arms."

"That issue was really f**king cool!"

"I thought 'All-Flash' #1 was horrible."

"The first issue of the series was ok."

"I didn't like steroid baby. He's gotta go."

This snippet has been edited to omit awesome bits of gossip and devastating volleys of nuclear snark. Because that's how I roll.

And in case you are wondering, I had a glass of the 2004 Poppy Pinot Noir, which was smoky with a rich fruity aftertaste.

Baltimore Comic Con: Seen and Heard

me & the crew at Comic Mix!

One thing I heard mentioned at the Baltimore Comic Con was the way it tended to...linger. Not that it was boring, but in comparison to SDCC's never-ending wave of humanity crammed through the aisles, this convention gave you a lot more time to just hang out.

Here are just some of the names and faces I chatted with at the show.

Artist extraordinaire Andrew Pepoy!


me & Ape Entertainment's Brent Erwin

Kyle Baker
I had just read Kyle's daughter Lillian's new comics at the show & had to stop in and tell him what a uncommonly well-developed sense of comic timing she has at the ripe old age of eight. I mean it's really freaky -- she did a comedy riff on people who sue for tripping on the sidewalk. What kid does "lawyer" jokes in the third grade? Unfortunately, Lillian's comics were a "Con exclusive," but perhaps you can visit Kyle's site and inquire about them.

Mike Bair
Mike is really one of the absolute nicest guys you will ever meet in this business. The classic Morales/Bair team have an upcoming "Nightwing" arc written by their old editor Pete Tomasi. Bair reminisced about Tomasi being an editor with a very distinctive "brand" of comic, and how the sunlight streams through the window of his now-empty editorial office. "It's like he's still sort of there."

Charles Brownstein
I ran into Charles outside the convention center & it was great to see him again. He was at the show of course to represent his organization the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Comic Mix
I'll be doing a big write-up on Comic Mix's "Phase 2" webcomic project later today, but I just wanted to mention some of the fine people who make the site a reality.

It was a real thrill and honor to meet Martha Thomases, former publicity chief for DC and creator of Marvel's Dakota North, as well as legendary DC editor Mike Gold. They, along with Comic Mic VP Glenn Hauman, were very gracious with their time and put on a great presentation on their extensive webcomics venture that will see the return of John Ostrander' & Tim Truman's "GrimJack," and Mike Grell's "Jon Sable," among others.

Steve Conley
I got to check out some pages Steve is drawing for IDW's "Star Trek Year Four!" Steve is also the artist for "Astounding Space Thrills."

Danielle Corsetto
We've corresponded in e-mails for a while now and even did an interview, but this was the first time I got to meet Danielle in person. She was much sought-after for sketches at the show, and had a giant stuffed "Pedro the Cactus" from her webcomic "Girls With Slingshots" sitting in a flower-pot on her table.

Joanna Draper-Carlson

I met Joanna Draper-Carlson of Comics Worth Reading! What more can I say! It was a woman comic-blogger mutual admiration society.

me with Danielle O'Brien, James Hatton,
and the rest of the talented crew at the Webcomics Lounge!

Brent Erwin
You can imagine my surprise when I found out that my old buddy Brent from way back in my Acclaim days was not only Co-Publisher of Ape Entertainment Comics but standing like three feet away from me! Brent's a really super sweet guy and it was just a big hug-fest. He's gotta come to the Acclaim/Valiant reunion over at Big Apple Con this November!

James Hatton & Danielle O'Brien

James, of the hot (literally) online comic "In His Likeness," and Danielle were super-awesome people to hang out with. I bought a suede plush Devil-Dot! Whee!

me & Archaia Studios's Joe Illidge

Joe Illidge
Every time I see Joe it's like "Joeeeeee!!!!!" I'm so thrilled with his work at Archaia Studios Press, so thrilled with the quality of their books like "Mouse Guard" and "Artesia" and their commitment to new talent.

Patty Jeres
It was truly a magical moment to run into Patty outside the convention center. The longtime voice of DC public relations, she is now an advisory board member of PRISM and is working on some writing projects.

me with Paul Storrie & Sean McKeever

Sean McKeever
It was a real treat to get to talk with Sean, who has a whole bunch of cool Teen Titans stuff cooked up! Sean is one of these bigger-name creators who are soooo personable and easy to talk to at conventions.

Andrew Pepoy
I used to hear Andrew's name bandied about the offices while I was at DC but I never got a chance to really review the diverse body of work he has created for comics, such as "The Adventures of Simone and Ajax." He was a really awesome guy and gave me a real steal on one of his original "Annie" comic strips!

me and Jocelyn Gajeway & Drew Rausch of "Sullen Grey"

Drew Rausch & Jocelyn Gajeway
Drew and Jocelyn are the talented team behind the cult indie hit "Sullen Grey," and they were really excited about not only the trade paperback collection of the series coming out in November, but the "Sullen Grey" sequel this Fall.

Paul Storrie
Paul, of "Robyn of Sherwood" and DC's "Gotham Girls," was a fascinating person to talk to, full of deadpan humor and insightful industry commentary. We'll be definitely interviewing him for this blog.

Thom Zahler
Thom was at the convention selling his hit book "Love & Capes," an "Incredibles"-style action-comedy-romance. He's also got the sweet hook-up with Toon Tumblers.

There were so many more people I wanted to talk to at the show but I was just doing so much yakkin' and hanging out and buying old Bronze Age Marvels for a buck that I didn't have the time to get to everyone...but see you next Convention!

Baltimore Comic Con: The Face Of Mainstream Comics

the Jim Lee line at the Baltimore Comic Con

As much as I was dazzled by the sheer pageantry of the San Diego Comic-Con, Baltimore's show this weekend was the one I enjoyed more. It was a chance to catch up with a bunch of old friends and make some new ones. But it was also a place where I could see more clearly the face of mainstream superhero comic book fandom, those who visit regularly the hundreds of smaller comic stores across the country.

Though they purchased some key Vertigo titles like "Fables" and "Preacher," this was largely not a crowd into "indie" comics. The biggest draws for them were the handful of ultra big-name guests who attended, such as Mike Mignola, David Finch, and Jim Lee (whose long line of autograph seekers cut through the convention hall).

These and other such artists were treated like celebrities, people whose signature on a copy of their favorite comic meant so much to fans. It was likely that some convention attendees, once their quest for a Mignola or Lee sig was completed, did a little bit of comic shopping and went home, their convention experience complete.

Where does that leave the independent exhibitors and comic creators who attended -- or the webcomics people, for that matter?

The truth was that the sense of willingness to try new things on the part of the attendees -- seek out new books and talent -- was relatively small. At least much smaller than San Diego or New York.

Some webcomics creators expressed frustration about the con, noting this lack of attendees who were even receptive enough to take their flyers.

"In a few cases they actually gave my flyer back and refused to look at it" one webcomics exhibitor reported. "In all the many conventions I've been to, that has NEVER happened."

The same exhibitor noted that their success in anime conventions has been far greater, even though their webcomic is not related to manga. "Anime fans just have much more of an adventuresome energy, and want to try new things."

Who was the average Baltimore Comic Con attendee? While making unscientific generalizations is hardly enough to replace solid marketing data, I'll take a shot anyway:

About two-thirds of the attendees were white, and more than two-thirds were male. Many of the women attending did not look like comic book fans but seemed to be the girlfriends & wives of comic book fans. The biggest age group seemed to be mid-20s-40s. They often had their children with them (of either gender). There were teenagers, but not a tremendous amount.

Few dressed up in costume, and of the ones I saw most were characters from Star Wars.

This is in sharp contrast to the attendees in San Diego, of which there were far more females & far more young people.

Also, I have to note that this was the first convention I have attended in a long time when I had that old "squicky" feeling about being the only woman at the comic boxes. I did not feel 100% comfortable. That largely comes from, in most cases, being the only woman at the boxes, the toy shelves, the spinner racks, etc. I felt self-conscious.

I think what I saw at Baltimore was the "face" of the mainstream superhero comic book reader -- the demographic that major comic book publishers have depended on for decades.

But that face is getting older. And there did not seem to be enough young people to replace them, at least at this show.

Now, the "alternative" comics expo SPX will be held in Bethesda on October 12th & 13th -- not that far away from Baltimore. If the show is anything like MoCCA in New York City, there will be far more diversity of race & gender. Will the type of people who attend SPX tend not to check out the Baltimore Comic Con (and vice-versa)?

Has comics truly become a place of two distinct houses -- mainstream (superheroes) & "indie" (everything else)? Can you bring those two houses under the same roof? How much outreach to the other house should be done? Is such outreach worth it?

And is it worth it for the major comic publishers to try to reach out past their traditional base, when that base comes out in such strong numbers in conventions such as Baltimore?

The only answer I have for that is, again -- there are not enough younger members of that fanbase to replace the older ones. So if a company invests 75% of their product into giving exactly what that fanbase wants -- and not exploring & nuturing & growing new fanbases -- they are setting themselves up for obsolescence.

But I do not see that as what is happening. I think DC and Marvel finally "get" the broader base that they need to appeal to (though their results may vary).

And what will probably happen in 10-15 years is that the traditional superhero comic book as we know it will be a specialized "niche" of the comic book industry in total -- just another genre to choose from in a graphic format.

And the traditional mainstream capes & tights comic convention will be as "niche" as the anime conventions.

My Big Fat Baltimore Comic Con Adventure, Part One

When we got on the train the only seat available was this narrow mutant seat that faced this cranky Indian lady. I manage to squeeze into the seat but the lady freaks out when my sweetie Mr. G tries to sit.

"You're not sitting here blahblahblah!"

So my sweetie has to sit far away from me.

:-(

But then the train got emptier after awhile. And we were rejoined.

:-)

Next leg, we hung out at the house of "In His Likeness" creator James Hatton. James is showing at the Baltimore Comic Con and will be selling his first collected edition "In His Likeness Vol. 1: The Centurion" and a whole bunch of other cool stuff.


James and Danielle O'Brien have the materials to make their buttons & mini-comics all over the living room in a last push to get everything ready for the show. In an hour or so we will all drive to Baltimore.


Someone reads my blog and calls out to me,

"Hey, Gail Simone commented on your post and said Ryan Choi is alive and well!"

James & Danielle are also selling these sweet suede stuffed "Devil" dolls for $15. See?

Then Mr. G. staples his finger while he helps Danielle staple on of their mini-comics. I still love him.

Next leg of our journey, we are going to David's friend's Ed's house. Ed runs the "Your Mom's Baserment" blog and will be having a pre-convention party tonight that will have fans and comic pros attending.

An "Action Figure Pillow Sham" party, is what it's called.

I'll be there and give the inside poop. Because I'm like that.

"Bye, Bye Ryan Choi"

UPDATED: According to Gail Simone, the Atom is not really getting killed off in the next issue of "Countdown." The phrase "Bye bye Ryan Choi" just refers to some arcane bit of "Countdown" lore.

Ryan Choi is alive and well.

I still think within a few years they'll all be returned back to the status quo. Sorry. I'm cynical.

*******************************

Yeah, like we didn't see THAT coming since issue #1...

This is the likely fate for most ethnic reboots:
Atom
Firestorm
Cassandra Cain Batgirl
Blue Beetle
Question

In the end, it is struggle for the publisher between wanting to put something new out there & contribute to diversity, and the need/desire to fall back on time-tested icons.

Why not create more new characters instead? I think the comic companies sort if shy away from this because of all these creator's rights issues nowadays.

But whenever I see a reboot like the Ryan Choi Atom I count the months until the status quo is reverted.

However, if they really are killing him off next issue of "Countdown," I'm sure that will be a modest sales spike.

I think the plan is to save "Countdown" by killing a bunch of characters. Which is a shrewd and relatively inexpensive solution.

Disney Via David Lynch

Found these on Cartoon Brew. Strangely compelling, in an evil "Eraserhead" sort of way:





and, just to be topical:

Fangirl Fridays

Occasional Superheroine Every Day Of The Week

I've been racking my brains over here trying to figure out how to organize my material better & bring it to you in more efficient peanut-buttery bite-sized pieces. So I've come up with a schedule:

Monday: "Occasional Previews"
Here is where I talk about what books I'm looking forward to this week. It will have commentary, previews, some shilling, some praise, just a lot of cool stuff.

Tuesday: I was going to make this one of three things:
a) New Talent Spotlight
b) Guest-blogger
c) Gossip column
Or maybe all three.

Wednesday: "Occasional Interviews"
I'll use my sweet connections in the biz to provide you with exclusive interviews. I'll ask the hard questions (really).

Thursday: "Occasional Reviews"
I review all the books I dropped my money on the day before.

Friday: "Fangirl Fridays"
I bitch about the previous week.

Saturday & Sunday: Sweet Freedom
Also, probably some stuff.

I'll still have my usual postings throughout the week, probably 3-5 each day.

It's a little ambitious, I know, but it could woik.


Baltimore: The Convention Schlep Continues

Well, today I depart for the Baltimore Comic-Con.

First thing to do is remove the "I Love Dexter" button from SDCC.

Do I have everything?

Laptop? check.

Tape-recorder? check.

Blackberry? check.

Cute Snoopy shirt? check.

Unlike San Diego, I'm entering this Con with no preconceived notions, plans, ambitions, or work schedule.

I find such an approach yields the most interesting results.

I can't promise I'll be providing coverage, photos, interviews, late-breaking news, whisperings from drunken getogethers at the hotels, or any of somesuch nonsense. But I just might, rabbit. I just might.


Psychedelic Craigslist Nightmare Romp: "Kelly"


Dan Goldman's "Kelly" is like a psychedelic Craigslist nightmare romp across a landscape of neo-nazis, weird-ass roommates, and generally messed-up shit.

This comic book artist answers a Craigslist ad for a share, and this really skanky dude Kelly is the guy with the apartment. Of course, no good can come of this.


"Please tell me he doesn't wipe his ass with paper towels."

The art and color is frenetic and crackles with nervous energy, painting a portrait of a man whose life has just taken a sharp left turn into the bizarre. "Kelly" the character looks and acts as if he has stepped out of a John Waters movie, a Loki-esque trickster of sleaze prepared to lead the comparitively normal Max down the rabbit hole. So to speak. Recommended.

Goldman, of the webcomic collective ACT-I-VATE, is the co-creator of the Eisner-nominated "Shooting War."

Read "Kelly" here.

Also, if you are so inclined, you can meet Dan & some of the ACT-I-VATE crew at the following two NYC venues (this weekend & next week):



Paul Gulacy Week!


Yes! One of my favorite artists ever, the master PAUL GULACY will be the focus of the week of the 17th to celebrate the release of his "Penance" book for Marvel.

We'll be doing a retrospective on his classic work on "Master of Kung-Fu" and the graphic novel "Sabre," and looking at more recent projects like the much underrated "The Grackle" and his "Catwoman" run.


Plus an exclusive interview!

Be there!


Relflections On The First Preview Pages Of Dwayne McDuffie's "Justice League"

(link for "The JLA Wedding Special")

1) McKone/Lanning art is solid. Are they doing the regular book? I wish they were doing the regular book. I'm tired of Benes for now.

2) Cheetah on Dr. Light: "He's a rapist & a murderer!" McDuffie had to address it. We were all thinking it, and he had to address it. Lex says basically "well we are all scumbags anyway, we can't be choosy." But there is reg scumbags and then there is rapist murderer scumbags.

3) "Injustice League Unlimited" crack: McDuffie's way of saying "this isn't teh old sucky JLA, this is teh good JLA written by teh guy who does that awesome cartoon."

All-in-all, it augurs well for his regular "JLA" run. Though my money is on either/both Black Canary & GA biting the big one and replaced with Mia and Connor. And you can flame me all you want about it, that's what I think & I'm stickin' to it! :-D

Well, that's all the time we have today for "Fangirl Fridays" --

I'll leave you with a trailer for yet another upcoming Frank Miller comic book movie:

Jim Shooter as New DC E.I.C.???

Just throwing it out there.

You know, like one of those "What If?" stories.

I think if he became the new editor-in-chief he would just do a scorched-Earth policy on everything. Editors, artists, books, everything, maybe retain 25% of the whole.

I guarantee you the books would dramatically improve in quality.

But it would be *intense*

Jim Shooter on "Legion" -- Thoughts

Examining the news that Jim Shooter & Francis Manapul will be the official team on "Legion of the Superheroes" as of issue #37, I really can't see how DC could screw this up. I mean, it really seems like a winner.

Of course, to drag the series down with "Countdown" lore would be a stumbling block. But honestly, given Shooter's temperment as a writer, I find it unlikely he would cotton to being editorially dictated to. So if Shooter is left more or less alone to be "Shootery" it could work.

But also, "Legion" has always been Paul Levitz's pet book, and I can't see him letting it get dragged in the mediocity that has gripped a good portion of the DC Universe line.

On a related subject -- how charmed is "Legion" editor Mike Marts? First he was freed from "Countdown," then he gets the "Batman" books, which currently are the only DC books I read with any real enjoyment. Honestly, this is the best "Batman" has been (I don't include Frank Miller's "All-Star" as a "real" Bat-book) in many many years. Then he gets Shooter/Manapul on "Legion."

I also wonder if Marts ever worked with Shooter at Acclaim/Valiant during that "Unity" event the company was supposed to put out right before it folded, and how the rapport is between the two of them.

And I'm pretty sure not everybody in the DC offices are thrilled regarding Shooter's return. There is a reason it has taken this long to get him back on "Legion."

I remember Shooter visiting the offices about 4 years ago. All I saw was the very top of his head, somewhere very close to the ceiling. He's quite the presence in person.

Notes To The Editor: "Infinity Inc." #1

Dear Editor,

Here are some notes on the first issue of your new book "Infinity, Inc."

1) The first page of this book starts with a flashback. Don't start a book with a flashback. You don't emotionally grab the readers that way. Now, have you had started the book with page 2, with Natasha running away from the menace, that would have seized the readers' attention more and make them care about her immediately.

2) Every right-handed page should give the reader the incentive to turn the page. But you have many right-handed pages in this story end with the character appearing on the porch and going "oh" and stuff like that.

3) Please don't feel afraid to ask your writer for edits. I know somebody like Peter Milligan is a bit of a "name" and all that, but sometimes even "names" need editing.

4) There are many scenes in this book with people in offices talking. Don't you get enough of being in offices and talking at your job?

5) Looking over artist Max Fiumara's great work in books like Warren Ellis's "Blackgas" and so on, I am at a loss to explain how the art in "Infinity Inc." turned out the way it did. Can you figure it out? Did he have a really tight deadline so the book could tie-in with the latest "Countdown"? Or is the color palette not really complementing Max's work?

6) Speaking of the color, there are times reading "Infinity Inc" #1 where I feel the colorist might have been rushed. Like when the analyst has hair, a shirt, and is sitting on a couch that is all roughly the same shade of violet. Had the look of this book been "monochromatic irony," I could see how such color choices would work. But I do not know if that is the look you were going for here.

7) The cover, showing Steel in full costume and Natasha flying, spoke of the optimism and joy of having powers and being a superhero. Yet the story inside was dark, dismal, depressing, slow, and hardly had anybody using their powers at all in any exciting way. I feel like the cover lied.

8) Who the hell are these characters? Why should I care about them?

9) Decompressed storytelling works best when you have Bryan Hitch or Olivier Coipel drawing your book and you have an enormous budget for color & effects. For a smaller-scale production such as this, which seems to be going for a more "Vertigo" vibe, you really need a more solid, traditional storytelling style. Yeah, I'm sure "it will all read better in the trade" -- if it ever gets to be a trade.

10) What audience are you exactly going for, here? With the actiony "Steel" cover it would appear that you are going for Superman fans or fans of DC Universe books in general. But then the story itself is packed full of this talky moody Vertigoey sort of material. And then you have the extra layer of the history the name "Infinity Inc." brings with it, seemingly underlined by the inclusion of Nuklon -- JSA stuff. I ask again, who is your intended audience?

In conclusion, I do not feel that "Infinity Inc." really lives up either to the name or Steel's legacy or its Vertigo-like pretensions. To be frank, I am utterly baffled by it. You have produced such good books in the past, and I just cannot comprehend what has happened as of late to produce such a bad stretch. A few more suggestions/comments:

a) Are you getting enough time to turn these books around?

b) Trying to force these new series and events to fit into the overall "Countdown" framework doesn't seem to really help their quality. It is not an organic blend into the tie-ins, but more like a stiff, sloppy plug-in patchwork.

c) I would just dump the pseudo-Vertigo elements and just really make this a "Steel" book. That's what the fans really want to see. They want to see a really good book featuring John Henry Irons & Natasha. They would also like to see an "Infinity Inc" reboot, but one that picks up the legacy of the JSA. Mixing the JSA & Steel mythologies doesn't work for me.

Sincerely,
OS

Whore Or Not? Newsarama Readers Debate Gwen Stacy's Morality

In the J. Michael Straczynski's "Sins Past" storyline in The Amazing Spider-Man #509-514 (August 2004 - January 2005), it is revealed that Gwen Stacy secretly had children with Norman Osborn.

Now, because she cheated on Peter with Norman, does that make her...a whore?

Newsarama readers speak out:

"Perhaps "whore" is a bit vulgar and overstated, but it's meant to be. Gwen's portrayal in "Sins Past" was totally out of character. In the original comics, she was shown as a decent person having a loving relationship with Peter. However, she lost her virginity to a sweaty psycho why exactly? She felt sorry for him? Send a fruit basket next time. Sleeping with your boyfriend's best friend's father is not the act of a decent person."

"I can't believe people are still calling her a whore for having sex with Norman Osborn ONCE. Some people have some serious issues with women. "

"She did a pity f*ck with one guy other than Peter. Perhaps, she's no longer Polly Pureheart and the more correct term (which I'd hardly think qualifies) would be a slut but it's a bit ridiculous."

"Was Gwen selling her a$$ on the street. Man, she had some sins in her past. But, my guess is Spidey still loved her, he's that good of a guy."

"I thought the reaction to Gwen's behavior was one of the best things to come out of "Sins Past." You could've gotten like six or eight psychology PhDs out of analyzing the ripples that went through fandom. Seeing how som fans felt about Gwen afterwards, I thought it was all hyperbole and exaggeration, until I watched "Fat Camp" on MTV last night - this girl, who had liked a guy there the summer before, simply didn't like him the following summer and was dating another guy. His immediate go-to name for such behavior? "Whore." So I guess it's a societal thing to call women degrading names for the slightest perceived infraction...but blended with some mythological overtones in this instance." (from Matt Brady)

"I'm betting that if your girlfriend or wife ever sleeps with your best friend's father you would consider it more than 'perceived infraction.' I would that while the wound was still fresh you would even blurt out a degrading name or two."

"Sometimes, comics fans scare the ____ out of me."

Waugh! Read "Howard The Duck" Pages 1-6 For Free!

By Ty Templeton and Juan Bobillo. Out October 3rd.

I've worked with Ty, he is a genius. He is born to write "Howard."

I loved Juan's art on "She-Hulk."

The only thing that is missing is Dan Slott.

Maybe Squirrel Girl will make an appearance?

That said, I've just got these pages, so I will have to read them along with you.

Commentz?

(click for full-size images)


approves:

Schoolgirl Witchblade

"After a 5-year wait for this amazing statue, it is here at long last. Based on Marc Silvestri’s incredible illustration, The CS Moore Studio proudly offers the Schoolgirl Witchblade Statue. Presenting police officer Sara Pezzini (Witchblade) in undercover schoolgirl garb, Clayburn Moore has outdone himself on this masterpiece. At 13½” this limited edition, beautifully detailed sculpture will be a valued addition to any collection and comes painted and ready to display!"

Impressed:
Fooled by Sara Pezzini's undercover schoolgirl outfit:

The Bureau Of Missing Batwomen Department

ChrisCross: The Return!

God, it's really good to see ChrisCross doing comic work again. He took some time off from doing American comics after abruptly leaving "Firestorm, but is back with this week's Midnighter #11 (with Keith Giffen!).


How good an artist is ChrisCross? He is so good an artist that I would pick up Midnighter #11 this week even though I haven't followed the book at all. THAT'S how good an artist he is -- the type of artist you follow from book-to-book.

Anyway, he's got a great interview on Newsarama where he talks about his current gigs, his overseas work, and how he almost quit mainstream comics altogether:

"Yeah, it just got to the point where I was just…tired. I just wanted to pick up and be a chef somewhere or something. The fiancee and a couple of other friends convinced me to stick with it. They told me, “There’s things you need to do, you can’t cut it out yet."

My two cents? I think the "Firestorm" experience probably burned him out for a number of different reasons. "Firestorm" was an experience, a heavily-hyped event that faced a lot of scrutiny both by the fans (many of whom were rabidly disappointed that Ronnie Raymond was out) and internally.


Frankly -- and this is just an opinion -- I think the company had cold feet about the reboot of Firestorm at the very same time that they pushed the book. That sort of ambivalent energy makes such projects a weird experience for everybody.

Also, as ChrisCross mentions in the interview, he had "Outsiders" and "JLA" work going on pretty much simultaneously. He had a tremendous about of work on his plate, and he's not the type of artist who just hacks things out like an assembly line.

I was real happy how things turned out with Jamal Igle on "Firestorm," but I did miss ChrisCross's work. He would have made any book he was on a winner. One of the virtuoso under appreciated talents out there. So it's good that he's back and hopefully he's here to stay.

Video: The Adventures Of Batman & Robin & Jesus Christ

Batman loses Robin at the San Diego Comicon. Jesus gets mistaken for a Jedi.

It's all good.

"Amazons Attack" -- Alternate Surprise Endings

The "big reveal" at the end of "Amazons Attack" sure stirred up a lot of controversy.

Here are some "alternate takes" for that last scene.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Joker & Catwoman in "Batman 3"???

A source hinted to Cinema Blend that the third installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies might see the return of The Joker, and the introduction of Catwoman!

And if Catwoman indeed appears in the 3rd movie, who should play her?


(runs)

My Fake Psychic Comic Book Gossip Column

With Steven Saunders's "All The Rage" temporarily on hold, there is only one real comic book rumor column on the Internets -- "Lying In The Gutters." Rich does a great job, but only one column out there leaves a bit of a gossip deficit.

I was thinking of trying my hand at the gossip biz, but the really good bits I hear from this person or that I'm not very likely to say on my blog because they will probably get said persons fired.

And then I remembered my semi-professional tarot reading gig, and I had a wonderful idea --

What if I had my own fake psychic comic book gossip column?

It would not only be fake, but psychically fake -- doubly cool! And triple the fake!

So let me put on my psychic mind-reading turban, get out my fake leads from my fake informants scribbled on fake used bar napkins from the fake parties I went to, and get this show on the road.

RUMOR BARRIER: ALL STORIES HAVE BEEN GLEANED FROM THE ETHER BY MY FAKE PSYCHIC POWERS! THEY ARE MOST LIKELY FAKE! IF THEY HAPPEN TO BE TRUE THEN THAT IS WHAT IS KNOWN AS A "MEANINGLESS COINCIDENCE!"

Jim Lee "Secret Artist" for Dan Slott's "Amazing Spiderman!"


Amazing! (Spider-Man, that is) Jim Lee, President of Wildstorm, is going to work for MARVEL! OH MY GOD! Shocking! And he's going to do an arc of "Amazing Spider-Man" with Dan Slott! See, that's why "All-Star Batman and Robin" is so late all the time!

Boy, is DC pissed off! But that's okay, because they are trying to woo John Romita Jr. over to their team in REVENGE!

Wow!

Wonder Woman Gets New Writer As Of Issue #15!


Hoo-boy! Can't DC EVER make up their minds?
It has been psychically gleaned by me from sources I dare not reveal (lest I be cursed for all eternity by the Hoary Hores of Hoggoth!) that Gail Simone is being replaced by Tony Bedard on Wonder Woman as of issue #15. As you may recall, Gail starts her run on issue #14.

Why the sudden switch? I predict that DC will tell Newsarama's Matt Brady that "we planned it this way."

Ragnell New Assistant Editor On "Green Lantern" in 2009


The cards reveal that Ragnell from the blog "When Fangirls Attack," will get a job as Assistant Editor on "Green Lantern" on April 13, 2009. Unfortnately, she will hold that position for eight years until she transfers to the Licensing department in a huff.

Marvel and Top Cow Officially Merge!


Oh my stars and garters! What has been rumored for years will finally come to pass!

Marvel will officially purchase Top Cow, a deal that will see The World's Mightiest Heroes combine their forces with Those Hot Superheroines With The Biggest Boobies!

First on the docket?

An Avengers/Witchblade crossover featuring the Scarlet Witch called...

Scarlet Witchblade!

Yes! And she'll be very unclothed! I'm laughing outwardly but crying inside for my gender and humanity! Too true!

Finally, I would like to introduce some sample pages from a book that I'm sure everybody will be talking about, my good friend Marlon Swires's spy thriller from Dishwasher Press, "Desperate Impact":


I asked Swires to describe "Desperate Impact,"

"Well, not to pigeon-hole it, but it is very Vertigo Comics, if you know what I mean. My artist, Bernie Rassmussen, uses a very impressionist style that addresses the inner conflict of our main character, a first-grade art teacher who is really a brainwashed Armenian spy."


"Desperate Impact" is going to be one comic to keep your eyes on!

Well, that's it for this edition of my fake psychic comic book gossip column! I really hope you found it not informative! Bizarro very happy to see you arrive! Hello!

"Black Canary: The Wedding Planner"

Reading this preview on Newsarama for "Black Canary: The Wedding Planner" was the most fun I've had since watching "Must Love Dogs."

The Problem With Comics These Days...

"Anal retentive fanboys are the problem."
-- John Byrne

eBay Cancels "Mature" Comics Auctions

Mike Sterling on "Progressive Ruin" describes how eBay cancelled six out his 23 auctions of underground comics due to the books being, in eBay's estimation, inappropriate outside of their Mature Audiences section.

Here is a list of the targeted books:
Armageddon #2 & #3
Adventures of the Little Green Dinosaur #1 & #2
Clowns by Dave Geiser
Edward's Heave

Sterling was not so much annoyed because of eBay's "Mature Audiences" policy, as what he feels is the inconsistent policing of this area:

"At any rate, I was pretty annoyed, particularly since there are plenty of other comic book auctions going on right now that are far worse than anything I listed. For example, a search on eBay reveals listings for the underground comic The Life and Loves of Cleopatra, one of the most sexually explicit undergrounds ever published. And I found several listings for Barry Blair's naughty book Leather & Lace, Tim Vigil's porn-gore book Faust, a boatload of Verotik books, and...hell, just type in "nude" in eBay's search box and see what pops up...er, so to speak. And, c'mon, Crying Freeman? We used to half-jokingly call this "Naked People Stabbing Each Other Monthly.""

Now, I never knew eBay had such a policy and was cancelling auctions. Are these auctions being cancelled because of viewer complaints? Does eBay have someone look through the listings and determine -- either by prior comic knowledge or by "sight" -- which books to cancel?

And is this defacto censorship?

"Onion" Abducted Girl Parody: Funny or Offensive?

The basic gist of this video from The Onion, "Missing Girl Probably Raped," is criticizing news outlets who focus on sensationalistic stories of rape & murder to boost ratings.

Dollymix, where I found the piece, asks if the video didn't go a little too far:

"The video parodies the kind of news coverage that such terrible personal tragedies receive in the US, though it’s so authentic that at moments it seems eerily realistic. It was intended as a timely poke at the media for sensationalising issues such as rape in their pursuit of headlines and their careless dismissal and impatience with facts, but I wonder whether this is a subject ripe for humour. As one of the last taboos, can we expect controversial comics to work the issue into their material in a bid to shock and make a name for themselves and if so – who will be laughing?"


BREAKING NEWS: Missing Girl Probably Raped

Video: Reader Mails "Amazons Attack" back to DC In Protest

I absolutely love this. See, this is polite protest in motion. No "Matt Idelson Must Die" t-shirts. Just some good YouTube action.

"Amazons Attack" Postscript

According to the new Lying In The Gutters, fans weren't the only ones disappointed with how the mini-series "Amazons Attack" came out. Editor Matt Idelson also might have had his reservations.

"On the DC Message boards, one user, a "lostgauntlet" reposted private e-mail with Idelson, including the sentence "Things haven't run nearly as smoothly as they should on this title, almost from its inception, and I admit that the quality has at times been compromised.""

Updated:

Here is part of Idelson's reply to lostgauntlet's email:

"Things haven’t run nearly as smoothly as they should on this title, almost from its inception, and I admit that the quality has at times been compromised. It’s been very frustrating to me. I do believe that the upcoming slate of stories with Gail Simone and Terry are very strong, and will be an awful lot of fun. I hope you’ll considering giving those a try before making your ultimate decision on the title. Having grown up reading comics, I know how important the treatment of the characters and the quality of the stories are, and I very much want to satisfy you and everyone else who plunks down their hard earned money to buy the books. "

and here is another to hobomystical's letter:

"Thanks for taking the time to drop me a line. I’m profoundly saddened that you disliked Amazons Attack as much as you did, though I can fully understand how you would feel that way. Certainly, my failure to properly identify Granny Goodness at the end was a blunder. But beyond that, I am sorry that you were angered as much as you were. "

and

"I do wish certain things had played out differently, both in Amazons and in Wonder Woman’s own book. The research I did before starting to work on the title gave me an even greater level of respect and affection for the character, and I know all too well the things that have and haven’t worked since the book relaunched. All I can do is keep trying to produce better results. I hope the arrival of Gail Simone on the title this fall will leave you with greater satisfaction than you have now for the book. "

I think "Countdown" should have a similar "mea culpa" PR campaign, and then everybody should just move forward.

Vids: Jerry Lewis Slur? AND Reporters Laugh At Owen Wilson

I found these two gems together so...

In this clip, Jerry Lewis might be saying a slur against homosexuals during the Labor Day telethon. Well, even if he did, because he's an old big-time celebrity & doing charity work I'll think he'll be let off the hook. Further -- he's so old that I don't think he cares what anybody thinks. But the clip left me kinda ick.

Lewis
Uploaded by krs601

And here we have two reporters who can't keep a straight face during their coverage of Owen Wilson's suicide attempt. As they explain in the end, it really had to do with the funny-sounding last name of Wilson's uncle or something. Real professional, guys. Will Ferrell as Anchorman laughs at you.

Remember, New Comic Day Is Thursday This Week...

And this is all the stuff you could potentially buy, if you were so inclined:
Occasional Superheroine picks in red

30 DAYS OF NIGHT RED SNOW #1
A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #65 (A)
ACTION PHILOSOPHERS #9 THE LIGHTING ROUND
ALL NEW ATOM #15
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #544 OMD
ANNIHILATION CONQUEST WRAITH #3 (OF 4)
ARCHIE #578
BLACK CANARY WEDDING PLANNER
BOYS #10 (RES)
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #6
CAPTAIN AMERICA CHOSEN #1 (OF 6)
CITY OF OTHERS #4 (OF 4)
COUNTDOWN 34
DAREDEVIL BATTLIN JACK MURDOCK #4 (OF 4)
DARK XENA #4
DETECTIVE COMICS #836
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #2
DUST #2 (OF 2)
EVA DAUGHTER OF THE DRAGON ONE SHOT
EXILES #98
EXTERMINATORS #21
FAKER #3 (OF 6)
FANTASTIC FOUR AND POWER PACK #3 (OF 4)
FRANK FRAZETTAS DEATH DEALER #4 (OF 6)
INCREDIBLE HULK #110 WWH
INFINITY INC #1 (shoot, I gotta try it though I'm so hesitant)
IRON MAN ENTER MANDARIN #1 (OF 6)
JONAH HEX #23
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #37
LIONS TIGERS & BEARS VOL 2 #4 (OF 4)
LOBSTER JOHNSON THE IRON PROMETHEUS #1 (OF 5)
LOONEY TUNES #154
LUCHA LIBRE #1
MADAME MIRAGE #2
MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #31
METAL GEAR SOLID SONS OF LIBERTY #11
METAL MEN #2 (OF 8)
MIDNIGHTER #11
MS MARVEL #19
NEGATIVE BURN #12
NEW EXCALIBUR #23
NEW WARRIORS #4 CWI
NIGHTWING #136
OUTSIDERS #50
PAINKILLER JANE #3
PRO NEW PTG
PS238 #25
SCALPED #9
SHANNA SHE-DEVIL SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST #2 (OF 4)
SHE-HULK 2 #21
SNAKEWOMAN VOL 2 TALE OF THE SNAKE CHARMER #3
SOLLITARIA #2
SORROW #1 (OF 4)
STAR TREK KLINGONS BLOOD WILL TELL #5
STAR TREK YEAR FOUR #2
STEVE NILES STRANGE CASES #1
STRANGE EMBRACE #4 (OF 8)
SUPER VILLAIN TEAM UP MODOKS 11 #3 (OF 5)
SUPERGIRL #21
UNCANNY X-MEN #490
VERONICA #183
WHITE TIGER #6 (OF 6)
WOLVERINE #57
Y THE LAST MAN #58

Books / Mags / Stuff
13TH SON WORSE THING WAITING TP (RES)
CHECKMATE VOL 2 PAWN BREAKS TP
CRUEL AND UNUSUAL TP
DARKNESS VOL 6 DEPTHS OF HELL TP
DEATH VALLEY VOL 1 TP
DMZ VOL 3 PUBLIC WORKS TP
GIANT ROBOT #49
HELLO ME PRETTY GN
HOPE NEW ORLEANS VOL 1 GN
JACK KIRBYS FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL 2 HC
KODT BUNDLE OF TROUBLE VOL 21 TP
MS MARVEL VOL 2 CIVIL WAR TP
PET ROBOTS HC
PROCESS RECESS 2 PORTFOLIO SC
PUNISHER MAX VOL 8 WIDOWMAKER TP
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL VOL 1 CIVIL WAR TP
SENTENCES THE LIFE OF M F GRIMM HC
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG ARCHIVES VOL 5 TP
SPIDER-MAN FAMILY BACK IN BLACK DIGEST TP
SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION THE DOMINATOR WAR TP
SWORD OF THE ATOM TP<-----This is a big maybe, some people said this sucks, I dunno
WHISTLES VOL 1 THE STARLIGHT CALLIOPE GN
WONDER WOMAN ARCHIVES VOL 5 HC

Batman In Jaded New York

So I was coming home from work in Midtown Manhattan yesterday and this guy goes walking down the street dressed in a full Batman outfit.

NOBODY SAYS ANYTHING.

EVERYBODY ACTS LIKE THEY SEE NOTHING!

I think we as New Yorkers might be so trained to keep our eyes in front of us and not get involved or stare that a 6-foot man in a black bat outfit gets hardly a notice.

Now, how does this effect Batman's war on crime?

Might he not need to stay hidden in the shadows anymore?

Anyway...

Oblig photo of "hot" Alex Ross-esque Batman from comic convention:


Now for a hipster Robin (he takes the "L" train):


And a little something for the lads:

And Now For Something Completely Different

Ahhhh, the Tuesday after Labor Day...YES! YES! Awake and ready to roll.

More record covers here.

Justice League Casting Tidbits

Moviehole has the lines potential castmembers for the new Justice League movie are being asked to read -- the only caveat being that there are no character names attached to the lines, and the lines are from the movie "Network" --

Female Role #1 - Antagonist

"Well, what aren't you scared of? You live in your safe little world where nobody challenges you and you're scared shitless to do anything else -"

Female Role #2 - Antagonist
"People like you can't handle the truth. We live in a belligerent world. A world that has to be protected by those like you. Who else is going to do it?"

Female Role #3 - Antagonist
[Humble Whisper] "Why Me?"

Male Role #3
"I have struggled in vain and can bear it no longer. These past few months have been a torment. I came here only to see you. I have fought against judgement, my family's expectation. I will put them aside and ask you to end my agony".

Who are these characters supposed to be?

More roles & lines in the article.

Men With Cramps

A documentary clip on a little-known fact in human history.