Alex Ross TV Superheroes Cover: Freakin' Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet

I love how he made Adam West look like a GOD.

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Comics Are Expensive: RASL #1, KICK ASS #1, ACTION PHILOSOPHERS VOL. 3

Welcome to another installment of Comics Are Expensive, written by noted Expertologist Chris Lamb!

Busy week this time around, with more than I could actually afford to bring home. I’m starting to think I need to take a moment to assess the books I’m reading issue by issue to get a better idea of what I desperately need to read the moment it arrives and what can wait to be picked up in trade format. That (along with plans to bring more new blood into my reading) will have to wait till another column, however, as there’s plenty to talk about today.

RASL #1

Writer & Artist: Jeff Smith

From page one of Rasl, it’s clear this is exactly the sort of thing Jeff Smith should be following up the incredible success of Bone with – a darker, more adult series, featuring characters and settings from somewhere far away from any place with cow races, talking bugs, or stupid, stupid rat creatures. While I love Bone more than a great many things, I was more than a little afraid of what his next creator-owned work would be after the palette cleanser of Shazam. Fone Bone and friends were a life’s work, after all, starting in the comics section of Smith’s college paper before going on to make him one of the most famous independent comic creators around. The cynical bit (that is, most) of me was worried the temptation to fall back on familiar territory would prove too strong, resulting in something that, while good, would ultimately be more of the same. If this first issue is any indication, I clearly need to stop doing that the thing where I second-guess highly creative people doing something they love.

Which is not to say Bone didn’t have its share of dark or more adult-ish moments. If this first issue is anything to go by, however, then Rasl appears to be a dedicated move towards something a little more mature. For instance, while both books begin with their main characters wandering the desert, the scene here couldn’t be more different – rather than trying to keep his cousins from killing each other, Rasl is alone, beaten and bleeding, looking for all the world like something the cat dragged in, dragged back out, and buried in the backyard.

The flash back to somewhat less messy times doesn’t do much to set him up as a hero, either: our boy’s an art thief with expensive tastes and a bad habit of signing his jobs. There are hints that he’s either not very good at this whole thievery thing or stuck in the middle of a run of bad luck, a problem he gets around through the use of strange machinery and something called the Drift. While it seems to make for a handy exit strategy when the cops are closing in, it’s not without problems of its own – where he ends up and what the trip takes out of him appears to be a bit harder to control than making the jump in the first place. This can be a bit problematic, particularly when the people Rasl (presumably) stole his fancy toys from catch up with him in a strange bar far from home.

My excessive use of qualifiers such as “seems”, “presumably”, and “apparently” isn’t just down to my short attention span – it’s a slower start than you may be used to from Smith, full of questions and not much in the way of answers. Luckily, as fans of Bone and its twists and turns can tell you, this is just the sort of thing he excels at when given the time to tell stories at his leisure. It’s far too early to say if the book will keep its current tone – the sci-fi, near-noirish tone could just as easily drift towards fantasy or any number of directions. However things turn out, though, I’m sure it’ll be okay. Smith has planted enough seeds here to let the story grow down whatever roads it sees fit, and even if some of those fell like familiar territory it’s almost guaranteed to be worth following for a good long while.

BUY STATUS: Dude, it’s a Jeff Smith comic. I’m pretty sure I’m genetically incapable of not buying it.

KICK ASS #1

Writer: Mark Millar

Artist: John Romita, Jr.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember the last time I saw a book this proud of itself. In addition to the front cover declaring it “the greatest superhero book of ALL TIME!”, the back of the thing is covered in quotes from comic pros and Damon Lindelof, him what does stuff on Lost, declaring it the most wonderful thing ever seen by man or beast. It appears that Mark Millar has never run into a situation where too much hype could hurt, nor has he quite worked out that his particular brand of bombastic, BEST THING EVAH enthusiasm for his own work combined with a cloying, desperate love of any sort of attention from anybody remotely connected to Hollywood has become more than a little grating in the last few years. Wrapped as it is in this blitzkrieg of exclamation points and adulation, it’s hard not to go in to Kick Ass without a handful of preconceived notions. And if more than a few of those notions tend towards annoyance, well, you’d forgive a guy, yeah?

Luckily, these feelings are somewhat tempered by the book itself being good. Not great, not a gift carried down from God himself by angels driving chariots made of chocolate and unicorn horns; not even as good as his Fantastic Four from a couple of weeks ago, but good. The story follows one Dave Lizewski, an average high school nobody in a world much like ours: one devoid of costumed adventurers in colorful outfits, where the only superheroes are found in movies and comics (comics like Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, which Dave thinks is totally awesome – not exactly like our world after all, then). He’s utterly unexceptional, the sort of kid you knew in high school and immediately forgot once that bit of paper touched your hand, except for one little detail: He wants to be a hero. Not when he grows up, mind you, but right now.

So, donning a costume made out of an altered wet suit, he begins to spend his nights on patrol looking for wrongs in need of righting. This being something like the real world, however, he learns two unfortunate lessons in short order: 1), Crime in New York City isn’t nearly as convenient as in, say, Gotham, and 2), when it does happen, it’s probably going to take a little more than a mask and a billy club to sort it out. The results are predictably messy, setting the stage for some event in the next couple of issues sure to set young Dave on the true path to realizing his destiny.

As first issues go, it does the job – meet the character, get the origin out of the way, establish a premise with the potential for something truly unique, and end on a cliffhanger. Whether we get that something remains to be seen, however – this issue is filled with the sort of bad habits responsible for reducing so much of Millar’s “mature” work to thrilling, ultimately shallow displays of hyper-violence that, while a fun ride the first time through, lack any staying power. Dave’s voice is far too much like that of the protagonist from Wanted for comfort, and I’m really not interested in putting up with that sort of vapid snottiness disguised as personality again. It’s a good start, and I’d like to see it go somewhere, but for now I refuse to get excited.

BUY STATUS: In for the next two issues. There’s lots of potential here, but I’m worried Millar’s lesser demons will keep him from ever reaching it.

ACTION PHILOSOPHERS VOL. 3: GIANT SIZE THING

Writer: Fred Van Lente

Artist: Ryan Dunlavey

If you were to ask me my favorite comic of the last few years, I would without hesitation say Scott Pilgrim. If you were to ask my other favorite comic, however, I...well, I’d most likely keep talking about Scott Pilgrim, going on and on about how the first time reading vol. 2 led to me getting lost on the G train for the better part of an hour and how great vol. 4 was. But if you were very, very patient and more than willing to put up with the one-track nature of my feeble brain, I might eventually get around to remembering how much I absolutely love Action Philosophers and its casual, often hilarious look at some of history’s greatest minds and the stuff what they thought.

Action Philosophers is the definition of easy access – each of its nine issues offers biographies of three (or more) famous philosophers, usually grouped by a common theme or chance to make a cheap joke. You also get a simple and straightforward tour of their most famous works and contributions to philosophy, providing just enough information to entice you into exploring further or at least sound smart at parties. No real bias ever enters into things, and each philosopher is given plenty of room to either shine or come off as crazy on their own merits. More often than not it’s a little of both, but what do you expect from people who think at a professional level?

This volume collects the last two issues of the regular series and the special “Lightning Round” finale, bringing together a whopping nineteen smart guys for your reading pleasure. The book was clearly a labor of love on the part of Lente and Dunlavey, as even the philosophers given the fewest of pages still get their lives laid out in a unique, clever way that leaves more of an impression on you than “person (x) who said thing (y)” for the next time you’re hunting through the shelves at Barnes and Noble for something to enrich yourself with. Up next for the pair is Comic Book Comics, a similar look at the history of – wait for it – comic books supposed to start up in March. If comics are very, very lucky, they can expect the same sort of treatment philosophy found here.

As good as Action Philosophers is on its own, as funny and enlightening as each of its nine issues found time to be, I think what I enjoyed most of about the series is how very unique it is. Lente and Dunlavey wanted to do a comic, and instead of an illustrated diary or remixed heroics, they decided to make that rarest of things: an educational comic that never tries too hard to be cool, never talks down to its readers, and above all never bores. It's a genuinely useful book, one that leaves me happy to have read it for more than just the sake of a good story while pointing out some areas of my life that could do with shoring up. Anybody wanting proof of the medium’s potential could do worse than to start looking right here.

BUY STATUS: There’s nothing more to buy, sadly. Expect something on Comic Book Comics when the series starts next month.

OTHER BITS

A busy week means there’s not time to talk at length about brought home, so a quick roundup of what else came home:

Teen Titans #56 (McKeever, Barrows): And lo, McKeever has found his voice. Last issue’s calm gives way to the storm in a big way with a full issue of Kid Devil being generally crap in the best possible ways, Nice moments include what happens when you wake up Robin in the middle of the night, Blue Beetle’s laugh, and the sort of consequences you should expect for doing a chest bump. Oh, and our first introduction to the rest of the Terror Titans. Next issue: More hitting!

Captain America #35 (Brubaker, Guice): Bucky’s transformation into Cap continues nicely, as do the Red Skull’s plan. No sign of the firearm this issue, making its existence feel more and more like somebody’s tacked-on idea of cool than an actual evolution of the character. Which is fine. Much like Bendis’ Daredevil at its height, this book continues to show how well superhero comics can pull off serious stories: Captain America is an intense, engaging suspense story of the highest order where the main character happens to have a metal arm and another guy can sort of talk to birds.

JSA #13: I’ve really enjoyed this book since the One Year Later jump, and while I understand the Society’s mandate to find legacy costumes and train them up into proper heroes, things are getting just too crowded for the nice character moments that punctuated earlier issues to survive. That the characters themselves are now commenting on the lack of breathing room leads me to think this is going to change soon, but with so many pieces in need of placing the story is taking its sweet time getting there. I should really be reading this in trades, shouldn’t I? Nice little fight scene at the end, though.

New issues of Angel and Criminal had to stay at the shop due to lack of funds, but I’m definitely grabbing them next week. Same for PS238, the new issue of which I didn’t find till today after checking three different stores. I can’t find Atomic Robo for the life of me, leading me to suspect you people made it up just to drive me crazy. If you live in New York City and know where I can find a copy, please give a shout. Reading suggestions are always welcome in the comments or via email to chrislamb@gmail.com.

More Skrull Promo Stuff: Oh, Boy...

So if Cage is a Skrull, when do you think it happened?

Also, is this whole Skrull thing going to be like a "Sleeper Cell" scenario where even the Skrull agents don't know they are Skrulls until a certain time when they are "awakened?"

Geez, I'd really hate to see the Jessica/Luke thing turn out like that...I mean, Iron Fist has the more screwed up origin, I'd assume he'd be one first.

Fangirl Fridays: 1000 Posts! (And Counting)

It occurred to me the other day that this week I've surpassed 1000 posts on this blog. Not bad for a year and a few months.

Little did I know when I first stepped foot on DC Comics' blue-and-red carpet eight years ago what a vista of adventure and excitement awaited me in the world of mainstream comic books.

And when I look back on my life and career many years from now, I guess I'm really going to have to point to DC as the place that provided me with the clarity and direction to find my true calling in life. Thanks, guys. You are teh awesome. Feel free to drop review copies of CMX books in my mailbox for Manga Mondays anytime.

Well, to celebrate my 1,000th post -- and to help me go on vacation so I can focus on crucial Friends of Lulu biz -- all next week will be a retrospective on the highlights (and, maybe, a few lowlights) from OCCASIONAL SUPERHEROINE so far.

The way I would like to work it is to pick several of my posts on certain topics & provide links and perhaps some brief commentary. If you have any suggestions on topics, let me know.

Each day will have one retrospective post. Then regular blogging will resume March 10 (with perhaps a few posts the weekend before).

As always, thank you so much for the support and patronage. If this was a store, I would give you one of those vinyl wallets with my name on it, or perhaps even a small clock in a wooden box. Or a plate of cookies.

PS: My e-mail is still backed up, but I'm going to be working on it this coming week. So if I haven't written back, it's not that I'm ignoring you. It's because I'm a little bit of a goober. But don't worry, I've read one of those posts on "how to go through your inbox like an e-mail ninja."

Assorted Marvel News

First, the latest Marvel skrull promo to make its way into my inbox:
Perhaps to make up for the lack of Marvel info at WonderCon, Marvel conducted an impromptu press call yesterday to announce a bunch of news:

* The upcoming Cable series will be a "sci-fi spaghetti western" and definitely takes place in the current X-men continuity.
Cable really isn't the big mega-star he used to be, is he? I mean, I remember when he was like in the top 5 Marvel superheroes. Maybe that will change?

*Garth Ennis will be making his final Punisher arc, and Tim Bradstreet will depart with him.
Will certainly be the end of an era, but maybe it's time for new blood on the title, so to speak. Jason Aaron?

* The Hulk is definitely not coming back to The Incredible Herc book. Fate of puppy still up in air.
Good, I like that it's Herc's book. Killing the puppy is just mean tho.

* Fantastic Four with Bryan Hitch is penciled through #562, and will (gasp!) come out on schedule.
Must have had him working on this book way in advance. Which is how DC got Jim Lee's "Batman: Hush" out on time. Maybe there is a lesson in this for editors.

* Apparently the cover of Guardians Of The Galaxy #2 is so controversial it can only be spoke of in whispers.
Maybe it's a shot of Vance Astro with a really big package. Painted by Alex Ross.

* Matt Fraction's Invincible Iron Man will have "more variant covers than you can shake a stick at."
Oh boy I hope some have holograms.

* The next Dan Slott Spider-Man arc in May will have...

"..Something that all of the Spidey readers – the guys that love us right now, and the guys that hate us right now have been asking for.”

Return of MJ?

*Hulk #4 is apparently some really big patooties -- with the shocking reappearance of an old character and a supposedly awesome battle.
As long as Jeph Loeb stops doing those scenes where everything looks normal and then you turn the page and the Hulk jumps out of nowhere. That works on film, not so much in comics (especially if you have to turn the page).

And the latest rumor on teh internets is that Amadeus Cho is really Red Hulk -- what do you think? I thought it was Doc Samson.

Oh, and I saw those "Invaders" preview pages with Cap and the rest -- it's like the same creative team as Project Superpowers (crossover?). Nice stuff.

And I've been hearing some faint rumblings about events in Skrull Invasion...all I have to say is, if those rumors are true, "oh my God." And that's all I'm going to say. Wow. A lot of people will be writing in their blogs.

I'm done writing in this one -- for this post at least!

(Howard the Duck is really a Skrull -- that would explain how he looked in his last miniseries)

The Dave Sim Post I Never Wrote

I just read a stirring and heart-felt post by Heidi MacDonald on Dave Sim, and it occured to me that I never really touched upon his views on this forum.

I wrote a comment to Heidi's post, and I thought I would share it here. I hope it explains in full why I have never posted about Dave Sim.

To be honest, while I have heard of the controversy surrounding Sim, and I am familiar with Cerebus, I have not sat down and read either his philosophy on women or his work. I know, with the stuff I write about on my blog, it's a little shocking that I never touched on the topic before.

But I will say this:

There has been a great deal of coddling, protecting, and willful blind eyes turned away from rampant misogynists in sectors of this industry. It has disgusted me deeply.

If Gaiman is guilty for supporting Sim, there are a lot of people out there who are just as guilty.

Sim, by virtue of his apparent outspokenness, just seems to have the biggest spotlight shined on him. He's just not "cuddly" (sorry, Dave). He solidifies his views within quotable words, instead of committing a series of actions that friends can explain away and cover up.

But I would argue that it is exactly those men who actually act upon their misogynist thoughts, unconsciously, destructively, impacting other women's lives, impacting the lives of women within the comic book community -- those men who have long histories of such behavior, yet whose actions are only spoken of in whispers -- who are far more a danger to females than Sim's comments.

And until I see those persons brought into the spotlight and talked about and chastised for their actions, I just don't have the heart nor the energy to get too upset or even delve in the Sim situation. Not because what Heidi wrote about her concerns are not justified -- because they are! -- but because I, by virtue of my own experiences, have my attention directed elsewhere.

That said, I realize that Sim's Cerebus has come highly recommended, and plan to read them at some point. By necessity of being a blogger covering current comics culture, I have had to not only read but purchase with my own money books connected with people I despise. I am all "toughened up." I can handle Cerebus. My only question is, what collected volume shall I start with; would it make more sense to just start from the beginning, or is there a particularly good arc I should try first?

The Biggest Hottest Comic Stories for Week!

Once again, using my uncanny powers of buzz-assessing plus the use of the blog tool HitTail, here are the ten most-searched for topics on my blog (not counting Tiffany Fallon, who actually wins every single day):

10. Emo Viking: Brian Wood's tale of emo Vikings, Northlanders,
still seems to generate buzz.
Has anybody made a T-shirt for Cafepress with "Emo Viking" yet?

9. JMS: J M Straczynski's apparent DC Defection at Wondercon
last weekend makes him the #9 hottest story on our list.



8. "Edward Norton Hulk"Norton!

7. Bayou: No doubt thrust into the spotlight due to its Glyph Awards nominations,
Zuda's webcomic has made a strong showing in search topics.

6. "Destroyer Duck John Byrne": The significance of this phrase was only made clear to me with a little research...it apparently involves Steve Gerber's comic Destroyer Duck and a character called "Cogburn."

5. Stephanie Brown's Return: This has been a constant for many weeks now. And yet I keep thinking the "hints" in Robin are red herrings...(then again, apparently things like brain death means nothing in comics...was her body cremated, intact, or what? she might really be a zombie ninja.)

4. Wolverine Is A Skrull: The first released image in Marvel's "stealth" Skrull Invasion PR campaign has apparently captured the imagination of the public. Like Logan's bio needed to get any more convoluted.

3. Batman Final Crisis/Batman RIP: Does he die? Does he become a New God?
And what about those obscure 1950s stories with the oblong-headed aliens,
how does Grant work that into the continuity?

2. Jackpot: Does Marvel fully comprehend just how popular Jackpot/Sarah Ehret is?
Where is Jackpot's Marvel Legends figure?

1. Herb Trimpe: Honestly, the sheer volume of interest in this man,
his statements about the industry,
and his work completely took me by surprise.
He's obviously touched a nerve.

"Superhero Movie" Poster

Where do I begin?

Good to see Leslie Nielsen still kicking around, though.

Cap Is Back...And He's Pissed!

Uh-oh, somebody is going to get a beat-down...

Knew this was going to happen.

Edit: actually, I quite naively thought Steve Rogers was dead forever. no, not even that thing where they put his body back in ice convinced me otherwise<----true comic fan

Edward Norton Hulk-Out

From the upcoming comic book themed issue of Empire, found via The Beat

Here is what he turns into in the next scene:
The giveaway: you never see Ed and the Hulk in the same scene. Which means that the Hulk is just Ed's anti-establishment wish-fulfilling split personality.

The Top Ten Werewolf Movies

10. The Howling: This werewolf movie combines bloody lycanthropic goodness with a lampoon of the burgeoning "self-actualization" movement of the late 70s and early 80s. The transformation at the end looks more like a puppy than a werewolf, however.

9. Teen Wolf: This flick really ain't half-bad, and fits right in with other silly teen comedies of the era. I mean, Michael J. Fox's Wolf Man makeup is atrocious and looks like Jo-Jo The Dog Boy. But still...



8. Dog Soldiers: Stomach-churning (uh, literally) special effects and a unique twist on the werewolf design.

7. Curse of The Werewolf: This classic Hammer Studios film stars a young Oliver Reed tearing up the scenery and acting like a wild beast. And you should see how he acts after he transforms!




6. Cursed: An underrated Wes Craven film with a guest-appearance by Scott Baio as himself. What could be scarier than that?

5. Underworld: I'm not sure who Scott Speedman is, I just want him in more movies with his shirt off.

4. Werewolf Women Of The SS: Who can forget that classic grindhouse movie with Nicholas Cage as Fu Manchu? (NSFW)

3. An American Werewolf In London: This is like the TV show "Chuck" with lycanthropy, a living corpse, and a downer ending.

2. Ginger Snaps: One of the finest woman-centered horror movies, period. Also, a movie about periods




1. The Wolf Man: This 1940s movie still holds up today as one of the best werewolf movies ever made. Larry Talbot IS "Poor Bastard."

All of this, of course, is not a shameless promotion for the premiere werewolf entertainment in comics:

Who Is The Hottest In Comics This Week?

Who will be the most searched-for person or comic on my site this week?

Here are the current contenders:

Herb Trimpe


Jackpot

"Emo Viking"

Bayou

Late Breakfast

It's a busy day, so posting will resume later on today...

Occasional Previews: What I'm Buying This Week!

Follow along and make your own picks for the week!

Here is what I'm buying...

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #1 (OF 6)

CAPTAIN AMERICA #35

KICK ASS #1 (MR)

MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 #5 (OF 5)

Anything else you care to recommend?

Dark Phoenix Is A Skrull (here we go again)

But c'mon, did we ever really trust Dark Phoenix to begin with? The Skrulliness might be an improvement.

Marvel's Vertigo: A Look At Jason Aaron's GHOST RIDER & SCALPED

I consider Jason Aaron on GHOST RIDER to be very significant. GHOST RIDER #20 was the first Marvel comic I read in a long time that I could say felt truly like a Vertigo title. It took what was a quintessential Marvel character and successfully gave it a Vertigo sheen.

To be fair, this feat was pulled off with ample assistance by artist Roland Boschi, whose art style looks like the love-child of John Romita Jr. and Eduardo Risso, and the moody palette of Dan Brown.

I remember reading a Marvel MAX giveaway comic some months ago that provided previews of their upcoming publishing schedule. This included books like FOOLKILLER, PUNISHER, and DEAD OF NIGHT. It was clear to me then that there was some sort of concerted effort to give this line a more "Vertigo Classic" focus. While GHOST RIDER is not a MAX title, I would fit the effort within the same publishing plan.

Part of this Vertigoization is in the lack of tie-ins to the current continuity; no crossovers with Spider-Man, no Wolverine. GHOST RIDER #20, dealing with the ramifications of the character's discovery that he is an "angel," is very much in its own contained world. In such a world containing heavenly creatures that might very well be evil, killer nurses, and the usual sort of semi-zombie backwater folk that pounce on unwary tourists, the mention of "who's the Skrull?" would seem rather gauche.


Looking back to the first collected volume of Aaron's breakout hit SCALPED, we get a gritty crime drama which I would hate to peg as "The Sopranos On An Indian Reservation," but I think I'm going to have to. The gripping story revolves around three central characters: Prodigal son Dashiell Bad Horse, his activist mom Gina, and Tribal Leader/crime boss Lincoln Red Crow. The story is relentlessly violent and sordid, with just the right amount of poetic moments to let the narrative breathe.

A word about the oft-lamented "Vertigo Brown" color treatment that has afflicted many of their titles: it might look good on the computer screen or high-grade paper. But on the cheaper newsprinty paper used for the Vertigo trades, the color turns into muddy soup. Something to keep in mind.

As for writer Aaron's claim on a message board that he would refund anybody who bought the first SCALPED trade and didn't like it, I would have to say that the book is at least worth the $9.99 cover price. It is, as they say, Quality.

Looking at the big picture as it pertains to a possible Vertigoization of certain Marvel titles -- I am all for it. There is no reason why GHOST RIDER cannot be as good a book as PREACHER. There is no reason for titles like THE PUNISHER not to be in perpetual trade-paperback heaven, forever young in backlist. But this will mean, as in the case of actual classic Vertigo, a minimum of forced crossovers with Marvel U proper. Spider-Man's striped pajamas are an incongruent spectre in such a universe, except for the occasional Irony issue.

As for Jason Aaron's exclusive with Marvel -- how did DC let this one go? Did they even make an attempt to offer him a mainstream DCU title on GHOST RIDER's level? Or is it, as in the case of Dan Slott several years ago, DC not thinking outside the box enough to visualize what heights these unique voices might reach?

The Occasional Morning Show

picture from Global Graphica

Quick Bits:

Comics Worth Reading takes a look at the sales numbers for Archie Comics

Progressive Ruin has a review of the (apparently kinda violent) animated Turok DVD

Here is a strange post finding a metaphor for Scientology in the Green Lantern Corps (does he have a field day with L-Ron from Giffen's JLA? Oh yes he does).

Firefly's Nathan Fillion will voice Steve Trevor on the Wonder Woman animated film, so geek out.

Angry Zen Master wonders if the Oscars might be a little racist...

...at any rate, the awards show seems to have been a bit anti-Brad Renfro



A commenter yesterday reminded me of the phenomena in parts of the comic book industry and fandom of qualifying a female comic creator's success -- having the need to "explain" or attach an addendum to a woman's comics career, not letting them stand on their own merit.

During the course of my comics career, I've heard others "qualify" the accomplishments of many female comics professionals in one of three ways:

1. She slept her way to the top.

2. She got in through the business through a boyfriend or husband, not because she was talented.

3. She is a lesbian.

Let's take a look at each of these qualifiers briefly.

"She is a slut" is popularly bandied about even to this day, especially concerning women with high degrees of success. In the use of this qualifier, all the female's accomplishments mean nothing because of a supposed affair or series of affairs.

Sometimes a woman's success in the comics industry will be qualified with "well, she was just the wife or girlfriend of so-and-so," as if the person in question really didn't possess any talent and any achievements she made are really no more than "favors" the company paid to the boyfriend or husband in question.

When all else fails, the qualifier "oh, she's a lesbian" might be used. I used to hear this one about older women in the field a lot. While fine when the woman in question is actually a lesbian, there are a number of non-lesbian women this qualifier has been applied to. I suppose the motivation of this qualifier is two-fold: the speaker means some sort of derogatory connotation (a result of their own homophobia), and there is also the need to explain away the female's success as the result of something "different" about them.

All three qualifiers, ultimately, are meant to distract from the woman's actual work and have them judged by factors other than their comic creating/editing skills -- whether those factors are real or, more often, imagined.

Complicating matters are people in the industry who really do hold out to women as an opportunity for advancement a sexual option, and people in the industry who simply end up in romantic situations with their co-workers and hires as the result of a more-or-less innocent day-to-day familiarity (as opposed to an exploitative agenda).

At any rate, perhaps the sex lives of women in comics is none of our business, unless they themselves wish to make it so.



The third annual Glyph Comics Awards -- honoring the best in black comics and creators -- were announced over the weekend. Multiple nominations went to Fabian Nicieza for JSA CLASSIFIED #28, Jeremy Love for Zuda's BAYOU, MF Grimm for Vertigo's SENTENCES, Dwayne McDuffie for his run on FANTASTIC FOUR, and Kyle Baker for NAT TURNER: REVOLUTION and SPECIAL FORCES.

An interesting note in terms of the nominees for best character in both the male and female categories -- while Luke Cage and Amanda Waller received nods, DC's "Legacy" characters, with the exception of David Lapham & Eric Battle's The Spectre in Tales of The Unexpected, did not.

Perhaps, as in the case of Nicieza on the Jakeem Thunder story for JSA CLASSIFIED, it is all a matter of getting talented and sensitive writers who approach diversity in the comics they write as something organic to the story.


Why isn't Nicieza writing JSA??

Please Read: Cartoonist's Missing Mom, California Area

UPDATE: She's been found & she's OK! Thanks for reading.
******************************************

Hi all,

Comics creator Tavisha Simons' mother has gone missing in California and getting her photo and further information out to the public might help get her home.

Tavisha is the co-creator of "ShutterBox" for TokyoPop.

If you live in California -- or the West Coast, for that matter -- please read this post for a photo & more information. Thanks & please spread the word.

X-Files: The Only Reason I Wanted To Go To WonderCon

It never fails. Every time I see comic convention coverage, part of me feels wistful that I didn't attend. Though visions of the long schlep home usually convinces me different.

But WonderCon had this:

Weeeeeeeee!!!!!
X-Files!
Together again!
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Woo!
They still look so young! Or at least not so old as to make me feel absolutely ancient!

That said, I have my doubts that an X-Files movie will have what it takes to grab a mass movie audience at this point in time. Might have been better as a TV mini-series. But, I hope I'm wrong.

Lex Luthor As Freddy Krueger?

According to this source, Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum might be in talks with Michael Bay regarding the new Nightmare On Elm Street.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

That's honking BRILLIANT!

Oh please Cinema Gods, let this be so...

Hercules Is A Skrull??? (I Give Up)

I don't know if anybody is familiar with that old Abbott and Costello routine, "Who's On First," where Costello completely gives up at the end and throws his hat down.

On the other hand, Horn paints a rather fetching Hercules. As a Skrull.

Manga Mondays: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol. 6

I can honestly recommend Dark Horse's THE KUROSAGI CORPSE DELIVERY SERVICE to any mainstream comic book reader who knows nothing about manga. It's paced like a TV show (think "Psych" or "Pushing Daisies"), has separate "episodes" that have a beginning, middle, and end, and contain elements of comedy, mystery, and horror that have a universal appeal. And for $10.95 you get the equivalent of about 5 comic books with consistent art. Not bad.

Add to this Dark Horse's unique packaging design and 17 pages of notes illuminating the reader on aspects of Japanese culture and manga conventions contained in the material. These are handsome volumes that really stand out on the comic rack or manga shelf.

The plot of KUROSAGI revolves around a team of ne'er do wells with various skills (embalming, mediumship, puppetry) who make a living retrieving bodies in various states of decomposition and delivering them. In volume 6, the team faces off against the post office (who, falling on hard times, have also taken to corpse delivery) and gets another body psychoanalyzed. The last arc, taking place in the late 1800s/early 1900s, is a change of pace and concerns Jack the Ripper.

It is that final story in KUROSAGI, "The Kunio Matsuoka Demon Hunting Side Story," that was of particular interest to me, as I had just read it after Marvel's THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST: ORSON RANDALL AND THE GREEN MIST OF DEATH. The tone and narrative technique of both stories were quite similar...which made me think:

Oh, so there might be a touch of manga influence in some of the most popular Western mainstream comics today -- one not even about the art style, but about the storytelling itself! I'm sure it is old news to those reading who are familiar with both genres -- but as you know, I am only a beginner.

Poll: Which Version Of Aquaman Do You Like Best?

My latest poll touches upon that venerable, oft-relaunched, oft-canceled superhero of the seas, Aquaman. Feel free to give your opinion, then VOTE in the poll on the sidebar.

As DC mulls over how to relaunch Aquaman, I put the question to the fans:

Classic Aquaman?

Hook-Hand Aquaman?

Blue-Costume Aquaman?

Water-Hand Aquaman?

Younger Aquaman With Screwed-Up History I Don't Understand?

Smallville Aquaman?

Occasional Links: The Carbonite Affair Edition

Caption This

This image from NeedCoffee.com provides us with a number of topics from which to sprout out a variety of interesting punditry.

John Byrne opines on the raging "late artists" debate that many so-called professional comics today are "no more than fanzines":

"Do these guys have to break every five minutes so their nannies can massage their aching hands?"

You know, if this was a episode of "Gunsmoke," there would be a barroom brawl afterwards. Bryan Hitch would be throwing someone through a pre-broken bannister. It'd be awesome.



Marvel Editor Tom Breevort puts the question to the fans:

"So what could we be doing better? What frustrates you about Marvel Comics right now?"

My favorite of the responses:

"Better give Penance his own ongoing series after issue 5. Hugely under developed character as Speedball. Make up for it with his new persona. Lets face it... not many people can hand Wolvie his own a** and simply walk away."

Or handing Doctor Doom his own a**.

At any rate, Breevort is using on his blog (consciously or unconsciously) the recommended PR technique called Proactive Transparency (trademark 2007 Valerie D'Orazio), in which you ask for and address any gripes from the public right off the bat rather than pretending everything is always fine and the fans are just stupid. By using Proactive Transparency you ultimately get to control the flow of your PR before other pundits get their grubby hands on it, and promote good will by demonstrating that you are 1) Reasonable, 2) Personable, 3) A Regular Person Just Like Them, and 4) Caring Of What The Others (who purchase your products) Think.

Kudos to Mr. Breevort.




Things To Use Your Han Solo In Carbonite For

Chocolate Bar

A fit desk for a coporate despot

Mini-Fridge

Epiphany


Hey, call me crazy, but...

I know the "Slave Leia" has been the butt (pun) of constant criticism for its depiction of a strong female character in what is essentially a bondage outfit. But the Han Solo in Carbonite image has been used almost as much as Slave Leia in popular culture...and is essentially the image of a male in a bondage-type situation with a pained expression on his face. As such, are both examples simply evidence of George Lucas's love of the heroes-in-perilous-situations gimmick from the movie serials and comics of his youth, regardless of gender?

(ducks)


VIDEO: Three-Year-Old Girl Explains The Plot To Star Wars: Episode IV

Wither Goest Batwoman?

It's been confirmed again by DC that there is no Batwoman series or mini-series in the near future.

Just what is so damned difficult in getting this series off the ground, other than the fact it stars a gay member of the Batman franchise?

If her sexuality wasn't an issue, and DC really wanted to make a series starring her, they would have done it already. I mean, they're doing a new Ambush Bug series -- and Ambush Bug was rumored to be a character they would NEVER use again, due to Keith Giffen's constant pokes at Time Warner's expense during the original run.

Of course, there might be other (sometimes related) complicating factors:

* The Dark Knight movie coming out this year, and fears of "confusing the brand."

* The new push DC is making with the Batgirl character (finally wising up to the fact that the classic Batgirl is a licensing goldmine and it might do well to reintegrate her into the DCU).

* Greg Rucka's departure.

In all of this, I have to ponder what became of the Batwoman mini-series Devin Grayson was supposed to do, and how long-time DC writer Grayson was allegedly treated:

“I won't pretend not to be resentful of how badly DC treated me in that exchange, but the majority of my concern and sympathy goes out to the character, who was basically thrown away by a company which had a lot of support to make her successful and unique. My experiences up to that point had been much more positive, although admittedly less ambitious, and it was really sad and discouraging to see the ball so badly dropped.”

I find the fact that there is still no Batwoman series in the works incredibly disappointing, though hardly surprising.

I guess maybe there is just no place in the heart of the mass-market for entertainment starring a self-confident out lesbian:

Winick: "Brain Dead In Comics Means Nothing"

At WonderCon yesterday Judd Winick made the following telling comments:

Concerning the infamous honeymoon of Black Canary and Green Arrow:

"It was so over the top we thought it was obvious....we brought him back right away."

On the fate of Connor:

"He's not dead, dead - he's just brain dead - in comics, that's nothing."

On Jason Todd's return:

"I'm the schmuck that brought back Jason Todd - he can always come back."

This is all exactly what is wrong with comics today. "It means nothing, it's just comics mumbo-jumbo."

Hey, even if you plan on bringing the character back later -- which, in my opinion, will almost certainly be the case in some of Marvel's changes as of late -- don't totally bust down the wall of illusion and just admit it, admitting that any plot twist you create doesn't mean anything.

It's like you don't care. "It's just comics mumbo-jumbo, this sort of thing happens all the time."

Especially with characters like Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Connor, who have been pre-established with some degree of depth.

JMS @ DC: I Predicted It!

As I predicted in an earlier post, it looks like indeed J. Michael Straczynski has DC Comics in his future. From my original post on 2/8/08:

If I was sitting in the DC executive seat (sometime around when pigs fly and that The Dark Knight Heath Ledger talking doll with a pull-string comes out), I'd probably look to get Brian Michael Bendis & JM Straczynski . I have no inside information on that, I'm just trending this out.

From Newsarama's WonderCon coverage today:

"DiDio then announced a special panelist - J. Michael Straczynski. DiDio said that Straczynski will be working with DC Comics in the very near future.

DiDio welcomed JMS to the panel, and said that it was exciting for him personally to bring him to DC, as he's a huge Babylon 5 fan.

JMS said that he has always been a massive DC fan, and has more Curt Swan original artwork than he can describe. "The chance to work in the new universe is a great opportunity," JMS said.

He added that he's looking at projects for later this year and the first part of next year, to which DiDio added that he has an open door and is more than welcome to work on anything he'd like."

Usually, I get paid a consultancy fee. But that's ok.

Comics Are Expensive: Umbrella Academy #6, Immortal Iron Fist, Crossing Midnight Vol. 2

A rather light week at the comic shop this week, with only a handful of things I really had to have. The $25 price tag on the first volume of Sinestro Corps proved to be something of a mixed blessing – while pushing the hardcover out of my budget, it left enough room for volume two of Crossing Midnight. The first TPB of The Atheist and issue #4 of Angel, both supposed to ship this week, were no where to be found, but hopefully they’ll turn up soon before some other shiny thing grabs my attention and my wallet.

Spoilers ahead, as always.

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY #6

Writer: Gerard Way
Artist: Gabriel Ba

And so Gerard Way, lead singer of emotatastic Band-That-Hot-Topic-Built My Chemical Romance brings his first foray into comics to a close. Only it’s not his first brush with the medium, technically – the story goes that Way was an intern at DC years ago, and even then was chomping at the bit to create comics of his own. When nothing came of it, he fell back on that most tried and true of Plan B’s: International rock superstar. Good to see the kid catch a break at last, eh?

I enjoyed the hell out of Umbrella Academy for several reasons, only a few of them stemming from the Hey, this guy can actually write surprise of the first issue. Gabriel Ba’s distinctive artwork certainly had something to do with the initial attraction – after the fantastic job he did with Matt Fraction on the first arc of Casanova, it was clear that, for the first time in pretty much ever, I’d be following an artist around the industry, picking up anything he cared to work on.

Ba’s work here has more than made the trip worthwhile, creating an interesting, solid world for the team and their adventures to rampage through in just six short issues. Sure, it’s not the sort of place you’d want to live, filled as it is with alien squid things with a love of wrestling, sleeping doomsday devices waiting for the perfect Spring day, and masked orchestras playing their way to the end of everything, but it’s a world nonetheless, and one that delights in vivid colors, mad architecture, and countless opportunities for Ba to show of. I hope he’s along for future installments, because it’s hard to imagine anybody else capturing the heroic profile of Spaceboy’s ape body in quite the same glory.

On to the story itself, this issue isn’t quite as neat as the five before it – there’s a lot to resolve, after all, between the end of the world, chunks of the moon falling to Earth, and a whole mess of daddy issues, and one suspects that a truly satisfying ending might require just one more issue to wrap things up properly. That said, it’s still a lot of fun, with almost everybody getting what they deserve, and there are far worse things than having to read a good comic twice to make sure I caught everything.

Way’s been very up front in interviews about his love of Grant Morrison, and while the influence of comic’s own pop magician is felt throughout, it’s just that – influence. Umbrella Academy avoids the lazy trap of trying to lift Morrison’s shtick wholesale that has claimed so many would-be talents, instead showing a real understanding of the blend of great character moments and cool, understated responses to absurdity that made books like Doom Patrol work so well in the first place. It’s a fantastic first effort, and proves there’s much more to this Gerard Way guy than his day job of making awesome music videos.

BUY STATUS: The letter page promises more to come, which will hopefully happen sooner rather than later. Expect a trade in a few months to fill in any nasty deficits in awesome your bookshelves may be suffering from.

THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST:
ORSON RANDALL AND THE GREEN MIST OF DEATH #1

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artists: Nick Dragotta, Mike Allred, Mitch Breitweiser,
Chris Brunner, Lewis Larosa, and Russ Heath

One of the best bits of Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction taking over Iron Fist was the introduction of Orson Randall, rogue Iron Fist of the Golden Age who knew more about the power that came with the name than Danny Rand could hope to imagine. While he’s been dead for several issues now, the repercussions of his return are still being felt, the most important of which being the year’s in the making revolution that seems ready to consume the mystic city of K’un-Lun. This one-shot serves double duty in the slow build up to war, filling an empty month in Iron Fist’s publishing schedule while providing a bit of back story for both Orson and a character bound to become more important in the near future: John Aman, The Prince of Orphans.

And what do you know: it’s pretty great. With a different art team handling each chapter, this issue takes place over several decades, dipping into some of Randall’s adventures with his friends the Confederates of the Curious and their constant race to stay one step ahead of The Prince. The result is an interesting twist on your typical Golden Age story – against this backdrop of a world where Cowgirls from Hell and Kid Frankensteins are the norm, there’s a real sense of innocence lost that follows the characters from one end of the book to the other.

As Randall flees his responsibilities as an Immortal Weapon and the death sentence on his head, the Prince nipping at his heels is a constant reminder that he can’t run forever, that sooner or later he’ll have to face the reality chasing after him. The question is, is it better to choose how and when to face the inevitable, or to keep running? And what will that choice say about the man called Iron Fist?

While not the best jumping on point for the on-going story playing out in the monthly title, this one-off shows a lot of potential for pulling in new readers just by virtue of being a fun, action-filled story with a brain. What it lacks in the slow boil plotting of the regular series it more than makes up for in capturing the character beats that work so well there. It’s a small sample of the sort of man Orson Randall was; maybe not showing him at his most ass-kicking, but perhaps showing him at his most human. While I’m looking forward to getting back to the “Seven Capital Cities of Heaven” storyline next month, it was great to spend a little more time with the previous Iron Fist and the sort of people he called friends. Hopefully, this isn’t the last we’ll see of him.

BUY STATUS: I’d happily buy more of the adventures of Orson Randall, but it doesn’t look like there’s going to be any for a while. Iron Fist has inexplicably become my favorite Marvel comic since the start of the new series, however, so I doubt I’ll have to look far for consolation.

CROSSING MIDNIGHT VOL. 2: A MAP OF MIDNIGHT

Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Jim Fern

Crossing Midnight is a lot of things. It’s a story about a twin brother and sister, one born just before midnight and the other just after, when there was only ever supposed to be one of them. It’s a fairy tale about the Japanese Kami, spirits of the Shinto faith living in the objects around us, and the sort of trouble you can cause by asking them for a simple favor. And, of course, it’s about growing up, and the horrible responsibilities we have to take on as we move from one world to the next.

More than anything else, though, Crossing Midnight is further proof that Mike Carey is at his best when working on his own creations rather than being the best Neil Gaiman cover band in the world. In the tradition of My Faith in Frankie and his work for DC’s Minx line, he creates complex and intriguing characters with intriguing ease, assembling a cast as adept at moving the story forward into more and more interesting territory as they are at providing tastes of the larger, older tale happening around it.

Within the six issues here, we get the story of Yamada, former servant of the true Lord of Knives turned police detectives with one of the more imaginative curses I’ve seen in a while, Uso-Tsuki the Liar, a pair of extremely resourceful scissors who is never quite what it seems, and Mimi-Sama, retired porn star with a heart of gold and a demon in her belly. All this is before you even meet the Gleamer, a truly monstrous creature that I can’t imagine we’ve seen the last of. If all volume two of this series did was throw characters at you, it’d be more than worth your $14.99 without the first hint of story.

Luckily, however, there’s lot of that to go around as well. While technically divided into chapters, the story here and its many plot lines are far denser than most Vertigo titles, giving each beat all the room it needs to hit just right and not leaving a lot of space for playing catch up or convenient points of entry. To truly appreciate the slow and steady escalation Carey and artist Jim Fern are creating here (and in a lot of ways, to just understand what the hell is going on), you really need to pick up “Cut Here”, the first trade available at finer comic shops for a mere $9.99.

Without the full story, it’ hard to properly appreciate the constant creep of the strange into the lives of siblings Toshi and Kai, and more importantly the way it tends to explode in sudden, violent outbursts of horror like a pipe bursting. Caught between the twin forces of the adult world and the mythical one crashing in on them, it’s hard to imagine a happy ending for our heroes. But then, as Crossing Midnight is one of the few books out there that manages to genuinely surprise with each issue, it’s impossible to say how it’s all going to come down.

Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t have to wait long to find out. The solicits out this week have the final issue arriving in May, making Crossing Midnight the most recent book to fall victim to the week monthly sales (despite trade sales being reportedly strong) plaguing DC’s more adult line. To be a Vertigo book is to stand on shaky ground these days – the line seems to have lost its sense of direction, and while it casts about for a new one few of its newer books have the assurance of safety that comes with a Y the Last Man or Fables. It’s a shame, and a real loss for Vertigo.

With any luck, Carey and Fern will have received enough of a head’s up to bring the series to a suitable end point, leaving fans wanting more but begrudgingly satisfied with what they got. I swear, if Crossing Midnight becomes another of comics’ great, unfinished works, I’m throwing some sort of fit for at least a week. Stomping my feet and holding my breath till I turn blue TBD...

BUY STATUS: Getting the next trade, certainly, and buying up copies of the first one as presents for all manner of people. One less reason to pay attention to Vertigo, then.

And that’s that. I’m feeling the need to shake things up a little – my reading needs a bit of new blood, so to speak, and I’m considering an approach that at best will introduce me to some fun new stuff and, at worst, provide a bit of bile to balance out the love-in of these first three columns. More on that later, probably, and in the meantime feel free to leave suggestions in the comments or email them to chrislamb@gmail.com.

Chris Lamb is a registered Expertologist.

Marvel Promo Art : Hawkeye Is A Skrull???

Okay, this is starting to be funny now.

Hawkeye as a Skrull I could believe, actually. I think anybody with a messed-up history from the last 5 years is a Skrull. How 'bout that?

Man, Watch It Snow...

I don't know where you're at but here it is snowing like crazy. But I still went to work because I am awesome (and poor).

Gonna take a snowblower to get me home, tho.

Occasional Links: The Pepsiwoman Edition

Hulk Smash Stupid List

SF Gate provides its list of the top eight comics to read before you die. World War Hulk not on list, list rendered immediately void.

"List hate Hulk...so Hulk hate list as well!"



Dave Grohl Hates The X-Men


Or, rather, the Foo Fighters are suing Marvel over the use of their songs on that X-Men animated trailer that was hitting the Internet (and since has been pulled from YouTube). (Via Blog @ Newsarama)



Microsoft Creates Line Of Lego-Sized Fun Superheroes Designed To Put A Human Face On A Corporate Giant.
Awwww...it puts a smile to my face already!



Top Ten Lamest Superheroes of All Time


I can understand the inclusion of Arm Fall Off Boy in this list, but I have to take issue with the inclusion of Cypher from the New Mutants. Yeah he was a "little guy with no powers who was useless in battle." But he was really cute.


The Brothers Karamazov, Moby Dick, Infinite Crisis


Shawn O'Rourke at PopMatters painstakingly analyzes Infinite Crisis and Civil War and their "preludes, spin-offs, crossovers, and other extra works included in these massive storylines," and comes to this conclusion:

"The very nature of postmodern deconstruction, especially in literary theory, stems from the challenge of traditional methods and characteristics and their subsequent reinvention. DC and Marvel do this by challenging the very definition of their primary contribution to comics: the superhero. Where the superheroes of the Golden and Silver Age were moral icons whose existence was symbolic of higher principles beyond that of the average flawed human, the new breed of hero is subject to the same doubts, fears, and moralistic ambiguities that the average person is forced to confront."

You know who else did this in his comics?


(link found via Journalista)

VIDEO: Japanese TV Ad, "Pepsiwoman"

Arg.

U2's Joshua Tree Falls Down

The tree made famous on the sleeve of U2's hit 1987 album The Joshua Tree has indeed fallen down.

Between this and that recent Simpsons retcon episode that took place in the early 1990s, I'm beginning to feel old.

Also, the whole impending birthday thing is not helping.

(Tina Fey is 37...37, yes this is good...)

Marvel Promo Art: Wolverine Is A Skrull???

C'mon, ya gotta love this.

Tho really, after all this Skrull promo art, some of these characters really ought to turn out to be Skrulls.

The Big Ten

I decided to try, just as an experiment, a more scientific approach to the Hot List/Big Ten this week.

I'm employing a keyword search tool called "HitTail" to help point out to me what people are actually searching for the most on my site.

So here are what people are actually searching for...the "buzz"...

10. Herb Trimpe: His comments at that Boston convention last week still has people talking.

9. Project Superpowers: Interest seems steady on this Alex Ross project.

8. Ultimate Nick Fury Action Figure: and why wouldn't people search for this, the figure, recently unveiled in Toy Fair, is awesome

7. Renee Montoya: Who knew?

6. Gambit in Wolverine Movie: I'm sure the news that Ryan Reynolds is going to play Deadpool in this film will overtake this.


5. Spoilers Spoiler Returns/Stephanie Brown Returns: This one has been popular for a few weeks now.

4. Red Hulk: Made more popular by the recent USA Today article, I'm sure.

3. Batman R.I.P.: This has been holding steady for the last several weeks, actually.



2. Spiderman Jackpot/Mary Jane Jackpot/Jackpot's Butt: Call it the lasting allure of Mary Jane.

1. Sara Ehret: Yes, the enigmatic name of the Spider-Man character Jackpot is the #1 most searched-for term on my site this week.

Marvel's Big Announcement On Their Summer Event

I've just been informed that Marvel said, via Twitter, that they are planning to make a big honking awesome announcement today. About their big honking awesome Summer event.

Stay tuned...

Hannah Montana Is A Superhero and Betty Is A NASCAR Champ

As I was helping put together a panel on Girls & Comics for the New York Comic Con on behalf of Friends of Lulu, I began to think about girls and popular culture. The old refrain about girls and comics is, "girls aren't interested in adventure stories," or "girls aren't into superheroes."

Leaving the manga question completely out of the equation, and focusing on entertainment directed at girls aged, 6-12, I still don't buy that argument.


Take, for example, the case of Hannah Montana, arguably the biggest character for girls at the moment.

Ordinary Miley Cyrus puts on a wig and costume and transforms into...Hannah Montana, idol of millions! But, she has to be careful not to let anybody discover her secret!

To me, this is the classic superhero formula.


We can skew even younger and examine the Dora the Explorer phenomenon. That whole franchise is based off a little girl who is an Explorer -- a pint-sized Indiana Jones. To me, that is as action-adventure as you can get (for preschoolers). And Dora is another certified phenomenon, selling millions of dollars of DVDs and toys every year.


Now let's look at the popular American Girl line of dolls. Every character in that line has a rich historical backstory built into her. Here's Kitt Kittridge's story:

"As a girl growing up during the Great Depression, Kit sees her dad lose his business overnight. In hopes of saving her family’s home, she pitches in with the endless list of chores. During these hard times, Kit turns to writing as an escape. Can she write a happy ending for her family?"

Kitt doesn't surround herself with fashions and fairies. She's a writer. Admittedly, writing is not the same as swinging around on a vine. But, she is a role-model for girls who is a writer, something serious and intelligent.

Lastly, take the whole phenomenon of girls and their love of horses and ponies. Horseback riding lessons are among the most popular activities for girls. That seems to be an action-oriented activity. Nothing stereotypically "girly" about it.

Archie & Friends #116 features a story about Betty as a race car driver. In the tale, Old Man Lodge tells Betty she can't participate in the race because "she might get hurt" -- the inference being, that she is delicate because she's female. It takes a star race car driver (seemingly styled after race champ Danica Patrick) to convince Lodge otherwise. Then the comic follows a heated car race for several pages, Betty emerging victorious.

Kudos to Archie Comics for writing a story like that. I think part of the Betty racing story stems from the publisher being aware of what is going on in girls' entertainment in other media.

(But don't go to the Barbie website. Yuck. It's like My Little Pony threw up. What happened, Mattel???)

Occasional Thoughts

Thoughts. I do have them.


So Incredible Herc beats Grant Morrison's Batman in January sales?

How does that happen?

Shouldn't Batman written by Grant Morrison be at least in the top ten?

I mean...this is a book starring Hercules. Hercules not written by Grant Morrison.

Can a total investment in Morrison for Final Crisis pay off? Will it be the instant blockbuster a comic with the name "Grant Morrison" had been in the past?



So JMS is no longer exclusive with Marvel.

"There's also something to be said for cross-pollination, for embracing a variety of universes and creative opportunities."
--JMS

Huh.

How long until we see him at DC?

Better damn well finish The Twelve, first. Thor is ok, but maybe Marvel can get Brian Wood to write it.



So, first Ms. Marvel's Aaron Lopresti defects to Wonder Woman, and now Wonder Woman's Terry Dodson is doing an interconnecting Ms. Marvel/Captain Marvel cover?

Do the publishers plan this out beforehand?

"I'll see your Lopresti for a Dodson!"


Why shouldn't Brian Wood write Batman? Jason Aaron is writing Ghost Rider.

I argue that Brian Wood's Batman would generate more excitement than Grant Morrison's Batman.



Yes, DC, we get it -- Teen Titans is a brand you want to "push," your X-Men.

Teen Titans, Titans, Titans Year One, Tiny Titans, Amateur Titans Go Wild, Retired Titans Adventures...

So The Perry Bible Fellowship's Nicholas Gurwitch is "retiring" from his popular webcomic.

He should write Batman.

Or at least Retired Titans Adventures.

Quickie Reviews: Goon #21, X-Force #1, Salvation Run #4, Dead of Night #1, Fantastic Four #554

The Goon #21: This issue is a change of pace, possessing a more somber, apocalyptic tone to it than the book usually has (the quiet, moody cover perhaps a tip-off). That does not mean there are is not sheep-shaving, however. Oh yes -- there is sheep-shaving.
Rating: A
Buy another issue? Yes



X-Force #1: An unusually gory affair that places Logan in the role of whiny tight-assed party-pooper. When Scott Summers is more adventurous than you, you're in trouble. A serviceable story brought to life by the unique and surrealistically realistic art of Clayton Crain.
Rating: B
Buy another issue? I'll try the arc.



Salvation Run #4: The book is starting to miss Bill Willingham, this issue's biggest selling point being a long-drawn out fight between Monsieur Mallah & Gorilla Grodd. Intelligent gorillas beating each other senseless sells. And how did Joker kick Grodd off the cliff?
Rating: B
Buy another issue? Well, I've got this far haven't I?



Dead of Night #1: This Marvel Max horror series is framed like Tales of The Crypt but has more in common with Warren's old Creepy series. Kano's art is amazing and gives the book a far more "indy" feel.
Rating: A-
Buy another issue? Yes



Fantastic Four #554: I wasn't going to buy this but was swayed by Comics Are Expensive's review. Bryan Hitch presents a cinematic tableau that just draws me in and surrounds me. Mark Millar's Fantastic Four seems to combine the best qualities of Lee/Kirby, the movie version, and Millar's own style.
Rating: A
Buy another issue? Part of me wants to just wait for the hardcover.

What if The Fantastic Four Movie Was Made in the 1960s?

There are moments in the day where a surreal e-mail like this is a welcome break from the world...

OS reader David Miller suggests the following cast for The Fantastic Four if it was made in the mid-1960s..

Russell Johnson as Reed Richards

Ernest Borgnine as Thing

Donnna Douglas (from the Beverly Hillbillies) as Sue Storm

Michael Landon as Johnny Storm

Ted Cassidy as Galactus

I would pay so much money to see this movie, it is not even funny. Just to see Lurch in the tall purple hat.

The Twelve #2: Great Great Cover

The 2nd Printing variant cover for The Twelve #2 features this great full-page illustration Chris Weston did for the interiors. It was such a knock-out piece of art and I'm glad Marvel is using it.

(Though in general, the practice of using interior art for alternate/new printing covers is hit or miss for me, it really depends if the piece warrants it).

Occasional Previews: What I'm Buying This Week!

Remember, kids, you can make your own picks using this handy-dandy Diamond Comics list!

ROBIN #171

AVENGERS CLASSIC #9

HULK #2

IMMORTAL IRON FIST:
ORSON RANDALL GREEN MIST DEATH

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #114

Occasional Links: The Hank Pym, Superstar Edition

Despite Fan B**tching, Spider-Man's Brand New Day Top Of Sales


Amazing Spider-Man #546 made the top of Diamond's sales charts for January, followed close by Hulk #1. Marvel took 9 of the top ten slots; Dynamite Entertainment's Project Superpowers #0 made an impressive showing in fourth place.

The DC titles that managed to crack the top 20 were Justice League of America #17, Batman #673, and Countdown #16.

And Dan Slott had three books in the top ten, and four in the top 30. Go, Slott!



GI Joe's Red, White, and Blue Is Gone?



The MTV Movie blog has what might be the first picture of the new GI Joe logo -- and its patriotic red, white, and blue have been replaced by silver and black.

I understand the need by Hasbro to extend the popularity of GI Joe beyond the USA. But...

Maybe I'm just nostalgic. Was watching the old cartoons the other day.


The Joker Returns

The New York Post ran an article called "Cruel Joker" about the decision to release action figures and other Dark Knight merchandise despite actor Heath Ledger's death:

"Heath Ledger lives on - as an evil 6-inch figurine."

I love how the Post just reduces things...

Anyway, here is the Joker action figure...what do you think?




"Shaun of the Dead" director to helm Ant-Man?


Could Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright be up for directing the Ant-Man movie?

Wright told Empire Magazine:

"I finished the script and I'm having a meeting about it next week, but it depends which comes first in the queue basically. I've been working on two at once, and I'm also about to start developing two more scripts, one of which is with Simon (Pegg). It could be Scott Pilgrim [Scott Prilgrim’s Precious Little Life] is next or it could be Ant Man, we shall see."

In other news, there's going to be a Scott Pilgrim movie...


Video: William M. Gaines Interview from late 1980s


Some interesting stuff to point out in this interview:

* Gaines says in the interview that he has no plans to ever accept advertising in Mad, because of the conflict of interest. Of course, that has now changed post-Gaines.

* Gaines also says he would never license Mad out for other products:

"I just think that sucking every last buck out of a product with merchandising is not neccesarily the way to go and Mad doesn't do it."


As we can see by the current DC Direct Alfred E. Neuman and Spy Vs. Spy toys, this is another big change from the Mad Magazine of yesteryear. However, to be fair, I did remember playing with a Mad Magazine board game as a youngster (it kicked ass).

* Gaines refused to do market research, because he was afraid that if they knew the exact demographics, they would sub-consciously start writing to target that demographic.

* Gaines (and company) on the sale of Mad to Time Warner:

Gaines: "I didn't sell Mad to Warners, I sold it to somebody who sold it to Warners..."

Staffer: "Like the Contras deal..."

* Gaines was required by Warners to have a yearly physical; he regularly sent another staffer to take his place.

Puzzling DC Rumors...

I'm trying to stay positive about Final Crisis, but two items in the most recent Lying In The Gutters have me concerned.

The first:

"Sources close to freelancers inform me that DC Comics has a new in house policy for pencillers. Aside from very specific contracted creators (such as Jim Lee), any penciller contracted to work on a monthly book must deliver complete turnaround of 22 pages of work in four weeks. Not a month, four weeks. If that schedule isn't maintained, they'll pull pages and assign them to other creators. And you may run short of future work. A reduction in quality is more acceptable than a reduction in quantity."

Looking at the DC creative teams listed in the latest Previews, and noting how many books have fill-in artists or books with the art chores broken up, I can believe this.

But I think it's a mistake. We saw how well this method worked for Countdown.

Nothing will kill a book like sloppy, rushed art or breaking up the art chores among several different artists.

The other side of the coin is, do you want a book that is late?

A little behind-the-scenes information as to what is at play when a comic book is running late.

My last two assignments at DC were the titles Arkham Asylum: Living Hell and Human Defense Corps. I was virtually editing them myself, and I did not want them to be late.

Management gave Arkham the priority. In contrast, my instructions for Human Defense Corps were, "I don't care what you have to do, just get it in. Fire people, replace people, anything, the book isn't worth it, just get it out the door.

Every issue of both titles came in on time, but Arkham took extreme care and work. Despite of the priority put on Arkham, I was encouraged several times to cut corners, split art to make deadline, to bring out the thumbscrews, everything. In the end, the only compromise I had to make was to shift inking duties from the artist (who was doing it all himself) to another person. But, even here, I had to make a search for an inker who had an appropriate art style and who both the artist and writer were cool about. The creative talent were very concerned about the artistic integrity of the book, and I had to take that into consideration.

If I had the current alleged DC policy in place, and just arbitrarily swapped out the artist or split art chores, several things would have happened:
1) The writer would have quit.
2) The book would have looked like shit.

In the case of Human Defense Corps, which they wanted to cut down from six issues to five (though thankfully that didn't happen), I had to let go of an inker and break up art chores on the last issue (which I "wrote" into the story as a framing sequence, so it didn't look too bad).

The experience I've had with comic book artists is that, while some can hit the monthly deadline, a good number of them can't, or will start off hitting the deadline and fall off. I think a four weeks or you're out policy will greatly reduce quality.

But, if you are running an editorial department like a "studio" to pump out material, then this strategy would be necessary.

This brings me to the second item in the LITG column:

A retailer who attended the RRP DC/retailer conference last week said,

"From a comics retailer perspective, however, there are some changes coming down the road that may not bode well. It will all depend on how the implementation of these new factors are handled by DC and Time Warner. Simply put, DC management I trust, greater Time Warner, I do not."

What could such a statement be referring to?

Is it referring to the way books will be ordered?

Or will something like mass-reboots of titles happen?

Mass reboots of titles -- starting it all from scratch -- would worry retailers. It might alienate fans. It might make the current books that the retailers ordered already "lame ducks."

But really, this is just speculation.

It's just that I had a sense that things were settling at DC, that they were entering a new phase. And think that they are still entering that new phase. But I have to wonder, at least for their superhero titles, if things are becoming more like an assembly-line to put out Product (with a capital P) out the door. There is nothing wrong with this, in theory -- if you're a business, you put out product. But, the creative side of things is going to suffer.

If there is any information to counter these rumors, I'm open to hearing them.

Monsieur Mallah (and Brain): Goodbye, Funny Man

He made us laugh. He made us cry. He brought us together as a nation, won us over with his amiable ways and extreme good manners, and made us root for the demise of that annoying Doom Patrol.

But it was the very special relationship Monsieur Mallah had with Brain, a brain in a jar, that really touched our heart. They said it could never work, this relationship between simian and organ floating in a glass case. And yet it did. That was Mallah's gift.

How do I feel about the death of Monsieur Mallah at the hands of Gorilla Grodd in Salvation Run #4? A bunch of emotions. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel just a little bit betrayed. But comics are simply a mirror into the real world, a world where talking gorillas wear berets and get beaten to death by other talking gorillas on strange hostile planets filled with forcibly exiled supervillains.

I'll get over it. Eventually.

Manga Mondays: Goofyfoot Gurl and Christian Manga

"I write clean but not stupid"
-- Goofyfoot Gurl's Allison Barrows

I thought for this installment of Manga Mondays I'd put the spotlight on one of the more unique forms of manga that is out there: Christian Manga

GOOFYFOOT GURL
Vols 1-4
Realbuzz Studios/Thomas Nelson

Realbuzz Studios calls itself "The World's Premier Inspirational Manga" publisher, and their manga is distributed by Thomas Nelson, one of the biggest names in Christian books. Despite its connection with Nelson, Realbuzz's GOOFYFOOT GURL is pretty light in preaching, choosing to focus more on relationships. And just so it's really clear right off the bat that GOOFYFOOT GURL is not exclusively for Christian audiences, it is established at the beginning of the first volume that the Gidget-like main character, Suki, speaks Yiddish.


That said, GOOFYFOOT is a surfing soap-opera like The OC but with a 7th Heaven vibe. There's no sex, but a bunch of surprisingly nuanced and mature relationship issues and generalized teen angst. The storylines interconnect really well and the diverse cast of characters, as written by Allison Barrows (famous for her PreTeena comic strip), act believably. As Barrows commented regarding GOOFYFOOT GURL on a cartoonists' forum, "I write clean but not stupid."

The true showstopper of the book, however, is the stunning art by Tony Weinstock. Weinstock totally nails the manga "feel" while at the same time giving it an unique, painterly quality. Think manga rendered in pastels. And I guess my fear is that readers, put off by their preconceptions of what Christian manga might be, won't give this book a chance and see what tremendously beautiful and innovative work Weinstock has done here.

GOOFYFOOT GURL is a great read for a teenage girl, with all the appropriate elements of fun and melodrama. For both young and older readers, however, I think the luminescent art is a feast for the eyes and expands the boundaries of what manga can do.

FANTASTIC COMICS #24: The GRINDHOUSE of Comics

The first 3 pages of Fantastic Comics #24 alone should give the book an Eisner nomination. Part of Image Comics' The Next Issue Project, Fantastic Comics presents the "next" adventures of a handful of public domain superheroes of yesteryear. However, unlike Dynamite Entertainment's Project Superpowers, which utilizes several of the same characters, The Next Issue Project doesn't play it straight, opting instead for an approach very reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino's "Grindhouse."

A different creative team takes a crack at each story in Fantastic Comics #24, aping the format of an actual Golden Age comic. Standouts this issue include:

* Erik Larsen's SAMSON
* Joe Casey & Bill Sienkiewicz's FLIP FALCON
* Tom Scioli's SPACE SMITH
* Fred Hembeck's PROFESSOR FIEND
* Joe Keatinge & Mike Allred's STARDUST THE SUPER WIZARD


The last story, based on Fletcher Hanks's classic underappreciated Golden Age superhero Stardust, is especially beautiful and haunting.

At the ridiculously low price of $5.99 for 64 oversized pages of original full-color comics on sturdy paper stock (printed in two tones - white and "old newsprint"), I would heartily recommend Fantastic Comics #24.

As a side note, I really am impressed with how far Image has come since the old school days. There was, I admit, a certain excitement when the first Image Comics launched so many years ago. But, there has definitely been evolutionary process afoot.

Occasional Links: The Cleaning Out My Bat-Links Edition

The Weirdest Batman Products Ever

Bat-Wedding Garter

Bat-Doggie Costume

Bat-Play Shaving Set

Bat-Ceiling Fan

Bat-Balloon Guy

The Real-World Cost Of Being Batman


This Forbes article calculates how much it would cost to really be Batman -- including ninja training, armory, and domestic help.


Holy Lego Batman!


I'm not that much into video games ("Burger King" was my childhood fave 'cause it was easy), but I've fallen in love with Lego Star Wars. At this link are some screenshots of the upcoming Lego Batman...



The Ultimate Kid's Batman Outfit

Remember the good old days when we had only this:


Now we have this:



VIDEO: THE INTERROGATOR

The quest to find out Batman's secret identity...

Occasional Reviews: The Comics Journal #288

I used to read The Comics Journal when I was 13 years old. I'm not sure if I was supposed to do that. I don't even remember how I got my hands on a copy. Don't tell anyone.

By the time I was 16, I learned that a comic book's real worth was its investment value, and that The Comics Journal was stupid because it didn't have enough Marvel & DC. This opinion waned a bit when I was in college, as the articles in said publication fulfilled my required academic reading for my self-made pop-culture interdisciplinary concentration (read: studies that enriched my life but would never get me a six-figure income, and barely a five-figure income).

When I started working for the comic book industry, I regained the opinion that The Comics Journal was stupid because it didn't have enough Marvel & DC, and too many foreign people to boot. At that time, we were all metaphorically trying to get into Wizard's pants, anyway.

The boom in comic blogging brought the idea of comics journalism/studies back in my mind. And while there was a number of really great blogs analyzing comics, I did miss the feel of an actual document in my hands filled with vetted articles of academic import. Of course, the argument can be made that the print magazine is a dinosaur and that Fantagraphics Press would be better off putting the whole Comics Journal shebang online. But, if we buy that argument then I think the fate of the actual comics themselves are fast behind on the queue.

I don't drop $11.95 on a magazine lightly. But, when I saw that The Comics Journal was in a brand new format as of issue #288 -- and offered a collection of full-color Miss Fury strips to boot -- I decided to give it a shot.

It's a strikingly handsome volume -- its smaller, chunkier feel and arty cover design removing it somewhat from periodical-land, and something more along the lines of Fantagraphic Press's non-journalistic offerings. I think this is a smart move on their part. If the print magazine industry is waning, I think the key would be to make your magazine more like a book, or a hybrid of articles and original/reprint content.


The issue boasts, among other things:
* A list of their top picks for 2007. (happy/surprised to see World War Hulk on the list)
* The aforementioned Miss Fury reprints, with an introduction by Trina Robbins
* An essay on Stan Lee
* A feature on Fletcher Hanks's Stardust
* An interview with Exit Wounds' Rutu Modan
Plus a lot more.

While there are some areas in which the Web trumps print -- for instance, the news reports section in the print TCJ gets scooped by their own Journalista every weekday -- the book/magazine format is still ideal for consuming longer-form pieces.

If The Comics Journal sticks with the new design/format (and perhaps continues the reprints), I'll stick with it.

PS: Don't pull the sticker off the cover. Just leave it alone.

Thoughts on Internet Discourse

The last couple of weeks, I've been in dialogues with various people about the frustrations they face dealing with what I call "message board superstars" -- people who relentlessly pick, extend, and must end with the last laugh drawn-out negative threads on forums and the comments section on blogs. I always advise, "don't let it bother you," but then I have to deal with the same bullshit.

If I had to describe the negative energy you feel when dealing with this sort of shit -- it's not healthy.

Can you actually have a rational conversation with these people? No.

Will obscure continuity issues be brought up? Possibly. Probably.

Can you win if you answer them? No.

Can you win if you shut the comments down? No.

Can you win if you just walk away from the thread/comments in question? Probably your best bet.

And then the person you had the tangle with will, somewhere, get in their last word, and wait with baited breath for you to do something -- anything! If you can do anything to recognize their existence. An angry response? Great! More fuel! A link to their blog? Great way to get the Technorati authority up! Just...please respond. Respond with negative energy. Keep fueling it. Keep fueling it.

The thread pages keep adding up. The number of comments go through the roof, though most is just a non-dialogue between two people.

Somewhere, the actual topic in question gets buried in a pile of LOLs, and fan neurosis.

Keep fueling it! More response! More attention!

I saw this with the "Dan DiDio must die" thing, and, while I appreciated those who defended me, the whole thing scared the hell out of me. Then I saw it again with the "One More Day" thing and the personal attacks on Quesada.

Keep fueling it! More attention! The loudest one wins! (and when all else fails, make fun of grammatical errors).

And then I get disgusted by all of it and I say, "I'm going to be really positive for now on, and I'm not going to perpetuate negative energy on my site."

But that's when you have the Zen test of having a somebody go completely batshit on you on another board or blog. And here is the test: what do you do?

You get caught up in the negativity. And you spin more negativity onto your site, because it's infectious.

And then you reach the Oprah point. (Not that I'm comparing myself with Oprah, I just have a little blog that gushes about World War Hulk and Fred Hembeck)

Years ago, when the sensationalistic talk-show scene was in full bloom, she said -- I'm not doing this crap anymore. I'm just going to work on positive issues on my show.

Would the ratings still hold up?

If the type of mentality that drives people to say epithets against Joe Quesada on a public message board keeps up, or drives a forum user to get personally involved with a freelancer's life, will the easy sociability between the professionals and the fans keep up?

Or will the comment sections on these blogs, one-by-one, get shut off? Will freelancers stop interfacing with fans online? Will there be bodyguards/bouncers for DiDio & Quesada and whatever writer is getting hated-on at the moment at the cons?

This used to only happen with "letters to the editor." You could file those away.

We used to get angry letters where they'd write all in caps and tell us we were full of shit. They were so cute. They would tell us we should die because Hal Jordan was not Green Lantern. We'd tape them on our doors. The scarier ones we'd file away. Some we would forward to upper management because they had better resources to deal with it than we did.

Then, there were the conversations and debates you got into at your local comic store. They ended when you got home. Now, via all your lovely devices, you have at least two or three ways to extend that debate out into your home. And you can slowly roast on the coals all day, if you'd like.

I'm not a saint, and I've made my share of incendiary posts. But I'm just observing that the whole dark side of Internet discourse seems to be one that builds and builds, building gigantic feuds that spill into personal lives, building enmity, creating ever more obsessive fans, then these clusters of obsessive fans who all hate or love the same things. The Internet is largely not like that, but I wonder if it has to change eventually to deal with this obsessive element.

The Internet fosters an openness, but I wonder if, by virtue of this very openness completely taken advantage of, it will eventually react by becoming more and more private.

And I wonder if, when the openness of professional artists and writers and editors are taken advantage of, will they and this industry become more and more private as a result.

Extreme Jump In Logic Of The Week

4th letter's David Brothers gets the award for biggest jump in logic for the week, taking my statement that "DC African-American superheroes have largely been written blandly" to this:

"Going by her logic, I got some family members who’re gonna be hoodlums their whole life and are going to be worthless because of that fact. You go to jail and come out a different man? Who cares, dog, you’re still a criminal."

Wow.

Seems to me, David, the real shame is that John Irons had to be originally cast in Superman's image, not his own.

That John Stewart had to be cast in Green Lantern/Hal Jordan's image, not his own.

That Jakeem Thunder had to be cast in Johnny Lightning's image, not his own.

That Shilo Norman had to be cast in Mister Miracle's image, not his own.

That Ryan Choi had to be cast in The Atom's image, not his own.

That Kathy Kane had to be cast in Batman's image, not her own.

Do you know why that happens, David, behind-the-scenes?

Because editors are afraid that a non-white non-male non-straight character cannot lead their own comic unless they are tied in to a preexisting character. Because there is the perception behind-the-scenes that "women books don't sell," that "Black books don't sell," "that books with gays don't sell," etc.

You think I'm making it up?

You think when I say I've heard editors say "Black books don't sell," I'm lying? You think when I say I've heard editors say "we already have a Black book on the schedule, we don't have room for another," I'm lying?

As for Firestorm -- I was THERE to witness behind-the-scenes what took place regarding Jason Rusch. Were you? I had the corporate memo regarding diversity in my hands. Then I was asked to think of characters of color we could "plug" into the JLA. "Plug."

You think it's racist to find John Irons bland? You think that's the real issue? When I find characters like Gunn from Angel, Blade, Cloak, Misty Knight, Storm, and T'Challa awesome? That I think, on a whole, Marvel has more compelling African-American characters than DC? Do you see a racist agenda in that? Know what all the aforementioned characters have in common? THEY WERE CAST IN THEIR OWN IMAGE!

The real issue is that there are not more characters of color heading their own books that are NOT derived from originally-white superheroes.

The real issue is that there are not more people of color in high positions in mainstream comic book publishing.

The real issue is that there seems to be a deficit of talented writers like Dwayne McDuffie (or Marv Wolfman!) who not only can make these characters interesting -- but have the inclination and interest to.

But you know what -- I'm not letting that post embitter me into being afraid to keep agitating for diversity in comics for people of color, for women, or for people of different sexual orientations or religious faiths. I'm not going to stop posting about how I think people of color could be better written in comics just because I'm afraid of a blogger like you misinterpreting it.

And, I said it before, and I'll say it again: you get true diversity in comics by having a diverse editorial staff and roster of creative talent. Then the diversity flows organically. At Acclaim Comics, we had a diverse staff and diverse talent, and we never had to "plug" in diversity. The character "Quantum" in "Quantum and Woody" stood on his own as a fascinating character -- written by Christopher Priest, who would later make Black Panther so compelling and such a headlining character.

Compared to Quantum, Black Panther, Blade -- and even the Bendis-penned Luke Cage (though he has been a bit whiny last issue) -- John Irons, to me, is just not that interesting. So sue me. You know who is more interesting to me than Vixen, who has been better characterized in a handful of issues than Vixen has been in her entire existence? Gauntlet from Avengers: The Initiative as written by Dan Slott.

So, David Brothers, if you think the real problem with race in comics today is my tacit inability to find John Irons compelling, if you think I have a racist agenda because I think Blade is cooler than Mr. Terrific, if you think the real issue we should be focusing on is that I closed comments as the result of an obnoxious poster, if you think me saying "there should be more interesting superheroes of color" = me hurling slurs to your entire family, then I'm sorry. We clearly disagree, we do not see eye-to-eye, we are not on the same page.

So feel free to pick apart this post, show how I'm stupid and you're smart, how I clearly don't know anything I'm talking about. I expect it. I don't care. I'm enjoying my weekend.

Is Judd Winick Our Generation's Denny O'Neil?

By pairing Judd Winick with Denny O'Neill, is Wizard Universe suggesting that Winick is the new O'Neil?

Is this...
...the new this?

Comics Are Expensive: Fantastic Four #554, Tiny Titans #1, Nova Annual #1, Uncanny X-Men #495

This week’s installment of Comics Are Expensive is a little smaller than intended – the Wednesday before payday is never kind to new books, and I just couldn’t swing the $14.99 to pick up the second TPB of Mike Carey’s Crossing Midnight. I plan on making up for it next week, though, and with any luck I’ll finally grab the new Scalped trade as well. Second column and already behind? I’m rubbish, me.

But let’s get on with it, shall we? As with last week, potential spoilers lurk ahead. You’ve been warned.

FANTASTIC FOUR #554

Writer: Mark Millar

Artist: Brian Hitch

I very nearly left this on the stands. In the last few years, Mark Millar’s name (fun fact: pronounced “Mill-ER”, not “Mill-AR”) on a book has gone from being a guarantee that the contents would at least be fun to a messy game of Russian roulette – recent issues from him have had a 50/50 chance of being something solid like the first issue of Civil War or turning out to be a complete mess (like, say, much of the rest of Civil War). The days of quality work like Superman: Red Son or the first twelve issues of The Ultimates began to feel like a lifetime ago, and all signs seem to point towards him heading directly up his own ass at Bendis-like speeds.

Fantastic Four #554 doesn’t disprove any of this – it is, after all, just one issue, and there’s a good bit of damage to undo. It is, however, enough to give me hope that that the mad idea factory responsible for Millar’s earlier work hasn’t been completely consumed by overused Hollywood-cool imagery and lazy shock moments. From the very beginning, with the time-tossed FF careening stuck between angry Native Americans and a hard place on the way home from some adventure, it feels more like what Millar is capable of than anything he’s produced in a while.

As much as Dwayne McDuffie’s all-too-brief run captured the relationships between the characters (and made up for a lot of Straczynski’s nonsense), this issue taps into the other half of the formula responsible making the Fantastic Four so much fun when done right: they’re explorers first, superheroes second. Family jaunts into the past, lecturing school children on the ins and outs of an anti-Galactus suit, your husband’s ex teleporting into the living room when you’re in the middle of setting up a charity to help the victims of superhuman incidents – just another Tuesday afternoon at the Baxter Building. If this issue is any indication, it’s safe to assume Millar understands this completely, and is digging in with all the vigor of a kid discovering a new playground.

Hitch on art is a natural choice, given his long history of working with Millar, and it’s nice for him to have the chance to prove he can be as deft at capturing character moments as he is when laying out fight scenes in excruciating detail. Reed and Ben facing a classroom full of eight-year-olds is every bit as fun as the two-page spread just before the end of the book, which is just how it should be in a book like Fantastic Four. I didn’t know what to expect from this issue, and find myself cautiously blown away by how much I enjoyed it. There’s no telling if Millar and Hitch can keep it up, but if future issues can keep up half the sense of wonder and fun found here then it could very well be the best thing either of them have done in years.

BUY STATUS: Count me in for the next one, so long as Millar continues to leave his famous bag of tics at home.

TINY TITANS #1

Writer: Art Baltazar & Franco

Artist: Art Baltazar

This book isn’t for me. I’ve known that since the first images of the unspeakably adorable Tiny Titans came out last year. This hasn’t stopped me from looking forward to it, or from being excited at the idea these uber-cute takes on the characters getting their own book. Jump rope of truth? Kid Devil made somehow even more awesome? What’s not to like?

So now the book is out, and after reading it through twice, yeah, it’s not for me. The only trouble is, I’m genuinely not sure who it’s meant to be for. Considering its place in the Johnny DC line as a replacement for Teen Titans Go!, one would assume it’s meant for younger fans of the defunct show. Only no, because the way the book is presented – a collection of short vignettes with a joke at the end – is probably too young for fans of the previous title’s action-packed adventures.

So maybe younger readers then, the ones who watched the show with their older brothers and sisters? Perhaps, but a lot of the jokes here demand some prior knowledge of the show or DC-proper comic, particularly the ones about Raven’s and Rose’s dads. That pretty much leaves older readers, the ones who grew up on Teen Titans or at least recognize the characters and maybe have kids of their own. Again, maybe, but once you get past the super-cute (and admittedly great) art style, there’s really not a lot here.

I was hoping the book would follow the issue-long antics of the kids in the style of the Marvel Adventures line, but that’s not the case here. While I can largely understand the decision to have each issue be a bunch of sketches, it doesn’t quite work when most of the gags read as in-jokes for an older audience than the format seems to be aimed at.

We know kids are fine with more complex plots as long as the goals of the characters are clear (e.g., Harry wants to stop Voldemort and protect his friends, the Autobots want to defeat the Decepticons and save Earth, Ben Tennyson wants to protect the Omnitrix from Vilgax, etc.), so why the change to simpler stories? And if DC is hoping to target a younger audience than the hypothetical kids reading the other superhero titles in the Johnny DC line, why tie so many of the jokes into Titans continuity they likely don’t care about?

Then again, maybe I’m over-thinking this whole thing. Maybe younger kids will get right away that Slade is a bad guy, and that’s why having him be the new principle of Sidekick City Elementary is funny. Or maybe enough adults will buy the book for the art style alone (which, again, is super-cute in ways that need to be seen to be believed), and that’s all DC are hoping to accomplish. Either way, I’ll be interested to see if this book can find it’s audience, if only so I know who the hell they are.

Buy Status: I have a personal rule about new books get three issues to find their feet, so I’m in for the next two. Great as the art is, it’s not exactly promising at this point, though.

NOVA ANNUAL #1

Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

Artists: Mahmud A. Asrar, Kelbs & Wellinton Alves

The last two years or so in comics have revealed a great personal truth to me: I really, really like well-written comics about space cops. Between Johns’ Green Lantern run since the One Year Later jump (particularly the super awesome – shut up, Gallaher – Sinestro Corps storyline) and the solid gold of Nova ever since Xandar and his fellow corpsmen were nuked at the beginning of Annihilation, it’s a love that has been extremely well fed. While I haven’t yet managed to pick a favorite between them, Nova has a definite advantage going for it: I’m a sucker for hopeless causes.

Of course, it helps considerably that writers Abnett and Lanning have made Richard Rider, last of the Centurions, the sort of hopeless cause you really can’t help but believe in. This issue only drives that point further home, intertwining his origin as Nova with one of many possible futures spinning out of his current bout with the Phalanx’s techno-virus (things I love more than space cops? Grim futures where there is ONLY WAR).

It’s a nice jumping on point for new readers before the big push to the end of the current arc, summing up Richard’s recent troubles while depositing him on the doorstep of what promises to be a hell of a fight. I’m still a bit worried that the techno-virus is a way of neutering the characters off-the-scale power levels from here on out, but it looks like Nova #11 will go a long ways towards settling that. Either way, I have every faith in the creative team to continue giving me reasons to come back next month.

Buy Status: Still resting comfortably at the top of my reading pile every time it comes out. It’s reached the point where I can’t imagine a month going by without reading the line “It is critical that you pay attention at this time”, though I’m also a fan of “TELL ME HOW TO SHOOT STUFF OUT OF MY HANDS!” from this issue.

UNCANNY X-MEN #495

Writer: Ed Brubaker

Artist: Mike Choi

Why did no one tell me the X-Men were good again? Sure, OS reader Sammy did, and I bought this issue on his recommendation, but an earlier head’s up or something from the world at large would have been appreciated. Was Messiah Complex this good? What else are you people hiding from me?

I tried Brubaker on X-men back when “Deadly Genesis” was coming out, but the whole Vulcan/third Summers brother/Shi’ar nonsense became so tedious so quickly that I ditched it with no plans to ever look back. Based on that first impression, “X-Men: Divided” is a tremendous turnaround quality-wise, chock-full of moments that go a long way towards reminding me why I bothered caring about these characters in the first place. While nothing necessarily exciting happens (this is, after all, the calm both after the last storm and before the next one), Brubaker serves up a handful of character moments that show a deep understanding of how these different characters work and how much fun it can be to put them against each other.

The Scott and Emma stuff is particularly well handled – their conversation after Scott’s pissing match with Tony Stark, the snapshots of their Savage Land vacation... all of it rang true in a way the Cyclops and Phoenix romance never did. I’ve been a fan of the character Summers was becoming with Emma Frost in his life ever since Morrison’s run on New X-Men run (coincidentally, also the last time I could be bothered with Marvel’s mutants before now), and watching him open up after years of repression is the sort of character development I never knew he was capable of.

What else? I liked the bit with Nightcrawler, Logan, and Colossus playing pranks on each other in Germany. I liked the bit inside of Cyclops’ mind as he worked out how to take down two fully-grown Triceratops. I liked the end-of-issue tease of Angel’s email calling the couple back to the real world, and the slight tinge of fear in his last lines as what was left of his consciousness trickled away. I like all off it, and it’s been years since an X-book made me feel that way.

If there’s a failing to be found, it’s that the issue isn’t really the sort of jumping-on point you need after a major (and more importantly, largely well-received) crossover. I’ve flipped through enough of Messiah Complex to know what’s meant by the references to Xavier’s condition and the new hope for mutants, but neither of these points or the other major consequences of the last few month’s worth of adventures are really clear here. Not that it really hurt my enjoyment – Uncanny X-Men #495 has exactly the sort of feel I want from the title, and for the first time in ages I’m genuinely excited about what comes next.

Buy Status: On board, provided Vulcan and further misadventures in space stay well away. Bonus points to artist extraordinaire Mike Choi and his shout-out to Comic Foundry.

That should about do it for this week. Also picked up was Green Lantern Corps #21, which while fleshing out the rather great arrival of the Alpha Lantern's in last week's Green Lantern wasn't nearly as much fun as issue #20's scenes with Mongul and his new yellow power ring. As always, recommendations via the comments thread of email sent to chrislamb@gmail.com are more than appreciated. See you next week.

you can also read more of Chris's stuff at Expertologist

Occasional Links: The Baroness Laundry Edition

from here


Rogue Fashion

Fashion designers called Kostume have designed a new outfit based on a certain X-Woman...




Zen Thought Of The Day #1

Hayden Christensen...


is the new...




The Ikea Of The Comics World...

The Pottery Barn and Marvel are teaming up...

If DC wants to get in on the action, I know the perfect company they should team up with...



(Old joke. Really really really old. But I've heard it.)


Doctor Who Spoilers


At this link, supposedly, are the spoilers for Season Four of Doctor Who. I'm not gonna read them. But they're there. You...big spoiler, you.



Zen Thought Of The Day #2

This man...

and this man...

...are the same man.


Video: Angel, Chicken Of The X-Men

(I liked this movie too damn much)

The Big Ten (Formerly Known As The Hot List)

Here are the ten biggest stories of the past week...

10. Tolkien Estate Sues New Line

9. Rogue Wolf Entertainment Acquires Cold Cut

8. X-Force #1

7. New Star Wars Cartoon

6. Tom Breevort's "Spider-Man Manifesto"

5. Matt Fraction On Iron Man

4. Fox Sues Warners Over "Watchmen"

3. DC Promises Never To Do "Countdown" Again

2. Writer's Strike Over

1. Steve Gerber & Stephane Peru

Happy Valentine's Day (From Marvel)

Just got this in my inbox, it's a copy of the Valentine's Day postcard Marvel is dropping off in the comic shops.

I kinda like it -- though I miss Peter & MJ! ;-)

Anyway -- Happy Valentine's Day, all!!

The New Emovengers and Green Emo and Black Canary

Synopsis of New Avengers #38:
Luke Cage is heartbroken to come home and find that his wife Jessica is not there. He calls her and they talk. He wants her to come home, but she says "think of the baby!" They go back and forth on the phone, expressing their feelings, for five pages. Then Luke goes to visit Jessica, and they talk, expressing their feelings, for seven pages. They wonder if the marriage can be saved. Jessica says she still loves Luke, but "think of the baby!" Then, as a change of pace, Ms. Marvel talks to Luke, and then she talks to Black Widow. We turn then to the rest of the New Avengers, who have a new apartment to live in. Daniel Rand shows them where the toilet is. The New Avengers debate as to whether they might save time using disposable plates as opposed to having to wash the dishes. Wolverine says he will go to Wendy's. Jessica and Luke are now apart. The last shot is as if to say, "think of the baby!"

Synopsis of Green Arrow and Black Canary #5
Black Canary talks to Red Arrow. Then she talks to Dr. Mid-Nite about Connor's tragic condition. Ollie sits by Connor's bedside, heartbroken. Connor is brain dead -- another story ripped from the headlines, just like Terri Schiavo. Ollie tells a brain dead Connor what a lousy father he has been. We flashback to Ollie being a terrible father, and a terrible boyfriend. Paternity tests, dead-beat dad, single mom. Connor's mom tells Ollie, "think of the baby!" and that little Connor is indeed adorable! Back to the present, Ollie still feels terrible. Then Black Canary and Green Arrow decide to talk about their feelings. They get married. But, just like the last time they got married (several months ago), their honeymoon is interrupted by a cliffhanger. Green Arrow thinks about it, and decides that next issue, he might actually have an action scene.

I understand the need to have a certain amount of emotion and character development in one's superhero comics. But, these issues out-Claremont Claremont. They are both the sort of thing you find in those Lifetime original movies.

Admittedly, Brian Michael Bendis had taken a similar approach in Alias -- but it was much more effective in that book. The big problem for me in New Avengers #38 is redundancy in the scripting. Even soap opera scripts recognize that there is only a certain amount of time for their emo dialog. In contrast, Luke and Jessica say their Bendisy lines, then say them again, then say them again. And, just in case you missed it, they say them again.

Judd Winick, seemingly recognizing the limits of his superhero-writing ability, tries to break up all the emo with sensationalistic, over-the-top cliffhangers. It's an awkward insertion of action, but he at least tries to wake people up. It's the best he can do.

I am not saying that a superhero comic by necessity needs action. But these two comics are the other extreme of the spectrum. (And yeah, I know that these books could have been themed this way for Valentine's Day -- but Bendis has had the same problem in other books lately and so has Winick).

Check out Hannibal Tabu's column for another view of these issues.

The Top Seven Supervillain Couples

Everybody talks about superhero romance on Valentine's Day, but what about the supervillains?? Don't they need love too?

Here is a list of the top 7 supervillain couples:

7. Titania and Absorbing Man

6. Crossbones and Sin

5. Mystique and Destiny

4. Thanos and Death

3. Spike and Drusilla

2. Destro and The Baroness

1. The Joker and Harley Quinn

This Week In Spider-Man: Jackpot = Sara Ehret?

Does that name have a hidden meaning?

Here are 1000 anagrams of the name to keep you busy.

Alan Moore & The Watchmen Curse

First it was the original movie plans.

Then there were the action figures.

Now it's a legal battle with Fox over the new movie.

Alan Moore has made his feelings about a Watchmen movie known...

Could it be that the sheer will of his soul is keeping DC from making any more profit off his creation?

Or will Watchmen eventually be made, as V for Vendetta and Constantine before it?

Herb Trimpe: Harsh Words For Corporate Comics

I want to start this post by admitting that before today, I had no idea Herb Trimpe co-created Wolverine. That leads into the topic of this post, which are Trimpe's comments about "corporate comics." In short, he recently told a reporter at a Boston comic convention:

* Today, "decisions are made by people who don't know a lot about comics. It's all very corporate."

* Businessmen are "not very human" to the artists and will dispose of them when fresh and hipper talent walks through the door.

* Artists are the ones who should be telling the stories first, like in the early Marvel days -- not scripters.

Certainly, more and more people from outside the comic book industry are being pulled into the business. They are, in some cases, actively being sought out. Part of this is the result of the increasing synergy between comics and other entertainment mediums. And part of this is because I don't think mainstream comics has done enough to build editorial talent from within, resulting in a deficit of assistants and associates ready to take on the job via natural succession (though I have recently heard of some promotions that made me very happy and restored my faith in this business).

Then there is Trimpe's point regarding of what I call "the flavor of the month" phenomenon. I've heard too many stories first-hand of artists and writers this is happened to to dispute Trimpe's claim. On the other hand, I am happy to see classic artists and writers like Jim Starlin, Keith Giffen, and Roy Thomas having new books on the stands.

Lastly, I have to quibble about artist-driven versus writer-driven stories. I think it really depends on the artist in question, and whether they have the facility for great visual storytelling.


Postscript: There is some debate as to how much of Wolverine Herb Trimpe created. Dave Cockrum came up with a rough idea, then John Romita drew a few designs.


What is clear is that Trimpe did draw the very first Wolverine story.

Anybody who has more information on the subject feel free to correct me.

Who Is Going To Be On The Hot List???

Actually, we are changing the name of this list to THE BIG TEN --

--because I think some important stories belong on the list but I feel creepy saying they are "hot." It makes me sound like Paris Hilton. If she was sort of a geek.

Anyway, WHO will be on the Hot, I mean THE BIG TEN???

Occasional Links: The Superhero Fashionista

This Liefeld Cover Doesn't Suck


Rich from Comic by Comic remarks,

Not only does he showcase a newer, painted, style but Cable actually has feet.

Guillermo Del Toro May Direct The Dr. Strange Movie...But Won't Use The Outfit!

"I said [to Neil Gaiman], that’s an interesting character because you can definitely make him more in the pulpy occult detective/magician mould and formula than was done in the Weird Tales, for example... the idea of a character that really dabbles in the occult in a way that’s not X-Filey, where the supernatural is taken for granted. That’s interesting...But I wouldn't use the suit!"

Rotorooter "Woman's Dream Bathroom" Includes a Wii


When you have to wee.

This is part of a Rotorooter promotional giveaway.

I dunno, is all that pink sort of sexist?


Hot or Not: Superhero Fashion Analysis


Something Awful puts the fashionista magnifying glass to a dozen superheroes and villains...and finds some wanting!


If Batman Was a Dungeons and Dragons Character


The many alignments of Batman



Video: The German Powerpuff Girls

Cartoonists Of Color Protest Newspapers

from "Lucky and Guy"

Now, here is an interesting news item.

A group of syndicated cartoonists are protesting newspapers that chose not to syndicate another strip featuring people of color on the basis that they already are running strips (or even just one strip" that meet "diversity demand."

Can you imagine if this happened in the comic book industry?

"Oh, we already have a 'black' book. We can't have more than one black book at a time."

"We're already using an Asian female. What, you want TWO Asian females?"

"We've been instructed by the Higher Ups to include a Middle-Eastern character that is not a terrorist. If anybody can think of something, please e-mail me."

"Well, if we have another gay character on this team, we fear it is going to be perceived as the gay team."

"We already have an Asian female writer. You want TWO Asian female writers?"

Occasional Superheroine Reader Profile: ANJ

Name: Anj

Location: Boston

Occupation: ER physician

Comics you read: Too many to count. But current ones worth mentioning: Criminal, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, She-Hulk, Supergirl, Legion, JSA, Fallen Angel, The Programme, Ex Machina

Fave artist: Phil Noto, Dan Brereton

Fave writer: Ed Brubaker, historically Howard Chaykin

Fave character: Supergirl

First comic you ever read: Been reading for more than 30yrs. But first one I can truly remember was Spiderman 161. Nightcrawler and Spiderman brawling at an amusement park. Punisher emptying clips everywhere. Pure childhood bliss.

Your favorite comic book "memory": Buying the first year of American Flagg back issues at age 16 after cashing my first ever work check. Reading them in one sitting and thinking I was all that, but also thinking that the medium was growing up like I was. The first year of Flagg still holds up after all these years.

Most frustrating comic book "moment": I absolutely loved Peter David's Supergirl comic, especially the first 50 issues. So when DC decided to remove Linda and Matrix from the current continuity, I was beyond perplexed.

Where/how do you buy your comics?: Pull folder set up at New England Comics

Floppies or trades?: Mostly floppies. Will buy trades for 'worthy' titles I want to reread ad nauseum (Brubaker's Sleeper, Moore's Swamp Thing, Morrison's JLA & Doom Patrol).

Marvel or DC?: Historically DC, although I tend to follow writers now, so I am pretty much 50/50 now.

Star Wars or Star Trek?: Star Wars

Non-comic book hobbies: Film buff, fantasy football

Personal motto: It's all good

How did you start reading "Occasional Superheroine?": happened upon it as a link one day, read regularly, comment rarely

Attached pic is Noto Supergirl commission obtained at Baltimore comicon last year.

Three From WWII: The Twelve #2, JSA #12, Project Superpowers #0

With JSA, The Twelve, and now Project Superheroes, it seems as if superhero narratives about WW II (or, rather, those of the capes-and-masks set who fought in the conflict) are the hot topic in comics. Not that they ever really were an obscure topic in the medium. Maybe there has been a continual hearkening back to that time of real heroes and villains because that black/white dichotomy was the fuel by which the comic book superheroes operated.

I've always been a big fan of the Justice Society and the All-Star Squadron. I consider Roy Thomas the master at these narratives, skillfully weaving the lives, personalities, histories, and words of a huge cast while at the same time crafting stories that both echo the past but somehow remain relevant.

There are three World War II superhero team books on the stands at the present (Image Comics' upcoming Next Issue Project possibly making it four). Let's take a quick look at their most recent issues:

The Twelve #2
The mini-series is billed as a "book-length thriller," and it certainly lives up to its name. Last issue dealt with a lot of exposition, tracing how this team of superheroes from the 1940s ended up in our present; but #2 really delves into the histories and motivations of the characters, setting up a number or intriguing bits that will most certainly be crucial plot points later on. The art in this book, by Chris Weston, is a stand-out; the full-page shot of Captain Wonder cradling his wife's grave is particularly exquisite. Looking forward to more.
Rating: A








JSA #12
I really wanted to like this issue -- I mean, with gorgeous covers like this by Alex Ross, how can you not like it? Several reasons. First, though Geoff Johns is certainly an accomplished writer, he clearly needed tighter editing in this book. The opening, with an ensemble cast futzing around at the boxing ring, was muddled and went on for far too long.

Plus, I have a really hard time believing that Jakeem Thunder, even given his young age, would spout out "Who's the Asian hottie?" when first faced with the new Judomaster. If there was any character who I pitied in this issue, it was her, being surrounded by a bunch of back-slapping assholes.

The sequence with John Irons was also in need of some editing/quality control; John's opening dialog with his wife sounded like pure exposition devoid of any human quality. And Dale Eaglesham's art, while reminiscent of that great Stephen Sadowski work on the previous JSA, has occasional difficulty in getting from point A to point B in the visual storytelling.

In fact, the only saving grace of this issue, as far as I was concerned, was the introduction of the new Amazing Man, a character I always liked. Clad in a new dasheeki-inspired costume and possessing a backstory interwoven with the Katrina tragedy, he is a character I want to know more about (and who bears more than a passing resemblance to Ving Rhames. Or Jim Brown. Pick your era.).

Rating: B-

Project Superpowers #0
Speaking of Sadowski, here he is in the debut issue of Project Superpowers by Dynamite Entertainment -- again with a cover by Alex Ross. I really enjoyed this book, and appreciated the unexpected twists and turns the story took. Project Superpowers has more in common with The Twelve than JSA, in the darkness of the storyline and the far grayer tone of the heroes' mission and morality.

That said, Jim Krueger's writing could have been edited down a bit, for the sheer volume of words used; though of course in any first issue there is need for a certain amount of exposition.

As for the look of the book, the art direction by Alex Ross for the book really shows. And the designs of such classic characters as The Black Terror, The Face, and "The Death-Defying Devil" are truly eye-catching and an added value to Dynamite's stable of properties.

Rating: A-

Occasional Previews: What I'm Buying This Week!

As always, feel free to follow along and make your own picks using this handy list!

SALVATION RUN #4 (OF 7) $2.99

GHOST RIDER #20 $2.99

X-FORCE #1 DWS $2.99

NEXT ISSUE PROJECT #1 (FANTASTIC COMICS #24)

AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BUY?

Occasional Links: The Destroyer Duck Edition

No creator save Jack Kirby has as a cautionary tale and a living example saved so many creators the grief of turning over their creations without reward or without realizing what they had done.

via here


The Bestest Custom Action Figure Ever


"Doctor Bong" from Howard The Duck.

Now that takes skillz.

RIP Steve Gerber


Have Jenna Jameson Kick Your Bad Ass


In one of the most bizarre comic promotions ever, Virgin Comics asks you why your family is "from hell" in order to promote Jenna Jameson's new comic

First prize?

"Custom Sketch By Greg Horn Of The Badass Shadow Hunter Kicking Your Bad Ass."

In case you're wondering, that would be a sketch of Jenna Jameson doing a dominatrix-style beat-down on you while you pretend not to smile.

Gee, I really wanna read more of those Deepak Chopra comics by Virgin...


"That's What Bendis Sees When He Closes His Eyes"


I didn't say it, somebody on Scans Daily did. From the latest Moon Knight.

Video: Anime Witchblade

Half-naked top-heavy Witchblade has what sounds like a series of orgasms while sticking her tongue out and destroying things. Sounds about right. NSFW.

Hillary Clinton: A Tough Nut To Crack?

I just discovered these unique items at a local store and had to take a picture.

They are Hillary Clinton "nutcrackers". In case you can't tell by the photo, you crack the nut between her legs.

Yes, very classy.

This brought to my mind the bigger issue of how women in power are sometimes perceived or equated with the idea of shrill harpies or, in the example above, "nutcrackers."

Implied in the novelty nutcracker is the idea that Hillary Clinton is specifically targeting men to oppress them in some way, or at least piss them off.

Now, as I've made clear in an earlier post, I'm an Obama fan. But, I've seen nothing of Hillary Clinton that has led me to believe that she is a man-hater.

Why do women in power like Hillary get equated with man-haters?

In her case, part of that may be because warmth and bubbliness does not seem to be her first language.

But how many men in power lack warmth and bubbliness and nobody says "boo" about it?

Personally, I think it is easier for a woman in power to be liked if they do generate that warm quality. But they shouldn't have to, the same way men don't have to. If you can do the job, you can do the job. It's just when a woman is a no-nonsense, uncompromising leader, it's considered "threatening."

It doesn't mean she hates men. And the fact that there are products like this novelty nutcracker in America depresses me.

At any rate, you can bet your bottom dollar that I won't be buying the Hillary Nutcracker. Or the Bill salad-tosser either.

When Movie Posters Didn't Suck

You know the guy who painted (yes painted) all these posters?



His name was John Alvin, and he passed away several days ago.

Can you even imagine being responsible for so many iconic images? It's like he was a vital part of the pop-culture zeitgeist of the 1980s and early 90s.

And yet his name isn't that well-known -- he was just, at least to the public, an anonymous movie poster illustrator.

Food for thought...

Manga Mondays (A Neophyte's View): Pretty Face Vol. 4

Two reasons for this weekly feature:

1) I felt that I really had to start reading this stuff in order to fully say that I truly know what's going on in this industry.

2) Manga companies have particularly good "comp" programs.

Also, I do find some manga rather enjoyable, especially really "light" shojo and the horror titles.

That said, my lack of manga knowledge might show in this column, so please excuse me.

Pretty Face Volume 4
by Yasuhiro Kano
Viz Media

Simply put, Pretty Face is about a guy who gets in a horrible accident and has his face replaced in plastic surgery with that of the girl he has a crush on. Now he must dress like the girl's missing twin sister.

It's kinky, okay?

I am fascinated by manga's ability to take sexually-adventurous subject matter and package it in such a Disney-fied, sunny, stylistic manner. Questioning one's sexual identity would seem to be an issue for developing teens, and mature subject matter titles like Pretty Face (Viz recommends the book for readers 16+ and has an advisory label on the cover) address these concerns in a non-threatening way.

That said, there are a lot of panties in this book. And a pair of breasts (that we are assured are actually fake and on a man). That said, how is this that much different from teen sex comedies like American Pie? Maybe the fake breasts on a man part. Then again, Bugs Bunny was dancing around with oranges in his shirt more than 50 years ago.

As for the readability of the book -- it was enjoyable. It had that rapid-fire screwball comedy element rife with double-entendres like a Three's Company episode. I really find I have to suspend belief that macho karate champion Rando is the same little blond chick running around the book; the way he/she is drawn, the male body elements are pretty much non-existent. Except for the cliffhangers where we almost see his wiener (of which, as you can imagine, are many).

Still haven't read enough Shojo to make a comparative analysis in terms of quality, but it was alright. Although I would like to ask series creator Yasuhiro Kano what he means by calling Natsuo a "panties character" (clue: I think it has something to do with all those shots of her panties).

Occasional Links: The Emo Viking Edition

Just in case anybody is interested in inadvertently helping promote Dave Sim's new book by picking a fight with him on a message board, he will be appearing next on the Panels and Pixels board today.


Kwickie Kwotables:


"She should get her act together."
-- Famous Musicland Wasteoid Keith Richards on Famous Musicland Wasteoid Amy Winehouse

"Brian Wood Emo Viking"
--Actual Google Search Phrase

"There's a girl at your left reading COMIC BOOKS!"
--Hastily scribbled by me to friend right before we both stared at the poor young woman and tried to figure out what she was reading.


Juno To Become Video Game
According to this article in Dolly Mix, the hit movie Juno will be made into a video game for the "casual market."

You know, when I think "video game," the movie Juno is not the first thing to jump out at me. I suppose there will be a "knock up" button configuration.


Of Course, The Most RELEVANT Thing About "Juno" To Us Comic Fans Is...

The actress played Shadowcat in "X-Men 3." And Jennifer Garner is in the movie too. Who played Elektra. So. It's like Shadowcat is teaming up with Elektra. Cool.





Val Kilmer Now Official Geek Icon


With the recent announcement of Val Kilmer replacing Will Arnett as the voice of Kitt in the new Knight Rider, I now consider him an official geek icon. He narrowly missed official geek iconic status by appearing in a handful of critically-acclaimed films in the 80s & early 90s, but then he did Batman Forever AND appeared in comic conventions roughly ten years later.


But, he was the man who taught me that Vals can be men too. Plus he drank blood in The Doors.


The Alba Has No Eyes


I don't have a picture available, but has anybody seen the art for the recent newspaper ads for the Jessica Alba horror flick "The Eye?" It's a picture of Alba with her eyes gouged out. Yep, that's it -- two bloody holes photoshopped onto Alba's face.

Classy. What I want to see when I drink my morning latte.

"We know this movie sucks, so we're going to change marketing strategy last-minute and show you a pretty mutilated chick."

Oh, let's not pretend that there isn't a market for it.


VIDEO: RIP Roy Scheider

More here.

My Comics Reporter Interview

Hi all, just letting you know that my comprehensive interview with The Comics Reporter is up. I don't think he has a comments section, so feel free to comment here.

Topics include:
Friends Of Lulu
Sexism In Comics
DC Comics
Acclaim Comics
and
Popeye

Sunday Quickie Reviews

I clean off my reading table:

Maintenance #8: A fun outer-space romp in the mold of Star Wars via Futurama. This Oni title came recommended by a few people so I figured I'd give it a shot. A recap page of some sort would have been helpful; think I will wait for a trade paperback on this one so I can catch up.
Rating: B+

Ultimate Spider-Man #118: I bought this for the "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" on the cover, but I could not be more disappointed. The majority of this issue features a bunch of teens, some of which have superpowers, doing an emo "OC" type jibber-jabber. What the hell? Where's Angelica Jones? Not a good jumping-on issue for new readers.
Rating: C
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #11: I haven't read an issue of this since #2, so I'm a bit rusty continuity-wise; but Whedon is fairly adept at catching up readers. Dawn is still big, one of the chosen has a crush on Buffy, and the latest Big Bad Twilight almost reveals himself in a cute, patented moment of Whedonesque levity.
Rating: B+

Spider-Man: With Great Power #1: Yes, we've read Spidey's origin story like a billion times, but have you done it with such exquisite Tony Harris art? Writer David Lapham gets into the psyche of pre-hero Spider-Man, and, well...Peter is a bit of a dick. Almost hate to continue buying the floppies on this one, as I'd like to get a hardcover.
Rating: A
Birds of Prey #113-114: These were good issues, dammit!
Rating: A

Teen Boat #7: Remember the cartoon "Turbo Teen," where he'd get upset and his arms would turn into wheels and you would totally get freaked out? This is better. Read more of the free web comics here.
Rating: A
The New Avengers Annual #2: Not a bad issue, though way too many guns for a book called "The Avengers" and the opening sequence with Tigra almost made me stop reading.
Rating: B

Amazing Spider-Man Swing Shift Director's Cut: I didn't catch this the first time when it was a free comic. Go figure. Gives me a better perspective on the Brand New Day thing and Phil Jimenez' art is truly gorgeous. Worth it just to read Tom Breevort's 5-page "Spider-Man Manifesto."
Rating: A

Well, let the new pile commence!

DC's Brand New Day: Have They Finally Learned The Lessons Of Countdown?

First of all, let me say that I had NO idea it was the big RRP DC/retailer focus group meeting this weekend. My previous DC-related posts this week were not a deliberately-planned assault on the character of the company's substantial line of mainstream superhero fare.

That said, I have not been the only person that has expressed concern with the direction of said fare over the last year or so.

One of the biggest criticisms has been in regards to Countdown and how it became the "spine" of the DCU and the rest of its titles. Further, many of DC's key relaunches and mini-series have had to be awkwardly tied to the 52-issue Countdown; so not only did you need to buy Countdown in order for everything to make sense, but there was not a storyline that was not impacted by Countdown (unless Grant Morrison said so).

But, the news from the latest DC/retailer confab has had the optimistic, "Brand New Day" feel of official comic convention announcements.

To summarize:

* DC Universe #0, positioned as a "reintroduction" to the DC universe that, while hinting at events to take place in Final Crisis, can be enjoyed as a separate entity away from F.C. and Countdown. The Grant Morrison/Geoff Johns-penned book will sell for 50 cents, be released in May, and feature a number of high-profile artists.

Quoteth Johns:

For me, #0 is putting the stake in the ground and saying, “Okay, we move forward from here.”

* Trinity, a new weekly debuting in June starring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Written by Kurt Busiek and pencilled by Mark Bagley, it has also been curiously positioned as a book not dependent on Countdown or Final Crisis. Says DiDio:

We don’t want to have that “locked in stone” continuity line that a lot of people seemed to react negatively to during Countdown. This is a chance to open up each concept and allow them to breathe in their own right, so that a fan of what Kurt and Mark are going to bring can really enjoy the story that’s featuring Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

* Finally (or at least as of this writing), there are the miniseries Rann/Thanagar: Holy War and Reign in Hell. Once again, as has seemingly become the theme of DC's presentation to the RRP, "no dependence on Countdown/F.C." As DiDio once again remarks:

Again, we’re trying to provide as many options to our fans who want to see as many things going on as possible, without feeling like they have to buy everything across the line. We’re basically taking everything that we’ve got and turning the heat up a notch or two. The other storylines and miniseries and weekly may not be connected to Final Crisis, but they will feel as important as Final Crisis.

So it would seem that DC is attempting to learn the lessons hard-won from Countdown. Of course, the proof is in the pudding; all else is talk.

If indeed DC wishes to have its "Brand New Day," there will be a few things for them to consider within the mix:

* Put an end to the writer "musical chairs" fiasco. Stability on a title is important. Even if the title is kind of half-assed, readers appreciate stability in creative line-ups.

* Learn to do a better job retaining talent. This includes giving writers more creative freedom, keeping the aforementioned stability going in lineups, and improve communication between editorial and talent.

* While giving the creators creative freedom is important, it is also key that they be edited. Storytelling should flow, dialog shouldn't ramble. No matter what the name, there are certain standards in good editing that should be followed -- this helps the creators and the company. If there is something sloppy or unclear, take the extra time to fix it.

* Continue searching out new talent. Case in point: Mark Bagley. Now, this was a good find! It brings a level of excitement to Trinity. But, there still needs to be a pool of new names in the mix. There are so many talented people out there either working or looking for work that it is inexcusable to have mediocrity.

As for myself, I am willing to give DC's Brand New Day a shot. This entails, somewhat, trying to ignore some of what is already out there, as I feel some of it is "lame duck" and just filler until the summer. Honestly, I'm sure DC has a list of the books that they would prefer people continue buying and the ones they hope you forget.

But whatever the case, we will all know starting in May.

Show us the money, DC.

Fangirl Fridays: Where Is DC's Matt Fraction? (And Other Questions)

" I actually had a different approach to the character. I had an opening four-issue arc that was very, very different that I was going to do, and I took way too long to come up with it. I was right on time getting it in before my first issue deadline -- and of course I didn't tell anyone what I was going to do. [Laughs] Then I turned it in and found out that there was a very specific continuity problem with the core aspect of what I was going to do, and so I had to start over and go really, really fast to come up with something for the first issue. So I'm not where I should be with the character and what I want to do with her. "
--Kelley Puckett on his current run on Supergirl

The question popped into my mind as I entered the comic store the other day:

"Who is DC's Matt Fraction?"

Matt Fraction is of course the writer on The Punisher, Iron Fist, etc., the originator of the "kicksplode" school of comic writing. His style is very distinct and he is, what they refer to in the current nomenclature, as a "hot young writer" [Fat Cobra = Character of the Year!].

Marvel seems to be developing a whole stable of these new voices, it seems, not content to merely rest on the laurels of Bendis and Brubaker. Here are a few names just off the top of my head: Matt Guggenheim, Greg Pak, Brian Reed, Dan Slott, Daniel Way, Jason Aaron. The actual list is far longer than this.

On the other hand, DC's writing lineup hasn't really changed all that much in the last 5 years. Grant Morrison is still the guy All Hopes Are Hung Upon. Geoff Johns and Keith Giffen are still the emblematic DC writers. Judd Winick is still the guy nobody understands why he is still writing these books but somehow he is.

Around the time Countdown launched, DC seemed to have an influx of new writers, and the anticipation was great. Tony Bedard, Sean McKeever, Dwayne McDuffie. And yet, what has happened?

Bedard gets caught in a (to my mind) a particularly cruel game of "writer musical chairs." I haven't been able to read a long enough run of his DC work to formulate an opinion of it.

McKeever & McDuffie get their debuts tangled in the editorially-driven clusterf**k.

Veteran writers like Tom Peyer, Kelly Puckett, and Chuck Dixon are without warning suddenly plopped into existing titles, forcing them to hastily come up with a new storyline and direction. Bedard is now added to that mix with Birds of Prey.

A great writer like Will Pfeiffer gets crucified by readers for a miniseries that was largely out of his control, a slave to editorial dictates.

Mark Waid & Greg Rucka are for the moment out of the picture.

Pete Tomasi might be considered as part of the mix of DC's hot new crop of writers, but frankly the fact that he was so very recently an editor there and now suddenly has two high-profile titles makes it slightly harder for him to prove himself. Personally, I have not read enough of Nightwing to make a determination one way or the other.

Gail Simone is the great writer who has proven herself for years -- but if her current run on Wonder Woman doesn't do fabulous, DC will use her as an internal example of why "woman books don't sell, and women writers don't sell" (I've heard this argument before).

And then there is DC's most high-profile writer of all: DCU Editorial.

Case in point: Countdown, which reads like it was put together by robots, by the same manatees that write Family Guy. No humans actually wrote that series. It was just a bunch of post-it notes strung together. That series was written by overworked, jaded editors, not Paul Dini, McKeever, Bedard, et al.

So what is DC's game plan in terms of writers? Can it be that all the DCU books are lame ducks anyway because Final Crisis will change everything? Should I even bother buying another DCU book until that time?

If I was sitting in the DC executive seat (sometime around when pigs fly and that The Dark Knight Heath Ledger talking doll with a pull-string comes out), I'd probably look to get Brian Michael Bendis & JM Straczynski . I have no inside information on that, I'm just trending this out.

And if I was at Marvel, I'd find a way to complete my collection of the best and brightest and look up whatever young DC talent is left. Including Brian Wood, who would be the biggest prize of all. Again -- no inside information, I'm just trending this out. I'd also find a way to get Neil Gaiman doing more projects. Call it the Morrison Vs. Gaiman free-for-all.

That said, 2008, in my estimation, will be interesting. Because whatever the situation at DC, if it doesn't improve it will change. And for Vertigo this goes triple (tho Will Dennis on the whole seems like a good developer of new, "kicksplody" books).

The answer to a lot of these woes is to get editorial staff who can seek out aggressively new talent. And retain them. The best they have right now is Mike Marts. He was the result of a strategic investment on DC's part, poached from Marvel. And Joey Cavalieri is like their quiet talent hunter, especially for indy talent, though I don't think he gets the recognition for it that he deserves.

That "strategic investment" aspect should drive everything DCU does from this point forward. This industry is entirely too competitive to do otherwise. There is a whole wide world of talent out there. And there is talent under their own banner that have been mishandled.

Anyway, those were just some things that popped into my head as I was buying comics the other day. Have a great weekend!

Comics Are Expensive: Teen Titans #55, Avengers: The Initiative #9, Suburban Glamour #3, Captain America #34, Northlanders #3

Note: This is the first installment of the new column by noted Expertologist Chris Lamb

I’m not good with money.

Well, that’s a matter of perspective. There’s a way of looking at things where I’m fantastic with money, only it’s the “getting it as far away from me as possible” way. This becomes a problem when it comes time to acquire little things like nourishment and shelter. I have a great love of things, you see, and a pressing need to gather up as many Comics of them as I can to line the walls, shelves, and other available flat surfaces of my home. make a big portion of these things, and as I try to rein in my disastrous spending habits in a last-ditch hope to survive, I’ve come to a few realizations. Namely, that comics are expensive.

As such, I’ve begun applying a number of draconian policies to the Dresden that is my budget. In the case of comics, I’ve limited my spending to a maximum of $30 a week. This allows me to pick up a decent handful of single issues on busy weeks or opt for a couple of trades on weeks when the quality-to-noise ratio is a bit more...unbalanced (for reference, see all of January). The purpose of this column is to vet a handful of those books each week to see if they’re still worth the money or if, sadly, it’s time for them to be put out to pasture. New books get a bit of leeway in the form of a three-issue trial period for finding-their-feet purposes, but that is the extent of my mercy. And so begins the Thunderdome of my wallet.

And spoilers ahead, for those who worry about that sort of thing.

Teen Titans #55

Writer: Sean McKeever
Artist: Jamal Igle

Confession time: While I was interested enough in McKeever coming on board Teen Titans months ago, I haven’t bought an issue since the first part of the editorially-mandated follow-up to “Titans of Tomorrow”. What I’ve heard of issues since then leads me to believe I didn’t miss much – the words “unfortunate mess” rarely inspires a need to go digging through back issue boxes.

#55, however, is his first chance to really put in motion his plans for the book since taking over writing duties, and his excitement over the chance to cut loose shows. It’s your standard bit of “meet the team” ground laying that starts off a lot of arcs, opening with the jettisoning of Supergirl now that her duties as Kon-El stand-in are complete and ending with our first hint of the threat looming on the horizon.

Along the way we get a taste of where our young heroes stand at the moment, with Wondergirl and Robin out on an actual, honest-to-god date complete with nice clothes and a conversation careening towards dangerous waters just as it’s interrupted by one of those horribly convenient bank robberies that always seem to happen in worlds with superheroes running around in them.

Meanwhile, Miss Martian is slowly going insane while Kid Devil spends most of his time moping and hating the new Blue Beetle. I quite like Kid Devil, as few other young heroes manage to capture the essence of being an awkward teen as he does. Despite realizing his dream of having super powers, he’s even more awkward than he was without them, even more ruled over by his desperate need to earn the respect of his peers and/or get in Ravage’s pants. “I think you just made my soul explode” is easily my favorite line of the book, and makes me hope for a future Titans issue focusing solely on his no-doubt amazing LiveJournal.

We also meet Dreadbolt, one of the Terror Titans destined to cause trouble for our heroes in the near future. “Dreadbolt” is, of course, a horrible name, but sounds exactly like the sort of think a kid would call himself upon both receiving powers and deciding to be evil with them. So that’s all right, then.

All in all it’s a solidly enjoyable issue, and possibly the best thing I’ve read by McKeever since he came to DC. More please.

BUY STATUS: The next two issues will ultimately decide whether I stay on board long term, but I have every hope this will continue to be a lot of fun.

Avengers: The Initiative #9

Writer: Dan Slott and Chris Gage
Artist: Stefano Caselli

“Killed in Action” continues this month with a great many B-listers (and a couple of more important characters) finding themselves just that. This arc seems to be pulling in several plot lines Slott has had simmering since the start of the series, including the first-issue death of MVP, the alien glove things powering Gauntlet and whatshername from early in the series, and of course, the unspeakable amount of comeuppance you’re clearly begging for by putting two genocidal maniacs and a bipolar inventor of killer robots with a history of spousal abuse in charge of a dozen living weapons.

Said inevitable disaster is provided by KIA, a clone of the late MVP who went a bit lopsided after having the alien super weapon that killed him attached to his arm. Personally, I blame all those videogames and hip-hoppers. Kids today, I tell you.

The issue is wall-to-wall carnage, with the seemingly unstoppable KIA appearing to cut down nearly half the cast, including comedy Nazi Baron Von Blitzshalg, enough heroes-in-training to field a softball team, and Hank Pym himself. I’m hoping Pym’s death is a bit permanent this time, as pulling the “I shrunk to atom-size at the last moment!” thing twice in one series would be a bit of a cheat.

Additional highlights include Taskmaster as the new Initiative drill instructor being generally awesome – between last issue’s take down of three giant-sized idiots and his handling of KIA this month, Slott’s take on the character is quickly becoming the most sensible character in the book, if not most of the Marvel Universe. No Faustian annulments or surrendering after a bit of property damage for this guy, oh no.

Avengers: The Initiative continues to be one of the most solid books Marvel’s putting out at the moment. I find it interesting that, along with Thunderbolts, this makes two of the Initiative’s big public operations that are currently exploding in a mess of sticky bits and limbs. Perhaps this is the new thing to do for the next couple of months, like the “everybody punches Tony Stark in the face” meme that swept the MU a few months ago?

Buy Status: Still reading every month. While I hope the rather interesting Trauma isn’t nearly as dead as he seems to be, I’m more than happy to be back next month to find out.

Suburban Glamour #3

Writer & Artist: Jamie McKelvie

I missed issue two of this, as it sold out almost immediately at every store I checked. Even with a gap in the story, this series is still every bit as engaging as the first issue was. I’ve had a huge crush on McKelvie’s art since last year’s Phonogram (easily one of the best titles of ’07) with Kieron Gillen, even if each and every one of his girls cam off looking to be the sort that would set off my crazy meter in ever met in person. If anything, that may have only helped the attraction along.

The book follows Astrid, a typical girl in her late teens with a pretty straightforward life – go to school, go to parties with friends, find yourself talking to imaginary friends long forgotten who now appear to be very, very real, learn from the lady with the new shop in town that you’re actually royalty amongst the fairy folk – y’know, the sort of thing we all dealt with. The teen drama rippling through the book is pitch-perfect, weaving in and out of the more fantastic elements to give the story the sort of ground you need backing up all the little twists and turns it pulls along the way.

McKelvie’s art is clean as can be throughout, telling the story through simple, endearing gestures and character moments that perfectly sum up their owners in an instant. Vertigo should be kicking themselves for not snapping this book up before Image got a hold of it. When not kicking themselves for all the other things they deserve it for, that is.

Buy Status: Only one more issue to go, sadly, but I’m grabbing it for certain. With any luck I can snag a copy of #2 as well.

Captain America #34
Writer: Ed Brubaker Artist: Steve Epting

And then there’s the new Captain America, the first issue with Buck taking up the shield and mantle of his former partner while opting for a new shiny suit. Thankfully, Epting opts to break away from the rather ridiculous metallic sheen of the original Alex Ross design, finding a balance that, while not quite perfect, is much easier to swallow than the patriotic traffic cone gracing the book’s cover. His art, as always, is wonderfully complementary to the dark blen