This Week In Comics: 02/02/2005

[Clayface]

Welcome to This Week in Comics for February 2nd, 2005 - February 8th, 2005!

This is the place to discuss the comics you've bought this week, whether it be a brand new title or old back-issues. We also welcome and encourage talk about comics in general - news you've read on comic news sites, the state of the industry in general, upcoming issues you're excited about, etc. All we ask is that you please use spoiler brackets in the event that your comments get too detailed concerning a particular storyline. This way the book won't be ruined for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

For a list of the new items shipping this week, please consult Diamond Comics' Shipping List (http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/shipping_020205.txt).

To find a comic book store near you, check out the Comic Shop Locator Service (http://csls.diamondcomics.com/).

Comic store too far away from where you live? Want to support Toon Zone? We've teamed up with Things From Another World (http://www.tfaw.com/) to provide an avenue for you to buy comics. Click here (http://www.qksrv.net/click-1001569-5533438?url=http://www3.tfaw.com/comics/newreleases.html?cart=3183189286606656?qt=cjtoonzone) to see a listing of this week's comics being offered by TFAW.




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Highlights of the Week!




Clayface's Pick:


http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2005-01/dcuniverse/t-adamstrange5.jpg (http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2005-01/dcuniverse/adamstrange5.jpg)

Adam Strange #5 of 8






Ace the Bathound's Pick:


http://images.tfaw.com/covers/sm/00/00071.jpg
(http://www3.tfaw.com/comics/profile.html?cart=5032051670325707&DB=c&sku=00071)

Concrete: The Human Dilemma #2




Fray's Pick:


http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2005-02/marvel/t-blackpanther01.jpg (http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2005-02/marvel/blackpanther01.jpg)

Black Panther #1



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[ArtificialIdiot]

Devlin Waugh: Swimming in Blood.

Trade collecting all of Waugh's first adventures (Grud bless Rebellion for delivering these to us!), only read the first story and the short Dredd crossover in it... freaking hilarious stuff. :D

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

OK, I've tried, but there's no theme today. No insane segues. No vague connections that reveal the secrets of the universe in random comic book links.

Oh, stop your cheering. I can hear you, you know.

The Super Articulate column on Newsarama.com covers moves by Hasbro, ToyBiz, DC Direct, and a bunch of others (http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26691). The good news is that ToyBiz Spidey Villains are apparently getting a boxed set and a refresh of Marvel Legends VII is on the way. The bad news is that DC Direct is pushing back a bunch of toys, including Contemporary Teen Titans Wave 2, Hush 3, Green Lantern 1, and Ed McGuinness Batman/Superman. Your Kilowog vs. the Vision battle will still have to wait, I guess.

(OK, one segue -- what were those guys thinking when they tried an extortion scheme involving a toy soldier (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/01/iraq.hostage/index.html)? Next they're gonna try kidnapping a Marvel Legends Captain America, which will REALLY cause some trouble as hundreds of toy collectors descend on Iraq to blast them for taking Cap out of the blister pack and ruining his collectability.)

I think I need to stop reading Scott McCloud's weblog, because he keeps posting amusing and sweet little webcomics like Questionable Content (http://www.questionablecontent.net/) that draw me in and keep me reading. Note that there isn't really that much questionable content in Questionable Content.

Mile High Comics has updated their Marvel Advance Previews (http://www.milehighcomics.com/firstlook/marvel/) with a bunch of six-pagers, including more Livewires #1 (combine it with the Pop Culture Shock preview and you have half the issue), Daredevil #70, New X-Men #10, Wolverine #25, and Uncanny X-Men #456. No full issues, though. You can still read all of X-Men Phoenix Endsong #2 (http://www.milehighcomics.com/firstlook/marvel/xpendsong2/) and then follow it up with the preview of #3 (http://www.popcultureshock.com/reviews.php?id=3865) at PopCultureShock.com.

According to the Thought Balloons blog, Stan Lee did a Q&A at some game convention (http://cube.ign.com/articles/584/584491p2.html), where he claimed ignorance of what the Golden Age and Silver Age were. I'd have more details, except I can't read the article at work.

More Robert Kirkman love about Invincible (http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26697) and the 50-cent #0 issue, available in April.

M.O.D.O.K. part 2: The Air Force wants unmanned Predator drones packing heat sooner rather than later (http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001367.html). Insert standard Terminator joke here. Follow with plug for Captain America & the Falcon.

Finally, The Rock says in an interview (http://us.imdb.com/news/sb/2005-02-02) that screen superheroes aren't believable unless they look like they can kick ass, and says Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man comes up short (scroll down about halfway). Nobody tell him about Dr. Strange. I'm also pretty sure that making live-action superheroes believable also requires more acting skill than being a man-mountain that occasionally raises an eyebrow. No link to the original interview, even though I assure you that I only read the magazine for the articles.

-- Ed/Ace

[Stu]

Finally, The Rock says in an interview (http://us.imdb.com/news/sb/2005-02-02) that screen superheroes aren't believable unless they look like they can kick ass, and says Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man comes up short (scroll down about halfway). Nobody tell him about Dr. Strange. I'm also pretty sure that making live-action superheroes believable also requires more acting skill than being a man-mountain that occasionally raises an eyebrow. No link to the original interview, even though I assure you that I only read the magazine for the articles.

-- Ed/Ace

Guess he's not playing Namor anymore then. Shame. He's not that bad an actor, has great comic timing too. :)

[PaQ]

Pretty big week for myself, mostly due to holding some over from last week, and comics finally coming in from delays.. I also picked up the latest Previews catalog that came out last week. 10 comics: 5 Marvel, 3 DC (WS), 1 Dark Horse & 1 Image (TC).

Conan #12 - An interesting issue to say the least. Conan found himself in jail, but was able to talk his way into a battle with this female bodyguard. He held his own and gained respect and is now part of the journey. I wonder if this snake guy they're talking about is the same one from the movies. ****

Witchblade #82 - Nice little twist in this issue. Finding out that the priest is one of the people behind those creatures attacking her. I saw one of the future covers, so I hope what I think might happen.. doesn't. ***

Ultimate X-men #55 - It's funny how the group of adventurous X-men might actually be the ones to save the day, well if they get past Arcade. And of course, Jean's cover for the others seems to have failed. Pretty interesting story right now. ****

Intimates #4 - Perhaps the most entertaining issue of this young series. Destra really shined, it was nice to have her get a lot of focus, and what an outfit she has. *****

New Avengers #3 - I really like the angle Bendis had been going, but this issue was my least favorite so far. I don't like the idea of Spider-Woman perhaps being involved in a behind the scene scheme, so hopefully it's nothing like that and maybe has more to do with the mystery avenger.. ***

Supreme Power #15 - Another solid issue, the ending was greatly done, with the military having now a deadly assasin at their disposal, and who I bet isn't done crossing paths with our heroes. ****

Ultimate Spider-Man #72 - A pretty good issue, I don't know what to think about Harry being back. But the tension that is created with him around is a pretty nice tool to have to work with, also with the revelation that he had relations with MJ prior to everything going down just further complicates things. Can't end good for Pete. ****

Superman #213 - Easily my favorite issue of this For Tomorrow arc, it really revealed a lot about what went on with the vanishings, and how not everyone felt this was a paradise.. KNEEL BEFORE ZOD *****

Superman/Batman #17 - An interesting issue, perhaps the coolest moment was when Supes and Bats dug up the Justice League and used Ra's volcano. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the 'parents' are behind this.. ****

Uncanny X-Men #455 - An okay issue, I only got because of Psylocke's return. X-23 seems unstable, perhaps a needed ingredient in X-men that's been sorely missed. Not enough to make me get this comic regulary mind you. ***Thoughts added. :)

[Spider-Man]

This week turned out to be more expensive than I thought but still a good week nonetheless.

Uncanny X-Men #455 (talkback (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=133037)
New Avengers #3 (talkback (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=133036))
Ultimate Spider-Man #72 (talkback (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=133038))
Marvel Team Up: Spider-Man & X-23 #5
Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks
Hulk & Wolverine: Six Hours

I know his run faltered near the end but I wanted to get all the stuff that Jones wrote for the Hulk. I liked his run and though it was pretty good for the most part. I did get a bit wonky and convoluted but it was a bit fun too.

I loved Spidey's line in Marvel Team Up #5: "Wolverine?! What have they done to you?!"

[Chad Bonin]

Monday, I caught up with a little bit of backlog (Read: Missed and random stuff)...
We3 #3
- Decent mini, but I'm glad it's over and done with.
Sonic the Hedgehog #145
- I have to get this, but it's never near the top of my pile.
Y The Last Man #30
- I think I MIGHT drop this after this storyline ends... the very storyline I hopped on. I dunno.
X-Men Unlimited #47
- Old issue, but I LOVE this cover of a Middelton-drawn Psylocke.

Wednesday, I grabbed...
Gold Digger #60
- Only grabbed, as we got an extra... ten... copies, and figured I'd give it a try.
Deadshot #3
- Lovin' this miniseries, but the art could be better.
Supreme Power #15
- Lotta fun, but I'm just waiting for them to call it "Ultimate Justice" or something.
Shanna The She-Devil #1
- Decent, great art, but I KNOW I'll be shelling out money for a five-dollar "Shanna: MAX Collector's Edition" later.
The Intimates #4
- Heh, we had to cover the cover up, as it's a little... um... risky, thanks to Jim Lee.
Darkstalkers #3
- Great art, but I don't give a darn about Talbain. Plus, I had to come to the hard decision for the Felicia cover or "Dimitri's Vampire Babes" one.
Ultimate Spider-Man #72
- Huh, new logo. I'm not exactly enjoying the series, but it's Ultimates...
Superman #213
- So... Superman created a good Phatom Zone?
X4 #3
- Decent, but the "X-Men VS Fantastic Four" fight seems shoved in.
X-Men: Phoenix Endsong #2
- ... don't know who this kid is...
Superman/Batman #17
- It's Superman/Batman.
The New Avengers #3
- NICE. Lovin' the New Avengers.
Shonen Jump #27
- ... I still need to read the last... three.

And a Wednesday pick up once it was back in stock...
Adventures of Superman #636
- Don't read it normally, but I'd give the Identity Compromised a chance.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Super-late pile of links. Apologies.

Devin Grayson talks Dick Grayson (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=4752). Also mentions her upcoming creator-owned project.

Slave Labor Graphics talks about how they've managed to recover from a drunk driver sending a Honda through their front door late last year, and what's coming this year (http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D003406).

File under "strange but cool looking indie comics": I Hunt Monsters (http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D003404). Sort of like a vaguely more serious version of Boneyard crossed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Or something.

Anybody with an e-mail address has to have received the "Nigerian Spam (http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/)" letter, where some son/wife/cousin of a king/treasury secretary/guy with big pile of money needs "help" extracting it from the country. Well, it turns out that there's now the comic-book equivalent (http://www.comicon.com/thebeat/archives/2005/02/nigerian_comics.html). It may or may not be legit, but the unfortunate similarities to the Nigerian scams make the whole thing suspect.

Luckily, Singapore is enlisting comic books to teach kids about money (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/130422/1/.html). With any luck, it'll counter the Nigerian comics scams.

The New York Daily News covers Brian K. Vaughan & Tony Harris' Ex Machina (http://www.nydailynews.com/02-03-2005/entertainment/culture/story/277152p-237407c.html), saying some real nice things about it.

Finally, putting the "comic" back in "comics" is this entirely fake news site (http://www.comicbookbreakingnews.shawbiz.ca/). Favorite headline would probably be "Warren Ellis Comics Aimed at Children Sell Well to 18-34 demographic."

-- Ed/Ace

[Clayface]

This week I picked up:

ADAM STRANGE #5 (OF 8)
CONCRETE: HUMAN DILEMMA #2 (OF 6)
DETECTIVE COMICS #803
NEW AVENGERS #3
SUPERMAN #213
SUPERMAN BATMAN #17
SUPREME POWER #15
SWAMP THING #12
TOE TAGS FEATURING GEORGE ROMERO #5

I'm also reading through most of Peter David's run on Supergirl, because of it's ties to one of my favorite books, Fallen Angel. I'm about half way through the run, and I have to say, if this is the same character in both books, I prefer the Fallen Angel incarnation far better than what I've seen here. The characters in Supergirl just aren't anywhere near as complex and interesting as what we've been given in Fallen Angel, and I much prefer the dark mysterious setting of Bette Noir in FA over the happy small-town life of Leesburgh in SG. While it's a somewhat entertaining read, I don't think Supergirl holds a candle to Fallen Angel (so far anyway), and that makes the loss of FA all that more painful for me.

I received a shipment from DCBS (http://www.dcbservice.com) this week as well. This is my first real shipment of comics from them; previous shipments were mostly statues, toys, and some TPBs. So far I'm very happy with the service. I paid to have bags and boards for each of the comics, and they arrived in fantastic shape, and very well packaged. This shipment included:

Ballad of Sleeping Beauty #6 - I still can't make up my mind on this book. It's an interesting concept, but, IMO, its written horribly. Ok, maybe "horribly" is a bit harsh, but it ain't good. Half the time, I feel like the copy I have is missing pages - jumps are made in the story that seem to skip over events that I feel like I should have seen. The whole thing is just...clunky. And sometimes I feel like events are moving too fast - we're not getting to know the characters as well as we'd like to because we're jumping from event to event and location to location. It's kinda painful to get through. But, as I said, the concept is interesting enough that I keep coming back to it to see what hapens next. I'll probably give this a few more issue before I decide to keep or drop it. 3 out of 5

John Constantine: HellBlazer - All His Engines Hardcover

Incredible Hulk #77 - This is the first issue of Peter David's new run on the title. I don't have any idea what the blue blazes is going on here, but yet I still enjoyed it. I'm confused by the ending of the issue, but I suspect we're supposed to be at least a little bit in the dark, and we'll see in future issues what this all means. I'm loving the art - especially that page with the shot of Hulk sitting behind Banner in the classroom. Too friggin' cool. I'm looking forward to future issues. 4.5 out of 5

Incredible Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Vol 1

X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong #1 (of 5)

X-23 #1 & 2 (of 6) - I was kind of hesitant about reading this one. A female clone of Wolverine? Why? I don't know - I just didn't see the point, and was afraid this would be nothing but another Wolverine book with a chick instead of a guy. And, honestly, that's pretty much what I got. But the strange thing is, I loved it. One of my favorite aspects of Wolverine is his "creation" - the things he went through while being altered and controled by the Weapon X program. No matter how many times they revisit it, I'm always fascinated by it. So when I'm given a similar flavor of story here, it just draws me in. The fact that it's being done to a little girl just makes it all that more spell-binding to me. It may not be the most original story (though the twist of who her mother is was great), but I find it to still be a great read. I'll definitely be finishing out this mini-series. 4.5 out of 5

I never got around to mentioned last week that I picked up volume 2 of Runaways. I didn't care for the first volume all that much, but I really wanted to like this book, and I'm always fearful of jumping off a title too early before it starts getting "good". Unfortunately, I was even less impressed with this second volume. Most of the characters still annoy me, and I just could bring myself to really care about their situation or the events transpiring. Guess this book just isn't for me. The good news is, I've become a member of that TPB swapping group I mentioned several weeks ago (Sequential Swap (http://www.sequentialswap.com/)), and the first trade offer I got was from someone wanting this volume. So, I'm swapping it for the Jinx TPB. Whether you think that's a trade up or down depends on your opinion of the material I suppose, but it seems like a fair trade to me.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Been awhile since I made a list:
Detective Comics 803: Best issue of Lapham's run so far, I'm finally getting into this. I really got into it this time, although its still not on the last creative teams level, but I've got Batgirl for that now.
3.5/5

New Avengers 3: After hating Disassembled, I'm loving New Avengers. All the characters are interesting, despite being a six issue arc, this really feels like a stand alone issue that is setting everything up for the future. Nice to see they got the team together finally.
4/5

Black Panther 1: Not the best issue I've ever read, but it was intriguing enough. Really nice art, and a nice story here, too. I'll be on for next issue.
3/5

Daredevil: Redemption 1: Solid start to a miniseries. Interesting premise, and this is David Hine in his environment, similar to the very well written District X(if you aren't reading that, you should). Very creepy story with a lot of emotion involved, and a lot of other strong elements. Very much looking forward to the rest of this mini.
5/5

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


I received a shipment from DCBS (http://www.dcbservice.com) this week as well. This is my first real shipment of comics from them; previous shipments were mostly statues, toys, and some TPBs. So far I'm very happy with the service. I paid to have bags and boards for each of the comics, and they arrived in fantastic shape, and very well packaged. This shipment included:

Ballad of Sleeping Beauty #6 - I still can't make up my mind on this book. It's an interesting concept, but, IMO, its written horribly.
Ain't nothing like coming home and finding a big box of comics on your doorstep, is there?

I'm also torn over Ballad of Sleeping Beauty, but for slightly different reasons. The first is that I think this was written to be a feature-length, original graphic novel, not monthly comics. If you sit down and read all the issues so far in one big sitting, I think it makes a LOT more sense. It's still kind of weird, though -- by the time I put down #5 in the marathon reading, I felt like they needed all 5 of those issues to get to where they were but still felt like they could have gotten there quicker.

I'm also confused whether this is supposed to be a mini-series or an on-going. It's kind of cool not knowing in a way, but I also can't see them keeping this going forever.

On a technical level, I think they could do a better job of distinguishing between flashbacks and present-tense storytelling. The bits where the kid is telling the story to Cole (?) is a bit easier, since they're an entire cast of characters we don't recognize, but again -- I'd prefer it if there were some kind of visual cue to let us know that it's a flashback.

The fact that I can't remember any of the characters' names is not a terribly good sign.

One thing's for sure -- Mike Hawthorne's artwork is pretty spiffy, and getting better as he goes along. There were bits in here where I felt, "This feels like a JRJr comic," and that's a GOOD thing.

-- Ed/Ace

[Clayface]

Ain't nothing like coming home and finding a big box of comics on your doorstep, is there?

Yeah, it's very cool. Having to wait for the issues instead of getting to read them the week they're released takes a little bit of getting used to. But right now I'm splitting my comic purchases up between the online purchases and weekly stops at the comic shop, so I still get my weekly fix. And it works out great in some instances, like with X-23. I was originally planning on skipping that mini-series, but the first issue was so dang cheap at DCBS that I could afford to give it a try. And in the end it turned out that I liekd it.


I'm also torn over Ballad of Sleeping Beauty, but for slightly different reasons. The first is that I think this was written to be a feature-length, original graphic novel, not monthly comics. If you sit down and read all the issues so far in one big sitting, I think it makes a LOT more sense. It's still kind of weird, though -- by the time I put down #5 in the marathon reading, I felt like they needed all 5 of those issues to get to where they were but still felt like they could have gotten there quicker.

I understand what you're saying, and I agree. It does feel like they could have gotten there quicker, and yet at the same time I don't feel like they've taken the proper time to let us get to know the characters like we should, which seems to suggest they should have gotten there slower. This is where my complaint stems from. If it was better written (better drawn?) I think both of these issues would be non-existent.


I'm also confused whether this is supposed to be a mini-series or an on-going. It's kind of cool not knowing in a way, but I also can't see them keeping this going forever.

Yep, I've been wondering the same thing. Either we get to the end of the story when they finally reach Sleeping Beauty, or there's gotta be one heck of a twist to keep the story going. The solicitations don't seem to tell you anything one way or the other.


On a technical level, I think they could do a better job of distinguishing between flashbacks and present-tense storytelling. The bits where the kid is telling the story to Cole (?) is a bit easier, since they're an entire cast of characters we don't recognize, but again -- I'd prefer it if there were some kind of visual cue to let us know that it's a flashback.

Definitely. I've made that complaint in the past. There was one issue (I can't remember which now), where I was completely confused by the flashbacks, because I couldn't figure out when I was reading a flashback and when I wasn't. I don't know how long it took me to decipher the dang issue, but I miffed by the time I was done. Not a good way to keep your readership.


The fact that I can't remember any of the characters' names is not a terribly good sign.

LOL! Yep. You've got fat bearded guy, kid, gunslinger guy, his love interest, and villian-type guy. At least, that's how I know 'em.


One thing's for sure -- Mike Hawthorne's artwork is pretty spiffy, and getting better as he goes along. There were bits in here where I felt, "This feels like a JRJr comic," and that's a GOOD thing.

Absolutely. The art is great, and that, combined with the interest concept, has kept me coming back. But just barely. If I knew for sure that this was an ongoing series, I'd probably drop it now. But the hope that we're going to see the end of this story has been enough to keep me purchasing the book (well, that, and the reduced price I pay for it by ordering it online). :D

[Conekiller]

I picked up

DarkStalkers # 3 (Feleica/Talbain cover, I love Felicia, and I liked how th ecoloring was on this one as opposed ot the equally badass Demitri cover, which everyon else inthe shop was buying) Neet ish the rounds out the secondary characters (I never liked Donovan) and gives us an interesting dog/cat chemistry with Talbain and Felicia. I wonder why there's CatWomen but no CatMen.... The Demitri back up was servicable but lacking in much story. I like the Darkstalkers Jr. segments ^__^ B-

Space Ghost #2-3 (I need #1, art looks prettier than I was expecting) Pretty intersting, I got the gyst of what was going on fairly well, but I don't quite understand what "the wrath" is yet. B+ on both

Metal Gear Solid# 3-4

Sonic the Hedgehog # 145: BLAH! the dialoge in this one ws so overblown and stilted. some editors must've really been sleeping ont he job, or this ish was crapped out ina atimely fasion, here's hoping the rest of the Shadow arc is leaps and bounds over this. IIRC this is one of the few times I've ben seriously disapointed with the book. I'm not liking Dawn Best's art in this as much as her older (read: fanart) stuff, Sonic doesn't need Butt Muscles!:mad: D+

Army of Darkness: Shop Till you Drop..Dead # 1 (of 4) : I'm loving this series, from the dialogue to the fantastic art. I hope they do explain why Sheila's not in the past. and I hope they keep the variant covers to a minimum, I find it increasingly difficult to get one I like. A-

[rggkjg1]

after 2 weeks, the snow has melted and i have been able to get out and get to my store once again.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #17 - great issue. this time travel stuff is starting to give me a headache though. we've been through it 2 weeks straight in justice league and now we have batman and superman in their own little time travel adventure. to much time travel in a short period of time!
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #636 - unfortunately i dont have any issue in between 633 and 636. so i obviously missed alot. it looks like superman may begin to have his own personal identity crisis. even though i love this book so much, i cant subscribe to it yet. once i drop marvel knights spider-man, i'll begin to pick this up. i'll soon be dropping alot of marvel books, so hopefully i'll be able to get every superman title out.
NIGHTWING #102 - i am a little dissapointed by one thing. i thought we would see dick grayson as robin more than what we have already seen. oh well, it is called nightwing: year one after all.
SUPERMAN #213 - well. the "return" of general zod. i guess mr azzarello had his heart in the right place for bringing back general zod. except the fact that he has done it in the worst possible way imaginable. hopefully after all this is done general zod will be a mainstream superman villain from now on, as he disereves to be.
ROBIN #134 - good issue. i havent read the batgirl issues which were part of the recent cross over.
THE QUESTION #4 - finnally, the meeting with superman.
SUPERMAN STRENGTH #2 - so far, superman strength looks to be one of the best mini series of the year.
JLA CLASSIFIED #3 - this arc was alright. unfortunately alot of the focus was on the ultramarine corps. it was nice to see ed mcguinnesswork on the justice league.

dollar books:
NEW X-MEN 124
GHOST RIDER #5 & 6 - guest starring the punisher. i am new to ghost rider and i am getting ready for garth ennis' up coming series and the movie. if you have any ghost rider recomendations, please send me a private message.
DETECTIVE COMICS #598, 744, 759 - 598 was great. i hope to come across 599 and 600 soon. 744 and 759 were 2 part stories written by greg rucka. every time i find an issue of rucka's detective comics, it is always in the middle of a story..
LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #2, 5, 27 & ANNUAL #1 - all of these issues have one thing in common, dennis o'neil....

ebay:
UNCANNY X-MEN # 138

[jlaking]

FIRESTORM #10
JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE #8
SUPERMAN BATMAN #17
SUPERMAN #213


Haven't gotten a chance to read them yet.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Not many today, but one of them is a doozy: one monster of an Alan Moore interview (http://www.enginecomics.co.uk/interviews/jan05/alanmoore.htm) from Engine Comics in the UK. When I say "monster," I mean that in multiple ways. I'm getting a headache reading it, and I'm not sure if it's because of the tiny tiny font (remedied quickly with browser tools), the white-on-black text (which is a pain to read), or Moore's ideas trying their best to make my head explode. Maybe a combination of all three.

Speaking of making your head explode, ComicBookResources.com's "Calling Manga Island" column goes to Cromartie High School this week (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=cmi&article=2084). Reading this review makes me happy I made room to pre-order it in the March batch of comics.

Fans of the TV show 24 may be interested in the 24 Stories tie-in comic (http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D003407) which is a setup for events in season 3, and which the show producers approved with no changes (for whatever that's worth).

Finally, we have Yet Another Refutation that There Are No Comics For Kids Anymore: The Adventures of Astrodog (http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D003410). Terminally cute, with a few seemingly disconnected preview pages. Scores points for originality, even if they misspell "border collie."

-- Ed/Ace

[Spider-Man]

Incredible Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Vol 1 On Friday I went back to the comic store to pick this up even though I shouldn't have. I already spent alot of money on those other Hulk trades but on the spur of the moment I opted to pick it up. I've only begun to read it and it's actually not that bad. I am a bit lost on the comic book I'm sure I'll be able to find my footing.

And this Grey Hulk action is pretty interesting. I'll definitely pick up the Hulk: Grey TPB whenever that comes out.

[Pyro]

I had been going through new comic withdrawal for a while which is not a good thing. There are so many books I like right now, I don't know if I can handle it. So, last Wednesday I went my store and picked up:

Runaways Digest vol. 3 "The Good Die Young" - I had been anticipating this digest so much. I could barely stop reading once I picked it up. This was sort of a change in direction for this book because everything was working on a grander scale. It was really interesting to see how this unfolded and it kept me guessing. It was great! My only complaint was with the printing of this particular digest. The image wasn't very clear, especially for the dark areas. The printings for the other digests were better, but that could also be attributed to the changes in the art. Even though the same artist is doing this whole series (including the upcoming issue #1) the art has changed throughout, probably because of colorists and inkers, and I think it's becoming less pleasing to look at.

New X-Men #9 - I was so despondent when I opened it up to find that Michael Ryan didn't do the art, despite his name being on the front cover. Not that the fill-in artist did a poor job, it was fine, but I missed Ryan and I wonder how many more issues he's going to miss. That just makes this title more unbalanced with the inconsistency in art. Next issue is Paco Medina (:(), which I am not looking forward to, and he'll probably stay for that 2 part arc. Come back Ryan! As for the story, it was a good ending to a good arc. Not great, but still good.

Uncanny X-Men #454 - Ok. I don't get Claremont's writing anymore, like it's hard to follow what's going on. The artist isn't bad, but I think it looks too rough-edged for my tastes.

Uncanny X-Men #455 - (talkback)

Fantastic Four #522 - Another delightful issue. Interesting developments. I learned a little more about Galactus's origin and am eager to see what happens next with him. I'm gonna miss Waid & Weiringo. And it was cool to see what Paul Mount's had to say about coloring in the letters page.

I also picked up some books I'll be getting on my birthday. Can't wait!

[Clayface]

Well, I consider it big news anyway. Marvel just sent out this press release:


ED BRUBAKER GOES EXCLUSIVE WITH MARVEL COMICS!


Ed Brubaker and Marvel Comics are proud to announce that they have inked a deal for the fan-favorite comics scribe to write exclusively for the House of Ideas.

“After years and years on exclusive at the competition, I wasn’t planning to be anything but freelance for a long time,” reports Brubaker. “But Joe and Dan simply made me an offer that was too good to refuse.” The agreement between the writer and Marvel is of a very special sort, one that Brubaker seems highly pleased with. “It offers me the chance to work on characters I’ve loved since childhood, as well as unprecedented freedom to finish all my prior commitments and to do creator-owned work, either at Marvel or elsewhere.” Brubaker is currently penning his debut series with Marvel, CAPTAIN AMERICA.

Brubaker is perhaps best known for his long run on DC’s CATWOMAN and for co-creating the award winning GOTHAM CENTRAL series. He’s also especially prideful of SLEEPER, his critically acclaimed project with Sean Phillips for Wildstorm. Nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Writer four times in the past five years, Brubaker has in addition gone on to win two Media Awards, the Prism and the GLAAD award. He’s had creator-owned projects optioned for film adaptation, one of which, “The Fall”, is currently in development by fellow-writer David Goyer’s Phantom Four Films.

Reflecting on his recent project, the busy writer says, “Honestly, I’ve been having the time of my life on CAPTAIN AMERICA, thanks to Steve Epting, Frank D’Armata, Michael Lark, and Tom Brevoort and his hench-people. It’s probably the most flat-out fun I’ve had in the entire work-for-hire part of my career. So, the opportunity to continue doing that and some other big projects that are on the horizon, approaching fast, just makes Marvel the perfect fit for me right now.”

“Never let it be said that Mighty Marvel is home to fantastic artists only,” says Joe Quesada, Marvel Comics’ Editor-in-Chief. “We have a history of having the best writers too, and when he heard that Ed would be interested in settling down for a stay with us we knew we had to jump on this opportunity. Ed’s work is hard-hitting and that dark under-belly of the Marvel Universe is calling his name."

Marvel Publisher Dan Buckley sums it up tersely. “We just know that Ed’s going to blow us away. Bring it on!”

Guess that means the end of Brubaker on Gotham Central. Very disappointing.
:(

[KuwabaraTheMan]

That's great news, the first two issues of Captain America have been great so far. Any chance Brubaker could be taking over Daredevil when Bendis leaves?

[Robin]

Guess that means the end of Brubaker on Gotham Central. Very disappointing.:(No pointkeeping this book if Brubaker leaves. Well there goes one of the few good Batman titles that DC has.

[randomguy]

No pointkeeping this book if Brubaker leaves. Well there goes one of the few good Batman titles that DC has.
Well, we still have Greg Rucka, who's been alternating the writing chores with Brubaker for a while now. Personally, I think the exclusivity agreement is a bit of a pity. I like Brubaker's work with DC, and he has a great understanding of a lot of its characters. I'll miss him on Gotham Central.

And yeah, rumor on the street is that Brubaker and Michael Lark are the next creative team for Daredevil, which would be awesome if true. We won't find out for sure for quite a while, though. I don't think Bendis and Maleev are leaving the book until December or so.

[Clayface]

Well, we still have Greg Rucka, who's been alternating the writing chores with Brubaker for a while now. Personally, I think the exclusivity agreement is a bit of a pity. I like Brubaker's work with DC, and he has a great understanding of a lot of its characters. I'll miss him on Gotham Central.

Yeah, I agree, at least we've got Rucka. I imagine they'll bring someone else in to share the writing chores with him. I'd like to see Lapham do it - he's writing a pretty interesting and intense story in Detective right now. I just fear they'll bring in their (apparently) favorite son, Judd Winnick. *shudder*

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Seems like a day for long posts from me...

Pipeline's Augie DeBlieck covers the Previews April catalog (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=6).

File under: "Sneaking in on a technicality." Emerald City Comicon news from a pile of creators (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=4779). News on Kurt Busiek's run on JLA (the story that he was the writer for the "foreseeable future?" Yeah, that really meant "this story arc."), Gail Simone, Ed Brubaker, Brian Michael Bendis, and Greg Rucka. Also has recent photos of all the above. This would have ended up here instead of the News Ticker if not for the bit that Bruce Timm is going to draw a fill-in Conan story.

File under: "um, right." Comicon.com's PULSE News covers Pig Tale (http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D003417), which is about (I quote):


"Boston Booth, an amateur private eye whose life is in financial and professional turmoil, when he runs into Clyde, an intelligent talking pig desperate to get away from his violent wolf stepbrother, Taxx."
I've been known to order things based on a sufficiently outlandish Previews blurb. Pig Tale just cleared that hurdle with room to spare. It helps that the arwtork is oddly compelling.

Attention Buffy Fans: Angel comes back to comics via IDW (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27047) and an Angel novel writer. I'd make an Angel joke, but I kind of lost track after the second or third season. Best I can come up with is "They called Charisma Carpenter a cow!"

Look, just read that last joke and then read the JLA: Classified #4 (http://www.popcultureshock.com/reviews.php?id=3877) ("I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League!") preview and pretend any laughs you got were from my joke, OK?

Miss the Marvel Comics superheroes ad due to a bio break, a sudden seismic tremor, or the fact that you think football is more boring than watching space dust become dirt? iFilm has the ads (http://dyn.ifilm.com/superbowlads/). I guess trailers for new comic-book movies are there, too.

Joe Quesada has taken over Newsarama for a week (http://www.newsarama.com/Qrama/Qrama1.htm). I predict that most of the rest of the week will be articles that don't deal with the headline of the article. "Quesadarama" is pretty funny, though.

Via Scott McCloud and Neil Gaiman (http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/mi/mi.html): the best way to answer with finality the eternal question: "Who'd win in a fight, Superman or Thor?" (http://thesurrealist.co.uk/monkey.cgi?att=Superman&def=Thor) All I'll say is: Marvel fans don't get your hopes up.

In the "real" news: French cartoonist says Bush would understand the Middle East if he read Arabic cartoons (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&month=February2005&file=Local_News2005020623959.xml). I believe this man has done us all a service, because we can point and laugh at him no matter WHAT political stripe you are.

Mike Carey and Michael Avon Oeming talk about their upcoming Red Sonja (http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27064) comic. The good news is that the artist is, in fact, able to draw more than a female butt. The bad news is that there's some stray comments that make me think Carey and Oeming are going to make ol' Red a self-appointed Judge Dredd of the Hyborean vice squad.

Finally, a prank in Hornell, NY, pays tribute to the late Frank Kelly Freas (http://www.eveningtribune.com/articles/2005/02/02/news/news01.txt), who gave us MAD Magazine's Alfred E. Newman, in a way that I'd like to think he'd get a big kick out of.

-- Ed/Ace

[KuwabaraTheMan]

File under: "Sneaking in on a technicality." Emerald City Comicon news from a pile of creators (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=4779). News on Kurt Busiek's run on JLA (the story that he was the writer for the "foreseeable future?" Yeah, that really meant "this story arc."), Gail Simone, Ed Brubaker, Brian Michael Bendis, and Greg Rucka. Also has recent photos of all the above. This would have ended up here instead of the News Ticker if not for the bit that Bruce Timm is going to draw a fill-in Conan story.

Those pictures prove once and for all that comic writers are ugly and comic artists are not.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Some days the theme suggests itself. Seems most of today's links involve collisions between comics and the "Real World."

First, we have USA Today's feature about Supervillains vs. brute reality (http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2005-02-07-supervillains_x.htm), a quasi-review of The Science of Supervillains (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471482056/qid=1107900101/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-2003060-1000127?v=glance&s=books). Answers provided for those who just want the punch line are: Poison Ivy yes with one caveat, Doc Ock maybe, and Magneto "are you kidding me?"

Speaking of kidders, Cracked magazine has apparently been sold to a business in Kuwait (http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=103749&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=27324) that has, up to now, focused on the Arab and Islamic markets. After many attempts, I can't make a decent joke about this, so I'm just going to quit right here.

I'd make a segue from the "can't make a decent joke" bit above to a news story about Garfield, except that this story indicates a certain fat cat is going to participate in a child literacy effort assisted by Charles Schwab (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050208/cgtu009_1.html). Well, if it gets kids reading, I suppose...

As long as they're reading what's age-appropriate for them, which isn't helped by the library staff in the Australian library that stuck Mark Waid & Barry Kitson's Empire TPB amongst the kids comics section (http://bendigo.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category=general%20news&story_id=369393&m=2&y=2005). Anybody who's read Empire knows the punch line to this story, but let's just say that a comic book based on the premise of "what happens if the Supervillain wins?" and then proceeds to show you in gruesome detail is NOT my idea of suitable kids lit. File under "Not All Comics Are For Kids" or "Librarians really should NOT make assumptions" I guess. Depending on how deep this kid got into the story, he's in for some SERIOUS therapy. I read it months ago, and I'M still a little freaked out by it.

The comic mentioned in THIS article (http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=1068), on the other hand, IS for kids and I really wish it weren't, because it teaches them how to avoid landmines. At best, at least it's not teaching them how to dodge the border guard. It's in French, so either brush up on your je suis or try one of the auto translators out there.

This comic isn't for kids (http://www.hpana.com/news.18488.html), but for the soldiers in the United States Army. Preventive Maintenance Monthly magazine (where one Will Eisner worked oh so long ago) did a parody of Harry Potter in comic book format, drawn by no less than Joe Kubert, and meant as a humorous reminder that preventive maintenance saves lives.

J.K. Rowling isn't laughing (http://www.newsarama.com/Qrama/PotterComics.htm). Stay tuned.

And speaking of lawsuits, Joe Casey & Matt Fraction take on the Stan Lee/60 Minutes II flap (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=tbt&article=2087) in what is simultaneously the most thoughtful and the most profane discussion about it I've seen so far.

Getting some more favorable press time is one of my favorite authors from the 80's: John Ostrander due to the relaunch of GrimJack (http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/articles/news1-Grimjack.htm). Apparently he got front-page newspaper coverage of an in-store signing, and gets to spend quite a bit of time talking up the series.

To close it off, we have Mike Carey talking about Marvel's (http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D003425)Spellbinders (http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D003425) and Dave Gibbons talking about DC's Rann/Thanagar war mini-series (http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D003424), both courtesy of Comicon.com's PULSE News. Mike gets preview artwork, Dave doesn't.

Finally, it's only tangentially comics related, but I got a link here for a printable coupon from Barnes & Noble to get 10% off everything you buy (http://dealmac.com/articles/80465.html). It expires TODAY, Feb 8, so hurry hurry and buy some comics from them.

-- Ed/Ace