This Week In Comics: 02/22/2006

[Clayface]

Welcome to This Week in Comics for February 22nd, 2006 - February 28th, 2006!

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_022206.txt).

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


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Highlights of the Week!



Ace the Bathound's Pick:

http://www.dccomics.com/media/covers/4842_180x270.jpg (http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=4842)
Solo #9




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[Jor-El]

Let me be the first (second, counting Ace,) to endorse Solo #9. It's got a great, albeit short, Batman story in there written by my comic book guy (when I am living in NC) John Hitchcock! He's a really awesome guy. Visit his shop's website http://www.partsunknown.net/ for some really cool interviews and materials (he has links to letters Alex Toth wrote him as well as video interviews with JACK KIRBY that he conducted himself back in the 1980's!)

SOLO is the single best book being published by DC right now but I feel like it is woefully underrated (though I have no evidence to support myself :p) Comic greats such as Tim Sale, Darwyn Cooke, Mike Allred, and Teddy Kristiansen have been involved with the book in the past and all produced absolutely beautiful issues with stories that puts any of the Infinite Crisis BS ("Infinite Crisis Crossover! An OMAC appears in the sky for a panel!")

I encourage everyone to track down all the issues of this book while you can. These stories likely will not be collected anywhere else and they are worth having if you're a fan of comics at all.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


SOLO is the single best book being published by DC right now but I feel like it is woefully underrated (though I have no evidence to support myself images/smilies/tongue.gif) Comic greats such as Tim Sale, Darwyn Cooke, Mike Allred, and Teddy Kristiansen have been involved with the book in the past and all produced absolutely beautiful issues with stories that puts any of the Infinite Crisis BS ("Infinite Crisis Crossover! An OMAC appears in the sky for a panel!")
I'll second that blanket recommendation, although with the advisory that it is an anthology book and, like any anthology book, it'll have high points and low points. I think the Darwyn Cooke issue was the best of the best so far, with the Mike Allred issue coming in very close behind. However, it did turn me on to Jordi Bernet, who is an artist I'd have never known anything about if not for the book.

In fact, I keep wondering whether I should get the Paul Pope Solo issue, seeing as I thought his 100% TPB was OK, but kind of messy artistically and narrative..ically. I also wonder if I should take a crack at his Batman: Year 100, which is definitely making him the darling of the mainstream media (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1140264509172) these days (how's THAT for a segue into today's BPoL!).

And speaking of living in the future, it's time for today's Comic Book Science link, with reports on fungus that eats explosives (http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8755&feedId=online-news_rss20). At last, the Human Bomb (http://www.toonopedia.com/h-bomb.htm) has met his match! Is anybody else mildly surprised that DC continues to use this character occasionally?

Oh, but who wants to live in the future, when we have so much of the NOW to live in. Like the New York Comic Con (http://www.nycomiccon.com/), which makes me simultaneously excited and really kind of freaked out, 'cuz the Javits center is, like REALLY BIG. However, BPoL Most-Favored-Writer Brian K. Vaughan has posted his NYCC schedule (http://bkv.tv/pages/blog/2006/02/my-official-nyc-comic-con-schedule.html) so I can stalk him proper-like and get him to meet me and the missus and sign my Great Big Runaways Hardcover.

Speaking of NYCC, now's as good a time as any to say that there may not be another BPoL until next Monday, since I'm off to a cocktail party tomorrow night hosted by Scholastic's Graphix graphic novel imprint (http://www.scholastic.com/graphix/), and after that is Comic-Con Comic-Con Comic-Con. Plus a Marcia Ball (http://www.marciaball.com/) concert on Friday night. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

You know who else must get really tired? Robert Kirkman. Dude writes, like, 72 comic books a month. Just look at all the stuff he previews in the latest "Buy My Books" column (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=bmb&article=2388).

And speaking of previews, here's some first looks for Marvel's March 15 releases (http://popcultureshock.com/features.php?id=1307), including Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Runaways. Then you can follow it up with some DC One Year Later previews. Part the first (http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/OYLpreviews/day1.html) contains the new Busiek Aquaman, Catwoman, and Hawkgirl, and part the second (http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/OYLpreviews/day2.html) contains Firestorm, JSA, and Green Arrow.

Finally, some sad news. It seems that iBooks publishing is filing for bankruptcy (http://www.comicon.com/thebeat/2006/02/ibooks_files_for_bankruptcy.html). They managed to put out some really neat stuff while they were out there, but it seems that the sudden death of founder Byron Preiss last July knocked the company into a tailspin it couldn't recover from. I don't know what this will do to Joe Kubert's Yossel: April 14, 1943 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1596878266/qid=1140660171/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-2033468-3064038?v=glance&s=books) or Don Lomax's absolutely superb Vietnam Journal (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/074345894X/qid=1140660199/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-2033468-3064038?v=glance&s=books) and Gulf War Journal (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743486692/qid=1140660199/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/002-2033468-3064038?s=books&v=glance&n=283155), but I'd say grab 'em while the grabbin's good, 'cuz who knows where they're going to end up.

Today's BPoL review will be for the G.L.A.: Misassembled TPB (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785116214/qid=1140660366/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/002-2033468-3064038?n=283155) and the GLX-mas Special. Some fans of Dan Slott's work didn't care much for these comics, but while I don't think it's as sublimely great as stuff like She-Hulk or Arkham Asylum Living Hell, I think they're still hellaciously funny. Some readers commented that the mini-series ended up succumbing to the darkness that it was mocking, or that the barbs at the comic book industry and comic book fandom went too far. Personally, it appealed to me as humor of the blackest kind, and I think it cuts as deep as comic fandom allows (or forces) it to. It helps that it's making fun of almost everything I think is awry with mainstream comics these days, too. In a lot of ways, I think G.L.A. is driven by the same impulse that produced Gerard Jones' Green Lantern: Mosaic series in the 90's. Jones himself stated that he wrote Mosaic when the pressure of the regular GL gig started getting to him, and he just wanted to scream, "It just doesn't make any sense!"

Then again, sometimes I think I'm the only one in the world who really liked Mosaic, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

The original mini and the X-Mas special also have a solid core of anguish and good old-fashioned superhero angst underneath. Some may feel that making the heroes such losers is counterproductive -- superheroes are supposed to be heroic power fantasies, after all. I think it makes them comparable to Wile E. Coyote. Maybe he ends up hoisted by his own petard more often than not, and maybe he'll never get that Road Runner, but he will keep trying no matter what, and he will never, ever give up, even if he is a loser in the end. Chuck Jones always felt that was heroic, and I'm inclined to agree.

The Misassembled TPB contains the complete 4 issue mini-series with all covers, and also reprints West Coast Avengers #46, which featured the team's debut, and Marvel Super Heroes #8, which debuted Squirrel Girl as she takes down Doctor Doom. No, really. The former issue was written and drawn by John Byrne, I believe before he became a raving lunatic, and the latter was plotted and drawn by -- no kidding -- Steve Ditko. Yeah, I can't figure out that one, either. If anything, seeing the earlier stories makes the mini-series yet another demonstration of Slott's masterful skill at absorbing and using continuity while forging off in new directions. Nearly everything in G.L.A. has its roots in what was there before, but Slott still manages to take it someplace new and interesting without resorting to the usual "everything you know is wrong" tricks.

-- Ed/Ace

[Spider-Man]

I was able to pick up a couple extra trades this week so I had a pretty good amount of comics to pick up. I’ll go into more detail for the books that have talkbacks (as everyone should :)) so I’ll just leave a brief comment or two.

Amazing Spider-Man #529 (talkback (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=161003)) - Wasn’t anything special but it didn’t engage me either. My interest is really slipping in the Spider-Man books as of late.

Batman #650 (talkback (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=161000)) - Aside from a nice exploration of why Batman doesn’t kill this was a pretty ho-hum issue with an unsatisfying conclusion. I don’t want Jason Todd back.

Astonishing X-Men #13 (talkback (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=161007)) - a great transition issue which has me really anticipating the rest of the opening arc. There’s something not right with Emma.

Wolverine #39 (talkback (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=161005)) - So the Winter Soldier was responsible for some terrible things in Wolverine’s past? Not that impressed.

Ultimate Spider-Man #90 (talkback (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=161006)) - A lot of fun! Really enjoyed it!

As for the trades I was finally able to get my hands on a copy of The Punisher MAX: Volume 1 softcover and I loved it. It collected the first six issues from the newest incarnation of the comic series. I’m gonna rush out and get the next trade as soon as I can. I just absolutely devoured this comic cover to cover. I also picked up the new collection of the Green Arrow series and enjoyed that as well. I’m really glad to see Scott McDaniel take over the art chores on that comic.

I also picked up Wizard and found it to be the usual affair but their preview of Civil War does make the project look better but I’m still highly skeptical of it.

I also have a couple cool links from Newsarama that posters might like. A classic piece of Jim Aparo art will be appearing in Batman Annual #25 and you can see it here (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=60230). And Bryan Hitch is drawing the cover for the second printing of The Incredible Hulk #92 and it looks great!


http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/Hulk/922ndprinting.jpg

[Damien]

Hit MegaCon in Orlando yesterday. Picked up Green Lantern #1 and the last part of a Question miniseries for a friend, and for myself:

-Just Imagine Stan Lee's The Flash

-Sandman Mystery Theatre #1-10, except for #6-8, which they didn't have.

-Cleopatra of the Nile #1, signed by the star herself. Incidentally, she also included an...interesting...catalogue.

[Anthonynotes]

Stuff bought on Saturday:

- I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League TPB

- Uncle Scrooge

[BlackCat]

I decided to pick up a couple of books before tomorrow.

DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore TPB - I've been looking for a good collection of his work, since the previous TPB is hard to find.

Teen Titans : Beast Boys & Girls TPB - Since I'm caught up with some other series, I finally decided to start Teen Titans. So far, not bad.

[Anthonynotes]

Just finished "I Can't Believe..." Pretty funny, and greatly enjoyed reading about Sue Dibny as a character. Too bad about the nonsense that happened to all of these guys in "Identity Crisis"/"Infinite Crisis", esp. since the characterizations there don't make sense vs. how they're shown here (Max Lord here's an amoral businessman with Beetle working for him... no indication he seems like someone who'd shoot Beetle in the head and get killed by Wonder Woman all in a gory manner). Meh... guess it's back to looking for back issues with Sue prominently featured (to read more of her adventures with hubby Ralph)...

-B.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


Meh... guess it's back to looking for back issues with Sue prominently featured (to read more of her adventures with hubby Ralph)...

Go check out Justice League Quarterly #6 from spring 1992. The lead is an "Elongated Man's birthday story" by Mark Waid and Eduardo Barreto that's pretty close to a "play fair" mystery, where all the clues you need to solve the mystery on your own are provided for you in the story. It's a barrel of laughs. Barreto has a tendency to go for some gratuitous cheesecake shots, but they're really good cheesecake shots and I certainly can't fault his sequential storytelling skills.

-- Ed/Ace