CUP o’ KRYPTONITE

It has not been a good weekend.  The shop’s main computer succumbed to its virus on Saturday and was pronounced dead at approximately 8:45 that evening.  The shop computer, also known as that stupid slow ass piece of crap, was diagnosed with a pathogen that slowly drove it and others around it berserker mad.  Truly sad is the fact that in its final moments and in a fit of dementia shop computer convinced the POS Point of Sale and Internet Café Software to go with it into the waiting hands of sweet oblivion.  Funeral services for the three have not yet been planned.

What I’m saying is I’ve been working long and hard to get this new POS up and running and won’t have much for you this week.  That and Ronnie and I drank ourselves into a stooper after losing big on the Bears last night.

Interview with Grant…

Found a great link to an interview with Grant Morrison, writer of Batman and Robin.  Give it a read if you have time: comics.ign.com/articles/106/1063765p1.html.  Why do I keep talking about this book?  Because a) it is better than all the other cape and cowl books on the rack and b) you keep buying it.  It is by far our best selling comic (that is not a mini-series about undead ring wielding super-freaks.)  It is our best seller by almost double the next comic.

People like Batman and now more than ever one of the caped crusaders books isn’t complete unreadable crap either.  So, go read the article and enjoy.

Disturbing news…

I found some disturbing news this last week.  Bleeding Cool was the first to post some pseudo official information on a Watchmen 2 comic sequel and/or prequel.  I will post links in a bit, but the basic gist of the articles is that with Paul Levitz “stepping down” as President of DC, editor and chief Dan Didio would finally push through this project to make profits and impress his new overlor… er, bosses.

This project has been rumored for some time, even long before a movie was in the works and though financially this sounds like a no brainer, you need to understand some history (and have read the original) to know why this is the worst of comics never ending stream of bad ideas.

Alan Moore, writer of Watchmen, has not had a good history with DC due to issues with royalties, creator rights and merchandising.  Obviously there would be no Alan Moore on this project and even though Paul Levitz didn’t see eye to eye with Moore on many an issue, Levitz would never have let this idea of a Watchmen sequel come to pass.

Levitz is one of the great 70’s and early 80’s writers and is most predominately known for his long and beloved run on The Legion of Superheroes.  Levitz has been criticized for, lack of better words, not being Marvel and it finally cost him his job.  Levitz had a good and stable run as head of DC and though DC may not have ever dominated the sales charts during his tenure, the company never went bankrupt and was always profitable.

If you were paying attention last fall after Marvel was sold to Disney, DC announced some changes in how they would be doing business under their long time corporate umbrella Warner Brothers.  Levitz resigned to move back to writing – in other words was pushed out – as Warner wanted one of their own controlling how the comics were being streamlined to make the parent company more money.  And yes, you can read that as they wanted the comics to be better turned into movies, TV and other forms of film like animation.

As sad as this all is, it is to be expected.  Warner couldn’t sit back and watch as it’s film rivals churned out super hero success after super hero success and they didn’t have to pay a dime for rights.  This is not to even mention all the actual potential (and actual quality) that exists in the Vertigo vault.  So… of course without the last roadblock a corporate shill like Didio would gladly take marching orders to make more Watchmen.  “Yes Sir, Madam.  How much, How many and How fast?  Quality is no issue here at the new DC!!”

I got to meet Paul Levitz at a comic convention a few years ago.  He was THE HEAD of the publisher, President and he was on the floor and greeting customers and retailers, signed autographs and took questions at panels.  I was able to spend a little time with him and two of the best people I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting at a con, Louise and Walter Simonson.  Levitz was an average guy and I’m guessing will be much happier just writing and not dealing with the crap what I’m sure comes with running a comic company.

It is just very sad that things he fought to keep from seeing the light of day are now the first things to be rolled out only months after leaving office.

Here are some links – YEP, all Bleedingcool.com.  Why even bother going anywhere else?:

The Rumblings First:

www.bleedingcool.com/2010/02/03/get-ready-for-watchmen-2/

Rich lists out all the potential of Vertigo for the mindless hordes of Hollywood:

www.bleedingcool.com/2010/02/04/the-untapped-movie-mine-of-vertigo-comics/

Why I use “” around the words News when referring to comic “news”:

www.bleedingcool.com/2010/02/05/watchmen-2-how-modern-journalism-works/

And possible confirmation:

www.bleedingcool.com/2010/02/05/richard-pace-confirms-possible-existence-of-watchmen-2-project/

Good week to you all.  I hope the weekend was good and I’m coming to you with calming air and incense floating on your computer screen.  May the sound of my voice in your head come like a Blue Lantern of Hope (I don’t know, it was the only thing I could think of.)

I promised someone I would sound more upbeat and make my e-mail not quite such a downer.  There you go Dan, flowery enough for you?  Good.  Now that you are all filled with Hope, joy and peace (notice I didn’t say Compassion, I don’t like the Purple Lanterns or is it that I don’t like Purple?) let’s move on to mocking Marvel.

Insert Joke Here…

If you went to any of the regular comic “news” sites, you probably saw that there was a fairly major accident involving a truck carrying Marvel comic books to a Diamond.  No one was hurt apparently, but a bunch of Marvel product was damaged and/or destroyed.  Supposedly Marvel is going back to press quickly on this and there should be additional printings of these books.

Our distribution hub was the one most affected by this, however, we were lucky and there will not be any title to greatly affected by this.  If you pull Invincible Iron Man off the shelf (I.e. it isn’t on your pull list, you might want to e-mail me.)

Batman & Robin #7…

What a difference a real artist who can actually draw makes.  Batman and Robin #7 was such a breath of fresh air this last week (in a week that saw a slew of good books.)  I know my two comrades in comics, Curt and Kyle, loved the issue too, and I’m sure we would all agree that the art was such a huge improvement.

I can not stand Philip Tan’s work.  He’s no Rob Liefeld, but he is a not good either.  There is one panel in issue four that has me especially pissy.  It had Alfred, Damian and Dick all in it and the only way you can tell them apart is because of costumes.  Now, Cameron Stewart’s work is so crisp and clean, it is very much like coming to the other side of a great fog.

If you do not know Stewart’s work, you should check out Sea Guy which he worked on with Grant Morrison.  Some very weird and trippy stuff, but also just enough old school comic cool to make it fun.

I personally loved the tour around London in this latest issue.  If you have ever been to the great city, you had to notice all the great landmarks.  If you have not, Rich Johnston of Bleedingcool.com has a nice little write up on what was what and a helpful little glossary of terms.

www.bleedingcool.com/2010/01/28/batman-and-robin-7-a-british-glossary/

and for those of you who were a little confused with a panel towards the back of the book, Johnston also has a great quote from Stewart on it.

www.bleedingcool.com/2010/01/29/reading-batman-and-robin-7-part-two-2/

Can you do better than Johns?…

I’m not making a comment on his writing, I’m saying asking if you could come up with better ring bearers then Geoff Johns did in issue six of Blackest Night?  A post on Comic book resources had a few options, that are pretty good.  Check them out here: robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/01/the-fantasy-lantern-draft-begins/.  I’m still not 100% if I like Blackest Night or not.  I thought issue six was just a blatant excuse to try and sell action figures, but, nonetheless, the thought of who would make a better choice is total nerd fodder you could all eat up.

And lastly…

I was asked today what I thought of Siege.  I said I was fine with it and will read it through, though was neither big time loving it or hating it.  They pressed and I said I liked what was being done in Iron Man, Captain America and Thor more than the big reuniting of the Marvel Troika.

However, what I don’t like is the fact that Marvel is already on to promoting the “event” or thing after Siege.  Seriously, we aren’t even on to issue two of a four part comic and we are getting teaser images for what comes next.  Their entire promotions department is the most ADHD group working in all walks of life.  And this goes for DC too.  They released the design for Brightest Day and won’t show us retailers a damn cover to the last installments of Blackest Night.

I’m going out on a limb here, but maybe if the two of them were less freaked out about trying to trump each other and finished a major event or series on time and with, what at one time was called a climactic well thought out ending, the industry as a whole would be better off… or we could just read better comics.  Hmmm.  Anyone pick up any of that Criminal?  How is Sweet Tooth or Unwritten or Joe The Barbarian?

It is no great secret I don’t have much love for movie adaptations of comics.  I have expressed my feelings on this issue plenty.  I don’t like Hollywood and I don’t like most of the crap that flows like a river out of it.  However, I know that the morons that run that cesspool (Wow, I sort-of sound like Joe Leiberman or Tipper Gore or one of those fascists, but for completely different reasons.  Hmmm.) will never stop making my medium into crappy films.

Well, I have a new reason to hate them.  Rich Johnston of Bleedingcool.com found a couple of priceless quotes from moron public relations people (yes, I know… it’s redundant) promoting Spartacus: Blood and Sand (some gladiator show on Starz.)  You can read his full story at www.bleedingcool.com/2010/01/24/im-spartacus-but-i-am-not-a-graphic-novel/, but the comments that really bore into my skin and the reason for the Johnston article refer to the shows style as “graphic novel” like.  Take this quote for example, “We always wanted to tell this story in a very graphic novel way.”  They refer to the special effects as “graphic novel” like.  Unless it is done with FREAK’N pictures, it isn’t going to be even anywhere close to a graphic novel!!!!

Johnston says the press release for Sherlock Holmes stated the movie was based on a graphic novel – which as far as anyone knows, does not exist.

So, besides being lazy, ignorant and unable to read, what would be the reasons for constantly referring to comics? (Granted I’m sure the *&%#ing idiots do not even have the foggiest idea what an actual graphic novel is and would certainly not know the difference between a comic, a collected edition or collected work and a graphic novel, but like always, I digress.)

I can only come up with the thoughts that comics are so far superior then the absolute &%$# they have been getting from “real” writers over the last few years, that our superior medium must look like it is packed with geniuses galore.  Books, having SO many pages and words are just too time consuming and… long or like Steven Spielbergo said a few years ago, before he put out yet another terrible Jones film and after directing Road to Perdition, that he needed to make more films based on graphic storytelling – these are already story boarded.

Now, granted, what happens when the untalented hacks get done failing with film?  We let them come and write bad comics – Kevin Smith, Reginald Hudlin, Dick Donner, the list goes on and on – and then over promote their crap, probably saying it is very film like in its storytelling.  I quit.

Walking Dead on TV…

So why am I telling you that it looks like The Walking Dead is finally going to be made into a TV series and Frank Darabont might direct the pilot episode?  I don’t know.  Maybe because I respect Darabont as a creator and The Mist is one of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen.  Maybe, I thought you’d care.  Here, go read for yourself:

www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=13750

Then ask Robert Kirkman some time, if you see him, about how much his “co-creator” Tony Moore is making off the rights.  Do it, I double dog dare you.

Local kid cast as Conan?…

Does this make us all Cimmerian’s?  (Pronounced with a hard C, say it like carrot… Ka-marry-anne.  Good.)  Jason Moma, who grew up In Norwalk (yep, the same home town as Superman) has the part.  His biggest roles were in Stargate: Atlantis and Baywatch.  Moma is a big guy and certainly looks the part of the barbarian.  For his sake though, I hope Iowa Native has a better big movie first casting  then Brandon Routh did (and it most certainly wasn’t Routh’s fault in Superman either.)

I don’t know how good this will be.  The director is known for the remake of Friday the 13^th and they are talking about having Conan’s father in it (to possibly be played by Mickey Rourke.)  We don’t need an origin story for a barbarian warrior, we need cleaving of giant  flying ape men, an evil sorcerer and mostly naked damsels being in a great degree of distress.  Conan is not brain surgery, though it is amazing how much bad Conan has been done – in comic, prose and film.

I hope it is good…. But… I just don’t have faith.

But on to good things, like REAL paper comics…

Switching subjects to good, happy, positive things.  So… what is coming out this week?  Hmmm, could it be… BATMAN AND FREAK’N ROBIN!!!?!!!  Yes, after a month off the title returns and with MUCH better art.  Cameron Stewart, the man who worked with Grant Morrison on Sea Guy, will be behind the pencil this arc.

Thank Dio, because was it just me or was Phillip Tan’s art so bad it made you want to skip the pictures and just read the balloons?  Double sized bad on it was, the only reason he was on the book was to promote his art chores on the editor in chief’s stint on the then upcoming Outsiders!  How bad are you when you need THAT kind of help (writer or artist) or how bad is Outsiders?

I’m going to again mention two, what I would consider, underperforming Marvel books due out this week; Daredevil and Fantastic Four.  If you don’t read them and are looking for a solid, well written super-hero stories, give them a try.

If you are reading the Blackest Night series and need a little bit more, I am going to guess the Atom and Hawkman #46 due out this week should be pretty good.  Geoff Johns is writing and Ryan Sook is doing art… Yes, that Ryan Sook, we don’t get his art very often, so take advantage.  I haven’t read all of the one shots and specials, but the ones I have, have been pretty good.  I think overall for a giant universe spanning crossover it has been better than the ones of recent years.

Starman #81, which was also one of those cancelled, now revived DC Blackest Night books, was actually really, really good.  It reminds me why I loved that series when it was coming out.  James Robinson, when he isn’t writing bad Superman books, can be a good writer.

So, why do those Superman books suck so bad?  I think, if you read the Starman issue you see why.  Robinson tells a great character driven story.  The great revel is slow and deliberate, not the big bang that is, I’m sure, required from the Superman stories.  If Robinson was allowed to write a book where we could see Clark Kent on an assignment for the Daily Planet and dealing with his day to day troubles, I’m sure it would be good.  However, DC has long taken the character of Clark Kent out of Superman, to the detriment of the character, and the poor writers who have been stuck on the book.  But that is just my two cents, I could be wrong.

It is amazing the world of comic “news.”  One week, nothing and the next has so much it seems you can’t possibly mention everything.  So, I’m only going to get to some of it.  The biggest being just how great Marvel really thinks of themselves, why Rob Liefeld is a doucebag bigot and my hate of a “coffee” company that shall not be mentioned.

Sir, Your filtered bean extract is ready…

I don’t usually talk about coffee in this column, but it is a part of our business.  If you don’t care skip ahead, but I wanted to bring to your attention something Bonnie, my best customer, told me today.  The [expletives deleted] coffee chain that I won’t even utter the name of has decided to once again raise their prices.  The story is right here:  www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/business/21sbux.html

I just found it so very interesting that this is their second major price increase in a year during a recession and it reminds me what kind of business practices they operate under.  We were contemplating a slight raising of prices, for some items the first time they have ever been raised in the shop’ history.  Hmm, this really makes the decision a little easier.

Everyone who knows me knows I don’t just hate the “coffee” chain that shall not be mentioned, I will start fights with people who drink their stale burn bean juice.  They are the devil incarnate, if you believe in that sort of thing.  If the world worked like comic books, my mission in life would be to see this company fail.  Now I would probably do it from behind a cloak and with iron gauntlets charged with some kind of glowy anti-protons or something.

In the real world, I can still hope to see this company fail.  I can’t fight against it like I wish I could with laser beams and power rings, but I can ask you to make a conscience choice to think about how you buy.  Everywhere there is a “coffee” chain that shall not be mentioned there is a local shop (or the remains of one they put out of business, because that is how they operate.)  Go to the local people.  Support the owners of shops who LIVE in your town.  Buy local and tell Seattle to suck it (if you could see me I would be making a DX slashing motion, but you can’t.)

So, who do I hate as much as the chain that shall not be mentioned?…  No one or nothing compares to them, but probably in the top ten, let’s see, um…

The Great Marvel Return Controversy of 2010…

Marvel announced last week they are offering a variant to retailers if they return fifty stripped covers of DC’s Blackest Night ring crossover books.  These are the first parts of the crossover issues of Justice League, Adventure Comics, REBELS, Doom Patrol, Outsiders and Booster Gold.  Part of the deal with these books was a promotion that DC offered allowing us to buy the plastic power rings you’ve undoubtedly seen in the shop.  The ratios for purchasing these was buy 25 copies of an issue and you can buy two bags of 50 rings.

The rationale behind this was to promote struggling books, the same as every crossover has for twenty years and it worked as some of these books were more than doubled in total orders worldwide.  Shops were not restricted as to how they sold, gave away or distributed their rings.  We gave free rings with purchase of the book and charged $2.00 per ring without.  We did very well and have heard from people who mentioned how much they really liked the rings.

(Kyle and I had two ladies, probably mid-thirties in age, were in last week who asked what was in the jars.  We told them they were “Super Power Rings corresponding with an emotion!!”  They thought they were rings, but a different type of ring… if you get my meaning.  However, after we explained the what and why they had to have a couple and were wearing them out of the store.  Two people who have probably never read a comic in their lives are now running around town with hope and compassion power rings.  Nonetheless, back on track.)

Marvel – because they’ve heard from retailers, or so they say – that these issues didn’t sell well, is now, oh so benevolently offering a rare, special, implied valuable, hard to obtain Siege #3 Deadpool Variant for fifty heads of, er, covers of their competitors’ books delivered to their offices .  These extremely underachieving books that outsold most Marvel Comics that month by A LOT!

Now for us, we don’t even qualify.   We sold out of several of the titles and had to reorder second printings because we sold out of those too.

Here are a couple links with more info on the anti-promotion.  First off is the official press release from Marvel and additional info from Rich Johnston (of Bleeding Cool.com) and his two cents, which is pretty accurate.   Comicbookresources.com has a response from ass hat in charge Tom Brevpoort of Marvel.  Brian Hibbs comments on it in his monthly column Tilting at Windmills, it is at the bottom of the column.  Then finally, two different people sent me this from youtube. Be warned it is a theatrical portrayal of a mass murderer and not someone filming me in the back room with my anti-coffee Gestapo.

I think this whole thing shows what pompous [more deleted expletives] a-holes Marvel really is and, if they are right and these issues didn’t sell well for other shops, how out of touch our shop is with the rest of the nation.  (Personally, I like that last part to be true.)  I heard Geoff Johns say something to the affect “Deadpool Variant?  That isn’t very rare.  He’s on or in everything.”  He is so very right and he should know, he owns a comic shop.

In the end Marvel doesn’t like to lose.  They are like a four year old throwing a temper tantrum and fear what happens when Siege dies out, no one buys the end of it and Blackest Night outsells it too.  Do they just start wholesale killing everyone in the Marvel Universe AND “bullpen?”  Do they pick up spears and swords and head across New York to do battle?  Bullies do not play fair and don’t like to be shown losing to, as they put it, a Cracker Jack toy.

Now, a better way to handle this, if I was head of Marvel would be to write a really kick ass comic that was not so damned depressing and/or bleak.  To lower prices, to work with retailers, to listen to real fans – not just the ones who post on their internet sites, make returnable stories they failed… OH, HEY, that’s the one I was looking for!

And now we finally come to why Matt has his Red Power Ring on when writing this column today.  I’m all raged up on this because Marvel has, over the last couple months been HORRIBLE about keeping their books on schedule and by this I mean Captain America Reborn, which was dropped like a bad habit by most of my shops readers.  (There are a slew more late books I could mention, like Marvel Projects, but this is long enough.)  These are not returnable, but hey, no problem asking for another companies books to be stripped of a cover and removed from the racks.  They won’t stand behind their own published books, but we will certainly take returns of someone else’s.

Marvel, Shame on you.

Rob, it’s okay if you, I mean your character, is gay…

If you’ve been reading the lost X-Book X-Factor, you might or might not have noticed Peter David pissing in someone’s pool again.  But this time it is no one of consequence.

David is one of the greatest comic writers in the industries history.  His run on Hulk alone is one of those monumental achievements never to be duplicated in the modern era.   When he is on a book he is usually on it for the extremely long haul and the characters are there with him… oh, and they WILL change like real people tend to do.

Rob Liefeld is a hack.  One of the worst artists and creators in comic history.  He or his characters don’t seem to grow, change or adapt with the times… or is it because his characters are so one dimensionally cookie cutter that they can’t?

One of these characters is Shatterstar.  David has been doing a great job providing an Ellis Island for the throw away X-Characters on his book X-Factor.  If you are reading it, and many of you who do not read the rest of the X-books are, you’ve seen Shatterstar kiss Richter and then David take lashings in his letter column from close minded bigots.

I asked the most knowledgeable X-Reader I know, Mr. Mike Nuttal about this possibility.  Mike says this is an old sub-plot that has been hinted at way back in X-Force.  I think it shows the growth a character can go through when a good writer has a hold of them.

I’ll leave the rest for Rich Johnston to show you in pages from X-Factor: www.bleedingcool.com/2010/01/14/peter-david-tweaks-rob-liefeld-twice/

X-Factor has been a great book I’ve enjoyed since David restarted it.  Recently it had a weird 200^th issue and long running plots were summed up and finished.  Now is a great time to jump on.  If you can handle your favorite old late eighties shoulder pad wearing characters changing a little.  Oh, and Longshot is in it too.

It looks to be a small, but decent week coming this week.  Great if you like Dark Horse books… oh, so yes, I’ll be happy.  Age of Reptiles #2, the New Alien vs. Predator book and the James Robinson drawn and written Conan book are all must reads in my bag, but I was really impressed with my weekly e-mail I received from Dark horse today concerning the Buffy book’s coming this week and in the future.

The note was from editor extraordinary Scott Allie about the revels in the series that have already made news and what it means for orders on the current .  I am one who does not read Buffy and has never seen more than about 20 minutes of any one episode.  The book has sold well since it started with its “Session Eight” premise, one that takes the idea of a canceled TV series continuing in comics.

Allie described what was going on in the book, a big revel of a current villain in issue 31 and explained why this was done, what it means for potential sales and who would be writing the new arc which starts next month.  The thing is at no point was I talked down to as a stupid fanboy or corporate tool.  I was treated like a retailer of comics books and given information that would HELP me order better and wiser.

I harp on how good Dark Horse is as a publisher, but this is one more reason why I love them so much.

Switching gears…

A big reveal today as to what DC’s next big thing is after Blackest Night, how about Brightest Day?  No, seriously, that is what they are calling it, but I’m sure you saw that coming, now didn’t you?  It will be a 26 issue bi-weekly comic written by Peter Tomosi and some guy named Geoff Johns starting in April.  This was announced on DC’s “news” page The Source.

I read about it on Rich Johnston’s site Bleedingcool.com in which he also spoke about Marvel’s new Heroic Age and called both Light’n Bright Comics, the end of the doomy gloomy days.

I would like to add that all I see is more monkey see, monkey do and a nothing close to originality, but I’m a grouch and nothing like the great Cat in the Hat that Quesada and Dildio seem to be portraying… or is that just thing one and thing two?

One last look back…

So, last week I mentioned I would take a look back at the best of 2009.  I’m not going to do this in any real order.  Everything I’m speaking of is merely opinion from someone like I said earlier is a grouchy retailer looking for new and different in his books he reads.

• Unwritten – It is hard to do good Vertigo books that bring me, a traditionally underwear on the outside, comic reader back and interested.  It’s not the greatest thing I’ve ever read from Vertigo, but the characters and feel of the book make me WANT to read it.  I feel writer Mike Carey and Artist Peter Gross have a beginning, middle and end worked out.  The first trade just came out and is a very reasonable $9.99 for the first five issues…
• Chew – I have to admit I was late to this one.  Not my fault, the damn thing kept selling out and I never got a chance to give it a good read.  Image is learning from Vertigo and going the cheap first trade route (the first five at $9.99) too.  It is one of the most odd and original comics I’ve read in recent memory.  The main character is a food and drug administration cop on a world where all Chicken is banned, and just happens to be able to read history’s or information from what he eats.  Strange with a wacky art style, this is the big new thing you should be reading.
• Beasts of Burden – Written by Milk and Cheese’s Evan Dorkin and drawn by the children’s artist Jill Thompson comes a book SO NOT FOR KIDS I can’t make the words any more capitalized.  What looks like a cute innocent talking animal book kills off characters faster than the X-Men and has more bizarre F’ed up stories then Hellblazer.  OH, but it is superbly written and drawn and deserves multiple Eisner’s next year.
• Top of the pile reads – Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Hellboy/BPRD, Echo, REBLES, GL and GL Corps and I have to say I LOVE Tony Moore’s art on the Punisher right now.  The story is weird, but the art is so freak’n good I don’t care if he stays Franken-Castle forever.
• Crossed – This is one of the most messed up books I’ve ever read and I always read it before anything else the week it comes out.  I feel bad for liking it, but Garth Ennis has a story that makes all and every horror story pale by comparison.  “Zombies” but completely totally evil.  However, this is not a comic you can just get into now.  You will have to wait for the collected edition sometime, probably late spring.  It will bother you, you’ll like being bothered, but if it doesn’t there is something very wrong with you.  I don’t want to be your friend.

The three best things I read or enjoyed this last year were:

• Darwyn Cooke’s first Richard Stark’s Parker Novel, Hunter.  Some of the best art I’ve ever seen in comics, storytelling better then nearly everything being put out right now.  This is crime comic perfection.  If you don’t like this, you shouldn’t be reading comics.
• Batman & Robin’s first three issues.  I vowed I would cut back on collecting single issue comics and just get them in trades.  I mean seriously, this won’t be so good I NEED the singles too right.  I was in Pittsburgh at the time it came out and bought it for my good friend Mike, knowing if it was good, he’d start reading it too and I wanted to look through it.  It had been a really long time since I didn’t have a new comic to read on a Wednesday.  I read it three times over the next day and have it on my “pull list.”  Grant Morrison is the best writer in mainstream comics today and Frank Quietly is the best artist.  Period.  This is the best Batman has ever been and that is all I have to say on that.  Don’t disagree with me or I’ll sick Curt on you.
• And the best thing I read last year – Essex County, the complete collection.  This is one of the best comics, like top five, I have ever read.  Hunter is probably in the top twenty.  In so many categories, books I should have been collecting when they were coming out, artists I should have known about before this, comics you can NOT put down… It is how I wish ALL comics could be.  Jeff Lemire writes and draws a generational story in four parts of a people/family connected in and by the area they live in, Essex County Canada.  I am not saying this is for everyone.  The cape and cowl crowd will not be impressed and I am sad for them.  The high artsy fartsy collector will probably have problems with the simplistic simplistic art, however, if you like a good character driven story that moves and will move you I can not recommend anything else higher.  And if you like it start reading Lemire’s Sweet Tooth too.

Out with the old…

There’s 2009… So, what has me jazzed for 2010?  Not much, but hey, I was just way to positive with those books above, what did you expect me to say.

I really want to see Jonah Hex.  I’ve loved Polmiotti and Grey’s book has been great and I’ve always loved the character… and it’s a western, no one does these anymore.

I’m really excited to find out what is going down in the next arc of Fantastic Four.  Jonathan Hickman’s start to the series has been a great read so far.  Some teaser images have been released on upcoming issues.  Holy Cats, someone kicked the crap out of Galactus or Glactus is dying or it’s a zombie… no.

I’m also expecting a good year from my favorite series BPRD.  The first issue from last week was amazing, pulling story threads from ten years ago in Hellboy.  I think this will prove to be the culmination of stories in what has been my favorite overall mainstream “superhero” book for the last couple years.

Other than that, I hope for a good end to both Siege and Blackest Night.  Something that will leave the readers with full bellies, but not full enough they don’t want the next course.  No more World War Hulks or Secret Invasions or Countdowns.

I hope big books come out on time.  No more Captain America What’s-it or Flash Who’s-it.

I hope… Ouch!  I just got hit with some blue mood ring… It says I have much hope and am now a… wait, no.  A red ring just crushed the blue ring.  Oh, I feel better now and right at home.