Monthly Archive for February, 2011

Week of February 28th

Published on February 28, 2011 in art, Comics, Reviews-comics, Ronnie's Reviews and Wrestling. 0 Comments

Variants…

Wanted to let you know there will be a bunch of older odder variants in the shop, many at cover price, over the next week.

Also remember to check out our E-bay store for, not only variant covers, but also sets and lots that can sometimes go for absolute steals of prices.

At the bottom of the list is our variants and lots on sale this week.

Three that will be out this week, but are not up on E-bay (due to not having cover images) include:

BRIGHTEST DAY #21 VAR

FIRST WAVE #6 VAR

GREEN LANTERN #63 VAR

Let me know if you have interest.

Superman comes to Omaha, er, Nebraska…

Obviously, Superman #707 was a great success for us at the shop.  Probably could have been even better if the man of steel would have been in the city of Des Moines, or at least the state of Iowa for the entire issue and had the issue not been utterly uninteresting story wise.  We would have been able to really get behind it, not feel like we were selling a gimmick rather than something we wanted people to feel good about and read.  (That feels good to have finally gotten off my chest.)

However, like most things in life… it could have been worse.

Yes, at the Omaha shops it was.

Issue #708, originally solicited as taking place in there when it arrived in stores it was in… Lincoln!?!  Somewhere along the way the town got changed.

When I was in Omaha and swung by a couple of the shops I’m friends with over there, I heard stories of news crews coming to do interviews and one shop manager taking a second to flip through it only to find the wrong town in it.  Or the mayor coming to another shop and… no Superman.

I don’t want to declare the highest selling comic in our shops history a disaster, but I’m sure I’m not alone in the industry just wishing the damn thing was over and done so we can get on with Superman.  There have been so many breakdowns in this process and most coming from one person, the creator (JMS.)

Well, at least we didn’t have to have signs that said Superman in Omaha, with a sticker of “Nebraska” over the Omaha.  The shop manager was laughing with me.

Interview with Tyler…

Found an interview with Tyler Walpole on line and thought you all would like to have a gander at it too. Tyler has been working on role playing game art and has been rolling out some fantastic freak’n D&D covers lately.  I’ve seen him do his crazy style of digital art, actually watched him create it and I still don’t understand how he can make a digital piece look so real.

Find the interview here cinema6games.com/blog/?p=601

And speaking of art…

This weekend a high grade copy of Archie Comics #1 went for a crazy amount of $167,300!!  No Kidding.  At the same auction they sold original pages of X-Men #116, Dark Knight Returns #3 and Fantastic Four #40.  I thought I would pass the link along.  If you are into that sort of thing, just looking at these original pages and seeing what they went for is mind blowing.  Man I sometimes, like in this instance, wish I was rich.  No one would have out bid me for that Dark Knight page!!

You can find the article here on Bleeding Cool.com.

And Locally…

Did you know an Iowa State Representative was trying to force the board of regents to sell the University of Iowa’s Jackson Pollock mural, entitled – oddly enough – Mural?  The painting, considered by some one of the most important American paintings, is valued at over $150 million.

The thought of Rep. Scott Raecker’s (R-Urbandale) bill would be to force the sale and then use the money to help restore the flood damaged university’s art building and provide scholarships to future students.  Last week the legislation was dropped in committee.  Why, you ask?  Well, several national organizations threatened to cancel the museum’s accreditation and reconsider loan of future art to Iowa institutions.  There was also talk of a possible lawsuit from the original donators of the piece.

I am a huge fan of Pollock’s work and find it amazing that we in IOWA have such a fantastic piece of art.  I was lucky enough to see the world touring Pollock exhibit when I was in Venice, Italy.  (Yes, I was in Venice and spent three hours looking at American art… don’t judge, it was Pollock.)

“Why can’t we have nice things?”  I feel like a parent yelling at his spoiled children, who just so happen to be mindless conservative dimwits, but nonetheless.  This goes for all the cool and trendy stores, boutiques, clubs and restaurants too.  Just because the rest of the nation thinks we are boring Iowans, doesn’t mean it has to be the case; we just don’t have to tell anyone we actually have cool things here.  You don’t know how many people tell me how great of a shop Cup is, inevitably it comes out that they are from out of state and they say they wish they had something like this there.  This and the thoughts of such asinine proposals of selling our state’s true treasures drive me to drink, heavily.

Here is a link with a great picture of the piece.

A Des Moines Register article discussing the measure (pre-dropping.)

A Washington Post story about protest and eventual dropping of the bill.

The Metalocalypse…

Deathklok by Brendon Small, Jon Schnepp, Jeremy Barlow and Lucas Marangon

My review this week is on the funniest book I’ve read in some time, Dark Horse’s Metalocalypse.  If you have ever seen the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim show, you know what you are getting.  If you haven’t and are into heavy metal – or are just a fan of silly rock and or roll parody, you really need to check it out.

The comic is hilarious and continues the ridiculous exploits of the moronic band Deathklok, the most successful band in the world.  They are the be all end all of the world and are easily some of the stupidest people on the planet.

In this issue, they have saved the world’s economy by creating a super train to tour on and then doomed the world’s economy by allowing workers to exchange their paychecks back in for tickets to the concert.  The tour’s name, the Unstoppable Hell on Rails Old Timey Concert Explosion Tour.

Maybe it isn’t your thing, that is cool, but funny is good when every comic out right now is so damn serious – ack!! I sound like a Batman villain.  Where have all the funny books gone?  Boo, come back to us Eric Powell!!

Ronnie’s Reviews…

American Vampire #12 Scott Snyder & Danijel Zezelj

Skinner’s revenge! This month we get a short one-off that would be an excellent introduction to new readers.

This issue is another example of Snyder’s interesting approach to storytelling.  The setup is Skinner Sweet happening across a Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show style theater performing a story about himself from decades before.  Using this creative backdrop, instead of the common flashback, we learn much about Skinner’s personality.  Writer Snyder has proven to be one of the best in characterization in the medium these days, and he doubly proved it here.  In a few panels, we get to the very essence of one of Skinner’s old flames.  You know her when you finish the book.  Some comics can’t do that in 12 issues.

As for the art, dang. I love this guy. Danijel Zezelj (how would you pronounce that?) caught my attention last year in the incredible Scalped #35, and then Luna Park (Editor’s Note – and if you can find it an old Brain Azzerello Western from years back El Diablo.)  He has also done some DMZ, Loveless, and all sorts of OGNs I haven’t read, but now want to.  He has a stark style full of very thick black lines. He has this way of bringing out the important parts of a panel forcing your eyes there.  The way he renders Skinner’s old flame is just haunting.  After reading what she has to say and then looking at her face, you believe it.  He definitely stays true to regular artist Raphael Albuquerque’s character designs, but doesn’t shy away from making his own mark.  This guy needs a regular series to work on, I would buy it for the art alone.

American Vampire is an unusual series, and possibly one of the best in recent years.  Somehow we have a mash up of vampires, American old west, early 20th century flappers and jazz.  And it works well.  If you’re not reading it, try this issue… otherwise you are missing out. Even Kyle reads it, and there ain’t even no rainbow rings in it!

5 Stars.

Quickies

Speaking of Scott Snyder…

Detective Comics #874 Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla

Oh man, I am loving this series right now. This month is a full issue of what would have been The Commissioner Gordon backup. Instead of just scrapping it, now it will be finished in this and the next issue. I believe this will happen again in a few issues, after an arc with Jock. I am very pleased about that since those last 8 pages were just as good as the main story, and really deserved to be finished.

This issue is more of the same, which is to say more of the awesome. We learn a lot about Gordon’s terrifying son, and end in what seems to be a highly symbolic beautiful splash page. And then we get a short story with Dick-Bats and Red Robin working together while Dick is still recovering from the nasty gassing he took in the last arc. The art is great, and the story telling is excellent. You really need to be reading this.

5 Stars.

(Editor’s Note – this is really good stuff. Francavilla is a fantastic artist, one of the best working right now.  I want him on everything.  Storywise, there is a moment – and I’m not giving anything away – that will have you unsure until you turn the page what is going to happen, so very hard to do in comics – Suspense.)

Jennifer Blood #1 Garth Ennis & Adriano Batista

Garth’s latest offering of carnage stars a stay at home mom by day, murderous vigilante by night. This first issue is told through inner monologue and diary entries from Jennifer. This angle made the issue very wordy, which I tend to like. Not everything is spelled out to the reader though, and we end with an interesting cliffhanger. Definitely more Preacher than Crossed. The art by Batista fits the story well, detailing the flying eyeballs and gaping wounds with a tender, loving attention to detail. It was an interesting start to this tongue in cheek series, and I will be checking out the next issue to figure out who these “Uncles” are.

3 Stars.

Scalped #46 Jason Aaron & R.M. Guera

This series just continues to impress. We finally return to the Catcher/Officer Falls Down thread, and it is intense. I was wondering when we would learn more about this Catcher fellow, and I was surprised in the direction Jason is taking him. We also learn more about Lawrence Belcourt (a thinly veiled representation of Leonard Peltier, a truly tragic story), as he has a confrontation with Red Crow that will change his status in prison dramatically. Gurea’s art is still perfect for this series. Still the best comic being published.

5 Stars.

Damn it was a good week for comics. Toss in the above, plus The Sixth gun and you have a winner. Even this week’s Gotham City Sirens was really good. Seriously. I am also halfway through Bluesman by Rob Vollmar and Pablo Callejo, which is awesome too. I even kind of enjoyed some X-Men books (don’t tell anyone though). I wish every week could be like this.

AND DON’T FORGET…

3XW, Last on Locust, Friday March 4th

This is the last event at the Des Moines Social Club, but it should be a good one.  All the major titles are being defended.  There is one match though that I am eagerly anticipating, the grudge match between Sexy and Smooth.  These are the two “Canadian” egos, er, wrestlers who split do to their inability to get along.  Long a force in the tag team ranks, they have been feuding over the last couple months.  There has been a push to see Ryan Slade turn more face, but don’t believe it.  Once a Canadian heel, always a Canadian heel.  Pretty boys, yes, Canadians, maybe, bad ass wrestling superstars that the crowd hates… YES!  This is my pick of match of the month.  Be there, I will.

Also, we continue our gathering on Wednesdays before the event at the shop at 6:00.  It is our Pre-party and we’ll have half off drink specials between 6:00 and 6:30 for those who come out.  It is always a great time without a clue where the conversations will go.

The Week of February 21st

Published on February 21, 2011 in Comics, Matt's stupid ramblings and Shop Crap. 0 Comments

Going to be a short post this week.  Just no two ways about it.

I want to point out all the crazy variant covers we have up on E-bay this week.  A lot of older Marvel ones we got for ordering something sometime from them.  There are some nice and valuable comics that could be yours for a song.  Reminder, if you bid and win you don’t have to pay shipping, but you do have to pay cover price, in all cases that is a savings.  Go check them out, if you are into variant covers.

myworld.ebay.com/cupokryptonite/

New Comic Illuminati…

My buddy Mike has the latest Comic Illuminati up over at the Southsider Studios page on Youtube www.youtube.com/user/SouthSiderStudios

I look at a few things from a retailers point of view (in my rumbling stumbling, not as eloquent in the slightest as Keith Jackson way.)  My dumb comments are made so much better by all the awesomely funny smart assed jokes Mike puts in around me.  Mike has one of the best senses of humor I have ever been around and makes these pod casts SO much more enjoyable then if it was my candy ass just talking.

While you are there, you need to watch some of the videos and films that the Southsider Crew have put together.  They are fantastic and should be seen by all.  A great way to waste time when you should be working.

One quick rant…

Stupid mistakes in comics…

So, we all know how much Bendis’s superhero writing irritates the holy hell out of me, but what angers me, and should anger you too, is when blatant lapses in editing can’t get catch the lapses in poor writing… Like the color of the Purple Reality Gem in Avengers!!!

I’m not alone in my irritation and Rich Johnston explains it at:

www.bleedingcool.com/2011/02/17/whatever-happened-to-the-purple-reality-gem/

Seriously People, Mark Waid would never have missed this kind of thing!!  Granted Mark Waid might also be a computer, but where have all the good editors gone?  Maybe Scott Allie at Dark Horse is a computer too, that or just damn good.

Fear Itself… Fear of the Dark!!….

I haven’t written off the Marvel crossover event (because it isn’t written by Bendis) just yet, but I think I know what I fear.  (There have been a bunch of promo images released recently, “Do you fear becoming blah, blah, blah…” Cyclopes as Magneto, a broken shield in front of Captain America, stuff like that. )

I fear… all comics drawn by Mike Deadoto.

Have you ever noticed that he only draws about half of any face?  The other half is in complete shadow.  I get it, it is a style thing (or laziness) on his part.  But where is his massively hard light coming from?  Is it always twilight in Mike’s worlds?

Maybe the real fear here is the fear of the dark… wait, this might not be such a bad thing… que the Iron Maiden!!!

What?  No Maiden, well, then that art just sucks and I’m sick of it.   And you say he is on two of the three Avengers titles right now?  WOW, long time since he was on Wonder Woman!!

So what does that do for my Avengers Score Card?  Bendis has his pet Mumm-Ra –esque villian the Hood (seriously, the Avengers don’t fight anyone except this guy?  THE HOOD?!!?) in poorly designed un-edited, adjective-less Avengers with everyone looking like they have been smashed in the face by a frying pan art by John Romita Jr.  (Maybe Mikey D isn’t so bad.)  In New Avengers, everyone just sits around and talks, incessantly (like little girls at a sleep over) around tables.  Then in Secret Avengers everyone is always half shadowed – and trying desperately to make us care about second string characters.  That is why they are Secret, because they are shadowed and second string??

Oh, Brother!!  Can someone PLEASE bring back the Dan Slott written Mighty Avengers title?

3XW…

A week from this coming Friday is the Last on Locust event for 3XWrestling.  If you need tickets, we have pre-sale discounted ones at the shop.  Should be a good show, I’m planning on being there and drinking like a fish.  Going to miss cheap beer at the Social Club during my wrestling… (sad inebriated face)

Week of February 14th

Published on February 14, 2011 in Comics, Reviews-comics and Ronnie's Reviews. 0 Comments

DEATH… it sells Marvel Comics, I guess…

At the ComicsPRO meeting somewhere in Texas, Marvel announced through the Senior Vice President of Sales at Marvel Comics, that the company would start killing off a character a quarter because of the success of the Death in Fantastic Four #587.  Also, it would be Main Characters who would go.

Yes, you read that right.

This is a move not based on what is right or needed in a story line or the writers reasoning, but because of sales.

Now it would be remise of me to not also add that the SVP of SALES said it is not about killing characters, but what comes after the deaths and that what happens after the “Death of Spider-man” storyline in the ultimate line will garner Marvel the biggest media exposure they have ever had.

Oh… just a second…. Kind of threw up there.  Give me a second.

Okay, better.  Nope……..

Now I can continue.

That is [expletive deleted] disgusting and they should be ashamed.   I understand that you are in business to make money, but this has NOTHING to do with telling stories, NOTHING!!  It has more to do with exposure, then telling a good story.  It has more to do with getting on Steven Colbert, then telling a good story.  It has more to do with their own ego, then telling a good story.

Now, I’m not a naïve comic collector.  Death means NOTHING to the big two companies.  All these dead will be back with the next Chaos wave or whatever.  I know that a death is now just ret-conned out just because the new writer didn’t get his way on a call in vote twenty plus years ago.

I guess I just don’t see how gimmicks and hype machines help to strengthen the industry, not weaken it.  We have now gone completely back to the nineties.

Maybe I’m wrong and these will be great stories and bring in a bunch of new readers to… comic… shops…  Sorry, couldn’t type that with a straight face.

But enough out of me.  Want to read the original write up on Bleeding Cool:

www.bleedingcool.com/2011/02/11/marvel-were-going-to-kill-a-character-every-quarter/

I also posted this link on our facebook page on Saturday morning and got some great response.

Todd Countryman, Manager of the feared Genesis faction in 3XWrestling,  wrote:

“Good luck to them on that. Killing (no pun intended) the specialness of an “event” in their world like this will eventually lead to less and less sales. The initial spike in sales will only encourage them unfortunately, but it will lead to an eventual downfall and they will be left scratching their heads wondering what they did wrong.”

Jason Caskey, writer of the soon to be released collection Holly Terror, wrote:

“Marketing trumps storytelling once again at the House of “Ideas”"

Mike Nuttall, big fan of Rock God Dio, wrote:

“What they forgot to say was that they will bring back the character they killed off the quarter before at the same time they kill off the new character. It will be like tag team wrestling… but the tagged in person dies.”

Patrick Harrington, first baseman of the KC Royals, wrote:

“I guess they found something to do with their obscure characters.  All those former Avengers Initiative kids? They’re outta here!”

Reviews…

Sorry, just don’t have anything else to talk about, and if I did, it would be so foul and filled with hate and spite… well, just best to talk about some good books that I found on the rack from just this last week.

Adventure Comics #523 By Levitz, Jimenez and Lanning

I’ve stated in the past that The Legion of Superheroes is one of my favorite books being published right now.  Adventure Comics, over the last couple months has been a place to get extra Legion stories each month.  Paul Levitz has been using it as a way to wrap up extra plots or continue development of storylines.

Now he is showing us what the Legion of Substitute Heroes is up too at the Academy and doing it with the best artist in comics today Phil Jimenez doing his masterful job on pencils.  What was great stories is now made even better by the fact every panel has 100% more detail.  I like simple styles, but I also love a book that takes me forever to read because I’m studying every panel for all the work put into it.  Andy Lanning (yes, the co-writer of Guardians of the Galaxy and Heroes for Hire) supplies the terrific inks.

If you have been getting Legion and not Adventure or you are an art junkie, you MUST pick up Adventure over the next several months.

Batman and Robin #20 by Peter Tomosi and Patrick Gleason

If you hated the Paul Cornell three issue arc in issues 17, 18 and 19, you are not alone.  Not Cornell’s best work, by a long shot.  It is too bad really, because that storyline ruined the momentum the book had coming off the great Morrison run.  Now we have to start over.

And if this be a new beginning on the book, it is a great start.

The first six pages are Batman gold.  The best set up for what is going on in the Bat-inuity right now.  Tomosi (writer on Green Lantern Emerald Warriors) has been giving us great character driven stories in GL Corps for years, easily the better of the two GL books for some time.  He is going to show us the Bat-family and he is going to give us superhero stories while we dive into the relationships these characters have.

This issue’s cover, NOT indicative of the art inside.  I’ve loved Patrick Gleason’s art since his run on Aquaman (that is back before Infinite Crisis screwed that book up royally.)  In years past he has had a slightly exaggerated look to his characters (Ed McGuiness without the REALLY cartoony feel.)  His interiors on B&R are really showing his continued growth as an artist and tightness he has developed over his run on GL Corps.  This is the next big artist for DC, mark my words.  (Hell, how much do I like him, check out the art on the wall at the shop!)

I know I will catch flack for this, but B&R #20 is my favorite Batman comic since the first three issues of this title.  Yes, I enjoyed it that much.

Heroes for Hire #3 Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, art by Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessy

Issue three and the series continues to get better.  Written by the dynamic duo responsible for the Guardians of the Galaxy and revitalization of Marvel’s space characters.  Now they have moved on to attempting a change in how you look at the old street level Heroes for Hire team ups.  The books have an ever changing cast of characters and an new flow of storytelling where each issue has growing plots, but also a self contained adventure too.  Not recreating the wheel, it is a bright change in the dim world of superheroes.

The premise is a slight change to the traditional Heroes for Hire as street level characters are “hired” on by Misty Knight to go stop an evil deed in the works, but someone is controlling the controller and for some reason we don’t know just yet.  Among other heroes we have seen in the book lately are Iron Fist, Paladin and Moon Knight (issue 3) Ghost Rider and Silver Sable (issue 2) and a slew of characters in issue one like Falcon and Elektra.

The art is by Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessy, very under rated solid art team that will probably be pulled and put on the next big crossover.  Mark those words, it’ll happen, I know my Marvel thought process.

If you are looking for super heroes without all the continuity and terrible Bendis talk, talk at the kitchen table, this is THE book for you!!

SpongeBob Comics #1 by Various

I wanted to see for myself and not just take the word of my wife if this was a good read and actually found myself laughing at several of the mini-comic in this issue.  It is weird Spongebob doing weird spongebob stuff in it.  If you’ve seen the show, you know what you are getting.  However, there is some great art (including several bits by master indy man James Kochalka) and very funny writing.

This is a fantastic kids book that can be read with mom or dad and everyone can get enjoyment out of it.  Highly recommended.

Ronnie’s Reviews…

Incognito: Bad Influences #3 by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips

This 2nd mini of the Incognito series is more of the same, which is a beautiful thing.  The series is an homage to pulp and noir, while not really being either.  We are following the story of somewhat reformed science-villain Zach Overkill as he attempts to catch a deep-undercover agent gone native.  To do so, he has to navigate the science-villain underground, use his reputation as the biggest bad ass in town to get info from those that know he is a fed now, all the while being hunted by an extremely vicious character we know nothing about yet.

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, the proven team of Criminal fame, at first glance are not doing anything new.  There is a lot of neo-noir and pulp on the shelves these days.  What sets this series apart is the quality and originality of the storytelling.  The dialogue is always inspired and Phillips may be the only artist for this book.  He is the perfect fit.

At this point in the story, we are at the end of a slow boil of buildup.  Being there is only two issues left I believe, this is either gonna be a middle arc with a big cliffhanger (there are plans for more minis), or we will get an out of left-field explosive close.  I would be game for both, as the pacing is great.  We get a chance to dig into the main characters and let Brubaker develop this really weird world.  Also, this big baddie in the shadows is really intriguing, I almost want him to not to be revealed for a while.

Plus, we are still getting the excellent mini essays on the history of pulp in the back of the book. And no ads!  (Marvel Icon creator owned, published by Marvel.)  (Editor’s Note – These essays are so good, I actually prefer them to the comic.  It makes you feel like you are taking a two page college course on Pulp publishing.  Issue #3 is about an obscure character called Captain Future who has some amazing connections to one of the great editors of comic history.  This book is one of the tops each month it comes out, if you are not reading it you are doing yourself a disservice.)

The first mini is collected in trade, which I highly suggest.  It is a must read, and this new series is shaping up to be a worthy successor.

4.5 Stars

Quickies:

Cinderella: Fables Are Forever #1 Chris Roberson & Shawn McManus

The Fablestown superspy is back, this time on a Russian adventure squaring off against her worst enemy she believed to be long dead.  Plus hints at shadowy, unknown Fable communities in other parts of our world.  The art is just as fun as the first mini, and the story starts off strong.  Check out the double page spread on the history of modern Russia from a Fable immigrant perspective.  Same writer as IZombie.

4 Stars.

Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #515 by David Liss and Francesco Francavilla

We get an epic battle with Vlad, T’Challa is taking a lot of bruises learning the ropes of his new territory, and another weird appearance by Luke Cage.  The art is superb as always, and Black Panther’s costume is so well designed, just Francavilla-tastic.  I hope Bruce Wayne, I mean Matt Murdock, takes a long time getting home.  This is my favorite Marvel book right now.  (Editor’s Note – I think it says something when someone not into a certain company or type of comic, REALLY likes a book from that “odd” grouping.  This is a very good read that reminds me of how street level characters were written back in the 70’s.  I find it extra interesting that Luke Cage it treated like such a prick in the book too.  This is THE street level character of the 70’s and now Bendis has completely domesticated this once great character – see his seven pages of horrible in New Avengers issue 9 if you don’t believe me.  Ronnie is so very right on with his love of this book.)

4.5 Stars.

Week of February 7th

Published on February 7, 2011 in Comics, Matt's stupid ramblings, Reviews-comics and Ronnie's Reviews. 0 Comments

Avatar, Crossed and my sick, sick customers…

About two weeks ago I got a call from a Representative of Avatar Publishing.  The basic gist of the call was that if I ordered more of the new book Caligula, written by David Lapham and about the mad Roman Emperor, I could qualify for a special Crossed variant cover.  We kept talking and he said he was calling only the top retailers who order Crossed Family Values.  It was revealed that  we are among the top 100 shops in the US to order this book. (Pretty big when you think there are somewhere in the number of 4,000 to 4500 shops that order through Diamond.  It is in our top twenty selling books.)

It took a second for that to sink in and then I just sighed and said, “what does that mean?  Not the ‘oh, I order a lot meaning,’ but what does that say about my clientele?”

It is true, you are a bunch of sick puppies.  Not my cup of tea, the latest and final issue of Family Values (which I flipped through) was, as you would guess sick and twisted and depraved.

When Crossed started with Garth Ennis, I liked it and usually had a moment each month saying, “urgh, that is messed up.”  Boys was supposed to out Preacher, Preacher, but it was Crossed that set that new bar.  David Lapham flew over the bar – with ease too, that is creepy – and has set it so high I hope no one can ever reach it.

So, sick little monkeys… there are two more series coming from the Lapham (Caligula and Crossed Psychopath) and eventually more Garth Ennis Crossed too.  If you like this sort of thing, you might want to try Neonomicon from Alan Moore and Avatar too.  I can try and get back issues, difficult, but I can try.  (Retailer shakes his head and walks off mumbling to himself.)

San Diego NOT a Comic Con sells out…

Did you see that San Diego sold out all of its four day passes in a few hours last week?

At one time, about 10 years ago, I really wanted to go.  I thought it would be so great to see the grand-daddy of all comic book shows.  However, I now have come to see the selling out of this show this early and this insanely as just sad.

The show isn’t a COMIC con anymore.  Comics aren’t even talked about there, it is all pop culture and entertainment… NOT comics.  So, does that mean this show isn’t really a COMIC con, but something else and that these people don’t care about comics, but actually pop culture and film more than comics?

Just musings about this.  Confused and bewildered.

If you want to go to a really good con though – that has 50% less douche-ness – look into Planet Comic Con in KC and C2E2 in Chicago, both in March.

Valentine’s Day Sale for Animal Lifeline…

I don’t do a lot of community updatey type things, I would just get inundated with them if I started, but there is one I will always support, Animal Lifeline.  (why? Because animals are better than people any day.)

Kathy wanted me to pass on some information, here you go:

2011 Valentine’s Sale at Millie’s Loft, The Animal Lifeline Thrift Shop

Located at the Corner of SW 9th and Park Avenue

Thursday & Friday, February 10 & 11  from 10 am to 6 pm and Saturday, February 12  from 10 am to 5pm

Millie’s Loft in the Animal Lifeline Thrift Shop has the purrfect gift for Valentines of all ages at doggone great prices.  Want a one of a kind gift for your Valentine? Our Custom Made Gift Baskets are sure to please that special someone.  You pick the items and we make the basket.  Choose from a variety of gift items, handmade candies and cookies OR select one of our ready?to?go baskets for Valentines on the run.

Got a Valentine with a sweet tooth?  Get some Sweets for your Sweetheart at Millie’s Bake Sale Friday and Saturday, two days of yummy, homemade goodness.

Not sure what to get?  Purchase a special card in your Valentine’s honor for a $10 or more donation to Animal Lifeline of Iowa.

For more information: www.animal?lifeline.com.

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On to some reviews…

We’ll get to Ronnie’s Reviews in a second, but first I had to remark on a couple titles.

Witchfinder #1, Lost and Gone Forever Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, Art by John Severin

This is the follow up story to last year’s Sir Edward Grey mini-series.  Set in the mythos of Hellboy and BPRD, these are stories about a mid to late 1800’s occult investigator that inspired the creation of the BPRD and proceeded all of Hellboy’s work.

The first series, In the Service of Angels, was a fantastic story set in London with Grey investigating a monster or demon run amuck.  Now, Grey is off to the American old west on a man hunt.  You need not have read the first series to dive right into this one.

Yes, I enjoyed the writing on this, but it was the art that floored me.  I’ve long been a fan of John Severin, but this might be some of his best to date.  He has a storied career in westerns, most recently working on some Rawhide Kid stuff for Marvel.  I just want to point out, he is 88 years old.  88 YEARS OLD!!

I want you to, even if you don’t buy the issue, look at the art next time you are in the shop.  It is so great and has so much detail put into it you will be amazed that this is a man who has been working for as long in this industry as he has and is STILL putting out work that far and away surpasses nearly every one working today.  And he does his own inks.

Tia and I compared John Romita Jr’s work on Avengers number 7 to Severin’s work on Witchfinder #1.  Please do so yourself, and then ask, “self, why am I buying Avengers when I could be buying this absolute perfection from Dark Horse?”

You can also check out a preview on Dark Horse’s Website.

Easily, Witchfinder was the best read of last week.

IZombie by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred

Sales have dipped off on this title and I am getting concerned we are looking at another future casualty of the Vergito curse.  Great, well crafted titles that lose out to a bunch of nit-wits with underwear on the outside.

The book is a mix of a bunch of genres all rolled into one.  Dominate is the old fifties romance comic, you get that heavy off the top as it has a great deal of talk between two young ladies.  Thing is the two are a ghost and a zombie.  Once you realize this, you understand the second heavily influenced genre is old monster comics.  Not fifties horror, but the a lot closer to the Marvel Monster magazines they used to put out in the late sixties and seventies.  These aren’t malevolent creatures of the night, but thinking members of society, that just happen to be… monsters.

There is also a heavy diet of your typical “Vertigo plot” – the ones you are slightly confused with, but go along with anyway and don’t ask about because you are sure you will be ridiculed for “being dumb” just for asking.  You know the ones and the books I’m talking about.

Now I haven’t really said what the book is about.  It’s because I can’t.  I don’t really know.  There are so many types of characters all doing their own thing… you just need to take my word and read it from the beginning.  If you haven’t been reading it, you might consider holding off and pick up the trade on March 16th.

Right, forgot something… did I mention the fantastic Mike Allred and his unbelievablely great art?  No, well, it so very much enhances the style and look, maybe more so than any book being published today that he could or should be called a genre unto himself.  I can not think of anyone else working on this comic.

Time Masters: Vanishing Point #6 of 6 Dan Jurgens

The final issue to this Dan Jurgens scripted and penciled miniseries came out, and now I have to eat my own words.  Back in Dec, the 5th issue was released, and I moaned and cried over its lateness, and how it was destroying the story flow of the return of the Bat Messiah, something about Joe The Barbarian, and holding companies and creators accountable to their promises and deadline.  Those interested can read that tantrum here. Now laugh at how wrong I was about this series (not the other stuff though).  Only the second time I have been wrong this century…

This series has been a constant stream of misleading clues. It opened (and the cover subtitled) with the premise that Rip Hunter, Booster Gold, Superman and Hal Jordan will be traveling the time stream to find Bruce Wayne, and prevent some sort of disaster.  Along the way they get caught up in all sorts of side adventures, and the Bruce agenda seems to get forgotten.  The series ended with a bang with the characters suddenly thrown into DC’s next “blockbuster – can’t miss – event.”  So, the story started as a very late addition to The Return of Bruce Wayne, and ended as a very early intro to Flashpoint.  But it was good, really good.

So, either there was a really smart last minute editorial change to save this series, or Jurgens is really the badass I thought he was in the 90’s.  I vote on the latter.  He did both art and writing duties on this book, and it wasn’t late enough for him to have redone the last few issues.  But, if anybody, maybe Jurgens could have done that.

Dan seems to be having a good time making these characters hate each other, bring back some forgotten ones, drawing Superman as I always want him to look (yah, blue hair!), exploring and exposing the incestuous world of Time Stream guards and taking two huge story lines and injecting his say into both of them.

His art is as great as always.  There is something comforting about his heroes and costume designs to me, and probably any other child of the 90’s.  His dialogue feels like it should always end with an exclamation point, and each part of the story feels like something epic and game changing will happen any moment.  In short, the kid has still got it, and he isn’t updating himself for no one.  Compare that to Neal Adams recent Batman: Odyssey.  I probably hate that series less than you do, but I get the feeling he is confusing formula with past success.  You don’t suspect that at all with Dan’s recent stuff.

In the end, Time Masters shaped up to be a great series.  There are some weird moments and unfinished plot lines, but this is time traveling, world jumping stuff.  I don’t believe it should have had the Search For Bruce Wayne cover banner, and I don’t know how crucial it will be to Flashpoint, but it can be read and enjoyed on its own.

4.5 Star issue to a 4 Star series.

Sweet Tooth #18 Jeff Lemire

This issue did a bit of experimenting – The script was written similar to a children’s story, and the whole issue was published horizontal.  It would be a decent jumping-on point for new readers, as it was mostly an interlude and recap.  It does a good job of reminding us what the story is, and that Gus is still a child, despite the forced, brutal maturing we have watched over the last number of issues.  Still a great series. That first page splash was magnificent!

3.5 Stars.

(Editor’s Note – Ronnie is too harsh on the stars, this was a great issue, higher than merely 3 and half stars.)

Batman Beyond #2 Adam Beechen & John Stanisci

Off to a pretty good start. This ongoing is already better than last year’s dismal miniseries.  We are introduced to The Justice League of the future, featuring an awesome new Barda.  The villian is pretty cool and science-y, and there is lots of humor.  Not quite as stylized as the cartoon was, but nothing could match that intro.  Bruce is still almost as grumpy as Matt.  Nice covers from Dustin Nguyen too.

3 Stars

(Editor’s Note – HEY!!  I’m not… oh, yeah, I am.  Heh, suck it Bruce… I can out grump even the Batman!)