Archive for the 'Best Bets' Category

The Week of May 6th

Published on May 6, 2013 in Best Bets, Comics and Preview. 0 Comments

Free Comic Book Day

Thank you all who came out on either Friday night or Saturday for Free Comic Book Day this last weekend.  I hope everyone enjoyed the books they got and anything they picked up in our sales.

Our overall sales were pretty good and the conversation I had at the D&D Friday was great…

 

Drink and Draw is Thursday

Speaking of Drink and Draw, our regular event is this Thursday the 9th at 8:00.

Our “ingredient” this month – what we are drawing while drinking – is whom else would you like to see in the Iron Man armor.

Remember, Drink and Draw is not just for artists.  You can just be a comic enthusiast and looking for some good comic book conversation.

 

DC in need of a shake-up?

So, can we just call it good -or in this case bad- and have Wally West wake up having had a REALLY bad nightmare and say good bye to DC’s grand new 52 experiment?  I say this whole heartedly as a retailer and not as a former fan of these great characters.

The sales figures for April were released and DC’s slow slide is marked by their lowest point in some time.  The retail market share claimed by them was just under 26% (compared to Marvel’s near 38% and the somewhat surprising continued growth of Image, up to just over 9%.  Yes, that is over one third of DC.  ONE THIRD!!)

Why is this so terrible for DC?  Well, after month two of the New 52, DC was at an obviously unsustainable 52% and though this grand scheme, er, idea perpetrated on the comic public was supposed to bring in new readers – and has flatly not done this.  If you are an old school reader of DC though, it is being made harder and harder to read ANY of it.  It was supposed to change and modernize these “boring old has-beens”… and a year and a half after being forced on us, it is easy to say the management and editorial crew has failed us.

So, how do we fix this?  Well, not much ‘we’ can do.  Demanding the firing of the editor in chief is probably the best start.  Bob Harras, the man responsible for Heroes Reborn is that Editor in Chief and I think a countdown is probably underway on his removal.  You probably – unfortunately – won’t see Dan Diddio dumped.  He has entrenched – or is a better word wormed – his way into the core of the company and it would take some firings in other places first, then when that doesn’t help, you could see his removal.

Either way, you aren’t going to see much change from them for most of the summer.  They will get a bump from the Superman unfettered or uninhibited or whatever the chained book is called.  But when their competition has a single writer with more books in the top ten’s sales figures than your entire company does, uh, yeah, DC, you might have a problem.

 

Stupid Superman stuff found on the internet

I’m on a role on my hate-on for DC, so, let’s move on to their parent company, Warner Bros.

Do you need another reason other than the trailer you hopefully haven’t seen to dislike Man of Steel?  Well, I have a site for you!!  Io9 had a major spoiler from the upcoming movie and if you are a fan of the character, you may want to see it before you make up your mind to see it.  Click here IF you want to see.

Yes, I don’t/won’t see this abomination in the eyes of Jor-el, but it could have been worse.  There is even more pics and info filtering out about Superman Lives!  …the one with Nic Cage.  Here is a link to another Io9 story with concept art and story ideas for the villains of that movie.  Marvel at the horror.  If you are not totally retching, then here is more including pics of Cage in the suit.  Thor almighty, that is so awfully bad.  Almost as bad as the new costume.  Does anyone in whorey-wood even read comic books?

And finally, why am I so mad at DC, what is it really?  It comes down to underpants,  red underpants.  Here is a history of the war on those red underpants.

 

Ronnie’s best bet this week:

The first release from Black Mask Studios, this is being released alongside Ghostface’s new album of the same name, and which is the soundtrack to the story.  Having listened to the record a few times, and loving it (listening to it as I type this), I am pretty excited for this.  If the record is any indication, this will be a highly developed story of betrayal and beyond the grave revenge, all set in Italy’s organized crime world.

The early reviews of the first issue have been really strong, and featuring the art of Breno Tamura, Gus Storms, Kyle Strahm, Joe Infurnari, along with future issues by Francesco Francavilla, Jim Mahfood, Ron Wimberly, Paolo Rivera and Riley Rossmo, all some of my favorite artists, all doing new things in the comic world.

And since Wu-Tang is headlining 80/35 this year, maybe you’ll get a chance to get this signed.

Check out the trailer here to get a taste:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q6NrwwNoMM

 

May Previews Review

Once again, the new Previews catalog is in.  These things just keep on coming, seemingly earlier and earlier.  Orders for this one are due Monday, May 20th.

Here are some of the things I found interesting that will be released in July.

 

Smoke/Ashes – pg 52

This will collect another one of those Kickstarter success stories, but this success story had a huge amount of drama surrounding it.  I won’t get into that here, all that gossip is readily available online.

What I do want to point out is that this Eisner Nominated series by Alex de Campi will feature the art of such varied names as Igor Kordey, Carla Speed McNeil, Bill Sienkiewicz, Richard Pace, Collen Doran and Dan McDaid, as well as covers from Len O’Grady and Tomer Hanuka.

A political thriller series, it follows the adventures of a journalist who works to expose corruption in the English ruling class, and getting way over her head when she and her assassin friend become targets of a powerful cabal trying to control the nation’s oil.

This will be released in hardcover for $60 and softcover for $30, but at 424 pages, that is a really good deal, especially considering the caliber of talent involved.

 

Sin Titulo – pg 57

This will collect the web comic by Cameron Stewart, whose art has been all over many of my favorite comics over last number of years, working on The Other side, Batman and Robin, and Catwoman.

Said to be a mystery thriller, it tells the story of a young man who finds a mysterious photograph left behind by his grandfather.  He sets off to figure out what it is, which sets off a big chain of events.

This will be the first time I will have read Stewart’s writing, but if it’s half as good as his art, this will be great.

 

Star Wars #7/Trade Paperback Vol 1 – pg 68/69

Ryan Kelly (Saucer Country) is taking over the art for this series with issue #7.  He has done much work with Brian Wood before, my favorite being Local.  These two know how to work together really well, so I am looking forward to this.

If you haven’t jumped on board with this well-loved series yet, the first trade is getting released also. This will collect the first 6 issues, as well as the Free Comic Book Day issue that flew outta the shop last weekend so fast that even I didn’t get a chance to grab one.

But if you don’t want to wait for the trade, all the issues are available for order.  We are going to try and keep them in stock for as long as we can.

 

Collider #1 – pg 143

So maybe Vertigo comics ain’t dead yet? This will be another of their series debuting this summer.  What caught my eye about this one was the awesome cover by Nathan Fox (Fluorescent Black), one of the best artists out there right now.  He’s just doing the covers, but the interiors will be done by Robbi Rodriguez, who hasn’t been published much, but I have been following his awesome art for quite a while on the site Ashcan All-Stars, you should hunt down his recent Abe Sapien drawing.  I am really interested to see what this guy can do monthly.

This will be written by Simon Oliver, and is about a world where the laws of physics started to evolve and change. Slowly at first, but now seems to be speeding up dramatically.  Special Agent Hardy with the Federal Bureau of Physics is now trying to figure out what’s going on, before it’s too late.

 

The Death of Haggard West – pg 322

Ahh, Paul Pope, easily one of my favorite artists and writers in comics.  If you’ve never checked this guy out before, this $3 issue will be a great chance to get a taste.  This will be the first chapter to the way anticipated Battling Boy, a graphic novel Pope has been teasing for at least 3 years.

Battling Boy is what Pope is calling a new superhero for the 21st century, which is the son of a war god and tasked with protecting a ravaged earth from monsters.  The OGN is reportedly going to be two volumes of Pope’s crazy sci-fi pulp.  This preview issue is 32 pages and shows the death of Haggard West, the last of the vigilante heroes.

One of the most creative artists out there, Pope’s heavy ink lines are popping up as a major influence on many of the new artists we are seeing today, especially among a lot of the Image titles coming out today.

Man, we just got the One Trick Rip-Off earlier this year, now Battling Boy later this year.  Now if only we can get a collection of THB sometime….

 

That’s some of the cool stuff in the May Previews.  Again, if you haven’t had a chance get in and look at the catalog.

 

This week I am gonna pick up 12 Reasons to Die #1, Batman #20, Batman and Red Hood #20 and Harbinger #12. For my youngster’s, I am gonna grab Spongebob Comics #20 and Star Wars #5.

What are you gonna grab?

The Week of April 22nd

Published on April 22, 2013 in Best Bets and Comics. 0 Comments

Free Comic Book Day 2013

Free Comic  Book Day is May 4th and we will again be participating, though doing things a little different, with events on Friday night and Saturday.

We are going to incorporate Drink in Draw into our Friday when we close the shop at 8:00 and head over to Good Sons for a pint or two, some sketching, doodling and general comic conversing… did I mention drinking?  At 11:00, we will reopen the shop for a special pre-drink and draw sale and at 12:01 a.m. we’ll put out the FCBD books.

On Saturday, we’ll open up at 8:30 a.m. and run specials and sales all day, as well as have artists, face painting, kid’s activities and free comics and coffee.

 

Andy Brase Returns

On May 1st Andy is going to be at the shop to sign his second cover to Swamp Thing.  If you missed him this last month, this is your chance to catch him again.  I’ve seen the cover for issue 20 and it is even better than the gatefold he did on #19.

 

Drink and Draw May

We will again gather for drawing while we drink on May 9th.  Our crowds have been mixed nearly in half with artists and general comic lovers, but I think all have had a good time.  Hopefully we’ll be able to take over the patio come May.

 

Censor those Underpants!

A list of the most challenged and banned books was released recently and at the top of the list, Captain Underpants!  Yes, the children’s book.  The Office of Intellectual Freedom released the list which had 464 challenges to ban books.  Many of the books on it are frequently receiving challenges, but Captain Underpants hasn’t been seen since 2005.  The new book Captain Underpants and the Terrifying return of Tippy Tinkletrousers was listed as having offensive language and being unsuitable for a certain age group.  If you want to read more and see the full list of books check out the article from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

And if you would like to see a list of frequently challenged comic books check this out.  You will certainly get a laugh and a gasp of disgust as to the stupidity of some people.

 

The End of the only Superman we have left

Below is Ronnie’s best bets, but I wanted to point out one in particular.  This week marks the last issue of Superman Family Adventures.  I have railed at length on DC’s poor decision to end this book, so, instead I’m going to reintegrate why I’ve loved the series .

Superman is the first and will always be the best super hero ever created.  He is the embodiment of the meek and mild becoming super.  He is the outsider being raised by loving parents who exceeds at being the best he can be and defending both his standards of peace, justice and truth, but also showing that there is nearly always a way around killing and at least tries – if written correctly – to find a way other than violence.  There are a lot of people who have said they find the character boring or outdated and those fools do not understand what and why he exists in the first place.  (Do I have to say again that there is no such thing as a bad character, just poor writing?)  I could go on with my ever growing rant about why Superman is so perfect, but I turn instead to why Superman Family Adventures is.

Something that is forgotten in modern comics is that dark and modern is NOT what everyone is necessarily looking for.  Many who read superhero books are looking for escapism and not just the modern world prism-ed with superheroes.  Many of us are looking for a book that allows us a brief respite from our day to day stresses.  Some find it in Horror, some in sci-fi and yet others in four color brightly garbed spandex wearing muscle bound brutes.

Kids in particular love these big bold colorful stories and it is always my favorite part of owning the shop when a kid gets a big dumb superhero book and you see the excitement they have in wanting to read.  I think of myself as a big kid when I get a good Superman book.  So much love for an old friend.  On Wednesday, the last issue of Superman comes out.

I refuse to read the horrible character that DC calls Superman now.  He is so without any of the good and respectful aspects of the Superman of old.  If you enjoy it, great, but you can not get me to say a nice word about emo-boy.

I feel like all my old friends have been taken from me by DC, but the worst to lose was Superman.  For the last year though, I’ve had a kid’s book to give me a monthly helping of the Man of Steel.  I will love this last issue as though it is the last Superman comic will ever read and it might be.

If you haven’t read Superman Family Adventures, you have truly missed out.  However, a trade is coming next month and I can not recommend it highly enough.  If you have kids, do them – and yourself if you get to read it to them – a favor and put in a pre-order for it.  You will remember the greatness Superman once one… and can be again.

 

Ronnie’s Best Bets

The highly anticipated Jupiter’s Legacy from Mark Millar and Frank Quietly debuts this week.  The solicit makes it sound like a darker, more “grounded” version of Kingdom Come from some years back.  Originally solicited as Jupiter’s Children, this every-other-month series will be the story of the first superheroes aging, and how their mission and legacy will be carried on by their offspring, a generation of super powered spoiled brats that had been treated like celebrities.

While that sounds all fine and good, the main draw for me on this title will be the art from Quietly.  In my opinion (and many others), this guy is one of the best illustrators working, with a style that is completely unique.  I have read some stuff from the master of self-advertising Mark Millar that I have enjoyed, but that is usually his tongue in cheek series, this one is appearing to take itself pretty seriously, so we will have to see how this will handle itself.  I hope for something interesting, but I can guarantee it will at least look pretty.

 

The second issue of East of West is expected this week, and I am really excited for it.  The first issue was such a great debut, leaving me with that scratching my head and wanting more feeling that I love from a good serialized story.  The art was better than I anticipated with some great character designs, and the writing was classic Hickman taking it up quite a few notches.

In an over-simplified nutshell, this is the story of three of the four horsemen of the apocalypse searching for their brother in a future dystopian wild west.  Throw in some dead heads of state, racial tensions, my boy Red Cloud, conspiracies, prophecies and cool technology, and you got an awesome setup with very little reader hand holding.   As cool as that all sounds, issue #1 was better than the sum of its parts.

If you missed out on issue #1, we’ve got a bunch more coming in with the second issue.  You really should give this a try, it’s already on my best of the year list and we will have plenty of the second print.

 

This week I am gonna pick up Batman and Red Robin #19, Batman Incorporated #10, BPRD: Vampire #2, East of West #2, Jupiter’s Legacy #1, Manhattan Projects #11, The Massive #11, Mind MGMT #10, Rachel Rising #16, and Unwritten #48.

For my young’uns, I am gonna grab FF #6, New Avengers #5, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #6, My Little Pony: Micro Series #3, Superman Family Adventures #12 and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #22.

Man, looks like it’s gonna be a great (but expensive) week for my me and my tribe.

The Week of February 25th

Published on February 25, 2013 in Best Bets and Comics. 0 Comments

Drink and Draw March

Our next Drink and Draw will be March 14th, same bat-time (8:00pm) same bat-place (Goodsons on Beaver.)  We had a smaller turnout for February, but of course we did it was on Valentine’s day dumb ass.  Thing is, I personally had some great conversations about comics, hockey and I even got to talk politics.  Two regulars are already working on ideas for their own comics, which one of the reasons for this little group.

To add a bit to March, one of the regulars, Carter, has asked to have a drawing challenge.  I like this idea a lot and being days before one of the true great holidays of the year, Saint Pats Day, we will do something connected with that.

 

A little behind on this thing this week.  So, you are getting a truncated Weekly.  Sorry, but it has been a very hectic week to say the least.

 

Not so stupid crap I found on the internet

Professor Mark Waid?  Yes, as awesome as that sounds it isn’t completely accurate.  He is indeed assisting in teaching an online course about gender issues in comics.  Want to learn more, you can check it out here.  Too bad he isn’t also teaching comic writers how to write better comics.

 

Super Villain Fredric Wertham.  We all now know that Fredric Wertham was full of sh!t, but now it has been proven.  A researcher has being working to show just how Wertham fabricated his evidence in his book Seduction of the Innocent and therefore launched the Senate investigations and extreme censorship of comics we would see for several decades.  I would hope this would be seen by everyone who wants to jump on the bandwagon against violent video games.

 

Video Games will cause you to kill.  …or some stupid crap.  I’m not a player of video games, but it isn’t to hard to notice a scapegoat when one wonders into the national media.  The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund website has a great set of articles about how the nation is and has been doing this.

 

A Pennant Winning Team?  If you know me, you know I am a huge baseball fan.  In the day, I loved the Simpsons an awful lot too.  So of course, my favorite episode is “Homer at Bat.”  A blogger recently wrote up one of the best posts on the combination of sports and fantasy I’ve ever read, “would the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant team been a true contender?”  He uses some Sabrmetrics to extrapolate wins and figures out actual records for this crazy team.   He also figures what would have happened after the season.  It is VERY worth the read if you are at all a fan of Baseball, that episode of the Simpsons or have a pulse.

 

…and Actual Comic Book news.  So, DC announced who will be taking over their Green Lantern books.  Um, yeah.  So, if you are going to drop them after the switches take place, could you please let me know?

 

Ronnie’s Best Bets

Ronnie has saved me again. He is back with his weekly choices and he has some good ones this time.

Batman: The Black Mirror TP is a soft cover collection of Scott Snyder’s first Batman work that ran in Detective Comics right before the new 52 reboot, and in my opinion, is his best Batman work.  It takes place while Dick Grayson was The Batman of Gotham, while Grant Morrison had Bruce Wayne building up his Batman Incorporated initiative.  This had a “meanwhile at home” feel in comparison to Grant’s epic tale, a good, dark detective story that reminded me quite a bit of Gotham Central.

The trade features art by Jock and Francesco Francavilla.  This was Francavilla’s Big 2 debut which happened to take place at the same time as his excellent work on the Black Panther series, but I digress. Both of these artists were at the top of their game during the run.  They couldn’t be more different in style, but both of them were perfect fits for their stories.

The story itself was a cerebral and dark tale that, like Frank Miller’s Year One, focused on Jim Gordon as much as Batman.  What now has become a Snyder trademark, the story treats Gotham itself as a character too.

The series under Snyder had a huge respect for the past and saw it as a foundation to build on. Bringing back long forgotten characters and small moments from the past that further cemented the Batman legacy, he was doing something similar in theme to Morrison, but it read very differently.  It really was a very exciting time to be a Batman fan.

A nice side story, when the first issue of this arc came out way back in 2010, I wrote a review for this blog giving it 5 stars.  Francesco Francavilla found the review and passed the link on to Scott Snyder, who then sent us an email thanking the shop for the positive review.  That little event seems to fit in with Snyder’s reputation as being the nicest guy in comics.  (Editor’s Note – I’ve met the man very early in his comic career and he really is a nice and humble person.)

Also — this past week’s Nightwing (issue 17) had the reappearance of the very vile Dealer, who was created during and last seen in this run.  It is nice to see that a slim part of the Bat-past hasn’t been eradicated yet with all the rest of the erasing they have done in the last year.

 

The Massive #9 is also coming out this week, and this is still a very, very good title.  It seems to be a polarizing comic here at the shop, you either love it or hate it, but I am definitely on the loving it side.  Matt mentioned to me the other day that he thinks that it may be in the same universe as DMZ.  The Massive being the probable future of what we saw in that great series.  Not only is that an awesome idea, but not unlikely either.  Brian Wood has a history of linking his seemingly unrelated creator owned titles in the past, with tentacles stretching from Channel Zero into Couscous Express and The Couriers.  This guy has earned my respect as one of the best writers in the industry, something my son and his mama both agree.

(Editor’s Note – In the Massive it is mentioned that no news is getting out of the United States.  Now, it is a bit of a stretch and I may be proven wrong – and probably will be at some point in the Massive’s run – but in DMZ the early days of the new American Civil War happen before the book starts.  The actual Demilitarized Zone which is Manhattan that is the setting of DMZ has been that way for awhile.  It is not out of the realm of possibility that Wood had these ideas bubbling at the same time and has now started to flesh out a second story.)

 

Hawkeye #8 is scheduled to ship this week.  Many of you have been suggesting this to me, or beating me over the head is more accurate (I’m looking at you Reynolds).  Well, I finally broke and read it, and man were you all right.  This is the most fun I’ve had in a superhero series in a really, really long time.  Thank y’all for belittling me into trying this, it’s the first “superhero” title I’ve added to my pull in forever.  Now granted, I probably would have tried the book soon enough because Francesco Francavilla is slated to be doing the art for issue #10. Heck Yeah!

 

I need to give a shout out to Chris Axiotis for helping out the shop in two different binds this past weekend.  Thanks man, that was awesome of you.  Just another example of how we have the best customers ever here.

 

This week I am looking forward to (re)reading Batman: The Black Mirror TP, Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal HC vol 2, Batman Incorporated #8, Hawkeye #8, The Massive #9 and The Unwritten #46.  For my young’uns I’m grabbing FF #4.

What are you looking forward to?

The Week of February 4th

Published on February 4, 2013 in Best Bets, Comics and Preview. 0 Comments

Drink and Draw February

The next Drink and Draw, well, hopefully you don’t have a date.  It is on Thursday, February 14th.  We set up several months ago to do it on the second Thursday of the month and this one happens to fall on a Hallmark holiday that really doesn’t matter to anyone with a real relationship past two years, so tell them that you are going to drink and draw and they can come if they like, or not… either way, I’ll be there and probably Dan talking about the Brotherhood of Annoying Mutants and they’re ringleader The Cinderella Man (Whose powers are to change any jukebox to play a “hit” from the hair band Cinderella.)  See, look what you missed last time?

Stuff I found on the Internet

You know I can’t stand the modern superhero movies or television.  The main reason is that I grew up with great superhero TV where there was no reason to “modernize” the characters or the outfits.  They were far more colorful and accurate to the comics they came from.  I’m especially talking about Batman, Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman and The Greatest American Hero.

If you remember these as fondly as I do, there is a nice documentary online at PBS.org in the Pioneers of Television series.  I especially like it because it extensively looks at Greatest American Hero.  I really think this show was underrated.  You want to modernize superheroes?  Why not come up with a new idea.  Is Hollywood so devoid of a brain that it can’t think of something/anything new?  GAH did exactly that.  It was new, different and – besides the old Batman – one of my favorite shows of all time.

One note – Adam West – the best Batman – says it best in show that they were fun, funny and for the family and where the new movies are a different animal, he tried to play the “bright knight” not the dark knight.   Ah, man West could not be more accurate in making the best argument of 1960’s greatness over modern horrible.

 

I also stumbled on an article about something this writer, the Grumpy Fan, says DCE needs.  As you well know I am not a fan of the new 52, but the article makes some good points and reminds me why I once loved the characters in that companies pantheon.  Here is the link, it is called the New 52 needs a New 52 and is about why the series 52 is needed to explain some of this back history in the confusing current that is DCE right now.  If you have the time, it is worth the read.

 

February Previews

Last week we got in the February Previews in and though I’m not the one who usually brings you the preview of previews, I’ll find a few things you might find interesting.  First off are two local boys doing national work.

Swamp Thing #19

The issue is going to feature a cover by Andy Brase.  Andy has done a lot of fantasy and gaming art work over the years and has a distinct, very chilling dark style.  His line work is some of the very best I’ve ever seen in comics.  The issue itself is going to feature a show down between Swampy and the Scarecrow and at current is scheduled to arrive on April 3rd.  Andy has already said he will be in shop that afternoon for a signing.

House of Gold and Bones #1

This is a new Dark Horse book tying in to the release of Stone Sour’s new Album of the same name and it is written by local boy Corey Taylor.  Sour is Taylor’s side band from the local Slipknot.  The book is going to be a four issue miniseries and is set for release on April 17th.  Here is the synopsis; Trapped in an alternate reality, the Human must make his way to the House of Gold and Bones as he is chased by a crazed mob and taunted by mysterious ally, Allen.  What the Human discovers on his journey will be his salvation… or his destruction.

Be it your type of music or not, Taylor and the boys don’t get enough recognition and respect here in Des Moines.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I want Slipknot drive or a Slipknot amphitheatre.  They are the most successful musicians to ever come out of the city and instead of leaving to live in LA or New York; they stayed and continue to reside here in Des Moines.  However, because they aren’t establishment music, they are considered some kind of second class celebrity here.  It is sad and they deserve more respect from the people and officials here then they get.  Alright, that is off my chest moving on.

 

Bloodhound

Also coming from Dark Horse in June and April is a former DC book that is moving over for a fresh start.  You don’t see too much of this, but lately there has been a lot of books that were in some form or other creator owned move from DC to other places to be republished.  Bloodhound will be the first to see additional publishing.  There will be a collected edition of the original ten issue DC run in June, but before that new stories in Dark Horse Presents #23.

The series will have the original writer, Dan Jolley, original artist, Leonard Kirk and original cover artist, Dan Johnson, as well.  It is the story of Ex-cop Travis Clevenger who was the most effective tracker of superhumans in the country until he was sentenced to twenty years in prison for killing his partner.  He is offered a reduced sentence to help in finding a super powered serial killer who has targeted his ex-partner’s daughter.

The book was great when it first came out in 2004, but sales were not up to the changing standards at DC and it met the axe.  A perfect book for Dark Horse.  I highly recommend this.  I’m also really hoping this trend of the forgotten comics of DC’s past continue to show up at other publishers.  So far, Monolith and The Crusades (Both excellent series) have been rescued by Image and re-published, but this is the first to actually continue its story.

 

Jupiter’s Legacy

The latest from Mark Miller will be at Image, not Marvel and will have Frank Quitely on art.  Jupiter’s Legacy (once teased as Jupiter’s Children many moons ago) will be the story of the world’s greatest heroes after they have grown up.  They leave a poisonous legacy to their children who are finding it difficult to live up to their remarkable parents.

The Previews catalog has some early black and white full page art, but for some colored panels try here.  Miller can be somewhat hit and miss on greatness.  He is never bad though and we know that Quitely is one of (if not THE) best artist in the industry.  This should be pretty good stuff.

 

Solo Deluxe Edition HC

Speaking of great art, some of you may remember the series Solo at DC.  The new company DCE is re-publishing this in a one volume deluxe edition hardcover.  Originally twelve issues, the premise was each issue was a different creator would do the whole issue by themselves; write, draw, finish.  Some had help, some did the whole thing… solo, but help or not each issue was some of the best comics published that year.  Here is the list of the creators that worked on the series; DARWYN COOKE, JEPH LOEB, BRIAN AZZARELLO, RICHARD CORBEN, TIM SALE, JOHN ARCUDI, HOWARD CHAYKIN, MICHAEL ALLRED, NEIL GAIMAN, STEVEN T. SEAGLE, SERGIO ARAGONES, MARK EVANIER, BRENDAN McCARTHY, PAUL POPE, JORDI BERNET, TEDDY KRISTIANSEN, SCOTT HAMPTON and DAMION SCOTT.

The book is pricy at $50, but it is the only way you can get your hands on most of these issues.

 

…and one last thing.  I can’t even believe I’m having to bring this up, but a company is doing something that makes me feel A. old, B. stodgy and C. angry.  The company in question is putting out “special” gatefold covers.  Oh, cool right? …and they are being “WTF Certified.”  Wait, what?  They are… what the what?  Yes, What The F@#% certified!  Is that what our comic industry has “evolved” into?

Listen, I support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.  I hate censorship.  I am a left-winger of the highest order.  I even use the word a lot.  I like to swear and as South Park has pointed out it is just a word.

HOWEVER, have you ever seen a kid’s face when they are given a comic book?  Have you ever heard that comics are for kids?  Do you kind-of miss the Comics Code Authority?

Now that last one is somewhat a joke, but why would you even think this is a good idea?

There are times and places to swear.  You don’t swear in front of kids, you don’t swear in front of your grandma and, if you are nice, you don’t swear in front of your parents.  So why, OH WHY, are we swearing on the covers of our mainstream comics?  And if the answer is, “well, we aren’t.  It is just the terminology used by today’s hip younger audience to describe shock and amazement.  …they use it in texting” then I guess it is fine to not write out the word if you merely reduce it to a single letter.  IT STILL MEANS THE SAME THING and the parents that are wondering if they should or should not buy this crap are making a decision!  Do you really think that a Mom, who is bringing in her son to pick out a comic is going to let little Jimmy pick out the comic with WTF emblazoned on the front cover?  Let me answer, NO!  But hey they have all the good kid’s books too…. Oh, right, no they cancelled all of them.  Never mind.  I give up.  Do whatever you want.  You will anyway and with no regard for anyone else.

 

I will have a few more previews next week.

 

Ronnie’s Best Bets

This is my kind of week.  A lot of my favorite titles are coming out, a lot of stuff I am anticipating is debuting, and some creators I’ve been keeping my eyes on are putting out new work.

Of particular note to me is the debut issues of Snapshot and Dia de los Muertoes.

 

Snapshot is a mini-series from Andy Diggle and Jock, the team behind The Losers and Green Arrow: Year One, which was one of the last Green Arrow stories I really liked.  This series is solicited to follow a comic shop worker that finds a lost cell phone full of murder victim photos, and the owner wants it back, real bad.  The premise itself sounds pretty good, and I’ve liked a handful of Diggle stories, but I’m really looking forward to the art.  Jock’s recent work has been the best of his career, and since this will be in black and white, we can see all his heavy ink work in all its glory.  The preview images I have seen show this will be full of the stuff Jock does well, long city shots, flying vehicles, and I assume some good old fashion fight scenes.

 

Also debuting this week is an odd anthology called Dia de los Muertoes.  This unique 3 issue mini will feature stories inspired by The Day of The Dead by different writers, and all art by one of my new favorite artists, Riley Rossmo (Bedlam, Green Wake).  Like his former series Cowboy Ninja Viking, this will be in golden aged size which will show off the innovative paint and ink art real nicely. The first issue will feature the writing of Alex Link, Christopher Long, and Dirk Manning, with a bunch of other guys in the future issues, all of whom seem to be newer writers working with Image.  Sadly, this will only be coming out every other month, but I have a feeling it is going to be the highlight of my month when it does ship.  I am way excited for this thing.

 

I also want to quickly point out that both Blackacre and Great Pacific both have new issues this week. Both are really new titles from Image, and they have proven themselves with their first couple of releases.  I think they are both ongoing series, and at this point, I am onboard for the long haul.  I suggest you give them both a shot.

 

Also, don’t forget that Jeff Lemire is taking over Green Arrow this week, which may be Ollie’s last shot at having a good series.  Don’t let me down Jeff, don’t let me down.

 

This week I plan on picking up Animal Man #17, Blackacre #3, Daredevil End of Days #5, Detective Comics #17, Dia de los Muertoes #1, Great Pacific #4, Green Arrow #17, Harbinger #0, Hellboy in Hell #3, Snapshot #1 and Swamp Thing #17.  For the youngster’s I’ll be grabbing My Little Pony #3, Super Dinosaur #17, and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #20.

What are you picking up?

 

Well, I’m glad you asked Ronnie.

Fairy Quest

One book of note for me this coming week is the Paul Jenkins and Humberto Ramos.  I am a fan of both of these creators since they did the book Revelations together at Dark Horse several years ago.

The premise seems odd, but also kind of sweet… I’ll let you be the judge: Fairy Quest is set in the world in Fablewood, where all of the stories that have ever been told live side-by-side.  However, it is also a sinister place and under the watchful eye of the dreaded Mister Grimm and his Think Police.  The characters of Fablewood must keep their stories straight or risk having their minds wiped inside the Mind Eraser.

Despite this, Red Riding Hood and her Wolf (Red and Mister Woof) have become friends.  They are about to risk everything to try and escape from the clutches of their oppressors and find sanctuary in a mysterious place called the Real World.  Red and Woof will undertake a difficult and perilous journey through all of Fablewood, hoping against all odds that they can remain friends forever.

Now, I feel that Humberto Ramos is one of the best artists working today.  His amazing look to his characters and the great slightly elongated and movement of his characters, who seem to move on the page… man, he is one of the best.  If you want to see a few of the first pages of the book  you can check it out here.

The Week of January 28th

Published on January 28, 2013 in Best Bets and Comics. 0 Comments

Drink and Draw February

The next Drink and Draw, well, hopefully you don’t have a date.  It is on Thursday, February 14th.  We set up several months ago to do it on the second Thursday of the month and this one happens to fall on a Hallmark holiday that really doesn’t matter to anyone with a real relationship past two years, so tell them that you are going to drink and draw and they can come if they like, or not… either way, I’ll be there and probably Dan talking about the Brotherhood of Annoying Mutants and they’re ringleader The Cinderella Man (Whose powers are to change any jukebox to play a “hit” from the hair band Cinderella.)  See, look what you missed last time?

 

Warren Ellis

This week sees the return of some kind of collection of Warren Ellis’s Global Frequency.  The trade paperback that is being released is an all in one (all twelve issues) collection and is the first time all of it has been in print in years.

I’m not willing to give him the crown or anything, but Warren Ellis might be the best comic writer of all time.  Planetary might be the best not quite full blown superhero comics ever written and I, personally, have never read anything done by Ellis I didn’t at least moderately like.  Heck, Transmetropolitan is one of the ten best series ever written.

Global Frequency was Ellis trying to change the standard format and approach to our visual medium.  A twelve issue series had a thread plot, a main character who worked like a telephone operator who dispatched service members of the Global Frequency to deal with problems around the globe.  The series was released around and during the great Planetary slow down – remember it took over a decade to get that book out.  GF had different artists per issues and each had a beginning, middle and end to each issue or story.

Ronnie has more in his Best Bets segment of the e-mail.

Ellis is constantly trying to evolve this medium and refuses just stand pat with old successes and styles.  So, it also gives me great joy the info I heard this week from a customer and then confirmed online.

Last week I posted a link to a “trailer” for Gun Machine, his latest novel which is now available.  Word this week comes that he has a new comic in the works, something called Scatterlands.  Don’t know much, but it looks like Super Dinosaur artist Jason Howard is doing the art and we will find out more in February.  Comics Alliance has a little more.

 

Stuff I found on the Internet

**Did you know that there is a “racist” set of Star Wars Legos?  Uh, me neither, oh, because there isn’t, though that hasn’t stopped a group from claiming it is so.  -sigh-  here is an article on it.

**The NHL started up again recently and there was much rejoicing.  Ever wonder what cos-players in Toronto do in their down time?  Nope, me neither, but now we know… and of course it has to do with Hockey.  See it here.

**In my unrelenting attempt to get you to read better comics, I am attempting to send you more information and make you look at art for the next arch of Brian Wood’s The Massive.  Comic Alliance has info up and the image for John Paul Leon’s amazing multi-cover artwork.  The book isn’t for everyone, fine, but it isn’t going to stop me from trying to get you to read it none the less.  Go look and tell me this art and solicit doesn’t make you want to read this book.  I dare you!

**Normally I do not go to Bleeding Cool, the high strung, poorly laid out entertainment rumor mill.  It is fine if you like it, but it and its main writer/creator are just not for me.  However, when something does pop up there and it is of interest and has actual journalistic merit, I am willing to take a gander.

This week there was a piece about continued editor problems at DCE.  I harp on issues we deal with as retailers and fans see in their finished books near weekly.  I do this because I was once a big fan of this company and once sold DC really well.  I would also wish also like to not see my sales continue to slide as people find themselves increasingly frustrated by their end product.

The piece done this week puts an interesting eye to these problems.  It is well worth the read.  You can find it here.

 

Ronnie’s Best Bets

Sometimes I look at my stack of comics and feel like I know exactly what to expect from each issue. That’s not always a bad thing, but one of the reasons I love this medium is there is absolutely no limits to the story possibilities, in form, art, and many other aspects I haven’t even thought of yet.  Recently, titles like Punk Rock Jesus, Change, To Hell You Ride, The Great Pacific and even Batman have been surprising and challenging me and confirming my love (and/or justifying my addiction).

 

This week, to add to the exciting and innovative, we see the release of the Global Frequency complete collected edition.  Written by Warren Ellis, one of the best modern writers, this will collect the long out of print 12 issue series that began back in 2002.  If Ellis isn’t enough, it also features the art of folks like Glenn Fabry, Simon Bisley, Lee Bermejo and Gene Ha, a who’s-who of early 2000’s comic artists. Not to mention that all the covers were done by Brian Wood, back when he was still doing art.

The series itself was a collection of one-shots, with a different artist on each. It focuses on a secret independent organization that protects us, the little people, from the consequences of the world government’s confidential programs, programs that are globe threatening in one form or another.

Similar to The Invisibles, in the aspects of the “secret vanguard”, rotating artists and excellent writer, this series has long been on my list of “never read, but have really want to.”  And to sweeten the deal, it’s 288 pages for $20, which is a better price per page than damn near anything else in the shop.

 

Also looking interesting this week… Mara #2 is scheduled for release.  While the first issue was slightly disappointing, the art was a little uneven, and the “big event” seemed a little rushed. But, I like the premise of this mini-series, and I have faith in Brian Wood that not many other creators have earned from me, so, I’m seeing it to the end regardless.  (Editor’s Note – Great sale Ronnie, you’re fired.  What my young friend did not articulate in any way, shape or form is what this book is about.   This is a look at the future of sports and media personality and NOT from someone on the side of sport either.  Celebrity and sport is a real problem in our society now (and has been since the Romans) but what will it look like in another hundred?  Add in some sort of power (allegory for Performance Enhancing Drugs I’m sure) and you get where this book is going.  Wood writes characters and he does a great job at it.  He has me hooked.)

 

Also, we see the final issue to Orchid, Tom Morello’s sci-fi class war manifesto.  This title shaped up to be much better than I expected.  Admittedly, I originally started reading it because Morello played guitar in one of my favorite bands in high school, but I stayed for the story.  He isn’t the best writer I’ve read, but the heart is there and his motivations are the kind you don’t see in comics often enough.

 

I’ve been absent from The Weekly a lot lately, life has been really intensely busy, so I just wanted backtrack a bit and point out that Sweet Tooth ended magnificently, Catwoman has gone to crap, Paul Pope is still king of ink, Conan, The Massive and The Couriers show Brian Wood is king of the Word, Stumptown Vol 2 was awesome and The Sixth Gun is so underrated it makes me sad.  However, a new number one and jumping on point in on the horizon, so, don’t miss out when it launches in a few weeks!

 

If you’re feeling bored or let down by your weekly haul, I can certainly point you towards stuff that I feel demonstrate why comics are better than they’ve ever been.  Kyle and Matt can too, just ask.

 

This week I’m looking forward to the above, plus Batman and Robin Annual #1 (666 Damian!), Batman Incorporated #7, Rachel Rising #14, The Sixth Gun #28 and The Unwritten #45. For the youngsters I’ll be grabbing Superman Family Adventures #9.

What are you looking forward to?