Archive for the 'Matt’s stupid ramblings' Category

The Week of February 13th

Published on February 13, 2012 in Comics, Matt's stupid ramblings, Preview, Reviews-comics and Shop Crap. 0 Comments

Your Weekly E-Mail from Cup o’ Kryptonite.

 

Sorry if all the posts are a little abbreviated.  I type this in the middle of nowhere northern Wisconsin while driving back from the Eagle River Pond Hockey Tournament.  The team with Cup o’ Kryptonite representation lost all three games and may have been the worst team, standings wise, in the tourney.  Oh, well, we had a lot of frozen fun anyway.

 

Cup o’ Kryptonite was named number 28 of the top fifty reasons “why we love Des Moines” by Juice Magazine last week.  Most of the accolades or write-ups that the shop gets are nice and all, but I am really proud of this one.  Thanks Joe.  For a full list of the 50 reasons, you can check it out here.

 

We should find out Monday, at some point, if we are hosting Mike Richardson publisher of Dark Horse comics.  I’ll announce if we did on the website and the Facebook.  Don’t expect one.  We are the little shop up against a couple giants.  I’m sure Mr. Richardson would have a great time at the Cup, he would do things he wouldn’t do anywhere else (like make coffee,) we were the most creative in our pictures, but those other shops are just too big.  Either way, it was an honor to even be nominated.

 

Tony Moore’s Lawsuit against Robert Kirkman over Walking Dead…

Below there are links to a bunch of sites with the news of this creators rights suit.  Some of the links are better - journalisticly – than others but there is more than likely far more to this than some of the comic media reports, you can be sure.  All media, like all people, keep contacts close.  Robert Kirkman is a shrewd promoter and I’m sure has many contacts with many people in the comic industry.  So take read the “news” with a grain of salt.

You can guess what side of the coin I side with here.  Though not a close friend, I consider Tony a great guy that I always stop and say hi to when he is at a con I’m attending.  Without a doubt one of the best artists in the industry, he is a fantastic, if quiet, guy.  The little time I spent with Tony, I can tell you, he is not the type of person to put forth a “frivolous” lawsuit.  However, that is just my opinion.

The bigger picture with comics being made into movies anymore, you must have something in place from the get-go or this will happen.  When Hollywood money gets involved you are looking at cash flows that can turn everything into crap.

The Comic Alliance’s article can be found here.

The Comic Book Resources article can be found here.

The Hollywood Reporter’s article can be found here.

 

 

Stupid DC…

I don’t want to say I told you so… but…

There was a poll that retailers were encouraged to take to give DC feedback on their big changes they made with the re-boot/New 52.  Those poll results were released last week and I can tell you I am A) not surprised in the least and B) that we were not close to the actual results that were released, which shouldn’t surprise me either.

They show that what DC wanted, didn’t happen.  They didn’t get a ton of new readers in (we did) nationwide and that it really didn’t broaden the reader demographics much.  The poll was conducted with over 5,000 readers of comics.  There is a link below with some of the numbers.

This is not good for DC.  Though they thought they would be pulling in all these NEW readers, it is simply not the case.  Readership on the books is starting to change on their books, now in month six and these numbers show why (in my opinion.)  Without the new readers, there is nothing keeping people on the new stuff.  Sure the new books off the bat appealed in the sense that we were lead to believe they were something they have proven to not be, we now see that in September of last year, people were buying a lot stuff they weren’t sticking with and haven’t stuck with.  I got a lot of, “I’ll try these and cut down in a month.”  I’m still getting the cut downs and more and more every week.  However, the biggest books are selling better than before the reboot and are, for the most part, staying steady.

What does this mean for the future?  The sub books will all get cancelled and new sub will get started, run and get cancelled… just like it has been and will always be.  The problem is, sales will slowly sink as older more established readers, who are overall more sick of the big changes, stop trying the new stuff.  I really think the old continuity will creep back, eventually, and – sorry Arlen – I think Marvel sees that a reboot, doesn’t help, in the long run, to do anything more than give you a multi-month spike and eventually sink you below where you were overall.

What else it tells me?  Superhero comics are not where creativity lies in the industry.  You can trick the non-hero or other company’s primary readers to give your superheroes a try, but in the end, the best you can do is get a multi-month spike and eventually sink you below where you were overall.

-sigh-

A little sad, really.

Find much more here on Comic Alliance.

 

 

Evil Marvel…

If DC is stupid, Marvel is evil.  Last week Marvel offered a “deal” to remove the counter suit against Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich.  They will drop it, IF he pays $17,000 to them for the sale of Ghost Rider merchandise at conventions.  This too is over creator rights and there has become a great response from other creators, especially Steve Niles, in raising money to help.

Find more click here on Comic Alliance.

 

 

Quick Review:

Conan The Barbarian #1 – Written by Brian Wood and drawn by Becky Cloonan.

I can’t write a novel on this one, but I’ll just say it was fantastic and the best the book has been for many years (since Mike Mignola did his brief three issue stint.)  This is a great read with a great jumping on point and creators behind it.  I know that Conan isn’t for everyone, but if you are a peripheral reader of the character you will enjoy it.

 

Ronnie’s Best Bets for Feb 15th:

BPRD Long Death #1 – Ah, BPRD. Always a solid read. If you’ve never read it, give it a chance. Don’t fear jumping in, in the middle, I did and was immediately hooked. For those that have been following along, I believe we will see the aftermath to whatever the fate of Johan was at the end of the last arc, which is really bugging me. This series is always a cut above with excellent art, writing, and a very tight continuity. This seems to be a trend with all Mike Mignola-verse stories (Hellboy, Lobster Johnson, Baltimore, Witchfinder, etc.)  It is easily the highest quality universe in comics and BPRD is the best of the pack.

 

Batman #6 – The startling end of #5 suggests that this issue will be the big showdown between Bruce and The Court of Owls, or at least the beginning of it. Writer Scott Snyder has shown us that he is an expert of long form stories, so I expect this run to have elements that continue for a long time. Which is a very good thing indeed. This is the only Batman book that is a must read right now. Snyder is taking the best elements of good horror and applying it to Gotham City in a way that makes you feel like it should have always been done this way. Just like his Detective Comics, pre-reboot, this is sure to be classic, legendary run.

 

Also looking good this week…

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #1 – This title is being hyped as revealing the origin of the Force and the Jedi.

Super Dinosaur #8 – An all-ages books in the best sense. Me and my son both love it. Probably Kirkman’s best current work.

Hellblazer #288 – DC’s highest numbered book. If you like JL Dark, this is the better Constantine.

Catwoman #6 – This title is better than you think! I swear it! It’s not Shakespeare (or Brubaker) by a long shot, but it’s a big dumb fun adventure book. The first issue was nothing like it’s growing into now. Certainly a better Gotham book than Birds of Prey or Batgirl OR Detective Comics OR Dark Knight OR Huntress OR Red Hood OR Odyssey….

 

The Week of January 30th

Published on January 30, 2012 in Comics, Matt's stupid ramblings and Reviews-comics. 0 Comments

Your Weekly E-mail from Cup o’ Kryptonite.

VERY IMPORTANT

Go Get Us Mike…

Two more day left to vote for our store in an attempt to get Mike Richardson, Publisher of Dark Horse Comics, to come to our shop in March.

All you have to do is go to this link and say something nice about us, or how much you want to meet Mr. Richardson.  If he does come, he brings tons of freebie books and pizza.  To say the least, we would make a big deal out of this… meaning a huge party.

 

Other Parties…

Just a few things on the calendar are March 14th, C-Day.  This will be the launch of the new ongoing Crossed book with Garth Ennis writing the first three issues.

Also, April 3rd (yes, it’s a Tuesday, grrr) is the Avengers vs. the X-Men launch party.  We will be having one and doing some cross promotions, offering contests and variants and prizes, oh, my!  We are still unsure who we should side with though?  See, as part of the party, Marvel is offering one “side” or the other to sign up with.  You can help us.  Go to our Facebook page and vote for either the Avengers or the X-Men.

 

Cup o’ K on the Moon!!…

I want to take this opportunity to make my firm commitment to Newt Gingrich’s plan of having a Moon base by the end of his second term and be the base’s sole and official coffee and comic book shop!  Now, we know that we are just a little shop in little Des Moines, Iowa, but we are more than willing to be shot to the moon to provide the best coffee and comics to the astronauts and workers on Newt Base One.  I’m sure there will be other shops trying to get in on this, but seriously, do any of them have more reason to be there than us… We are a crazy outlandish idea AND are already an official Sci-Fi named shop and since the Iowa Caucus, I am an actual registered republican.  That has to count for something, right?

There are some logistics that are going to need to be worked out.  One, I can’t imagine how bad the customer service will be from my distributor when we are on the freak’n Moon and just how much the UPS shipping cost will be on getting those comics up there… but fear not, we are determined to be that shop for the base!

I am also willing to stop all talk of how stupid an idea this is from a candidate who has not one shred of decency towards humanity, the poor or those in need, but instead will be willing to forward you to others who believe in these lies.  (I have no association with these blog posts – no matter how accurate they may “seem” to be.  Don’t hold it against me Newt, I support you.  Send me to the moon!!)

You can find one here, it is on my favorite site on all the net, Bad Astronomy, and is written by the astronomer and author, Phil Plait.  Phil also wrote a great rebuttal to Candidate Gingrich too.  Both are excellent reads. …er, I mean, horrible and you shouldn’t read them.

 

Changes Coming?…

You may be seeing more artist and writer changes coming, but not the ones you would expect.  Looks like the great experiment of exclusivity towards talent might be coming to an end, at least for some.  It seems that a couple artists are being allowed to relax or break their contracts and work for someone else.  So, someone you’ve seen only with one company for years could be doing freelance work for others.

Why?  Well, money of course, but because of the lack of it, not an overabundance of it.

These contracts were designed for two reasons; locking in talent with one company and not another for a period of time and giving some security for the writer and/or artist (health benefits, for example.)   When they were really being used by the big two back five/six years ago, they were looked at as a cold war like arms race for the comic’s industry.  “They signed artist X, but look at us, we signed writer Y and Z exclusively.”  For the creators it was nice to have the added security of being able to know where you would get a paycheck and/or what you would be working on for a certain period of time.

But obviously they have also created an increase in “costs” for these two companies and now with massive cost cutting measures going through Warner and Disney, these two want out of some contracts.  Obviously, a bleeding heart lefty, pro-union jerk like myself is with the workers, but do more research for yourself.  I’m just letting you know what you are going to be seeing.

 

Reviews…

Ronnie is off this week, so, you will have to put up with me.  Sorry.

I’m giving more of a recommendation, rather than a review and it’s a recommendation for some of Marvel’s big character books that I’ve seen slippage in sales over the last few months.

Only just a few of our customers, our beloved Marvel Zombies, collect nearly every single one of Marvel’s main characters.  I totally understand that you can not get everything.  I am merely saying you should consider these.

Fantastic Four (and by association FF,) and Iron Man have been great before, during and after Fear Itself.  All have dipped recently and I’m surprised, because if anything, they have improved in their storytelling.

Fantastic Four and FF are dealing with a Kree invasion as well as lingering plotlines associated with the past year’s storytelling.  Easily this Jonathon Hickman run is one of the best in the books history (I can name only two others that even come close.)  How good is it?  Curt and Kyle actually buy the book and still profess their dislike of nearly all the characters in it.

Iron Man is one of those characters I’ve never really liked.  I don’t think the basics of the character, rich industrialist inventor type, doesn’t appeal to me, but he is one of Marvel’s big three, so, got to give a new storyline a try, right?  That was way back when Matt Fraction took over like four (?) years ago.  I’ve been reading and enjoying it every month since.  It is simple VERY character driven storytelling.  Nearly the complete opposite of what Hickman is doing on FF or Warren Ellis just did on Secret Avengers.  This run is really more how comics were back in the late 80s and early 90s.  Years worth of storytelling building up and tearing down a character, only to do it again and again.  If done right, these are runs that grow a character’s sales… unfortunately, it can do the opposite too, as we are seeing with Shell Head.  …and that is a shame, because this is a really good superhero book.

 

Preview of the… Future…

Many of you have read the first two volumes of Darwyn Cooke’s Richard Stark adaptations, so, when I  found the solicit (that will be in the February Previews, out on Wednesday) for the new one, entitled The Score, I thought I would share it with you:

 

Fresh from his Eisner Award-winning efforts on The Hunter and The Outfit, Darwyn Cooke now sets his steely sights on The Score, the classic Richard Stark Parker novel from 1964. Parker becomes embroiled in a plot with a dozen partners in crime to pull off what might be the ultimate heist — robbing an entire town. Everything was going fine for a while, and then things got bad. Considered one of the best in the Parker series, The Score is the perfect vehicle for Darwyn Cooke to pull out all the stops and let loose with a book that has all the impact of a brutal kick to the solar plexus!

Done in Cooke’s trademark style harkening back to the ’50s and ’60s, the New York Times bestselling Parker: The Hunter won the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Adaptation from Another Work and Cooke won the 2010 Harvey Award for Best Cartoonist for the book.  In 2011, Cooke personally won the Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist.  It is also important to note that Parker is heading to theaters later this year in a major motion picture starring Jason Statham, Michael Chiklis, and Jennifer Lopez.

The Score goes on sale May 16.

 

The Week of December 12th

Published on December 12, 2011 in Comics and Matt's stupid ramblings. 0 Comments

What an awesome week for comic book news. I have waited so long for some of this news, gosh, I feel like a ship wreak victim, but instead of jabbering on, let’s get to it… after these “I told you so” messages, brought to you by the New DC.

Is your Industry Share been corrected much?…
I guess there is such a thing as industry gravity. The DC bubble is deflating back down to near pre-reboot levels and has done so with amazingly issue three (November.) This is confirmed by the Diamond sales numbers released late last week.
The numbers show DC in October having a 42.5% share in dollars spent by retailers compared to Marvel’s 21%. This was substantial, but the new November numbers show DC falling back to just over 34.5% to Marvel’s slightly over 33%. This may not be all. As Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool, who I will quote, says, “Of course reports of a number of issue 3 books from DC sitting on shelves with large returns expected may put these results into further perspective. DC continues to promote a number of titles with returnability, which may overestimate their impact on the market.” So, these numbers are probably skewed and we will see continued adjustment. You can see the full numbers at Bleeding Cool.com
It showed DC heading back to the pack, much closer to where they were BEFORE they rebooted their entire universe and threw out 70 years of history in August.
It isn’t joy that I give these numbers out. I have no great attachment to Marvel over DC or DC over Marvel – as a retailer. I just can’t stand the degree of arrogance DC displayed with their first two months of New DC numbers. I disliked the air of superiority they pushed on the retailers, the lies or at the very least half truths that were given to us about this “NOT a” reboot.
I hold my tongue when I say the reboot didn’t help. It did. It brought in a lot of new customers. For them this is a great starting point. For more Marvel oriented comic fans, seeing the DC Universe change to a much darker place helped move many to, at the very least, give some DC books a shot and some stuck around for a regular read or two.
But for the old school DC collector, those having read these titles religiously for the last decade or more, it has not succeeded. Those buying and enjoying the pre-flashpoint, pre-reboot universe… this is a confusing, less talented, rushed, shorter product. Many of the books fall squarely in the “why is this even being produced” circle.
As a retailer, I can see failure or at least sliding disappointment when books get cut down, on a weekly basis. This is of great concern to continued DC sales, which is, financially, needed for our business.
Also, it is not good for any business to have one company dominate an industry to the extent the rest of the industry suffers. There are only so many dollars to be spent on comics. Quality deserves these dollars first and I’ll try to make this right in my store on my blog and if you talk to me in person.

Brian Bendis is leaving the Avengers…
I have known no more glorious words than those when Pat sent this to me last week, I thought he was joking, but no, it is appears to be true. Sometime next year Bendis appears to be leaving the Avenger books.
Few creators have had a run of his length (10 years?) in recent history and that is a commendable thing. Bendis is a great person and if you get a chance ever at a convention you really should take it to talk to him. He is the creator of one of my favorite comics, Torso – the story of Elliot Ness, Untouchable’s Elliot Ness, after leaving Chicago and going to Cleveland where he would hunt one of America’s first serial killers. He has written some great comic over his career, a few of which are some of his earlier Avenger stories, but over the last couple years, The Avengers (volume whatever and New) have not been among them. Maybe he has been trying to push boundaries and change styles or conventions the industry of super heroes has been locked in, forever, but the latest incarnation/volume has been one table conversation or interview sequence or Luke Cage power drama after another. …and it has sucked.
I wonder if this move is mildly affected by slipping sales. Our shop is no barometer for the actual industry by any means, but our Avenger sales are now on par with Tiny Titans – which does sell REALLY well for us – but still, probably not where the nation is, though I’m sure they aren’t all that much better. If taking Bendis off the book is how to do that, great.

Twit-tar…
I don’t have a special high-zoot phone from hell, so, to me Twitter and texting is pretty foreign. (Personally, you are all just marching your asses into 1984. Matty Don’t Text!)
However, the shop does use the Twit-tar as Henry Rollins calls it. If I post something on Facebook it posts it on the Twitter.
Lately, we have had some interesting people start following us. Why, have no idea. These include Star Wars Insider, Clint Magazine, Titan Publishing and writer of the Sixth Gun, Cullen Bunn.
That is cool.

The Strain and X-Sanction…
Dark Horse has a slew of great books coming out this week.
Sure, you already read Baltimore, House of Night and Orchid… so, you are going to give The Strain a try too, right? “What is The Strain” you ask. I have a link with all the info you need and a “trailer” for you. In a nut shell, it is Guillermo del Toro’s vampire novel – read vampires as a plague – brought to comics with ass kicking super artist Mike Huddleston and adapted by David Lapham. Oh, and the first issue is only $1.00. Thank you, Dark Horse.
Also, this week is the start of Marvel’s next big crossover, Avengers X-Sanction gets under way. “Didn’t we just get done with the last one,” you ask. (Long Exasperated Sigh) yes… but… I don’t know, it has the return of Cable, the Avengers and fighting? Isn’t that enough?
I really don’t know why, but I’m interested. Maybe because it looks, at least, to have Cable kicking the crap out of the Bendis Avengers – as he should. Remember back to Identity Crisis and issue three (?) where Deathstroke beats the entire Justice League, (well, except for Green Arrow)? He is an unstoppable fighting machine that uses like 90% of his brain (or something stupid like that.) Deathstroke should be an unstoppable super-fighting machine. The ultimate bad ass you never want to meet. That is how I look at Cable. He should be the super bad ass, super cool character everyone wants to use – that has NEVER lived up to this. I am a product of the late eighties, I remember when he burst on the scene and slowly became irrelevant OR, he has always been written badly. Either way, I would love to see this X-character kick the crap out of Bendis’s Avengers… or I’m just a sucker for another stupid Marvel crossover. Damn it, they always get me.

The Week of November 21st

Published on November 21, 2011 in Comics, Events, Matt's stupid ramblings and Reviews-comics. 0 Comments

Closed on Thanksgiving. Except for an hour between 8:30 and 9:30 for our regulars to get their caffeine fix.

 

Sales on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 25th and 26th. We too will have a sale on Friday and Saturday of this week.  What kind of sale?  Well, guess you’ll have to show up to find out.  And no door busters or whatever the hell evil corporate greed mongers do in box stores.

 

Yearly Plea for supporting locally owned business…

So, it is that time of year again, my most hated season, the christmas shopping season.  And again I am going to make a plea to you all too ONLY shop at a locally owned businesses.  Now more than ever, you need to buy from ONLY those who live in and support the same community as you do.

Need to buy a book for someone, maybe the new Stephen King novel?  Try the Book Store down town or Beaverdale Books in, shockingly, Beaverdale.  Need music, try ZZZ Records and my good friend Nate.  He can get you whatever you need music-wise and you need not EVER step foot in the one of the worst stores on the planet.  (“which store is the ‘worst on the planet?’  Take your pick.  If it is a giant box store, it is evil.)

And if you think this is hyperbole, a good versus evil presentation, or you think I jest, I assure you I do not make light the situation that threatens our country and our world right now.  There is a pandemic of corporate greed and you can stand on the side of good with a flowing red cape… or not.  The choice is yours.

 

Geeky X-Mas…

Saturday, December 3rd Noon – 5 pm

This year we are again doing a special charity drive on the first Saturday of December.  Our annual Geeky Christmas is in its fourth year and hope to beat last year, which will be a tough challenge.  The three charities are Toys for Tots, Iowa Public Television and everyone’s favorite Animal Life Line.

 

Some of the special guests: The 501st Legion/Central Garrison (from 1 to 4), representatives from the US Marine Corps, and Santa (from 2:30 to 4)!

 

Let the kids write their letter to Santa; learn how to scrapbook your Christmas pictures; kids’ crafts including Christmas card and ornament making; holiday storytime with Our Pal Al from Waldenbooks; Family Movie Night; bring your camera to take a Christmas photo with Darth Vader or a Storm Trooper; door prizes for all ages all day long; do some holiday shopping from the “Geek Boutique” for the geeky or not so geeky people on your list; learn quick and easy display ideas for miniature villages, Christmas carol Sing-A-Long and MORE!

 

Special Drawings for great prizes including a variety of gift baskets and comic/sci-fi art. These tickets available when you make a donation to Toys for Tots; have your gifts wrapped for Animal Lifeline or make a purchase from the Geek Boutique for Iowa Public Television.

 

AH, a good comic story…

This week Chris Claremont, the best X-writer of all the times, donated his archives to Columbia University this last week.  The archives contain notes, story ideas and scripts surrounding his 40 some year career.  The universities library will work to organize and detail them for the public and hope to add more creators work to the archive in the future.

Not only is Claremont a visionary of comics, but this helps move the field of comic research forward to the next stage and hopefully will encourage others to do the same.  I, personally, think the future is very bright – because of acts like this – in getting comics further recognized as even more legitimate in the eyes of mainstream literature.   Thank you, Chris Claremont.

You can find the full Publisher’s Weekly article here .

 

The End is Nigh!

Well, you knew it was coming eventually.  You just can’t keep publishing… EVERYTHING.  Eventually, some sell better than others and some, sadly for those who enjoy them, get cancelled.

Marvel is in the frame of mind to trim a little and announced a slew of cancelations on Thursday and Friday.  Here are the most recent announcements; Black Panther, Daken, X-23 and Ghost Rider are all gone.  These join Alpha Flight which got “removed” from an ongoing format and turned back into a limited series last month (It is a weird one, first a mini-series and then an ongoing… now mini-series again), Villains for Hire, which is now a four, rather than a five issue limited series and Punisher Max, was announced to be just “coming to an end” at the finality of the current storyline.

I really don’t know if you can make more out of this mole hill or not… maybe Bob Layton can clear it up?

 

So, Corporate Comics…

I have a mad on sometimes (“Sometimes?!?”) about the big two and some (“Some?!?”) of their publishing habits.  You have heard it from me before… and you will hear it all again.  (This is starting to sound like a Battlestar Galactica episode?  So say we all!!)

So, why don’t I let someone else present this, and do it so very well.

His name, Bob Layton, (if you think of Iron Man, you should thank Bob Layton) and he is currently working on another Iron Man mini set to come out from Marvel.  Last week he made a post on his facebook account about how this will be the last work he will be doing with the company.

I am going to paraphrase his remarks, but if you would like to read the full statement you can see it on Bleedingcool.com.  The remarks say he has no dislike of the company or is being treated poorly, just that it is NOT the same working environment he remembers enjoying from his younger days.  He continues clarifying the statement saying, “my decision is more about individual expression and to not become a contributor to “units sold.”  The pervasive corporate atmosphere felt like the #1 goal was to crank out grist for the stockholder mill.  In other words, it seemed to me that pumping out endless, poorly conceived mini-series to make sales figures has become that driving force at Marvel/Mouse.”

Now, I’m not going to 100% agree with this, but… it does sort of seem like the big two have turned comics into a Henry Ford like assembly line, from creation to finished product, but still both of them do in the end put out some really good stuff.  Like…

 

Review Time…

Only one this week and it is a big one!

The Stand: Night has Come #4 of 6 Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Drawn by Mike Perkins.

I have reviewed this in times past.  I have listed it as a highest possible recommendation.  I have told people it is one of the best books being published.  I can’t say any more too that.

With this issue the main story hits its climax and now we will have two issues to wrap up (and there is still a lot to wrap up!)  This is one of the finest adaptations of existing work that has been done in graphic form.  “Oh, it can’t be that good“ you might say and I would counter with, you are very wrong!

We are talking a novel that is more than 1000 pages boiled down into 30 some issues AND  it reads every bit as well as the book does.  Yes, obviously there is a lot that has to be glossed over and characters that need to be left out, but to do this and still make a great, very readable comic that huge fans of the book can read and still very much enjoy and those who have NEVER read the book and also very much enjoy…. This is a major accomplishment and my hat goes off the creators for a job very well done.

Without a doubt, this is one of the finest series in comic history.

The Week of April 4th…

Published on April 4, 2011 in Comics and Matt's stupid ramblings. 0 Comments

Book Launch/Signing at the Cup Friday…

Local artist, great guy and customer Thomas Finley is celebrating the release of his first illustrated children’s book, Ace Ape, at the Cup (He says it is “the coolest place in the multi-universe.”  Thanks Tom, check is in the mail.) on Friday April 8th from 6-8 p.m.

Join the party and see how Ace Ape follows his heart.  Injury or angry parents won’t keep this adorable ape from attaining his amazing dream of flying.  This early adventure in Ace Ape’s childhood explores the letter “A” and how to rise above adversity.

We’ll also have a drink special as well.  Why not stop by and support a local creator.

Monday the 4th is Japanese Earthquake Relief Day at the shop…

Reminder about Today (if you are reading this Monday, if not, well…) We have a one day special benefit for Earthquake Relief in Japan.  For every dollar of profits we generate today, we will donate fifty cents.  It isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but at least it is something.  We’ll be donating to Doctors Without Borders and The American Red Cross.

Fear Itself…

I would be remiss if I did not mention that Fear Itself #1 ships this week.

I try to look forward to major superhero comic launches and over the last few years it has become more and more difficult, but Fear Itself, I think I can just take it and enjoy it.  This looks to be just big dumb superhero fun, ‘cause really, what do we know about this thing?  What I can garner and have found out, it is Thor and Cap centralized (wonder why?) and will have something to do with a super-evil being bent of crushing all of the Marvel heroes.  Sounds like simple storytelling (by Matt Fraction) with some good quality art by Stuart Immonen.

I hope simple is the name of the game.  You don’t need every book to be the Invisibles, especially big superhero crossover stuff.  Though complicated on superheroes is nice every once in awhile, what are we really looking for when we open up our average superhero comic… a whole lot of punching and character development.  We want a conflict and a resolution, a little development of our main character and there supporting cast, but mostly just an entertaining story.  To many times this is being lost on our big name comic writers.  Hopefully, Fear Itself is a little more Atlantis Attacks or Evolutionary War and a little less anything to do with anything Bendis has done in the last seven years.

As an aside, I really liked the prologue, Book of the Skull, written by Ed Brubaker.  It was very much just a set up issue and though I’m sure it will play into what is going to happen in the main series, you could read it and be done.  It was just a good Cap story, mostly set in World War II.   And we happen to still have a few still on the shelf.

Cap is Cap… again?… (Duh, already knew this.)

So some pile of crap in New York, called the Daily News, is reporting they have an exclusive that Steve Rogers is returning to be Captain America.  SHOCK, GASP, EXCLAMATION… duh!!  Let me finish the “news” and then I’ll rip on this non-notice of shocking events.  So, these morons at the daily idiot think they are shocking the world by reporting this , even though Bleedingcool.com reported it a couple weeks ago.   Even though a blind person could have figured it out by reading (get it, blind… can’t see the panels… shut up) the latest issue.

The notice of such shocking developments is that it will be a new, new number one issue (actually like volume SIX!!), even though we just had a big 600th issue a little over a year ago.   There will be a bunch of covers and Ed Brubaker will continue to write it, Steve McNiven will be late on the art chores.

Now allow me to rip on this for a second.  Seriously, this is only news in how stupid Marvel thinks its readers are.  I swear they don’t publish comics anymore, they only publish gimmicks that have storys attached to them.  The new FF launch was pretty gimmicky.  This mess with Thor, no now Mighty Thor and the old book is Journey into Mystery, is much worse, but the Cap thing is the most insulting.  Can’t you just create a good story, add great art and publish it under the name Captain America?  Why does it need to be restarted again?

I think the most anger I have over this has to do with length of story.  Seriously, how long was Steve Rogers actually the “man behind the curtain” of the Marvel universe?  Like a year, if that?  Grrrr.  Changing stuff around is natural for comics, I get it, but not every week.  Marvel is like a hyper active child without drugs to calm him down, running willy nilly from storyline to storyline, restarting books, restarting books, renumbering, re-doing…. No wonder when the average old reader who has been out of comics comes in wanting to read a good Cap comic or Thor comic (probably because they saw some pile of crap ad for an even worse movie) they are lost beyond belief.

Just publish comics.  Simple, straight forward.  Would help get new readers reading a hell of a lot more than hype, gimmicks and sh!tty movies.

So, how long before Bucky dies or turns evil?  Gimmick Gimmick Gimmick.