See! Alan Moore being polite to a kid's show host!
Witness! Gaz Top's ridiculous haircut!
Hear! "This is Swamp Thing, who's a walking compost pile that haunts the Louisiana bayous."


(Found on LinkMachineGo.)

You know, I've not seen Superman Returns nor have I read most of this week's comics yet - is my nerditude slipping?

Sadly, no - I've just been rather busy the last couple of days. I'll go over what has been read real fast, ok?

Oni's Love The Way You Love shows Jamie S Rich's slight, if affable script being completely betrayed by the miserable art of Marc Ellerby. I hate to be cruel, as I generally like Rich's work (even if he feels like he's very comfortable digging a particular ditch) and Oni consistently gets good artists on their books, but Ellerby's flat, ugly cartooning and inability to use more than four or five stock shots for any character is just plain depressing. If his line was a bit more sophisticated and I actually got the impression that the lead were as handsome as the script purports, then maybe I'd feel differently, but this is a pass, even if Erasure song titles were used as chapter headings.

PS> I know she's all famous now, but if you're going to get Chynna Clugston-Major to do part of the cover, then the interiors better step it up.

DC: Brave New Word basically continues the trend of one in five books from the publisher being remotely readable, but it only costs the reader $1 to find out which one this time.. My pick is Gail Simone and John Byrne on The Atom; despite the ugly (and I suspect Morrison-designed) costume and the past-its-prime art, the scientist-as-action-hero angle sells me. Einstein meets Indiana Jones meets Jackie Chan (the hero explicitely mentions his training in a Chinese opera company)? I can dig it. Everything else, I give a big ol' pass to.

NextWave: Agents Of HATE #6 is the sort of comic you love now or you will love in the future. It is that simple.

The fourth issue of Blue Beetle manages to entertain and set up a few things, but I'm wondering if we're going to get a glimpse of the answers soon. There's something about the pacing on this title I can't quite put my finger on, but it's not quite clicking for me as much as I want it to.

Normally, I avoid the Bendis-penned New Avengers like each issue was anthrax-soaked, but with Howard Chaykin on board to draw Captain America, I rather had to pick it up. They probably won me over by page 3 where Cap delivers the most succinct expression of the complacency that the current administration wants the citizenry of our country to experience:

They want to be comfortable - not safe.

I won't go into how accurately this reflects the current fear climate created by FOX News and the like, but I can honestly believe Captain America could see the flaws in what passes as security in this country. While I ended up enjoying this issue more than I should, the weaknesses were pretty obvious. Content was stick-thin, even if it had more plot than the usual Bendis book: Cap fights SHIELD, runs to the Falcon, goes to talk to Henry Pym, fights SHIELD again. I will say that the dialogue tics were barely there and were much more enjoyable than the "Did you---" "Yeah." "That thing? "Sure." stuff that has plagued his work.

And now I go to the office and post this. I'm sure I'll review more later.

Oh, and about that free bonus? I lied.

Original Plan:

1. Get a hot dog (veggie) with Aaron.
   
2. Get coffee.
   
3. Write about comics.
   
4. Bask in glory of having a new post up on the internet.

Revised Plan

1. Find out Aaron got a hot dog without me, because he's a fuck.
   
2. Go to The Burren, get a beer and read a comic or two. Drink another beer.
   
3. Get a phone call from Kristin, which leads to finally getting a goddamn hot dog (veggie) and some beers in a bottle.
   
4. Realize that I'm not doing any new content for tonight.

In this thread at Newsarama about Tom Beland's True Story Swear To God moving to Image, the man himself shows up after Josh Richardson from AiT (his former publisher) (who are publishing his books in trade paperback form for the next two years) posts the following, which was quickly edited down:

I asked ol' Lar what he thought of Tom's interview, and he just sort of laughed. 'I don't know what Tom's talking about,' he said. 'All our books are available in book stores, and you know with ASTRONAUTS IN TROUBLE and SCURVY DOGS and DEMO and even this fall's upcoming THE BLACK DIAMOND that we do monthlies. But Tom never asked us if we wanted to do his monthly. Go figure, but that's what happens when you don't call Mimi back.'

So I asked him if we had anything official to say about this, and you could see him put on his press release hat. 'Of course we wish our pals at Image and Tom continued success with the book, and like the third stage of a Saturn rocket, we've helped boost him into the sky! And, of course, TSSTG trades (Volume One, CHANCES ARE... DEC022403; Volume Two, THIS ONE GOES TO ELEVEN MAR05 2503; and the strip collection, 100 STORIES, MAR042166) are and will be available from AiT for years to come!'

Tom's response:

In regards to Larry's quote where he said "Tell Tom that this is what happens when you don't call Mimi back." I'd also advise Larry that this is the feeling an artist/writer gets when you cannot contact the man who RUNS the publishing company because he screens his calls.

Now, with regards to my books being in finer bookstores everywhere..? Well, I can't find them at Barnes & Noble, can't find them at Boarders, can't go down the street to my local bookstores who've tried to order them from Ingrahm and they keep saying they're out of stock and have been so for ages. Other stores who can find them keep saying it's slow to get.

I've contact both of you about this problem and I'm constantly told "what store did you talk to?" Then, when I say who they are, there's no response.

If I can FIND my books everywhere... what's the deal with my checks averaging $70 per fiscal quarter? I'm having trouble wrapping my head around that one.

Hey, I'll always be grateful for AiT making my first trades, as I've stated several times before. But when I have a full page ad on the back of my books, telling them how to get the trades, pricing and ordering codes... and stores STILL have a problem getting the books, I should have better answers. That's been the spot of my angst and my constant head banging against the wall. I never get that answer.

Just adding my two-cents. I was asked a question in an interview and I answered it. If Larry's going to give a quote, don't yank it out of the thread two nano-seconds later.

To everyone else, thanks for the support, I appreciate it. I'm going to talk with Image about the numbering system, I think you've made some great points on that.

New issue comes out in late July, then we go monthly in September!! See y'all then!

(Thanks to Josh for the catch.)

So, Sterling links to this thread at the DC boards wherein "sidtman69" starts a topic dedicated to "Meet Any Weird People At A Comic Shop?"

I'm shocked, nay, appalled that Mr. Sterling, a veritable patron saint of comics blogging and a man who knows his way around an easy joke, neglected to pick up on the odd bit of capitalization in the very first post in the thread:

I'm sure we all have. I remember this one dude who got a government [crazy] check who once was afraid to leave the house because, as he said it, "The Incredible Hulk was after me.". And he claimed I was Nick Fury because I had on an eye patch to correct my vision problems from a diabetic attack- and he'd met me several times before!! And he once jumped off a bridge to commit suicide but changed his mind and swam to shore--where The Police were waiting on him.

That's right - Gordon Sumner, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland were waiting to help the crazy dude.

That's pretty damned cool of them.

There's a new, super-brilliant (and I'm not just saying that because I wrote it while drunk) Nitroglycerin at the BOOM! Studios page.

Those of you who desire such a thing in a larger format can read it at Birdie's Web Comics Nation page.

Ross Richie has stated that I'll be autographing something at the BOOM! booth at SDCC.

It's rather obvious that he's lost his mind, isn't it?

I love the complex moral and psychological landscape of Alan Moore's material, particularly From Hell, and am thrilled that longform graphic novels as diverse as Epileptic and Tricked are available in "regular" bookstores.

I think it's great that comics readers can easily find and read books like Lost Dogs and Deogratias - works that are emotional, intelligent, and worthy of examination.

But none of these, no matter how much I want them to, thrill me as much as the phrase "The Anti-Superman Gang."

Diamond ships comics to your shop.
I tell you what to buy.
You know how it works.

Previews

MAY060002 MARVEL PREVIEWS JULY 2006 EXTRAS PI
MAY060005 PREVIEWS ADULT VOL XVI #7 PI
MAY060006 PREVIEWS CATALOG PACK EXTRAS VOL XVI #7 PI
MAY060001 PREVIEWS VOL XVI #7 PI

Christ, already?

DC Comics

APR060200 CRISIS AFTERMATH THE SPECTRE #2 (OF 3) $2.99

The first issue was really, really pretty thanks to Cliff Chiang, but it was way, way more setup than I think it needed.

DEC050363 DC NEW FRONTIER SER 1 GREEN ARROW AF PI
DEC050360 DC NEW FRONTIER SER 1 GREEN LANTERN AF PI
DEC050358 DC NEW FRONTIER SER 1 INNER CASE PI
DEC050359 DC NEW FRONTIER SER 1 MASTER CASE PI
DEC050361 DC NEW FRONTIER SER 1 SUPERMAN AF PI
DEC050362 DC NEW FRONTIER SER 1 WONDER WOMAN AF PI

I...er...I ordered these.

Yeah.

I know, I know.

APR060209 DCU BRAVE NEW WORLD #1 $1.00

For a buck, I may buy it.

So I can sell it on eBay for $10 in a week.

Seriously, don't give me that fucking look. I'll scoop your eyes out with my solid-gold spoon.

APR060220 HAWKGIRL #53 $2.99

With Chaykin off the title to draw Blade, I'm wondering who's going to take over. In my dreams, it'd be an all-Simonson joint.

APR060232 SOLO #11 $4.99

Sergio!

Image

APR061822 DOWN WARREN ELLIS TP $15.99

Like I said ages ago, it's Grand Theft Auto: The Comic. It's good, but pretty inessential.

Marvel

APR062078 ETERNALS BY JACK KIRBY HC $75.00

I ordered this on Amazon because with the discount and free shipping, I'm paying like $5 over my shop's cost.

That's marvelously depressing, innit?

APR062051 NEW AVENGERS #21 CW $2.99

I don't care that outside of the main book, I don't give two farts about Civil War. I don't care that Brian Michael Bendis has cashed his last check with me. Howard. Chaykin. Drawing. Captain. America.

Seriously, I've been waiting for this since the mid-80s.

APR062052 NEXTWAVE AGENTS OF HATE #6 $2.99

I this comic.


Other Companies
It's a disturbingly light week for me and the indies.

MAR063819 SOUTHLAND TALES BK 1 TWO ROADS DIVERGE $12.95

Despite the critical drubbing the movie this leads into has gotten, I'm still enough of a fan of Brett Weldele's art to check this out. The film's official site is here.

I spend far too much time on YouTube and am quite sure it's going to shut down real soon unless they figure out how to monetize it tout suite. Anyway, I thought I'd inflict upon you give you all the chance to check out some of my favorite Japanese music, which is a difficult and expensive thing to get into, in convenient internet video form.

I rate "Technopolis" by Yellow Magic Orchestra (Japan's poppier answer to Kraftwerk) very, very highly. The video for the song is approved because of my affection for analogue video effect futurism.
My other favorite YMO song, "Behind The Mask," performed at the Budokan:
Here's YMO's Ryuichi Sakamoto playing "Merry Christmas, Mister Lawrence" live. No, I can't find a version with David Sylvain singing "Forbidden Colours," which is a song that is guaranteed to make me cry.
Fans of Jiang Xiao-Qing can see her perform the song with Sakamoto at an awards show in 1987 here. The piano blends with the Koto beautifully.

I freely admit that there's probably no reason to like the Kick The Can Crew as much as I do, but if you tell me that the backing on "Sayonara, Sayonara" is not brilliant, I will have you stabbed and beaten and then stabbed again.
An insane number of MCs pass the mic on "Planet Of The Bapes," a showcase track for Nigo's BAPE label. Produced by The Neptunes, the tune lets YTR, Ignition, Boy-Ken, and others just go kind of crazy. Itchy, fun stuff.
Rainstick Orchestra make this minimal, click-hop I am addicted to. Here's the beautifully-shot promo for "Trick."
The promotional video for Denki Groove's "Shangri-La," a song that I love with a burning passion. It's got so many elements that say "Kevin, you should really like me," and I listen to those elements and, indeed, love the song.
Here's another Denki Groove clip. This time, the band performs "N.O." on Music Journal. No, I don't know what the hell is up with those chickens. Or the guy with the pottery wheel.
What the hell, here's a third chunk of footage featuring Denki Groove. If you don't want to sit through entertainment chat nonsense (though there is one bit around 3:10 where the host plays with a 303 and I got a bit jealous,) jump forward to 7:20 when the band performs a cover of Hot Butter's song "Popcorn".
To take you down from your techno and hip-hop high, here's a pleasant JPop song with guitars. The Planit B Remix of the English version of Utada Hikaru's "Simple And Clean" plays over the opening of Kingdom Hearts. The original Japanese version has a very nice, hooky melody and the video is charming in its simplicity:
And for those of you wanting something in English, here's Depeche Mode's "Master And Servant," with animated accompaniment by the Thundercats.I don't know whether or not to thank Josh for the last one.

Not only are my fellow Americans lucky enough to get to purchase the new Pet Shop Boys album Fundamental (with bonus disc Fundamentalism) this coming Tuesday at a domestic price, the smartest men in pop have announced a tour that will, indeed, visit the US and Canada.

And if you'd like a schedule, here is a schedule:

October
10 // Montreal // Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier
11 // Toronto // Hummingbird Centre
13 // Boston // The Opera House
14 // New York City // Radio City Music Hall
15 // Washington, DC // DAR Constitution
17 // Miami // Jackie Gleason Theater
18 // Orlando // Hard Rock Cafe
19 // Atlanta // The Tabernacle
21 // Austin // The Backyard
22 // Dallas // Nokia Theater
24 // St Louis // The Pageant
26 // Detroit // State Theater
27 // Chicago // The Chicago Theater
28 // Minneapolis // The Orpheum
30 // Denver // Paramount Theater

November
1 // Phoenix // Arizona State Fair
3 // West Valley // The Ford Theater at the E Center
5 // Seattle // Paramount Theater
7 // San Francisco // Bill Graham Civic Audoriam
8 // Los Angeles // The Wiltern LG
9 // Los Angeles // The Wiltern LG

When I get sale dates, I will post those and you will all purchase tickets, of course.

More information is available on the exceedingly annoying, newly-redesigned Pet Shop Boys site.

Here's the rather nice video for "Minimal," the new single that's due out July 24th.

Click to read "I Found The City Under The Sea!"

Originally presented in My Greatest Adventure #15, written by someone whose name has been lost to the sands of time, and drawn by Kirby, this scan comes from the rather excellent Mystery in Space trade paperback. It's a shame that volume didn't sell enough to warrant a continuation of the Pulp Fiction Library series - I'd love to see similar crime and horror collections in the same full-color format.

Previous Complete Stories:

The Three Rocketeers in "The Lunar Goliaths!"
The Fighting American in "Operation Wolf!"
Space Cabby in "The Luxury Limousine Of Space!"
"Little" Joe Little in "The Three-Foot Sleuth!"

His reaction to getting print made me laugh and laugh and laugh.

It's the end of the week that saw the result of me somehow convincing Ross Richie that I could write a comic strip that he'd be willing to put into print.

That's pretty cool.

My Five Favorite Superman Artists:

1. Curt Swan - An unassuming master. His version of Superman is the one I see when people talk about the character.
2. Kurt Schaffenberger - Really, it's about Lois and Lana in his art, but like Swan he defines my favorite era for the character. I've always liked the humor that was omnipresent, always showing us the outrageous with a slight wink.
3. Jerry Ordway - Yes, there's something slightly off with that chin he puts on Kal-El, but his 40's influenced work on Adventures Of Superman ranks very highly with me. He consistenly manages to make sure you believe a man can smash through brick walls without blinking.
4. John Byrne - The cape being torn was needlessly irritating and the slight smugness that Superman possessed in his scripts is distracting, but I love the broad-chested, handsome look he gave the character. Hs haircuts for Lois Lane were crimes against humanity, though.
5. Jose-Lois Garcia Lopez - The man. A superior draftsman with an amazing ability to add just enough detail that you believed in what you saw.

Bonus List
My Five Favorite Superman Cast Members That Aren't Superman or Lois:

1. Jimmy Olsen - If the latest All-Star Superman didn't prove to you that he's essential, I'll beat you about the head and shoulders until you acknowledge that he's Mister Action. I have a brick and I'm totally willing to throw down over this.
2. Perry White - He knows The Secret. He has to. There's no excuse for any man letting one of his best journalists wander off with a stomach/headache whenever something nasty happens in Metropolis.
3. Pa Kent - Removing the deaths of Superman's second parents may detract from the character's tragedy - no matter what he does, those that he loves die - but there's some moments I consider solid gold featuring Clark and Jonathan Kent. See the wheatfield scene in Superman For All Season, written by the exceedingly lousy-of-late Jeph Loeb for a prime example.
4. Batman - The reverse angle to Superman, the night to the Last Son Of Krypton's day. I just wish he and our favorite Kryptonian would be brave enough to tell the world of their forbidden love.
5. Steve Lombard - The office bully gets his comeuppance a few dozen times a month. An entire nation of nerds cheers.

I was tempted to scan in the one about The Avengers, but that's the sort of thing that can get a man into trouble that rhymes with "lynch mob." Just go get it. So many genius gags of very, very little merit.

1. Birdie sends me an email reminding me that today, you can read Nitroglycerin in print format in X-Isle #1.


2. I stop my ether binge long enough to type this up.


3. You buy the comic and enjoy an exclusive print edition of our promotional masterwork.

For the second time since we started making it a thing, I'm going to be missing out on a Wednesday Night Nerd Crew meal and while it's for an exceptional reason - My Morning Jacket is playing with the Boston Pops and the lovely Linda has secured a pair of tickets for me - I'm going to miss this regular gathering that combines two favored events: New Comics Day and Dinner With Friends. This meal usually takes place at an outlet of the loathsome Pizzeria Uno chain and fairly recent changes in my diet (I've dropped all dairy due to a sudden manifestation of allergy and decided now was as good a time as ever to clean up the rest of my bad culinary habits, meaning I consume sushi every couple of weeks and that's the only animal product that crosses my lips) finds me at an impasse. Yes, I've gone vegan, albeit badly and not for anything resembling a concern for animals; I'd still punch the shit out of a cow if it gave me the googly eye.

We've tried moving this meal, to little success. We've gone to Christopher's in Porter Square a few times and while the majority of the crowd seemed to have a fine, fine time of it, there was always one or two people who got a bum meal - usually the British person insisting on ordering fish and chips in a location that was not The Burren or another one of the thousand places in the Boston area known for frying up the perfect piece of white fish. There was also the trip to a steak chain that shall go unnamed that I rank among the ten worst meals of my life - and I've spent the night in jail before. While I know the folly of eating vegetables in a joint that's blaring shitty "new country" music and promising you a steak the size of your grandma's ass, there was no fucking excuse for what they managed to do to green beans. They're green beans, people - steam them, toss on a bit of sesame seed and salt and drop it in front of me. Drenching them in beef broth of the lowest quality and placing them in a dirty bowl is just cruel.

This week, the gang's heading to The Border Cafe in Harvard Square. Border Cafe's an odd little duck - consistently decent Cajun and Mexican fare in a mid-sized chain that stretches up from the muck of New Jersey, getting a name change from something predictably dull like South Of The Border or Food That Brown People Eat or when it hits New England, and I quite like it, but probably would be very damned limited when it came to edible menu items. But here's the thing - for these people and their company, I'd be happy eating steamed carrots (an item I fucking despise) and drinking watered-down iced tea. Mind you, it'd be lovely to go to a place like Capital Grille or Locke-Ober, but considering that a meal at those places could, you know, buy a week's worth of comics for me (and you just got a hint of how much I spend each week on disposable four-color doses of pop culture), so I'll just grin and bear the limp, lifeless salad and try to avoid thinking about how much the line cooks must hate my meticulously-constructed order.

Here's the thing - and you knew I'd get around to this - the comics business, on the whole, is dominated by companies whose business plans more resemble McDonald's and Burger King than anything else. DC and Marvel are, for the most part, putting out fast food - disposable comics featuring licensed characters - and while they may occasionally get a fairly-clever Mark Waid revamp of the Legion of Superheroes or experiment with something like 52, these moments are few and far between. Rarely do they let a Grant Morrison show up to tear down and rebuild a franchise - why risk alienating the fans when Chris Claremont can recycle the same four plotlines again and again to the hardcore fans that will buy X-Men no matter what?

Sure, there's more craft involved in coming up with a comics story - I know I'd never want to write Nightwing and have to worry about making sure the hardcore fans are happy while hopefully bringing in new readers - but the end result is the same 95% of the time: a predictable, empty meal that occupies the audience for five to ten minutes. The great advantage to trying something new and different in comics versus dining out is that buying a book that does something interesting usually costs very little more versus paying $50 or more for an interesting meal. Sure, Queen And Country may not feature Greg Rucka trying to turn Fire into a superspy, but you're going to get a more interesting result because the characters belong to him, not editorial mandates.

When you look at guys like Chris Pitzer (interviewed by Ed Cunard over at Graphic Language,) you're looking at people who aren't content managing four locations in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin area. Pitzer, along with Top Shelf's Brett Warnock, Fantagraphic's Gary Groth and Chris Oliveros over at Drawn and Quarterly - they want to serve tuna tartare instead of a Filet o' Fish to a marketplace that doesn't acknowledge that you can, you know, try something different. This is why bookstores and libraries mean more and more to these publishers - those venues are not narrowly focused on milking the fanboy dollar and something like Persepolis is going to find its audience among the same people that bought The Red Tent.

Ah, well. I ramble, and if you've read this far, I'm sorry. I've just been thinking a lot about comics lately and haven't had a chance to codify a lot of it.

There's a new Nitroglycerin strip up at the BOOM! website. I'm sure Birdie'll have the larger version up at his WebComicsNation page pretty quickly.

This one features the mysterious Grencia Mars, winner of our Haiku contest.

Sure, there's Absolute New Frontier and these gorgeous covers featuring the Man of Steel:



But, really - CBR has The Only DC Solicitation For September That Matters:

SNAKES ON A PLANE #1 & 2
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Gordon Purcell
Photo covers
Issue #1 Variant cover by J.G. Jones
Issue #2 Variant cover by Jerome Moore
You've heard the Internet buzz...seen the hair-raising trailer�now experience the comic of the sensational summer movie Snakes on a Plane, written by Chuck Dixon (NIGHTWING) with art by Gordon Purcell and painted covers by J.G. Jones (52) and Jerome K. Moore (JSA: LOST)!
Snakes on a Plane stars Samuel L. Jackson as an FBI agent assigned to escort a government witness on a flight to Los Angeles. But when a crimelord sets loose hundreds of deadly snakes during the flight, the agent must band together with the pilot, frightened crew and passengers in a desperate attempt to survive and protect his witness!
Why's it have to be snakes? Relax, they're first-class fliers. Retailers please note: Each issue will feature two covers; see order form for details.
Retrosolicited � Issue #1 on sale August 16; issue #2 on sale August 30 � 1 & 2 of 2 � 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US � MATURE READERS

Is Superman Gay Or Just Sensitive? (Defamer.)

Director Denies Superman Gay. (newswire.co.nz)

Superman? Jew. (ITV.com)

The New Movie's Pretty Good, Apparently. (Reuters.)

Listen To The Complete Score. (Rotten Tomatoes)

How Did They Get Marlon Brando In The New Movie When He's, Like, Dead And Stuff? (Ain't It Cool News)

In a mood, it's going
to storm - these are
my picks among the comics
coming to your shop on
June 21.

DC Comics

MAR060295 ALL STAR SUPERMAN #4 $2.99

I bet that there's a pool in Vegas that covers the odds on how far behind this series is going to be by the halfway mark. Can't Quitely get helper monkey or something so he doesn't leave the drawing board at all?

APR060286 BITE CLUB VAMPIRE CRIME UNIT #3 (OF 5) (MR) $2.99

Unpleasant, funny, and scathing. My kind of Vertigo book.

MAR060299 SHOWCASE PRESENTS SUPERMAN VOL 2 TP $16.99

Promised last week, delivered this week. Worth any wait, really.

Image

APR061769 AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS VOL 2 TP $12.99

While the art slipped schedule slipped and fill-ins take up a good portion of this volume, this is still one of my absolute favorite high-concept comics.

APR061763 CASANOVA #1 (MR) $1.99

This is a chunk of comics - dense and beautifully illustrated and with an enticing price point plus good creators, I'm pretty sure this is going to be the next Image breakout title.

Marvel

APR062089 CHAMPIONS CLASSIC VOL 1 TP $19.99

I love the Champions - I've described them as the sort of 70s b-list team that's the result of a particularly heinous bar bet, but I'd much rather have an Essential volume than a full-color reprint, especially as this does not include Swarm.

APR062098 ESSENTIAL SAVAGE SHE-HULK VOL 1 TP $16.99

Speaking of Essentials...

Yeah, I'm 99% sure I've ordered this.

APR062022 ETERNALS #1 (OF 6) $3.99

I'm unsure if I'm getting this; the last Gaiman project for Marvel was so underwhelming in the end.

APR062030 GIANT SIZE HULK #1 $4.99

This doesn't just feature some Planet Hulk material; the Peter David Hulk: The End, a perfectly bleak little tale illustrated by Keown that goes for silly money is also included.

Other Companies

MAR063447 110 PER CENT GN $12.95

Originally slated for last week, too. Huh. Still, it all still applies - Consiglio's a hellaciously talented man.

MAY062991 COMIC BOOK HOLOCAUST GN (MR) $9.95

There is nothing wrong with comics that Johnny Ryan can't make worse. Read Spurgeon's interview with him here.

DEC053140 LOVE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE #5 (MR) $5.95

The Mature Readers notice here perplexes me - I've certainly not noticed anything that's anything more than a mild PG-13 in this series so far. Maybe this one features hard anal or something...

So, if none of you have noticed, "words" have been in short order on my internet website of the last week or so. Some of this has to do with the fact I've been pumping out tons of words for documentation that had to be revised and re-revised and indexed, so getting home and typing or doing work with Rage Engine One have seemed less than appealing. I've also been going through the books I picked up at MoCCA - expect reportage on that over the next week or so.

Anyhow, last night I reread the old Stern/Buscema/Palmer Avengers trade paperback Under Siege. That's good comics right there, even if Jarvis gets the living tar beaten out of him. Under Siege is the sort of story that wouldn't be out of place nowadays (even if it is a particularly old-school Marvel story) - Zemo leads a revived and improved Master Of Evil, but with current trends it would be a year of lead-ins and hints, leading to something ultimately unsatisfying instead of being just an event in the regular comic. I know, I know - I've made these complaints before, but I've narrowed it down to one specific complaint: "mainstream," superhero comics storytelling has reached a level of sophistication in its storytelling that rivals Hollywood, but so few writers know exactly what to do with it.

The narration that Miller invented, or at least popularized, in material like Daredevil and Batman: Year One has replaced the thought balloon, but it seems like the storytelling shorthand - allowing the reader to make logical leaps with the protagonist and filling in pieces of the story - is pretty much forgotten, excluding writers like Ennis and Brubaker - authors whose material isn't very superheroic most of the time. Instead, the narrative boxes find themselves conscripted - being used for Bendisian character riffing that does very little for the story; it's chopping wood, as Mamet would probably say.

This bit of unwillingness to explain or elucidate plot points even the tiniest amount makes things like the other big comics universe event Infinite Crisis frustrating for me. I'm not a stupid person, believe it or not - I've read Proust and Joyce and love me the sprawling, drug-spiked narrative of William S. Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson, but Infinite Crisis and Rann/Thanagar War were completely opaque to me. Those works were littered with these loud, jagged bits of plot that are roughly linked together by other bits of plot, but story - how it affects the characters and why the casual reader who's not pored over back issues and drank the Kool-Aid should care - is left completely out of the equation. When "they" manage to kill off the Superman of Earth-2 and I don't even manage to feel the slightest twinge, then they've failed in their duties to me, the guy that likes a superhero slugfest but shouldn't have to do years of homework before picking one up.

Johanna Draper Carlson (who removed me from her sidebar - don't think I didn't notice) mentioned that the adult audience that DC is aiming at doesn't have the time to devote hours to things like Who's Who and tracking down back issues anymore, yet they're doing quite well of late. Maybe it's the culture of cool they're raising - the idea of a mass-kept secret that lets readers feel like they're part of something elite and somehow valid - sort of like me and the Peter Saville-designed record sleeves I obsess over. I've heard rumors of an unofficial policy in place at DC - writers are to refer to events in other books without directly saying where or when they occurred, effectively making it so that a reader will only completely "get" the story if they've picked up other books at the time of their publication, and that sort of in-jokeyness probably appeals to a lot of the people who spend the majority of their entertainment dollar on pamphlets of spandex material.

Hell, I know I'm grousing over stuff I don't really need to - I find it somewhat interesting that they've leveled the playing field to a large extent with One Year Later - storytelling gaps are in place that are getting filled in with 52 and a new tone that's more accessible seems to be in place. Both the main Superman and Batman titles are allowing people to just drop in and be engaged directly without the hook of a Byrne-style complete reboot and outside of Black Adam repeatedly proving that he can, indeed, rip people apart when he feels like it, there's a lighter touch to a lot of the material.

Mind you, it'd not hurt one bit to use editor's notes or have a character say "Strangely, the same events happened to Green Arrow about three weeks ago..."

At this year's MoCCA, I got to catch up and spend money with Pat Lewis, whose Lunchbreak Comics are eminently entertaining slabs of minicomics goodness. His cartoonish art is a delight and his writing always elicits a chuckle or two out of me.

Anyway, I went to his site and what did I see?

A comic about J. Jonah Jameson getting
bitten by a radioactive spider.

Brilliant. Go buy all of his comics so he can do more stuff like this.

Roman, of the excellent "thank you" note of a while back, and his little brother Tyler are moving out today with their folks. I'll miss having two kids that weren't examples of why humanity should be exterminated hanging around.

Rick Veitch is not an easy talent to pin down. His most popular mainstream work managed to keep the frank weirdness of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing while bringing the narrative to a more human plane and when his heady synthesis of art and story hits its peaks - Brat Pack and The Maximortal, very few mainstream-friendly creators (seriously, Aquaman?!?) can touch him.

His latest work, the sprawling Can't Get No, shows a casual mastery of his craft and manages to enthrall without ever making it look like he's working for your attention. When pill-popping, ultra-successful Chad Roe's company, makers of the Eter-No-Mark Ultra-Permanent marker is sued for $6,000,000,000 by the City of New York and property owners who find themselves unable to remove graffiti, he begins a surreal journey that starts at a bar and ends in the desert, surrounded by a circus. Along the way, he receives a full-body tattoo courtesy of two women and the product that brought his downfall, watches the Twin Towers collapse and meets an astronaut in the middle of a deserted amusement park dedicated to the Bicentennial among other beautifully realized moments that mash up cultural icons of the last half-century.

The entire thing smacks of Douglas Coupland after a particularly good ether binge - business, commerce, drugs, and sex with a woman who looks like Jackie Onassis, but it doesn't have that smug-with-itself feeling that sometimes is a bit cloying. Veitch manages to be very experimental - dropping dialogue entirely for the sake of a rambling monologue that provides both counterpoint and contextual narration to the story - while clearly delineating the fall (of sorts) and redemption of Roe visually.

Special attention should be paid to Veitch's use of 9/11 - that day has cast a heavy shadow on pop culture this year. The stark United 93 and the upcoming World Trade Center address the actions of people involved directly in the event, but the author uses it both as a metaphor throughout the story as well as a catalyst for Roe's change at the beginning of the second act.

It's nice to see Vertigo put out something like this - Can't Get No is the sort of graphic novel that revels in the medium and wouldn't translate to another form, so it doesn't feel like a TV series or movie pitch in the same way so much of their output (like Y: The Last Man) often does. Well worth your time and a perfect bridge to Veitch's more esoteric work.

To everyone who's said that they're having trouble reading or finding the Nitroglycerin strips, check this out. Now you can savor Birdie's art at a proper size and read archives!

Now all you have to do is go out and buy X-Isle #1, where the print version of our strip debuts.

Fact: I'm enjoying Civil War about a million times more than Infinite Crisis, despite the fact I'm sure that there's going to be a giant Dr. Strange-related continuity "fix" to repair some of what we're seeing as soon as Joe Quesada is no longer running Marvel. Sure, giant crossovers are sort of the antithesis of what I like in superhero comics, but this seems to be much better planned that I expected it to be and so far, the core series (the only component I'm reading) is entertaining well enough.

Fact: J. Jonah Jameson's reaction to Peter's announcement killed me stone dead.

At least credit me when you swipe lazy link posts from me, along with bandwidth.

Thank you, drive through.

XOXO
Kevin.

First, Wednesday means there's a new Nitroglycerin strip at the bottom of the BOOM! Studios page. This week, there's a monkey!

Second:

Evan Dorkin sells his rough sketches on the cheap at shows and I'm amazed that I got four Eltingville character sketches in one set for as little as I did. I'm sure I'll find a reason to scan in the others in the near future.

Some reasons why I love The KLF, courtesy of Wikipedia:

• The book and film Watch The K Foundation Burn A Million Quid.


• The album 1987: What The Fuck Is Going On?, which I have on a cassette dub that is probably way, way beyond repair. In particular, I absolutely adore this bit about "1987: The JAMS 45 Edits:"

  Following the enforced deletion of the 1987 album, the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu promptly released an edited version as a 12" single, unauthorised samples substituted by periods of silence. The edited single was offered as a "reward" to anyone who returned a copy of the LP to The JAMs' PO Box. The sleevenotes to "1987: The JAMs 45 Edits" explain to the purchaser in a rather tongue-in-cheek fashion how to recreate the original album for themselves:
  
  This record is a version of our now deleted and illegal LP '1987, What The Fuck Is Going On?' with all of the copyright infringing 'samples' edited out. As this leaves less than 25 minutes of music we are able to sell it as a 12-inch 45.
  
  If you follow the instructions below you will, after some practice, be able to simulate the sound of our original record. To do this you will need 3 wired-up record decks, a pile of selected discs, one t.v. set and a video machine loaded with a cassette of edited highlights of last weeks 'Top of the Pops'. Deck one is to play this record on, the other two are to scratch in the missing parts using the selected records. For added authentic effect you could use a Roland 808 drum machine (well cheap and what we used in the original recordings) to play along behind your scratching.



• "The KLF have now left the music business."


• The "acid house protest song" "Fuck The Millennium," wherein KLF founders Drummond and Cauty pillage their own back catalogue and shout over it.
  
  Part of the promotion effort was this advertisement.
  
  The whole thing was genius.


• The One World Orchestra featuring The Massed Pipes and Drums of the Childrens Free Revolutionary Volunteer Guards present "The Magnificent," a drum 'n' bass version of the theme to The Magnificent Seven on The Help Album.


• They recorded a brilliant song with Tammy Wynette.


• Space, one of my three or four favorite ambient records ever.


• One of the remaining two or three? Chill Out.


• They manage to make me forget that Gary Glitter likes children a little too much when I hear "Doctorin' The Tardis."

Bonus Link courtesy of Gawker:
Did the KLF create Pete Doherty?

Diamond says:

*****
PLEASE NOTE: Due to unexpected computer repairs, the shipping lists
for this week (June 14) and next week (June 21) will be
delayed by 24 hours and posted on Tuesday, June 13.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
*****

I say:
Damn it, we're doing it anyway.
I'm too tired to fuss at this
point in time, so here's
this week's books,
hand-selected by
Kevin J. Church.

DC Comics

MAR060378D CANT GET NO SC (MR) $19.99

Rick Veitch? OGN? What's the deal, yo? Let's let DC's marketing department give you the old "back cover quotes" roll call:

"...supremely, magnificently strange, and like nothing else I've read."
� Neil Gaiman

"...one of the most remarkable achievements in recent comics history."
� Publishers Weekly

"Can't Get No is a smooth, magnetic yet intricate book, whose storyline, combined with the Hopperesque starkness and elegance of the artwork, is what they always called in the old days ' a good read.'"
� Ed Sanders (Tales of Beatnik Glory)

"...a remarkable allegorical tale."
� Library Journal

"Most impressive."
� Booklist

Sounds pretty good just from that, eh? Veitch is one of those remarkably underrated talents that deserves to get a lot of attention - maybe this is the project that will push him into the spotlight.

MAR060326D JLA CLASSIFIED #22 $2.99

The Detroit JLA finally gets the attention they deserve from DC.

MAR060324D JLA CLASSIFIED NEW MAPS OF HELL TP $12.99

Warren Ellis wrote himself a damn fine little story with this 6-part. The art near the end gets pretty sloppy (Guice must have been under a tight deadline), but there's some truly awesome moments showing off why the JLA is the best there is at what they...

...aw, man.

MAR060299D SHOWCASE PRESENTS SUPERMAN VOL 2 TP $16.99

Silver-Age Superman Madness! Oh, yesssss. I probably have about a third of this volume in various formats, but I don't care.

FEB060251 SUPERMAN VERSUS LEX LUTHOR TP $19.99

Love the cover image, hate the copy placement and burst. Nice collection, really, even if it's lacking in the Ultimate Tale Of How Fucked Up Lex Luthor Is: Action Comics 510, 511, and 512. That there is some quality 70s Superman material.

Marvel

APR062043D MARVEL ROMANCE REDUX LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD $2.99

Great, Marvel. The only thing I'm buying from you this week is a freakin' remix comic.

Nice one.

COMICS

MAR063447F 110 PER CENT GN $12.95

I got this at MoCCA and it is brilliant. Middle-aged women obsessed with a boyband and how it affects their personal lives?

Better than any goddamn episode of Desparate Housewives.

Tony Consiglio manages to make you laugh and get a little misty with great aplomb and his skill as a cartoonist, while not flashy, keeps you engaged. The last act ties everything together perfectly.

I hope this review makes up for making Alex Robinson sign my copy for Tony.

(Who signed right under Alex, gracefully.)

(Don't worry - everyone was in on it.)

(Really.)

APR063412 SUPER F$$$$$S #3 (MR) $5.00

Jack Krak is the motherfucker and don't you fucking forget it, you shit-sucking asslicker.

This comic does bad things to me.

(The third issue is quite hilarious and manages to get really disturbing near the end.)

APR063411 TALES OF WOODMAN PETE GN $7.00

Yet another Top Shelf title worth checking out? Why are they pounding us into submission this week?

Because they can.

Lilli Carr� does a great job creating a new American myth and entertaining the reader in a svelte 80 pages. Lovingly illustrated and more clever than you deserve, this is going to be one of those books I pick up again and again.

APR062884 URSA MINORS #1 $2.95

Dudes in cybernetic bear suits beat up evil.

Sold!

Today's Morrissey Moment has been brought to you by KFC:

In America, It brought you the hamburger,
Well, America you know where
You can shove your hamburger
And don't you wonder,
Why in Estonia they say,
"Hey you! Big fat pig!
You fat pig, You fat pig?"

Too wiped from the weekend to make a proper blog post, other than to thank everyone that helped make my MoCCA Fest experience the best. Birdie, Chris, Ed, Gina, Neilalien, Kitty - thank you. I missed getting to catch up with Butcher or MacDonald (she of the awesome shoes on Sunday) but I'm sure you people are pretty sick of me already. It was particularly nice to see fellow Somerville residents Liz Prince and Tim Finn at the show - howdy!

To all the creators that spent a moment or two to talk to me, I appreciate the time and hope you didn't get the impression that I was going to murder you in your sleep. Reviews of things I purchased will be trickling in over the next week or so. What I read on the way home was universally entertaining and interesting, so nobody need fear a harsh word...this time.

Also: apparently, I missed seeing Tom Spurgeon, which actually makes me a little grumpy.

I'll do The List later, but in the meantime, check out this beautiful sketch that Matt Kindt did for me:

Bonus Spy-Themed Link:
Click here to see the video for David Hasslhoff's cover of "Secret Agent Man."

(Click.)

Finally getting around to getting a moment or two to talk about this week's books and since everyone's noticing that 900 gorilla in the corner, I guess I should go ahead and discuss it, eh?

Wonder Woman #1 shouldn't make me as intensely happy as it does, because I find it pretty hard to get excited about the character. Yes, she's strong and dynamic and exactly the sort of feminist icon that should go a long way with me, but I've never been interested in her as a solo character - at all. Not even with George Perez drawing it and not even during the six-issue Simonson/Ordway run when she donned the Emma Peel whites in a modern context. In fact, here's the really odd thing - only the Ellis pastiche of the character from Planetary and the Elseworlds version that showed up in JLA/Planetary have even tickled lobes at all.

Oh, there's been moments with her that I loved - the bits with her and Arthur in Morrison's JLA showed us a smart, funny side to the character that's usually lacking in my observation and Diana always held her own in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon - but reading a monthly book featuring the character has been anathema to me, especially with someone like Greg Rucka writing. Then Allan Heinberg shows up with a restrained Terry Dodson and knocks my socks right off. The first issue of the new series hits the ground running - Donna Troy's taken over the role, Steve Trevor's in trouble, and there's going to have to be some name-taking and ass-kicking. Backstory? You get six panels of exposition that cover the period leading up to Infinite Crisis, maybe three pages of "Oh, hey don't trust me because I'm not Diana," and then the Superhero Action As I Like It starts. Giganta, Cheetah, Dr. Psycho? Nemesis? Oh, yes, thank you!

It's loud, day-glo and pop and exactly the sort of thing that I think should sell shedloads. Perfect for people (like me) who don't care for uber-crossovers and super-serious takes on the spandex fare while throwing even the most rabid fanboy a bone or two, this is a great little comic and I look forward to further installments, which is something I couldn't have imagined saying a few months ago.

Strugglers is "a little graphic novel" by fellow Somerville resident Tim Fish, based very, very loosely on the time he spent in St. Louis. Originally part of the Modern Tales Longplay site and presented under the name of Meet Me In St Louis, the 100-page graphic novel fills in the backstory of Tighe from Fish's Cavalcade Of Boys series and is a pretty good read. I won't say great - some of the characters never rise about near-skeletal caricatures (especially Tighe's roommates) and the "Six Months Later" jump near the end feels like someone wanting to just get it over with already, but there's plenty of funny, true-to-life moments and a sincerity that I appreciate. You should note that there's a Cavalcade Of Boys omnibus solicited from Poison Press in this month's Previews that I highly recommend - that material's much more satisfying to me and Fish's art is just delightful in it versus the rougher material presented here.

In Super-Brief, Because I Have To Get To Work:
Jonah Hex is a lean, mean comic as usual. Consistently entertaining and a title that rewards new readers with its episodic format.

The latest issue of Justice League Unlimited is a Very Special Installment where Gypsy learns a lesson. And fights giant robots. Everyone wins!

52 reminded me that, despite the editorial mandates that created him and the supremely silly stories that have featured the character, I really am quite taken with the idea of Steel. Sure, he suffers from uberdoctor syndrome and has a costume that's just shy of being outrageously stupid, but a working-class Tony Stark with a giant hammer has always appealed to me. Also: Starfire's boobies!

I have this to say about Fury: Peacemaker's next issue: Nicky better shoot him up a ton of Nazis or I am going to walk away supremely unsatisfied. I have the feeling Ennis is going to oblige.

This is what I look like.

I will most likely be sighted around my Graphic Language collaborators Ed Cunard and Chris Tamarri.. If you see the ever-lovely Kitty beating the hell out of someone, that is most likely me as well.

I forgot to bring Rage Engine One to the coffee shop today, so no reviews of this week's books yet. I did totally dig Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big In Japan and plan on coming up with some jibber jabber about that in a spotlight.

OK, work beckons.

1. I interviewed Brian Wood for Graphic Language. It's my first piece of "comics journalism" and I'm actually pretty chuffed with how it turned out. Irons are in the fire for other ones, so worry not.
   
2. George Washington saved children, but not the British children. (NSFW lyrics, YouTube link, ganked from Metafilter and Chris Sims reminded me to actually watch it instead of doing my job.)
   
3. We have a winner for the Nitroglycerin haiku contest! The mysterious person who used the name Grencia Mars cranked out a sextet of titanically terrific metered verse:

   Nitroglycerin:
   Great web comic of comics!
   Now where's my five bucks?
   
   Zombies surround me
   Ross Richie giggles with glee
   Boom! shall eat my brain
   
   He ripped out her heart
   She destroyed his world for kicks
   Hero Squared: good fun!
   
   Giff and DeMatteis
   The Bwah-ha-ha sells so well
   Now only at Boom!
   
   "Rape and death will sell!"
   Cried he: "I'll kill 'Bwah-ha-ha'!"
   But did he? Oh. No.
   Note: uh, that one's not about Boom!
   
   OK to reprint
   Putrescent haikus for Boom!
   Or feed to the dog

   
   
4. While I'm speaking of Nitroglycerin, I should mention that the latest strip is now available at the bottom of the BOOM! Studios site.
   
5. I hate to pre-announce this stuff, but Birdie and I have some brilliant comics science we're going to be dropping in the future. People who see me at SDCC need to make sure they ask me for a dose.

Thanks to Sexy Aaron, Internet Wizard¹ I've got what is my favorite thing ever, at least for the next hour or so. You need to see it, too. Click here. Quicktime required.

---

¹He insisted that I call him this instead of by his given name, which is not Sexy Aaron, Internet Wizard.

From The Onion:

"I applaud DC Comics for taking the bold step of introducing a voluptuous, beautiful, girl-kissing superheroine. I only hope DC's legion of chronic masturbators will accept her."

This sketch of Krypto by
Mitch Breitweiser, before
he got all "famous."

June 7? New comics day.
Listed below? Awesome picks
and a few pans.

First, though, I have something to say to the man visibly shaking with sorrow and looking at emails on his laptop: no. Let's not do that here. Especially don't do the bit where it's obvious that you're reading emails from the person that's made you cry. Do that somewhere else. Like your house. Or Starbucks. It's right across the street, man.

Dark Horse

MAR060038 DE TALES VOL 1 TP $14.95

Awesome Brazilian Twins Fabio Moon and Gabriel B� do their thing. I buy it because they do that thing well. Dig it.

DC Comics

MAR060383 DMZ VOL 1 ON THE GROUND TP (MR) $9.99

This excellent series has surpassed my expectations and has continually kept me engaged. Lovely art by Burchelli and Wood's scripting is tight and without any excess.

APR060273 MANIFEST ETERNITY #1 $2.99

I'm disappointed and frustrated at the production choices that mean Dustin Nyugen's pencils are often buried under mountains of Photoshop effects, but surprisingly, Scott Lobdell (never my favorite writer)comes off looking really quite good here. There�s some elements that remind me of Iain M. Banks�s work and there�s enough big ideas present that I may well pick this up in trade.

APR060196 SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY OMNIBUS TP $19.99
APR060197 SUPERMAN OUR WORLDS AT WAR COMPLETE EDITION $24.99
APR060185 SUPERMAN RETURNS KRYPTON TO EARTH $3.99

And the movie's publishing hype begins. Some smart choices for DC to make here and certainly a giant middle finger to Dark Horse, who seemed determined to make sure that it was always hard to get at least one or two of the Hellboy or Sin City trades during the respective movies' run.

I may have actually ordered the Superman Returns: Krypton To Earth tie-in comic. I am a sad man who will be buried with his piles of pulp.

APR060244 WONDER WOMAN #1 $2.99
APR060245 WONDER WOMAN VARIANT COVER #1 $2.99

After Young Avengers impressed me with its first collection, I'm now sort of tempted by this new take on Themyscira�s most famous daughter.

Marvel

APR062025 FANTASTIC FOUR FIRST FAMILY #4 (OF 6) $2.99

Sort of a placeholder, this issue. With no immediate threats, the team begins to settle into their new life - some faster than others. Ben's angst is played very well and it seems like Casey's pretty sure where it's all going with the subplot of Reed Versus That Mean Scientist Whose Name I Forget.

APR062021 FURY PEACEMAKER #5 (OF 6) $3.50

I wished I smoked so I could puff on a fine cigar and savor this enjoyably minimal take on Nick Fury during his less-obnoxious formative years.

APR062073 X-MEN THE END MEN AND X-MEN #6 (OF 6) $2.99

No, really. The End. Instead of reading all three of these six-issue series at $2.99 per installment, I've been enjoying my lovely Morrison New X-Men hardcovers instead and not fellating Marvel's downward-spiralling mutant franchise.

Other Companies

APR063285 BACKSTREET BOYS BACKSTREET PROJECT #1 COLLECTORS ED $3.95

Formerly a concert-only thing in paper format, this most embarrassing fragment of the Stan Lee Media Implosion is the sort of curiosity I would buy for a quarter. The title indicates there may be glory holes involved.

Such a nice, light week for me. This means I can spend more on sweet mother booze to place in my flask at MoCCA!

Disclaimer: No, I will not be drunk on the floor at MoCCA.

What sort of cretin do you take me for?

...

Oh, right.

...in that Nitroglycerin contest either tonight or tomorrow. I just have to get my ducks aligned.

Also:
This it the best name for a Wolverine Fan Site ever: Wrath Of The Runt.

Even more also:
My macro lens is crazy delicious.

I'm selling some primo stuff on eBay, folks:

Comics Interview #48! Alan Moore talks about Watchmen, the Batman movie, and more!

The Amazing World of DC Comics #6! Joe Orlando, Swamp Thing, Kaluta, Levitz, and Wrightson!

New Gods #2! Orion beats up a bunch of people!

New Gods #3! Orion beats up some more people and the Black Racer shows up!

Fantastic Four Masterworks Volume 2! The Thing vs Hulk! Impossible Man! A day with the FF!

Avengers Masterworks Volume 1! Cap returns! Zemo! Thor beats up things!

Superman: For Tomorrow Volumes 1 and 2 in hardcover! Well...at least they're pretty! And cheap!

The first Supreme Power hardcover collection! J Michael Straczynski takes on Squadron Supreme! I yawned, but you might dig it.

A complete set of Sachs And Violins! George Perez draws boobies and stuff!

That Judd Winick Green Lantern trade where the gay kid gets beaten to death because goddammit, that's an important thing that needs examination in a comic about a dude with a magic wishing ring!

An aside: Young Aaron asked me if Winick was going to make sure Mary Marvel got to cry out "AIDS" in the new series and I actually spent a few minutes working it out:
The beauty of Aphrodite!
The peaceful spirit of Irene!
The strength of Demeter!
The patience of Selene!

The last Judd Winick Green Lantern trade! That's all I have to say about that!

The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told! Out of print and completely awesome!

And finally, the best item of the lot:
The Complete One-Volume Bone Collection which is out of print and fetching stupid amounts of money!

Sorry to our international readers, but these are all for the US. I still love you guys, ok? I just don't want the hassle at this time.

All funds collected will be donated to the Helping Kevin Get Drunk At MoCCA Foundation.

Click to read "The Lunar Goliaths"
A Harvey Comic that features Jack Kirby, Al Williamson, and Reed Crandall? Sounds too bizarre to be true, but Blast Off #1 features those luminaries of comics art. I know literally nothing else about this comic other than the fact that the stories are dopey and affable in the way that 50s and 60s science fiction comics tended to be.

Previous Complete Scans:
The Fighting American in Operation Wolf!
Space Cabby's new ride!
Three Feet Of Dynamic Detective!

My second molar (the 12-year one) on the top left side of my mouth has decided that yes, it's a fine idea to become abcessed. It's less than totally awesome and in an hour or so, I'll be at the (and I am not making this up) Dental Arts office, waiting for the toothinator to just tie the damned thing to a doorknob and slam away. The Deadwood style of Dentristry appeals to me, OK? Just get it over with and get on with your life, preferably while pounding back whiskey and eating canned peaches.

Look, comics-related stuff - the BBC wants to know Whatever Happened To The Superheroes of Old?

The new Ninja Tune release from Daedelus doesn't just feature glitchy electronic samba with a distinct sense of humor - there's some really sweet Winsor McKay art that Laura Darling has approporiated and transformed into eye-catching design that makes this record look like nothing else in the "music made by people who like computers an awful lot" section of your local record store.

Here it is for your perusal...

Nice to see that Internet Jesus has just now caught up to the "Recommend Stuff On Your Blog" trend.

I kid. It's heartening to see that we share similar tastes, as this means I will soon have the BeaucoupKevin.com Holy Slut Army in place.

9-panel, 3 x 3 grid for this page.

Panel 1
Madame Lai looking wistful as she recalls that night.
MADAME LAI:

I HAVE TO SAY THAT IT WAS WORTH THOSE WEEKS IN THE HOSPITAL AFTERWARD, THOUGH. I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT MYSELF WHEN ONE ARTIFICIAL LIMB AFTER ANOTHER WAS REJECTED BY MY BODY.

Panel 2:
Similar shot as panel 1. Madame Lai continues her remembrance.
MADAME LAI:

YOUR FRIEND CAME BY EVERY DAY TO SEE ME. HE MAY CLAIM IT WAS JUST TO ENSURE I DID NOT ESCAPE....

Panel 3:
Close up on Der Faust. He's blushing.
MADAME LAI (O/C):

BUT I'VE NEVER KNOWN A GUARD TO BRING FLOWERS.

Panel 4:
Madame Lai, again. A smile on her face, maybe the hint of tears welling up.
MADAME LAI:

HE SPOKE FOR ME AT THE TRIAL. I'VE NEVER HAD ANYONE STAND UP FOR ME LIKE THAT...

Panel 5
Flashback to Der Faust on the witness stand. Soft borders or whatever was used to denote the earlier flashback.
DER FAUST:

I PROMISE THAT I WILL MAKE SURE MADAME LAI IS A NICE LADY AND WILL USE HER POWERS AND ABILITIES TO HELP WOMEN EVERYWHERE!

Panel 6
Still in the flashback. The judge is slamming the gavel down.
JUDGE:

ONE YEAR PROBATION, TIME SERVED! WHO WANTS TO HIT THE INDIAN BUFFET?

Panel 7
Back to present. Rich looking amazed.
RICH:

...

Panel 8
Stat panel 7
RICH:

...

Panel 9:
Stat Panel 7
RICH:

THIS TOWN'S CONCEPT OF JUSTICE IS SERIOUSLY OUT OF WHACK