Daft Punk, "Too Long"

Justice Vs. Simian, "Never Be Alone"

Robyn, "With Every Heartbeat"

New Order, "Here To Stay"

Pet Shop Boys, "Minimal"

Depeche Mode, "Everything Counts (Live)"

The Smiths, "Hand in Glove"

Fischerspooner, "The 15th" (This or the original version by Wire)

Ladytron, "Destroy Everything You Touch"

The Beach Boys, "Sloop John B"

Pulp, "Disco 2000" (Or "Party Hard," which I may like more.)

Goldfrapp, "Ooh La La"

Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts, "Tank (Live)"

OH WAIT A BONUS! (I should have put it on the list originally.)

So, here's the last installment of The Rack for 2007.

Yup, that's what it is.

As you may know, I'm giving away a book that I wrote. Now, more questions and answers!

Maxo:

Who would win in an all-out cage match, Bob Haney or Bob Kanigher? And what would the Mortal Kombat-style finishing move be called?

Dude, uh, they're both dead. God, you're morbid and weird, Maxo. (And it would be called the "With-It Whirlwind - All The Hip Cats Dig It Because It's Way Out!")

Ryan:

What, EXACTLY, does Tony Stark make me feel while being a cool exec with a heart of steel?

Ken Lowery:

Is it tricky to rock a rhyme?

It's notoriously difficult to "rock a rhyme" that is as timely as required, so yes.

Brandon Bragg:

Rank Morrison's The Invisibles, Doom Patrol and Animal Man. And why that order?

I ain't gonna do that because it depends on what you're looking for.

High-concept, brain-bending, adrenalized hyper-fiction featuring conspiracies, martial arts, heavy drug use, and frequently very spotty art? The Invisibles.

High-concept, brain-bending, thought-provoking hyper-fiction featuring a revitalized Silver Age super-team grappling with the bleeding edge of whatever Mondo 2000 was covering that month? Doom Patrol.

High-concept, brain-bending, thought-provoking, meta-fiction featuring a revitalized Silver Age superhero grappling with the bleeding edge of DC's continuity while Chas Truog's art makes you go "Wait, he got hired? Really?" Animal Man.

Pat

How much Garmonbonzia do I want?

What the hell are you going on about?

Will Wise:

Comparing the current state of Marvel's Ultimate line with the Marvel Adventures titles, which direction is better for attracting new readers, and is there a better option?

While the former works well for the young-adult, trade-oriented market (bookstores, etc), the Marvel Adventures line is ideal for getting the new readers that I'd consider most important: the kids. The thing is, I don't think either of the big two superhero publishers are where we're going to really get new readers: it's manga (which I'm pretty sure is due to have a bust soon) that'll get people into comic shops where, hopefully, staff can point out things they may be able to transition to, like Runaways.

Karl Ruben:

Which was the best single of 1981?

This one.

Y'all've got the rest of the day to sort out something, then I'm gonna do what I do.

I generally ignore previews from Marvel anymore, so I'm sure you've already noticed all of this. Indulge me.

• Nice Doc Savage tribute on the cover of The Twelve #3.
  
  
• Ultimate Iron Man II #4 hits streets the same month as the hardcover collection for the entire 4-issue miniseries. No rewards for you, early reader! (More on the book edition a bit further down.)
  
  
• I don't want to be that guy (mostly because I'm remiss in even noticing the change,) but going from Frank Cho to Mark Bagley on The Mighty Avengers is going to give a lot of the book's original audience a bit of whiplash, isn't it? Not that Bagley isn't as competent as they come, but, you know, right?
  
  
• Hey, you know whose origin didn't need to be retold again? You can find out when you read Mythos: Captain America, a book that seems to exist only to remind the world that Paul Jenkins has something on Joe Quesada.
  
  
• I don't necessarily want to read the new Millar/Hitch Fantastic Four, but issue 555 has this solicitation:

  "Buy this issue for a first-look at mankind's new home. Also, the Torch gets nekkid with a supervillain."

  That's damned hard to resist, that right there. Yes, I'm easy. Just like your mom.
  
  
• Speaking of things that are tempting until you look at the writer, that Ed McGuinness-drawn Hulk comic sure appears to fun, but after seeing how thorough Loeb was at missing the point in The Ultimates Volume 3 #1, I'm just going to wait until some other sucker wanders into that particular field of fire.
  
  
• Cable's first issue proves just one thing.
  
  
  
  Dude hates babies so much he hides behind them.
  
  
• I more-than-kind-of want to read this Logan miniseries. Risso's art seems so perfect for Wolverine that I'm shocked it's taken this long.
  
  
• I had no idea that Criminal was going to undergo a format change, but 40 pages of the best comic on the stands for $3.50 sounds like a good idea to me.
  
  
• The Ultimate Iron Man II hardcover sets a new high for commercial hubris - $20 for four issues. $20 for ninety-six pages of books from which you've already made ad and sales revenue in just the last four months? Man, I want to borrow Dan Buckley's balls for a while so I can start a four-square league.

(Thanks, Batfatty, for putting this in your blog first.)

Hey, wow, we're giving away something. Now more questions:

Luke:

What is your opinion about 2000AD being available online in pay-to-download PDF format with only a week's delay between the paper prog and the digitial prog? (Right now there is only one prog available because it is the triple-sized year end special.)

I don't read 2000AD, but it sounds like it's not the worst thing in the world. If people will drop $.99 on a heavily-DRM'd pop song, the equivalent for a brand-new comic strikes me as a decent idea. (I go more into this with another question)

Also, they have to stop calling issues "progs." It's wicked stupid, yo.

Dan:

If you were stranded on Mars, which Paul Mantee would you choose as your partner in survival:

Cagney and Lacey Paul Mantee
Quincy Paul Mantee
Vega$ Paul Mantee
Mannix Paul Mantee
or
Robinson Crusoe on Mars Paul Mantee?

Think carefully. The answer is not obvious.

But...but...I just got that Criterion edition of Robinson Crusoe On Mars and Mantee's resourcefulness means that I'd be covered. Plus, there'd be a monkey. There'd be a monkey, right? Right? (Please let there be a monkey.)

I don't care what you say, I'm going with Commander Kit Draper.

(You forgot his great turn on Seinfeld as the health inspector in "The Pie.")

Shane:

If you could change 5 things about the comic industry, what would you change?

1. More comics about Batman.
   
2. More comics guest-starring Batman.
   
3. Batman becomes an open-source character, meaning any company can use him as long as they make sure to credit Bill Finger and Bob Kane with his creation.
   
4. Yes, #3 includes Eros. Hello, easy money!
   
5. Stephanie Brown gets a glass case in the Batcave, but Tim "accidentally" knocks it into the abyss.

The Eyeball Kid:

What sea creature is your favorite in terms of: Deliciousness? Oddity? Humorousness? World Domination Potential?

Deliciousness: I can't lie. As cliché as it is, I love a nice piece of bluefin tuna, raw, with just a bit of wasabi and soy, more than I love just about any other single item of food ever. Sashimi fuels my hate rockets better than anything else, especially once the sake flows.

Oddity: Teuthowenia pellucida, or the glass squid, enraptured me the first time I saw it on some oceanic nature show or another. It glows and looks alien and junk and is awesome.

Humorousness: Man, I have been looking for the last half hour and I can't find the picture of that funny-looking fish that reminds me of Killroy, but that fish? Man, he cracks me the fuck up. (UPDATE: Leigh found it! Man, that fish is a riot.)

World Domination Potential: If this badass ever comes back, we're fucked.

Paperghost:

Did you study photography at Uni or anything, or is it just something you do in your spare time? And which do you prefer - taking pictures, or writing?

I've never taken any sort of photography courses, but have considered it a few times. I've read one book - Understanding Exposure - multiple times, and that's done me a world of good. In addition to getting the basics of exposure, apeture, and the like down to where I can fake it when I'm not making it, I get really inspired by books in the Photofile series: Elliot Erwitt, Bill Brandt, and Henri Cartier-Bresson being the ones I refer to the most. (The last, I just can't figure out how he did what he did with what he had - frustrating and inspiring at the same time.)

I don't prefer one to the other as far as photography vs writing goes. It's two different sets of muscles, even if they tend to both be visually-skewed. I love photography because it's a way of capturing a moment, but writing lets me create a moment. Both can be extremely rewarding.

Dan Coyle:

How many men were going to St. Ives?

One man, seven wives. I think I saw that on the Spice channel in the mid-90s.

Thomas:

Yeah, so we all know that CBR files are very bad and that DCP is an shadowy organization of worse repute than the Cosa Nostra, but ... have you ever been so tempted by a delicious-looking torrent of Silver Age comics that you had to download? More seriously, do you think that sites like the now-neutered Z-Cult or now-defunct OiNK (which had a very healthy if little discussed comics sub-community) were hurting the already suffering comic book industry by siphoning away paying readers? Or were they introducing comics to new eyes, as some claim about music torrents and new ears?

I'll admit to downloading a torrent of Herbie: The Fat Fury because I can not find issues of that, no matter how deeply I delve. As far as other Silver Age comics go, I am confident that DC and Marvel's aggressive reprint campaigns mean I can legally obtain pretty much everything I want easily and at a very competitive cost.

I think that many of the people who downloaded Big Two comics from Oink and Z-Cult were unlikely to spend money on the comics anyway, thus not actually depriving the business of customers and there were certainly people who found things they enjoyed and wanted in print, but the current generation of entry-level comics readers are used to getting things digitally with the click of a mouse and not considering who gets paid. This can work to benefit the copyright holders - think about how easy it is for the average user to download a song from iTunes versus torrenting or having to deal with P2P networks. Marvel and DC should have, from the second that they got an idea that people were downloading their comics, aggressively pursued an easy-to-use web sales where new comics were cheap to obtain. (See my earlier answer that invoked the eMusic model as an example.)

With that in place, I it would seem supremely logical to craft a marketing funnel that then led to weekly or monthly emails to users of this system I just pulled out of my ass where they'd be reminded that something like Iron Man: Extremis was available to buy in stores.

So, in brief: some new eyes, many thieves that wouldn't have paid anyway, and the occasional new customer.

I'll answer more tomorrow, as I've got to go get my drink on.

Man, I dunno if it's just the fact I've started beating him less or what, but this new format has made Birdie's art just sing, daddy.

(Context.)

Refer to the previous post to find out why people are asking me all these questions. Now, let's begin.

Andrew:

If you were given the opportunity to write -- with no creative interference involved -- a title featuring existing licensed comics character/team/concept/whatever of your choice, which one would you choose, and why?

I've never read an issue of Damage Control, but the team concept really appeals to me, so I'd do the necessary research and dive in, I guess. (Especially if I could do it as a six-to-twelve issue comedy set during the Silver Age, parodying the worst aspects of Roy Thomas and his ilk.)

That or Batman, who'd just beat the crap out of dudes. I also have a strange itch to do an old-school Wolverine story set in Madripoor in the 50s.

Adrian:

Where did you hide the body?

We don't talk about that any more, especially if we don't want to end up rotting under the boardwalk at Coney Island, got it?

Alex:

Train A leaves Detroit at 3.45pm, on a balmy tuesday in May; Train B leaves Paris at 6.10am on a brisk November morning. Train A is carrying a hundred and fifty moderately existential poets to a conference in Vegas; Train B is transporting one hundred and fifty import/export consultants to a rest'n'relaxation clinic in the rolling countryside of Normandy. A butterfly flaps it's wings. In Oslo a woman is crying. You are a Scorpio. If both trains are travelling at exactly the same speed - why does Jeph Loeb suck so much?

I certainly wouldn't say that Loeb unilaterally sucks - I like specific chunks of a lot of his work, despite the overwrought narrative that drips everywhere. There are moments from Superman For All Seasons that still get to me. Mind you, these are just moments, but he's got to be appealing to enough of the readers for Marvel to sign him to that exclusive.

(Does that mean his work is good? No, but it's popular, and that's all that matters.)

Mr Witt:

how 'bout a game of street hockey? (yes, i know: lame jokey question, but xmas has fried my psyche again...) nice blog, keep it up, thanks!

Nah, man, I wrecked my ankle in New York. You kids have fun, though.

Rjackson:

O(B)G (Original Battlestar Galactica)? or Newsk00L Galactica? Bonus Question: Joanie Loves Chaci (sp?)? or Scott Baio: 45 and Single?? The world wants to know Kevin. Merry Holidays and New Year!

The new Battlestar Galactica is my favorite program on TV. And if I said how much I'm looking forward to the trainwreck that is Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant, I'd probably get kicked off my own damn blog.

Matt Brough:

Who would be your pick to write The Punisher when Ennis leaves?

Jeph Loeb with art by Joe Madureira.

Chris Bird:

What movie featuring a "big two" character do you most want to see? Which do you think is most "doable" as a movie or movie franchise for story reasons? Explain your reasoning and include preferred major cast picks.

Unlike a lot of people, I don't really care about superhero movies unless they look like they're worth a toss. I actually prefer them in comics form, where Grant Morrison's mad ideas or Jack Kirby's dynamic layouts can serve the characters best. That said, a relaunched, noir-influenced Daredevil film series that hewed a bit closer to "reality" would be appealing, particularly if they just moved things forward so that we were five or six years into the character's career. As far as casting goes, I'll say Jamie Bamber because he's so dreamy, with Scarlett Johansson as Karen Page and Seth Rogan as Foggy.

J Hopkins:

who killed Laura Palmer?

Leland, while possessed by BOB. Duh.

Philip Looney:

Where do you think superhero comics are headed? Up or down? Will Digital comics eventually save the industry?

Down (Countdown and its spinoffs) with some exceptions (All-Star Superman) that appeal to a broader audience and offer a glimpse at the bigger comic book universes without requiring a PhD in Nerdology. As far as digital comics, the current model Marvel is offering is pathetic. Renting access to a limited library of titles is a very old-business model, the equivalent of going to a Blockbuster with 1000 movies instead of using Netflix. I've preached about eMusic's model before, but it seems to be one that works for artists and the company: download (and be able to keep) X many titles/tracks for $Y a month. Since someone's already done the hard work of creating the .cbz and .cbr formats, it seems odd that the companies aren't using them, particularly since they could embed updated ads into older comics.

Shane:

What's my middle name?

Arkedelphia.

We've done this a few times before and it's worked out well, so let's do this one final time for 2007.

You: Ask me a question between now and 11:59:59 on December 31, 2007. Do it in the comments of this or any other post labeled EOY2007 Contest.

I: Answer your questions and pick a "best" question winner.

The Prize: A copy of the Cover Girl trade when I get my copies(probably mid-January), autographed and personalized to the winner. Yeah, I'm cheap. So what? It's pretty good, if I say so myself.

I'll answer them as we go along with daily posts. If you think you might have an unfair advantage, you're not eligible.

Allez cuisine!

No, wait, that's what the Iron Chef chairman says.

OK, so we're still shaking it down, but here's the new hybrid Wednesday format, which includes a strip and picks so you may take a moment extra for ocular pleasance and quietude.

I'm back from The City, so expect some sort of content here soon. My Christmas was good; yours?

Oh hey, there's a new strip up. It was delayed because of a creator conference. Sorry.

Found this buried in a MetaFilter thread and I have decided that I require much moneys so all of the people involved can do The Rack: Animated based on Birdie's designs. Tell me it wouldn't be wondrous and I will call you a liar.

Well, that wraps up that storyline, which means we'll be back to shenanigans and/or goings-on in the very near future. Monday will see a regular installment of the strip and picks will still be be on Wednesday, despite the fact your shop won't be getting books until Friday. You understand, don't you?

BONUS!!!

OK, so, there's been some discussion (about the two lists I made for my recommendations for 2007, and it amazes me that I have to explain this, but there are two reasons I didn't put the comic, graphic novel, or trade paperback you feel is deserving on the list:

1. I read it and did not like it as much as you did. That should be fairly straightforward, shouldn't it? The inverse applies - many things on my lists were there because I like some things that you may not like. It happens.
   
   
2. I didn't read it, so I didn't put it on the list. For instance: Alice in Sunderland. While I could probably request it from the library, I'm already inundated with books I've bought (and I just got another batch in last night!) Despite my best efforts, there's no way I could cover everything out there that's worthy of the time. Please note that I'm determined to catch up on those Terry and the Pirates and Dick Tracy reprints, but I've already got a significant amount from both strips in my archives. Are they worthy projects? Definitely, but I've not read the new editions, so I didn't feel it was fair to slide them into the lists arbitrarily under the "Well, everyone else says they're great" clause." (I've only got so much money, people! The best thing you can do to help me buy more comics you like so they end up on the year-end lists is to use my Amazon shopping link on the right. Sure, Sterling begs you to do it allatime, but I heard he punched a baby once.)

And that's it for me and the end-of-the-year stuff. Now go away, daddy's drinking because he just found out that Lily Allen got pregnantized by one of the Chemical Brothers. What the hell is this damn world coming to?

Staff picks? Staff picks. Soon all the pickery will be over and we'll return to regular service, maybe even slightly improved service considering the discussions we've had around the boardroom.

1. Age Of Bronze Volume 3: Betrayal (Part 1) by Eric Shanower. I've not even read it yet (probably this weekend,) but I'm 96% sure this continues the qualilty I've come to expect from Shanower's aiming-for-the-fences approach to retelling the Trojan War.
   
2. Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker and Leonard Kirk. A comic that celebrates and explores the dusty corners of Marvel's past without feeling like a continuity wankathon, with lots of warmth and humor? Why, that sounds right up my alley. Parker's writing is clever without being cute and Leonard Kirk turns in the best work of his career.
   
3. All-Star Superman Volume 1 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly, and Jamie Grant. If somebody told me that Superman sucked and they don't understand why anyone would want to read about him, I would hand them this book. Then I would ask for my $20.
   
4. Amazing Fantasy Omnibus by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Various. The sort of collection that could never be justified by Marvel until the advent of $75 Omnibus books, and the sort of thing that justifies buying a $75 book. Funny how that works out.
   
5. The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen by Various. The comics blogosphere finally gets the sourcebook it was begging for.
   
6. Annihilation: Books 1-3 by Various. I freakin' loved this large-scale story that was semi-ignored while Civil War was screwing up the heroes I liked so much back on earth.
   
7. Batman: Year 100 by Paul Pope. Paul Pope's dark, relentless story of a future dark knight is refreshingly straightforward and managed to surprise me on more than one occasion.
   
8. Betsy and Me by Jack Cole. Even with the pall cast over this book by Cole's depression and subsequent suicide, it's hard not to marvel at the cartooning within.
   
9. Beyond! by Dwayne McDuffie and Scott Kolins. Beyond! harkens back to those kitchen-sink team-up books of the 70s and serves as a quasi-sequel to Secret Wars but - get this - doesn't feel hopelessly retro or mired in minutiae. (Exception: maybe Xemnu, but he's been around the Marvel Universe since before there was such a place, so I'm giving it a pass.)
   
10. Blade: Sins of the Father by Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin. I'd say this was a guilty pleasure, but I feel no guilt at all about enjoying this sharp, frequently hilarious series that managed to make Blade more interesting than three movies and a short-lived, slightly horrible television show.
    
11. Captain America: War and Remembrance by Roger Stern and John Byrne. I've got empirical evidence that this run is among the three or four best the character's had. Sadly, that's not saying too much, is it?
    
12. Carl Is The Awesome! by Marcos Perez. No lie, this is the greatest comic known to man. Not loving Carl is not loving the medium.
    
13. Casanova Volume 1: Luxuria by Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba. I probably should have also included in my recommended titles, but I discovered that, even with the lack of backmatter, the collected edition for this title is a much more rewarding reading experience.
    
14. The Claws Come Out by Pat Lewis. Pat is one of my favorite cartoonists and this collection of his minicomics is a treat. In a couple of years, he's going to blow up and I'll be able to pull the "I knew him when..." card.
    
15. Comic Book Holocaust by Johnny Ryan. Do you whining comics fans bitching about editorial at the big two want to know what it's like to really have your childhood raped? Pick this up and open it to a random page.
    
16. The Complete Peanuts by Charles Schulz. I can't imagine making a list like this for at least the next decade without including these.
    
17. Devil Dinosaur Omnibus by Jack Kirby. There's an odd earnestness to this series that sells its high concept much better than expected. I only hope we see more of these Kirby-centric collections. (Yes, I want an Inhumans one.)
    
18. Dr 13: Architecture and Morality by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang. I'm always up for a good Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark reference and thankfully, the surreal adventure within lives up to its ambitious title. This is probably my favorite thing Brian Azzarello's written, and Cliff Chiang should draw every comic ever, if only for one issue. Honestly, I'd not be surprised if this were mentioned in the same breath as Watchmen in a few years - it's that smart.
    
19. Dr Strange: The Oath by Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin. Better than I expected, this was a Dr. Strange comic that made me remember why I liked him so much.
    
20. Fantastic Four Omnibus Volume 2 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Various. Man alive, these are some fantastic comics.
    
21. Fell Volume 1 by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith. I bought the hardcover because I'm like that, but I can't imagine the softcover has any less impact. In a lot of ways, this seems like the series Ellis has been wanting to write for the last few years, where he gets to use the bits of reality that hove into his view.
    
22. GØDLAND: The Celestial Edition by Joe Casey and Tom Scioli. Bigger! More Cosmic! Weirder!
    
23. Gotham Central: Dead Robin by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Kano, and Stegfane Gaudiano. You know, if it weren't for the (frankly, idiotic) decision to tie this comic into the events of Infinite Crisis, I'd place this in my all-time top ten DCU titles. But, you know, they had to make sure that every corner of their universe got a bit dirty. (Seriously, Spectre with a goatee? C'mon!)
    
24. I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets by Fletcher Hanks. It's hard to imagine that a year that saw Fantagraphics reprinting Peanuts and Popeye could reprint something that would get more attention, but here it is. Delightfully stupid superheroics from the Golden Age, featuring visuals that I will take to the grave.
    
25. The Immortal Iron Fist: The Last Iron Fist Story by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja. Everybody on the planet praised this book, and for good reason - a fun romp in the pulpier ends of a shared superhero universe with a breakneck pace and dialogue and visuals that only made things better.
    
26. Invaders Classic Volume 1 by Roy Thomas and Various. I like it when superheroes fuck up things that belong to Hitler.
    
27. It Rhymes with Lust by Arnold Drake, Leslie Waller, and Matt Baker. Dark Horse's digest-sized reprint of this pictonovel was something I picked up on a whim. Reading it on the train the other day, I was stricken with how it's a thematic cousin to Ace In The Hole, something I'd not think comics at the time could manage.
    
28. Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus Volumes 1-3 by Jack Kirby and Various. My favorite comics that Jack Kirby did, finally in a bookshelf format that shows off their gloriousness. I initially bitched about the paper stock chosen, but have since recanted this after some consideration - it nicely shows how the art would look on a fresh-off-the-press copy of the original comics.
    
29. Jack Kirby's Silver Star by Jack Kirby. You know, it's not very good, but it's great. So many weird Kirby ideas piled on top of each other.
    
30. Kamandi Archives Volume 2 by Jack Kirby and Various. Honestly, I would have preferred a Showcase with this material, but I'm a bit of a sucker for Kirby reprints.
    
31. Kane Volume 6: Partners by Paul Grist. The better-than-Sin City crime series had another excellent installment this year.
    
32. Krazy & Ignatz: The Kat Who Walked in Beauty by George Herriman. Gorgeous. That's the word.
    
33. The new Love and Rockets Bookshelf Collection or whatever Fantagraphics is calling it. I tried to pick just one and couldn't, so fuck it. They're affordable and beautiful and and and...just buy them.
    
34. Madman Gargantua by Mike Allred. A completely unneccessary oversized reprint project that smacks of vanity, yet I couldn't help but buy it and love it.
    
35. Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Don Heck, and Various. About damn time.
    
36. Mean by Steven Weissman. Pal Sarah introduced me to Weissman's work when I was at a weird point in my life and it was the perfect antidote to idiotic relationship problems. Weissman's early work shows that his vision was pure from the onset: cute and horrific combined to delightful effect.
    
37. The Middleman Volume 3: The Third Volume Inescapability by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClaine. Not only is this a fun, exciting comic book, it's a good comic book, the sort you want to show off to prove that it's not always about grotesque violence and over the top "sexiness" that seems as cold as a German porn film shot in an operating room.
    
38. Misery Loves Comedy by Ivan Brunetti. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll mutter "down the stream, not across the river" as you lie in a bathtub filled with warm water.
    
39. Nextwave Volume 2: I Kick Your Face by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen. Marvel will probably put these in one of those oversized hardcovers and I'll buy it and only very slightly miffed that it's the third time I've paid for this fun, over-the-top series that showed that sometimes, Marvel knows what they're doing.
    
40. The Nightly News by Jonathan Hickman. I dismissed this as being a knockoff of Brian Wood's Channel Zero, which was really idiotic of me. Hickman's graphic design sensibility and well-crafted story were only undermined by his constant reminders that the viewpoints represented by the characters are not necessarily his own. I'm sure it seemed funny on paper.
    
41. Palestine: The Special Edition by Joe Sacco. An almost too-beautiful presentation of one of the defining pieces of comics journalistm - it's easy to get distracted from the ugliness that Sacco exposes within.
    
42. Paris by Andi Watson and Simon Gane. Easily the best romance I read this year.
    
43. Phonogram by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. Yes, again, friends of mine, but I don't care. I recommend this comic to people by saying "Hellblazer, but with music, and slightly sexier." This works remarkably well.
    
44. Popeye Volume 2: I Yam What I Yam by E.C. Segar. Better than even the most enthusiatic strip fiends can prepare you for.
    
45. The Punisher: Barracuda by Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov. You know, it's nice to see that even when he's doing a MAX series, Ennis takes time out for his classics.
    
46. The Punisher: Man of Stone by Garth Ennis and Leandro Fernandez. Goddamn, Garth Ennis.
    
47. The Punisher: Widowmaker by Garth Ennis, Lan Medina, and Bill Reinhold. See above.
    
48. Runaways Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughn, Adrian Alphona, and Mike Norton. While the third volume seemed a bit less fun, Runaways sets a reliable benchmark for "new-user friendly Marvel comics that you can hand a kid without expecting their mother to try to tear your face off later." Unless, of course, they're some sort of right-winger that would hate the whole alien-who-can-become-a-woman-for-the-lesbian-character angle and the questions it raises. Those people don't deserve good comics anyway.
    
49. Sandman Mystery Theater: Dr. Death and the Night of the Butcher by Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle, Guy Davis, and Vince Locke. Another reprint volume from my favorite Vertigo series with "Sandman" in the title. This is probably what primed me for my later-than-normal discovery of pulp characters. Funny how a derivative can clear the path for one's appreciation of its predecessors.
    
50. Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine. I was hard-pressed not to put this on the previous "Graphic Novels" list because this collection of three issues of Optic Nerve works brilliantly as a graphic novel, but, you know, I had to have some sort of standards applied to the process.
    
51. Showcase Presents: Adam Strange by Various. I love the fact that the average human intelligence of Adam Strange makes him look like a genius on Raan.
    
52. Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes by Various. The Silver Ageiest of Silver Age comics, finally available in a format that I'm fine with leaving in the bathroom.
    
53. Showcase Presents: The Flash by Various. Oh man, I love how beautifully Fox and company twisted science to meet whatever perverted story needs were on the table. Also: one of my five favorite superhero costumes ever.
    
54. Showcase Presents: The War That Time Forgot by Various. I have sung the praises of this work before, and for good reason. "Dinosaurs versus soldiers" is the purest logline ever.
    
55. Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane: Volume 1 by Sean McKeever, Takeshi Miyazawa, and various. This is the only Spider-Man comic I'm reading anymore outside of glancing at Immonen's work on Ultimate Spider-Man. The fact it's aimed at preteen girls bothers me not at all.
    
56. Superman: The Bottle City of Kandor by Various. See: The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen.
    
57. The Three Paradoxes by Paul Hornschemeier. While not Hornschemeier's best work (that'd be Mother Come Home), there's a lot to admire in this.
    
58. Thor: The Eternals Saga Volume 2 by Roy Thomas and Various. I came close to filing this under Roy Thomas Is Compulsive because of it features a heavier-than-usual dose of the writer having to make sure all the dots connect, but then I met El Vampiro and El Toro Rojo, a Deviant and Eternal who operated as Mexican wrestlers.
    
59. The Ultimates Volume 2 by Mark Millar and Brian Hitch. About as subtle (and intelligent) as a pickaxe to the crotch, but so, so pretty. Other people watch Michael Bay movies, I read stuff like this.
    
60. Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse Volume 1 by Ben Templesmith. I picked this up because I enjoyed Templesmith's work on Fell so much, and this turned out to be much smarter and funnier than I expected.
    
61. X-Men: First Class by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz. Thankfully, the only new X-Men comics I read in 2007 were contained within.
    
62. Zombies vs Robots by Ashley Wood and Chris Ryall. No lie, this was easily among the ten "most fun" comics I read this year. No, I didn't expect that either.

I made an omission in yesterday's list that is really, really bothering me. Please go buy The Aviary by Jamie Tanner. It's published by AdHouse and actually made me have to get up and go pee, I was holding back my laughter from reading it so hard. (I hate being seen laughing in public from something nobody else can see. I really hate the taste of the blue pills and the nurses are never as nice as the ones you see on TV.)

Here's what BostonNow's Comics Editor Jesse O'Brien thinks are the best comics-related items, events, and stories for the year.

Thanks, Birdie! | See the original Overdrift.

Bahlactus wants you to have a green Christmas.

Oh, yeah, Birdie and I still do a comic strip. In this penultimate holiday picks strip, you can find out what the youngest and freshest member of the Yavin IV family thinks you should look for.

1. Acme Novelty Datebook Volume 2: 1995-2002 by Chris Ware. Part of me wants to tuck this into the next list, dedicated to reprint collections, but any new Ware should be celebrated as quickly as possible.
   
2. All-Star Batman And Robin, The Boy Wonder by Frank Miller, Jim Lee, and Scott Williams. The comic that gave us Batman asking if Robin was a retard got more entertaining this year.
   
3. All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly, and Jamie Grant. The best superhero comic being published now.
   
4. Angry Youth Comix by Johnny Ryan. America's premiere gross-out gag cartoonist hit new lows with the latest issue of this series.
   
5. Apollo's Song by Osamu Tezuka. While not Tezuka's best work, the brutal imagery and inventive storytelling showed exactly why he's so revered.
   
6. Army@Love by Rick Veitch and Gary Erskine. Blackly hilarious with the same sledgehammer satire that made me love Catch 22 and Dr. Strangelove. Veitch's art has never looked better thanks to Gary Erskine's inks.
   
7. Ask For Janice by Jim Mahfood. The comics artist most associated with hip-hop made this little minicomic about the recording of Paul's Boutique. I think it's probably sold out by now. Sorry.
   
8. Atomic Robo by Brian Clevenger and Scott Wegener. Pure fun that uses the same playbook as Hellboy without slavishly imitating Mignola's series.
   
9. Awesome: The Indie Spinner Rack Anthology by Various. Some very strong entries (and the beautiful Jonathan Adams cover) lifted this mishmash into "recommended" territory.
   
10. Batman by Grant Morrison and Various. Even with the spotty art choices - Tony Daniel, really? - Morrison made the Batman comic I've been wanting to read: global adventure similar to the 70s Adams-drawn peak that doesn't slavishly imitate what's happened before.
    
11. Biff Bam Pow by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer. Worth the wait, actually.
    
12. Black Metal by Rick Spears and Chuck BB. I don't like metal at all. I mean at all. This comic made me want to go on an orgiastic Goatwhore downloading spree and slather myself in black face paint.
    
13. Black Summer by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp. While "Warren Ellis writes superheroes that take it to the max" is about as tried and true a motif as there is in comics, Black Summer manages to offer something new by showing the political consequences in tandem with the ultraviolence.
    
14. Blue Beetle by John Rogers and Raphael Albuquerque. The DCU comic I most recommend to people who are wanting to dip their toes in without being buried in Countdown-related mire. Rogers has deftly handled his editorially-mandated crossover moments.
    
15. The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson. Profane, disturbing, and the perfect antidote to the frequently-too-serious superheroics being tossed around by the big two.
    
16. Captain America by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, and Various. I've actually just been reading this in trade, but I can't imagine there being a higher-quality Marvel comic on the stands right now. If asked what I want from a Captain America comic, you'd get something that sounded like the exact opposite of this, but everyone involved has been firing on all cylinders.
    
17. Castle Waiting by Linda Medley. I just wish each issue were longer. Or that it came out bi-weekly.
    
18. Chance in Hell by Gilbert Hernandez. You know how in DC comics in 1989, they'd refer to the Batman movie that was being made? This is sort of like that Batman movie, but in the Love and Rockets universe, so it doesn't have any superheroes in it at all. But otherwise, it's a perfect analogy, except not.
    
19. Crecy by Warren Ellis, Raul Cacares. History made awesome.
    
20. Criminal by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips. A series I loved in single issues thanks to copious backmatter and Brubaker's easy use of the sequential format.
    
21. Cromartie High School by Eiji Nonaka. My favorite manga, bar none.
    
22. Daredevil by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, and Various. Again with Ed Brubaker, I know. I had some sort of note here about Brubaker being the Ann Nocenti to Bendis's Frank Miller, but that doesn't work at all, does it?
    
23. DMZ by Brian Wood, Riccardo Burchielli, and Various. While the Friendly Fire story that took up a big chunk of this year was engrossing, Wood's single-issue stories featuring individual characters were my favorite.
    
24. Don't Go Where I Can't Follow by Anders Nilsen. One of the single most devastating things I've ever read.
    
25. Empowered by Adam Warren. The two volumes of this series that came out in 2007 made me hope it lasts a long, long time.
    
26. Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan. Judging from what Tom Spurgeon and others have collected from media outlets, I think this is going to be on everybody's "End Of The Year" lists, and it really deserves to be. Simple, plaintive storytelling that builds to one of my favorite final sequences in a long, long time.
    
27. Garage Band by Gipi. It's extremely difficult to capture music on the comics page, but Gipi makes it look so, so simple. Bonus points for the fact he's unafraid to make a protagonist unlikeable for the sake of a story.
    
28. Geraniums and Bacon #4 by Cathy Leamy. And no, it's not just because she's a good friend. Cathy's minicomics are always quite nice, but I loved seeing her take on the venerable tradition that is the European travelogue. Now, to convince her to hurry up and do one about her trip to Japan.
    
29. GØDLAND by Joe Casey and Tom Scioli. Each issue of this Kirby-as-genre comic makes me feel like a 9-year-old. Hooray!
    
30. Good as Lily by Derek Kirk Kim and Jesse Hamm. The most satisfying of the Minx releases for this year by a long stretch.
    
31. The Goon: Chinatown by Eric Powell. "This ain't funny," Powell warns on the first page of this, the long-hinted-at backstory for his Working Class Hellboy, and it isn't. At all. But it is very very good and shows off Powell's skills as more than a guy that knows how to show a dude beatin' up some zombies.
    
32. Guardians of the Kingdom by Tom Gauld. This may be a 2006 or earlier comic; I have no idea and I really don't care. One of the funniest books I've had the joy of reading in a long time. It's nice to see someone with Gauld's aesthetic doing humor.
    
33. Gyakushu! Volume One by Dan Hipp. What can I say? I'm a sucker for ultra-stylized samurai comics.
    
34. The Homeless Channel by Matt Silady. The best book put out by AiT/Planetlar this year and a fascinating look at how the media operates.
    
35. House by Josh Simmons. A brilliant little piece of horror: wordless, evocative, and one of the strongest professional debuts I saw this year.
    
36. House of Sugar by Rebecca Kraatz. If Diamond hadn't been what they were, this would have come out in 2006. A fine collection of introspective single-page strips by a creator I want to see more from.
    
37. I Killed Adolf Hitler by Jason. Jason + Time Travel + Hitler = An unexpectedly poignant, cautionary tale about temporal hijinks.
    
38. Johnny Hiro by Fred Chiang. Despite the pun-heavy name, this Adhouse-released book is one of my top ten for the year - it's sweet, humorous, and full of high adventure with fine, fine art from the creator.
    
39. Justice League Unlimited #36 by Simon Spurrier, Min S Ku and Jeff Albrecht. A standout issue focusing on The Question that made me wonder at the ease with which he's used in the animated materials while they had to kill him off in the "regular" universe.
    
40. King City by Brandon Graham. A high-concept delight.
    
41. Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service by Eiji Otsuka and Housui Yamazaki. I just plain enjoy this comic. Otsuka's cast is great fun to watch, and Yamazaki's art balances the creepy and the humorous very nicely.
    
42. Laika by Nick Abadzis. If I had my way, this would be on the 6th-grade reading curriculum in every school system in America.
    
43. The Last Call by Vasilis Lolos. This made the delay in Pirates of Coney Island worth it. You know that feeling you get when you see Tim Burton visuals without having to deal with his actual movies? This is like that, but the end product lives up to your hopes. A perfect young adult fantasy work; I only hope the subsequent chapters are as good.
    
44. The Living And The Dead by Jason. Jason makes zombies cool again.
    
45. Lower Regions by Alex Robinson. Yes, it's just a D+D session transcribed to comics form, but I found it to be a lot of fun and I don't like RPGs at all.
    
46. Lucha Libre by a whole mess of Belgians. One of the comics that made me laugh out loud this year, and beautifully rendered, at that.
    
47. Madman Atomic Comics by Mike Allred. Instead of going the "golly gee, isn't this swell?" route previous iterations of Madman have used, Allred challenged himself and the readers this year, managing to make a metaphysical romp that still has its feet firmly planted on the ground.
    
48. Mail by Housui Yamazaki. Another supernatural manga series, from the artist of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. This one's usually more about the twist than the actual story, but when they're rendered as well as this, that seems almost negligible.
    
49. Marvel Adventures: Avengers by Jeff Parker and Various. The only Avengers comic I'm reading at present.
    
50. Mister Wonderful by Dan Clowes. I'm pretty sure this is going to be the next issue of Eightball.
    
51. MOME by Various. Very hit and miss with me, but I always make time for new comics from Paul Hornschemeier.
    
52. Moving Pictures by Kathryn and Stuart Immonen. This webcomic by the Immonens is always rewarding: Kathryn's dialogue is finely-hewn and Stuart's art is, as usual, sublime.
    
53. MPD Psycho by Eiji Otsuka and Sho-U Tajima. This compelling horror manga will give you nightmares. I mean that. (And yes, that Eiji Otsuka again on this list. I may have a thing.)
    
54. Multiple Warheads by Brandon Graham. Brandon Graham's second entry on this list, this time with a book about a dude with an extra penis and the girl that loves him.
    
55. New Tales of Old Palomar by Gilbert Hernandez. This may be Gilbert Hernandez's best work so far. Minimal without seeming spare and a huge argument for the "comics as literature" thing having some traction.
    
56. Notes From A War Story by Gipi. The other Gipi book put out by FirstSecond this year and while it has shares the theme of aimless youth making poor decisions, it's a different beast in tone and intent.
    
57. Percy Gloom by Cathy Malkasian. What I thought Percy Gloom was going to be: too cute, saccharine, fluff disguised under a veneer of false gravitas. What it turned out to be: amazing, smart, heartbreaking, and beautiful.
    
58. Pirates of Coney Island by Rick Spears and Vasilis Lolos. A lurid, technicolor romp that I could most easily describe at The Warriors: The Next Generation.
    
59. The Professor's Daughter by Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert. Sfar's spry, witty, romantic script required a superior artist to step up to the task, and thankfully Emmanuel Guibert was on-hand. I may have gotten a bit misty and the end. Maybe.
    
60. The Salon by Nick Bertozzi. A graphic novel I enjoyed so much I gave away three copies.
    
61. Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together by Brian Lee O'Malley. Yes, he did. And there was much rejoicing. Worth the delay? Oh, yes.
    
62. Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil by Jeff Smith. I wish I could go back in time to meet my seven-year-old self and give him this book. The first comic in a long, long time to capture the magic and wish fulfillment of the original Captain Marvel comics.
    
63. Silverfish by David Lapham. I don't care what anyone says: this is a missing Stray Bullets chapter.
    
64. Skyscrapers of the Midwest #4 by Josh Cotter. See what I wrote up there about Percy Gloom? Same thing for me and this series, which came out far too rarely but will soon have a bookshelf format.
    
65. Speak of the Devil by Gilbert Hernandez. Yes, Gilbert Hernandez again. I initially described this as being delightfully Corman-esque and stick by this assessment. The latest issue had my skin crawling with its depraved eroticism.
    
66. Special Forces by Kyle Baker. Yeah, I just said how wonderful this was a couple weeks back. Razor-sharp and beautifully drawn, this is a war satire that's sadly backed by hard data concerning recruitment for the Iraq War.
    
67. The Spirit by Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone, and Dave Stewart. The most stylish comic being put out by either of the big two companies, and it happens to be eminently readable as well. Was that so hard, DC?
    
68. Suburban Glamor by Jamie McKelvie. Another comic by someone that I know and actually quite like. McKelvie's matter-of-fact take on the "young person discovers their connection to the fantastic" is not just nicely drawn - his dialogue and sense of story are firmly in place.
    
69. Super Spy by Matt Kindt. I will always be a rabid fan of Matt Kindt's work, and this deeply rewarding look at espionage during the Second World War is a perfect example why.
    
70. Superman #666 by Kurt Busiek and Walt Simonson. A well-done DC superhero story that fits into a single issue and doesn't require knowledge of every little thing happening in the DCU? The deuce, you say!
    
71. Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK's 11 by Fred Van Lente and Francis Portela. - A mirthful tale of espionage, double-crosses, triple-crosses, all held together by a hyperencephalitic genius.
    
72. Tales From The Farm: Ghost Stories by Jeff Lemire. I've sung Lemire's praises time and time again, so I'll just link to my boosterism post for the book.
    
73. The End by Anders Nilsen. I'm fond of tossing around the comics-as-jazz analogy, but seriously, Anders Nilsen's The End is like Coltrane's Ascension. 99% of the comics audience won't get it (or want to, really,) but the 1% that do will likely rave until you want to punch them in the face.
    
74. Wonton Soup by James Stokoe. I read it twice in rapid succession and really enjoyed this science fiction/food battle story. You can tell Stokoe, Brandon Graham, and Corey Lewis share a studio and cross-pollinate each other with ideas and techniques, something I love to see happen.
    
75. Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma. This manga makes me want to have a kid, something I'm normally very averse to. (Plus, it's finally back on some sort of schedule! Yay!)

Tomorrow, I'll be covering reprint collections, trade paperbacks, and the like. Do come back, please.

I may have posted this before.

I don't care, really, as it's still good viewing.

From Daring Mystery Comics #3, reprinted in The Twelve #0.
Art by Sam Cooper.

Bahlactus has one eye on you, the other on the ring.

More New Frontier stories? Normally, I'm cynical as hell about cash-ins that are released in near-tandem with DVDs and the like, but this sounds like so much fun:

The special will be a special in that old school way. It will have a small connecting story and the conceit is that these are untold events that the government classified back in the early sixties. There are three stories in the special. The main story is something I call Chapter X, and it is the story behind the big Batman/Superman fight hoax referred to in New Frontier. In the book we only deal with that event as a squib in a magazine article along with on shot of them brawling. This 22 page story will tell about what leads up to the two fighting, and how they choose to resolve it. A host of our Frontier cast are in this story, from King Faraday and the Suicide Squad through to Wonder Woman and Hourman. We also get to meet the New Frontier Alfred.

Imagine the thrills!

By the way, for anyone who may be out there rolling their eyes about a Superman Batman punch up, all I can say is suck it up. I am going to kick the hell out of those two. There is a major surprise in the story, and an element to their fight that hasn't been alluded to in any form. The story twist and climax will add to any New Frontier fan's appreciation of the main story. I'll be writing and drawing this one.

Following that will be two short stories written by myself and featuring art by two of New Frontier's alumni. J. Bone and I are tackling Wonder Woman, Black Canary and old school chauvinism in an New Frontier parody along the lines of the old Kurtzman/Wood Mad satires. The director of the New Frontier DVD is a talented young man named David Bullock. He and I are tackling a short that features Robin and Kid Flash up against Red saboteurs. Of course my men Dave Stewart and Jared Fletcher will also be on board for color and lettering.

Mind you, I'm still working up exactly nil enthusiasm when it comes to the upcoming DVD itself. Yes, Cooke keeps saying they've managed to fold the story nicely to work in a 90-minute frame, but I think he may be biased on that particular matter. So much of what makes me love the original book is the detail work, and taking 400-something pages of comics and performing origami to get the big points across is just going to annoy me.

Of course, this probably connects to my general annoyance at filmed adaptations of comics stories. Just do a new story with these franchise characters instead of hacking up something that worked really well on paper and pushing it into a box that's not quite designed for it, y'know? Expect me to bitch more about that as Watchmen looms.

Our latest strip is up and you can click on it and junk if you want. I think Birdie did a bangup job on the first and last panels, but I don't want to tell him that to his face.

So there's a new Knight Rider telemovie in the can (Only part I care about: Will Arnett as the voice of KITT. Genius.) and it's nice to see that fandom gets retarded for shows based on even the most idiotic concepts.

TheMatrixhasu is not happy:

I say we boycott this show. Im a number one knight rider fan and they have disgrace the name KITT. A mustang has the aerodynamics of a brick and its a mustang boring brickish not sleek at all and its a ford. NBC has F**KED this one up badly I hope this show gets the lowest ratings of the season, even lower than reruns of infomorcials. Unless they change the car to one of the following, Corvette Z06 Dodge viper Chrysler ME412 Cadillac Sixteen, Something that says i can cut through the wind and get your A$$ not, I cant start becasue my ignition went bad and i got to make a stop at the nearest pepboys.

len geisler said:

WHY DOSE IT HAVE TO BE A PRODUCTION CAR? I KNOW ONLY ONE REASON! INCREASE THE SALES OF FORD CARS! WHY CAN'T THEY BUILD A CAR FOR THE SERIES. THE NEW BATMAN MOVIES HAVE THERE OWN UNIQUE DESIGNED CAR.

Over at Jalopnik, there's even more.

ElHigh predicts the death of Ford with this tie-in:

I think this might sink Ford. As if they hadn't lost enough credibility, now they attach one of their strongest sellers to a cargasmic nerdfest SEQUEL show. FOMOCO is FUBAR.

Type3Notchback seems to be working from some sort of nerdrage cliché checklist:

Phoned in.

What's next, they plan of having McGuyver using NASA equipment to disarm a mousetrap?

My memory of all things "wicked" from my childhood is in total jeopardy of turning into something I might *meh* about.

I'm done.

Let's see: accusations of the creators not caring, invocation of a completely unrelated show in an attempt to prove something that only makes sense to him, complaining about things he likes being ruined, using *meh*, and then declaring he's completely done with the subject at hand? 1...2...3...4...5...THAT'S A BINGO.

I felt there was something missing while I was sniffing around for this post. Something that's essential to nerd whining in all its myriad forms and I found it over at Autoblog where Yar declared:

Thats the gayest thing I've ever seen, and I just saw two guys making out in a Mini Cooper.

Ah, there you are, mindless homophobia buried under "humor!" Good to see you!

Special Bonus Nerditry
I also spied this lovely bit over at TrekMovie.com, where people decided to bash their least favorite movie in the franchise while waiting for J.J. Abrams to make the public at large care. Here's what phlox...bone's mentor had to say about Star Trek V: The Final Frontier:

biggest stv problem: how the hell could they warp from earth to the center of the galaxy, a 40-year trip at Voyager-level maximum warp, which would probably be more like a 60-year trip for kirks era, in a couple of days with no engine modifications? did scotty use the excelsior transwarp control crystals he gave to bones on st3? and wtf was with that planet of galactic peace crap and now that we know george takei is gay wtf were sulu and chekov doing in the woods on their shore leave...reenacting brokeback mountain?

Have you ever wished someone you didn't even know would die in a fire?

I have.

Jerry, Lydia, and "the gang" deliver even more picks in today's installment of The Rack. Don't worry, we're getting back to "real" comics soon. Honest.

Daniel Levitz delivers the good word from on high in today's installment of The Rack. Technical delays, again, but we may have licked them for now. Maybe. As soon as we get Birdie a new computer and beat the shit out of his cable company.

After re-reading the second trade in the series, I came to a slightly sad conclusion: I always end up wanting to like Punisher War Journal more than I actually do. Matt Fraction's writing is affable - it's obvious he's having a lot of fun with it and Ariel Olivetti's take on Frank Castle is rapidly becoming one of the definitive versions in my mind, along with Ross Andru's from Amazing Spider-Man #129 and Steve Dillon's deadpan take in the first Ennis-written miniseries, but the end result in this collection rings a bit hollow.

The biggest problem with this book lies firmly with the writer and editor: Matt Fraction and Axel Alonso assume that the readers have an intimate relationship with the title and the world it's set in, leading to writing that's threadbare for those who just occasionally wander in. In this book, several sticking points emerge: The Punisher's partner is not addressed by name until eight pages into the second issue featuring the character; Bushwhacker appears and his powers are never explained; Hatemonger just sort of shows up with no background given and not a bit of dialogue or narration occurs to cover who G.W. Bridge is or why he's chasing Frank Castle. Considering that all of these characters are essential to the story, the omission of some of this seems just plain odd.

For all the benefits that reading stories in the trade paperback offers, the gap between books means that readers will most likely need a bit more than a tongue-in-cheek description of who the Punisher is before wading in, and the paucity of narration in Goin' Out Westonly exacerbates this condition. I do understand wanting to write "cinematically," but comics are a different narrative medium entirely and Fraction and Alonso (of all people) should know that and keep it in mind.

Despite my overwhelmingly negative feelings about the construction, Fraction's detail work is among mainstream comics' best. His dialogue is frequently very funny - The Punisher calmly announcing "I'm going to Mexico, and I'm gonna shoot that guy in the face," had me in stitches - and provides a nice counterpoint to the heavier story elements, furthering the title's contrast to the Ennis MAX series featuring the character. Fraction's also willing to let the readers draw their own conclusions about some things, which may well be directly tied to the script problems discussed - it's possible that Fraction places too much trust in the reader. Even if that's the case, this ability, which is something I associate with talents as bright as Grant Morrison and Gilbert Hernandez, is one to be envied when applied properly.

Another positive for this series, as mentioned above, is Ariel Olivetti's art - most of the time. Olivetti's character designs are always top-notch, reminding me of Frank Quitely in his ability to create powerful, imposing figures that still have some sense of grace and his facial expressions and panel compositions are nicely done. Olivetti's digital work method however, has its disadvantages. There's a few too many shots of cars and the like that are obviously models and the "real" skies and New York streets used as a backdrop sucked me out of the story on more than one occasion.

There's so much on the surface that I find appealing about Punisher War Journal, but the writing and art come just shy of making me really able to recommend the series unless you're already thoroughly indoctrinated in the Marvel Universe's intricacies and, unlike me, can remember details of a comic book you read months ago after reading many, many other things in the intervening period.

Daniel Mata wrote this in comments:

Who would buy shirts like these? No one gives a damn if you read comics or blog comics or not. And if you need to tell the world from the get go, then there's really not much to you.

You can do better than this, Mr. Church. I advise you do so pronto.

You know, Daniel, you're right. I can do better.

And here it is.

People interested in this limited edition can contact me via the usual methods.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out three things:

1. On the internet, every day, I see literally hundreds of things that leave me cold and you know what? I move on. If I ever had it, I long ago lost the impulse to lecture people about what they do in their spare time. People can and do like different things and while I may be a bit bemused by somebody's outright devotion to Joss Whedon's ouvre, I won't get snippy with them unless they continue proselytizing to me after I've said "No, I don't really care for Buffy. Could you pass the syrah?" Daniel Mata, I advise you to move on, preferably far, far away.
   
2. Some of you have already bought shirts. Thank you.
   
3. Don't fuck with me before I've had coffee.

Well, that's very different.

And I like it that way.

I'll believe that Marvel's fully committed to the manga versions of their characters when we get a Spider-Man Loves Flash Thompson yaoi title.

Holiday Records, As It's That Time Of Year
Low's Christmas album is rightfully held aloft by many as one of the Duluth, MN band's gems. It's hard to do a Christmas record everyone knows without the schmaltz, but they manage to perform traditional material side-by-side with new original compositions without losing what makes Low a unique band. The ambient washes on "Little Drummer Boy" would be perfect for snow-driven evenings spent alone.

Where Low goes for the understated and graceful, A Very Ping Pong Christmas by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra is a straight up Christmas party album. There's a lot of hand-clapping, drum solos, horn hits, and a genial, upbeat feel that makes it hard to not smile. The fact they're willing to use a sitar on "Little Drummer Boy" (that one again?) earns them ten extra points in my book. (Also worth getting is the hilarious Hits the Hits.)

If you don't own it, for God's sake, get Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas. You can get it for free when you use my link. Free, people. Work with me.

Not Christmas Records
I've listened to Alexkid's Mint about a dozen times since downloading it and it gets better every time. Sort of electro-house clubby, sort of loungey (in the good, not-shitty-revival way) and completely addictive. The best track, "Don't Hide It" has a very impressive acid remix conducted by Alexkid himself.

Booka Shade is more than just fun to say - their deep, electro-infected jazzy house keeps me chugging right along even with the winter doldrums settling in. The title track from Memento is a textbook example of a track that builds perfectly and "Friend for a Night" will have you doing The Robot if you're the sort of person that does The Robot. If not, you'll be sorely tempted. You may also want to go ahead and grab Movements while you're at it. Where Memento is a bit darker and thoughtful, Movements is the sound of a dancefloor being devastated. Play it loud and proud.

Ok, so Hank Mobley, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, and John Coltrane made an album. Unlike most records where four leaders commence to playing together, the resulting effort, Tenor Conclave is fantastic. Red Garland's piano playing is in its always-fine form with Paul Chambers and Art Taylor making a rhythm section that's spot-on. The standout in this four-tracker is "How Deep Is The Ocean" - languid and beautiful with the best interaction of the four tenor players.

And a reminder (because you may have forgotten in the last three paragraphs): You can get 25 of the songs featured on these albums free when you use this link. Yes, I get money when you do it. Don't you want me to have money?

You get a decidedly different perspective on the whole "shopping for a comics fan" thing in today's installment of The Rack

Disco TV is finally here.

From the short film series All About My Dog
Directed by Atsushi Sanada

(Now for Sale on CafePress)

At the pub. Can't link directly. TheRack Comic.com

OK? OK.

Noted in the nominations for the Young Adult Library Services Association's 2008 list of Great Graphic Novels For Teens:

• Kaare Andrews, Jose Villarrubia. Spider-Man: Reign¹
  
• Mike Carey, John Bolton. God Save the Queen
  
• R.A. Salvatore, Tim Seeley. DemonsWars, vol. 1: The Demon Awakens
  
• Mark Schultz, Ariel Olivetti. Superman and Batman versus Aliens and Predator

I wish I had a barrel so the YALSA could scrape it for me.

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¹Unless there was another comic called Spider-Man: Reign by the same creative team, this book features radioactive Spider-jizz. Kid Tested, Mother Approved!

James Kochalka's AmericanElf.com is now completely free. I'd not be surprised if this netted him more revenue than the itch-inducing subscriber service he offered up thanks to ad revenue and increased merchandise sales.

I could easily write an expansive volume entitled Exactly What Kevin Church Does Not Know About Vikings, so I came into the new Brian Wood title Northlanders with very little in the way of preconceptions or academic knowledge that would allow me to effectively pick the nits in this particular release. From all indications, however, Wood's done his research and spent a long time working on the title¹, so I'm going to work with the assumption that it's all good in the hood in that regard and instead tell you what I thought of the comic itself.

It's pretty good. It's not groundbreaking in any way outside of being the second Viking comic I've ever enjoyed² and main character Sven, perhaps because of his inherent badassedness, initially comes off more like a Garth Ennis creation than the flawed protagonists that I associate with Brian Wood. As is a Vertigo Standard Habit, the first issue is devoted to laying out the players and setpieces for the eventual collection, lacking any satisfying internal arc for me to hang onto. There's chunks of plot scattered in here, but very little story.

I'm aware of the problems with moving directly to a graphic-novel format (lost ad revenue, high price point for a new reader) for serialized comics, but if I went to a bakery and they offered razor-thin slices of cake instead of just giving me the damned pastry I wanted, I'd never visit again. There's nothing, outside of some very good art from David Gianfelice, that makes a second issue in the serialized format compulsive for those not thoroughly indoctrinated in the Vertigo or Wood camps already. Wait for the trade; I will.

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¹Own-Horn Tooting Time: Wood offhandedly mentioned that he was working on a Viking title when I interviewed him last year.
²Own-Horn Tooting Time Two: There's a story in this volume by some handsome young up-and-comer that got some praise. Pre-order the trade paperback on Amazon now!

Justice League of America #15 - Ed Benes seems singlehandedly determined to ruin my enjoyment of this title. Dude, we get it: you like ass and titties. In fact, I love these very things myself, but I've never used my adoration of the female form to fuck up a perfectly good group shot by having the JLA's leader show both at the same time.

That (and my complete lack of artistic talent) is probably why I'm not drawing JLA.

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Ellis's Black Summer continues along at a fair clip and remains engaging despite its superficial similarities to the writer's own Red and Reload, but there's an elephant in the room I have to talk about. Could the ink used in this book stink any more? It's like each comic was dragged through some sort of abbatoir before being packed up by Diamond.

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Since I know you're reading this just to see if your name comes up: yes, Jamie McKelvie, I very much enjoyed the second issue of Suburban Glamor. One of the things I really like about SG is the way the teenagers act like proper teenagers. They're not bundles of too-cute quirks and the dialogue, while perhaps not as idiosyncratic as Kieron Gillen's on Phonogram, does its job very nicely. Of course, I loved the art, but that's because I have a thing for super-clean lines and pop-art infusions combined with good storytelling.

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I think the zero issue of The Twelve is the only one I will buy. $3 is a fine price to pay for full-color Golden Age reprints, especially when Basil Wolverton's name crops up.

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If I tried to explain why Zombies vs Robots vs Amazons appealed to me so damn much, I'd probably lose a big chunk of my readership. Suffice it to say that Ashley Wood Draw Pretty and Chris Ryall Makes Funny Happen.

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More tomorrow, maybe.

Staff picks for Yavin IV Comics are now available for this week. I feel dirty that Aaron and I are buying the same comic.

Very dirty.

BOOM! STUDIOS' COVER GIRL A HIT IN CLASSROOMS, TOO!

December 3rd, 2007 (Los Angeles, CA) - BOOM! Studios today announced that one of its recent hit titles, COVER GIRL, had found an unusual new audience - in the college classroom. Jeff Stolarcyk, who teaches Thinking and Writing at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, used the title as the starting point in a week-long lesson, where students read and discussed the comic, created new situations featuring the characters, and create new dialogue over the existing comics pages.

"Comics are an excellent tool for teaching all the basics of good, concise storytelling. They provide a unique way for students - who may not necessarily be readers - to interact with a text and be creative." Stolarcyk said. More information about Stolarcyk's use of COVER GIRL in his classroom can be found at http://www.conditionalaxe.com/2007/11/educational-ruminations-comics-project.html.

COVER GIRL tells the story of Alex Martin, a down-on-his-luck actor who is forced to accept the aid of a female bodyguard after a happy accident makes him the center of an international conspiracy. The series, written by EUREKA creator Andrew Cosby and Kevin Church, earned praise from critics for its fast-moving dialogue and skewering of Hollywood stereotypes.

"It's really a strange honor to see COVER GIRL get this sort of treatment," said Kevin Church, co-writer for the miniseries. "A lot of the material I saw was fantastic!"

COVER GIRL will be available in trade paperback format at comic shops around the country in early January. More information about the title is available at http://www.boom-studios.com/node/1375.

As I say in the comments of the post, we thought there weren't enough gift guides available for comics fans.

1. Bob Fingerman does The Goon! I'm still waiting on my copy of the Chinatown graphic novel to make its way into my hands but all indications are that it's a supremely worthy effort.
   
   
2. Big Bird in Japan. Your teeth will rot and fall out from the pure sweetness.
   
   
3. John Jakala has the latest from Steven Weissman. I've never discussed my love of Weissman before, have I? Sarah B introduced me to his work when I was at a particularly low point in my life and it improved my outlook immensely.
   
   
4. Jenn has some gift ideas for foodies and I have to say: #4 would get you a hand-written thank you note from me and possible sexual favors.
   
   
5. Ken Levine gives you the script and scene from the opening of my favorite M*A*S*H episode.
   
   
6. Ashley Wood has posted (very small) pages from his Next Issue project, Sub Saunders.
   
   
7. "Batman vs The Terminator" sure is an easy headline.
   
   
8. They like winter in New York State.
   
   
9. Gee, it looks like, you know, a city to me. Congratulations to the art department!
   
   
10. This is a link for Dorian Wright.
    
    
11. Here's a preview for GYAKUSHU! Volume 2. I really enjoyed the first volume.
    
    
12. Sterotypist has fifty answers.
    
    
13. Here are some things in jars. Do not blame me for your nightmares.
    
    
14. More Southpaw? Hoorah!

The latest strip is up so click on this link here, he said, ignoring Jeff Atwood's advice.

• Losing what is, arguably, one of the three or four most iconic logos in comics is a seeming bold move until you realize how many changes have happened before.
  
  
• I really like the "4" placed under the Marvel banner. Something similar, applied line-wide with a tweak to make it not look like the 70s and 80s "headshot" boxes we all remember wouldn't be the worst idea.
  
  
• I don't like it when comic books look embarrassed to be comic books. I can see the appeal of a change to something like this for a specific storyline, but the indications from Marvel is that the title stripe is one of those "permanent" alterations that may hang around for a while. Besides, a magazine like the fluff this design emulates isn't something to aspire to, design wise.
  
  
• To my eye, the "main" title gets completely lost in this placement, much like the individual book titles in the Civil War crossover issues. With the latter, however, it was less bothersome - the covers (whatever the design merits) featured the banner and related elements for a purpose.
  
  
• I hope future cover images are more exciting.

The internet gods have been appeased and the new strip is up. It is a good strip, I think. Maybe you will, too.