The Spirit appears to be getting a bit wiser.
Comments Off | Posted: January 18th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
From The Spirit #2, written and drawn
by Darwyn Cooke
Bonus Link
Chris Sims provides a look at the reasoning behind this decision.
From The Spirit #2, written and drawn
by Darwyn Cooke
The Gospel Blimp!
Comments Off | Posted: January 17th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Click to read The Gospel Blimp, one of
the many Spire Christian Comics drawn by
Patsy Walker and Archie artist
Al Hartley.
Previous Complete Stories:
Jimmy Olsen becomes “The Human Octopus” | Alex Toth draws “The Alien Within Me” | Batman fights Eclipso in The Brave And The Bold #64 | Batman and the JLI go overseas in “Bialya, My Bialya!” | Wonder Woman becomes a gorilla in…“Wonder Woman — Gorilla!” | Jack Kirby provides art as The Challengers of the Unknown triumph over “The Man Who Stole The Future!” | Lois Lane has to deal with “The Monster Who Loved Lois Lane!” | Jack Kirby also arts up “I Found The City Under The Sea!” and “The Lunar Goliaths!” and the Fighting American story, “Operation Wolf!” | Space Cabby gets a new ride in “The Luxury Limousine Of Space!” | “Little” Joe Little is “The Three-Foot Sleuth!”
Links! Validus!
Comments Off | Posted: January 17th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized- If you’re anything like me, you’ve been wondering to yourself “When, oh when, will someone draw Batman, Savage Dragon, Wolverine, Hellboy, and Mega Man in the same piece of art?”
That’s why I’m happy to show you this.
- I got used for a pullquote for Jeff Lemire’s new book, which I will not stop selling you people. It’s in the current Previews – order it!
- This dude really loves Michael Bay. A lot.
- Creepy, Fetishistic Marvel Solicitation Of The Year, And It’s Only January:
ULTRON IS BACK and, yes, now he’s a she. What?? Ultron’s a girl?? It’s Ultron as only Frank Cho can bring it. And the Mighty Avengers haven’t had a moment to get to know each other before they are thrown into one of the most epic adventures in the history of the Avengers.
If you were really wondering what a booty-tastic version of Ultron would look like, please make sure you send me your IP address so I can block you from ever, ever viewing my website again.
- The Life of an EB Games Clerk is never easy. You have to click on the thing to read the strip for some reason.
- BOOM! writer Michael Alan Nelson gets to talk up Fall of Cthulhu with Wizard. He’s one smart cookie.
- Four pages of a current Fantastic Four book that didn’t make me want to cry out in pain? Check them out here. The solicit copy says JMS is writing, the credits on the first page say McDuffie, so I think I see why I enjoyed the bit of banter. (I do hope page 5 features, say, a jumpgate to the Negative Zone or something, though…)
- One of my oldest internet friends, Lucy, has been blogging for a little while over at Yellowpop, but I’m just now getting around to linking to her. She’s funny, snobby, and covers Asian pop culture, cooking, and making her husband grow a handlebar mustache with equal aplomb.
- Respect to Waid and Perez for their continuity skills. See below.
From the upcoming Brave And The Bold #3
For reference: Link 1 | Link 2 | Link 3
(Thanks to The Comics Nexus for pointing that one out.)
Promotional: Nitroglycerin
Comments Off | Posted: January 17th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Owing to various technical difficulties, this week’s Nitroglycerin is only available on the BOOM! Studios site, in its usual spot just below the fold. Don’t ask why, just read it there.
Random, Pointless Comments About DC Solicitations.
Comments Off | Posted: January 16th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedDC’s got a few really nicely put-together covers for April:
They’re also offering this completely amazing book that I’d consider near-essential for the discerning Batman fan.
THE ORIGINAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMIC BOOK HEROES VOLUME 1: BATMAN TPWritten by Michael Fleischer
Art by variousEverything you ever wanted to know about DC’s Dark Knight – and so much more – can be found in this amazing volume, brought back into print for the first time in 30 years!
Originally published in 1976, this extensive volume – the first in a series – includes everything you could want to know about Batman, his allies and enemies, weapons in his war on crime and his adventures from the 1930s to the 1970s!
Advance-solicited; on sale May 23; 416 pg, B&W, $19.99 US
I’ve got the original 1976 edition of this, along with the Superman and Wonder Woman volumes and they’re great fun. Fleischer takes a slightly too-serious tone with the characters that makes the first appearance of, say, Egg-Fu into a thing of comedy gold. I presume they’ll do the other two books if this sells well enough, so get crackin’ on the preordering, bucky. (The Superman one was, oddly enough, called The Great Superman Book, but they all follow the same format.)
Pre-reviews: The Week of January 17, 2007
Comments Off | Posted: January 15th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorizedthere’s no delay in what Diamond is shipping
this week, so be there on Wednesday.
Here’s what jumps out on this week’s
list, at least to my myopic view of the
medium. (And it is a medium,
Betsy, not a freakin genre.
Yeesh.)
DC Comics
OCT060164 BATMAN YEAR ONE HUNDRED TP $19.99
This visceral, beautiful Elseworlds is the most fun I’ve seen anyone have with the character in the past few years besides Morrison. Yes, it takes place in that dark future that we’ve seen about a million times now, but there’s a spark and wit to Pope’s Batman that makes it into a truly interesting setting.
NOV060234 SPIRIT #2 $2.99
Let’s see if this book has a sophomore slump. I doubt that it will, but one never knows.
OCT060174 SUPERMAN EMPEROR JOKER TP $14.99
OK, who was asking for this? Is it the same person that really wanted to read an Our Worlds At War omnibus? (God, that story had entire chapters that made no sense, even when collected in one place with plenty of contextual moments. Also, it failed to have the Harley Quinn special, which is an appalling error because it featured she and Jimmy Olsen on the run from bad guys. That was more than a bit decent and quite funny, I thought.)
Yes, that’s very good value-for-page-count, but still…it’d help if it were any good.
Image Comics
NOV061861 SILENCERS TP $14.99
Van Lente! You’ve loved Action Philosphers and never caught up with his other material, but now’s your chance!
No, it’s not the series written by Fred Van Lente, but the Image site sure didn’t help me find it out. That’s a poorly-designed wreck that ain’t helping them at all.
That Van Lente book is good, mind.
Marvel Comics
OCT062210 MARVEL VISIONARIES JOHN BUSCEMA HC $34.99
Like the man’s work? This is nigh-essential: The Incredible Hulk, the devastating Dragon Man, the epic end of the gods themselves… none of it was too much for Big John! One of comicdom’s most acclaimed creators takes center stage in this genre-spanning gathering of greats! Nick Fury vs. Hydra! Thor vs. the Silver Surfer! The origins of Wolverine and Dracula! The twilight of the Masters of Evil! Includes crime, horror, romance and western work from the pre-Marvel era! Plus: rare Silver Surfer stories unseen for decades! Collects Crime Fighters #4; Western Outlaws & Sheriffs #60; Strange Tales #22 & #150; Tales To Astonish #85-87; Avengers #41-42, #75-76, #277 & Annual #2; Silver Surfer #4; My Love #2; Fantastic Four #111-112; Thor #200; Dracula Lives #3; Marvel Spotlight #30; Epic Illustrated #1; Wolverine #10 and Marvel Shadows & Light #3
That’s a lot of comics (over 360 pages) for cheap-ish. Amazon has it for a substantial discount if you felt like saving a few more shekels – $23 and change.
Other Companies
SEP063256 GI JOE SNAKE-EYES DECLASSIFIED HC $29.99
Sure, you could get a ton of vintage John Buscema-drawn comics, but why, when you can read GI Joe adventures in hardcover?
Sheesh. I like GI Joe as much as the rest of the 28-35 demographic, but this is an example of the “prestige” hardcover format being used. It’s like having a Hershey’s kiss wrapped in gold foil with a silk ribbon extending from the top.
FEB063205 LOVE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE #6 (MR) $5.95
This is a bit late, innit? Still, of the current Oni romance comics that are coming out, this is certainly a superior choice.
NOV063394 SIMPSONS COMICS #126 $2.99
This is your thrice-yearly reminder that the Simpsons comics are, in general, better than the series has been of late.
NOV063713 SQUARECAT COMICS VOL 1 GN (O/A) (MR) $9.95
I got Volume 2 last week and it’s the perfect “read a few strips before turning out the light” comic. I don’t want to read these en masse, but I think that Jennifer Omand does a decent enough job in the short autobiocomic format, much like Julia Wertz’s Fart Party. As is probably expected, you can read the strip online at the Squarecat Comics website.
OCT063736 VILLAINS VOL 1 THICK AS THIEVES TP $12.95
I’ve mentioned this series just once before, where I described it thusly: …a very well-done thing that takes place in the same sort of world as Powers without having uselessly elliptical dialogue and it manages to make a point pretty consistently. In other words, it’s not selling anywhere near as much and the target audience is probably going to miss it entirely.
Now you don’t have an excuse. A fine, fine comic. Make sure you order it if your shop doesn’t have it.
Now to pay tribute to my corporate masters…
BOOM! Studios
OCT063250 CTHULHU TALES 2ND PTG #1 $6.99
Reprinted for good reason – before I even had anything to do with the company, I gave this high marks. I love the Tales format and wish more stores would get behind this sort of effort.
NOV063404 WHAT WERE THEY THINKING MONSTER MASH UP ONE SHOT (O/A) $3.99
If your shop didn’t order this remix comic featuring some work from me the first time around, now they can get it and you can take me with you to the bathroom! Isn’t that the point? Anyway, I did four stories in the darned thing, but both Joe Casey and Johanna Stokes bested me, the latter in particular – I still grin when recalling a few of the lines from her story “Hats Off.”
NOV063403 WHAT WERE THEY THINKING SOME PEOPLE NEVER LEARN ONE SHOT (O/ $3.99
This WWTT book features a delirious John Rogers-written story that can’t be described. Hilarity in a handbasket, with a nice red on the side.
SEP063170 STARDUST KID #5 (OF 5) $3.50
This title started at Image, and moved over to BOOM! for the last two issues. Now that it’s wrapped up, I think that they’d have to put together a decent trade for it, especially with Abadazad being a bit of a hit in the bookstore market.
I think next week sees the new What Were They Thinking?!? book, with my first “complete” comics story being contained in the Cthulhu Tales: The Rising one-shot coming on on January 31st. So there you go.
Busy. Grant Morrison is filling in.
Comments Off | Posted: January 15th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedFrom the 2003 San Diego Comic-Con
Morrison explains magic in 50 words or less in
this out-of-sync video, also from SDCC 2003.
Science!
Comments Off | Posted: January 14th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
From Fantastic Four #263
I rather suspect that John Byrne is poking some fun at comic creator Neal Adams’s rather…colorful theories about the expanding earth and a “new model” of the universe.
Outside of seeing the man not wash his hands after using the restroom at last year’s Comic-Con, this theory is how I define the man’s past decade. That’s a bit unfair, isn’t it?
Related Links
Wired magazine talks to Adams about his theory in 2001 | Adams expounds on his theories on the Skeptics Guide podcast | Paleoblog talks about Adams | Wikipedia entry on the Expanding Earth
1Bully, being a stuffed bull and therefore having much more in the brain department than me, points out that “Alden Maas” is an anagram for “Neal Adams.”
Kirby Saturday: Doom Wallpaper!
Comments Off | Posted: January 13th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
1024 x 768 | 1280 x 1024
(This one’s a bit better.)
Nobody ever talks about Elektra Lives Again
Comments Off | Posted: January 12th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
1I go with the “fever dream” theory that’s been presented by some people in the past, but that’s probably just so I can comfortably have it in the little Marvel Universe in my head.
Six Comics-Related Items.
Comments Off | Posted: January 12th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized- I think that for a debut work, Jonathan Hickman’s The Nightly News is a stunning-looking comic. There’s a real sense of design and control in that book and it jumps off the shelf. I’m glad to see another talent who’s got a radically different style making an impression in the North American comics market. However, it seems a real shame that neither the editorial team or Hickman apparently read Brian Wood’s Channel Zero prior to putting the thing together.
- Boy, Agents of Atlas had one of those smart, surprising endings that I just love to see pop up in a mainline Marvel book. I was reminded of Iain Banks, actually, because it was a reveal that felt perfectly in place while deviating from my expectations. Kudos to Parker and Kirk on this one.
- While I’m talking about Jeff Parker, I’d like to say he’s the only writer I’d want to see replace McKeever as writer on Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. I think he and David Hahn would make a nice team and maybe (since he’s got so much copious time) Parker could draw the occasional issue, too. Yes, that is what I want. Somebody make that happen.
- 52 fatigue has finally hit. Everybody else is saying “Yes, they’re finally ramping up towards that ending!” I’m thinking “Christ, just let it end!” I knew what I was getting into with a 52-issue weekly series, but outside of the occasional bit (such as Luthor gloating on New Year’s Eve), it’s gotten tiresome. The fact that Animal Man’s death didn’t even make me pause is probably worth consideration. Seeing a character whose title under Morrison was one of the things that truly energized my brain when it came to the possibilities of a superhero book die should gut me – it didn’t. Honestly, I’ve probably had a more emotional response to correcting a typo, and that’s sort of depressing.
Or, you know, as depressing as a non-reaction to a corporate-owned superhero character’s death can be…
- Yes, there’s a lot of in-print or easily-available comics material on the site1, but the real gems on X-Y-Z Cosmonaut’s CosmoBlog are the odd bits from the nooks and crannies of Marvel and DC. The site recently spent some time celebrating black superheroes, so you can get all the Jungle Adventure stories featuring Black Panther2 and some Brother Voodoo action before checking in with The Falcon and Black Goliath. Heck, one new-ish entry gives you all the opportunity to read DC’s Atari Force, one of my personal favorites.
I don’t particularly like reading comics on the computer – I prefer to have the tactile experience for a number of reasons – but for catching up and archival purposes, these are excellent. Note that the site uses Rapidshare, a service I have previously described as “odious” and will this time add “needlessly complex.”
- Personal-ish note: I’ve gotten a chance to check out layouts and pages from Cover Girl #1 and Walter Pax makes my script sing. I’ll be shocked if there’s not some major imprint interest in him after this. We’re chugging along on (if not ahead of) schedule so far and #2′s script should be finalized this weekend. One of the things that’s made this work for me is getting feedback from Andrew Cosby, who really nails what makes something pop a bit more; two minor changes he suggested in issue #1 made me go from “pretty happy” with the thing to “immensely proud.”
I’m sure that feeling will go away with the first review, but I’ve enjoyed the buzz in my head.
1So, please, for God’s sake, don’t download them or at least consider purchasing the hard copies once you’ve read a few issues of something and liked it.
2Seriously, where’s my Essential Black Panther?
Iron Man is real. And he’s Swiss.
Comments Off | Posted: January 12th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized(Good stuff starts at about the three minute mark.)
The Jet Man, Yves Rossy, a former Swiss military pilot, designed and built a deployable 3-meter wing, holding kerosene fuel for 2 jet engines fixed to the tips and attached it to his back. Rossy launched from an airplane and flew for 4 minutes, traveling over 100 mph, landing by parachute.
You can find out a bit more over at Rossy’s website.
(Also: the first person to point out that Iron Man goes a lot faster than 100mph is going to be reminded that he’s currently portrayed as a boot-licking government toadie willing to sell out his friends. And that he’s completely not real at all.)
By Request – Tacky Doom Wallpaper.
Comments Off | Posted: January 11th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
1024 x 768 | 1280 x 1024
(Yes, it’s ugly, but I did it in like a half-hour. Maybe I’ll do more.)
And now, a message from Doctor Victor Von Doom.
Comments Off | Posted: January 11th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
This has been a message from Doctor Victor Von Doom.
We now continue with our regularly scheduled programming.
KAWAII!
Comments Off | Posted: January 10th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedTwo bits of genius from “space coyote,” who certainly likes to hide all possible details about him/herself:
The Simpsonzu | Futurama: Super Happy Fun Show
I would watch either of these in a heartbeat. You should also check out their ongoing comic Saturnalia, which is just plain awesome.
(Thank you, Ren.)
Another offered-without-comment moment.
Comments Off | Posted: January 10th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedFrom an column entitled “Comic strips should mirror everyday life”:
I guess my problem is that I want comics to be more believable. If this were real life, Beetle Bailey wouldn’t always have a hat over his eyes. And Dagwood Bumstead wouldn’t dash out of the house and run into the mailman. After smacking into Mr. Beasley at the front door hundreds of times over the years, wouldn’t you think Dagwood would wise up?
Thor’s Jukebox, #6 In A Series.
Comments Off | Posted: January 10th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Play “Burning Spear” by S.O.U.L.
Promotional: Nitroglycerin and a late review of a comic I rewrote.
Comments Off | Posted: January 10th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedWednesday means New Comics Day means New Promotional Comic Strip For BOOM! Studios Day, so make sure you visit the BOOM! Studios page (and look below the fold) or Benjamin Birdie’s WebComicsNation page (to view it super-sized) and check out what happens when I mock two of the nicest people I’ve met that work in the televisual and cinematic media.
Coming in late (and I think it should serve as a handy reminder that the next volume will be on the shelves in the next few weeks) is this review of several BOOM! titles, including What Were They Thinking: Monster Mash-Up. Here’s the friendly-to-my-ego bit:
What Were They Thinking: Monster Mash-Up #1 is another of those comics where they take old comic stories and re-mix them with new dialog. It’s pretty much the standard stuff you’d expect, and would be completely forgettable if not for blogger Kevin Church’s “Hairy Grrls,” in which a frustrated narrator to the story is the real star, with laugh-out-loud bits in nearly every panel. Worth the $4 for those seven pages alone.
Previews Rundown: January 2007
Comments Off | Posted: January 9th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedOK, so, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these and as both Marvel and DC dominate this industry and have enough ad revenue at any given moment to choke a particularly large donkey, I’m sticking with the smaller companies, which will include Image and Dark Horse just because they’re there. Are you ready? Do you have your copy of this month’s Previews at hand and a pen to demark suggestions I have that you feel contain an extra bit of merit?
Then let’s begin.
Dark Horse
New BPRD series, page 25. This is the one I’m moving to trades on, but I can still state that the series is well worth some consideration for the Hellboy fan who’s a bit lost between series.
There’s a new Aliens novel on page 28, written by Diane Carey, whose Star Trek books I devoured in my wayward youth. This one, titled Cauldron involves – get this – a spaceship adrift with those pesky Xenomorphs on board! And, in a shocking twist, things go horribly awry and those little buggers lay waste to everything they see. Seriously, would it kill anyone to write an Aliens story set at, I dunno, Laguna Beach? I would probably pay cash to read such a thing.
Following up on that is a $15 hardcover collecting the first three issues of Matt Wagner’s Grendel (page 29.) Ye gods – I understand how the work’s loved by all and deservedly praised, but how about we get a logically-numbered reprint series that lets those of us who only have a few Comico issues here and there get the series in softcover?
Page 39 features Space Pinchy. I do not know what Space Pinchy is, nor do I want to.
Image
After The Cape, on page 140, smacks of that old-school Bendis-when-he-drew-too vibe and there’s not a bit wrong with that. I’m going to wait for this to get a collection (and find out if it’s any good,) but it’s got pretty, high-contrast art and the previews I’ve seen indicate that the dialogue is good. I just worry about, y’know, the story.
For those of you who were waiting to pick up the two series I flogged the hardest in 2006, Phonogram and Casanova, there are trade paperbacks solicited on pages 149 and 148, respectively.
ADV
Page 213 has an ad for Gunslinger Girl, about preteen female robots trained as assassins in the depths of Italy’s ancient ruins. Despite the sheer overwhelming weight of similarity this has to many other comics, there’s something about this that appeals to me – is this manga any good? I’ve seen a trailer for the manga and that seemed to be up my alley, but I like to start with the source material first whenever possible.
(This attitude is what keeps me from seeing Mail on DVD until I’ve got at least two or three volumes under my belt.)
Amaze Ink and Slave Labor
Two early series by Gene Yang, whose American Born Chinese was given a justified nod for the National Book Award, are featured in trade paperback format on page 217. While I’m not the biggest fan of either Gordon Yamamoto And The King Of The Geeks or Loyola Chin And The San Peligran Order, it’s really interesting to see the quantitative leap in craft the author took.
BOOM! Studios
There’s two new series on page 236, both of which I’d most likely pay for if they weren’t sent to me anyway as appeasement. Hunter’s Moon is written by James L. White, who scripted the biopic Ray and sounds like the sort of thriller I appreciate – a man dealing with a terrible conundrum in a hostile community. There’s also Left On Mission by Chip Mosher and Francisco Francavilla, a spy story about a man forced back into service with a mission featuring a target he’d much rather miss.
Dynamite EntertainmentYou know, they revive Savage Tales, launch a new zombie book called Raise the Dead, and I still don’t have my fucking American Flagg reprint collection that was solicited in 2004.
Just putting that out there.
[EDIT: I want to apologize for that. I was confusing Dynamite Entertainment with Dynamic Forces and though they share many things, editorial and having to work with another company on handling the American Flagg reprints is not one of them.]
Drawn & Quarterly
John Pocellino’s understated, possibly brilliant comic folk art gets a large collection with King Cat Classics, featured on page 272. Yes, it’s $30, but it’s also a hardcover 384-page tome that covers the span of his career so far. Possibly the book of the month.
Fantagraphics
Page 276, Gilbert Hernandez, original graphic novel, Chance In Hell. That’s all you need to know, really.
Griffin
Nick Bertozzi’s The Salon features Picasso, Gertrude Stein, and others attempting to solve a murder mystery in turn-of-the-century Paris. It’s on page 281 and it sounds like a ripping yarn worthy of some sort of look.
[Edit: Garth reminds me in comments that this is the book that was excerpted in the comic at the center of the Gordon Lee case, which refuses to die.]
Gullywasher
I’ve talked about how much I loved Danica Novgorodoff’s A Late Freeze in the past and now that it’s available through Diamond, you don’t have an excuse. It’s also on page 281, so make sure you tell your retailer that yes, you’d like that $6.50 piece of newcomer-smelling comics goodness.
That sounded pretty dirty. Sorry, Danica!
Hyperion
Out of the Center for Cartoon Studies comes page 283′s Houdini: The Handcuff King by Jason Lutes and Nick Bertozzi (him again!). I’m a sucker for this sort of thing – Carter Beats The Devil is one of my favorite novels – and with the quality attached, I figure this is a no-brainer at $17.
IDW
I’m glad to see there’s a trade collecting the first Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse series, as Ben Templesmith has become much better than the Ashley Wood-a-like he started off as. I’ve heard from a few people that this is a good read, so I’ve made note of it on page 287.
However, a $75 slipcase that holds all of the “rarest covers from Transformers: Beast Wars: The Gathering” is worthy of so much scorn that I may have to go purchase a backup drive to keep track of it. That’s on page 289, if you care.
Oni Press
OK, so page 306′s Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen Of Alpha Squad 7 looks like a bit of a hoot, and it’s got lots of things going for it. There. I said it. I’ll probably even buy it.
Page 306 also features an intriguing-looking graphic novel called Wonton Soup by James Stokoe. My notes here from first glancing at it, read as follows: Future space chef vs space ninjas? O YS. So I’ll be getting that, I guess.
Yes, I was probably drunk when I made that note.
Pantheon
Alias The Cat (page 308) is Kim Deitch blowing the lid off the story of a mysterious masked crimefighter in early Hollywood who either took the persona of, or was a film and comic strip star. It sounds like a bit of a giggle.
Picturebox
The Trenton Doyle Handbook is artist Trenton Doyle Hancock’s take on a Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe-style book featuring his characters and their complex mythology. Joe Rubenstein’s involved, too, which means that his money is where his mouth is – that man delineated so much of my youth.
Tokyopop
Page 319 has a new work by Brandon Graham, whose Elevator I couldn’t praise enough. King City is the titular locale, full of “spy gangs, alien porn, and reasonably priced diners,” and our lead Joe (who has a cat that become anything) tries to make his way in it. This is the first of three volumes and based on Graham’s earlier work, I’m saying this is a must-read.
Top Shelf
Page 336 features two books of note. Jeff Lemire’s Essex County Volume 1: Tales From The Farm is one of the best books I read last year and I’m glad to see that it’s finally coming out through a publisher that consistently brings interesting new talent to the fore. Lemire’s going to go places and I’m glad to get to watch him rise. (Yes, I am totally trying to become back-cover bait with that, but it’s legitimate praise. I think Lemire’s a bright star in a cloudy, possibly-too-arty firmament.)
Jeffrey Brown gets another $5 of my money with Feeble Attempts #1. As much as I enjoy his longer material, I think he really works best in confined spaces and this collects odds and sods from his work.
Very Dynamic Comics
Book with Pictures #2 comes out, continuing Sina Grace’s story of Melissa, a comic shop employee in Los Angeles and her trials and tribulations. This is on page 340 and from the previews I’ve seen, this manages to avoid being too inside baseball.
Viz
Pages 342 through 352 pass by as a high-cost blur of paper. Should I read Drifting Classroom? Signs point to “yes,” but I need a bit more justification.
Wow, that was pretty painless. Once I yank the big two out, it’s almost fun to write these posts. Maybe I’ll even do another next month.
Offered without comment, but with surrealism bolded.
Comments Off | Posted: January 9th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedAUSTIN, Texas – Marvel Comics recently announced that it has abandoned its prior policy regarding gay or lesbian comic characters, leaving many parents concerned about the content in their kid’s comic books. The new policy states that a character’s sexual orientation will no longer determine the age rating given to that particular series. Previously, any Marvel series featuring a homosexual character would be given a “MAX” rating, indicating that the material was not appropriate for young audiences.
With the most prominent comic book company lightening up its rating system, how can parents be sure their youngsters won’t get their hands on age-inappropriate material? In comes actor Stephen Baldwin. He may seem like an unlikely candidate, but Baldwin has created a kid-friendly Christian-based graphic novel series, Spirit Warriors, as part of his Livin It movement.
In Spirit Warriors (Broadman and Holman, $9.99), six radical teens meet the war zone of good versus evil to save their crumbling city from the devilish elder Seiko. Mysteriously orphaned at a young age, these heroic rebels are called to pierce the darkness with amazingly uncommon strengths.
Baldwin became a born-again Christian after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and put his newfound faith into the Livin It youth ministry movement, where he combined his passion for extreme sports and ministry in order to share his faith with America’s youth. Not only does Livin It include a series of three books in which extreme sports athletes share their testimonials, but also includes DVDs, a clothing line and live demo tour.
