Previews-o-Rama part 2: The Middle

Manga

TokyoPop's big new entry is DearS, with cute aliens in Earth high schools. More interesting is the debut of Peach Fuzz by Lindsay Cibos & Jared Hodges, winners of the 2nd Rising Stars of Manga competition.

Dream Gold from ADV looks like it could be interesting--a high-tech treasure hunt adventure.

888 from ComicsOne features "laid-back detective stories."

From the solictation copy for High School Girls vol. 3: "More turmoil with boys, school grades, and relationships as the girls take an extended break at the beach where the heat is not the only thing steaming things up!" It's like every manga story distilled down to its essence!

Viz debuts Tough, about "an action-star wannabe with super-secret fighting skills." Sounds boring as hell. They also have the single volume Blue Spring with sounds interesting in concept, but I have a violent dislike of Taiyo Matsumodo's art.


Others

Strangers in Paradise #71 has a fun Christmas cover.

Web comic As If! gets a collected print edition. Strangely I hadn't heard of this one before, but after checking out the Website I'll be looking to get a copy. (Yeah, I could read it for free on the site, but I stare at a computer monitor most of the day at work.)

Larry Young has Proof of Concept, an OGN collection of short stories by various artists.

Evan Dorkin & Sarah Dyer have a new anthology: Biff! Bam! Pow!. But $4 for 24 pages? Sigh...

Another Web comic, Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order, gets collected by Slave Labor.

Issue #4 of Street Angel is on the docket.

Archie Double Digests are $3.59 for 192 pages in full color. This is probably the best page-price deal in comics, beating even manga collections all over the map. How can they do this? Archie knows how to leverage its old material. Why don't other publishers follow their lead?

Soulfire #4 has four different covers! On fact, Aspen are so sure that fanboys will part with your money for all of these that they don't even show you what they are. In fact, they make a big point in their 2-page ad spread and their solicitation of not showing you the covers not once, not twice, but three times!

Avatar's Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures gets a trade collection.

It's Lady Death's 10th anniversary. I don't care much for the character, but I have to admire Brian Pulido's tenacity at somehow rescuing the character from two successive bankrupt publishers. Of course, when I think of all the worthwhile characters tied up in legal limbo, it kind of makes me cry.

God the Dyslexic Dog has a fun title and Alex Niño art.

Nothing new from Beckett this month. Strange...

Elvira is on issue #140? I have no idea what the economics of Claypool must be like, but they manage to keep these low-run series going somehow...

Daniel Zezelj has a story collection, Caballo.

Devil's Due continues their genre-breaking genius by giving us, um, super-heroes. Plus, they continue to keep Chuck Dixon employed.

Drawn & Quarterly debuts its new "Petits Livres" line of 'affordable art books' with Julie Doucet's Lady Pep.

Dynamic Forces continues to offer vastly overpriced signed editions of comics.

There's a Ghostbusters comic? This 80's comics nostalgia thing has gone too far.

Vanyda's The Building Opposite from Fanfare/Planet Mon looks like it could be interesting.

Simone Lea's Fluffy is $16 for 40 pages each, planned for 4 volumes. Are they on crack?

Early Megaton Man gets collected from iBooks. I may have to get this--IIRC the tales were set in SE Michigan.

iBooks also continues their Mister X collection with a volume two that includes a short story by Gaiman & McKean. As if I won't have enough things to buy in December.

The good news is that Desperadoes returns. The bad news is that it's from IDW, so it's overpriced. Wait for the trade, and hope that Amazon has it at a discount.

IDW also has an overpriced John Law collection: 80 pages for $15 which includes 3 reprinted stories.

Jack Lake Prodcutions gives us yet another dark reimagining of the Oz stories with Dorothy Gale: Journey to Oz.

Oni has a second Love Fights collection, the final issue of Ojo, and a new Queen & Country: Declassified mini, with art by Rick Burchett.

Temporary #1: Cubes and Ladders intrigues me for reasons I cannot fully grasp...

Rosen Publishing launches a line of biographical non-fiction graphic novels, with entries on Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus, Alexander the Great, George Washington, Sitting Bull, and Spartacus. $10 for 48 pages is a bit steep, but they're obviously aiming for the educational market, so if their bindings are high quality that may do okay.

Nothing new from Top Shelf this month.

Previews-o-Rama part 1: The Front

It seems that every comics blogger is required by law to go through Previews and point out things of interest. I'll be dividing my comments into two parts: The Front (Dark Horse, DC, Image, Marvel) and The Middle (everybody else).

Dark Horse

It's nearly a guarantee that everything that Dark Horse publishes will end up collected as a trade. Thus, my typical response to anything in the Dark Horse section is to wait for the trade.

The good news: Paul Chadiwck has a new Concrete series: The Human Dilema. The bad news? It's $3.50 per regular-sized B&W issue. Concrete is one of those that I normally would buy in floppies, but the price point will direct me otherwise.

It looks like Dark Horse will be a home for at least some of the CrossGen refugees. This month sees the debut of Samurai: Heaven and Earth by Ron Marz & Luke Ross, a title that looks like to walked straight out of a CrossGen pitch meeting. Ross's art look very pretty in the samples, and is almost indistinguishable from his early days on the Detroit-based JLA. There will also be a forthcoming series The Dragon Prince by Marz & Jeff Johnson.

The first Mignola-Davis BPRD series, Plague of Frogs, is collected. This is the first Hellboy-related series that really worked for me. Pick it up if you haven't read it already.

Are people really paying $3.50 an issue for a Grendel reprint comic?


DC

The big news is that David Lapham's 12-issue run on Detective Comics kicks off officially in #801. Alas, he's only writing, not drawing as well. Lapham is one of those who knows how to make decompression work, so hopefully the year-long story won't seem needlessly drawn-out.

The Robin-Batgirl crossover continues. The latest issue of Robin pissed me off so much that, combined with a needless crossover, this'll finally be the excuse I need to drop it.

Gotham Central features guest art by Jason Alexander, who should be a fine fill-in. Catwoman is rescued from the pages of her own book as well.

Scott Morse starts his fill-in stint on Catwoman. Were he also handling the art I might stick around. As it is, I dunno.

Nighwing finally takes on the villainous Mary Sue is his 100th issue spectacular.

Superman apprently rediscovers the black suit he wore back in "Reign of the Supermen." Plus, he's all electric-y.

DC: The New Frontier gets the first of two trades. Darwyn Cooke is the man. But what's with this 'three extra pages originally seen in Wizard' crap?

Deadshot is the latest in the trend of television staff writers slumming in comics.

Identity Crisis comes to an end. The cover by Michael Turner actually looks pretty cool, seeing as he wasn't required to draw any actual human bodies.

Alan Davis's disappointing JLA: Another Nail gets a collection.

Waid & Kitson's The Legion of Super-Heroes kicks off, with another reboot. It's technically only the 2nd wholesale continuity reboot of the title, it just seems like the 7th.

JSA finally follows up on the Per Degaton thread.

Grant Morrison's JLA Classified #2 has Robo-JLA on the cover!

Plastic Man makes it to #13. Buy it, dammit!

The Batman Jam-Packed Action is a cinemanga version of the new (hugely disappointing) The Batman cartoon.

Looney Tunes is on issue #121. Scooby Doo is on issue #91. Powerpuff Girls is on issue #57. Yeah, kids are obviously not buying comics...

The Robo-Hunter: Verdus trade has Ian Gibson art.

Astro City gets a new maxi-series with The Dark Age, looking at the 70's.

Batman/Danger Girl? Who asked for that?

The second Global Frequency trade is out, just in time (probably) for the tv series.

Hellblazer gets an original hardcover. Boy, Dc is rally hoping that the Contantine movie isn't a flop, aren't they?


Image

The Amazing Joy Buzzards is in black & white & pink?

The cover to Liberty Meadows #37 features Jen, Ralph & Leslie on a spaceship.

Flaming Carrot returns. To Image, no less. Seriously, did anybody think that back when Image was formed they'd be publishing stuff like Flaming Carrot?

Noble Causes, vol 3: Distant Relatives is colorized. Damn, I wish I'd aited for the trade.

Darkness/Superman? Who asked for that?


Marvel

Ultimates 2 starts up, as does Ultimate Secret. Repeat after me: Wait for the Trade. Wait for the Trade...

New Avengers has Amazing Bubble-Head Guy!

Wow, the cover to Astonishing X-Men #5 was so good, they're using it to promote #8.

X-Men/Fantastic Four #1: "Can the X-Men and the Fantastic Four put their differences aside to stop a creeping menace from outer space that threatens out planet's very existance?" Gee, I wonder. I also wonder what makes this series worth $3.50 per?

Seven issues of What If... at once? Are they on crack?

The cover of Amazing Spider-Man #515 actually looks interesting.

Elektra: The Movie comes out. Does anyone actually buy movie adaptations any more?

The first six issues of Astonishing X-Men get collected. This will sell in the bookstores like hotcakes. New X-Men: Academy X is also collected. It won't.

All of Avengers Dissassembled get various collections. $78 to buy them all!

Nobody, and I mean nobody, asked for a Maximum Carnage collection. Some things are just better left dead and buried.


Okay, that's all for the front. Part 2 tomorrow (probably).

Around the Horn

What's the buzz in the world of the comics blogosphere:

Ron Freeman returns to his Fortress of Soliloquies to discover Lex Luthor: Super-hero

Steve Lieber gives us an update on what all the cool artists at Mercury Studios are working on.

Tim O'Neil shows us the true meaning of The Hurting by starting off a mini wave of ALF cover nostalgia.

Shane gives all of us Near Mint Heroes 3 Things He Wants to See in Comics.

Jon of the Mae Mai looks at avante garde and whether or not so-called avante garde comics actually are.

Christopher Butcher in Comics 212 wonders why anyone bothers to launch a comics newsmagazine site. Ed Cunard responds from The Low Road.

Mike Sterling has many cool Swamp Thing toys in the offices of the Progressive Ruin.

Tegan reviews trade collections of the greatest Web-based library comic strip of all time: Unshelved.

Kerry the Comic Queen is among those who have discovered the joy that is Mike Mignola's Amazing Screw-on Head.

Postmodern Barney Dorian declares that movies based on comic books aren't any good.

Matt remembers the first time he encounterd a comics specialty store on Highway 62.

TangognaT exposes W as an anime copyright infringer.

Todd Murray is Following Cerebus.

Steven of Peiratokos examines whether or not Identity Crisis is an effective locked room mystery.

Ian from the Brill Building looks at Chaykin's The Shadow.

Rick Gebhardt discovers Lobo.

Comics may have eaten Tom Bondurant's brain, but he's still able to ask Must There Be a Superboy?

Evan Dorkin textually reduces a self-important 'promoter' to a blob of jelly.

Finally, I'd mention the John Byrne fiasco, but I don't have to since Everybody else has.

Meme me with your 5 questions

Everybody's doing it, so I figure I should throw my hat into the 5 Questions Meme.

You know how it works: Use the comments to ask me 5 questions, and you'll get 5 answers.

(I'm sure I'll regret this...)

Quick GN Reviews

100 Bullets, book 7: Samurai
by Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso
It had been a long time since I'd read any 100 Bullets, so I was really looking forward to this. Alas, it fell flat for me. The first story, "Chill in the Oven," is set in a penitentiary and features some characters we've seen before. However, due to the long break between stories for me, I had a hard time remembering who they were and what their tie-in to the big picture was. Would it have hurt Azzarello over the span of 80-some-odd pages to throw in a little bit of recap? As such, the story didn't make much sense on its own. The second story, "In Stinked," fares a bit better, being a classic noir in a non-traditional setting. Unsurprisingly, Risso's art is great throughout, and holds the comic together even when Azzarello's story threatens to run completely off the rails. (Compare this to "For Tomorrow" where, as good as Jim Lee may be, he cannot make up for the deficiencies in the story.)
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Flight, vol. 1
by too many artists to mention here
The first thing one notices on paging through Flight is the quality of the art. Unlike most anthologies by relatively unknowns, the art in Flight, while being of many differing styles, is top-notch throughout. The stories are all built around the theme of flight, though some use it more strongly than others. While not all of the stories worked for me, I suspect that everyone who reads Flight will find something they like, and different stories will appeal to different people. My personal favorites are Vera Brosgul's "I Wish...", the story of a teenage girl who wakes up one morning having sprouted wings; Jen Wang's "Paper & String" with its stunning multimedia art collage; Khang Le's touching "Outside My Window," about a giant alien robot that tries to make friends with a young girl; and Phil Craven's "Deep Blue," a silent story about a plucky penguin who tries to break free of his humdrum existance. The only bad thing about Flight is that I now have several more artists whose work I want to track down and read--and really, that's not such a bad thing after all.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

When a Girl Becomes a Woman

I was actually looking around the GCD for more monkey covers, when I stumbled across this gem, the special 100th issue of Marvel's Patsy and Hedy. (Click on the image for the full-sized version.) Besides the fun kitch value, it's also a reminder of the fact that Marvel used to publish things other than super-heroes.

Quick DC Reviews

Plastic Man; Robin; Catwoman; Manhunter

Plastic Man #10
by Kyle Baker
Remember when comics were fun? Remember when they told a complete story in a single issue? If so, you'll enjoy this issue of Plastic Man, which features Plas and the gang facing off against vampires; and not the goth-drenched anguished vampires, but rather the kind who wait in creepy houses on the tops of hills just waiting for stranded travelers to stop by and spend the night. There are at least 5 healthy laughs in this issue, and a good snicker or two on every page. The only downside is the generic cover, but that's easy enough to overlook when the insides are so much fun.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)


Robin #130
by Bill Willingham, Jon Proctor, Robert Campanella & Rodney Ramos
We now have official confirmation that the CCA seal means absolutely nothing. A large majority of this issue features the Black Mask brutally beating Spoiler and then torturing her with a power drill. This is one instance where we can be glad that the coloring is murky. If that wasn't enough, near the end of this issue Robin donates blood, then imemdiately goes out to continue to fight the gang war. Besides the fact that Tim is too young to donate, he should also "avoid strenuous physical activity or heavy lifting for about five hours after donation." It's right here on the Red Cross Website.
Rating: 1.5 (of 5)


Catwoman #35
by Ed Brubaker, Paul Gulacy & Jimmy Palmiotti
Since this issue barely featured Catwoman or any of her supporting cast at all, Gulacy's art didn't seem as out-of-place as it usually does. Unfortunately, the overarching plot of "War Games" continues to require just about everyone to act out of character and/or exhibit previously unknown skills (Batman is now a super-hacker?) Jim Gordon--is his two-panel cameo--is the only one talking any sense.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Manhunter #2
by Marc Andreyko, Jesus Saiz & Jimmy Palmiotti
After last issue's quick start (well, quick for these days of ultra-decompression) this second issue takes a step back, giving us a better glimpse of Kate's personal life. It looks like part of the focus in this series will be how nearly impossible it would be to carry out a secret life as a vigilante. It's also good to see that Andreyko will be exploring the consequences of this new Manhunter's approach. And I've always liked the Shadow Thief as a villain, so that's enough to keep me with the title for now.
Rating: 3 (of 5)

Quick Marvel Reviews

Avengers; Astonishing X-Men; Black Widow; Ultimate Fantastic Four

Avengers #502
by Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch & Danny Miki
Spoiler Alert The coloring in this book is attrocious. I don't know whose decision it was to color the whole thing as though it was being viewed through a red filter, but it just looks bad. The story is no great shakes either: heroes have gathered outside Avengers Mansion; Nick Fury gets all pissy; a Kree spaceship attacks for no reason; Hawkeye dies destroying the Kree ship; Dr. Strange shows up to say that there's magic afoot. There, I've just saved you eighteen bits.
Rating: 2 (of 5)


Astonishing X-Men #5
by Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
Let's get one thing out of the way: The cover--the giant metal fist? Worst cover ever. And considering how lame many of Marvel's covers have been for the past several years, that's saying something. At least the much-maligned cover to #1, featuring Wolverine's claws, was somewhat iconic. This is just stupid. Anyway, on to the actual issue--it's mostly marking time, stretching things out to squeeze a four-issue story into six issues. Thankfully, Whedon's dialogue is fun to read and Cassady's art is nice to look at, and the reaction shots near the end are pretty fun. I do hope, however, that we get a better explaination of Peter's return than we've gotten so far.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Black Widow #1
by Richard K. Morgan & Bill Sienkiewicz
Someone is killing female ex-KGB agents, and Natasha is next on the list! Gee, where have we read this story before? It's a bit pedestrian, down to the ol' tough-female-saves-a-woman-in-distress scene that you just knew was coming. But golly, it sure is nice to see Bill Sienkiewicz drawing a comic again, and it looks spectacular. (And I can still spell 'Sienkiewicz' without looking!) The story will rise or fall, I think, on how the main villains, especially the two introduced on the last couple of pages, work. If they're stock characters this will be a plain old story with great art. But if they turn out to be interesting, then this could be a fun ride.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Ultimate Fantastic Four #11
by Warren Ellis, Stuart Immonen & Wade von Grawbadger
The decompression continues at a snail's pace: more travelling by the Four; more posturing by Van Damme. Finally near the end something happens: hitting. And since when does Doom have a poison gas breath weapon? Even giving the benefit out the doubt, this story should have taken twelve pages to tell, not twenty-one (although Lee & Kirby would have done it in four).
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)

Five Fists of Science!

Thanks to an offhand mention by Shane Baily, I now know about Five Fists of Science, which comes out next year from AiT/PlanetLAR. Not only is it possibly one of the five greatest titles for a comic book ever, it also sounds like a cool story:

"The Five Fists of Science is the story of Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla teaming up to bring about world peace by compulsion-- and how that peace will interfere with the plans of an evil science cabal led by Thomas Edison," says writer Matt (Last of the Independents) Fraction. "An all-out war between magic and science is fought on the streets of New York City in 1899, and it is an absolutely true story, up to a point." (quote from Newsarama)

Quick Reviews

Mary Jane; Sabrina, the Teenage Witch; Silver Surfer

Mary Jane #4
by Sean McKeever, Takeshi Miyazawa & Norman Lee
And thus, on a bit of a cliffhanger, Mary Jane comes to an end. Unsurprisingly, this comic has had a hard time finding an audience in the comic shops frequented and run by typical fanboys. Given that Marvel's supposed strategy with this book was to create Marvel Age digests for consumption in bookstores to compete with manga, it is surprising that they've cancelled it before the first collection has appeared. If there's a problem with this book (besides Marvel's mishandling of the whole thing) it is with the protagonist: all the boys are in love with her. Oh, whatever shall she do? For most of the target audience, this situation will be hard to empathize with. Liz Allen, even though she is a cheerleader dating a popular football jock, is much more interesting, as she manages to embody the doubts and fears about relationships that are common with many high school kids. My main concern in losing this book is that we are losing the team of McKeever & Miyazawa; surely there is a company out there that will snap these guys up to work on a real high school-centered drama, one that doesn't rely on a tenuous connection to a spandex-clad preipheral character.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Sabrina, the Teenage Witch #60
by Tania Del Rio & Jim Amash
Del Rio has successfully transormed Sabrina, effectively combining the traditional Archie teen comic with the style of magical manga teen romantic comedy. Poor Sabrina also has more than one guy vying for her affections, but at least her life is complicated by the attentions brought by her aunt's running for a seat on the witches' council. The story in this issue is a fun little teenage fantasy, but is marred somewhat by the afterschool special moment at the end. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Jason Jensen's excellent colors, which are highly effective and really complement the art.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Silver Surfer #6-12
by Dan Chariton, Stacy Weiss, & Lan Medina
I think I'm one of just twelve people who has enjoyed the new direction of Marvel's Silver Surfer. In most instances The Surfer is just too cosmic of a character to make for an effective protagonist, but as a catalyst in this story of alien encounters and abductions I think he's quite effective. Plus I really enjoy Medina's art, so it's a pleasure to see it on a regular basis. The big problem with this book is one that affects many titles these days: the story is being stretched out far too long. I was under the impression that this curent storyline would be over in six issues, which is way I'd saved them up for reading all at once, but apparently it's being stretched out even further (two more issues presumably, at which point the book is being cancelled). Really, some editor at Marvel needs to get a clue; if you want six to eight issues to combine for a trade collection, fine, but what collection can contain two or three well-crafted stories instead of one long drawn-out tale.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)

My New Big Bone

We had a dog when I was growing up. Sandy was her name, and she was your garden-variety beagle-terrier mutt. That dog loved to gnaw on things; we couldn't get her normal doggie chew toys, as she would destroy them within five minutes, so she got either rawhide or nylon bones to chew on. A rawhide bone would last her the good part of a day, and even the near-indestructable nylon bone would be gnawed down to a dangerous point within a month or two. Needless to say, when we'd give her a new bone to chew on, she'd jump up and down and wag her tail excitedly, until she snatched the bone away and carried it off to begin chewing.

Which is all prelude to say that the UPS truck came by and dropped off my Bone One Volume Edition on my porch today. At over 1300 pages it is trully massive (though as expected the paper is mighty thin, though at least it's not super-cheap newsprint). I suspect that even Sandy would have a hard time chewing on this massive tome.

I've already read Bone in its original comic form, so I won't be rushing to read it thorugh again anytime soon (I have too many other things I haven't yet read). But like the huge Barnes & Noble Ultimate Spider-Man and the big thick Palomar hardcover, it was just one of those things I had to have. Plus, it'll be a lot easier to pick up and page through when I'm curious about something than trying to dig up all the individual issues.

Quick GN Reviews

Marvel Age Spider-Man, vol. 2: Everyday Hero
by Daniel Quantz, Todd DeZago, Mark Brooks, Jonboy Meyers, Michael O'Hare, Pat Davidson & Derek Fridolfs
I know, I'm supposed to be offended by the mere existance of these retellings of early Lee & Ditko Spider-Man stories. But I'm not. I really don't have any strong affections one way or the other regarding early Spider-Man tales, so seeing them retold doesn't really bother me. As each issue is done-in-one, I'm sure that using a modern storytelling approach required a lot of the original plot to be jetisoned, but it makes for a streamlined reading, and the use of a modern art style is sure to appeal to youngsters. This volume includes Spidey's first battles with The Lizard, Electro, and The Living Brain, along with a rematch with The Vulture. The Lizard, Electro and The Vulture are rendered just as long-time readers will remember, while The Living Brain is thankfully updated to a modern look.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)




A.I. Love You, vol. 2
by Ken Akamatsu
In the first volume, a freak electrical accident teenage computer geek Hitoshi's female fantasy program--program no. 30--to come to life as Saati, an A.I. with physical form. Saati is cute, virginal and subserviant, and programmed to want to please Hitoshi--eveything a teenage boy wants. Or is she? In volume two, another freak accident causes an older program--no. 20--to come to life as well. Toni is tall, buxom and aggresive, and she will do anything to steal Hitoshi away from Saati. Thus Akamatsu sets up a virgin-whore dichotomy through which he is able to explore the often baffling nature of the teenage male's search for sexual identity... Oh hell, who am I kidding? It's all just an excuse for teenage male fantasies and copious fan service. But in true Akamatsu fashion, it somehow manages to come off as mostly innocent.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)

Monkey Covers

There's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover!

From 1976, it's Super-Heroes Battle Super-Gorillas! What more could anybody ask for in a comic? Cover art by Ernie Chan & Vince Colletta. (Click on the image for the full-size scan from GCD.)

(Yes, I know that a gorilla isn't really a monkey--I'm taking poetic license.)

Kyle Baker GN Reviews

For some reason, I got into a Kyle Baker kick this weekend:

Undercover Genie
by Kyle Baker
Kyle Baker is one of the funniest, most original creators working in comics today. So why doesn't his work seem to get the respect of consumers? Why the heck isn't Plastic Man selling at least three times what it does? Reading Undercover Genie won't do anything to clear up the mystery. You see, this collection of short strips, illustrations and character studies is full of wit and fine drawings. It makes for an excellent sample of the wide range of style and subject matter of which Baker is capable. In the introduction, Baker explains that while the comics world has been ignoring him, he has been making a fine living in commercial illustration. Our loss, alas.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)


Birth of a Nation
by Aaron McGruder, Reginald Hudlin, & Kyle Baker
Thankfully, Baker's latest effort, a collaboration with cartoonist McGruder and director Hudlin, isn't being ignored. In the wake of what is a thinly disguised version of the contested 2000 presidential election, the disenfranchised residents of East St. Louis decide to seceed from the United States, forming their own country: Blackland. It not the laugh-out-loud comedy that some of the reviews might lead you to expect, but it is a very interesting 'what if' story. Baker turns in some of the strongest work of his career, selling what could have been a dicey scenario.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)


King David
by Kyle Baker
For the obvious reason, the story of King David was one that always interested me growing up. I really dug the whole 'David and Goliath' bit of course, but I was always disappointed that in the end King David turned out to be a prick. This is not among Baker's better artwork, as the overreliance on computer art and the murky and uneven coloring stand in contrast to the very strong storytelling, a technique that combines sequential art and traditional prose.
Rating: 3 (of 5)

Thin GN Reviews

These are reviews of things that are really too thin to be considered graphic novels, but they have spines and their very own ISBNs and do contain complete stories (more or less):

Playing the Game
by Dorris Lessing & Charlie Adlard
Blue-tinged Spacer Jo, aided by the exotic brass-skinned Francesca Bird, attempts to escape from his mundane existance by playing a game of metaphysical Snakes and Ladders. They roll the dice and travel through dimensional levels both heavenly and hellish until, um, something happens and it ends. It's page after page of things happening without much reason. I suppose this could be viewed as visual poetry--a view supported by the dialogue, which is all spoken in short, poetic fragments that are basically nonsensical.
Rating: 2 (of 5)


Hip Flask: Unnatural Selection, Widescreen Edition
by Richard Stakings, Joe Casey, & José Ladronn
This oversized hardcover edition of the first Hip Flask comic tells the origin of the Elephantmen, anthpomorphs genetically engineered by the Mappo corporation to be super-human soldiers. It's a fine story, and Ladronn's art has risen to a new level, practically indistinguishable from his early Kirby-meets-Giffen days. But if you paid $30 for this, I'm sorry, but you have way too much money.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


The Acid Bath Case
by Stephen Walsh & Kellie Strom
Diminutive detective Nat Slammer takes on the case of a serial killer who bathes his victims in industrial acid in this period detective story. It's not very good. None of the characters are sympathetic, and in the end it's unclear as to exactly what happened.
Rating: 1.5 (of 5)


Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde: The Devoted Friend / The Nightingale and the Rose
by P. Craig Russell
The first adapted tale in this exquisitely illustrated collection is the story of a poor gardener and the rich miller who abuses their 'friendship' to no end. Although written more than 100 years ago, one cannot help but read the story as an allegory for a certain point of view held by many today, which I suppose speaks sadly to state of how little things have changed. The second story tells of a student who requires a red rose to gain the attentions of a professor's daughter, and the nightingale who makes the ultimate sacrifice to help the student's dreams come true.
Rating: 3 (of 5)

Around the Horn

What's been discussed in the blogosphere this past week:

Tegan in Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog already misses Aquaman scribe Will Pfeifer.

Kerry the Comic Queen lays down to the law to Marvel: No More X-Books!

In The Hurting, Tim continues to talk about Ditko and in the same post discusses Larry Young's guide to comics publishing.

TangognaT wants to relearn Japanese so as to be able to read manga in the orginal. A couple of years ago I tried (long story...) to take an extension class in basic Japanese before I took a trip to Japan (another long story, but one I might actually tell someday). Anyway, about half the people in the class were teens who wanted to learn some Japanese so that they could watch untranslated anime.

In the Progressive Ruin, Mike lets us in on the secret of Krypto's secret identity. He also plays the Swamp Thing Game and suffers through the Swamp Thing cartoon.

Lots of people point to The Sin City presentation, and it looks fabulous.

In Comics 212, Christopher points out that recently everyone is blogging gay (NSFW).

Dorian & Johnny have a beefcake / cheesecake faceoff.

BeaucoupKevin wants Julie Schwartz to return and haunt the editorial offices of DC.

Ian and the kids from the Brill Building get some costumes out of the shed and put on Hulk: The Musical.

Over in Peiratikos, Steven gets into a discussion with Shane, Kitty, Rose, David and others about whether Identity Crisis is mysogynist, exploitative, or what.

Finally, over in the Daily Illuminator, Steve Jackson annoucnes that in addition to the official Japanese, Korean and Portuguese translations of GURPS Fourth Edition, the free GURPS Lite will also be translated into "Bulgarian, Italian, Danish, French, and Klingon. Yes, Klingon." Because if playing an rpg in the basement wasn't geeky enough for you, you can now game in Klingon!

The Sixth Sign

The end is drawing nigh: William Shatner has won an Emmy. For acting.

And don't forget, Bill has a new album coming out soon.

(Click on cover image for full-sized version, courtesy of GCD.)

Quick GN Reviews

Tiempos Finales, vol. 1
by Samuel Hiti
It's so refreshing to come across a book that looks like nothing else I've seen before. The art, reproduced in two-tone (black and brown), is something of a cross between Paul Pope and Goseki Kojima. We get long establishing shots and travel montages, grotesque creatures and tension-filled battle sequences. The plot involves a being of light who is sent to possess a host on Earth to stop a demonic creature from rampaging through the five towns of San Pablo. There are a couple of passages--some kids in the street in the middle and a woman and her donkey at the very end--which don't seem to contribute to the narrative, but maybe they'll make more sense in the second volume (nine volumes are planned). Otherwise, this is a great self-contained story. It's only $10, so go buy it.
Rating: 4 (of 5)


A Child's Life and Other Stories
by Phoebe Gloeckner
This collection of stories, spanning almost 20 years of Gloeckner's career, all deal with sex, and often rather explicitly. More specifically, girls and women in unhealthy circumstances and sexual relationships, and the events in their lives that led them to the places they are in. Many of the stories deal with a specific set of events in the life of a girl--alternately called Minnie, Mary, Magda or Penny--involving an absent father, an abusive stepfather and a meek and enabling mother. If there's a downside to this collection, it is that in seeing the similar themes played over and over they lose some of the impact that they would have had separately; this is probably a case where the total is not equal to the sum of the parts. Gloeckner is trained in medical illustration, a fact that is in evidence in the set of paintings, drawings and etchings that rounds out this book, but chooses to use the form and style of underground comix for her sequential work. In truth, I find myself to bit a bit inadequate to properly judge A Child's Life and Other Stories, seeing as I am neither female nor familiar with the world in which most of her characters live. But I think it's good, if often disturbing, work.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

Quick Reviews

JLA Secret Files; Adventures of Superman; Youngblood Genesis; Hawkman; Flare; Terra Obscura

JLA Secret Files 2004
by Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnky, John Byrne & Tom Nguyen; Kurt Busiek, Ron Garney & Dan Green
The lead story highlights the differences between the classic JLA and the all-new JLE, and serves as an able reminder of why I decided to not bother with the Justice League Elite series. The back-up story by new JLA writer Busiek fares much better, setting up his upcoming arc by reintroducing us to the Crime Syndicate of America. Busiek also has some fun by reimagining the villains of the JLA's world as defeated heroes of the CSA's. My only concern is for the art; while I'm mollified somewhat by the improvement in layout under a plot from Busiek over Austen's plots, Garney's art still seems a bit sloppy and a step back from what he used to produce. I believe he's changed his style and, from this reader's perspective, it's not for the better.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Adventures of Superman #632
by Greg Rucka, Paul Pelletier & Rick Magyar
Superman seeks emergency treatment for Lois, but aside from flying her around really fast there's nothing he can do but put her fate in the hands of others, putting his in a rare position of weakness. It makes for an effective story, which when contrasted against what Austen is doing with the Clark-Lois relationship ove in Action makes the later seem rather facile. Pelletier resurfaces from the CrossGen disaster and turns in an able performance, although Superman isn't necessarily the best showcase for his strengths.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Youngblood Genesis #1
by Kurt Busiek, Brandon Thomas, Chad Walker, Eric Walker, & Rob Liefeld
Apparently this comic first came out over a year ago at the SDCC; why it is only now making its way into comic stores is a major marketing mystery. In fact, the background machinations of producing the book (including Busiek's attempts to distance himself from the whole thing) prove to be far more interesting than the content, a retlling of Youngblood's origins. A capable but standard plot from Busiek is weighed down by an uninspired script, amateur pencils, and ugly inking. But hey, at least there are five different covers! As far as I know, the past year has not seen the production of a second issue, and I doubtful it ever will. Which, really, won't be a big loss.
Rating: 2 (of 5)


Hawkman #32
by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Joe Bennett & Ruy Jose
It looks like this will be my last issue of Hawkman. It's not that it's so bad--the story is an okay pulpish done-in-one with Hawkman and The Atom discovering a secret old Nazi Antarctic base and fending off an alien invasion, and Bennett's art fits with the pulp atmosphere nicely. It's just that I don't care that much anymore, and with next issue feature a crossover with a title I don't follow (Monolith) it looks to be a perfect jumping-off point.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Flare #1/20
by Wilson Hill, Gordon Purcell & Terry Pallot; Steve Perrin, Wilson Hill, & Henry Martinez
After many years, Flare finally returns! Um, yeah. I have only vague recollections of the original Flare, mainly that it was a spin-off of The Champions which itself was spun out of the super-hero role-playing game of the same name. So, Flare has light powers and a complicated backstory which is only alluded to in this first issue, although a four-page 'featurette' after the main story helps to hit some of the hilights. Anyway the whole package has an 80's-retro feel to it, which is helped along by Purcell's art.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Terra Obscura vol. 2 #2
by Alan Moore, Peter Hogan, Yanick Paquette & Karl Story
Captain Future's spaceship has mysteriously returned after a 45 year absence, and as Tom Strange prepares to go and investigate, he and the rest of SMASH are visited by the SMASH of WWII. In grand comics tradition, a fight breaks out. No, it's not to the level of other ABC offerings like Promethea, Tom Strong or Smax, but Terra Obscura is a good old fashioned super-hero story that doesn't feel old.
Rating: 3 (of 5)

Superman Attacks!

This is actually from a couple of months ago, but seeing as it happened in my city I heard about it from several people at the time: "Man In Superman Costume Attacks Motorists"

The guy who writes the Marvel solicitation copy...

...is undoubtedly moonlighting elsewhere, such as writing this ad copy for a pair of MP3 sunglasses:

OAKLEY THUMP is science wrapped in art. Never before has 3-D CAD/CAM engineering created such a unique, technically advanced eyewear sculpture that defines a new generation of style.

Quick Reviews

Wolverine; Madrox; Fantastic Four; Daredevil; Ultimate Nightmare

Wolverine #19
by Greg Rucka, Darick Robertson & Tom Palmer
The "Last Rites" story, and Rucka's tenure on the title, come to a close. It's an obvious ending given the title of the arc, but it came from a different angle than one might expect. This story has had much more in common with an issue of Queen and Country than a typical Wovlerine story. Robertson and Palmer will be missed as well, as they are able to effectively render both the wild action and the more quiet moments.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Madrox #1
by Peter David, Pablo Raimondi & Drew Hennessy
Now this is how you do a first issue. I fondly remember Madrox, Rahne & guido from their days in David's X-Factor but couldn't really tell you anything about what they've been up to since then. Nor do I have much of a clue as to the whole Mutantown set-up. No matter, as David packs the issue with explanations but also gives us a lot of story and a bit of action to go with it. Madrox's powers make him much more effective as a private eye than as some sort of super-hero, and the uses that he makes out of his ability to split off and rejoin with duplicates makes total sense. Guido & Rahne seem well suited to their roles as Madrox's muscle and gal friday. Don't wait for the trade on this--it'll be worth getting each issue as it comes out.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)


Fantasic Four #518
by Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo & Karl Kesel
Forget the 'Disassembled' on the cover--this really has nothing to do with Bendis's Avengers revamp. Instead, it's a prelude to the upcoming Galactus arc. Waid 'gets' the Fantastic Four in a way that few writers seem to; even in the face of overwhelming odds, they're seasoned adventurers and are confident in their ability to overcome the obstacles, a mind set that Waid uses to great effect. The art seems a bit off and not quite up to Wieringo's typical standards--I suspect in part due to the fact that drawing ugly alien creatures is not one of his strong points--and the colring seems off as well.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Daredevil #64/444
by Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev
"The Widow" comes to an end, and it has been most satisfying. Women tend to come into Matt Murdoch's life at just the wrong time, and Natasha's appearance definitely interferes with his attempts to reconcile with Milla. This drama combines wwell with the tidy little espionage plot, and at four issues doesn't feel drawn-out. Let's hope that Bendis and Maleev stay on Daredevil for a good long time.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)


Ultimate Nightmare #2
by Warren Ellis, Trevor Hairsine, Nelson DeCastro & Simon Coleby
I've decided that after this, I'm not buying any Ultimate Marvel miniseries in floppy form. Two issues into what is most likely "Ultimate Galactus" and it's been all set-up so far. This is obviously being written for the trade, so that's how it should be bought and read. It's good so far, but I really should have heeded my instincts and waited.
Rating: 3 (of 5)