Quick DC Super-Hero GN Reviews

Superman/Aliens 2: God War
by Chuck Dixon, Jon Bogdanove & Kevin Nowlan
The story is a fairly simple premise: After a spacehip infested with Aliens crashes on Apokolips, Darkseid allows an army of parademons wo be infected and then sends the army to New Genesis. Superman just happens to be visiting New Genesis at the time, and he joins with the New Gods to fight off both the hordes of Apokolips and the Alien menace. In fact, despite Superman's name in the title, this is much more of a New Gods story with Superman along for the ride. I've never been a huge fan of Bogdanove's, but this is some of the best art I've ever seen from him, as he and Nowlan manage to evoke a Kirby-esque look without being a blatant pastiche.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Batgirl: Year One
by Scott Beatty & Chuck Dixon, Marcos Martin & Alvaro Lopez
Beatty & Dixon turn in a decent story that attempts to bring together the disparate parts of Barbara Gordon's origin as Batgirl to bring it in harmony with the current Batman mythos while also including some winking forebits towards her later Oracle & Birds of Prey days. Barbara is presented as young and a bit naive, and over the course of the nine issues collected here grows in her role as a fledgling crimefighter and comes to understand the seriousness of her undertaking. The real attraction with this book though is the art by Martin & Lopez, a cross between Tim Sale & Steve Rude that is stunning in the plentiful action pieces and smooth in the downtime moments. Without the contribution from the artists this would be simply another competent retelling of a super-hero origin, but with the art it becomes a compelling visual treat from some of comics brightest new talent.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

Review Policy for Submitted Materials

Generally I review things that I buy, or get from the library, or borrow from a friend. There seems to be plenty of material around, though I only write reviews when I feel that I have something to say.

Recently I've been contacted by publishers and an individual creator or two who are interested in sending me comics to review. Which is kind of cool. But I figure I should have some sort of policy for accepting review materials. So here it is (subject to change of course if things turn out to be unworkable):

• I will generally accept just about anything for review. I have a pretty wide range of tastes in comics, but please look at the sorts of things that I've reviewed in the past to get a feel of what those tastes are.
  
  
• Please contact me first before sending review materials.
  
  
• I will try to write at least a quick review for everything sent to me. I will write a longer review if I feel I have more to say.
  
  
• I will apply the same standards to submitted comics as I do to my normal reviews; note the ratings system that appears over in the sidebar of every page.
  
  
• I will note in the review that I was provided with a review copy.
  
  
• I have a huge backlog of stuff to read, so I may not get to your material right away.
  
  
• I prefer reading comics in print (I spend enough hours at work staring at a computer screen!) I will still consider reviewing electronic copies, but won't guarantee.
  
  
• I will donate review copies of materials I receive either to the academic collection at my library or to the local public library (depending on where it is most appropriate). If neither library wants it, I'll pass it on in some other way.
  
  

I hope that the above seems sensible, and that it will be workable. We shall see...

New This Week: February 16, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:

The pick of the week is either JLA Classified #4, which features the start of Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire/Rubinstein's "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League," or Promethea #32, the final issue of Alan Moore's opus. Depends on whether you're in the mood for silly or serious. Me? I'll get both!


In other comics:

Antarctic has Ben Dunn's Heaven Sent #7.

Three of Dark Horse's new Sin City Editions hit the shelves, all at the same time. Volumes 1, 3 & 4--what happened to vol. 2? (It's a reprint volume, so how come it's late?)

Green Lantern: Rebirth #4 arrives a month late. DC also has new issues of Birds of Prey (#79), Ex Machina (#8), Human Target (#19), Lucifer (#59), Manhunter (#7), Ocean (#4), and Tom Strong (#31 -- written by Michael Moorcock!)

Dork Storm has a new Dork Tower (#30).

Image has a new issue of Noble Causes (#7).

Speaking of late comics, Marvel finally releases Astonishing X-Men #8.There's also the debuts of the second Runaways series and Adam Warren's Livewires, plus new issues of Daredevil (#70) & She-Hulk (#12).

Oni has two debuts: Andi Watson's Little Star and a second series for Queen & Country: Declassified.

Seven Seas has its inaugural offering, Blade for Barter.

And there's tons of new manga volumes from AD Vision and TokyoPop, but sadly nothing much of interest to me.

Quick Comic Reviews

Cryptozoo Crew #1
by Allan Gross & Jerry Carr
Do you remember fondly the days when the first issue of a new comic would set up the premise while telling a complete story, and still have enough room for a complete eight-page back-up story? If so, then you'll appreciate this first issue, which introduces us to Tork Darwyn, Cryptozoologist, and Tara Darwyn, his long-suffering and slightly-more-capable wife, as they head off to the Congo in search of a living dinosaur. It's a fun, lighthearted tale by Gross, and Carr brings a thick-lined yet open syle that fits the story's sense of fun and adventure. Oh, and that back-up story I mentiond?: Monkeys!
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Majestic #2
by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, Neil Googe & Trevor Scott
Now this is what I want to read Majestic for. Now that Superman and co. are gone, Abnett & Lanning finally get to the core of what a comic named Majestic should be: big. Majestic has spent four months in space tracking the giant alien spaceship that has kidnapped all life on Earth, and he's not giving up until he's stopped it. The art by Googe & Scott is big as well, perfectly illustrating the size and scope of the events. The only drawback is that the story is moving a bit slow (but that's not surprising in these decompressed days). If they turn out more efforts like this, Majestic will be worth sticking around for.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


Vimanarama #1
by Grant Morrison & Philip Bond.
First off, Vimanarama gets props for being the only comic I've read, well, ever, that opens with a big production dance number. And it gets better from there. Young Ali is all nervous about meeting his arranged bride, but they get sucked into a mysterious underworld of Indian legend and a 60-centuries-old battle of good vs. evil. It's full of danger, awe, and humor, all pulled off wonderfully by Bond and colorist Brian Miller. If the next two issues are as good as this first, Morrison will have another in a string of great 21st century comics to his credit.
Rating: 4 (of 5)

JimO Takes Over NPR

GT Labs head honcho Jim Ottaviani made two appearances on NPR in recent days.

In this weekend's On the Media, Jim's letter about OTM's Stan Lee story was read. You can hear it at about 34 minutes into the program. (I wrote a letter too, but Jim's was better!)

Then on Morning Edition this morning, Jim was featured along with Jay Hosler in a feature story about comics and science.

100 Things I Love About Comics

Fred Hembeck started it, Alan David Doane continued it, then Mike Sterling called us all out to put together our own lists of 100 Things I Love About Comics for Valentine's Day. So here it is, my Valentine to the comics industry:


1 Acme Novelty Library
2 The Adventures of Luther Arkwright
3 Akiko
4 All-Star Squadron
5 Amy Unbounded
6 Ariel Schrag
7 Barry Ween
8 Beppo the Supermonkey
9 The Brotherhood of Dada
10 Bruno
11 Buck Godot
12 Calvin & Hobbes
13 Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew
14 Cary Bates' Captain Atom
15 The Comics Blog-o-Sphere
16 Comics in Libraries
17 The Complete Peanuts
18 Concrete
19 Courtney Crumrin
20 "The Coyote Gospel"
21 Curt Swan
22 Dean Motter
23 Dial 'H' for H-E-R-O
24 Doctor Fate
25 Earth 2
26 Elliott S! Maggin's Superman novels
27 The Far Side
28 Finder
29 Frank Miller
30 Fred Perry
31 George Perez
32 Global Frequency
33 Gon
34 Gotham Central
35 The Grand Comics Database
36 "The Great Cow Race"
37 The Green Lantern Corps
38 Hisao Tamaki's Star Wars adaptation
39 Hoppy the Marvel Bunny
40 Imaginary Stories
41 Jack Kirby's Fourth World
42 "Jaka's Story"
43 Jason Lutes
44 Jessica Abel
45 Jill Thompson
46 Jim Woodring's Frank
47 Joe Kubert
48 John Constantine
49 Josie and The Pussycats
50 Kabuki
51 Kitty Pride
52 Kyle Baker
53 Larry Gonick
54 The last page of Thunderbolts #1
55 The Legion of Substitute-Heroes
56 Little White Mouse
57 Lone Wolf & Cub
58 Maison Ikkoku
59 Matt Feazell
60 Matt Howarth
61 Miracleman
62 Monkey Covers
63 Mutts
64 Neil Gaiman
65 Oracle
66 Osamu Tezuka
67 P. Craig Russell
68 Pam Bliss
69 Paradox Press's Big Books
70 Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen's Legion of Super-Heroes
71 Power Pack
72 Peter David on The Incredible Hulk
73 Quantum & Woody
74 Quarter Boxes
75 Queen and Country
76 Ryoichi Ikegami
77 Sergio Aragonés
78 Snapper Carr
79 Star Wars #49 ("The Last Jedi")
80 Starro the Star Conqueror
81 Steve Rude
82 StrangeHaven
83 Strangers in Paradise
84 Stray Bullets
85 The Superfriends vs. The Legion of Doom
86 Superman
87 Superman: The Movie
88 Tales of the Beanworld
89 Tesla Strong
90 That Alan Moore "realised that Dave Gibbons was prepared to draw whatever absurd amount of detail you should ask for, however ludicrous and impractical."
91 Thieves & Kings
92 Tiempos Finales
93 Transmetropolitan
94 200 Pages of manga for $10
95 Ultimate Spider-Man
96 Uzumaki
97 We3
98 Will Eisner
99 Annataz
100 Zot!


Of course, this is limited to only 100 things, and I'm sure I would put together a different list on any other given day. So just because you're not on here, it doesn't mean that I don't love you.

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover.

1955's Tarzan #65 features Tarzan and his little monkey friend N'kima as they wait out a rainstorm in a cave, in a painted cover by Moe Gollub & George Wilson.

Image is courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

"Once More with Starships"

It has nothing to do with comics per se, but this is one of the funniest things I've read online in a while:

"Once More with Starships" aka "Star Trek II: The Musical"

(Your milage may vary, depending on your levels of Buffy & Star Trek geekitude...)

(Edit: link fixed! sorry about that!)

Previews-o-Rama part 2: The Middle

It's time to go through the latest Previews to discover the good, the bad, and the strange:


I remember many years ago reading from Dave Sim that there were two groups of Cerebus readers: the Aardvark Comments Rocks people and the Aardvark Comments Sucks people. If you're one of the former, you're likely to find Aardvark-Vanaheim's 580 page Dave Sim Collected Letters 2004 to be of interest. If you're like me, you'll stay far, far away...

About Comics has 24 Hour Comics All-Stars, which is not a comic featureing Jack Bauer, but rather a collection of stories from 24 Hour Comics Day with stories by people like Paul Smith, Sean McKeever, Scott McCloud, and Dave Sim.

ADV Films has Ray 2, a medical manga from Akihito Yoshifumi.

AiT/PlanetLAR brings us The Tourist, a graphic novel from Brian Wood & Toby Cypress that has oil rigs and AWOL special forces soldiers.

Aeon has Matt Howarth's Bugtown #5; Airship has Phil & Kaja Foglio's Girl Genius #14. Both are worthy of your comic dollars.

Arcana has a collection of 100 Girls.

New publisher Alias Enterprises debuts several titles at just 75 cents this month: Deal with the Devil; Killer Stunts, Inc.; Elsinore; and Lethal Enforcer. Worth a try for that price, I'd think. They're also the new home of The 10th Muse and Pakkins' Land, and have a couple of original graphic novellas as well: David's Mighty Men and Soulcatcher. I wish them well and all, but maybe it would have been smarter to not roll out so much new product in their firth month...

Fred Perry takes over for a three issue stint with Ninja High School #127 (with Ben Dunn returning for issue #130).

Bloody Mary Comics has Tales of Bloody Mary #1, which looks like a Lady Death Rip-Off. This of course begs the question of why would anyone want to rip off Lady Death?

Dynamite Entertainment debuts a new Red Sonja series with a 25 cent Zero issue. Mike Carey & Michael Avon Oeming are involved, so it might actually be halfway decent.

Del Rey debuts two new manga titles: Genshiken, with high school otaku in love; and Nodame Cantabile, with teenage muscicians in love. Both look like they could be worthwhile.

Drawn & Quarterly has a hardcover collection from Joe Sacco: War's End: Profiles from Boasnia 1995-96.

I expect at some point there will be an article in a medical journal about an emergency room doctor who has to remove the Dynamic Forces Wanted: Wesley Stature from someone's anal cavity...

Nietzsche! Plato! Bodhidharma! They're the Action Philosophers, and Evil Twin Comics has them, in a Xeric Grant winning comics from Fred Van Lente & Ryan Dunlavey.

Fantagraphics debuts Bete Noir, their new anthology series. They also have Seeing Things, a new Jim Woodring collection; and the third Complete Peanuts volume.

iBooks has a new Blacksaad volume, which is sure to have stunning art from Juanjo Guarnido. Really, this is one of the best looking comics being published.

iBooks also has a collection of Neil Gaiman's Lady Justice, which should bring back fond memories of those halcyon Tekno-Comix days.

Another old First Comics property finds its way to IDW, as Mike Grell has a new Jon Sable series and there's a first volume of a Jon Sable, Freelance collection. Plus there's a second Grimjack collection too.

Kandora debuts their second title, Jade Fire, by the same creative team (Brian Augustyn & H. S. Park) as Barbarossa. I'm sure that Augustyn can write a couple of books a month, but I worry about the schedule if the same artist is to be drowing two extra-length titles monthly...

Oni collects both Sam Kieth's Ojo and Chynna Clugston's (she's dropped the -Major?) Blue Monday: Painted Moon.

Origin has a second issue of Damon Hurd & Rick Smith's Temporary; I was kind of split on the first issue, but I liked it enough to give it another try.

Top Shelf has a new bughouse volume, Scalawag from Steve Lafler.

Vertical is releasing an inexpensive ($8) paperback of the first volume of Osamu Tezuka's Buddha, so now there's really no excuse to not buy it.

TokyoPop debuts another 'American Manga' title, Mike Schwark & Ron Kaulfersh's Van Von Hunter.

Viz debuts the potentially interesting 20th Century Boys, which has a thirty-something slacker who gets caught up in strange cults and conspiracies.


Well, that wraps up another trip through Previews. I hope that you find something that appeals to you.

Previews-o-Rama part 1: The Front

It's time to go through the latest Previews to discover the good, the bad, and the strange:


Dark Horse

If you want to have the final Star Wars movie spoiled before you see it, you can get the weekly four-part Revenge of the Sith adaptation in April.

There's a Vampire Hunter D novel. Considering what utter crap the movie was, I can't imagine sloughing through a 300 page prose version.

A new volume of Trina Robbins & Anne Timmons' Go Girl! Yay!

P. Craig Russell is doing a Conan and the Jewels of Gwahlur mini. I'll wait for the trade, like I do with most Dark Horse offerings these days.

Speaking of which, Steve Rude's The Moth has a trade collection this month. The stories were hit-or-miss, butwith always nice art from The Dude.

I don't ever remember hearing anything about a first volume of Dare Detectives, but apparently there's a volume two. Looks interesting.

The late Will Eisner has a story in The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, with The Spirit teaming up with the title character. Other creators in the anthology include Howard Chaykin, Eddie Campbell, & Paul Hornschemeier.

The Dark Horse Book of the Dead features an all-new Hellboy story from Mike Mignola, plus work by Jill Thompson, Kelley Jones, Eric Powell & Gary Gianni.

Woo-Hoo, a $30 Sin City Zippo Lighter. (That's sarcasm, folks.)

If you missed any of Dark Horse's recent miniseries, they have convenient Comic Book Packs, with all of the issues at a cost of $2 per issue.


DC Comics

Nightwing on crutches. Bruce Wayne in a wheelchair in the Batman: Blind Justice collection. Is this the lead-up to an exciting cross-over event that will change physical therapists in the Batman Titles forever?

The Batman: Jekyll & Hyde has Jae Lee art, so I'll wait for the trade so that I won't have to have the story interupted by adds for dumb-ass video games every two pages.

It's Captain Marvel vs. Superman, with a mysterious 'great evil' awakened in Metropolis. Gee, given that big blue tattoo on Supes's face on the covers, do you think it might be Eclipso?

Ed McGuinness returns to the art chores on Superman/Batman.

Adam Strange comes to an end with issue #8, which is about 3 issues too late. This could have/should have been done in about 5.

Wildcat shows up in Birds of Prey, which should make some people happy.

Two new minis spin out of DC Countdown: Day of Vengeance and The OMAC Project. I'm a sucker for continuity-spanning series like this. IS there a twelve-step program somewhere?

Solo #4 is all about Howard Chaykin, who seems to be popping up a lot these days.

Two new Seven Soldiers minis: Klarion the Witch Boy & Zatanna (Ryan Sook rules!). I take it then that these are all going to be bi-monthly? Should help keep them on schedule, I suppose, but could kill any momentum.

The Question is cover-featured in Justice League Unlimited.

The OGN ElfQuest: The Searcher and the Sword gets a soft-cover treatment.

So far I've been mostly uninterested in the CMX offerings, and the new Tenryu: The Dragon Cycle is no exception.

The Fourth Power, space opera from Humanoids, looks promising.

Howard Chaykin's (him again!) new mini City of Tomorrow is another wait-for-the-trade, something I'm trying to do more of these days.

2000 AD's Thirteen is written by Mike Carey.

Ocean and Wild Girl both reach a conclusion.

Kent Williams adapts Darren Aronofsky's upcoming movie The Fountain; it's $30, which is probably more than the DVD will end up costing.

Vertigo: First Taste, a sampler of Vertigo's GN offerings, is just $5; thorugh DCBS, it's only $2.50. At that price, you could afford to buy several and give them to friends.

Have you ever said to yourself: "Gee, I have $90 in my pocket, and I'd love to have an 8.25" tall statue of the Joker from the new Batman cartoon"? Then August 3 is your lucky day, chum! (But if you only have $60, you'll have to settle for the Alex Ross Green Lantern & Green Arrow Colelctor's Plate.)


Image

Frank Cho does Zombies with Zombie King. I wonder if he'll have to cover up zombie nipples?

Death Jr. looks like it could be fun (unless you think that goth comics suck, that is).

Invincible #0 is only 50 cents--buy two, they're small!

Both The Gray Area and Ultra get collected, and there's a third Walking Dead collection too.

What the heck is Terry Moore doing writing a Darkness/Vampirella one-shot?

The Rising Stars Hardcover collects the entire series--all 624 pages worth. I ordinarilly wouldn't consider such an expensive item, especialyl considering that I read it in floppies, but DCBS is offering it at half-off (i.e. $35), which is looking awfulyl tempting...


Marvel

What's up with the Marvel solicit-copy guy this month? He's relatively laid-back this month, but he's now all about the questions:

Who's that hitting on Mary Jane?
Will Alex be able to sneak out for a romantic evening?
Will either survive this epic encounter?
Will they make it through meeting Ultimate Annihilus and his fellow survivors?
Can even the greatest super team on Earth take down a Norse thunder god?
Is Johnny her new red-hot lover, or a cat's-paw for her latest heist?
Exactly how much was Matt Murdock willing to sacrifice in his obsession to clean up Hell's Kitchen?
Can Ismael overcome his fears and do what's right?
What's scarier than a high-profile super hero turned deathcult assassin?
How will Reed, Sue, and Ben escape from Ancient Egypt to stop the mad tyrant Ramades in the present?
What could be worse than a dozen hungry raptors? *
What better way to pump up his Q-rating than to relive his defining moment?
Who killed the Red Skull?
Do these young heroes intend to help the Runaways, or destroy them?
Can they save the day?
Will the combined might of the Earth's two greatest super hero families be enough to save Manhattan--and the world--from total annihilation?
Will the growing threat froma classic Avengers foe unite the two teams or destroy them both?
What separates the super-villains from just plain villains? **
Will the helping hand be in time?
Are the X-Men prepared to face what's inside them... or will they be defeated by their own inner demons?
Are they now foes?
Who are the Timebreakers?
What will be the final fate of the AoA universe?
Is she the only one behind their problems?
Is it too late to stop the demon-lord Ryuki and his hoard of zombie-samurai and save Japan?

Wow, that's a lot of questions to be answered in just one month's comics!

In the meanwhile, you can get and read the first two issues of the new manga-tinged Power Pack mini, or the second She-Hulk collection.


Wizard

Ooo, Phil Noto is drawing The New West--I must have the pretty pictures!


That's it for part 1. Part 2 tomorrow (probably...)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

* Maybe a high-profile super hero deathcult assassin?

** I'm guessing maybe the 'super-' part?

A Numbers Game

I worry these days for the direct market, especially for the survival of independent comics. Because when I do the math, it doesn't add up.

Follow me here, in my admitedly poorly-thought-out argument:

(I may be mistaken in some of my assumptions, but I think I'm close; and I'm rounding-off to make the math easier.)

The are approximately 3000 Diamond accounts (though probably not all of these are actual comic stores).

I've also heard it said (I forget where, but I've heard it more than once) that the magic circulation number for a black-and-white, standard-sized, self-published comic is 3000 copies; that is, if the comic sells over 3000, a decent-enough profit is realized that the creator(s) can continue the comic.

That would mean that each comic store would need to purchase, on average, 1 copy of a title for it to survive. Which doesn't seem to be that unobtainable; the problem is that there are just too many items in each issue of Previews for any store to buy one of everything on the chance that it might sell.

But wait, it gets worse. Because in truth, only about 10% of the comic stores order with any sort of significance past the premier publishers. This means that each of these stores would have to purchase an average of 10 copies of each of these titles for them to survive, which is even more unlikely.

Now I'm not some sort of polyanna who thinks that all comics deserve to survive; this is a marketplace after all, and bad comics (or those that just aren't wanted) should die off, so that their place in the comics ecosystem can be taken over by comics more likely to survive. But in the current market, the odds of anything surviving are just brutal, and perfectly good comics wither and die.

There are other markets of course, such as the emerging bookstore market. But that's a much harder market to break into than the direct market, especially for an indy creator.

I really have no solutions here, or much of a point for that matter. I'm just making an observation, and welcome your observations on this topic as well.

Ryan Sook Rules

I've always liked Ryan Sook's art, but by the look of this preview of the new Zatanna mini he's taking his mad skills up to the next level. Great looking stuff. In fact, it looks so good in black and white, I think I might prefer it if they don't color it in.

(From DC's Seven Soldiers mini-site, found via Thought Balloons.)

Quick Manga GN Reviews

Eerie Queerie! vol. 1
by Shuri Shiozu
Mitsuo is a typical high school boy with an a typical 'gift': he can communicate with the spirits of the restless dead, and said spirits are able to possess his body and use it to communicate with the living. Of course, seeing that he's in high school, he ends up most often being possessed by the spirits of departed high school girls who use his person to confess their unrequited love for hunky boys. Thus the set-up for this bishonen manga, with the typical pretty boys who may or may not be gay but certainly have strong friendships and act the way that girls apparently want boys to act. Eerie Queerie! seems to be a cut above the typical though, in that it has a central plot that could allow the stories to be interesting beyond standard bishonen clichés. Shiozu's art is dynamic, though accasionally to the detriment of clear storytelling. There are two back-up stories by Shiozu in this first volume, one of which--wherein a high school girl worries that her twin brother may be gay like their father--is actually a rather strong offering.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Ai Yori Aoshi, vol. 3
by Kou Fumizuki
In the previous volume, Fumizuki set up the status quo for the continuing series, and nothing much changes here. Taeko is still clumsy, Tina is still Brash, Aoi is still the dutiful traditional Japanese woman, and Kaoru is still, well, boring. In fact, both Kaoru and Aoi are so boring that you kind o fget the feeling that they belong together. One direction to take the series would be for Aoi to gradually wake up to the fact that a modern woman doesn't need to be constantly wanting to pelase her man--that she can have her own life. But instead Fumizuki appears to be going the opposite way, with the infinitely more interesting Tina admiting that she secretly wishes sometimes that she could be more like the boring Aoi! Gagh! So why do I continue to read this series? Simply put, Fumizuki's artwork is incredible. Especially his setting shots, background and architecture, which really succeed in giving the stories a feeling of happening in a real space. If only the love story weren't so dull.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


DearS, vol. 1
by Peach-Pit
Aliens have come to Earth (actually, just to Japan), they're now living among us, and they look like freakish Michael Turner women (i.e. all legs and chest) with big eyes and small mouthes! That is, unless they're being drawn in a crude six-year-old style. Our main character here is (of course) a llonely high school boy, who has one of these alien females show up one day, kiss him and move in. But she cannot speak Japanese, and appears to be a bit addled, spending most of the time in skimpy clothing and contorting her body into odd positions so as to show off the maximum amount of flesh. I made it about halfway through this volume before giving up; there are too many other things to read to spend any more time on this poorly-drawn, insulting comic. But given the amount of totally gratuitous fan service, including a busty teacher who has a tendency to strip down to her underwear for no reason, I imagine that it will be quite popular.
Rating: 1 (of 5)

New This Week: February 9, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:

The Pick of the Week is the first issue of Grant Morrison & Philip Bond's Vinanarama (from DC/Vertigo). It's more high-concept from Morrison, in the comic equivalent of a Bollywood romantic comedy. Plus, with 32 pages of story and art, there's surely no better use for your $2.95 this week. Surely after We3 Morrison has earned the right for you to give this next project of his a look-see.

In other comics:

Beckett has the fourth issue of the domestic super-hero yarn Fade from Grace. C'mon man, it's only $1.99 for a full-length, full-color comic. And it's good, too. Those of you complaining that comics should be cheaper should put your money where your typing-fingers are.

Burlyman has the second issue of Doc Frankenstein.

Dark Horse has the collection of BPRD: Plague of Frogs, which was the first of the Hellboy/BPRD products that really grabbed me, other than just being mildly entertaining. (This would have been the Pick of the Week, if not for Vinanarama.)

DC has Brubaker & Mahnke's Joker Year One-style one-shot, Batman: The Man Who Laughs, along with new issues of Fables (#34), Gotham Central (#28), JLA (#111), and JSA (#70). There are also a softcovers of Steven T. Seagle's It's a Bird GN and the third Tom Strong collection, and the seventh collected volume of Lucifer.

Drawn & Quarterly has the eleventh issue of the much-delayed-but-still-worth-reading Berlin by Jason Lutes.

Marvel double's your Cap pleasure with the third issue of Brubaker & Epting's Captain America and the final issue of Captain America & The Falcon (#12). They also have the second issue of Peter David's return to the Incredible Hulk (#78); new issues of New Thunderbolts (#5), The Punisher (#17), and Ultimates 2 (#3); and the debut of the comic which nobody demanded, Young Avengers.

Oni has the final issue of Sam Kieth's Ojo (#5).


Finally, if you have two hundred bucks to blow on the Constantine Movie Statue: Keanu Reeves As Constantine, you need to just knock it off. Seriously, is this the sort of thing that anyone is interested in?

Why I Love Free Comic Book Day

Dude: Free Comics!

Really, anyone who complains about FCBD is just a whiny cry-baby. It may not be perfect, but it's better than nothing. And so what if you can't get all the free comics you want--if there wasn't a Free Comic Book Day, you wouldn't get those comics anyway, right?

What I like most about FCBD is that it promotes comics for reading, and not as artifacts to be sealed up in mylar or 'slabbed'.

But what I'd really like to see is for Diamond to make the free comics available to anyone willing to pay, not just comic shops. Viral marketing, dude! Let comic fans buy lots of FCBD comics and then distribute them in barber shops, movie theaters, bus terminals, libraries, supermarkets, high schools, etc.

Retailers: Talk to your major customers, and see if they'd be willing to help out in a viral marketing campaign.

Publishers: You can bypass Diamond and go directly to the people! Use your Website to offer lots of 10 or 25 or 100 (or whatever) of your FCBD offering to fans who want to help spread the word.

The goal here is to get people interested in comics. Let's not be half-assed about it--let's go nuts!

Because dude: Free Comics Rule!

Why I Hate Free Comic Book Day

Saturday May 7 is Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) this year, and across the country comic specialy retailers will be giving away free comic books. It's a program designed to promote comic books by giving away special free editions to customers, presumably those people who don't regularly buy comics. How could anyone have a problem with that?

It's not the basic concept of FCBD that I have a problem with. Giving away comics as a promotional tool is, at its core, not a terrible idea. I don't think it's been very effective--it's been running for a few years now, and I haven't seen any sign that any significant number of new customers have been pulled in to comic shops. (Most of the growth in the comic publishing sector has been in bookstores who don't participate in FCBD.)

No, the problem I have with FCBD is the way that it is run in practice. You see, despite its name, the comics aren't really free, at least to the comic shops. The stores are required to purchase the comics that they give away (at a discount, mind you, but they still cost money).

Now a more enlightened comic store (and there are some out there!) will see FCBD as an opportunity to have a variety of different comics available to give away, both to bring new customers into the store, and to interest current customers in new comics they might not have tried before. There are after all 27 different publishers participating, with free comics from all sorts of different artists in many different genres. However, most stores, if they participate at all (my LCS didn't last year) will order comics for FCBD the same way that they order comics regularly, i.e. out of the front of the catalog. They'll get a limited number of the offerings from DC & Marvel, and maybe Dark Horse. They'll put them out on a table on May 7 with a ltitle sign, maybe with a sign in the store window; some of their regualr customers will wander in and pick one up, and that'll be it. Hardly a smashing success.

But my point here isn't to rip on bad comic stores. No, the reason I've really grown to dislike FCBD is the way in which some publishers approach it. Some of the publishers offer special FCBD editions with brand new stories not available anywhere else. And if your LCS either doesn't participate in FCBD or only gets the comics from DC & Marvel--a very likely scenario--well then, you're out of luck.

Renaissance Press has a special Amelia Rules #0 FCBD Edition, with an all-new story about the first meeting of the cast. Amelia Rules is one of my favorite comics, but if my retailer doesn't participate in FCBD or order Amelia Rules #0, I'm out of luck.

Top Shelf has the Owly Splashin Around FCBD Edition, with an "all-new, heartwarming tale". I haven't read Owly but I've heard good things about it. It would be the perfect opportunity to get me to try it, but if my retailer doesn't participate, then no dice.

Aracana Studios Presents #2 FCBD Edition has 3 all-new stories. But guess what? Sorry Charlie.

Dark Horse's Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith FCBD Edition offers a special prequel to the movie, but even if you're a huge Star Wars fan, you won't get to read this story unless your retailer participates.

Gemestone's Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge FCBD Edition reprints Carl Barks' first full-length Uncle Scrooge adventure, something I'd really like a chace to read. But sorry, no can do.

The worst offender is Beckett Comics. Last year they offered the first issue of The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty as their FCBD offering. Not a reprint of the first issue, the actual first issue. The only way to get the first issue of The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty was if your LCS orders copies of the FCBD edition. As I mentioned earlier, my LCS didn't participate in FCBD at all, and thus no copies of The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty #1 were available for customers. Amazingly, LCS ordered several copies of the regularly priced second issue, and unsurpringly they all sat on the shelf unpurchased. This year Beckett is doing it again, with the first issue of Ronin Hood of 47 Samurai--apparently they didn't learn their lesson the first time around.

That all said, there are some publishers approaching FCBD correctly. DC & Marvel are both offering reprints of first issues of their all-ages super-hero titles (Batman Strikes & Marvel Age Spider-Man Team-Up respectively). Bongo Comics has a sampler edition reprinting stories from their Simpsons family of titles. Image is reprinting selected stories from the Flight anthologies. G.T. Labs's offering showcases the frist 20-odd pages of the upcoming Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards graphic novel. These publishers are offering either reprints of previously published material or previews of forthcoming material. So you're not at the mercy of your LCS--there are other avenues available for you to read and enjoy these stories.

Frankly, I'd be perfectly happy to see FCBD go away. It was a good idea, at least for something to try, but it doesn't really seem to be working, and in some instances serves to alienate existing fans and customers. But if we're going to continue with FCBD in the future, I'd like to offer the following suggestions:

Publishers: Enough with the special FCBD editions with stories not available anywhere else--it only serves to alienate your existing clientele. Instead, reprint material you already have on hand, or showcase material from an upcoming project. Your target audience, people who don't read your comics, haven't seen this material yet (by defintion!) And heck, after FCBD is over, why not put your free comics online for people to read? That'll surely reach more potential readers than a few pamphlets scattered about a few comic shops.

Retailers: Think outside the box. Don't just order those FCBD titles that appeal to your existing customers. If the non-customers in your community were interested in super-hero comics, they would have found you already. Use the oppornity to get cheap editions of comics maybe you don't ordinarily get, and promote the diversity of comics to both your existing and potential customers. (And then be sure to have the regaular merchandise avaiable, so that mother of the kid who liked the free Owly can come back and purchase the Owly GN!)

As for me? Heck, I'd be willing to pay for some of those FCBD editions; but as an individual consumer, that's not an option for me. So I'll be sitting at home on May 7, thinking about all those wonderful free comics that I'll never have a chance to read.

Quick Oni GN Reviews

Too Much Hopeless Savages
by Jen Van Meter, Christine Norrie, Ross Campbell, & Chynna Clugston-Major
I really enjoyed the first two Hopeless Savages volumes, but this third is something of a disappointment. Part of the fun of following the punk rock Hopeless-Savage clan is seeing them intereact with the normal world, an aspect that made the second volume particularly fun. But this third story finds the family jetting off to Hong Kong for an action-chase-heist story which never really succeeds in coming together. Not helping matters is the art, which is all over the place. Oh, it's pretty good to start, with Norrie handling most of the story and newcomer Campbell doing a fine job with the flashbacks. But with the third chapter Norrie works over Clugston-Major's layouts, causing a stylistic shift, and then in the final chapter Campbell does the main story over Norrie's breakdowns, with a style that is much weaker than the one he uses in the flashback sequences. So the title may seem to be slightly prophetic, but I hope not; I'd like to see the Hopeless-Savages return soon, back to their previous top form.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Jason and the Argobots, vol. 1: Birthquake
by J. Torres & Mike Norton
In an indeterminate future world, young Jason finds a giant robot burried in the desert, just in time to use it to stop a prison break by meta-powed criminals. There's really nothing new here, but the story is clearly told, the characters are interesting, and the action is exciting. Norton's cartoonish art fits the story perfectly; in different hand the story could seem ponderous, but Norton keeps it light and flowing. It all makes for a fun, if a bit quick, read.
Rating: 3 (of 5)

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover.

1962's Dell Four Color #1313 is a photo cover featuring Disney's Moon Pilot. The copy reads: "...a Moon-bound astronaut meets a girl from outer space," but all I see is a chimpanzee...

(standard disclaimer about chimps not really being monkeys applies)

Image is courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

On the Media on Comics

NPR's On the Media this weekend has three stories in its closing segments about comics:

"Strip Down?" is about the recent supposed resurgence of new comics strips, such as Pearls Before Swine, Rhymes with Orange, and Boondocks.

"Men of Tomorrow" is an interview with Gerard Jones (author of Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book) about the creation of Superman.

"The Thing’s Jewish Mother" is a repeat segment from a couple of years ago, with a new introduction realting to Stan Lee's recent court victory.

All three segments can be heard with Real Audio, MP3, or PodCast here.

Lee TV

I didn't watch the 60 Minutes piece on Stan Lee last night--I had completely forgotten it was on and the TiVo was busy recording a poorly-thought-out-and-executed episode of Smallville--but according to Mark Evanier I didn't miss much. It seems that the folks at CBS News are guilty of either shoddy or negligent reporting regarding Stan the Man's status as a Marvel creator. In most of Lee's recent appearances he's mentioned Kirby and Ditko as his co-creators/artists (whether he gives them enough credit is open to discussion...) so I would find it very odd that he wouldn't mention them during the interviews for this 60 Minutes segment as well. That would mean that 60 Minutes consciously left that part out so as to make for a better 'story'. Never let truth get in the way of a good story I guess, even if you purport to be a news program.

Edit: Tom Spurgeon also has interesting things to say.

Viz Second Editions

Back in the days when manga collections were larger, more expensive ($15 - $17) and flipped, I purchased the complete run of one of my favorites, Rumiko Takahashi's Maison Ikkoku.

When Viz started to re-released some of their older titles in smaller, less expensive and unflipped editions, I assumed that the contents were the same between the two editions. However, according to this page on Gilles Poitras's site, this is not the case. In particular, there seem to be four stories in the first volume of the second edition that were not in the first edition at all. With that being the case and the fact that the new editions are more normalized in their page counts, the old and new editions don't seem to correspond at all. I wonder if this is true of all of Viz's rereleases? If so, this would seem to be a detriment to those who may only have a partial run of the old collections, but doesnt not want to go back and repurchase everything. (I also note that many of the old editions are still available via Amazon, which is sure to confuse people...)

New This Week: February 2, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:

The Pick of the Week is a two-fer from IDW: the first volume of Legend of Grimjack, the first collection of Ostrander & Truman's classic eighties comic, and the first issue of Grimjack: Killer Instinct, their return to the character. Despite the fact that I was a fan of Grimjack way back when, I never read the early issues, so the collection will be a treat. And even though it's a bit overpriced, and will surely be collected, I'm getting Killer Instinct to show my support.


In other comics:

Aeon has the second issue of Matt Howarth's Bugtown

AiT/PlanetLAR has the third volume of Couriers.

Amaze Ink has a collection of Evan Dorkin's Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Adventures.

Antarctic has a new issue of Fred Perry's Gold Digger (#60).

Dark Horse has a third volume of Megatokyo and the second issue of Concrete: Human Dilema.

DC has new issues of Adam Strange (#5), Detective Comics (#803), and The Question (#4); the premiere issue of Twilight Experiment; the collection of Grant Morrison & Cameron Stewart's Disney-meets-PKD Seaguy; and the indy-esque Bizarro World hardcover.

Fantagraphics has a new Blood Orange anthology (#4).

Image has the first issues of Lions, Tigers and Bears and Mora.

Marvel has the first issue of a new Black Panther series, with sure-to-be-nifty JR, jr. art, a third collection for Runaways, new issues of Supreme Power (#15) and Ultimate Spider-Man (#72), and the first issue of Frank Cho's cover-up-the-nipples Shanna the She Devil, whose appearance during the week leading up to the Super Bowl is just too perfect to be a coincidence.

Pantheon has the reviewed-in-the-NYT Gemma Bovery GN.

Viper Comics has a collection of Daisy Kutter.

And lots and lots of manga, seeing as this is an unofficial last week of the month: ComicsOne has the tenth volume of Crayon Shichan and two new titles: Imperfect Hero and Indian Summer; Del Ray has the second volumes of both Othello and Wallflower; TokyoPop has a bazillion titles, including the final volume (?) of Planetes (oddly numbered as vol. 4 pt. 2); and Viz has a third volume of Hikaru-no Go and flipped editions of volumes of Banana Fish (vol. 6) and one of my all-time favorites, Maison Ikkoku (vol. 9).


That's a lot of comics! If you somehow end up with a few dollars left over, consider bidding on an item in the Mercury Studios benefit auction for Bill Loebs.

Best of January

In this post I'm reprinting reviews of items for which I gave a rating of 4 or better in the month of January:

Human Target, book 2: Living in America
by Peter Milligan & Cliff Chiang
In this second collection of the regular Vertigo series, Milligan continues to explore the concepts of identity and American nationality in ways both interesting and thought-provoking. The opening chapter is a story of Christopher Chance taking on the identity of a priest who has been targeted by an assassin, and while you won't be surprised by where the plot goes, it does offer an intriguing look at the nature of faith and forgiveness. The longest story in the collection is the three-part "Which Way the Wind Blows," which finds Chance entangled in a web of violence and deceit involving ex-60's radicals, modern-day anarchists, and the Feds, and introduces what may be a long-term antagonist for Chance. The book closes with another one-shot, in which Chance takes on the identity of an escaped convict who wants the chance to live free for just five days so he can live life to the fullest. Throughout the book Milligan's writing skills are at the top of their form, and the art by Chiang looks great and moves the stories forward with seeming effortlessness (though as we can see by Chiang's bonus materials, it does require a good deal of effort!) Anyone looking for intelligent action comics should give Human Target a look.
Rating: 4 (of 5)


Detective Comics #802
by David Lapham, Ramon Bachs & Nathan Massengill
Last issue saw Lapham placing his stamp on the series, giving us an overview of his vision of Gotham as a methaphorically disease infested "City of Crime" and of Batman as the immune agent. While that issue set the foundation and brushed over many stories, this second issue focuses down on one, starting with a harrowing building fire that leads to the discovery of an illegal baby ring. This is Batman as noir, with a detective fighting against a corrupt system that allows the city's sickness to fester, and slowly realizing that the problem may be even deeper than it first appeared. It's not all unrelenting darkness though, as Lapham brings in Robin, who, though named Tim Drake, seems to be more in character with a young Dick Grayson. This final scene, with Batman meeting the mother of a victim he had come to know personally, shows us a Batman who can be dark and brooding yet still human, unlike the asshole Batman that seems to be in vogue in the other Bat-titles. If you like your Batman grim and gritty, Lapham shows the proper way to do it.
Rating: 4 (of 5)


Superman: Secret Identity
by Kurt Busiek & Stuart Immonen
Chance are you've already read several glowing reviews of this story, so I'll just say that those reviews are right: this is one of the best Superman stories in many years. Inspired by a nearly two-decades old story from DC Comics Presents about the Superboy of Earth-Prime, Busiek spins the tale of a real-world Clark Kent. Young Kent is teased about his name, but is surprised when he unexpectedly develops the super powers of his namesake. But instead of going public, Clark keeps his powers a secret, even as his life follows a vaguely parallel path as that of the fictional Clark Kent. Each chapter in the story shows us Clark at a different point in his life, and we follow his attempt to live a normal life while trying to help others in secret. Art-wise, Immonen turns in one of the best outings of his career, and the realism he brings to a story about a guy with super-powers fits the story perfectly. All told, it's an uplifting story that celebrates the triumph of living a good fulfilling life.
Rating: 4 (of 5)


We3 #3
by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
It is possible at this point to heap more suprelatives on Morrison & Quitely's masterpiece? Probably not. But over the course of 96 pages, they have managed to redefine comic book action, proving that you can be exciting and thought-provoking and innovative all at the same time. Heck, just look at the way Quitely uses foreground shadows to blead into the panel borders, for instance. I predict that this comic is one that will be analyzed and dissected for years to come. I only gave the first two installments of this mini a 4 out of 5, but that was because it was an incomplete at the time. Taken together, these three issues add up to more than the sum of their parts. So a 4.5 for the tale, and I reserve to right to raise that higher at some point.
Rating: 4.5 (of 5)



Extra: I didn't post a Best of December since there was only one comic that met the criteria. So, here it is, just a month late:

Detective Comics #801
by David Lapham, Ramon Bachs & Nathan Massengill
Now this is a Batman comic! David Lapham's opening chapter of "City of Crime" just oozes with mood and atmosphere, and makes the city of Gotham a character just as important as Batman. This is a dense story, full of smaller stories which come in and out quickly--sometimes for just a panel--one of which seems insignificant at the time but comes to the fore near the end. Lapham's Batman is a part of the city, moving along the alleys and rooftops like a lone agent out to eradicate the city's sickness, even while knowing that it's an impossible task. Working over Lapham's layouts, Bachs & Massengill give us art that matches the story perfectly, and their cityscapes in particular are stunning--one really gets the sense that the story is happening in a real space. If this level of quality can be maintained throughout the next 11 issues, "City of Crime" will go down as one of the definitive Batman stories.
Rating: 4 (of 5)

Mercury Studios Auction for Bill Loebs

In the wake of the news about the Jobian trials of creator Bill Messner-Loebs, the gang at Mercury Studios are staging a benefit auction for Bill and his wife Nadine. Among the items offered are Batman (Detective Comics) and Hawkman original art pages from Steve Lieber and a Wonder Woman original art page from Drew Johnson.

(And if any publishers happen to be reading this, one of the best things that could be done for Bill and for all comics readers would be to get a collection of his wonderful Journey back in print!)