Hey, I’m back from vacation, and that should mean we can get this sucker done before the 22nd of the month, but I’m not making any promises! I apologize for last month’s post – I always assume I’ll have more time when I visit my parents, but any free time I might have quickly fills up. And Travis is presumably still training his armadillo for next season’s racing circuit, so he has things to do, people! But let’s let bygones be bygones and move on! As usual, I’m in blue, and Travis is in black. Onward!
Very true as to my plans. I’m bummed that the armadillo and I won’t make the 40 under 40 list anymore, but onward as well!
Image:
David Hine and Brian Haberlin are a decent team, so The Marked on page 46 ought to be a decent read, even if I don’t particularly care about trend-setting witches fighting evil occult powers. Still, I might give the first trade a look.
You don’t have ink, man?
Yeah, me neither.
I don’t know why you assumed I didn’t have any tattoos from that, but no, I don’t have any. When I was but a lad, it wasn’t a thing yet, and then as it became a thing, I just wasn’t that interested.
The “trend-setting” bit, and I know you are a man above such petty things!
More witchcraft (yawn) on page 50 with Nomen Omen (which is 15 issues?), but I just pointed it out because I will always remember that a gnomon is a tall thin object that casts a shadow. I learned that in science in eighth grade or so, and I’ve never forgotten it. When the sun goes nova, I’ll be the last person on earth, watching the last gnomon in the universe cast the exploding sun’s shadow.
I don’t understand what’s going on in this preview. The word with an asterisk is not apparently defined? And I don’t know what else is going on here. I do like that it tells us it’s 15 issues, but that does seem a bit extreme to tell us this so early. They’re confident, at least!
That is weird. If it’s a joke – two non-existent words that the writer is toying with – that’s one thing, but who knows. It’s askew!
There’s a new #1 for Copra on page 58, and even though I’ve never written about the series, it’s terrific. I’m glad Michel Fiffe was able to bring it to Image, and I hope it does well for him!
I read the first volume but I don’t remember being so thrilled with it that I wanted to get the rest.
Ooh, Dead Rabbit finally returns as Dead Eyes on page 59. I wish I’d gotten the first issue, I might have been able to make some cash!
I wonder why they changed it.
Don’t you remember the controversy because of a bar called Dead Rabbit that, apparently at one point, put out comics themselves?
Oh, yeah. I did forget about that.
On page 63, there’s a deluxe edition of Kill or Be Killed, all 20 issues of it, for 50 bucks. Not a bad deal, that. This is a pretty good series – not as good as the best of Brubillips, but that just means it’s better than most comics out there. And it’s in a fancy hardcover!
I’m tempted!
I was interested in Little Bird, but the HC on page 64 is a bit pricey for me.
Yeah, I’ll wait for the trade.
I read the first volume of The Red Hook, and the second is on page 67, but I don’t remember how it was, but it is by Dean Haspiel, so the art is cool anyway!
Street Angel: Deadliest Girl Alive collects the Image stories in trade on page 68. I like the older stuff a little better from what I’ve seen, but considering that each of the HCs was 20 bucks, this collection of all of them and more for that price is pretty damn good.
Hey, look, Manifest Destiny is back on page 82! I had despaired of it ever returning, because it really is a superb comic, and I hope this means that the creators will be able to finish it. Try it – you’ll like it!
I am behind on it, but what I’ve read is awesome. I’m going to have to catch up!
I must have missed the solicit for Rumble last month, but in 17 on page 87 is a crossover with Head Lopper, which I haven’t read but this might be interesting.
Dark Horse:
There’s a new Mask comic on page 96, and it looks decidedly un-fun. The writer, Christopher Cantwell, is going to somehow tie Trump into it (yawn), and the artist, Patric Reynolds, is perfectly fine, but he’s very dark and not cartoony at all, which is something a Mask comic needs. So I think I will skip this.
Yeah, this looks blah.
Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter (page 98) sounds like fun – a reporter gets demoted to hosting a creature features show, but then she discovers that real monsters are lurking about. I don’t know anything about writer David Dastmalchian, but the artist, Lukas Ketner, is quite good, so I’ll probably check this out.
This does look fun. We have a locally produced show where horror and other movies are presented, and it’s fun stuff!
There’s a new Grendel on page 100, and I’m so on board. I know Wagner has to keep up the “Devil” in the title thing, but come on – this is Grendel … IN SPACE!!!!!! That’s really all you need to know.
Fucking kewl looking.
Ooh, Ruby Falls on page 104 sounds good, about a small town with deeply buried secrets that are starting to come out, and it’s written by Ann Nocenti. The art by Flavia Biondi looks pretty cool too.
I’ll wait for the trade but Spell on Wheels gets a sequel on page 109. The first volume was pretty good witchy stuff. Are witches the new zombies? Is it female power rising to combat the male power in the country’s highest office? Ooh, lookit me, I’m all analytical!
Two EC collections on pages 110 and 111, the first being a best of (gee, I wonder what story that is from Impact 1 he says, knowingly), and the second a collection of Modern Love, which I’m actually not sure I knew about before.
You think you’re so smart, don’t you?
No …
If the Matt Smith drawing Hellboy and the BPRD Long Night at Goloski Station one shot on page 112 is the same one who did Barbarian Lord, I may have to get this! That was great stuff.
It’s a fairly uncommon name, so …
It’d be even cooler if it was the dude who played Doctor Who, actually.
Hmm, I wonder if the Kabuki omnibus on page 115 is worth it?
I got the hardcover, and it’s quite nice. It was back when Mack was still actually trying to tell a story, and there’s a lot of interesting art design as he learns how to do things. I should get the second one (I think there’s a second one?), but this is definitely worth a look on its own.
Page 124: wrapping paper. Wrapping. Paper.
I’d buy it.
I realized later that I have not only received but given presents wrapped in superhero wrapping paper, so I’m not sure why I got so weird about it.
DC:
Joe Hill is a decent “get” for DC, and he launches his line of horror comics with Basketful of Heads on page 2, which has quite possibly the longest solicit text I’ve ever seen. So this might be fun. We’ll see if it sells!
Yeah, that’s a lot of words to say “here’s what we’re going to try now that we snuffed Vertigo”. Daphne Byrne, one of the titles, has Kelley Jones art, so that’s cool. Jesus, I didn’t even turn to the next page before I wrote that! I like how the backup story art is by “credit”!
Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch are doing a 12-issue Batman story called The Batman’s Grave (page 6). I am down for Ellis doing more mainstream superhero stuff, because he’s so good at it. And Kevin Nowlan is inking Hitch, so while latter-day Hitch is a bit dicey, Nowlan should clean that up right quick!
I believe that art team did the Hawkman one shot around the time the Dark Nights Metal stuff was out. It did look good.
Speaking of weird, Brian Azzarello (?!?!?!?) is writing a new Birds of Prey on page 7. I’m lukewarm toward Azzarello, but presumably he can’t eviscerate too many people in this title, so maybe he’ll be a bit restrained, and Emanuela Lupacchino is drawing this, so I’ll probably get the first trade before she inevitably leaves the book. Lupacchino needs to draw a terrific Image book so I can get her art consistently!
Also, Canary’s personal life is going through the wringer, dammit, with a W!
How many fucking Joker and Harley Quinn books can they put out? OK, a lot, but jeez … (pages 11 and 13)
I saw those and chose not to mention any of them!
Noted superb writer Dan DiDio is writing a new Metal Men on page 17. DiDio, of course, gets these writing assignments based on his long, storied, critically-acclaimed career, and not because he knows someone high up at DC. That would be wrong.
On page 19, there’s a Hellblazer one-shot written by Simon Spurrier and drawn by Marcio Takara, which is a pretty good team. I might have to pick this up.
Wait, is that how the Hellblazer series ended? Ugh.
Beats me. I haven’t read Hellblazer since it was with Vertigo.
Well, then, I assume it’s not how the Vertigo series ended, which was what I meant.
Oh, okay. They did have another one in the “real” DC Universe, didn’t they? But yeah, that’s not how the Vertigo series ended. I mean, it ended weirdly, and there was a kind of question as to whether John was dead or not, but as far as I can remember, he seemed to be alive. But I could be wrong. It’s been almost a decade since I read it, after all!
Jeez, has it been that long?
Secrets of Sinister House on page 20 looks pretty cool, and JRJR inked by the Sink is neat too on the cover.
Gene Luen Yang is writing for DC, which is not a bad thing at all, and on page 21 he brings us Superman Smashes the Klan, which has another goddamned long solicit text. Come on, DC! What more do you need than the title? Here’s the text: “It’s 1946. And SUPERMAN SMASHES THE MOTHERFUCKING KLAN!!!!!!” You’d buy it!
Yeah! All these other words make me not want it so much!
Hot damn those 100 page giants on page 24 are tempting me like crazy! I’m totally in for the Scooby Doo 50th Anniversary, and I might grab a bunch of the rest, because at 5 bucks a pop, that’s a good deal, provided that the reprints are cool.
And them Dollar Comics on page 91 include The Joker 1 and Swamp Thing 1, both of which I’ll probably spring for.
Wait, they haven’t done Absolute Editions of the Fourth World stuff before? Damn you for tempting me, DC! (page 118)
On page 119, we get Batman: The 1989 Movie Adaptation Deluxe Edition for 20 (!!!) dollars. I’m glad there’s more stuff than the original, because I know it was 30 years ago and inflation exists, but I think the original was 5 bucks, and it was fine. Not great, just fine. Nice Ordway art, if you like Ordway art. I doubt if it’s worth 20 dollars, though.
There’s a fancy $150 Hellblazer by Garth Ennis Omnibus on page 127. These are superb comics, despite the fact that they’re a bit immature – Ennis was something like 20 when he wrote them. Ennis created one of the few good love interests for Constantine, and while Will Simpson was pretty good on art, once Steve Dillon came on board, the book really took off. His return to the character for issues #129-133 is quite good, too.
Mark Russell’s Wonder Twins gets a collection on page 137. Russell is a good writer, so I’ll be getting this.
Don’t forget they extended the run, so this is just the first volume.
Dang, you’re right. Do I take a chance that they’ll release all 12 issues in a fancy, not-overpriced hardcover? I don’t know!!!!!
IDW:
We don’t have a lot to say, but the solicits are here if you want to check them out!
On page 155, we get Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, which tells the story from Johnny’s perspective. I don’t have a ton of interest in this, but it is drawn by Kagan McLeod, who’s a fine artist, so it might be something to check out.
Marvel:
Marvel at all the solicits here! (I don’t think I’ve ever used that, which makes me wonder what is wrong with me) (Besides the obvious)
On page 2, we get Hickman’s new X-Men #1, with Leinil Francis Yu on art for 2-3 issues. Didn’t Marvel just reboot the X-Men last year? I mean, maybe it’s not selling well, but this seems excessive even for them. And I love this awful team: Cyclops (a dude at the comics store recently said Cyclops was his favorite X-Men, for which he was roundly mocked; it’s like saying Budweiser is your favorite beer), Havok (one brother), probably Vulcan (another brother), Corsair (father), Cable (son from one timeline), Rachel (daughter from a different timeline), and Jean Grey (possibly his wife, but maybe the teenager who will turn into his wife, in which case, ewwwww). So it’s the Summers clan, plus, of course, Wolverine, because they still have to sell some copies. It’s a ridiculously cynical and still totally terrible team, and it appears that Hickman is putting them in space, which is the place where X-Men stories go to die. Ugh. I have some faith in Hickman, but this is straining it!
This is possibly the worst X-lineup I’ve ever heard of, and I include the team that you came up with once at the old place (sick throwback burn!).
Hey, man, that was a great team! Rogue, Dazzler, Psylocke, Jubilee – how can you go wrong? Pistols at dawn, sir!!!!
You’re right, that is a much better team than this one, at least!
As per usual with Marvel, they’re flooding the market with X-stuff before they know how it’s selling, and we get Marauders #1 on page 6. Okay, a few things. First, “Marauders”? I get that they’re supposed to be good guy pirates and shit, but did Kitty Pryde sit there and say, “Hey, let’s name our group after the gang who crippled me and Kurt and Peter, killed a bunch of Morlocks, and generally acted like horrible people! What do you say, Morlock-leader-at-the-time Ororo?” I mean, come on. That’s like a group of do-gooders in the real world saying, “You know what name isn’t being used? Brownshirts, that’s what. We should use that!” Come on, Marvel! Second, they’re sailing around looking for wrongs to right? Again, I get that pirates – despite being horrible human beings themselves – have a romantic aspect attached to them, but there has to be a better way to find trouble than sailing around looking for it. Third, Kitty is carrying a knife and a sword? Why on earth is she doing that? She can’t use them, because she phases things she touches, and if she stops phasing to use them, someone who lives in the 21st century is going to shoot her in the head. Finally, is she having trouble sleeping? Because she’s wearing one of those “Breathe-Right Strips” on her nose. Get a humidifier, Pryde! I mean, Gerry Duggan is a decent writer, but this just seems too stupid even for him, and he wrote an arc in which zombie presidents harassed Deadpool!
Yeah, I’d been intrigued by what Hickman might be doing, but then they give us this stuff. Why?
On page 24, Mary Jane shows up as a mini-series, in which she does something in Hollywood. I’m glad it’s a mini-series, because I can’t imagine this being an ongoing, but good for her!
Well, that’s totally weird, because the big text says it’s an ongoing while the solicit text itself mentions “five fabulous issues”, which makes much more sense.
Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle (page 26), which is a mystery with different chapters by different creative teams, sound fun. I actually might have to get it!
Yeah, that sounds cool and our pal Kelly is involved, so I think I’ll add it to my list.
I wonder if the success of DC’s “DCeased” (a.k.a. “DC Zombies”) has anything to do with Marvel Zombies: Respawn on page 37. Nah, it couldn’t be. That would be crazy!
And it includes the name, in part, of a series that just hit 300 issues. House of Ideas!
Aw, shit, Ed Brisson and Aaron Kuder on Ghost Rider? Fuck yeah, I may be getting this, especially if I can get the Tex cover! (page 40) And I might spring for the Marvel Tales one shot on page 43 as well, since I don’t think I have any of that stuff.
That should be good. Kuder seems slow, though, so how long before there’s a fill-in artist?!?!?
Yeah, he does seem to have a tendency to take a while, maybe, but maybe it’s as much that he gets shuffled around a lot. Hell, I thought he’d be on Fantastic Four for a while still!
Tom Scioli is doing Fantastic Four: Grand Design on page 44. That’s great for Scioli and I’m sure he’s getting paid well, but dang I wish DC had chucked a bunch of money at him to do a SuperFriends book, because the very few pages we actually saw of it were amazing.
That Piskor cover homaging DKR is funny, too.
On page 46, there’s a solicit for Doctor Doom #1. I don’t care about this and Salvador Larroca is drawing it, so it’s going to look lousy (I miss old-school Larroca!!!!), I just love that they put “The Crack of Doom!” in bold letters on the page. I mean, Marvel solicit writers have to be trolling us, right? They can’t be that dumb, right?
Not my thing but I have to let my pal know about this, as he loves all things DOOM!
Speaking of DC’s “DCeased,” Contagion on page 52 can’t be a response to that, can it? I mean, that would be crazy!
Those Ryp covers, though, hoo boy!
Roy Thomas is writing Savage Sword of Conan #10 (page 96), which art by Alan Davis. Good for Thomas! I can’t believe Marvel let him near their books – I mean, Thomas might put more than 10 words on a page, and we can’t have that!!!!
That’s pretty cool that they hired him, though!
And hey, let’s make sure that Alan Davis – one of the great comics artist of the past 40 years – doesn’t do the cover, either, because that would be crazy.
Why is the Savage Avengers book subtitled City of “Sickels”? Like Sickle Cell Anemia, but spelled wrong? (page 124)
I saw that and did a bit of a double-take, because I was starting to doubt that I was spelling it correctly. I should trust myself more, or actually, I should not trust solicit writers, because they’ve done this sort of thing in the past. This obviously supposed to be “sickle,” although why you would go to the disease rather than the farming implement it’s named after (haven’t you seen or even heard of Children of the Corn? “He wants you too, Malachai!” – come on!) is beyond me.
I think the part about Logan donating blood in the solicit got me thinking of the disease.
I might snag the trade of Fearless on page 136 because, well, Millie the Model and Night Nurse should be enough, right?
Yeah, that’s a solid “maybe” for me. I’m decisive!
On page 146, we get X-Men: Trial of the Juggernaut, which collects a good chunk of Chuck Austen’s run on Uncanny X-Men. I want to warn you: Under no circumstances should you buy this. If someone pays you to read it, go ahead, but you might regret even that. This is part of the run that drove me off the X-Men, my absolute favorite team in comics. Austen’s run was so bad I’d almost be tempted to say he was doing it as a joke, but it just get going and going, so I don’t think that’s true. These are really, really bad comics. You’ve been warned!
“a good chunk” lol
Yeah, I lost a good chunk of my lunch reading these comics!!!!
Huh, the What If? Classic Complete Collection v2 belies the name by not including #16, which apparently is a Shang-Chi issue. I thought they worked that out, but maybe just for his self-contained book?
That is weird. Maybe that’s it.
You can get the entire Tom King/Gabriel Hernandez Vision on page 147 in a nice $30-trade (for 12 issues). This is a terrific comic, so you won’t be wasting your money!
Boom! Studios:
You know you love the solicits!
Strange Skies Over East Berlin (page 214) sounds interesting. It’s about an American spy in East Berlin (duh!) who discovers the Soviets have access to an alien monster that they can’t control. Bad things are afoot! Sounds neat.
It does sound neat, and the art is nicely moody.
On page 225, Faithless shows up in trade. I took a look at the first issue, and yeah, it was pretty intense. As I noted above, I’m not the biggest Azzarello fan, but I’ll probably get this.
If it’s actually 6 issues (I thought they solicited it as 5), 18 bucks is a good deal, and Maria Llovet’s art is great stuff.
Weirdly, on page 229 we get a solicit for Ronin Island volume 1, with no indication that it’s resolicited or that it’s a new printing. I bought the trade of Ronin Island volume 1 in July, so I’m not sure what the heck this is. But I haven’t read it yet, so I don’t know if it’s any good!
That is weird, considering you actually own it. I thought I saw something about them cancelling one of those stupid early solicits like they must have done with this. Because it’s dumb.
I need to catch up with Giant Days as the series concludes with As Time Goes By on page 234. I’ve been getting the trades but I’m just way behind on reading them!
What?! Kyle Baker did Rugrats comics strips? (page 238)
Oh, good. I can safely avoid that!
Harsh!
On to the back of the book!
Ablaze has another new book, and this one is odd: On page 246 we get The Cimmerian: Queen of the Black Coast, which is a Conan comic. How is this possible? I mean, the REH estate can license it to anyone, I suppose, but I’m just surprised because Marvel has the license right now. This might be interesting, though.
My guess, based solely on the names of the creators, is that this is a French GN being brought to American shores. And Marvel doesn’t truck with no Frenchy stuff, so they didn’t do this.
Damned Frenchies. U! S! A!
Also on page 246 is Aardvark Vanaheim with a Colour Your Own Cerebus in Hell? oneshot, proving that Dave Sim jumps on the bandwagon only after it’s safely come to a stop. I kid, but I have GOT to catch up with reading this stuff!
On page 252 is Rock N Roll Biographies: GWAR from Acme Ink. They did a Faith No More one that I was lukewarm on, but GWAR is cool.
I wonder how many people know who GWAR is. I mean, I only know because I lived next to a really weird dude in college.
(Plot twist: it was a mirror!) (…um, that you were the really weird dude, just in a mirror) (you know the joke is good when you have to explain it this much!)
On page 256, Action Lab has the third trade of Voracious, which is a pretty keen comic. Get all three and enjoy this story of a time-traveling chef who carves up dinosaurs for his café and damages the time line in the process!
I’ve been waiting for this. The first two volumes were friggin’ fun comics.
Methinks Horde on page 258 hits a little too close to home, with the possessions in a hoarder’s house trying to rid itself or take over a young woman. Thanks, Aftershock!
Yeah, I’m not anywhere near a bad hoarder, but I do need to clean up the clutter in my office (he says, looking around at the clutter). Even the possibility of that stuff coming to life and possessing me freaks me out!
Hmm, did you read/like Jimmy’s Bastards, and would you pay 40 bucks for the HC offered on page 267?
I did enjoy it quite a bit, but 40 bucks is awfully steep. It’s only nine issues, after all.
Ahoy collects Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror, and the solicit copy misspells his name in the listing for the first issue of the second series. This was a good series of horror stories, with a Mark Russell one featuring familiar pop culture figures being a highlight story, and you can order the trade or the new series on page 268. They also offer Planet of the Nerds in trade, but I’m far behind. Again. And can’t tell you anything about it.
Hmmm. I’ll have to think about those.
I might get Blossoms 666 from Archie, which is in trade on page 285. I dig Cullen Bunn, and Laura Braga’s art is pretty good, and the Blossom twins fighting over who gets to be the Anti-Christ sounds weirdly awesome.
Yet again Aspen reoffers Lola XOXO trades. Yet again I will probably not add them to my list. Yet again I tell you it’s on page 290.
A Wave Blue World always has interesting comics, and on page 293, we get another one: Dead Beats. It’s an anthology in which the “Cryptkeeper” is a spooky owner of a spooky music store, so presumably all the spooky stories will involve music. Should be fun!
I’m interested. Spooooky!
In other music/comics news, Black Dog and Leventhal have The Song of the Machine: From Disco to DJs to Techno in HC on page 299, and it sounds like an interesting history of the rise of electronic music.
I’m going to mention the Cameron Books big ass Rick Baker: Metamorphosis book on page 309 because the dude grew up in my area.
On that same page, Chapterhouse has resolicited some trades. That were 10 bucks before, iirc, ahem … Ah, the economy intervenes!
On page 313 we’ve got a couple. Comicmix has the fifth GrimJack Omnibus, with his early years, and Conundrum has The Cursed Hermit, another Hobtown Mystery Story, the first of which I forget the title of but I own and have not read yet. Despite it staring at me from the shelf!
I’m bummed about the GrimJack collection, because I’m pretty sure I own the single issues but not the Demon Knight GN. Dang it!
Despite the self-congratulatory nature of the solicit text (“yes, we ARE Fantagraphics, and we ARE great for publishing this book!”), I’m interested in the new Kim Deitch book on page 326, Reincarnation Stories. It’s a self-explanatory title!
I’m friends with Deitch on Facebook. He seems like an interesting fellow. I always love when an old cartoon my daughter is watching shows the credits and his dad directed it.
I’ve always enjoyed the stuff I’ve read of his.
First has Hamilton: The Graphic History of America’s Most Celebrated Founding Father on page 328. I probably won’t get this, but “Most Celebrated”? I mean, yes, there’s a recent musical, but other than that, has Hamilton really been celebrated more than, say, Jefferson or Adams? I mean, he’s trendy right now, but they seem to imply that throughout American history, he’s been the “most celebrated,” which certainly is not true.
Well, they aren’t going to try to sell it by saying he’s “one of” the Founding Fathers, amirite? But that is amusing. First also has Alien Bones, about alien dinosaurs and stuff. Might be fun. Also, I guess Devil’s Due and First have split, huh? I didn’t see the news on that.
Yeah, I noticed that. I wonder if it was just a case of Devil’s Due helping First get back on its feet and was never meant to be permanent?
I thought that might have been the case, but it’s been a long time, man!
On page 329, Floating World Comics has The Willows GN, which is an adaptation of an Algernon Blackwood short story from a century ago. Sam Ford’s art looks amazing on this, and the story sounds sufficiently weird and spooky, so I’m on board!
I’m not sure if this is the book that was part of a Kickstarter of comics adapted short stories (I think there was a Billy the Sink book with that), but I think it’s the same story, at least. It would be odd if it was a separate adaptation! Of course, I may just be making shit up.
Um, Graphic Universe has, on page 334, Monkey and Robot, which I believe is similar to, I think, James Kochalka’s Monkey Vs Robot. What is this, showing that robots and monkeys can co-exist instead of fight? Boo!
I believe that on page 335, Heavy Metal is soliciting 49th Key for the third (3rd) time. Will it ever come out? NO MAN CAN SAY!!!!
Is that all? I mean, from what I read of it, it’s not really worth the wait. I’m also wondering if the namesake magazine will no longer be run by GMozz, as Ron English is editing issue 296 on page 334.
Yeah, I ordered it once, but not the second time. I like JK Woodward, which is one reason I got it, but who knows if I’ll order it this time.
There’s a Captain America 100 Project book on page 336 from the Hero Initiative, and these books are cool galleries of art, and allow some of us to buy a comic book and contribute to charity without having to, y’know, actually do anything.
Mark Waid posted something on-line about a certain section of comics fans – ones who, shall we say, are not happy with certain types of people showing up in their comics – doctoring portions of Ignited to make it seem like the characters are anti-American? anti-white people? anti-men? It’s unclear. That’s pretty danged sad, if you ask me. Anyway, Ignited gets a trade on page 338 from Humanoids, if you’re interested in scary diversity in your funnybooks!
I was mildly interested but wasn’t thrilled by the FCBD stories. I know it’s an allusion to the Parkland school shooting, to a degree, so maybe the gun people don’t like it?
Right underneath that is Korem Shadmi’s biography of Rod Serling, The Twilight Man. Shadmi is such an interesting creator, so I’m keen to see what he does with this subject matter.
I may get this because it will be mentioning my hometown area, very likely. And I think it comes out right around the 60th anniversary of the premiere of the Twilight Zone on TV. I should look into seeing if they’re doing anything about it this year in my area. And maybe I can write about it and write about what I did 10 years ago when the 50th anniversary happened.
I’m not sure I’d get Neon Future in trade from Impact Theory on page 342, but I’m intrigued by these kinds of stories where advanced technology (in this particular case — there are other things like love or stuff) is banned by law. How would that really work? Is it possible to really ban something like that and really be able to make it stick?
No, which is why I don’t like those kinds of stories. Writers never seem to think too deeply about the consequences of their changes, so they never come off as “realistic” in any way. It’s just our world with some very small changes.
It’s Alive brings us a new issue of Airboy, #51, picking up where 50 left off 30 years ago, because that seems like a good idea. It’s on page 345 and has a lot of cool covers, like the Sam Kieth cover before he really became SAM KIETH. On the next page is Pink Lemonade, by Nick Cagnetti, which sounds like a neat story sort of in the vein of Street Angel but not really either. (I should be writing solicits!)
I don’t know if you’re being facetious, but I LOVE the idea of rebooting Airboy and setting it right after the previous issue. I certainly hope it sells (it’s tough at 10 bucks for 48 pages), and I’d love it if they were able to keep going with it, because it was clear that Dixon had a lot on his mind. I’m curious about the covers, too – how many of them are old? I imagine the Kieth and Steranko ones are old, but I wonder about the Gulacy one. Anyway, they all look neat. I’ll probably pick this up.
I get the emails from Drew Ford and I know the Kieth one is old. I think the Steranko one might be new. And I can see under the signature “2019” on the Gulacy one, so either it’s new or the man is a prophet! And yeah, I was being a bit facetious about this rebooting, because it does seem like a cool way of doing it, but it also seems like an uphill battle.
Hey, I guess Knockabout gave up on the Moores Alan and Steve completing their bumper book of magic and are printing Lives of the Great Occultists, by Kevin Jackson and Hunt Emerson, on page 347. I like Emerson’s art and the topic, so I might get this.
Ooh, complete Adventures of Tintin on page 359 from Little Brown and Company. Pricey at 200 bucks but ooh neato. I wonder if they even include the racist one(s).
I was wondering that, too. I mean, if it’s complete, make it complete! Don’t cave like DC did with the Detective Comics set! If they include it, they should do what DC should have done – include essays about Belgium’s unfortunate relationship with the Congo and why someone might act this way. You know, historical context. It’s amazing what you can learn!
Like it says on the cover of this month’s Previews, “read comics and learn”! To which I said to myself at first, why would I want to do that? I kid. But I’m not big on “homework comics”, the kind of stuff that seems to win awards but put me to sleep.
New York Review Comics has Return to Romance: The Strange Love Stories of Ogden Whitney on page 364. I don’t have a lot of Whitney comics, so I might have to get this, even though it’s 20 bucks for 112 pages.
I was going to mention this one. That’s not too bad a price, really.
Northwest Press has one on the same page called Theater of Terror! Revenge of the Queers, which has nothing to do with the pop punk band but does have horror stories by LGBTQ creators, and a cool Phil Jimenez cover. He hasn’t been doing a ton lately, has he?
No, he hasn’t. I wonder what he’s been up to.
On page 366, Oni has r(ender), which is spelled annoyingly but which sounds keen – a photographer who can capture the last images from the retina of the deceased teams up with a detective to solve crimes. It sounds and looks good, but I love the solicit, which is in marked contrast to the effusiveness of the DC ones noted above – basically, it’s simply what I wrote in the previous sentence, with no embellishment. “If you don’t like our high concept,” says Oni, “then fuck right off!”
It’s like a magical iZombie (the TV show, I haven’t read the comics yet — future post though!).
I’m a bit annoyed that Night’s Dominion volume 3 is offered on page 373. I was trying to support it by buying the single issues, and I don’t mind that they switched to trade, but the second arc never finished coming out in single issues, so I have to get a trade including a few issues I already own just to get the complete story. You’re killing me, Ted Naifeh and Oni!!!! (Still, this is a pretty cool, “Justice-League-in-medieval-times” story, so jump on board!)
Didn’t the second trade come out a while ago? I thought I might have ordered it. I will have to get anything I don’t have, because I read volume 1 and it was good.
I’m sure the second trade came out, but I was buying the single issues so I missed it. I don’t mind if they have to switch to trades exclusively or if the single issues came out digitally, but if you’re going to start an arc in print, finish it in print, damn it!
The first volume of Stumptown is re-offered on page 374. This is a very cool P.I. book, and I’m freakin’ so jazzed about the new television show, not only because it looks cool as fuck, but because I’m very happy that Matthew Southworth is getting what I hope is a nice chunk of change from it. I really hope the show does well (Cobie Smulders is a bit hotter than Dex Parios in the book, but she seems to have the attitude down, which is nice).
I’ve seen the commercials. I haven’t read the comics though, so I should pick this up.
Hmm. Post Hill Press has Socialists: Do As We Say Not As We Do coloring book on page 376, the title of which seems to indicate one viewpoint, while the solicit text seems to lean a different way, sort of? It’s weird!
I tend to think the solicitation is very tongue-in-cheek and whoever wrote it does not have a good view of so-called “socialists.” (Of course, the idea that any politician in this country is a “socialist” makes real socialists laugh into their beet juice. Or whatever it is socialists drink.)
Speaking of weird, on page 380 from Renegade Arts Entertainment is The Saga of the Jack of Spades v1, which is “the origin story of the deck of cards.” Because that is a thing?
Don’t dis the deck!
SelfMadeHero has their usual hoity-toity comics on page 384. First we have Mikel, about a family man who inexplicably decides to become a bodyguard and gets involved in Basque politics, which is probably not a good idea. Then we have Mozart in Paris, which is about … Mozart in Paris! I know, shocking. They both look cool – the latter’s art is a bit cartoony, but not to an annoying degree.
Source Point Press has some interesting things on page 385. Beyond the Demon, the Sea is a short story about a man’s voyage across the ocean, which is apparently “horrific.” Wild Strawberries at the World’s End is “a supernatural murder mystery set in the 90’s [sic] rural South Korea.” Sure, sure. The Dark: Collection One is a collection (ha!) of four horror stories inspired by urban legends and folklore. All of these sound neat-o.
Yeah, I might consider all of these.
Back Issue #117 from TwoMorrows on page 400 has “superhero stand-ins,” with the various people who have become the heroes for short periods of time (Beta Ray Bill, AzBats – you know the drill!). I am woefully behind on my Back Issue reading (and I don’t even get all of them!), but I’ll probably get this!
I like that stuff, so I’ll probably get this, and you know that I’m far behind too!
I find it hard to believe the deluxe edition of Jack Kirby Collector 78 on the previous page is really the same price as the standard, but the de-loox has a Surfer cover on top of the rest of the mag, I guess? (The Previews website says the deluxe is 12.95 vs the 10.95 regular).
I still don’t know why Valiant has a book about a streaming TV service, but Roku gets her own series on page 404.
Bwah. Ha. Ha.
I read interesting things in the FCBD issue about Psi-Lords, so I might get this 10 dollar trade on page 407.
Well, this is weird. Tim Seeley and Rebekah Isaacs are doing a comic called Money Shot (page 411) for Vault Comics, which is a pretty good get for that company. Plus, it’s a comic about a scientist visiting alien worlds and having sex with them on film to make money back on Earth. Alien porn, in other words. Sounds … pretty good?
Well, shit, that does sound good! I may get the singles. I like how they got “scientists-cum-pornstars” into the solicit!
Yeah, I did appreciate that.
On page 439, Viz offers up a “perfect edition” of The Drifting Classroom, which I was always interested in but never got. Now I can!
I too am interested!
On page M39 is a life size Harley Quinn statue, for $5200, that comes in 5 boxes so it means you don’t even get it pre-assembled for you. Sure, it doesn’t look like you’re being shipped a dead body but do you want to have to actually build your weird sex statue yourself for that price?
I don’t even want to unpack how much is wrong with this.
On page M46 is Alter Nation, about human-animal hybrids, which looks like a cool Saturday morning cartoon or ’90s Image book.
Ooh! Those Marvel 80th Anniversary Funko Pops of Namor and particularly the Human Torch look pretty cool on page M61, but if I get them, I think I become a Funko Pop guy, because I’ll own more than 4.
My daughter has more than 4, so fret not!
Shouldn’t that Elvira Pez dispenser on page M62 be double barreled?
Sigh.
I saw on M63 the 3 pack of Rush Funko Pop figures, with classic ’70s look with chest hair peeking out, and had to immediately text my Rush loving friend about it (ok, my friend, no qualifier needed since he’s, like, the only one). He wasn’t impressed.
With that, a reference to an overrated band, we bring this month’s edition of “Flippin’ through Previews” to a merciful close. Have fun seeing what’s coming out in a few months, and remember: those comics aren’t going to order themselves!
“Count Crowley”, although she’s a woman? Hm. True, I didn’t click to get any information on that but that sounds, uh, dumb? Oui, tres dumb! Again, I haven’t felt compelled to investigate further yet I can’t think of a good reason why it can’t be “Countess”; I suspect it’s due to the weird sexism that thinks it isn’t sexism: Y’know where traditionally masculine identifiers are chosen over any feminine ones which has the weird effect of being incredibly insulting to women. Following that train of thought the Queen of England should call herself “King” because apparently being “Queen” makes you a lesser person. *sigh* Sooo stoopid. Ahem. This plaint has been brought to you by world-weariness. All this from a purposely dumb comic book! It’s just that when people react to idiot bigotry with their own ill-thought out idiocy it sucks a little more out of an already deflating world. Hah! Uh… Hey kids, COMICS!
“I like how the back-up story art is by credit.” BWAHAHAHA! This reminds me of a celebratory ad in Previews for – I think – IDW in which the dum-dums managed to misspell the congrats. Ee-de-yots!
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues… There’s a glitch in the Matrix surely? What next, Mr Miyagi: Year One?
Cyclops is my favorite X-Men! Or one of them. You just have to overlook the dubious stories and approaches concerning the character over the past 35 years and its fine. *winks* Seriously, if people can overlook Batman being a huge asshole (say that in Norm McDonald’s voice) in many, many stories or Wolverine then they can do it with Scott Summers but then Batman and Logan are keyeeeewwwllll and the object of masturbatory power fantasies so… *winks again*
They are collecting Chuck Austen’s X-Men?! End of days, end of days! Verily it is said that one of the unholiest portents of the rough beast’s slouching arrival is the collecting of anything by Chuck Beckum/Austen.
I presume DC have a sequel to Superman Smashes The Klan in the works? One set in the present day?
A life-size Harley Quinn statue? Tack-ee!
Money Shot, “The World’s Filthiest Comics Magazine”! Hilarious. And what a loveably perverted premise. The cover looks familiar to me as well. The logo looks like the Eighties version of the Fantastic Four’s so maybe it is goofing on that? What with the parodic strapline.
Kudos, Gentlemen. May your self-respect and rationality never desert you and lead you to a tattooists!
Cyclops is the best X-man. Anyone who mocks that view basically doesn’t get the X-men as far I’m concerned. It’s also why I’ve barely read any X-men past the 170s…
Yep. Cyclops IS the best X-Man.
And, more importantly…He Was Right.
Morrison, Whedon, Ellis, Fraction, Gillen, and even Bendis have all understood that – honestly, the 15 years of Cyclops stories before Secret Wars were the best continuous, multi-creator character arc in comics history, this side of Matt Murdock.
Man, who knew there were so many Cyclops truthers out there? You guys are so very, very wrong, it’s just sad. When he’s not boring, he’s a dick. Unlike Wolverine and Batman, two other kind-of dicks, he never does anything interesting to offset the boring dickishness (or dickish boringness). Cyclops’s favorite food is tapioca pudding. His favorite football team is the Dallas Cowboys, even though he never lived in Texas. His favorite television show is NCIS. His favorite movie is Forrest Gump. His favorite president is Millard Fillmore. His favorite pastime (besides being a dick to the women he supposedly loves) is arranging his ties. His favorite book, surprisingly, is The Crying of Lot 49.
Hal: Yeah, the cover to Money Shot is a homage to a Byrne Fantastic Four cover. I’d look up which one, but I don’t want to! 🙂
The most interesting thing Wolverine has ever done is die on his way back to his home planet.
Cyke has been, bar none, the best X-Character of the last 20 years, once writers copped to the fact that a traumatized child soldier whose entire existence is based around staying in control was way more interesting than Poochie with claws.
Carlos: Ha! I do agree that Wolverine’s over-exposure has lessened the goodness of the character, but that doesn’t mean Cyclops has risen up any ladder! And let’s see – the last 20 years … that would coincide with him cheating on his wife and hooking up with Emma Frost? Yeah, sounds about right. A few years after that, the X-Men really started to suck, so his greatness must come from the fact that everything else around him blew chunks. I can’t even really defend Kieron Gillen’s run on the book, and I really like Kieron Gillen! And he doesn’t have to stay in control, because his stupid power is always on, he just has to wear his damned glasses. How is that him staying in control? It’s just him remembering to wear something! I had to remember to wear a retainer after I got my braces off, and no one said I was interesting! 🙂
To be fair, I haven’t read a lot of X-books in the past 20 years, so he could be as awesome as you say he is. But whenever I have, he still seems like the same old douchebag. But, I mean, we’re having some fun arguing over a fictional character who has been written by a lot of different people, so there’s going to be some differences of opinion.
Hey, how about that Bryce Harper? He can hit a little!
I get what you’re talking about re: masculine identifiers, and in this case I believe it’s that the lady takes over the role from a guy. But doesn’t take on a different name. Possibly because she doesn’t really want the gig.
That Money Shot cover that Burgas used is in fact an homage to — I guess an FF cover, I’m not sure, but Vault has been doing that with their books a lot, having an homage variant cover.
Burgas typed that and posted it while I was typing mine!
I kind of like Cyclops in certain stories….
Hey, the Cobra Kai tv series is really, really good; so, why not a comic? And, I’d be down for Mr Miyagi, Year One……Miyagi vs the Okinawan branch of the yakuza!
Oh man, I love the Metal Men, but I do not love Didio. I will have to skip it and be sad about it.
I remember the Karate Kid movies had to say in the credits that the title was used with the permission of DC Comics. I wonder if IDW still has to use any such disclaimer.
Now be fair, after Didio’s magnificent reboot of the Challengers for the new 52, how can anyone doubt …. I’ll come in again.
I never knew that about Karate Kid. Or if I did, I’ve forgotten it. Cool.
You know, I was wondering what Matt Wagner was going to do, now that MAGE was finally done and put to bed. I’m looking forward to the next exciting installment of GRENDEL Prime. Will this be the last Grendel story?
I wonder what Dark Horse is going to do to fill the fifth Grendel Omnibus when they get around to it? lol
Controversial(?) opinion: The Mask was entertaining for the first few stories before the gag started to feel pretty played out. And that was long before the movie and the crossovers.
Sam: I don’t think that’s too controversial. I read the first Mask Omnibus that Dark Horse recently put out, and while the first few stories were fine, once the movie came out, you could feel the tone shift to something a bit more “family-friendly” (not that it ever was), with far less horrific violence and a more cartoony sensibility. It works because Mahnke’s art is terrific, but you’re not wrong that the gag started to get old.
on the Cimmerian – many of the Robert E Howard stories are out of copyright so anyone can publish a version of those stories- though trademark rules limit the rights to use “Conan” in the title (which may be why Viz’s publication of the manga Detective Conan [reference to Arthur Conan Doyle] is called Case Closed)
1 floppy (Savage Dragon) and 2 trades for me (Walk through hell 2 and Ignited).
I ended the relation with the woman in the hospital. She has been in the hospital longer than I have known her outside of the hospital. I still visit her from time to time and I hope that she will recover, but it will never become a “normal” relation.
I just started corresponding with a nice lady. Let see how that works out.
The main reason why I bought The Mask was Mahnke’s art (I liked Major Bummer for that reason). I bought the floppys before there was a movie.
I started reading X-Men with issue 225 so I never had a hard-on for Cyclops. I really had a favorite X-Men actually.
Eric: That’s too bad about your relationship. I get it, because that’s a lot to take so early in a relationship, and it’s very hard to deal with. I hope all is well with you (and with her, of course).
Vol. VII. — THE FLIPPING BIRD. — No. 1.
Our Diamond in the Rough Trade has plenty more:
Fiction such as Frederik Peeters’s epic LUPUS (167), Sherwin Tjia’s sci-fi PLUMMET (314), Paco Roca’s family-matters THE HOUSE (327), Patrick Kyle’s dystopian DEATH OF THE MASTER (347), and hist fic like Will Dinski’s cult-victim HOLY HANNAH (401), Matt Faulkner’s hafu GAIJIN: AMERICAN PRISONER OF WAR (316), or Kevin Sacco’s filial WHITE NIGHT (272)?
And nonfic like David Heatley’s 12-steps-holic QUALIFICATION (361), Michael Kupperman’s Quiz Kid bio ALL THE ANSWERS (330), Achard & Degruel’s testimonial TAMBA: CHILD SOLDIER (361), Carothers/DeVargas/Polls’s flying circus BATTLE OF BRITAIN (376), or Reid Chancellor’s punk-rock-for-mental-health HARDCORE ANXIETY (361)?
A whole minefield of mousetraps for the library/torrent/bookstore watchlist!
> “DC”
Tohu?
> “Marvel”
Bohu?
> G: “Strange Skies Over East Berlin”
Surely that’s not a joke about Wim Wenders’s masterpiece “The Skies over Berlin”, aka WINGS OF DESIRE? It doesn’t sound remotely inspired by Peter Handke. “When the child was a child, it walked with its arms swinging, wanted the brook to be a river, the river to be a torrent, and this puddle to be the sea.”
> G: “I’m not sure what the heck this is”
Seems yours was RONIN ISLAND’s “discover now” ed while this one would be the regular ed: 6×9” vs. 7×10”, 96 vs. 128 pages, $15 vs. $20. (When OCD buyers find out Vol. 2+ doesn’t match their undersized Vol. 1 they’ll “have to” double-dip, ain’t that clever?)
> G: “a neat cover too – it reminds of something”
Elseworlds, SUPERMAN: PUNCHING FISH IN A BARREL, June 1988.
> T: “Deitch”
Didja know that Rick Veitch once met Kim Deitch and was startled to find out their names didn’t rhyme, as the latter has kept its German pronunciation?
> G: “an old cartoon [Deitch’s] dad directed”
Didja know that Kim Deitch did a graphic ode to the cartoon industry, BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS?
> G: “has Hamilton really been celebrated”
Not as much as Lagrange. …What?
> T: “her own series on page 404”
That page seems to be missing? (Sorrysorrysorry.)
> G: “having sex with them on film to make money back on Earth”
In the 2010s there was “Mars One”, a crowdfunded space project for sending civilians to die on Mars, funded with a 24/7 reality-TV show of their odyssey, and they had thousands of actual volunteers, how’s that?
> G: “The Drifting Classroom”
Then you can see what James Tynion may have read before drifting into THE WOODS. And you asked for its HCF sampler, right?
Fun fact: Kazuo Umezu’s gore DRIFTING CLASSROOM was made for a children’s magazine. Even better: it was popular with girls too, so his next manga was the even more demented Gothic horror BAPTISM, serialized in a shojo mag. It just happens that Japanese girls ask for pretty diverse material. And compared to a regular shonen, it sometimes ends up being more thought-provoking or moving, like the josei scifi thriller E.S.: ETERNAL SABBATH.
(It’s kinda how Warren Ellis used to push crime manga BANANA FISH without realizing it came from a girl’s mag, or that it followed its codes of platonic same-sex romance, not unlike NIMONA or LUMBERJANES.)
Simon: That’s odd about Ronin Island, but are you talking about the one offered right now? Because they’re both $15. I guess I’ll have to see what happens with volume 2. That does seem ballsy and stupid by Boom, though.
I’d be down for a continuation of the Eclipse Airboy, if it also included a reunion of Tim Truman, Stan Woch and Tom Lyle. Sadly, we can’t have Ernie Colon, who was doing covers near the end. I’m almost certain that Sam Keith image was a pin-up, in an issue. They had a bunch of those, including a pretty cool one of Airboy and Valkyrie, by Fred Kida.
Re: Grendel….I’ve been a bit out of things; is this Brennan Wagner a family member or a coincidence? And, if it’s a child of his, did he refer to Diana Schutz as Auntie Dydie, like the rest of us?
Yep, I see that it’s his son. man, I feel old. i met Matt, in 1991, when it looked like Grendel vs Batman would never see the light of day and it wasn’t too rosy for either Mage or Grendel. Then again, at that same Con, Marvel announced James Cameron would direct Spider-Man and we all know how that turned out.
@Greg: Yes, RONIN ISLAND baits larger specs at $15 in Previews and $20 on the order form. (Its “C: #-1-#” mousetrap will let them eventually switch to any specs at any price, so this is fine.)
I’m Ryan Magnon with Panda Mony Toy Brands. Thanks for the positive feedback on Alter Nation action figures! We worked really hard to bring the kids and kids at heart something new.