Hey-o! It’s time for the next catalog of Previews, #386, with a Zenescope comic on the cover (okay, it’s the flip cover, but still!)! Let’s check things out, shall we? As always, Travis will take time away from dipping his fingers into Nutella and licking them, which he does for approximately 19 hours a day (he bought a lot of Nutella in March, everyone), to offer his thoughts in darkest black, whilst I will offer my thoughts in joyous blue as I push away all the supermodels who haven’t gotten laid in months and just can’t keep away from me any longer!
I had to wipe my fingers off. Â It took a long time. Â Also, Iâm working off the website instead of the actual book because I havenât gotten a chance to get to the comics shop.

Let’s check out DC first. The solicits are here!
What the fuck is this “Future State” anyway? Oh, wait, I don’t care that much.
Itâs stories of the future that all seem to be depressing and grimdark and boring af. Â I donât see any of them being all that interesting. Â And they weirdly arenât all taking place at the same time. Â The Black Adam story in one of the books apparently takes place in the DC 1,000,000 time period, for instance. Â And the stuff in the near future just sounds like the same old shit from recent DC books â which makes sense because I think this is a reworking of what DiDio was going to do with Generation 5 or 5G or whatever tf it was supposed to be. Â Hopefully DC will realize this stuff is lame and use the two months âoffâ to suck less, but thatâs unlikely, I know.
So, blech.
Dustin Weaver is doing a story in Batman Black and White #2. That will be very keen, I reckon.
That issue has a great lineup of creators, and a few DC debuts as well as Sophie Campbell back after a decade (since the Minx book she did?). Â I will want this trade.
Wow, they dug up Travis Charest for a variant cover for Batman/Catwoman 2 on page 35 (of DC Connect 6).
To be fair, Charest has been working, but not in American comics. It’s sad, but true!

Damn, MAD 18 on page 43 has the last Spy Vs. Spy by Peter Kuper. Â Heâs being doing that since â97, I think. Â End of an era, man.
Amy Reeder’s Amethyst is out in trade. I will get this.
It should look pretty, at least.
Image:
The solicits are sort-of here!
On page 30, W. Maxwell Prince, who’s an interesting writer, has HaHa #1, which is a series of single-issue stories by different artists, all about clowns. I mean, it will probably be good and creepy, but clowns, I hate to tell you people, aren’t scary. Suck it up, people!
Clowns can be creepy. Â Those stories a few years back about clowns creeping around in peopleâs backyards were pretty scary. Â And letâs not forget the last four years, sir!
Man, it’s amazing you can even go outside with your belief in creepy clowns. Oh, wait a minute, none of us can go outside. Carry on, sir!
I think itâs context, sir. Â In the circus, sure, clowns are a-ok, but you wake up some morning and a clown is leering at you over the end of your bed? Â Scary af!

Brandon Graham takes some time off from wrecking offensive lines and saving the Eagles’ season with Rain Like Hammers, a five-issue mini-series on page 34. Some of Graham’s work is brilliant and some is not. Which will this be?!?!?!?
Since I donât follow football, I didnât really get your joke at first. Â My mind went somewhere completely different re: Brandon Graham and offensive!
Yeah, I figured it would, but the non-creepy Brandon Graham is a terrific football player!
Hey, I canât say anything bad about Philly now! Â Between the way the vote shook out and the denizens of Paddyâs Pub, Philly is rockinâ!
Chu volume 1 is on page 38, for the low low cost of $9.99, just like Earl Scheib likes it! So far, this has been a pretty good comic. We shall see if it ever comes close to the greatness of Chew, but it’s a good book.
Iâll probably get this trade. Â Iâm still holding out hope of ever finding a relatively cheap copy of the first Smorgasbord volume of Chew!
Ales Kot’s latest, Lost Soldiers, is in trade on page 39. I run hot and cold on Kot, but he’s always interesting, at least.
Yeah, I havenât kept up with his stuff lately, but Change was amazing, and Zero was pretty damn interesting stuff. Â I might get this.
Dark Horse:
Crimson Flower is a new Matt Kindt one on page 62 about weaponizing folk tales to create assassin children, which sounds about right. Â Hee hee. Â Apparently DC is putting Revolver back in print soon, and that was pretty awesome, as I remember.
Dang, you jumped on in and started writing about stuff! I’ve been slacking off too much!
And yes, this looks neat. Kindt needs to do more writer/artist stuff, though!

Mike Mignolaâs Quarantine Sketchbook on page 66 probably has some good art and itâs for a good cause, so if youâve got the cash, itâs probably a good buy.
Some fun trades on pages 75-76. Bill & Ted Are Doomed is offered on page 75 – I’ve only read the first issue, but it’s kind of fun. Spy Island is on page 76, and the first issue of that was quite good, too. I didn’t get Breaklands in single issues, but Justin Jordan is usually an interesting writer, so that should probably be pretty good, too.
Iâll probably get the Bill & Ted. Â Havenât seen the new movie yet but our pal Le Messor reviewed it and while it doesnât sound as cool as the first two, it should still be fun.
IDW:
I’m not positive if I’ll get G.I. Joe: World on Fire (which is on page 97), but it sounds interesting and Paul Allor is a pretty good writer. I’ll have to ponder it …
Was this a series that was just coming out or something theyâre collecting from awhile ago? Â I donât remember the solicits for this one in singles.
I don’t know. I tend to glaze over at the licensed IDW stuff until I see trades, and then I pay a bit of attention.

On page 107 is the trade of My Little Pony/ Transformers: Friendship in Disguise, which sounded like a fun crossover.
On page 113, IDW reprints the Roy Thomas/Esteban Maroto Dracula: Vlad the Impaler graphic novel. I will probably get this – yes, I’m a bit tired of vampires, but Thomas is a good writer, and Maroto’s art in black and white is sure to be superb.
Page 116 has all 3 of the Star Trek The Next Generation Mirror Universe minis in one trade. Â I was always more into TNG, but the Mirror Universe is awesome. Â I hope all the evil dudes have goatees.
I hope all the evil women have goatees, too!
I think they usually have shorter skirts and maybe even boob windows, but Iâm not sure. Â Yâknow, to show things are EEEEEVIL!
Marvel:
Nothing about the whole King in Black thing? Not even, on page 2, where Marvel has the audacity to call something King in Black: Gwenom vs. Carnage, and you want to nut-punch the person who came up with “Gwenom”? Come on, Travis!
I get you, man, but this whole King in Black sounded so dumb and itâs taking so long, it seems, and on the heels of Empyre, which sounded at least as stupid … I guess itâs no real surprise that Marvel publisher John Nee got fired!
Dang, that’s harsh. You’re just angry, sir!
Larry Hama is writing Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon on page 22. That should be fun. I haven’t seen a ton of David Wachter’s stuff, but he’s pretty good, although I wonder how he’s now working for Marvel when he’s really not that high-profile an artist. Was it just that the right editor saw his work?
Well, Kevin Eastman has done a few things for Marvel lately, so maybe he recommended that someone at Marvel take a look at his TMNT cohort? Â It was hard finding the dude online, but I think he goes by Dave rather than David. Â Or else heâs trying to sound serious.
Declan Shalvey is writing and drawing what I assume is a Hulk one-shot on page 44. That should be nifty.
I don’t know what model Alex Ross used for Captain America for the cover of Captain America #27 on page 49, but the dude looks a bit puffy in the face. I do like his “I don’t have time for this shit” expression, though.
It looks like if Patrick Warburton gained some weight!

Dang, I want that Ka-Zar the Savage Omnibus on page 78. I will probably get it, too. I’m weak!
On page 79 is the omnibus of Kull the Savage. Â I think IDW had the Kull license last. Â Is Marvel trying to get all of the REH stuff, and if so, when are they going to recapture Red Sonja, I wonder?
Two savage blokes facing each other in the catalog! Who will win?!?!?!
Untold Tales of Spider-Man Omnibus is reprinted on page 81, and that series is highly recommended. Â I still need to find a couple issues of that version of Amazing Fantasy, but otherwise I believe I have all the issues in this book. Â Including the Minus 1 issue, signed by Fred Hembeck and Roger Stern!
Man, I don’t know. I dig me some Busiek, but that late ’90s art is … something. I’ll think about it.
Page 83 has the Complete Kirby War and Romance omnibus (interesting combination), which should be awesomeness. Â On the Previews order form, itâs got KIDS next to these listings, which amuses me to think that old war and romance comics are suitable for kids.
I mean, of course they are – how are you going to teach kids about the manly duties of killing Nazis and Commies and picking up the ladies? Second, when I get this (because of course I’m getting this), I really want the “romance” cover. That thing cracks me up.
Oh, thatâs definitely the better cover.
On page 84, the Marvel Masterworks reprints the complete Brother Voodoo stories. Â Itâs a bit too spendy for me, but Iâd love to see those stories.
I’m sure I will get this, because I’m foolish.
Page 87 has Marvels: Snapshots in HC, the stories curated by Kurt Busiek as a celebration of the Marvels anniversary. Â I thought they sounded cool, so Iâm going to consider this book.
Even though it’s a hardcover, it’s still cheaper than buying each issue, so yeah, I’m getting this.
There’s a Luke Cage Epic Collection on page 102. I mean, it has the issue where he gets money from Doctor Doom, so of course I’m getting this!
Sweet Christmas! Â Iâm surprised this hasnât been published before, and if it has, Iâm surprised it doesnât indicate itâs a new printing.
Dynamite:
On page 142 is The Boys: Dear Becky trade. Â I know you donât think much of the series, but I found it somewhat interesting, from what Iâve read of it, and I have most of the series. Â Eventually Iâll read it and watch the TV show.
I’ll watch the show soon enough. I refuse to read any of the comics, though!
Why would you watch the show if you wonât read the comics? Â And you say Iâm weird, man!
The source material isn’t always better, you know – I think Fight Club the movie is superior to Fight Club the book – and I’ve heard good things about the show, so I’ll give it a look. I didn’t say I’d watch the whole thing, just that I want to check it out and see if it is, in fact, better than the comic. Leave me alone, man, you’re not my dad!
OK, fine. Â Agree on Fight Club, btw.
Boom! Studios:
Read the solicits … if you dare!
Iâm looking forward to Abbott: 1973, on page 158, as the first trade was pretty damn good, about a Black woman reporter who has a connection to the supernatural. Â Iâll have to get the trade of this down the line.
I did enjoy the first trade, so I’ll check this one out, too.
Onward to the back of the book!
Aardvark-Vanaheim has a few things on page 188. Â The Batvark: XXXXX cover is going into a second printing (the Xâs stand for penis!), while the Cerebus in Hell? 2021 preview book will do what it says and preview the next year of comics. Â And I didnât get around to posting about it before the end of the Kickstarter, but thereâs a new edition of Spawn 10 that Dave did on Kickstarter, with some new art and a bunch of new covers. Â I was able to get at least the regular editions!
Also on page 188 is the new series Serial from Abstract Studios and Terry Moore, a spinoff/continuation of the series heâs been doing over the past several years. Â I need to catch up on that stuff eventually.

AfterShock has I Breathed a Body on page 190 by Zac Thompson and Andy McDonald, which is a horror comic about social media. So it’s just someone looking at their phone all day? Both Thompson and McDonald are very good creators, so I’m sure this will be groovy.
The horror happens when you canât upload content! Â Oh noes!
David Pepose, who wrote Spencer & Locke, has Scout’s Honor (page 192), which is a post-apocalyptic story in which the new society that has risen up bases their lives on a Boy Scout manual (well, not the Boy Scouts, because that would get them in trouble copyright-wise, but close enough). That’s sure to be fun!
Itâs an intriguing idea, although I guess my first question is âwhy does the new society continue to be able to read English?â
Never question languages in fiction. It’s not a good rabbit hole down which to go.
I know the Crossed + 100 arc that Alan Moore did, where he imagined Avatarâs Crossed stuff 100 years later, involved him thinking about how the language might evolve in 100 years, but otherwise, yeah, I get you.

AfterShock also has some trades on page 199 that might be keen. Join the Future is about rural inhabitants of a world in which cities dominate, and what happens when a young country girl has to fight against those evil urban dwellers. We also find Artemis and the Assassin, which is about a time traveling killer and a World War II spy trying to kill each other. It’s for the whole family!
They did sound interesting.
The new Wrong Earth series, Night and Day, is offered from Ahoy Comics on page 202. Â I still havenât read all of the first series yet. Â But Iâve read plenty of other Ahoy stuff and liked it, and Iâve been getting all the singles along the way. Â Theyâre semi-local, and I got to speak with the different members of the company last year, back when conventions were still a thing.
Wait a sec … you haven’t read some comics you’ve bought? What? This is unprecedented information!!!!!
Itâs shocking, I know.
On page 228 Atria Books has a new printing of the classic How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema. Â Itâs fun stuff. Â I distinctly remember the page showing how to make a phone call look dynamic with JJJ.
Behemoth has The Strange Disappearance of Barnabas Jones on page 229, which sounds kind of neat. A superhero has vanished, and other heroes are looking for him. Sure, why not?
I like the premise, and the cover looks cool, and the artistâs name is Kundo Krunch, so whatâs not to like?

On page 233, Candlewick Press has a comic book adaptation of The Great Gatsby … which is the second one coming out in less than a year. Is there something in the water? Very strange.
Thatâs right, there was another one, wasnât there? Â I guess people are looking back on the Jazz Age because itâs about a century ago and itâs been so romanticized?
Also possibly because the decadence of the time makes us consider our own times. Oh, the self-reflection!
On page 235 Cinebook has an interesting sounding premise with HSE: Human Stock Exchange volume 1 (of 3), where in the near future individuals are listed on the stock exchange and a man tries to take advantage of an opportunity he finds with this.
I’m torn about the Whisper Omnibus volume 2 on page 237 from ComicMix. On the one hand, it’s a good series and so I want to read it. On the other hand, it’s 60 (!) dollars. On the other, other hand, it’s 468 pages. Hmmm …
18 issues for 60 bucks isnât a bad deal, especially for a series that is hard to find. Â I mean, you can probably find the First issues for about that or even less, so I guess it depends on how good the ComicMix collections look, and if you want it all in one book or want it in singles.
Also on page 237 from David Zwirner Books is Crumbâs World, all about R. Crumb, but what really struck me about it is that the University Press of Mississippi book on page 313, R. Crumb: Literature, Autobiography, and the Quest for Self uses the exact same Crumb drawing for the cover. Â So weird!

Disney – Hyperion has a YA graphic novel on page 237 that sounds interesting. Be More Chill is about a nerd who swallows a pill-sized supercomputer that helps him be cool, but of course it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Nick Bertozzi draws it, so it will look very good, but the premise sounds weird but fun.
Thatâs funny that Bertozzi is working for the Mouse, when however many years back there was a bit of a kerfuffle over a preview of his book The Salon appearing in a Free Comic Book Day book and featuring Picasso in the nude.
Fantagraphics has Monsters by Barry Windsor-Smith on page 248, and dang, I really hope this comes out in January when it’s supposed to. Windsor-Smith has been working on this for 35 (!) years, since it was a Hulk story for Marvel, and I recently saw some pages from it, and they are, not surprisingly, achingly beautiful. I’ve been looking forward to this for some years, so I’m glad it’s (almost) here!
That cover art almost looks like a Frank Miller drawing from Sin City, more than any BWS art Iâve seen. Â Itâs a weird thing for me to see. Â Iâve heard about this for ages, and I may spring for this.

Also from Fanta on the same page is Betoâs Hypnotwist/Scarlet by Starlight, collecting and expanding on stories from Love and Rockets New Stories (of course this is after I finally have all of the volumes, after missing a couple back in the day but having my lovely girlfriend getting the ones I missed for presents over the past year or so). Â Apparently Fanta is too cool to use the term âflip bookâ for this, probably being pedantic that that term should refer to crude animation from flipping the corner of a book and making drawings âmoveâ. Â /weird rant
Page 258 has Space Bastards from Humanoids, about a group of postal couriers in the future, where Earth has expanded out into the universe. Â The couriers have to get the packages to their destinations or else they donât get the money, so hijinx ensue. Â Apparently thereâs a lot of stuff planned for this concept, with artists like Bisley and some 2000AD guys involved, and for the first book here, Darick Robertson does the art. Â I hope a Space Beaver crossover happens!
I was curious about this, because it does sound fun, and if they’re doing an anthology-esque series, that would be neat.
Yeah, from what Iâve read, theyâre going to do separate arcs and each one will be tailored to the artist drawing it. Â I figure since this is a one shot intro to the concept, itâs probably a good way to try it.
On page 264 Itâs Alive has Breathers 5 and Kona 1 and 2, which all sound neat, particularly Kona, sort of a savage dude who protects Monster Isle. Â I keep getting emails that Itâs Alive is in a shaky financial situation, so if youâre interested in this stuff, make sure to pre-order, folks!
Wow, a comics publisher in shaky financial straits? That’s a surprise. I do hope they figure it out – it’s a cool little publisher.
On page 266 thereâs an interesting one from New Friday and the Michaud Brothers, Home volume 1, where the brothers are telling separate stories in a shared sci-fi universe. Â It was a finalist for an award, so itâs probably decent!
On page 284, Oni offers the trade of Rogue Planet by Cullen Bunn and Andy McDonald. I don’t know if this is the only volume, but the story sounded neat: the crew of a spaceship land on a planet that isn’t in a solar system and find horrors. You know, like you do. Should be nifty.
Itâs listed as if itâs a self-contained volume online, but that doesnât mean much. Â This does sound cool, and I like these creators.
On page 282, to go back a page, thereâs The Hazards of Love, which made me wonder if it was an adaptation of the Decemberists album of the same name (I … donât think so?), but I must highlight the fact that the creator is Stan Stanley, and the book features âa no-nonsense medium from the lesbian mafiaâ, which is quite the intriguing description!
I might actually get this, because it does sound interesting, but dear God, that “author letter” on page 283 makes me want to vomit. It’s like it was run through a random 2020 buzzword generator. Ye gods.

2000AD/Rebellion has the usual slate of goodness on page 293. Â Highlights include the 2000AD Regened trade, collecting stories of the 2000AD characters as younger people; Essential Judge Dredd Apocalypse War, about … well, what it says; and The Fictional Man, a novel by Al Ewing, one of the most interesting writers out there writing about technology that has made fictional characters real, and how those characters are dealing with life. Â Sounds cool.
I’ll have to get the trade of It Eat What Feeds It on page 295 from Scout. A dim-witted teenager gets a job in a creepy mansion in the Louisiana bayou, and his middle-aged employer is up to something. Sounds fun.
That sounded really interesting, and the trade is only 10 bucks (of course, I think it may have only been 3 issues, but still, thatâs cheaper than singles!). Â They also have other cool stuff on this page and the next, with Ninja Nuns: Bad Habits Die Hard, a spinoff of Metalshark Bro (which was pretty fun from what Iâve read) and a Jason Copland cover; Sweet Downfall, which seems to riff on Scud the Disposable Assassin a bit with a crash test dummy repurposed as an assassin, but who falls in love with a mermaid that heâs supposed to kill â this is one of those preview books that Scout doesnât call a preview book, so Iâll wait for the trade; and the Scoot books for kids, which are all 2 bucks but could be fun, with Loot, about a Lara Croft-ish young woman who treasure hunts being the most interesting sounding one.
Sweet Downfall is by Stefano Cardoselli, who is bonkers, so that should be fun.

On page 311 is Hero Hourly, a one shot from 21 Pulp, about the more mundane side of superheroing. Â Itâs been done by others, but the cover art looks quite good (of course, thatâs not the same artist as the interior …).
On 312 we have the usual goodness from TwoMorrows, with Comic Book Creator 25 discussing the new BWS book we talked about up above, and Old Gods and New, the 80th issue of Jack Kirby Collector, discussing the Fourth World saga. Â Should be sweet stuff!
Up above I mentioned the Crumb book from University Press of Mississippi, and here Iâll mention that page 313 also features a book on Ditko called Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity, which posits that Ditkoâs ideology is âmystic liberalismâ, whatever tf that means. Â (It also says that Ditko solely created Doctor Strange â is that the new consensus?).
I guess the pendulum is swinging the other way now that Lee’s dead – HE MADE NO CONTRIBUTION WHATSOEVER TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE!!!!!
I try to always snag the Hero Initiative books that feature a bunch of creators doing sketches on blank cover comics for a âsignificantâ issue, and Valiant has Bloodshot 50 Project on page 318, so Iâll be getting that. Â While Iâm talking about Bloodshot, that cover for #10 on page 315 by Bisley has got to be THE most restrained Bisley art Iâve ever seen. Â Whatâs up with that?
I mean, it’s Bloodshot, so maybe he just wasn’t feeling it. “Give me my cheque,” he muttered, as he got done with the cover as quickly as possible so he could return to watching Britain’s Got Talent.

I’m not sure if I’m going to get Ascencia (which is on page 328 from Wake Entertainment), but the first issue, at least, is drawn by Tony Parker, who’s a very good artist and a heck of a nice guy, so I’ll think on it when and if we see a trade.
It sounds interesting, about immortals and what someone will do to become one/gain power. Â For some reason itâs not listed on the catalog page online under Wake, but itâs under Diamond for some reason. Â I think Wake is a new company, so thatâs probably the reason? Â But at the end of the solicit online, it says âleave space for a 2-column spotlightâ. Â Oops.

On page 338 Digital Manga Distribution has a couple of oddly titled ones with The Day I Was Forced to Marry God and The Day I Divorced God (typo on the cover there!), which would be cool weird fantasy things, but itâs actually autobio about a woman who was raised a Jehovahâs Witness and how she attempted to extract herself from the religion years later. Â I was thinking about how some media outlets are talking about the people sad about Trumpâs loss and particularly the QAnon believers who are lost at sea (since the whole thing was total bullshit), and how it sounds to me not unlike doomsday cults and apocalyptic sects of religions, where some charismatic leader predicts a day of reckoning coming, sometimes predicting the end of the world on a specific date, and then how the cult or sect has to shift their beliefs to encompass the fact that the world actually didnât end that particular day. Â These people are going to adjust and spin new stories to make reality make sense to them again. Â Iâm not sure I have a point here, but it was on my mind.
What’s on my mind is whether you actually get any of these manga or if you just trawl through the manga sections to find weird-ass titles. The world deserves an answer, Pelkie!
I think the last manga I actually bought was the first 3 volumes of Gleipnir, which I think I just spelled right, but of course I have not read it yet.
On the flip side is M51 and the Funko Pops from Itâs Always Sunny in Philadelphia, specifically from âThe Nightman Comethâ episode, where Charlie writes a musical. Â Such a great show, and such cool looking figures. Â Since mâlady and I enjoy the show so much and we already have a bunch of Funkos around, Iâll probably be getting these.
We watched the first season, I think, and did not enjoy it at all. It’s great that it’s apparently going to run until the end of time, but man, we did not think it was even remotely funny.
I do feel the need to point out that if you only watched the first season, you didnât get to the episodes where Danny DeVito joined the show. Â I think the show improved at that point, but iirc the first seasonâs humor is similar to the rest of the show, so if you didnât like those episodes, you probably wonât change your mind that much watching more. Â Season 13, the one before the more recent season, was absolutely fantastic, though. Â I was actually thinking about doing a run-through of the series and ranking episodes, but you know me, thinking Iâm going to write more than I do.
I’ve heard DeVito makes it better, but I’ve also heard that the first season is a good barometer of the show, so yeah, there are too many other things I want to watch.
On M107 is a batch of rubber duckies that are dressed like the Friends characters. Â I will probably show these to my girlfriend, and she will probably want them!
Well, that’s it for this month. There’s still time to check out what’s in the offing for January and beyond, so take a look. Thanks for reading, everyone!
Flippin’ through “Previews” is here – yay!
It’s always fun to read about 2 old guys in their mid-life crisis bickering about which comics to buy or not buy depending on their mood! lol
FUTURE STATE; I don’t give a flying fig about it either. As long as it doesn’t interfere with whatever I get.
SERIAL: Another fun-filled, humor-filled creation from Terry Moore – is always worth a read for me. Hope it lasts longer than 10 issues this time ’round.
WHISPER: Is this the First Comics series written by Steve Grant?
KA-ZAR Omnibus: Does this include the ones drawn by Brent Anderson? – I’ve always wanted to read those issues.
MONSTER: Haven’t seen or read any BWS work since STORYTELLER. He’s always worth a read.
Well, I leave you two gents to your bromance/bickering and please, get a room!
Your significant others are trying to get some sleep! đ
Mid-life crisis?! I resemble that remark!
Yeah, Whisper is the First series.
Ka-Zar is the Anderson stuff.
Tom: “Mid-life” crisis? I’m thinking “end-of-life” crisis, the way I feel sometimes!!!!!
Wait, is that Kona thing the character Sam Glanzman drew? New stories?
I think the general consensus is that Ditko pretty much plotted Dr Strange on his own, while drawing and Stan added dialogue after, with no prior knowledge of the plot. To say he had not part in it is ridiculous. I have seen similar things about Kirby’s Tales of Asgard stories, that he pretty much plotted them himself. Fantastic Four seems more a mix of Lee & Kirby and Spider-Man Lee & Ditko, though Ditko claimed that he plotted Spidey himself, as he wasn’t really speaking to Stan, by the time things went south and Stan made alterations via dialogue, later. With Ditko, I think he was doing his own thing, once he soured on Marvel and probably wasn’t dealing with Stan, at all and Stan was seeing the stories fresh. The Kirby Collector has shown that, with Kirby, Jack had his own dialogue, based on the plot in his head, written in the margins, which Stan mostly ignored and wrote dialogue, based on the plot in his head. The end result is probably a truer mix of the pair. Hard to fully separate fact from supposition, based on all parties’ bad memories and grudges.
Sounds like that Ditko thing is based on internet scholarship and little else. The idea of Ditko work having any ‘liberal” connotation, in the political sense is absurd. Ditko’s Randian philosophy is completely at odds with liberal political ideology. That was Rand’s whole point; rejecting the idea of the collective good for individualism. Publish or perish, I suppose, regardless of how inaccurate.
The Strange Disappearance of Barnabas Jones? It was cancelled. Who reads a comic about the inner workings of CBS television and Quinn Martin Productions?:)
Jeff: I’d read that comic! đ
The Itâs Alive! Kona thing is reprinting the original Glanzman stuff. Only the covers are new (or new-ish, because I think the covers are from awhile ago). PS Artbooks has also been soliciting HCs of the series as well, but I think Itâs Alive is remastering the work, and I donât know about PS. I do know that Itâs Alive was first by awhile. So itâs bad form on PS to be soliciting these. Why split the small audience at all?
Zenescope is on the cover of Previews? So people actually buy Zenescope titles? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in person. Are they more than T&A?
I’ve tried to read The Boys a couple times since the show is decent but it is just so vile and I can’t get past the fact that they made the main character look like Simon Pegg.
Some years ago, Zenescope did an adaptation of The Straw Men, a novel I’ve not read but which apparently is pretty good. They actually hired Brett Weldele to draw it, but out of 12 issues, only 5 came out, and I bought them. So there you go. I also bought one trade a few years ago, because the writer was someone I liked, and it wasn’t bad. But for the most part, they’re poorly-drawn books with less T&A than you might expect, mainly because I imagine everyone buys them for the covers. They seem to be doing okay, though, so whatever.
The Boys just showed up on Cronin’s Top 100 Runs list, and I gave it an appropriate skewering!