Friday Night Fights: Machine Man!

It's Machine Man vs. Sir Topham Hatt! Yeah! Knock his ass back to Sodor!

Bahlactus is the Ayatollah of Rock-and-Rollah! I can prove this with math!

Friday Night Fights: Bloodstone

Elsa Bloodstone gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "whammy bar". KERRANG!!!

Special bonus fight! Elsa vs. a punk-ass koala!



In other news: Bahlactus is so bad he's his own damn herald!

(Yes, this is a repeat but it didn't make it into the original FNF so this is like the Essential version - except it's in color.)

Linksville: Population 3

Added to the sidebar: Phoning It In

My research into the "Todd Goldman is an Enormous Douche" situation hipped me to the existence of You Thought We Wouldn't Notice, a blog which blows the whistle on instances of plagiarism.

A few days ago, Comics Should Be Good ran an essay by Stuart Immonen on art, computers and photoreferencing.

And just for the hell of it, here's a cover that didn't make it into one of the earlier Awesome Cover Friday installments but I'm throwing it in here 'cause I like it:

More to the point, I like team-ups which highlight the similarities and differences between the characters. Batman has a lot of crossover with Miracle Man in that they are both (for the most part) regular guys who can do some incredible things.

Also, "Mile High Tombstone".

Mile High Tombstone!

That's the kind of copy that sells a comic book.

Eagle Awards

Here's what Dirk Anger has to say about being nominated for an Eagle Award for "Favorite Comics Villain":

GO VOTE!

Nextwave #12 - Marvel (2007)

It says something about the current state of Marvel that the titles I like the most are the ones which make fun of current events. Nextwave doesn't just make fun of Marvel continuity it takes it into the alley and puts a bullet through its neck. You know all that stuff from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe that made you slightly insane when you read it? Warren Ellis takes all of that, throws it in a blender and gives it a bottle of tequila. Then he makes it fight all the other weird stuff. He made Forbush Man sinister, for God's sake!

Stuart Immonen. Damn. His art is always good but he knocks this out of the park. He doesn't just draw Nextwave he designs it. Check out this page. Immonen (bless his li'l Canadian heart) is the perfect choice for Ellis's fucked-up script. The action and character design both have the right combination of cool and wacky. There is no disconnect between word and picture here and that's the highest praise I can give to a creative team.

This is the last issue of the run but there are solid rumors that Nextwave will live on as several miniseries. It ends the way it began: with explosions and expletives and other things that begin with "ex". The first trade is out and the last six issues should end up between two covers in the near future. If you didn't read the singles on this (shame on you!) pick up the trades. Unless you're, y'know, allergic to fun.

Nextwave #2 - Marvel (2006)

I love Nextwave like an illegitimate child who showed up on my doorstep with a suitcase full of twenty-dollar bills and porn.

Nextwave is funny.

It is also a damn good action comic.

These things are to be expected from Warren Ellis and it's nice to see them coming together in this manner. Stuart Immonen isn't just drawing this thing he's designing it! His style for this book is sort of a Bruce-Timm-Meets-Jerry-Bruckheimer thing that works really well with the mescaline trip that is the storyline.

Wade von Grawbadger's inks are spot on and enhance the pencils beautifully. The colors by Dave McCalg are vivid and over the top just like everything else about this book. Also, I will take any opportunity to type the words "Grawbadger" and "McCalg".

I am having so much fun reading this. So is Mike Sterling. If two comics bloggers agree on something it's officially a movement, you know. Perhaps we should have chosen something more earth-shaking than "I'm really enjoying this comic". Eh, we'll do better next time.

If you missed the first issue you can still pick this one up and, thanks to the Primer on the first page, catch up on the story, such as it is. Really, all you need to know is that Nextwave (led by Monica Rambeau, aka Photon, aka Capt. Marvel) is fighting Fin Fang Foom.

Yeah, this guy:



Ellis and Immonen are really kicking ass on this book. If you're the type who takes comic continuity too seriously, stay away from this one. If you like to laugh at the many quirks of this hobby of ours, check it out. It's lowbrow, violent, irreverent and hilarious. Ellis has put three of my favorite characters from Marvel's history (Captain Marvel, Boom-Boom and Machine Man) on a team together blowing lots and lots of stuff up. Also, he takes a much-deserved stab at the "Scarlet Witch goes bonkers and kills, like, everyone" storyline and then uses it as the setup for a dick joke.

Genius!

It's like The Authority mixed with a frat party.

I will now refrain from using the term "high-octane" in this review.

Damn.