(Dr.) Strange things are afoot

Happy Seventh Blogday to Neilalien!

Spirits In The Material World

There are a few things in this report from NYCC that do not fill me with hope regarding the proposed Spirit movie. Chief among them: Frank Miller's involvement. I am really enjoying Darwyn Cook's comic and I adore Eisner's work but it looks like they might Sin City-ize this film and that would not be a good thing. Denny Colt does not need to be played by Bruce Willis.

Although the possibility of an animated version makes me feel a bit better.

One more thing

Mike Richardson-Bryan reveals Batman's Five Stages of Grief

Brad Pitt to play Owly (That can't be right)

I loves me some Owly. Owly for president! Andy Runton talks about the li'l feller.



"Make your own comic" contest.

This article about Wondercon has a nice bit in the middle about Al Feldstein, the editor of MAD

Not entirely comics-related but nearly so: Straczynski develops "World War Z for Brad Pitt.

CBR has a fairly long piece about DC's Minx line.

Civil War is teh suk

Jim Roeg actually read all the Civil War issues! Not only that, he wrote an excellent essay about them which echoes (and expands upon) my thoughts about Mark Millar's writing.

The Immortal Iron Fist #3 - Marvel (2007)

There were 1652 artists involved in this issue. OK, four but they sure do take up a lot of real estate on the credits page. David Aja, as the guy drawing the modern-day stuff, did the vast majority of the art. Travel Foreman, Derek Fridolfs and Russ Heath contributed some brief "Iron Fists of Yore" inserts. They're all good but Aja's work is outstanding. From close-ups to sweeping cityscapes, every panel of his is gorgeous and evocative. Helping out all the artists is Matt Hollingsworth on colors. His palette is mostly muted which works perfectly with the story and setting. The art is the star of this show.

The story is good. There's nothing ground-breaking, just a good, solid "Iron Fist vs. Hydra" tale. It's possible to write Hydra for laughs, not as easy as it is to do that with A.I.M., but the jokes tell themselves what with the pajamas and the Nazis and such. Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction did not go that route. Their Hydra is full of scary, brainwashed badasses you don't want to end up on the wrong side of. Iron Fist's opponents in this story are drawn from every cool Hong Kong movie out there. It's even got twins who turn into cranes! That right there was worth the price of admission.

The Civil War storyline creeps its way into the title here and there but for the most part it stays in the background where it belongs.

Excellent art + good story + cool bad guys = This stays in my hold box.

Local #8 - Oni (2007)

Looking for a non-superhero comic? Local may be the one for you. It sure is for me. The series follows Megan, a sort of indie everywoman, as she moves from city to city. She was 18 in the first issue and each subsequent story moves forward about a year so the final issue (#12) will wrap up when she's 30. Megan is truly dynamic. She is not only in a different city each issue she is a different person. We watch her grow and change and while the process is bumpy at times it's an enjoyable ride.

There are no superpowers or supernatural elements, here. Megan runs into the same situations the reader might. She makes mistakes, she sometimes learns from them and things don't always get wrapped up neatly. The issues have been presented in various manners. One of them juxtaposed a letter from Megan to her cousin with that cousin's daily life. This issue finds Megan waitressing in Chicago. She's 26 now and starting to grow out of a lot of the behaviors of her youth. Both the writer, Brian Wood, and the artist, Ryan Kelly, refer to this issue as a "Love Story" (quotes included) and it certainly is that. It's not a romantic comedy. In fact, it's almost not romantic at all and that is a refreshing change from the Official Hollywood Version.

The interiors are black-and-white which gives it a Cinéma Vérité feel. It's as if we're getting to see more than was intended which adds an extra thrill to the stories. The back issues should still be around and since each story is self-contained it doesn't really matter where you start. It's nice to see Megan's progression from place to place but the chronology is not vital to enjoyment of the series.

I'll be sad to see this one end and I'd like to see Wood and Kelly team up again.

I'm just talkin' 'bout linkblogging

Chris Sims saves you twenty five bucks.

Roman Dirge (of Lenore and other projects) has this to say after a piece of his ceiling fell on him: "You can't conquer the world by feeling bad for yourself and playing Warcraft all day." Good advice for us all.

IGN reports that Edgar Wright is set to adapt Ant Man and Scott Pilgrim as movies. Weird combination.

21 Demons is either going to be made of pure awesome or it will make me feel older just for opening it. I'll let this description speak for itself:

"Merged with the power of a dragon , elf and angel the lead character, Neil Smithers - a British fire-fighter - finds himself caught in the immortal war between heaven and hell."

Oh, and don't forget about Free Comic Book Day!

The Spirit #3 - DC (2007)

The first two issues of Darwyn Cooke's resurrection of The Spirit were outstanding but issue #3 is the first one that felt like the Eisner comics. This is not to say that Cooke (who is writing as well as drawing) is doing Eisner all over again. With this issue, Cooke has made the character his own while building on the original material. It's like a cover of a jazz standard. The same melody is there but the new performer makes it different with his voice and interpretation. The words and images mesh so smoothly that I actually heard voices in my head during the voiceover panels.

J. Bone (inks) and Dave Stewart (colors) build on Cooke's pencils to turn each issue into a travelogue of The Spirit's world. Said world owes as much to Bruce Timm's Gotham City and psychedelia as it does to Eisner. It's a cool, scary, dangerous-looking place. You can keep your Sin Cities, I want to move next door to The Spirit.

The Spirit is the kind of guy who just doesn't get down. Bad things happen to him on a regular basis but he continues to leap into danger with a grin and a wink. The story in this issue is my favorite so far. Issue #2 gave it some stiff competition but I'm a sucker for "Secret Origin" stories. The characters are well-developed and interesting. Even the "Central-Casting" mad scientist has some entertaining quirks.

If you like things that are cool, check out The Spirit.

Also, check out the cover for issue #2. This is one of my favorite covers ever. It's an excellent shorthand for the tone of the series. Other cover artists should pay attention to how effective Cooke's images are. You know what you're getting into but it leaves all kinds of room for surprises.

Support Your FLCS

This week's haul was light again. What is up with that? I don't have any Civil War or 52-related titles on my pull list (well, except for Iron Fist which acknowledges CW as little as it can get away with) so that shouldn't be slowing them down. I guess I've just managed to spread my titles evenly over the release schedule. Financially it's a boon, though, since I'm spending far less per week at the FLCS than I am used to.

Speaking of comic shops, I urge you to go to a funnybook store near you and, y'know, buy some comics. Better yet, bring a friend or relative along! If you know of a good store, tell your friends. Set up a pull list if you can. Buy some trades. Look through their back issues for Silver-Age stories you can make fun of in your blog.

Finally, Warren Ellis asked the following question in the latest BAD SIGNAL:

"Is 'Nurse Igor' a bad name for a female character?"

Why would he even ask such a question? The universal answer can only be a resounding "No". "Nurse Igor" is quite possibly the best name for any sort of character ever.

Although, Captain Satan is certainly high on the list.

New (to me) blogs and 300

Added to the sidebar: The Illest Integer, Ye Olde Comick Booke Blogge, BibliOdyssey.

Oh, and Again with the comics.

Every trailer I see for 300 makes me want to see it more. I liked the graphic novel and it looks like this movie will work really well on screen. I thought Sin City didn't translate well. Well, actually, I thought it translated too well. Those testosterone-filled stories worked remarkably well in book form but when they were put through the 3-D photocopy effect of the movie they came off as a weird mix of tedious and disgusting.

300 looks like it's going to be the sort of testosterone-filled story that will really kick ass as a movie. Oh, and it's gonna be on IMAX. Dang.

Things I Wish I'd Thought Of

Original content tomorrow. Until then, enjoy this comment from Kin Leung on Comic Geek Speak's Quarters In The Jar section.

If the Illuminati ever becomes a movie, may I suggest:

Reed Richards =Anthony Michael Hall =the Brain
Black Bolt =Ally Sheedy =the Quiet One
Doctor Strange =Judd Nelson =the Stoner
Iron Man =Emilio Estevez =the Jock
Namor =Molly Ringwald =the Princess
Professor X =Paul Gleason =the Principal

I would call it "Michael Bendis Ultimate Breakfast Club"

Post-day-off Linkblogging

Todd Alcott and Chris Sims each show us that nothing says "Presidents Day" like comics!

MySpace opens comics hub. Now comic geeks can hang out online with all the bands and sluts.

Check out this Comic Book Exhibit at FSU. Nothing senses-shattering for your average comic geek but there are some cool comments throughout.

And finally: The Complete Pogo is coming!

Gødland #16 - Image (2007)

What can you get for 60 cents these days? A kick in the head, sure, but even that's not as much fun as Gødland! This issue is really cheap in order to serve as a jumping-on point for Gødland.

It's a recap of the series' previous events and, boy, a lot has happened since issue #1. Speaking of #1, you can view the whole thing online at this Newsarama page. It'll make a nice companion to the recap issue.

As recaps go, this one is pretty good. It's not quite the comic version of a clip show but it's close. It has all original art and it wraps it in a discussion among America's military dudes about how to handle the "Adam Archer Problem". There's even a little bit of new story in this issue and a fun ending.

So, go ahead, plunk down a little change, check out the first-issue link above (or the one for #8 right here) and see if Gødland's totally your bag, baby.

It's totally mine!

Quick Link

Brian Cronin at Comics Should Be Good is doing an excellent series on Comic Book Urban Legends. Here's the latest installment.

Stormwatch: Post Human Division #4 - Wildstorm (2007)

I really liked Warren Ellis's run on Stormwatch. Apparently, Christos Gage did too. This issue of Stormwatch: PHD makes several references to that era. It even has a "ladies' night out" scene reminiscent of one of Ellis's own. This is not to say that Gage is aping Ellis; he has made Stormwatch his own. The collection of characters looks kind of like "Sidekick Squad meets the Legion of Substitute Heroes" but each of them kicks ass in his or her own way. Their abilities are cool as are their personalities. There's the usual couple of ex-bad guys to keep things interesting but the nominal good guys are just as messed up.

Given that we're only two or three months away from issue #6 there may be a trade out soon but this book reads quite well as individual issues. Each one has been fairly self-contained with the occasional reference to earlier issues.

Doug Mahnke's art is squiggly and weird-looking and it works beautifully with this book. He really plays up the weirdness factor of non-powered guys fighting super villains. Also, there's a short scene between Jackson King and the leader of the PHD which I'm still laughing about and it's largely due to Mahnke's art.

My favorite part of this comic is how non-freaked-out the members of this team are when faced with something like the guy on the cover up there. Their lack of powers is more than made up for by their experience. If you like to see well-rounded characters kick ass, this may be the book for you.

Green Lantern Corps #9 - DC (2007)

The "Green Lantern Corpse" storyline is over and the ending was pretty cool. Keith Champagne writes Guy Gardner as a better-rounded character than others have. Gardner takes his role as a Green Lantern seriously even if he's the "rogue cop nobody wants to partner with". This storyline has Gardner mixed up with the GLC's black ops division. They're so secret they don't even know they're in it. It's a "plausible deniability" outfit for the Guardians of the Galaxy and you'd think that it would be right up Gardner's alley.

Not entirely.

That conflict is a lot of fun to read and Champagne never lets it get tedious.

Also, we get to see what a badass Durlan can do. For those of you with more of a life than I have, Durlans are shapeshifters. You see, Chameleon from the Legion of Super-Heroes is a Durlan and... Never mind. This Durlan subscribes to the "Disney Magicians' Duel" school of fighting and he kicks ass.

The art (Patrick Gleason on pencils, Prentiss Rollins & Ray Snyder on inks) is not spectacular but it works with the story. There were a couple of action scenes I had to look at twice to get what was going on but there were no major visual hurdles. Moose Baumann did an excellent job on the colors, as usual. The explosions and energy blasts really popped.

I don't care much for the current Green Lantern title but that's because it's not "Corps"-y enough for me. These guys are doing great things with the Corps and I'm looking forward to issue #10.

Astonishing X-Men #20 - Marvel (2007)

Joss Whedon did a great job revealing Astonishing X-Men's big surprise (i.e. bringing Colossus back). This issue is full of little surprises. I like pleasant surprises. They help alleviate the crushing pressure of existence and keep me from curling up in a corner and weeping all day.

Woah. Sorry about that.

But seriously, folks, Whedon gets the X-Men. He groks what makes them cool and he does interesting things with their relationships. There are a couple of panels which show how comfortable Emma is with her powers as well as her attitude towards the world. Much like his TV shows and movies Whedon balances the funny with the deep, the contemplative with the ass kicking.

The only speedbump in this storyline for me is the storyline itself. I find the whole interstellar prophecy thing a bit silly but I am enjoying the stuff that's happening because of it. If you haven't picked up the issues leading up to this one you're probably better off waiting for the trade. It should be a really good read all at once.

John Cassaday's art has been consistently good since issue #1 but this time he gets some really big things to draw. If Planetary has taught us anything it's that Cassaday excels at drawing big things in space. When I become a famous comic writer I'm gonna write a comic which features Mogo and The Celestials as a crossover team. They'll fly around the universe fighting crime. The entire series will have four enormous panels that you'll have to assemble after you've bought all the issues and Cassaday will draw it. After that I'll retire to my island and eat nutella all day.

JLA: The "L" is for Love

Todd Alcott brings us some Love: JLA Style just in time for Significant-Other-Guilt-Trip Day.

Webcomics are people, too

Shortpacked takes on the Secret origins of the Justice League

Watchmen News

Hmmm.

Yesterday's Comics Today!

Here's a quick rundown of my opinions on my latest haul. It was a light week so there aren't many.

New Universal #3 - Marvel (2007)

Salvador Larroca's art continues to blow me away. Warren Ellis is giving Larroca some really good things to draw. This issue establishes more of the history of the world and makes it even cooler than the first two issues did. The extended infodump/argument partway through the book was the only speedbump.

Behold the art!



Johah Hex #16 - DC (2007)


Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are the new Giffen and DeMatteis. They are an awesome writing team with incredible range. They are this close to being on my "I will buy anything by these guys" list. This new story is your typical "woman with incredibly bad life becomes a one-eyed badass" tale and it's off to a damn good start. The art is spectacular, as well. The only thing that keeps me from completely enjoying this book is the way they write western accents. I have no problem with dropping all the final g's but the frequent use of "yore" for "your" is getting on my nerves.


Fell #7 - Image (2007)

This issue has Ben Templesmith's best art yet. Check out the cover:



The interior has more of the same.

Speaking of more of the same, Warren Ellis's writing on this issue is just that. Which is to say it's good. We learn a little more about Snowtown, a little more about Fell and we get to see him out-clever himself. Good stuff all for a buck 99!


Astro City: The Dark Age Book 2 #2 - Wildstorm (2007)


This book gets better with every page. The Apollo Eleven show up and everyone freaks out. Well, as much as anyone in Astro City is able to freak out anymore.

"Another giant spectral figure, you say? Is this one setting anything on fire? Then let it be."

The "everyman" reaction to superhero antics has been done many times but the way the two main characters are hooked into the action makes for a compelling read. Excellent art, too.

A few more links

Real content later today but check out the stuff below.

Mike Sterling brings us a Green Arrow distillation. If Kevin Smith's run had looked more like this I would have kept reading.

Todd Alcott adds to the ongoing goo vs. radiation discussion.

Amanda Waller was on my list for an upcoming installment of the "Badass Files" but Tom Foss beat me to the punch. Get it? Badass? Punch? Oh, I kill me.

Comic Update-A-Tron Lives!

This has been covered elsewhere but I want to shout it from the rooftops. Tales From The Longbox has come up with a replacement for the defunct Comics-Weblog-Update-A-Tron.

Here it is!

Check it out and click on a few blogs you don't recognize. If you want to view multiple entries from the updater open each one in a different tab or window, otherwise you'll only get one of them in window within the main page.

A few links before I go

I'm headed to Chattacon in a few minutes but I wanted to throw some links your way first.

WikiProject: Comics needs your help. Each of us has an obscure comic or artist that we know way too much about. Here's your chance to write about it.

RIP, Drew Posada

Dashing Dave Campbell publishes the post I wish I had about Civil War.

Heidi Meeley from Comics Fairplay goes out on a limb to say that buying crappy comics sucks. Let's all join her in the fight against hold-box inertia.

Scott from Polite Dissent reviews another PSA comic and throws in a little Civil War bashing, too!

Finally, I've been reading Sequentially Speaking a lot lately. It possesses a high degree of excellence.

La'ers!

Oh...crap

The images above are from recent covers of Ultimate Vision and Mighty Avengers.

Just when I think comics can't surprise me someone uses "Frank Cho" and "Ultron" in the same sentence and they're not being ironic. There's a strong tradition of cheesecake in comics. I have no problem with it in general but come on! Did Ultron wake up one morning and say, "It's not enough to crush Dr. Pym beneath my adamantium heel; I need to look smokin' hot while doing so!"?

What's next? Greg Land's sexy reinterpretation of Nimrod?

Thunderbolts #110 - Marvel (2007)

I will pick up the first issue of anything Warren Ellis writes. Usually, I pick up all of the following issues (see Nextwave and New Universal). Other times I only pick up a few and then I decide it's not for me (see Jack Cross).

This time, I'm not even going to buy #111.

It's not all Ellis' fault. He wasn't given much to work with, here, given that this title is forced to be mired in the Civil War storyline. I got this issue because I was interested to see what Ellis does with this group of characters but I'm not impressed with this introduction. I read Ellis books because I really like his take on what people with superpowers are like. I also like the way he writes dialogue and action scenes. I don't like Thunderbolts #110 because it's like there's no Ellis in it.

Sure, Norman Osborne starts the issue off by "having a talk" with Bullseye in a darkened room and he goes all "I am the closest thing to God" on him but even that doesn't have the right feel. Ellis gets in a couple of digs at popular culture and what a bunch of sheep the general public is, but there isn't any bite to it.

I don't know. Maybe my distatse for the whole Civil War: Frontline thing has soured me on anything it touches but this book doesn't interest me at all. I liked the idea of Thunderbolts back when Kurt Busiek created them. I also liked Suicide Squad a lot when Ostrander was writing it. I bring up Suicide Squad because that's closer to what we have in this T-Bolts incarnation. Except Amanda Waller never put on a green suit and lobbed explosive pumpkins at people.

Or, did she?

Anyway, this isn't so much a review as a reaction. If you are into the Civil War, this is an excellent continuation of the story. If you don't like it, stick with New Universal or one of the other books that has yet to be infected by this meta story.

In related news: Noetic Concordance's own Chuck W pointed me towards this parody of Civil War from the excellent Scans Daily LJ community.

Civil War Gives Me Such Schfvilkus

This post from The Fortress of Soliloquy goes into the level of detail about the recent Civil War dumbassery that I wish I could.

The Badass Files #2 - Nathan Kane

(I couldn't find a good portrait shot of Nathan Kane online and my scanner's not cooperating with me right now so here's a picture of Avery Brooks. )

Nathan Kane appears in the miniseries Ocean and he is a badass. Unlike many other badasses, Kane beats people up WITH HIS BRAIN! That's right. Nathan Kane is a Warren Ellis protagonist which means that he is smarter than those around him and he uses those smarts to obliterate his opposition.

Kane doesn't go looking for trouble but he's not afraid to mix it up when people screw with his stuff. Therefore he has a rating of .74 Waynes*.

First off, he has a badass name. Nathan Kane.

Second, he's a U.N. Weapons Inspector. That's a pretty badass job. You know what makes it even more badass? He's a space-faring U.N. Weapons Inspector! He gets to go to Jupiter!

Finally, he's not afraid to use anything as a weapon. A gun, an orbital lander,

or

the gravity generators on a spaceship!! ZOMG!!!!

I'm just going to let the following pages do the talking for the remainder of the post. Click the thumbnails for readable versions.


Badass.

*The Official Unit of the Badass Scale

I Have No Pull List.

I have no pull list.

I love comics. Comics are poems of movies, or dreams of novels. They are one of the biggest--if not the single biggest--inspiration for my art. But I had to let them go.

...well, the monthly issues anyway. I'm a trade paperback guy now. I suspect I will remain one. When my wife and I moved this year, one of the things I had to lug were some longboxes. Now, granted, I don't have nearly as many as some of my friends, but still--there's nothing like lugging heavy-ass longboxes up flights of narrow stairs to get you thinking about this hobby.

Sure, I pull out issues every now and then. I do. My comics are not hermetically sealed. I do not buy them as a collector--they're there to be read. The only reason they're in longboxes is because there's no other way to store them effectively without destroying them.

But you can put a trade paperback on a shelf. On a shelf! How sweet is that? Easier to sneak on business trips too. Much easier to loan out.

Have you ever tried loaning a non-comics friend a set of individual issues to read, hoping to engage them in the hobby? Yeah, how'd that work out? In my experience, trade paperbacks convert the non-believer more often then a slick stack of plastic-wrapped individual issues.

Downsides: I miss the monthly drip-drip of comics goodness, I cannot find a good source that shows me the release schedules of trades ONLY (without also listing every individual title coming out), and then there's the whole "paced for trades" problem afflicting the industry.

So...how does everyone feel about trades versus monthly issues? Does anybody know of a real easy way for me to stay on top of the release schedules of trades? How do people feel about how trades have affected the pace of storytelling in the industry?

Ringing in 2007

Hey there!

I'm Chuck, one of the new kids on this blog. I'd like to thank Vaklam for inviting me to participate. I grew up on DC Comics, and jumped over to the X-Men and other Marvel comics later on, but I enjoy books from both, as well as some independent and manga titles.

For my first post here, I thought I'd identify some comic-related things I'm looking forward to in 2007.

1. More books by Doug TenNapel. I remember when I first played Earthworm Jim and wondered who was coming up with the crazy, cartoony designs in it. TenNapel has produced several graphic novels that I've greatly enjoyed (Creature Tech, Tommysaurus Rex, Earthboy Jacobus, and Iron West). This year will see the re-release of his first comics work, Gear (which was adapted for animation as Nickelodeon's series Catscratch), as well as a new work, Black Cherry. This is a good thing.

2. Jeff Smith's Shazam project. I've been a fan of Jeff Smith's Bone series for some time, and my appreciation for the Golden Age Captain Marvel goes back even farther, so I've been anticipating Smith's take on the character since this project was announced a few years ago. Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil will be coming out as a Prestige Format mini-series beginning this February.

3. The finale to Planetary. It's hard to believe that I've been reading Planetary for this long, and there's only one issue to go. I had already enjoyed the work of Warren Ellis (including his work on Stormwatch and Authority that directly preceded this), but this title introduced me to John Cassaday's pencils.

4. More Essentials and Showcase volumes. I've really been enjoying the "phone books" that Marvel and DC have been producing. I cannot rationally explain the enjoyment I get from the reprinted Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, but the feeling is genuine. Upcoming highlights (for me, anyway) include the first Legion of Super-Heroes Showcase, and the second Luke Cage: Power Man Essential.

5. The Sinestro Corps. I'm not even going to try to explain this one. The potential for awesomeness is high; we'll see how the execution is before the end of the year.

There are also some items that have not been announced, but I'd love to see this year:

1. A series for Doctor Thirteen. DC's mini-series focusing on the Spectre, Tales of the Unexpected, is not hitting on as many cylinders for me as I had hoped; it's too bad, since I'm a fan of both Crispus Allen and the Spectre. However, the backup story in this mini-series featuring Doctor Thirteen has been excellent. Take a man who steadfastly refuses to believe in the supernatural--which can be hard to do in the DC Universe--and his teenage daughter, and throw them in with a frozen caveman, ghost pirates, and Nazi gorilla commandos, and you've got instant entertainment. More, please.

2. More Carl Barks collections. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa reignited my interest in Scrooge, and I remembered some of those great duck stories I read as a kid, some of which were included in the Carl Barks Duck Tales collections that came out this year. This age of Peanuts reprints has inspired the collection of other material, such as IDW's Dick Tracy collection; this might be the time to compile an archive of the work of Carl Barks.

3. The original Monster Society of Evil. Captain Marvel's first encounter back in the Golden Age was a serial that ran in 25 installments, and I believe it was the first lengthy, extended comics story of its kind. (I'm sure some comics historian can correct me if that's not the case.) With a Shazam film in development, it might be good to get some more classic work in print. I appreciate the DC Archives series, but not everyone can afford to pick those up. I really just want the Monster Society of Evil story in one trade paperback.

4. More of The Spirit. I liked the first issue of Darwyn Cooke's new series, and I enjoyed the trade paperback collecting the best Spirit stories, but there's one more thing I want. Over a decade ago, there was a Spirit series done by rotating creators that paid homage to the original series. I can remember stories by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman off the top of my head. The Spirit: New Adventures was never collected into trade form, and I think there's a prime audience for it now.

Finally, there's one other thing I'm looking forward to this year, and that's the discovery of new books through the comics blogosphere. There are a number of comics that I never would have known about if I hadn't read about them on blogs, books like Street Angel, Iron Wok Jan, Smoke, Hikaru No Go, and Scott Pilgrim, to name a few, and I can't wait to read more.

This isn't everything I want to see this year (there's more Young Avengers, a third season of Venture Bros., and more), but it's a good start. Is there anything coming out this year that I missed? What are you looking forward to?

New Universal #2 - Marvel (2007)

When I think "comics" the first thing that springs to my mind is the feeling I got reading them in the '80s. That was the time that comics felt like mine. Like I was discovering something that was written for me. A big part of that was Marvel's New Universe line which was Jim Shooter's project to celebrate Marvel's 25th anniversary. The setting was a "world like our own" which got superpowers dropped into it overnight when the "White Event" (literally an enormous white light which filled the sky) happened. I was aware of some of the faults even at the time (Kickers Inc., anyone?) but I thought it was awesome.

Warren Ellis continues his "screwing-with-marvel-tropes" kick with New Universal and it feels every bit as awesome as the first go 'round. The first issue started off with a bang (get it, "White Event"? "Bang"? Oh, I kill me!) and #2 just adds to the awesome.

So far, Ellis has taken Justice, Nightmask, Spitfire and Star Brand and he's done some cool stuff with them. Ellis is in "serious" mode on this one (think Ocean) rather than wacky, Nextwave mode. The interpretations are darker and better fleshed out than the first batch and my favorite part of this is that Ellis is weaving all the stories together.

If you like other stuff by Ellis you will probably like this one but it's not without its faults. There are a couple of wordless action sequences in issue #2 which are confusing and there's the patented Ellis Infodump part of the way through but as long as the story remains compelling and as long as it's accompanied by beautiful Salvador Larroca art like the example from #1 below, it will stay in my hold box.

New Year, New Members

I have invited some comic-geek friends of mine to help me out with this blog. Melissa has been a member for a while now but the others (see their names over there on the right) are brand new. I'll let them introduce themselves as they begin posting.

The metamorphosis of Noetic Concordance into a group blog came from several really good discussions I have had with each of these people about comics and other geeky things. Now I am inflicting them on you. So, you threes of readers, welcome the new gang!

Happy Freakin' New Year

Noetic Concordance is like a Marvel character. Just when you thought it was dead it comes back with a new costume and a half-assed explanation for its resurrection.

I am blowing the dust off this blog and I intend to post regularly once again. Since it's been a while I'm going to start out easy and list my favorite comics from 2006.

Nextwave: This is at the top of my list because it's at the TOP OF MY LIST!!! It is the most fun I have had reading a comic in years. I'll be sorry to see it go with #12 but it's been a great ride. Also, the cover image below sums up my opinion of the whole Civil War thing:



Local: There were only a couple of missteps in this title by Oni Press and those were still really good reads. Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly worked beautifully together. If you're looking for a non-superhero book this may be the one for you. I don't know if there are any plans for a trade once the last two issues hit the stands but there are probably some back issues of the early ones around by now.

Young Avengers: This is what I read comics for. OK, most of the storyline was released in 2005 but just thinking about Young Avengers made 2006 better.

Ultimate Extinction: An excellent twist on the Galactus story. I still hope the Galactus in the Fantastic Four sequel is a big, freakin' guy, though.

The Return of the GLC: When I have superhero fantasies I imagine myself as a Green Lantern. 'Nuff said.

Owly: The best thing about Free Comic Book Day last year was that it reminded me of Owly's existence. If you are not familiar with Owly, gaze upon Andy Runton's website, ye mighty, and despair.

Astonishing X-Men: Joss Whedon's writing ability is what mine wants to be when it grows up. He groks the X-Men and John Cassaday makes this a joy to stare at as well as to read.

X-factor: Peter David, ladies and gentlemen. This is one of those House of M fallout moments that nearly made that whole tedious event worth it.

Gødland: Dang! Gødland is crazy! I like it for the same reasons I love Nextwave. It's a fun ride and the story is exactly the right kind of absurd. The art really makes this book, though. This is the case with a lot of comics but if Gødland didn't have the whole Kirby-on-acid thing going for it, it wouldn't have nearly as much praise heaped on it.



I pretty much ignored both Civil War and 52 so I can't comment about them except where they showed up in the regular titles I was reading.

I will now comment on one of the things I said I wouldn't comment on: Frankly, I find the whole Civil War storyline to be tedious. They did something kind of cool with it in the new Heroes For Hire series but that's chiefly because Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are writing it. It's getting in the way of some other potentially cool stories such as the new Iron Fist monthly. Here's Danny Rand in the middle of fighting the entirety of Hydra and he has to take a break to whine about the No-Secret-Identities Act.

I thought the House of M fallout had its moments but I was unimpressed with the big storyline. I am obviously not the target audience for these meta-events.

The Battle for Blüdhaven - DC (2006)

OK, I have a confession to make:

I have no idea where Blüdhaven is supposed to be. For a while, there, I was keeping up with the DC version of North America pretty well. I can still point to Gotham, Metropolis, Star City and Coast City (old and new) on a map. I'm a B-student of made-up geography.

I haven't really kept up with the Big Events in either mainstream universe. All the Crises and Wars have pretty much passed me by. I vaguely remember a reference to Blüdhaven a few years back in one of the Batman-related books but for all I knew it was a Swedish death-metal band.

Like many of the One Year Later issues, this issue does a decent job of catching me up on the past 52 weeks of story. It also tells me most of what I need to know about Blüdhaven. Well, except for why anyone would name an American city after something scrawled on the back of a 14-year-old boy's math notebook.

Blüdhaven is a pretty crappy place to live and all the government-sanctioned superheroes, radioactive freaks and that enormous wall haven't made things any better.

The characterizations are good and the dialogue manages to avoid being pure infodump which is nice. I almost always like Jimmy Palmiotti's writing (espeically in the last couple of years) and he and Justin Gray work well together. The art by Dan Jurgens and Palmiotti is well-executed and I've gotta give props to Javi Montes for the colors on this. They are appropriately dark without getting muddy. They really help convey how creepy and depressing this place is.

I'll pick up #2 to see where they're going with this. They're bound to mention it in relation to some other city at some point and then I can stick a pin in my mental DC map.

EDIT: A Google search reveals that Blüdhaven is next to Gotham City but has an even higher crime rate. That makes sense. Gotham is so fucked up that any town near it would have to call itself "Blüdhaven" just to keep from getting swallowed up by the weirdness that is Gotham.

The umlaut is for respect.

A quick note, bub

I've been re-reading some X-Men stories lately and one thing stands out:

No matter who the creative team, the Fastball Special comes up a lot.

A whole lot.

To the extent that it's not really that "special" anymore, is it?

BEAST: "Pardon me, Logan, could you pass me that beer?"

WOLVERINE: "Sure thing, fuzzy." [grabs beer] "Colossus! Fastball Special!"

BEAST: @#$%!!

In which I bitch about free stuff I didn't get

Free Comic Book Day has come and gone but most of you already knew that. Seriously, if you're reading my blog for "the latest in comics news" you are horribly, horribly misguided.

This year was really disappointing. Turns out that none of the comic stores in Nashville received any of the Silver Sponsor List comics. Those were the ones I was most looking forward to. Particularly Owly. Dammit! I loves me some Owly! I mean, shit, look at him:



I rest my case.

I picked up one each of the Gold offerings and so far, I've been pretty disappointed. The Runaways/X-Men book was horribly written and had the least appropriate art I've seen in months. It also had a bunch of other stuff from titles Marvel wants to push crammed in there. Image attempted to give readers a taste of their titles by chopping, like, a million of them up and giving us a tenth of a panel from each one with which to decide whether we want to spend our money on the full issues. I think they would have been better off giving us an actual full issue.

Tokyopop didn't just give us one full issue they gave us three! In a digest-sized book. And they were all good. Especially Kat and Mouse. I'm going to keep an eye out for that Manga.

The Conan story from Dark Horse was good as was the art. The Star Wars story on the other side was OK. I liked the art but the story was straight out of "Stock Badass Squad Tales vol. 3". Meh.

I haven't read the Transformers, Archie, Bongo or Donald Duck books yet but it says something about the quality of many of the others that I'm looking forward to those as breaths of fresh air.

Moon Knight #1 - Marvel (2006)

As I mentioned last summer, Moon Knight is a badass

I have been a huge Moon Knight fan since I first read Marvel Team-Up Annual #4. This reboot of the series is off to a great start. I'm not going to go into much detail on the story elements in order to avoid some minor spoilers but I will say that I am very pleased with the direction this appears to be going.

Charlie Huston has written an excellent introduction to the character which will initiate those who are unfamiliar with Moon Knight while giving fanboys like me a lot to enjoy. Some parts of this come dangerously close to "dirtying up" the character in the same manner that Identity Crisis tried (unsuccessfully) to do with the JLA. However, I don't think Huston is going that route. Right now, it looks like he's adding depth to the character along with giving him a good point to struggle up from.

I'm not a huge fan of David Finch's art. Something about the way he draws a lot of his faces bothers me on a level I can't quite identify. He's doing a good job with Moon Knight so far, though, and I really like the level of detail he's working at. The visual star of this book is Frank D'armata, the colorist. He's working with a dark, muted palette for most of the pages which fits the mood of the comic perfectly.

I had my hopes pretty high for this one and I am not disappointed. If the upcoming Green Lantern Corps series lives up to my expectations my hold box will be a very happy place.


Now, if somebody would just bring back The Badger...

Blue Beetle #1 - DC (2006)

I haven't been reading any of the Infinite Crisis titles but I have been keeping up with the general events.

The cover and the creative team on Blue Beetle caught my eye enough to pick this one up. Plus, I really like the two previous incarnations of the Blue Beetle character so I thought I'd give this a shot.

I'm glad I did because Keith Giffen and John Rogers are doing a fine job with the writing and Cully Hamner is drawing the hell out of it. The design on the title character (arguably the most important visual element of the book) is spectacular. Check out the cover above. The interior art is just as good and the cool things that the Beetle armor can do are, er, cool.

There are no surprises in the story but it's well told. It's a typical kid-finds-a-doodad-and-has-to-discover-his-powers-on-the-job. It's like Iron Man meets Greatest American Hero.

The only problem I have with this first issue is that it's a bit too much of an intro issue. I would have liked more of an actual story. This feels like half of an issue. Still, this half of an issue is enough to get me to buy #2.

Ultimate Extinction #3 - Marvel (2006)

I have really been enjoying Ultimate Extinction. The conflicts and resolutions between the ultimate versions of the FF, Nick Fury and Iron Man are a lot of fun to read. I'm at MidSouthCon this weekend so I don't have a lot of time to go into great detail on how much I like it but you can read my review of #2 for many of the details.

Issue #3 has a much better cover than #2 (not like that was hard) and it has me wondering if they are going to break out the Ultimate Ultimate Nullifier to destroy Gah Lak Tus.

The Circle is Complete

The Hurting has published a new Doom's Mailbag featuring a question by Dorian with mentions of Tegan and Mike.

The following letter is from some guy named Kevin.

CBDR

Scott from Polite Dissent is compiling a Comic Book Drug Reference which is fitting, since he's a doctor and a comics geek. Also fittingly, there's an entire appendix devoted to Transmetropolitan

Jimmy Olsen gets his own section which covers his "experimental" phase.

Lazy Tuesday

Actual content is on the way now that I've picked up my metric ton of comics from the FLCS.

Until then, here's a little linkblogging action for you:

Check out this frighteningly complete list of comic-character religious affiliations in which The Atheist is outed as an atheist! You heard it here, first, folks.

The lovely and talented Dave Campbell reviews one of my favorite comic issues ever. Alpha Flight #6 is one of those comic gimmicks that worked. Kinda like the G.I. Joe Silent Issue except this one is full of pictures of polar bears eating marshmallows in a snowstorm.

Now, go buy some comics tomorrow!

Elsa commands it!

I apologize in advance...

Spoiler Alert!









































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Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #5(of 5) - DC (2006)

This miniseries was almost everything I hoped it would be. I thought I was a big Green Lantern fan for years but it turns out I was a big Green Lantern Corps fan.

I discovered that stories about individual GLs didn't captivate me like those of the Corps. I'm sure Hal, Kyle and John are perfectly nice fellas but during the time that the Corps didn't exist I found their tales no different from those of any other mega-powerful superhero. The structure of the Corps, however, allows many different kinds of stories to be told. Stories about camraderie, stories about duty vs. "the right thing", stories about teamwork. Stories I really like.

Fortunately, Dave Gibbons and Geoff Johns like those kinds of stories, too. It's obvious that Guy Gardner is the favorite Lantern of either or both writers because he gets to Always Be Right but that's OK, he's a good character and in their hands he shines.

This mini had epic space battles, enormous power levels and reflections on the nature of morality and belonging. Hell, issue 5 had that. Oh, by the way, if you are even a little arachnophobic, you might want to read certain panels of #5 with caution.

I am quite pleased with the overall story but I do have a few quibbles with the writing. For example, much is made of how the Corps has brought beings from all over the galaxy together to serve a Greater Purpose. Corps members who were at each other's throats in issue one were bestest buds by the end of the miniseries. I have no problem with that, in general. In fact, that can be very powerful and touching when it's well-told. The turnarounds in this case were a bit abrupt. I would have liked it better if some of those rivalries and hatreds hadn't been so neatly smoothed over.

If I have a few quibbles with the writing, I have some major problems with the art. I don't know whether to blame the penciller (Patrick Gleason) or the inker (Prentis Rollins) but there are several panels in this issue in which it is nearly impossible to tell what's going on. In a comic featuring many, many characters who all dress pretty much the same it is vital to be clear with your visuals. Also, there's a weird forshortening/distortion effect that shows up on many of the faces which throws me off.

Having bitched about that, there are some moments of artistic brilliance, especially in this last issue, but for the most part, the lines are way too heavy which obscures the differences between individual faces. There were a few points at which I had no idea who was supposed to be speaking.

Despite these shortcomings, I can recommend this miniseries to anyone who likes the GLC or who would like to get in on the ground floor of this new incarnation. Flip through a few pages first to make sure the visuals are your cup of tea.

If you missed the individual issues, the trade will be out on June 21st. The new GLC ongoing series should show up around that time, as well. No clues about the creative team on that one but I'll keep you informed as I get news. Anybody else know?

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.

A simple declaration

I am hereby declaring my desire to see Batman with a bird on his head as soon as is humanly possible.

Who's with me?



Also, dang! Check out Any Eventuality. It's a well-written, very cool comics blog that I just now found out about.

Welcome Melissa!! & Legion #15 (sort of)

I was gonna post about how much I am still enjoying Legion of Super-Heroes despite a few cheesy decisions on the part of Mark Waid but The Shrew Review beat me to it wth her post about issue 12 and said it better than I would have.

So, um, check out the picture from issue #15 above. You don't have to be a total Legion geek like I am to appreciate the humor in this issue but it helps. It involves dimension hopping, time travel and crossovers with many, many old-school DC titles. Good stuff. The illustrated letters column is particularly funny this time.

Also, join me in welcoming my wife, Melissa Gay, to the blog! I was going to post my review of Nextwave #2 tonight but the aforementioned wife grabbed it before I could read it. **sigh** It'll be up tomorrow.

Look upon my comics, ye mighty and Despair!

Speakeasy Comics is calling it quits which is too bad, really. The Comics Reporter has details including a link which will download a Word document with a short email from a former "unofficial" company representative, whatever that means.

I know nothing about the guy who ran the company other than reports of some bad experiences from some creators, one of whom told me of his woes first-hand during a signing at my favorite local comic shop. I liked two of their titles but didn't read any of the others which, I suppose, was part of the problem. I looked over their ads and solicits and it was obvious that this was a case of "Too Much Too Quickly".

I hope that The Gatesville Company finds another home. Their site doesn't have any news on that front, yet. The first two issues of that book were outstanding. You can find my glowing review of the first issue earlier in this blog.

Stories of hubris are always good for a refreshing splash of Schadenfreude but it sucks that a lot of creators got banged up along the way.

Ultimate Extinction #2 - Marvel (2006)

OK. Lousy Cover^*. I mean, seriously, The Thing as depicted above looks worse than Michael Chiklis's makeup in the FF movie:



Which, as you can see, is pretty hard to do.

Despite that cover the interior art (ostensibly by the same person) kicks ass. The writing's good, too. Warren Ellis has introduced Ultimate Moondragon, Ultimate Silver Surfer and Ultimate Misty Knight. Now, those of you who have been watching the show so far know that "Ultimate" before someting usually means that that person goes up a few notches on the badass scale. Ultimate Hawkeye, for example, is someone I'd actually be intimidated by. Regular continuity (or "Earth-616" to those of us with no lives) Hawkeye often came off as a goofball. Sure, he had his cool moments but for the most part he wasn't someone that, were I a criminal, I'd be too worried about.

HAWKEYE: "Stop or I'll plug you full of arrows!"

ARCH VILLAIN: "Big deal! I've got adamantium armor! What are you gonna do? Strap Ant Man to one of them?"

Anyway, Misty Knight is one of the coolest characters Marvel ever came up with. She's an ex-cop, bounty hunter cyborg! And she dates Iron Fist. Badass! Ultimate Misty Knight hasn't met Ultimate Danny Rand yet but she is even badass-er than her counterpart in the 616. Also, since she's being written by Warren Ellis, she gets much better lines. She goes toe to toe with Ulimate Silver Surfer (cosmic badass!) and survives. Day-um!

There's a good "Revenge of the Geeks" moment between Reed Richards and Nick Fury. Ellis is playing up the whole "smart guys rule" angle very well.

The story is moving along nicely with no slow spots or padding. Gah Lak Tus (who turns out to be some sort of hive mind) is moving inexorably towards Earth and everyone who is aware of it is freaking out. Good stuff.

As I mentioned above, the interior art is good. In fact, it's excellent! Brandon Peterson (inks and pencils) does a great job of conveying the action as well as the quieter moments. He's a good fit with Ellis's writing on this book. It turns out I forgot to put this in either of my local hold boxes. This will be corrected with all due haste.

*Speaking of covers have you seen the latest Vanity Fair cover? WARNING: NOT WORK SAFE!!

Now that's the way to do a cover right!

Young Avengers #10 - Marvel (2006)

I've mentioned many, many times before how much I'm enjoying Young Avengers but Heinberg continues to raise the bar. This is a good time to be a comics fan what with all the cool stuff being published and Young Avengers is my favorite thing on the shelves right now.

I won't blow the surprise at the end of the issue but I will say that it is the sort of thing that, in the hands of a lesser writer, could have been monumentally stupid. Heinberg makes it work.

The Young Avengers make a decision that seems a bit out of character for most of them but I have a feeling that it'll work itself out in the next couple of issues.

So, if you see an issue in the store flip through it and see if it's your cup of superpowers. A little knowledge of Marvel Universe history is helpful but not necessary for enjoying this book.

Issues 1 - 6 are available in a trade if you want to start at the very beginning. It is, after all, a very good place to start.

Adieu!

Shouting Into The Void

Hooray! New laptop! New post!

Comics-related content to follow Real Soon Now but I just wanted to say that Noetic Concordance is back and even though I haven't been posting I definitely haven't stopped reading comics. I'm really enjoying Nextwave and Young Avengers along with many other things that have come out in the past three months or so. Mr. Miracle and Frankenstein are continuing the fine Seven Soldiers tradition.

While you wait for the new stuff to show up, Noetic Concordance presents the following comparison as a public service:


Spiderman shooting a web:



Dr. Strange casting a spell:



The official Heavy Metal Sign:



It's easy to get these confused.

You're welcome.