Tag: Long Box Thoughts

Respect and Recognize

by scherem

Respect.

While it hasn’t been covered in super detail on this site, word went out in early May that Gene Colan at 81 years of age has suffered, what has been described as, major liver failure. As a result of this he has been hospitalized, and to many, it appears that this is where he will be spending the rest of his days.

Colan, who is perhaps best known for his work on Daredevil and the Tomb of Dracula books, is one of the great artists to have found their start in the Silver Age period. While the majority of the workers of this period are lost in the shadow’s of Stan and Jack, there were many important and influential artists to come out alongside Colan such as Adams and Infantino (to name only a view). Many of these artists are what can be described as artist’s artists– while not known universally by fans, theses creators have influenced generations. I doubt there would be a Jim Lee if it wasn’t a Neal Adams.

It was this aforementioned news of Colan failing health that got me thinking more about these artists’ artists who are either lost in the shadows of giants of the past or the giants of the present. This group, like all of us is aging, and slowly disappearing from the comic landscape they helped pioneer.  In the past five years we’ve lost notable names from the ‘old guard’: Eisner, Aparo, Gerber, and Rogers to name a few, and this I think is only the start.  Remember the comic book itself is less then a 100 years old, which means we are now getting to the point where we are losing many of the trailblazers of the form, and like it or not, the losses are going to start to intensify as we hit ‘critical mass’.

What saddens me the most about this, is not the actual deaths, but is how the majority of fans have seem to forgotten about these people, or at the very least not seem to acknowledge them as much as they should. When I manage to get to a convention, one of the things I actively try to do is seek out these older creators, and talk to them at their booth or attend their panels. It was shocking to me that at the Canadian Fan Expo, arguably the biggest con in Canada, Neal Adams had a line at most of 5 people to see him, while others had lines that took two plus hours to get through. These legends seem to be suffering a quiet public death.

The stories that some of these legends have to share are just amazing. One of my favourite con moments is hearing Jerry Robinson, golden age Batman artist, talk about the battle that he and Neal Adams waged against DC to get Shuster and Siegel credit for creating Superman. Hearing him tell the story of the policting and the results left me with such a feeling, that four years later, I still can’t describe it accurately with words.  If you have a chance to see artists from this generation talk, you should by all means go for it. It will be worth your time.

So what made me realize all of this? What made me acknowledge the importance of seeing the legends of the industry talk?  It was an obituary I read in the afternoon of January 3rd 2005

Recognize.

January 3rd 2005 is the day that Will Eisner passed on, and is also the day when I realized that there may not always be that ‘next time’ to see a particular creator. Eisner’s death event stands out further for me, as six months earlier I had a chance to meet him.

Eisner was a guest of the 2004 Toronto Comicon (not to be confused with the Fan Expo). During this period I had stopped reading comics, as I had elected to spend my money on the other vices that many male undergrad students have; women and booze. Booze was the social glue to the people I hung out with, and while I had broken up with a long term girlfriend a few months prior to Eisner’s Toronto visit, she had managed to convince me to stop reading comics. Even after we had broken up, it took me awhile to realize it was alright to read comics. When the time came to go to the convention,  I decided not to take the 40 min bus ride to Toronto. What I did instead, I can’t remember.

Six months after the convention I was starting to read comics again, and Eisner was dead. A month after his death, I was reading comics regularly again.  six months after his death I was sitting in a small panel room and listening to Jerry Robinson tell stories about creating Robin and the Joker.

Thanks Will.

Jack Cole: Malleable Plastic.

by scherem

In the Summer of 1958 Jack Cole, syndicate cartoonist, playboy gag artist, comic book pioneer, husband and friend to many, was discovered in his car by three local boys with a severe self inflicted head wound. An hour later at the hospital, he would be announced dead. An earlier phone call in the day, and two letters he wrote (one to Hugh Heffner, and the other to his wife) leave no doubt that Cole had chosen to take his own life. The reasons for this choice, to this day, are still only known to one person, his widow. Cole, has been remembered by comic history as a pioneer, both for his creation of Plastic Man, and his Playboy illustrations. In recognition of his accomplishments he has been recognized in the Eisner Hall of Fame. While at the surface, this seems like a sad end to an ordinary life, in reality, like his most famous creation, Cole’s life was by far less than ordinary.

Cole was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania and grew up in a large family with five other siblings. With a family of this size, money was always tight. To follow his dream, Cole would secretly save what money he could, and spend it on mail order lessons. In between waiting for these packages he would ape the gags and strips that he would find in the local paper. Cole’s dedication to practicing his art resulted in steady improvement. This is not the only time that Cole would show his ability to be intensely determined in pursuing his goals.

At the age of 17, wanting to see the Olympics, but having no way to get to L.A., he would convince his parents to let him bike from New Castle, PA to California. Once getting there, he found that he didn’t have enough money for admission to any of the events. Despite the set back, Cole never regretted this trip, and eventually published this story in Boy’s Life. This would be his first published work.

Once Cole was with done school, he continued to work on his goal of becoming a comic artist. By day he would work in a can factory, and by night he would draw and submit his work to various publishers/studios. Eventually he would find himself living in Greenwhich Village, working full time at what could best be described as a comic factory. During this period in comic history, comic books were often nothing more then a collection of newspaper comic strips printed in a magazine format. When publishers couldn’t find strips to reprint, they’d hire ‘factories’ to make cheap knock-offs of the popular panel strips of the era. Cole’s long days of copying his favourite strips from his local papers paid off for him, as he easily excelled at the job. While not entirely excited by this work, Cole was making a modest living. This would change in 1938 however, when a book called Action Comics was released. The Golden Age of comics had arrived, and it forever changed how comics were viewed.

All of a sudden there was a demand for original stories and people wearing bright colorful costumes. For artists like Cole, who were desperately seeking a creative outlet, and a desire not to be confined by ‘the traditional’ comic strip reprint book, this change was truly a breath of fresh air. After doing a few traditional hero books, Cole soon found himself working on the anthology book called Police Comics. It is here that he would introduced a character that would become his lasting mark on comicdom: Plastic Man.

With its disregard for many of the story telling conventions of the period, Plastic Man found itself becoming the lead feature in Police Comics. Plastic Man was one of the first heroes who was not confined to the typical human body; he could stretch, change shapes, and bring in elements of abstract and surrealist art, all while not disrupting the narrative. At the peak of the book’s popularity, Cole was making a page rate of $35 ($305 in 2006 dollars), and received a $2,500 ($21,805 in 2006 dollars) bonus if an issue sold over 200,000 copies. Working on a Plastic Man solo book, and a Plastic Man lead story in Police Comics, Cole was making more money they he ever imagined. No longer was he struggling to make ends meet, and instead, he found himself buying various properties, including a fourteen room mansion. He had come a long way from his humble beginings in New Castle. Despite this success, Cole was starting to feel artistic burnout. Each month, he was struggling more and more with the deadlines. It was becoming clear to Cole that it was time to move on.

As Cole’s interest waned, the interest of Dr. Wertham and The Senate rose. After Wertham and The Senate were done with comics, even if Cole had wanted to continue working, it would be virtually impossible to find a job that paid the money he had grown accustomed to. Furthermore, Cole found his name and work dragged through the mud during the hearings, as a short story he did in True Crime Comics became one of the centre pieces of the trials. The short story written and drawn by Cole, entitled, “Murder, Morphine and Me”, graphically depicted a woman having a needle placed in her eye, a central image used in the hearings. While it was not solely his work that caused the hearings to occur, it became one of the faces of the problem. Cole would never work in the traditional comic book market again. Even if he did, he would no longer find the freedom that he had grown accustomed to.

In the final eight years of his life, Cole, under the pen name of Jake, would find work with a new men’s magazine called Playboy. His single panel gags proved so popular, that ‘Jake’ was the first permanent artist for Playboy, and would produce at least one gag panel per issue for the remainder of his life. The style that Cole used here was a departure from his previous comic work. In fact, Hugh Heffner, a fan of Jack Cole’s Plastic Man, did not believe that this was the same man he had working for him. Cole’s work for Playboy would later be reprinted as a set of bar napkins, and became the second piece of merchandise produced by Playboy (the first being a set of cufflinks with the familiar bunny logo). It was also during this later period of his career that he would show a third artistic style.

Once again, using his birth name of Jack Cole, Cole started producing his own three panel newspaper comic strip, entitled Betsy and Me. By the time of his death, Betsy and Me, was syndicated in 50 papers nationwide and was slowly, steadily finding an audience. Jack had fulfilled a childhood dream.

Then it all ended.

Cole had a very full life, but I can’t help but wonder how else he could have influenced the comic art world if he had lived another fifty, ten or even five years. How would Cole have responded to the love that people show towards his work and creations today? How would he have reacted to being entered in the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1991, and later the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 1999? Would he have been inspired by Eisner, and done an original graphic novel about his 1932 bike ride? How would he have reacted to the Silver Age? Would he have participated in it? Would he be angry at Marvel for the common likeness shared between Mr. Fantastic and Plastic Man?

Much like the reasons that led Jack Cole to take his own life, we will never have answers to these questions. In place of these answers we are left a full body of work, by a man who lived a short life.

If your interested further, please check out the excellent biography of Jack Cole, entitled “Jack Cole and Plastic Man” by Art Spiegelman and Chip Kidd.

To Filed: July 2008

by scherem

Another month ends, and another Previews catalogue is waiting for me in my pull box. My love for previews has been weaning as of late, as the more I read in it the more I find myself getting disenfranchised with current comics. Do we need to have so many tie ‘specials’ for event books? Do we need to have weekly comics, or family-wide events while other events carry on? I don’t want to be cynical, and I don’t want my cynicism to be contagious– but at times its hard to find ones smile. While this months catalogue left me being more of a cynic then I’d like, I did find a couple of books that I feel will bring a smile to my face.

The first book was Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge. While I have little to no interest in the main series, the announced tie-in specials, specifically this one and Legion of Three Worlds, have grabbed my attention. Rogues’ Revenge’s features the work of Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins’ , who were part of the reason I came back to reading monthly comics after my self-imposed comic shop exile ended (coincidently around the same time as my current romantic relationship ended). One the thing that interested me about their run on the Flash at the time, was not the fights with the villains ,but the actual villains themselves. They took the Rogues and managed to humanize and develop them further as characters in a series of single issues then the DCU as whole had done in the 30+ years of their existence. I find myself once again excited to see what Johns and Kolins’ can do with these characters in this three issue mini-series, especially considering the turbulent year the Rogues have had.

Booster Gold continues to walk the flirt with the fine line that is nostalgia for me, with its release of issue #1,000,000. So far, I’ve found the Booster Gold series at its best when its set in the past DCU, revisiting some of the stories that made it great, and some of the stories that were not nearly as great. Harvesting the past of the DCU for story settings is a pretty fertile but dangerous ground to mine. As each time you set a story in a past event, you risk ostracizing readers. That being said, I’d like to see a Booster Gold story set in Final Night and other DCU events. In this issue, Booster Gold meets his counter part from 1,000,000 A.D. (they should have used the year 85,271), Peter Platinum. Will this issue tie into the DC One Million event, is it just an excuse to poke fun at the DCU past events, or part of a larger story? Either way I’m interested to see what approach is taken.

With issue 81, the current Catwoman series draws to a close and ends the great ‘Can Selina handle a regular series’ experiment. In the past decade we’ve seen two Catwoman series and both taking a different approach to the character. This last series, has had great creative teams on it, and still it could not find an audience to keep interest in the series high. Will Pfeifer, the last creative force behind the title deserve some strong praise as he told some truly great stories during his time on the title. His time can be summarized as being three large story-arcs: Catwoman and the Black Mask, Catwoman and the baby, and Catwoman and the forced tie in to major DC events. This title excelled with the first of these arcs, stumbled but ended strong with the second, and was at its worst with the other. As of this writing there are still two issues left in the series, so it’ll be interesting how, or if, they tie up some of the lose plot threads of the series. As sad as I am to see this go, I’m excited to see how they wrap it up.

The final book I want to highlight is the Collected Zot coming out by Harpercollins press. The manga influenced Zot was created by Scott McCloud, who is best known today, for his academic-styled musings on comics. To many Zot was a lighthearted reaction to the darker trend of story telling that was sweeping comics in the 1980’s, to me Zot was a web comic (http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/zot/index.html) that McCloud published in 1998 that didn’t leave me with a strong impression. I remember when I was reading this webcomic as it was being released finding it simple. It was drawn simple, it was a simple story, and ultimately I was left unimpressed. In the ten years since, I’ve grown to appreciate and understand such simple and fun stories. With the current trend in comics once again focusing on somewhat darker matter (invasions, wars and crises), it’s a great time to re-release this work. I gladly welcome this volume when its released to my bookshelf.

So what are you looking forward to in the Month of July?

You Always Remember Your First… Single Issue

by scherem

The idea of firsts has been on my mind a lot this week; first year at a job, first born kids, first movies… you get the idea. One of these firsts that have been on my mind is the first comic that I ever bought as a serious reader: (Adjectiveless) X-Men #10.

Based on the cover date for this issue, I would have been eleven years old when I purchased this book. Some of my friends today would argue that this book was the beginning of the end, and others would suggest that this was the start of something wonderful. To me, X-Men #10 symbolizes that I’ve been choosing to buy comics over groceries for sixteen years. Since the day that I picked this issue up off the shelf, I’ve read many good books, and some bad books. I like to think that I’ve seen more good then bad, but I’m pretty sure that it’ll be proven as I read more of my back issues that I’m wearing rose colored glasses when it comes to thinking about my comic buying past.

Looking at the cover to this issue today, I can’t help but feel that the picture looks really flat. This is really striking to me as the cover image, with its use of overlapping and interaction with the title art, is actually actively trying to make you feel a sense of depth. Maybe the image isn’t working because of the limited color palette of this period, the printing process, or maybe it something not having to do with the printing at all, but instead the lack of shadow in the art. Whatever the reason is, to me this cover fails. If I saw this cover on the shelf today, I would easily skip over it.

Opening the book, I’m not really surprised to the see the creative team listed as ‘A Jim Lee Joint, with a supporting cast of Scott Lobdell and Scott Williams’. What I wonder is, if this means that Jim Lee plotted this issue and Lobdell scripted, or they are giving Lee more credit as this was the period, where the artist is what sold books. Further in the book there is a retailer ad, offering WildC.A.T.S. #1 for mail order. This is significant as it clearly indicates Image comics was publishing at this point, and suggests that this is likely one of the last works by Jim Lee for Marvel. In general the whole issues art is not up to the standards I have grown to expect from 1990’s Jim Lee. Maybe my problem with the cover, and this issue is the result of the artist ‘phoning it in’ while he is on his way to create comic history with Image.

Flipping through this book, I’m struck by the textual feel of the page. Sure it’s simple newsprint, it doesn’t hold color well, and in fact the paper stock probably unintentionally takes away from the art and will biodegrade in a hundred years time, but to me this is what a comic should feel like. A comic page should not feel slick. Despite the nostalgic kick the paper gives me, its doesn’t do anything to help me remember this story in any positive light.

When I first read this story I remember finding it hard to follow. The focus on Longshot and Dazzler, two character I had no knowledge of, really hurt my appreciation of the story. Reading it again, it still hurts the story, but not as much as the actual framing device does. The story starts in media res, our heroes in some twisted version of Wizard of Oz, then cuts to Mojo talking about our heroes trapped in his television show, then from there cuts to a (poorly done) extended flashback sequence which explains how our heroes go stuck on Mojoworld, then it jumps back to… you get the idea. For an 18 page story, there at a lot of scene jumps. There is a lot of arguments today about decompressed story telling in comics, but this book is an example of over compressed story telling. What I can applauded about this issue is its attempt to try and explain a lot of the characters background and powers by the dialogue they use in the story. While probably annoying for the long time reader, it does do a lot to make the story accessible.

The other reason that I may had trouble following this story was because it feature Mojo as the antagonist. I’ve yet to read a Mojo story that I didn’t find confusing or hard to follow, which is a shame as the concept of Mojo is great. A character that uses heroes and their adventures to drive ratings of his inter-dimensional television network? Genius. With the role that reality TV has in our lives, and in general TV, branding, and mass media, Mojo can be a character that could be used to comment and create many interesting stories about today’s society. I salivate at the idea of how this concept could be handled in the hands of a writer like Joe Casey.

So what made me buy the next issue of this title? Some of it is likely ignorance that I was reading a bad book, and some of it was the fact that X-Men was the ‘cool’ book. X-Men fever was going around because of the cartoon, trading cards and recent launch of the second series. Like people who try to explain the appeal of disco with the the answer of “you really had to be there”, you really had to be in the shops at this time period to understand why such a bad book could have appealed so much. This was my first X-Men book, and I would continue to buy the title for the next 60 or so issues.

You may not like your first, but you’ll never forget it. Or in this case, you may not like your first, but you’ll stick around for sixteen years because you liked your second.

As a bonus, for your amusement, here are a couple of elements from the issue that I found unintentionally funny:

 

Free Comic Book Day Is Not For You.

by scherem

Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday (May 3 2008), and if you a comic book reader, then its not for you. Or at least it shouldn’t be. If you new to the comic book shop scene, Free Comic Book Day (FCBD), is as the name applies, a day when you get free (as in beer) comics. All you have to do is go to your local comic shop, and if they are choosing to participate, you’ll get a free comic (or two, or ten, pending the stores rules).

The idea of FCBD was pretty ingenious. A retailer in California suggested, in the Diamond retailer newsletter, that the direct market stores should take a page from Baskin-Robins and other chains that offer free sample days. Instead of ice cream, retailers would hand out comics. Legend has it, that this retailer even suggested that the first FCBD be held on May 4 2002, the day after the first Spider-Man movie premiered. A handful of publishers decided to participate and reprinted books that they felt would be appropriate for the event (for example, Marvel reprinted Ultimate Spider-Man #1) and sold them to retailers at a discounted price (approximately 10 to 25 cents an issue). Retailers where then encouraged to give the books away for free, in a method they felt was best. For example, some retailers would give a free book with purchase, others would give out a maximum of two books, and others would let you take as many as you want. Make not mistake though, had Spider-Man flopped, this could have easily been the first and last FCBD.

Six years later, and FCBD has become a strong enough event that is no longer needs to be tied to the release of a big screen comic adaptation. Today, some publishers are taking full advantage of the day as a promotional tool and are publishing books that contain original material and/or premiering new characters. This year, over forty different titles were offered to Retailers to pick from for this FCBD. A complete list of the potential giveaways your store may have can be found here: http://www.freecomicbookday.com/the_comics.asp

With a day seeming so geared to the comic book fan, why would I suggest that this day is not for you? I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go out and get a free book, after all, by issuing original material, the publishers are practically telling you to come out and take advantage of the event. You are also a fan, and a supporter of the industry and deserve the thanks that this day provides. Despite being an industry for over 25 years (I’m counting the current direct market only here), this is still an industry that needs a lot of support to survive and thrive. Because of this, I am saying that, this day is more then just about getting free swag for yourself, this is a day about sharing your love of the medium with others.

With that in mind, here is a couple suggestions you should heed for the day (I’ve personally seen each of the following happen)

  • If you have children, take them to the store with you on this day, and let them get a free book.
  • If you have friends who have always been interested in comics, but never have taken that first step to go into a shop, bring them into the shop with you.
  • If you have cousins, siblings, neighbours with kids, grab a book or two for them.
  • If you see some one in the store looking confused, or trying to pick out a book that hey may like, help them out.
  • If the store is running low on a title that may be popular with the younger market, don’t take the last copy. Especially when there is a child right next to you who wants it.
  • If a store has some rationing practice in effect (likely to ensure that they have free books for the duration of the day), don’t openly complain about it and the store.
  • While your at it, don’t openly insult other people’s comic choices on this day either. So what if they are picking up All-Star Batman and Robin, it may not be what you consider the best comic out there, but at least they are picking up a book. That being said, in this scenario, you may want to suggest that they grab another books to go along with that particular choice…
  • If you see someone picking out a book for their child that you know is appropriate, tell the parent and offer them an alternative suggestion. Bone, Marvel Adventures and the Johnny DC line are always good bets.

So how am I goign to spend my Free Comic Book Day? I’ll be at a shop in Toronto, helping to hand out free books, and trying to expose as many people as I can to a hobby that has brought me much joy over the past 16 years. And in the process of doing all of this, I’ll hopfully be reminded about what made me fall so hard for comics in the first place.

To Be Filed: June 2008

by scherem

In general you can tell that June is the start of summer, as a lot of projects and big releases are coming out form the major and not-so major publishers. Both major publishers have their company wide events in full swing, while, the other publishers are releasing This month I’m going to try a different take to on the to be filed column. Instead of highlighting individuals book, I’m going to instead take a more editorial view of things were appropriate. If there anything on here that looks interesting to you, remember to let your local comic shop know by the end of the month so they can order it for you.

So with all of this in mind, skitter patter, let’s get at ‘er.

Dark horse

Dark Horse made its mark and early dollars with high quality books based on licensed properties. While Dark Horse has tried to expand itself into original material (World’s Greatest Heroes) and hosting some creator owned books (Hellboy, Sin City and Grendel) , their bread and butter has always been the licensed properties. Looking at their output for June, one can’t help but be reminded of this. We have a new issue of Buffy, we have various Star Wars books, and a specially priced($0.99) relaunch of the Conan series with, Conan the Cimmerian #0. Dark Horse also forays into new Indiana Jones territory this month with the start of their Indiana Jones and the Tomb of The Gods mini-series. Nothing ground breaking, but you know they are going to be solid books.

Canon0

DC

I’m not sure what to make out of DC these days. I’m a die hard fan of DC, and will always support them, but they seem to be in beyond overdrive mode when it comes to their ‘event’ output lately, and this month really highlights it. First off before talking about the new event-series that launch this month at DC, lets consider what they have in-progress:

  • They have Final Crisis continuing with its second issue
  • A DC/Wildstorm universe cross over, which could have been major event 10 years ago, but now, if anything, marks how far Wildstorm has fallen.
  • The Tangent miniseries, Superman’s Reign running, which again, could have been a major event if they wanted it to be.

And what do they do this month? They launch the Reign in Hell miniseries, and Trinity, the next DC weekly book.

Really, do they need all of this right now? Do they need to launch ANOTHER weekly book so soon? Could they wait till the end of Final Crisis, let the taste of Countdown get out of our mouths, and use Trinity to serve the same purpose of 52? Let Trinity, like 52, be an epilogue to the crisis and a love letter to the DCU. It almost as if they are publishing things with the intent of them being lost and ignored.

This feeling of publishing books to be lost, is exemplified by the relaunching of Manhunter. Perhaps the best title you never read, Manhunter resumes publication, not with a new first issue, but with a new thirty-first issue. Let me repeat that, a book that has been on the chopping block numerous times for low sales, is coming back after a year break, not with a #1 issue, but a #31. I can understand the desire to keep the original numbering, and it would make more sense if the series had only been on hiatus for three to four months. Being on hiatus for about a year, and coming out in the midst of all the above mention events, the books needs a #1 style launch to capture any possible new audiences. The creative team of Gaydos and Andreyko will not guarantee the book to light up sales charts. If you loved the Jack Knight Starman, then you owe it to yourself to read this book.

There are also a couple of interesting trades coming out from DC this month. In the ‘I’ never thought they’d collect it’ department, a collection of Going Sane is being released. Going Sane was a four issue Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight story arc from about 15 years ago. Written by J.M. DeMatteis the arc explored what would happen to the Joker if he overcame his biggest challenge, Batman. Early on in the story he seemingly defeats Batman, and a result the Joker finds himself slowly going sane.

And the trade that frustrates me to no end for this month is… The New York Four by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly, the team that worked on the Oni press maxi-series, Local. I love Local, and readers of this column know that I get excited every time an issue ships– the only thing that has bother me about the series, that it was supposed to be done in one year, and due to various unnamed delays, the series is finally finishing after three years. So why did it take so long for Local to finish? Well the fact that this is coming out so soon after the end of Local is probably the biggest reason. I’m all for indie artists doing work for a big pay day, but when you delay a book by over two years because of said big pay day, that bothers me. Something about art, integrity, and economics would probably best said here. I admit I could be wrong about the delays, but thats what it looks like to me.

Manhunter 31New York Four

 

Image

Image has a little bit of a more quiet month, as they release a new mini-series entitled War Heroes, which banks on its creative teams name star power, and I’m alright with this as those creators are Mark Millar and Tony Harris. While the story doesn’t seem like anything new (US Army makes super powered soldiers, hilarity ensues), it’s the art that has me interested. The preview pencils are really, really pretty. It makes me wish the box was done in just pencils– no inks, no colours, just highly quality reproduced graphite.

Also being released this month is a softcover and hardcover collection of the entire Scud the Disposable Assassin series. The 13 year old in me is really excited for the chance to read this, and the 27 year old is a bit hesitant about it. Will this series live to the hype that others have given this book over the past 15 years? Or will it just come off as another ‘I’m black and white and heavily inked and filled with slacker-humor book’? I’m not sure, but the 20 year old in me has made a compromise with the 13 and 27 year old, to at least give this collection a chance. So even if I am ultimately disappointed in this book, it won’t be from lack of trying.

Marvel

Secret Invasion chugs along with over 10 tie in books this month, with the series still being pretty young, it’s hard to tell if these books will be required reading or just auxiliary like much of Civil War titled books were. Speaking of Civil War, the creative team from that series is back this month with a stint in the monthly Wolverine book called: Old Man Logan. Think Dark Knight Returns meets Wolverine.

Speaking of Marvel events (if only tangentially at this point), the final spin-off book from World War Hulk, Skarr: Son of Hulk launches this month. World War Hulk had it’s moments, and ultimately told more about the state of Marvel editorial, or the direction they were not willing to take the Hulk, then it did about the actual plot. I wonder, if anyone even cares about Skaar? This book may have been better suited spinning out of Nova or some other Annihilation-event like story.

With the release of Ultimate Origins #1, readers are promised that the threads of the tight-knit Ultimate universe are going to be explored. This series is to lead into the Ultimatum, the first cross-over for the line, which to me, despite the great wordplay in the title, is a bit disappointing to see happening. The whole line has had a good philosophy of of being small and controlled; three regular series at a time, and one miniseries max. And for the most part this plan has worked. Each title has a distinct tone, and with the exception of the occasionally referenced event, the stories are self-contained. It’ll be interesting to see how much of the line philosophy changes after the cross-over.

What If? – The Fantastic Four Tribute to Mike Wieringo, while not technically a Marvel book (in reality it’s being published by the HERO Initiative), this completes the unfinished What If story that Wieringo was working on at the time of his death. To complete the story about the New Fantastic Four (a short lived joke team of Ghost Rider, Wolverine, Spider-Man and the Gray ‘Mr. Fix-it’ Hulk), a variety of artist help complete the art chores on the book. As an added bonus (if you want to calls it that), other lend there talents for a tribute section to the man and his work. And in case I didn’t mention it yet, it’s the NEW Fantastic Four, my inner 12 year old is excited by that alone.

Skarr 1

The Rest

Oni Press makes a single collection of all the Barry Ween: Boy-Genius series. This series is notable as it’s the first published works by Judd Winick, who did both the writing and art chores of the series. So why should you care about this collection? Barry, is a f-bomb dropping ten year old who also happens to be the brightest boy in the universe. And like most genius his plans are addled by his friendships. For example, Jeremy, his best friend, often misuse Barry’s work, which leads to situations that may induce pant-wetting in some. I remember having this once described to me as Calvin and Hobbes hopped up on PCP, and I think I agree with this. A 25 page preview can be found here.

 

To Be Filed: May 2008

by scherem

 

May fairs as a better month then April, as publishers release more books that are either preludes to the summer block busters, revisiting past ones, or just taking a plain risk. All of these items of note here are based on the Diamond Preview catalogue for May that came out this past March. Remember, advance ordering is your friend, as it guarantees that what you want will be in stock when the time comes.

Dark Horse

Umbrella Academy
The surprise hit of 2007 gets collected by Dark Horse. This is also known as the ‘book written by the lead singer of My Chemical Romance’. While this claim to the book was a a major draw for some, it also act as a major deterrent for others, such as myself. Somehow though, this book managed to get in all the right peoples hand’s for me to actually be curious about it. Almost everyone whose opinion I respect on books like this have been praising this. From the description, I gather that the book focuses on a broken adoptive family of powered beings, who are reunited when their father unexpectedly dies. The cover image for this collection is striking, and reminds me of why I like Gabriel Ba.

DC

DC Universe: Zero
Another 50 cent book, and another ‘the DCU starts here’ story. Rumor has it that this book was created to bridge the gap between Countdown and Final Crisis, as Grant Morrison’s forthcoming epic didn’t exactly connect all that well to what Dini was setting up in Countdown. This book has been ‘retro-solicited’ for April 30, which with the book have seven artists listed for 32 pages, doesn’t make me feel all that comfortable in what the result will be. But for 50 cents, its worth the risk– I’ve spent more money on books that I was taking a similar chance on.

Batman: Gotham After Midnight
Next to Jim Aparo and Neal Adams, I think one of the best Batman artists have been Kelly Jones, because like Aparo and Adams, Jones brought a distinctive look to his Batman which has become associated with a specific period of the title. Reading that he is back on Batman, made my fanboy heart flutter, then reading then next line how this is the first issue of a twelve issue miniseries is made my heart drop just as quickly. I’m not sure what the logic behind such long term miniseries are– its a long term commitment for both readers, retailers and DC to be doing these books. If they series isn’t selling, DC is essentially committed to publishing the series for the year, readers are buying what turns out to be another ‘regular’ title, which again they may drop. 12 issue mini’s should be reserved for guaranteed sales and creative teams. This is not a team to sustain an audience for 12 issues. Clearly, I’m a pessimist today.

Lost boys reign of frogs
I’ve never watched the movie, and thus am probably one of the worst people to talk about this title. The concept of the Lost Boys though, does sound like one that can carry a miniseries, if not a regular series. This mini is supposed to bridge the gap between the first movie, and the new one coming out. While not top sellers, the Wildstorm horror license from what I’ve heard has been doing a good job with the properties that they adapt. If you a fan of the Lost Boys, this might be worth a look.

House of Mystery
A return to the house that Joe Orlando built. The new House of Mystery series will be using a framing device of a group of stranded travelers, telling stories with each other to pass time as they try and find a way to escape the house. Some of my favourite Vertigo books was the World’s End run in Sandman, which featured a similar framing device. Anthologies series of this type tend to not fair well, as they don’t provide any hook for readers to come back month to month. If DC wants this new attempt to survive, they will be best served by ensuring that the creative team, Bill Willingham(Fables) and Matt Sturges, spends several pages exploring the framing device in each issue.

Demo
Demo was a series of standalone single issues from a couple years back by Brian Wood (DMZ) and Becky Cloonan (American Virgin). With this series continuing under the DC:Vertigo imprint, it makes sense that Vertigo will be issuing a new edition is being released. The original collection was put out by AIT/PlanetLar, and really showcased both members of the creative teams skills, Wood showing his ability to make compelling done-in-one stories, while Cloonan showed her competence in many styles of comic art. Perhaps the best story the two of them accomplish is the ‘Mix Tape’ issue, which has struck a cord with a wide range of readers. If you like non-obvious superpower stories with a strong indie sensibility, check this collection out.


Marvel

Sky Doll
Marvel reprinting European comics for American audiences? Its an interesting move as Marvel continues to slowly expand the variety of their print output with their new Soleil line. The sample art is fun, and if your not a fan of European styled comics, then its probably worth a flip through when it comes out. My understanding is that Marvel, is planning on releasing all the work under this Soleil line as miniseries, then collecting them at a later date (much like they do with all their output), which is a bit weird, as these books were originally published as graphic novels. For the audience of these books, it would be better suited to keep these stories in their graphic novel format.

1985
The long awaited project from Mark Millar finally comes out. Originally rumored to be a fumetti book, the book appears now to be done entirely as a traditional comic. The added surprise is that 1985, is in reference to the year that the first major Marvel miniseries, Secret Wars. The story focuses on a young boy from our Earth, who is the only one who can save the day when the villains from Secret War invade. The art is done by Tommy Lee Edwards, which is great as he is a talent definitely deserving more recognition. Is this the book that will give him the acknowledgement that he deserves? Maybe, but I have a feeling its going to get lost in the Secret Invasion hype that is going around it, which is a shame.

The Rest

Judenhass
Another book by Dave Sim (Cerebus), and perhaps what may turn out to be his next biggest contributions to comics. Using his photorealistic style and excerpts from various sources on the events of the Holocaust, Sim has crafted. what can best be described as a photojournalistic account of the event. I’ve saw the pencils of some of these pages last year when he was at a local show, and they blew me out of the water. I was recently given the retailer preview copy as a birthday gift, and I look forward to finding some time to really digest it. An online preview can be seen here.

To Be Filed: April 2008

by scherem

The last week of every month marks the release of the new copy of Previews, or what I refer to as the retailer book of destiny. Why is this a book of destiny? Well simply put, Previews is a catalogue released by Diamond each month that lists all products available that can possibly ship to a retailer in a few months time. The following are what I feel to be some of the highlights (and lowlights) for product shipping in April 2008. My general impressions for April is that this month is very so-so. Nothing really stands out. Thats saying a lot for a month that see the shipping of Secret Invasion #1.

Remember advance ordering is your friend. Not only does it give you an idea of what your spending will be, it also gives you some insight into where your favourite titles are going and what new creative teams are starting. Most importantly, it helps guarantee that your local shop has what you want.


Dark horse
Pigeons from Hell With a title like this, you have to find this book someone what interesting. Let me reiterate the title its about Pigeons. From. Hell. think about it. The book is an adaption of a Robert E. Howard story, and as Dark Horse describes it, “At dusk, as the sun slumps below the horizon, scores of pigeons can be seen flocking from the house … the pigeons they say, are the souls of the damned, escaping from the bowels of hell itself”. Maybe its a metaphor, but I really hope not.

Grendel God and the Devil collection. This collects for the first time the story that I believe explains the rise of the ‘Grendel’ nation concept that populates the world of the Grendel Prime stories. Any event I’m excited to read more Grendel that hasn’t be collected. Grendel turning 25 is by far the best thing to happen to Grendel in the past 25 years.

DC
Black Adam :The Dark Age. Out of all the mini-series that came out of 52, this is the series that I have been most eagerly awaiting to read in a collection. The story of Black Adam has been one of the most engaging and pathos filled stories in the DCU.

Ex Machina HC. Brian K. Vaungh and Tony Harris is the four year story of Mayor Michael Hundred. The sole person in the world who has any kind of superhero, who after the events of 9/11 retired from active duty to pursue a career in politics. Part Starman in the reluncatency and unsureness of the protagonist and part West Wing for its political tappings, Ex Machina is a book well worth checking out. This hardcover will collect the first 11 issues of the series.

Marvel
Secret Invasion. Secret Invasion kicks off in the Marvel U. The sample pages provided doesn’t put much comfort in the story for me, but we’ll see how it goes. Yu’s art has been slipping and this story hasn’t captured me the same way as other marvel events have. Unlike Civil War and House of M, there was an actual build up to this story, and this could be my problem. If the lead up was shorter; ending when Spider-Woman running off with the body, and the start of this issue is, her giving the body to Stark, I’d be more significantly excited about this series. That being said, I’m going to probably still buy it, as bad as the Yu art it is still Yu art.

Ultimate Human. Much like the Ultimate Iron Man II HC, the release date of this HC is a really puzzling. Its coming out on the same day as the final issue you in the mini-series. I assume this is only because the Iron Man movie opens 3 days later. Still this sets an interesting precedent for comic collections. If this sells really well, will Marvel bump up there trade releases to being this much closer to the regular issues— which may, and will, effectively stop the single issue market from growing. Food for thought, thats for sure.

The rest
Glamourpuss. Say what you want about Dave Sim, the man and his politics his art is amazing. From the sample pages I’ve read, the story doesn’t seem that hot, but it doesn’t really matter as I’m buying this book purely for the eye candy. Sim’s political views/ramblings have sadly over shadowed how strong a penciller he is. Glamourpuss isn’t set to change this viewpoint that many people have about Sim. If you hate him, you’ll still hate him at the end of this story. But, man what beautiful line work.
Sample pages can be viewed here.

Local. The twelve issue miniseries resumes, after what feels like (and in reality was) a one year hiatus. I’ve been particularly impatient for this issue as it is set in Toronto. Much of this series has lost steam with me because of its very erratic publishing schedule. One day I’ll sit down and re-read this whole series and probably remember why I enjoyed it, but for now I’m buying it out of Canadian Pride and to complete the series.

X-O Manowar: Birth. I’m not a big X-O fan, but I’m excited to see more old-school valiant books get reprinted. Its interesting that they are printing the 0 issue in this collection which has radically different art from the rest of the issues in the book, and is also post-Shooter. Many people are going to be turned off by the Queseda art for 20 pages, and then Layton and Windsor Smith for the remaining 200 pages. A nice bonus feature to this collection is that it has some new story by Bob Layton.

 

To Be Filed: March 2008

by scherem

The last week of every month marks the release of the new copy of Previews, or what I refer to as the retailer book of destiny. Why is this a book of destiny? Well simply put, Previews is a catalogue released by Diamond each month that lists all products available that can possibly ship to a retailer in a few months time. The following are what I feel to be some of the highlights (and lowlights) for product shipping in March 2008.

Remember advance ordering is your friend. Not only does it give you an idea of what your spending will be, it also gives you some insight into where your favourite titles are going and what new creative teams are starting. Most importantly, it helps guarantee that your local shop has what you want.

 


Dark Horse
Serenity: Better Days . Joss Whedon is back with another 3 issue Serenity mini-series. From the solicitation text and preview images, the story takes place before the movie (Wash is shown in the images). I really can’t remember the previous series, even though I own it in multiple formats. Which either doesn’t speak well of the work or my devotion to Firefly. In any event I’ll be waiting for the eventual trade on this series. The basic premise, is that the crew pulls a heist that actually pays what it promises. As a rare outcome for the Serenity crew, this story does have potential for some interesting character examination. Despite my hesitation to pick up the monthly, I hope this series does well enough that Dark Horse either commissions a Firefly Season two series, or gets to another mini-series telling the origin of Book.

DC
Tangent: Superman’s Reign. Tangent was a good to great fifth week event that DC held several years ago. Revisiting Tangent with the original architect, Dan Jurgens, on board is something I can get behind. Having them interact with the DCU, might be a good idea (which says a lot as I’m not big on the return of the multiverse). Having the whole story being a 12 issue mini-series when the DCU is being flooded with more ‘important’ series relating to the coming ‘final’ crisis, not so much of a good marketing move. I’m going to have to wait for the trade on this, and even then only if something major happens in the series. Now if they did some trades of the original Tangent stuff I might be interested…

New Frontier Special Edition. Coming out in time with the New Frontier DVD special, this special main story is a ‘lost chapter’ written and drawn by Cooke, and two other stories drawn by Bone and Bullock, artists who are similar in style to Cooke. At $4.99 for 48 pages and no ads, is by far not the worst deal out there, but the fact that I’ve bought the New Frontier in the Absolute edition, that is no longer absolute is a bit annoying. At least this will go well with my single issues. What would be best though is if they packed this story with the New Frontier DVD.

Flash 238 marks (for me) the long awaited return of Tom Peyer to the DCU. Peyer the writter of Hourman, one of the many underrated DC series from the mid to late 90’s, has the chops to carry this title. Hourman shares the two biggest elements that are central to the current Flash series; family and legacy. From the text, I’m gathering the plot of the the first arc is about Wally finding ways to make money to support his family, after all a family’s got to eat, especially when three quarters of them have an insanely high metabolism. This seems like a perfect match for Peyer’s strengths. Freddie Williams II stays on as the series artist.

The Trials of Shazam concludes this month. I haven’t been following this series myself, but I keep hearing good things about it. With the amazing characterization that Black Adam has received these past couple of years, my interest in the Fawcett City heroes is at an all-time high. I know there has been a trade of the first half of this series, which I’ve been avoiding so I can read it alongside the second trade. So what is this series all about? From what I’ve gathered the story is strictly following the classic archetype of the hero and the quest. The quest in the case being Freddie (Captian Marvel Jr.) trying to find a set of Gods to be the new source of power behind Shazam. One of my favourite series is Matt Wagner’s Mage, and this book sounds like its doing everything that I thought Mage did right.

Aztek: The Ultimate Man. Like, the aforementioned Hourman, Aztek was another of those short lived DC series that showed a lot of promise, but just didn’t find an audience. The lead, Uno, is the latest in a series of warriors who assume the mantle Aztek. The Azteks were raised and groomed by the secret Q society, in preparation for a prophesied threat that would destroy the world. As one of the final steps of his training, Aztek is sent to the American city, Vanity, to learn how to be a hero. While the concept is fairly generic, it had the benefit of being co-written by Mark Millar and Grant Morrison.

Starman Omnibus 1. This to me is the release of the year. Starman was the perfect DC series. You got legacy, you got DC history, and you got a character that was totally unique. This is a series that rightly earned both critical and fan accolades, but unless you bought the single issue, odds are you never read it the way it was meant to be. Like, Hitman, Hellblazer and other series, DC never finished releasing all the trades, nor did they print what they released in order. The good news is that DC is finally reprinting this classic in the way it should always have been, as a series of thick hardcovers. This is the first volume of what I’m guessing is going to be 5 volumes (averaging 16 issues per volume plus annuals and specials). If you love JSA, you owe yourself to check this out, as they series inspired JSA in many subtle ways. This book is scheduled to ship in May.

Wildstrom has the Absolute League of Extraordinary Gentlemen scheduled to be released in June. Next to being oversized, this edition will ship with a 45 RPM of Alan Moore singing Immortal Love. Also just like the regular sized HC, this book will have all the fold outs, 3D glasses, and other features. And just like the earlier edition, this version will also only be available in the United States of America.

Young Liars debuts from Vertigo and features David Lapham doing both the writing and drawing duties. The question though, if this is going to be the Lapham that gave us the subpar Batman story a few years back, or the Lapham that gave us Stray Bullets? Here’s a bit of the solicitation text: “At the core of Young Liars is the disturbing relationship between Danny Noonan, a habitual liar and crap guitar player from Texas, and Sadie Dawkins, the object of his desire. Sadie was a poor little rich girl until a bullet lodged in her brain turned her into an adrenaline junkie who only listens to Danny” Yeah, it looks like the Lapham of Stray Bullets is back.


Image
Nobel Causes 32 offers a new jumping on point. While I’ve never read this book,the central concept of a family of superheroes and their trials and tribulations seems to take the concept of Fantastic Four to the next level. Not many image books last 5 years + (exception if your book is tied to the names of Kirkman, McFarlane or Larsen), so that alone makes this something of an oddity that should be checked out. I might have to pick up the recently released archive editions.


Marvel
Last Defenders. Joe Casey doing a team book which has a group of heroes that don’t usually get along/seen with each other. I’m in.

Marvel Atlas 2 of 2. I didn’t pick up the first issue, but I did flip through it. This is a very impressive body of work, that tells the history / facts of each country in the Marvel Universe. I can’t wait to pick this issue (The Americas) up and see how messed up the entry for Canada is, and also to see how long the entry for the United States of America is.

Cable #1. I bring you Nomad V2.0. ’nuff said.

Logan #1. I tend to think that Wolverine is a character that is over exposed, and there is not much to do with the character that hasn’t been done, or comes off as a parody of itself. That being said a Marvel Knights series with art by Risso and written by BKV makes me interested. But the solicitation text though, does negate some of my excitement for the series.

Ultimate Iron Man II HC Its more interesting that solicit this collection the same month they solicit the last issue shipping. Is this a test for the future trade releases? If so, with Marvels aggressive trade program, retailers must not be happy about this.

The rest
Echo. Terry Moore returns to the creator owned property world with Echo. This book promises to be a departure from his previous indie work, Strangers In Paradise, as the premise involves a heavier sci-fi element. The main character finds herself attached to a piece of symbiotic technology that is a living bomb. I enjoy Terry’s art and SiP work, I look forward to seeing his return to creator owned work that has a more fantasy bent.

Gravel. Another new regular series coming out from Avatar written by Ellis. I’m starting to wonder if Avatar is an imprint owned by Ellis, Ennis and friends.

Talent. This Trade is offered again, and if you missed it the first time you really should check out this gem. The central concept is that a plan crashes, and all people onboard are found dead except one. As the story progresses the lone survivor slowly realizes that he has the talents and some of the memories of everyone who died on that plan. This was by far one of the best mini-series I read in 2006.

 

To Filed: February 2008

by scherem
Ahh, February. The month for lovers, and another month of comic book releases. This February looks like its going to be a pretty stacked month, and will most likely make your significant other jealous about the time you’ll be spending at the shop. The second month of 08 brings us some cool statues, some cooler books, and even a kick ass prop that will make you rock out like its 1986. Yeah, I’m talking to you McFly.

So where can you preview these treasures of the future? Look no further then the monthly publication by Diamond, called Previews. This catalogue is a great resource for some advance budgeting or to get you excited for what is upcoming in your favourite comic(s). This book also allows you to make advance orders, which helps ensures your retailer has what you want when you want it.

 

Dark Horse
Hellboy Library Edition Volume 1
If you’ve never read Hellboy, this is a good place to start. The library edition reprints the first two story arcs, Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil in an oversized format. The book is going to be published as with a hard fabric cover so it matches The Art of Hellboy book, that Dark Horse released a couple of years back. Over all this looks like it’ll be an awesome presentation, and if you haven’t yet, it’ll be a great place to start reading Hellboy.

Grendel Devil Child HC
The best thing to happen in 2007 with Dark Horse? Grendel turning 25 and re-releasing a lot of the great stories about the world of Grendel. This one, I remember reading as it was coming out, and it being one of the first stories to really get under my skin in a purely psychological way. Devil Child answers the question of what ever happened to Stacy, Hunter’s ward, after the events of Devil By The Deed. The story was written by long time Grendel editor Diana Schultz, and had art by Tim Sale.

DC
Booster Gold 0
First off props to the awesome homage to the cover of Zero Hour #4. Ever since they hinted there’d be a Zero Hour story in the first issue, I’ve been sold on this book. The idea that they are referencing the first DC crossover that I ever read really excites me. From the cover it appears that this story will be focusing less on Zero Hour, and more on the Blue Beetle plot resolution, which I’m guessing is that he saves Kord, just to see him die again. Booster Gold was the surprise hit for me in 2007, and if you a fan of the DCU, you really should be reading this book.

Batman 670
Grant Morrison has really been doing some interesting things with the title, and in the process has taken Batman place he hasn’t been in over 30 years. As a pretty big fan of Batman, I would be lying to say that I was a fan of some of the throwbacks that haven gone on. This issue, which is following up on his second storyline, seems a bit late for me– there was the league of Batman story and Ghul between all of this. I honestly don’t remember much about the three other personas of batman running about, but hey the issue does promises an appearance of Bat-mite. I’m curious enough to see how all of this gets pulled off.

Action Comics Annual 11
At last the conclusion to the Last Son storyline. The art and story for this series has been solid (to date), and hasn’t fumble like the OYL story. I really think five years from now when people look back at this story they will not see a late book, but an awesome story.

Action Comics 862
The conclusion of the Legion storyline. A lot of people I think have been avoiding this because of the ties, and the inherent continuity confusion that comes with the Legion. The first two issues of this story line have been amazing, and possibly the best Superman I’ve ever read. The Legion has been used well here, and you don’t need to have been following the Legion to understand their use here. Actually, this story might be a lot better if you have no previous experience with the heroes of the 31st century. If you haven’t been reading this monthly, then definitely keep an eye out for this collection of this story.

Lobo Portrait of a Bastich
DC’s out of left field solicitation for the month. Last month was the Giffen/DeMattis Justice League vol. 1 trade as a HC, this month its the first two Lobo mini series. I have some fond memories tied around the first issue of Lobo’s Back, but next to that, I’m pretty sure this stuff will not have aged well. This is just a really weird book to see get solicitation space. Maybe they have big plans for Lobo coming up in 08? Regardless this is the series explains everything you need to know about Lobo, including how he achieved his immortality.

Tiny Titans
The 3 page preview was entertaining, but will it last? I’m not sure. It might do strong sales in book stores and other non-LCS where the targeted audience can get their hands on it. In a LCS sense, I see this following the Franklin Richard trend, were it will do well and be highly talked about for the first three, maybe four issues, and then it will be forgotten and have sales figures around the level of the Teen Titan’s Go comic. This book could be a real success, if it wasn’t a monthly.

Gen13 17
Just want to point out the the Gen13 reboot is 17 issues in, and Wildcats #2 still hasn’t been shipped (and according to the most recent issue of Wizard, the script for the issue was just finished). Its a shame that the relaunch of the Wildstorm universe failed so miserably.

Image
Scud the Disposable Assassin
Scud returns as a 4 issue mini series, promising to wrap up the story line that was last seen 10 years ago. This title has a lot of street cred, but I’m surprised that there has been no mention Scud trades to help bring new readers up to speed. There are about 20 issues of the title that have been long, long out of print, and to release a mini-series tying strongly to these issues (and possibly not recapping them) seems to be depending TOO much on the street cred.

Marvel
Clan Destine
Alan Davis for me is always at his best when he is both drawing and writing his work. Look no further then his Excalibur run to see why. Because of this, I’m happy to see him back to doing double duty on something he clearly cares for, his creation of Clan Destine. I feel that the concept of the Clan, that of a large immortal super powered family, will/can do a lot better in todays environment. The only thing that may be holding this back, is what I feel its greatest strength, Alan Davis’s art. It beautiful, but it doesn’t stand out in the current market place. Its not hyper realistic ala Hitch, and its not in the Jim Lee school either. This is no way a bash on his work. But much like Mark McKone, I find those who like the style are those who truly appreciate comics.

Fantastic Four
Speaking of Hitch, the start of the Hitch/Millar run on the first family begins this month. There signed on for a one year stint, and it will probably sell like gangbusters. Despite this, beyond the Byrne and Waid runs on the FF and Ultimates, I still don’t have any interest in the title. I fully believe my view of the Fantastic Four has probably been forever tainted by the work of Tom DeFalco.

Fantastic Four: Lost Adventure
While I really have no interest in the FF, I do have interest in Kirby. So ‘New’ Jack Kirby work on the FF is something I can really get behind. So where did the new work come from? Well Jack drew102 issues of Fantastic Four that were published, for what ever reason his last issue, #103, was never completed– until now. Stan Lee and Joe Sinnott (who I assume was the inker at the time), have taken this penciled pages and finished the story. Will the story stand up to today’s standards? Most likely not, but I’ll take new Kirby work where I can get it. The book also contains the original penciled pages and a reprinting of issues 108, which used some of the art in a flashback sequence. The package seems well worth the $4.99 USD.

Marvel Fanfare Vol. 1Trade
…. And Marvel’s weird reprint of the month. I’m not exactly sure why they are putting this stuff back in print. The artists listed in this trade is impressive, but I still don’t hear anyone clamoring for a collection of these issues. Definitely a weird choice by the house of ideas.

The Rest
Contraband (SLG)
From the description: “Toby picked the wrong person to turn his cell phone camera upon. A Self-style “citizen journalist,” he is documenting a group of underground video journalists who look for violent acts to film on their pone when he is discovered by agents for a cell-phone channel called “Contraband.” Forced to work for them, Toby is assigned the difficult task of finding a female activist bent on sabotaging Contraband and must navigate a difficult path where he must choose between his own safety and the greater good”. There is a lot of discussion/stories that can be drawn out of the changing view people have about the media, the role in it, and the shrinking of private space. From the before-mention description, it looks like they are approaching the story with some of these issues in mind. This book can be a hit or a miss, I’m really hoping for it to be a hit.

RASL #1 (Cartoon Books)
Jeff Smith returns to this indie world with his new title, RASL. Rasl, is an art thief who is trying to escape his past. Unlike the other art thieves who need to plan their robberies to the smallest detail, Rasl makes use of his unique ability to travel through the light between dimensions. This often allows him to steal work that is deemed impossible. It’s good to see Smith back, but I’m more excited by the fact that he is approaching a story that is as far removed from Bone as possible.

Bits and Pieces: quick one line thoughts of other things coming out this month

Princess Midnight
Andi Watson can do no wrong. Well– only wrong by writing Marvel books and doing single issue work. His work has, and I always, read better in a collected format. A new 64 page novella, while small, is enough to hold me over till his next substantial collection is released.

The Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus
Just look at that title. Just look at that cover of various Hembeck self portraits. The only thing that is missing from this is the word spotlight somewhere in the title. While the whole Hembeck phase is before my time, I’m still likely going to flip through this just to see his work for the first time.

Kick-Ass
I’ll probably skip this, but a new Mark Millar ICON book with JRJR art is definitely something to note. The book promises to be ‘the next realistic’ step in a superhero title. With that in mind, and the the title of the book, I’m seeing this being something along the lines of Nextwave and other dark hyper-violent books.

Drawn & Quarterly issues new printings on a couple of classics, the Chest Brown, I Never Liked You, and Seth’s Its a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken.

Narcopolis marks Jamie Delano return to comics in this avatar book that will play to his strengths, black magic and sci-fi.

Wizard reissues the collection of Beautiful Killer, with gorgeous art by Phil Noto.

Perhaps the coolest prop to come out sometime is the Flux Capacitor replica, being released by Diamond.

Martin Scherer enjoys reading, thinking and consuming comics in mass amounts. His most favorite day of the month in the one that marks the release of the new previews catalog. His by far not the worlds greatest boyfriend. He looks forward to hearing your comments about this, past articles or general questions about comics. Contact him via email, martin@geekscape.net

 

 

The Question: Zen And Violence

by scherem

This older edition of Long Box Thoughts laid buried deep down in the archives of Geekscape’s features. With the conclusion of Countdown, the Question’s death in 52 and the impending Final Crisis, here it is, on the front page, for all of you to rediscover. -Jonathan

The Denny O’Neil and Denys Cowan era of The Question is one of those titles that is remembered fondly by those who read it, and hardly remembered by those who didn’t. The re-imaging of this Steve Ditko creation was launched in a post-crisis DCU and rode on the wave of the new ‘mature’ hero line that DC was launching in the wake of such success as Green Arrow: Long Bow Hunters, Swamp Thing and Watchmen. The Question series found an audience for its unique take on the action genre and strong use of eastern philosophy. The series lasted for 36 issues, and then became a quarterly title for a little over year before it was officially cancelled. After that, The Question occupied DC Comics limbo, only making an appearance here and there, usually by writers (Rucka, O’Neil) who had a soft spot for the character. The Question, like much of the Charlton Action Heroes ,was at best a c-list character. This list ranking changed though over the course of a little mini-series you may have heard of, called 52.

Over the course of 52, the comic buying world was reintroduced to Vic Sage, just to witnessed his eventual death. As a big O’Neil era fan of The Question, I have mixed feelings about this, which is best to be discussed at a different, and more appropriate time. One positive to come out of this though, was that an interest was generated in the O’Neil/Cowan era, resulting with DC releasing a trade of the first six issues, entitled, Zen and Violence and announcing a second trade to come later this year.

The story arc of this first trade is, like most new titles, focused on introducing the character and the supporting cast. We are introduced to his unattainable love interest, Myra, the loyal friend and confident, Tot, and the corrupt cop who is trying to change, Izzy (who’s story follows an arc similar to another famous DC law enforcer, Harvey Bullock). The series would also reintroduce Richard Dragon and Lady Shiva to the DCU.

Question_trade_coverThe story starts of with Vic Sage, already having his Question persona, being shown as a brash, cocky man. Quick to anger and quicker to act. Who Vic Sage is, and how he first became The Question is something that would be told slowly over the course of the series. This first arc is not about secret origins and histories as many are, but is instead about rebirth. We see the death of the brash Vic Sage, and witness his rebirth, thanks to Shiva and Dragon, into a more zen like character. Gone is the quick to anger side of Vic, and in its place is a man who believes in the importance of meditation and breathing exercises. Even though, Vic posses a new outlook on life, he is still shown, much like a recoverying addict, to be tempted to lead his life by his old ways, even though he knows he is on the path to be something better. Vic is still flawed. He is a man, like all of us, who is still prone to his old habits. This flaw is what humanizes Victor in ways that the characterization of Batman and other DCU heroes cannot. This questions of identity and of it being possible for someone to truly change their outlook and lifestyle are ones that would reoccur through out the series, and is perhaps its unattended thesis. Each character in the series, including the physical environment of Hub City, in the course of the series are struggling with change, and meeting it with varied success.

Example_of_soundAs mentioned before, the story has strong elements of philosophy (especially Eastern) in it, and along with a unique creative decision, of not using sound effects, the story at times comes across as being overwritten. There are pages, which are dependent on the dialogue to know what is happening (ex: “The phone is ringing, can you answer it?”), if there was no text, it would be extremely hard at times to follow the story. This is not a problem of the art, but the problem of a creative decision needing to be fleshed out. Having read the series in its entirety, I can tell you this problem lessens as the writing and art come into harmony, but in this trade, the harmony is lacking. See the image to the right for an example of this over writting to work around the lack of sound effects.

Collected here in Zen and Violence, is the initial four issue story arc, and two single issues stories. The single issue stories are by far the gems of this collection, and harken back to the O’Neil and Adams Green Arrow/Green Lantern periods from the 1970’s. These single issues ask compelling questions and paint vivid pictures of the world these characters inhabit. It also the first, and not the last time where we see The Question being a supporting character to Hub City and its elements. These solo stories also benefit from being issue 5 and 6 of the series, as it is clear that the series starting to get its footing.

Overall this trade is not the best introduction to The Question, but it serves to introduce the world that the character inhabits. The trade would have been better served if it contained the first year of issues, or the first annual storyline, Fables (a crossover with the Batman and Green Arrow annuals). Many of the elements in the first four issues build the foundation to the series and will ultimately dictate events throughout the series. If you’re a fan of other O’Neil work, or the Grell era of Green Arrow, the Question is a solid addition to your library. If the use of Mr. Sage in 52 perked your interest in The Question, or are looking for something different and are willing to be challenged in your vigilante super heroics. then The Question may very well be the answer you’re looking for.

Counting Up, Counting Down

by scherem

Its hard to find a good comic shop. Damn hard. When you find one, its hard to let go of it, and sometimes that creates a series of problems. Point in case, My shop, Silver Snail Toronto, is no way local to me. In reality its about a 80 min drive in ideal conditions. Because of this, I only get to empty my pull box once, maybe twice a month. It’s only now that I finally got to around to reading the end of 52, and the start of Countdown. Due to the fact that these issues are over a month old, I’m not going to be trying too hard to be spoiler free.


Issue 51 was interesting in a few ways. First is that it had probably one of the most stunning covers in the series. The majority of the covers to 52 have all been amazing, with the exception of one or two that I didn’t care for aesthetically. Two things stood out as highlights to me in this issue, the first being the resolution of the space arc. Animal Man made it home to Ellen, and they didn’t call off any of his family. Buddy’s relationship with his family was one of the strong themes in Morrison’s run on Animal Man, and was the same here. I enjoyed the little touches of his homecoming, the neighbors coming over to listen to his tales, or his complaints how he lost his jacket which had all his ID in it. I admit I was worried that Ellen had moved on, but in one page they resolved that neatly. But the most impressive thing in this issue was how the revealed the motivation behind Robin’s costume change: Homage.


The double size conclusion to 52 has confused a lot of people (or so I’ve heard). I actually like the approach they took to it. They aren’t tying the multiverse to OA anymore, or even saying its about Earths that took different evolutionary paths. Its about Earths that weren’t completely destroyed and are now rebuilding. And how can I be mad, they revived the Charalton Heroes Earth, where (a version of) Vic Sage is still alive. I do wonder how the Wildstorm bleed fits into all of this, but that is something for future storytellers to address.

52 ends how it began– being Booster’s story. It was nice to see one final interaction with Booster and Ted, which I think was the inspiration of his battle cry ‘this is for the Blue and Gold’. Two colors, two friends. That is the central them of the story: Honoring your partners. From Magnus and Morrow to Ralph and Sue, every story ultimately boils down to finding your friends or dealing with their loss in their lives. This even works for Montoya and Sage, Montoya and Kane and even Black Adam and his late wife.

I hated the concept of the multiverse, and I hated hearing it was coming back— but you know what? I’m excited.


The Ending of 52, leads into the yearlong countdown to Final Crisis, which as hinted, will lead to the birth of the Megaverse. So for a first issue, how does it fair? It started at least four plot lines: Mary Marvel, Darksied, The Search for Ray Palmer, the redemption(?) of Red Hood, and people knowingly crossing multiverses. The fact that they are illustrating this last point as common knowledge (well at least Tod knows about it) is bit disheartening. I was hoping for the multiverse crossovers to be kept at a minimum for the next couple of years. Like 52 though, I hope that this series keeps the beats it established in this issue– I want a weekly comic.

Also, when did Piper become evil, I thought he became good AGAIN at the end of Rogue War?


Countdown 50 was not nearly as good as 51, and actually a bit worrisome. A lot of the issue seems to b referencing stories in other books; The JLA/JSA crossover, the current Flash storyline. I’m worried that I will not be able to enjoy Countdown on its own, like I was able to with 52. Another concern I had, and this may be sloppy storytelling is that they revealed that Red Hood’s identity AND history is public knowledge. If Jimmy knows the Hood is Jason Todd, and was Robin, how hard is it for him to figure out that Batman is Bruce Wayne?

The jury is still out on Countdown, but if its at all paced like 52, it won’t be till about issue 25 when you can safely decide if you hate or like it.

Martin Scherer enjoys reading, thinking and consuming comics in mass amounts. When he is not throwing down the php/xml-fu he is trying to catch up on his comics. He looks forward to hearing your comments about this, past articles or general questions about comics. Contact him via email, martin@geekscape.net

 

To Be Filled: July 2007

by scherem

Long Box Thoughts: To Be Filled July 2007
With the August preview catalog coming out sometime in the next two weeks, I figured it was about time that I sat down and focused on the July issue. Previews is the advance ordering catalog put out by Diamond. Advance ordering is your friend as it ensures your retailer has what you want. As an added side effect, Previews gets you excited for comics of the future.

Dark Horse
The biggest release I see from Dark Horse this month in Grendel: Behold the Devil #0. This is the first time that Matt Wagner has written and drawn the original Grendel in over 20 years. Released as a prelude to the forthcoming mini-series, the book will only cost you 50 cents. The art is in the standard Black, White and Red. Other notable release is the final book in the Martha Washington series, Martha Washington Dies. I haven’t read any of the Martha books, but have heard good things, and I don’t see how you can go wrong with Frank Miller (on a creator owned book) and Dave Gibbons.

For you Buffy fans, a second omnibus has been announced for September, collection 300 pages of the older miniseries for $25 USD.

DC
The period when the Atom became a fantasy book is high point to many. The All New Atom 13 has the new atom searching for Ray Palmer by searching the setting of the Sword of the Atom series. While I haven’t read the new series, and few if any of the old Sword series, the Landronn cover to this issue is stunning.

Green Arrow finds life after the ending of his regular series in the 6 part miniseries Green Arrow Year One. Will it be a new Longbow Hunters, or is this just a mini to keep the character in people’s minds? I’ll be picking this up out of my love for G.A., but the team of Diggle and Jock is a nice bonus.

Manhunter Volume three is advance solicited for August, which reprints issues 15-23 and focuses on the origin of her weapons and costume. This also has the bonus of tying her into the Starman legacy by exploring her ties to the DCU golden age. If you haven’t been reading this series, check out these trades. Manhunter is a unique book on an otherwise crowded superhero market.

Wildstorm launches The Programme by Peter Miligan and C.P. Smith. The programme focuses on the events after a Cold War Soviet weapon is awaken by the recent military actions of America. ‘Conventional warfare is suddenly outdated: the new weapons of mass destruction wield super-powers. Does America have an answer to … the Programme?’ Milligan is a hit and miss writer with me. This series seems far enough removed from standard superhero fare that it will be a story playiing to Milligan’s strengths.

A trade is offered of the complete Alan Moore Wildcats. This is the run that introduced Tao, the villain from Sleeper and other elements of the Wildcat universe that change the direction of the book. This would be an interesting read for fans of WildCats Version 2.0 and Sleeper.

Vertigo has a new six issue miniseries by Mike Carey and Jock, called Faker. From the solicitation text: ‘Chock full of ruthless characters with hidden agendas, Faker takes place during freshman year in college. The ultimate time of reinvention, where, if you’re up for it, you can lie, cheat and fake you way through almost anything.’

Finally DC Direct is offering an AWESOME Iron Giant statue. ‘…measuring approximately 4.5″ tall x 10″ wide x 4.75″ deep for the main portion (Iron Giant head and shoulders), while the hand (with a miniature Hogarth attached) is a separate piece measuring 2.5″ tall x 2″ wide x 3″ deep that can be positioned at any distance from the main piece. This impressive statue includes a blueprint of the Iron Giant with notes from creator Brad Bird’.

Image
G0DLAND: Celestial Edition HC collects the first 12 issues of the series. G0DLAND can best be described as Joe Casey and Tom Scioli’s silver-age throwback book with a modern twist. Where else can you find a suave villain, whose main goal is to find a new ‘high’? Many people I’ve talked to are are turned off by this books strong Kirby influence art. Give it a try, even if your not a fan of the art, it will grow on you like a tumor. The first issue is available for reading online here.

Marvel
Just because this question will come up on the fourms sooner or later…

World War Hulk Books For July
WWHulk #2
Avengers: The Initiative #4
Ghost Rider #13
Heroes for Hire #12
Hulk #108
Iron Man#20
Ant-Man #10
Frontline #2
Gamma Corps #1
Gamma Corps #2
WWHulk: X-Men #2

The big news of July has to be the much awaited return of Thor, in Thor #1 by JMS and Coipel. Not much is revealed in the preview art or text except that this will reintroduce the original Thor into a post civil war Marvel. How will he react when he hears what happened to Cap? Or what Iron Man has become?

Speaking of Civil War, Civil War Chronicles begins in July, which is a series with the goal of reprinting Civil War in chronological order. Each book will be 72 pages in length, or about 3 issues of reprinting. Its been a year since issue 1, and marvel is still finding ways to make money off the books. Kudos to them, but I’m curious how long will the chronicles last.

The next Bendis and Maleev book starts in July too, a four issue Halo Miniseries which continues from where Halo 2 ended. Solicitation promises that there will be side stories to help further flush out the Halo universe.

Maybe I have Grendel on the mind, but The Immortal Iron Fist #8’s cover looks like something straight from Grendel.

L.A.’s (other) super team, The Champions series starts. Written by Fraction and drawn by newly exclusive Marvel artist Kitson. The catch of the series is that any member of the team can be fired at any time as they are held to high public standards. In addition each member is on the team with a 1 year contract. Expect a revolving door of characters throughout this series. I wonder how long it will be till a runaways/champions story is told.

The crossover you didn’t demand begins this month, with New Avengers/Transformers #1.

Devil Dinosaur Omnibus. Wow. Never thought I’d see this. Wow.

The Rest
Other interesting solicitations not from the big four publishers
A new Mouse Guard series starts, Winter 1152. I never read the original, but I heard a enough raving about it to make me check out the trade when it comes out in June.

Avatar has a new monthly comic by Warren Ellis, Doktor Sleepless. This promises to be more of the sci-fi future stories that made Transmetropolitan so popular. Unlike Transmet though, the story’s protagonist is not a journalist, but a mad scientist who has a plan for a ‘new future’. If you enjoyed big society sci-fi ideas, you’ll probably like this book.

Cartoon books is offering a plush Fone Bone toy, which looks pretty darn cute.

Dynamite Comics has The Boys #8 coming out, which is good news for a lot of people.

G.I. Joe goes through its own WWIII as part of its 25th anniversary, which firmly sets the theme for 2007 in comics to be World War III (or hulk).

Martin Scherer enjoys reading, thinking and consuming comics in mass amounts. His most favorite day of the month in the one that marks the release of the new previews catalog. When he is not dreaming about future purchases, he looks forward to hearing your comments about this, past articles or general questions about comics. Contact him via email, martin@geekscape.net

 

Eisner: Looking back 10 years ago

by scherem

During my research into the origin of the Eisner and Harvey Awards last month, I paid close attention to what was nominated 10 years ago (1997) and asked myself what is still talked about from this nomination period, and why were some things even nominated? Looking back at the 1997 list I noticed some classics, some swan songs and one time darlings of the independent circuit. The question remains though, how much do the Eisner’s (and other awards) matter a ten, five or even a year down the line. There is little doubt about how much I love my comics, but for the life of me I can’t tell you won last year. In the same line of thought, I can tell you who won the Oscar for best picture last year with out any problems— and I hardly watch movies.

So what purpose do these comic awards serve? Are these awards simply a pat on the back, or a true marker of excellence that causes us to look back and say “Check this out, it was best short story in 97”. Pardon the pun, but I think the shelf life of the importance of nomination and winning is relatively small. I admit there has been some great strides made in trying to make the awards mean more— most notably printing a banner on winning books. Again though, this only speaks to people who know what the Eisner is and what it means. How can we make these awards mean more, or become a symbol of comic cannon?

What follows is a partial list of nominees and winners. Those who won are in bold. For a full list of nominees and winners please look at this site
The complete list of winners is at the end of this article.

Best Short Story
“Gentlemanhog,” Jim Woodring, Frank #1 (Fantagraphics)
“Heroes,” Archie Goodwin and Gary Gianni, Batman: Black & White #4 (DC Comics)
“Joy Ride,” Carol Lay, Joy Ride and Other Stories (Kitchen Sink)
“The Nearness of You,” Wizard Presents Kurt Busiek’s Astro City, vol. 2, #1/2 (Homage/Wizard Press)
“Oracle-Year One: Born of Hope,” John Ostrander, Kim Yale, Brian Stelfreeze, and Karl Story, Batman Chronicles #5 (DC)
“Perpetual Mourning,” Ted McKeever, Batman: Black & White #1 (DC)

Both Heroes and Oracle-Year One share a common thread, they are (I believe to be) last works. Archie Goodwin well loved editor and writer would die suddenly in 1998, and Kim Yale, wife of John Ostrander would lose her battle with breast cancer. If memory serves, this story was published after her death. Both Ostrander and Yale helped create and flush out Oracle in the pages of the often talked about Suicide Squad.

Best Single Issue
Giant THB Parade, Paul Pope (Horse Press)
Kane #13: “Point of View,” Paul Grist (Dancing Elephant Press)
Kurt Busiek’s Astro City, vol. 2, #1: “Welcome to Astro City,” Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Will Blyberg (Jukebox Productions/Homage)
Elric #0: Neil Gaiman’s “One Life Furnished in Early Moorcock,” adapted by P. Craig Russell (Topps)
Optic Nerve #3, Adrian Tomine (Drawn & Quarterly)
Sandman #75: “The Tempest,” Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess (DC/Vertigo)
Stray Bullets #10: “Here Comes the Circus,” David Lapham (El Capitan)

While hardly talked about anymore, when Astro City came out it turned a lot of heads. It was a big cause of celebration that the second volume (and 1st regular series) of Astro City started. Astro City deservedly won the awards it was nominated for in 1997. It’s a shame that no one really talks about this book anymore with the same anxious breath.

Covers to Starman: Sand And Stars

Best Serialized Story
Captain America #450-453: “Man Without a Country,” Mark Waid, Ron Garney, and Scott Koblish (Marvel)
Kurt Busiek’s Astro City Vol. 2, #2-3: “Everyday Life/Adventures in Other Worlds,” Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Will Blyberg (Jukebox Productions/Homage)
Starman #20-23: “Sand and Stars,” James Robinson, Tony Harris, Guy Davis, and Wade von Grawbadger (DC)
Strangers in Paradise #10-13: “It’s a Good Life” Terry Moore (Abstract Studios/Homage)
Usagi Yojimbo #1-2: “Noodles,” Stan Sakai (Dark Horse)
Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #604-606: “The Universal Solvent,” Don Rosa (Gladstone)

Starman is the series that made me love DC continuity, and the only book to spin out of Zero Hour to go more then 12 issues. This series featured gorgeous covers by Tony Harris, his pencils, while not as smooth as they are in Ex Machina are still very strong. While the seres lost its direction for awhile after the death of Archie Goodwin, when the series was on, it was ON. Not only did it tell good super-hero stories, it also managed to flush out the a rich history of Starmen past, present and future, and tie itself into many long forgotten aspects of the DCU. For fans of the JSA this particular story arc is especially important as it features one of the last adventures of the original golden age Sandman. I’ll do a more indepth look at the Jack Knight Starman series one day.

Its also interesting to note the nomination of a Disney book. I’m not to sure if Disney book’s were getting more focus due to Rosa, and the popularity for cartoon style art/stories that Bone had created in the industry during this period.

Best Continuing Series
Akiko, Mark Crilley (Sirius)
Kane, Paul Grist (Dancing Elephant Press)
Kurt Busiek’s Astro City, Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Will Blyberg (Jukebox Productions/Homage)
Starman, James Robinson, Tony Harris, and Wade von Grawbadger (DC)
Strangehaven, Gary Spencer Millidge (Abiogenesis Press)
Strangers in Paradise, Terry Moore (Abstract Studios/Homage)

Once again we see Astro city nominated (and winning) an award. Also notable nominees from this year are Starman, and Kane. Kane, the non-linear story of Officer Kane and his role on the New Eden police force is an excellent read. Paul Grist stopped publishing the book monthly and instead (is supposedly) focusing on continuing the series as a line of OGN’s once he finishes collecting all the original single issues through Image. Grist makes strong use of negative space and, while his style is relatively simple, it is this sense of space and use of the negative that really makes his art pop. There is two major storylines woven through the series, that of Kane in the now, and that of the events surround the death of his partner in the past. These flashback stories are placed seamlessly into the the issues, and while sometimes jarring remain engaging. Usually the only way you can tell is the flashback is by the physical appearance of Kane. Grist would also be nominated for best writer/artist this year.

Covers to Kane Vol 1 and 2

Best Limited Series
Age of Reptiles: The Hunt, Ricardo Delgado (Dark Horse)
Batman: Black and White, Mark Chiarello and Scott Peterson, eds. (DC)
Death: The Time of Your Life, Neil Gaiman, Chris Bachalo, Mark Buckingham, and Mark Pennington (DC/Vertigo)
Gon, Masashi Tanaka (Paradox Press)
Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross (DC)
The System, Peter Kuper (DC/Vertigo Verite)
Terminal City, Dean Motter and Michael Lark (DC/Vertigo)

If anything should be noted about 1997, was this it was a strong year for limited series. Kingdom Come, The System, Death: TTOYL and the original Batman Black & White Anthology are all strong stories that continue to sell well and are enjoyable today.

Covers to The System 1 through 3

Best New Series
Barry Windsor-Smith: Storyteller, Barry Windsor-Smith (Dark Horse)
Coventry, Bill Willingham (Fantagraphics)
Leave It to Chance, James Robinson and Paul Smith (Homage)
Nowhere, Debbie Drechsler (Drawn & Quarterly)
The Wretch, Phillip Hester and others (Caliber)

Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition
Ricardo Delgado, Age of Reptiles
Debbie Drechsler, Daddy’s Girl; Nowhere
Jon “Bean” Hastings, Smith Brown Jones
Batton Lash, Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre
Gary Spencer Millidge, Strangehaven
Rob Walton, Ragmop

Where are these series and talent today? Tying into my soap box from earlier, this is perhaps the best example of why the Eisner don’t mean that much outside of the professional community. The community is small, and both the Best New Series and Talent of Wider Recognition nominees (and winners) are virtually unheard of ten years after their nomination. These categories are to me, probably the most important ones in the Eisner’s, as it showcases breakout work. Yet, based on the history of 1997. We have these awards that in theory should allow us to create a better star system, but instead has sadly, fallen by the wayside. I suspect the only way that the majority of stars are made in comic books today are the ones who get pushed in the pages of Wizard, which leads into another topic, the problems with only having one big name ‘magazine’ reporting on the industry.

Despite all of this, I look forward to the nominations each year, and wonder if I read what will eventually win.

Martin Scherer enjoys reading, thinking and talking comics. When he is not doing this, he is lonley and hopes for people to mail questions, comments and suggestions for future articles. He is tame and housebroken. Contact him via email, martin@geekscape.net

Complete 1997 Eisner Winner List:

Best Short Story: “Heroes,” Archie Goodwin and Gary Gianni, Batman: Black & White #4 (DC Comics)
Best Single Issue: # Kurt Busiek’s Astro City, vol. 2, #1: “Welcome to Astro City,” Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Will Blyberg (Jukebox Productions/Homage)
Best Serialized Story: Starman #20-23: “Sand and Stars,” James Robinson, Tony Harris, Guy Davis, and Wade von Grawbadger (DC)
Best Continuing Series: Kurt Busiek’s Astro City, Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Will Blyberg (Jukebox Productions/Homage)
Best Limited Series: Kingdom Come, Mark Waid and Alex Ross (DC)
Best New Series: Leave It to Chance, James Robinson and Paul Smith (Homage)
Best Comics Publication for a Younger Audience: Leave It to Chance, James Robinson and Paul Smith (Homage)
Best Humor Publication: Sergio Aragones Destroys DC (DC) and Sergio Aragones Massacres Marvel (Marvel), Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones
Best Anthology: Batman: Black and White, Mark Chiarello and Scott Peterson, eds. (DC)
Best Graphic Album-New: Fax from Sarajevo, Joe Kubert (Dark Horse Books)
Best Graphic Album-Reprint: Stray Bullets: Innocence of Nihilism, David Lapham (El Capitan)
Best Archival Collection: Tarzan: The Land That Time Forgot and The Pool of Time, Russ Manning (Dark Horse)
Best Writer: Alan Moore, From Hell (Kitchen Sink);Supreme (Maximum Press)
Best Writer/Artist-Humor: Don Rosa, Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories; Uncle Scrooge (Gladstone)
Best Writer/Artist-Drama: Mike Mignola, Hellboy: Wake the Devil (Dark Horse/Legend)
Best Penciller: Steve Rude, Nexus: Executioner’s Song (Dark Horse)
Best Inker: Al Williamson, Spider-Man, Untold Tales of Spider-Man #17-18 (Marvel)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team: Charles Vess, Book of Ballads and Sagas (Green Man Press); Sandman #75 (DC/Vertigo)
Best Painter: Alex Ross, Kingdom Come (DC)
Best Coloring: Matt Hollingsworth, Preacher; Death: The Time of Your Life (DC/Vertigo); Bloody Mary (DC/Helix); Challengers of the Unknown (DC)
Best Lettering: Todd Klein, The Sandman,: Death: The Time of Your Life; House of Secrets; The Dreaming (DC/Vertigo); Batman; The Spectre; Kingdom Come (DC)
Best Cover Artist: Alex Ross, Kingdom Come (DC); Kurt Busiek’s Astro City (Jukebox Productions/Homage)
Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition: Ricardo Delgado, Age of Reptiles
Best Editor: Dan Raspler, Kingdom Come; Hitman; The Spectre; Sergio Aragones Destroys the DC Universe (DC)
Best Comics-Related Periodical: The Comics Journal (Fantagraphics)
Best Comics-Related Book: Graphic Storytelling, Will Eisner (Poorhouse Press)
Best Comics-Related Product: Hellboy bust, Randy Bowen (Bowen Designs)
Best Publication Design: Acme Novelty Library #7, designed by Chris Ware (Fantagraphics)
Hall of Fame: ,Gil Kane , Charles Schulz ,Julius Schwartz ,Curt Swan

 

 

The Digital Marketplace

by scherem

It seems that the idea of abandoning the traditional format of comics has been an issue on many people\\\’s minds as of late. Why I\\\’\\\’m not to sure. Maybe is was Dan Slott\\\’s comment about comic piracy, or maybe its the changing face of technology with cheaper laptops and monitors leading to the idea that we can read them anywhere we want, not just on the crapper or in our beds. Brian Bendis, the (debatable) mastermind behind the Marvel universe has claimed that the floppy comic will be on the path to extinction in 10 year, replaced with digital copies and/or original graphic novels. Marvel has toyed with the idea of digital comics, be it through their DVD collections, flash animations or the dot comic project. The debate of publishers shifting from print to pure digital has been manly left to the realm of looking towards the future. That was until recently, when Dan Vado, publisher of Slave Labor Graphics/Amaze Ink made a major announcement at Wondercon 2007 that, with the exception of a few proven sellers and license issue, SLG would be selling only trade and digital comics.


“If you’ve ever looked at any of the torrent sites, or anything like that, you can go on on a daily basis and it’s like, ‘Oh look, there’s 12 people who are downloading Milk & Cheese #1 right now,’ and what am I getting for that? Nothing, … So if we can figure out a way to monetize that, even at a low level, making 25 cents or 30 cents, those are people who aren’t going to buy the comic anyways. … [I Want to] get in front of that trend before the trend got in front of us.”
quoted from newsarama article

Vado has essentially stated that, things have to change if the small guy is to stay alive. Marvel, DC and Dark Horse(I\\\’m leaving Image off this, as they are a totally different beast) aren\\\’t feeling this pressure yet, as they have about 89% of the market share, while Slave Labour Graphics has about .16% . With such a small percentage, its clear that SLG and other publishers of their size are being supported by only a Galactus sized handful of direct market stores. Breaking into the stores that don\\\’t already carry SLG is a near impossible task, as there is no strong demand for the independent single issue, and those costumers who don\\\’t want a mainstream book often face an uphill battle of even getting their orders filled or listened too by their retailer. And then there are the costumers that walk in the store and see only spandex heroes. and don\\\’t realize there is more out there. Vado breaks the economics of the situation down further:


“One of the reasons why they’re making this move is to cut down the costs associated with distribution. He said when they sell through their distributors, they only get $1.10 back from a book that sells for $2.95 — the rest goes to retailers and the distributors. From that $1.10, they have to pay the printer, for storage and for other costs. If a book sells less than 3,000 copies, it doesn’t make any money, and they barely recover the costs of printing.”
quoted from newsarama article

3,000 copies to break even with the old model. To put that in perspective, Marvel\\\’s lowest selling book in March was Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four (4,600 copies, ranked 216) and the highest non-liscenced independent selling book was Aspen Entertainment Fathom (13,800 rank 130) and that was mainly based on the fact it had Michael Turner\\\’s art. The highest selling SLG book,was Wonderland #3 selling 3,600 copies ranked 232 and retailing at the high price of 3.50, likely due to the fact that the book is a lisenced property. Many of the indepdent publishers sales are less then the reorder on the mainstream books (Brave and the Bold #1 reorder for March was 4,400).

SLG is not alone in feeling this pinch. It is a well published fact that, the only reason Fantagraphics is still in business right now is due to their reprinting the complete Peanuts. The critcially acclaimed Top Shelf Comix\\\’s has had at least two emergency sales to keep them afloat. Currently they are still in business because of the Alan Moore books they have the rights too (From Hell and Lost Girls).


In order to sell their digital books, SLG has created an online market place, eyemelt.com . Eyemelt is open to anyone who wishes to sell their comics online, but is currently home only too SLG titles. The titles on the site are reasonablly priced at 69 to 89 cents an issue, and are available in both PDF and CBZ formats. CBZ is the format of choice for many of the online comic piracy sites. While still in its infancy, the fact that Vado has elected to offer CBZ format reminds me of the start of the online music sales. MP3 was/is the defacto format used for piracy of music, and has been somewhat legitimized by the selling of MP3 players and tracks through virtual storefronts, like iTunes. While I\\\’m doubtful of Eyemelt being a success, as they will face the same problems the major publishers are having with online comics, plus the lack of name recognition, I do hope this works, as this could be the start of something big.

What would it take for me to seriously consider digital comics? Next to getting seriously burned by not-so-local store (I drive 75 minutes to pick up my books, they have a lot of loyalty with me), it would have to be the creation of some kind of iTunes application for comics. A comic book viewer that manages my virtual collection and allows me to also manage a virtual pull list. Titles would have to be cheaper then cover, maybe $1.25 and if you pull the book for more then three months it drops to $0.75 or some discount for the volume you buy. Of course the biggest problem would be that, like itunes, the major publishers would try and strong arm DRM or other things that would ruin the experience. Diamond probably wouldn\\\’t go without a fight too. This would also mean the death of many retailers as sales would be driven by the shrinking back issues market.

In reality the question that will keep me buying the traditional books would be “What am I going to do with 4000+ back issues?”

Harvey vs Eisner

by scherem

Comicon International is fast approaching, and along with the masses of people that it brings to the San Diego Convention Centre, it also brings the event that many consider to be The Oscars of comics, The Eisners. Named after legendary artist, Will Eisner, the awards are given to those people/titles that are “the best that the comics art form has to offer”. Since their inception in 1988 the Eisner\\\’s have been a yearly tradition at Comic-Con International, with the exception of 1990, where the awards were canceled due to \\\’numerous errors on the ballots\\\’. There are a total of 28(and growing) unique categories and the Eisner Hall of Fame. Each year the winners are determined by votes from creators, publishers, editors, retailers and distributors. Nominees are decided by a panel of five judges that is completely changed from year to year. The judges represent various stakeholders in comics (fans, critics, professionals and retailers). The Eisner\\\’s are not the only comic book award, in fact, the other major award shares a unique history with The Eisner\\\’s.

The physical awards

The Harvey, named after Harvey Kurtzman founding editor of MAD magazine, is also awarded to outstanding achievements in the comic book field. If the Eisner\\\’s are the Oscars of the comic book world, the Harvey\\\’s are the Screen Actor Guild (SAG) awards. Like the SAG\\\’s, the Harvey\\\’s are nominated by professionals who have worked in the field. After the nomination period, the top five (more if ties exist) nominees for each of its 20 categories are compiled and a list is mailed out/available to be downloaded, and voted on by professionals. The awards have been given out at various venues over its history, with the last move being to the Baltimore Comic-con. As with the Eisner\\\’s, the Harvey\\\’s have a hall of fame, named after Jack Kirby.

Speaking of Kirby, why isn\\\’t there a whole body of awards named after him? After all many consider him to be the father of modern superhero comics. The Kirby Awards did exist and at once time were considered and designed to be the equivalent to comic book Oscars. The first awards were given out in 1985 and were operated by Dave Olbrich and Fantagraphics. These awards ran yearly until 1988, when there was a dispute over who would run the awards after Olbrich left Fantagraphics. As part of the solution to this dispute, both Olbrich and Fantagraphics would continue to offer an industry award, but not refer to them as the Kirby\\\’s. Olbrich would begin the Eisner\\\’s in 1988, while Fantagraphics would names theirs the Harvey and also begin awarding them in 88. As acknowledgment of their shared history, both awards have the three members of the old Kirby Award Hall of Fame, Carl Banks, Jack Kirby and Will Eisner as the inaugural members in their respective hall of fame.

The three faces of comic awards (note these are not official logos)

For two major awards, how do the results compare? Thats what I asked myself as I began to pour over all the winners lists from 1988 to 2005. Finding matches were easy for some categories (Best Artist exists in both awards) others called for some compromising and combining of categories so they lined up. Once this was done, I was left with a combined total of 255 awards given out over this period. 77 of the awards matched up, yeidling that the two awards were sympatico 30% of time. On average there are four common winners a year, and most likely in the categories of Best Continuing or Limited series(9 common awards) and least common being Best Inker (1 common award). 2005 was the most common year, as there were 10 matches (but these matches did not happen in the Best Writer, Artist, Cartoonist, New Series categories). Worst year was (excluding 1990, as the Eisner\\\’s didn\\\’t happen that year) was 1993, with only one match in the category of best Letterer. Also interesting to note is that the category of Best single issue/story only has 3 matches. Finally I imagine that 90% of you can now tell that I enjoyed stats in school.

Is there a need for two major award bodies? I\\\’m not to sure. Its interesting that 2005 was such a strong matching year, and if this trend continues than I\\\’d been likely to suggest that the Harvey\\\’s be folded into the Eisner\\\’s as they have more categories and a bigger name recognition due to the location of their announcement. That being said, I like the fact that the Harveys operate like the SAGs, and its a reflection of what professionals find noteworthy, not what five people do. There is a question though as to what constitutes a professional comic book creator. The (unintentional?) roving natures of the Harvey presentation, while making it a scheduling nightmare, also allows more people a chance to see a little bit of history go down.

Any event, if you have a chance to attend the Harvey\\\’s, Eisner\\\’s, Shuster\\\’s or any other event that acknowledges the achievements of those in a field you love, do it. Clap your hands when they read the nominations aloud, and let them, and everyone else know that you appreciate the boundary pushing work they\\\’ve done.

Martin Scherer enjoys reading, thinking and consuming comics in mass amounts. In addition, his theory that \\\’the only good Stacy is a dead Stacy\\\’ has been re-affirmed with his recent reading of Ultimate Spider-Man: Clone Saga and The Death of the Stacys. When he is not reading about the dead Stacy\\\’s in Spider-Man\\\’s life or number crunching, he looks forward to hearing your comments about this, past articles or general questions about comics. Contact him via email, martin@geekscape.net

 

Wildcats V2.0 and V3.0

by scherem

Before the WorldStorm, before there was a WildStorm, there was WildC.A.Ts (Convert Action Teams)., Jim Lee\’s entry into the world of independent comics. The name WildC.A.Ts conjures up many images in the mind of comic readers. Those who read it currently, hear this name and think of the scheduling woes that version 4 (by Grant Morrison and Jim Lee) is experiencing, older readers will remember the first version being the one time flagship of the Image and Wildstorm Universe, selling a number most likely north of half a million. WildC.A.T.s (and other image books at the time) was in many ways the epitome of comics from the 1990\’s: Big Guns, Big Action, Big Breasts and Big Art filling each issue.

The covers to the first issues of each version, has the art/story come full circle?

A quick note as to why as I referring to each Wildcats series as versions, not volumes. Yes, its the same continuing story, but each version has its very own unique take on the idea of the title. The first version was a typical action story, the second we\’ll discuss later, the third about branding and corporate politics and the current isn\’t really known yet. How did the concept of Wildcats change from one of convert actions teams to one of brand building? Let\’s look at what was the concept of version 1, and is to this day the overall driving force of the series.

The plot of Wildcats was fairly straightforward. Two Alien races, the Kheran and Daemonites have been engage in a war that span centuries, with Earth serving as a beachhead. The Kheran (the good guys), mixed with the native Earth population, creating a group of half-breed offspring, that later would be gathered by Lord Emp, and forged into a team to combat the Daemonite menace. Upon a trip back to Khera (the first in centuries) a simple truth was revealed to the Wildcats: the Kheran\’s won the war centuries ago. The Wildcats had no reason to exist anymore, and this is where version 1 ended.

While making for a shocking revalation, the conclusion of the war also killed the main concept of the book. For the title to continue in any form, a new direction would be needed, one that would be first started by Scott Lobdell and Travis Charest, but only truly realized when the team of Joe Casey (G0DLAND) and Sean Philips (CRIMINAL) came on at issue 8. The first collection of this run, Wildcats (no longer convert action teams), Vicious Circles, sets a very different tone from its predecessors: There is much less focus on violence and more on the characters reacting to the news that the war is over and fallout from the first seven issues. From this point on, the threats the \’cats would face in this version are not armies of evil alien forces, but instead more urban in nature: homicidal killers, corporate espionage and drug trading. A few times these threats would also come from within.

One reviewer of this version, referred to it as the \’1990\’s superhero hangover\’. If the style of early nineties comics was the post-senior prom party, Wildcats 2.0 was the group of people standing in the mess that was once a living room. All that can be done by this group is to try and shake off the haze of the past night and make the best guess of where to go from here. The future awaits, and for the first time in a long time, it is unknown. The cleaning the previous nights mess, is very much what Casey and Philips make the heart of Vicious Circles. The central theme of the collection is one of moving on, and trying to leave things in a better state then when you found them.

One such attempt to clean house is when Lord Emp, one of the last pure Kheran\’s on Earth and leader of the Wildcats, arranges a fateful meeting in Las Vegas with his only remaining enemy, Kenyan. When the dust from this final confrontation settles, those left standing realize that for the first time they are truly alone, and have to began the difficult process (some for the first time) of finding their place in the world. The bright lights of Las Vegas never seemed so dark before. And this is only the midway point of this volume. By the end, the seeds are laid for what will ultimately lead to next iteration of the title, Wildcats Version 3.0.

The dark, muted palette that color the art enhances the somber tone of this story. Philips, who originally made his mark on Hellblazer, meets the artistic challenge that this unique subject matter brings head on, showing how each character reacts to true life changing events, often in the space of a couple panels. During the conversation heavy points of the story, Philip\’s art blends wonderfully with the dialog, making these sections not a chore to the reader who is used to more action. Truly, not enough can be said of Philips work in this book, his design of Lord Emp\’s true form is testament to his ability as a penciller. At this stage of his journey, Emp looks horrific, yet has the ability to generate sympathy.

Long time comic readers, don\’t let the title of Wildcats and what it implies discourage you from trying this out. New readers, the recap page at the front does an adequate job of bringing you up to speed and filling any holes or questions you may have in the story. You have no excuse to ignore this run of Wildcats. This is a book that deserves to be read, as it perfectly shows what became a hallmark of comics in this decade: growth of character and the humanizing of heroes and their battles, all done with an independent flair. This series is highly recommended.

If you enjoy this volume, check out the rest of the Casey-Era Wildcats with the following trades:

  • Vicious Circles (Vol 2. 8-13)
  • Serial Boxes (Vol 2. 14-19 )
  • Battery Park (Vol 2. 20-28)
  • Brand Building (Vol 3, 1-6)
  • Full Disclosure (Vol 3. 7-12) the remaining 12 issues have yet to be collected.

 

Martin Scherer enjoys reading, thinking and consuming comics in mass amounts. When he is not doing this, he looks forward to hearing your comments about this, past articles or general questions about comics posted below, or sent to his email, martin@geekscape.net

 

The Renaissance Age

by scherem

There has been a lot of talk in the last year of the future of the comic book as we know it. More and more complaints have risen about various factors of the market be it advertisement count, content or price. Inspired by episode 75 of Indie Spinner Rack (ISR), I thought I\’d take a moment or two to wax on about the changing face of comics.

There is no denying that we are currently in what I like to call the Renaissance age of comics. The industry has come out of the dark age of comics (1986 Watchmen to about 2000, Joe Quesada named EiC of Marvel) a new found focus has been placed on the holistic view of the comic. There hasn\’t been a time that I can remember when there has been such a plentiful amount of strong collaborations across multiple publishers. In the big two, Marvel and DC are both consitently offering strong teams on their franchise titles, and are experimenting with new content. Most notably is Marvel\’s deal with the Daeble Brother line, and the pending launch of DC\’s Minx line. In addition to this, strong inroads have been made into the traditional brick and motar book stores. I remember six years ago, being pleasently surprised to find a graphic novel or trade paper back on the shelf in the local Chapters. Now, every time I go, I\’m shocked (and to be honest a bit appalled) at the size of the graphic novel section. Sure most of it is Manga, but other books, mainly with current indie cred are present (American Born Chinesse, Fun Home, Wimbledon Green). We are truly seeing a Renaissance in comics.

The Boys of ISR concluded in their discussion that this newly found quality is the first real response to the 1986 creative boom of Watchmen, DKR and other books now in comic book cannon. These early thirty year old creators are the first generation to grow up with these works. They are not making knee-jerk reactions based on their success, but instead are making works inspired, or attempting to reach what they feel is the next plateau of greatness.

There is definitely a lot of good in the industry, but as Poison crooned into our hearts, “Every tose has its thorn”. We may be firmly out of the Dark Age, but its shadow still lingers. Consider the following…

1986 was a boom in comics, but it also herald the event book with the publication of Crisis On Infinite Earths. This period (to my estimates) lasted about ten years and ended with the Onslaught mega-crossover at Marvel. Sure crossovers, and long story lines were still present, but they were mainly kept to their respective franchises. In the last year though, the rules have changed, we\’ve started to see signs that the Big Event craze is returning and being milked for all its worth (52 leads to Countdown, Civil War leads to Civil War: The Initiative to the Civil War chronicles reprint plan). Despite the press these stories are getting in all forms of media, they are failing to create new long-term readers. Books spike then within six months are selling where they were before the event. The people working on these events were the tweens and teens who were reading comics in 1986, contrast this with what I said above about the indie market and 1986.

The American cover price is finally starting to strain readers (while books are pushing 3 dollars in the states, other parts of the world, books have been 3.50 to 4.50 for sometime), advertiser dollars are becoming more important, and an increase add count (and inserts) are starting to bother readers.

With the new aggressive reprint/collection policies that Marvel, and to a lesser account DC and others are implementing, a strong argument can be made that books are being published for the trade, and thus cannibalizing the direct market in the process.

Like all forms of entertainment, piracy is a growing issue. With the rash of multiple printings, covers and the aforementioned event book, the ghost of the \’Speculator\’ is once again looming. And worst of all, somewhere along the way, we lost a sense of our cultural history.

Yes we are in a Renaissance, but its the events of the next year(s) that will determine if the next age will be a return to the dark ages, or the start of the next age.

—
This was the first in a series of articles that will discuss some of the topics above in more detail, review books, look at previews and anything else related to the world of comic books. If you have any comments, or questions about comics, I encourage you to contact me at martin@geekscape.net . I will try to incorporate your ideas and comments into future articles, and heck if enough people write, maybe we\’ll have a mail bag edition.