CBI Archive
Flippin’ through Previews - May 2008
Sunday, April 27th, 2008 at 5:28 PM EST
Updated: Sunday, April 27th, 2008 at 5:28 PM EST
Yes, it’s time to flip through Previews again. It’s always fun to do! So crack open that tome - Vol. XVIII, No. 5! Force your retailer to give it to you for free!
I don’t ever want to offend our readers by being negative, but man, when it hits you right in the face when you turn the page, it’s difficult. The first thing you see when you open this book is a quote: “Porn’s loss is the comic world’s gain.” Yes, it’s an advert for Jenna Jameson’s Shadow Hunter, which is an awful comic. But that quote is just … well, it’s something, I’ll give it that. I wonder if porn is celebrating because Jenna is now polluting the world of comics?
Okay, I’ll try to be positive, I swear! I really do love flippin’ through Previews. You can always find keen stuff! And this month is “Declaration of Independents” month in Previews! The books are ostensibly shipping in July, after all, so they’re celebrating independent comics. Whoo-hoo!
New Hellboy series (page 34; 2 July)! Drawn by Richard Corben! I sense a movie coming out!
New B. P. R. D. series (page 37; 9 July)! Drawn by Guy Davis! I sense a movie coming out!
Last month we had a zero issue, and now Conan the Cimmerian launches (page 40; 16 July). It looks pretty darned cool. I’m not sure if I’m going to continue getting the trades or jump on with singles. Oh, the drama!
Barb Wire Omnibus (page 42; 10 September). You know you want it!
Groo: Hell on Earth gets a trade (page 43; 17 September). I’ve said this before and gotten hammered, but I’m not a huge fan of Groo. But if you’ve been waiting for the trade, here it is!
There’s something weird about the solicitation text for The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack (page 52; 24 September). It reads, “This 272-page follow-up to the immensely popular and soon-to-be-out-of-print collection The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories …” If something is “immensely popular,” why is it going out of print? Is this a smart publishing decision? “People really want to buy our book, but let’s let it go out of print. That’ll show ‘em!” This seems to be fairly common in the comic book world. People clamor for things, and the companies are surprised that it’s not in print and don’t feel the need to bring it back into print. One example is the Thor Visionary trades by Walt Simonson, but there are others. Is this the way to run a business?
Over on page 58, the 7th volume of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service is offered (3 September). I haven’t read much manga, and this is the only one of which I’ve read more than one volume, and it’s really good. Cool and creepy horror. Who doesn’t love cool and creepy horror?
DC:
I read on the Internet (where you can trust everything!) that Final Crisis (page 72; 30 July) is already behind schedule and is beset by editorial interference. Oh dear. Come on, DC, let the God of All Comics run loose! What the hell do you have to lose? You fucked up Countdown, for crying out loud, and this is your “last chance”! Sheesh. Let’s hope the Internet is wrong.
Hey, it’s Ambush Bug (page 75; 23 July)! It’s the perfect tonic for that queasy feeling you get when you think of the rest of DC’s line!
DC is quite evil, aren’t they? On page 81 they give us The Joker’s Asylum, four one-shots released weekly that give “an inside look into the insane lives of the Dark Knight’s greatest adversaries.” It sounds dull, but Arvid Nelson is writing one of them, and Jason Aaron writes another, with art by Jason Pearson. Juan Doe draws another, and David Hine writes the fourth one. Oh, DC, you tempt me so!
Whoo-hoo, it’s not the last issue of Catwoman (page 85; 30 July)! Okay, the next issue is the last one, but still, we get one more!
In case you didn’t know, Matthew Sturges is the new writer on Blue Beetle (page 90; 30 July). I don’t have a good enough sense of Sturges to know whether I should be happy or not. I will give it a chance, though.
On page 100, DC offers an Absolute Edition of Ronin (24 September), Frank Miller’s weird futuristic ninja tale. It’s not bad, but I don’t think it’s worth $99.
If you wait for the trade, Suicide Squad: From the Ashes is offered on page 101 (20 August). Despite the name change (”Raise the Flag” sounds better, because of the double meaning), it’s a fine mini-series with Ostrander’s trademark double-crossing and sudden deaths. Give the man a Suicide Squad ongoing again, DC!
On page 102, we get a hardcover of the first ten issues of Gotham Central, a fairly good comic book (3 September); the Millennium trade that was spoken of last week by the commenters in Other Greg’s fine column (6 August); and a trade of Invasion! (27 August). With regard to these: if DC is going to include every issue in the Gotham Central hardcovers, I might have to move up from my trades. The trades don’t include some (crossovers?), and it irks me. Even if they aren’t part of the “regular” stories, I’m anal. That’s why I got the Captain America Omnibus - it included the Civil War issue, which the trades did not. Invasion! is a goofy, fun series, and it’s certainly interesting seeing McFarlane on the art. I’m not terribly sure if it’s worth 25 dollars, though.
Man, Storming Paradise #1 (page 113; 2 July) might not be excellent, but at least DC acknowledges that if you’re going to do a war story, you get Chuck Dixon or Garth Ennis to write it! And with Guice on art, it has a good chance of being good.
Page 124 gives us The Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives in trade (13 August). Hey, remember when Ed Brubaker worked for DC? I wonder where he went. DC wouldn’t have let him go to Marvel, would they? I have no idea if this is any good. Anyone care to comment on its quality?
Howard Shum, in case you don’t know, wrote the rather fun adventure comic Gun Fu a while back, and now he shows up with Hyperkinetic on page 152 (2 July). It’s about “four intergalactic highly skilled female bounty hunters” who end up on a strange planet. Now, it could work or it could not, but I find the pull quote by the screenwriter of 30 Days of Night amusing: “There’s a cultural shortage of fabulous bounty-hunting babes …” Is he kidding? Almost everything has fabulous bounty-hunting babes in it these days, or some variation thereof. I’m not saying this won’t be good, but the idea of putting four hot women with guns in a dire situation isn’t, you know, all that groundbreaking.
Declarative Rabbit says that I Kill Giants (page 154; 9 July) “looks awesome.” It kind of does, actually. A girl who carries a Norse war hammer in her purse and kills giants! But might she be crazy? And what real monsters does she need to conquer? It looks cool, although I’m curious at why Barbara has rabbit ears. Why, Barbara, why????
Popgun gets a second volume on page 159 (16 July). The first volume was pretty damned good, and it’s 30 bucks for well over 400 pages, so you might want to check this out.
I’m a bit confused about the American Flagg! solicitation on page 160 (16 July - yeah, right, as this was originally offered, what, two years ago?). A few weeks ago a guy in my store got a collection of American Flagg! in hardcover. It was three different books in a slipcase, and it was shrinkwrapped. What was that? Where did it come from? It obviously wasn’t the book we’ve all been waiting for, but what the heck was it?
Gødland begins its final year with issue #25 (page 167; 30 July). It is “here to deplete the fossil fuels of your brain.” I agree with the text: Why in the name of Iboga would you dare miss this issue?!
More fun from Top Cow’s Pilot Season comics: On page 181, Jonathan Hickman writes The Core, which sounds like a cool sci-fi adventure. It’s drawn by Kenneth Rocafort, which might be a minus, but I’ll still have to give it a look. On page 182, Jay Faerber writes Urban Myths, a tale about a modern world where the Greek gods are still very much present and Medusa’s son is a private investigator. Sounds pretty damned neat, if you ask me.
Marvel’s attempts to do what Humanoids failed to do continues with Universal War One (page 6), which sounds neat. In the middle of a galactic war, a wall has cut the solar system in two, and a group of soldiers facing court martial must investigate. Yay, sci-fi!
I like how on back-to-back pages, Marvel shows us Namor fighting Namor (page 17), and Captain America fighting Captain America (page 18). I doubt if it was intentional, but I liked the symmetry.
The Fantastic Four enter the world of fiction and cross paths with, say, the cast of Sense and Sensibility (page 23). I don’t know about you, but that sounds awesome to me.
It hasn’t been that long since I’ve seen Travel Foreman’s pencils (the Ares mini-series, maybe?), and I liked it then, but that art for Iron Fist #17 (page 29) looks awful. What the hell is he doing different? Anyway, I’ll give the new writer a chance, but that art’s going to be tough to swallow.
First, it was zombies. Now, are you ready for … Marvel Mummies?!?!? Check out page 34 if you don’t believe me!
I don’t have a lot of interest in newuniversal (page 38), but Kieron Gillen is writing a one-shot about the newuniversal world of 1959 (also page 38), and that sounds a lot more interesting. I can read that without reading the regular series, right?
Kathryn Immonen writes a Hellcat mini-series (page 40). It takes place in Alaska. Yeah, that’s right, Alaska! If only they had gotten Norm Breyfogle to draw it. Isn’t he the definitive Hellcat artist?
Skrulls Skrulls Skrulls Skrulls blah blah blah … hey, a crossover between She-Hulk and X-Factor (page 53)! Yes, it’s a “Secret Invasion” tie-in crossover, but more importantly, we see that the new artist on X-Factor is Larry Stroman. I know some people hated his art back on the first David run on X-Factor, but I wasn’t one of them. I’m very jazzed to see him on this book, and I hope he hangs around for a while.
I don’t believe I’ve ever read anything by Cary Bates (it’s that Cary Bates, right?), but True Believers #1 (page 58) sounds interesting: superheroes exposing conspiracies throughout the Marvel U. Gulacy’s on art, which is a plus, and the premise could work really well.
On the one hand, Fraction joining Brubaker on Uncanny X-Men (page 61) is good news. On the other hand, Greg Land and Terry Dodson are not known for their speed. How’s that going to work? On the third hand, many people loathe Greg Land, and although I wish he would, you know, draw stuff freehand again, I don’t despise him. I’ll be curious to see how the series goes forward.
The solicitation text for Kick-Ass (page 79) annoys me: “Dave Lizewski has broken both legs, shattered his back, been run over by a Mercedes, smashed by garbage cans, and clobbered by gangsters …” If this is supposed to be taking place in the “real world,” shouldn’t he be crippled beyond any hope of repair? Is Millar even going to address this? Or does each issue take place three years apart, so he’s had time to recover? If you’re going to write something in the “real world,” the violence should have “real-world” consequences, shouldn’t it?
The hardcover collection of Longshot (page 93) costs 25 bucks, which might be a bit much. I guess the trade is out of print, so let’s hope Marvel decides to bring it out in softcover again. It’s a fairly good story, and Adams’ art is gorgeous, although a bit dated (it’s from 1986, after all). But if you really want it, here it is!
Page 104 sees the publication of a trade collecting X-Force #102-109. These issues of part of the “Counter X” thing that Marvel tried in the late Nineties, basically giving their lesser-selling mutant titles over to Warren Ellis to revamp. Ellis hand-picked the writers, I guess, and at least on Generation X, we got some interesting if not particularly excellent stories. My question is: Why is this being collected now? Ellis has been working for Marvel for some time, and I don’t really recall much clamor for these issues. Is there something I’m missing? And is this worth it?
Ah, yes, we move on to the back of the book. Strangeness awaits the bold back there!
Larry and Mimi offer Dugout on page 205, a story of a baseball team in 1960 that is sinking in debt and tries to break their star pitcher out of prison so he can help keep them afloat. Oh, it sounds quite wacky! As usual with AiT/Planet Lar, you might not like the book, but you know it will be interesting!
I’m always a bit wary about things that claim “it’s this combined with this” or “it’s in this style,” where this is some movie or book that is already out, but Tiki Joe Mysteries from SLG (page 208), which is touted as “an Ocean’s Eleven-style graphic novel,” does sound kind of interesting. It’s set in 1959 Las Vegas and features a World War II vet getting squeezed by the mob for protection money. And by the description, it doesn’t sound like Ocean’s Eleven at all - either version (yes, I’ve seen the original).
Ape Entertainment has a couple of interesting books on page 214. Athena Voltaire: The Flight of the Falcon is offered in trade (finally, some might say). It’s a decent comic about an Indiana Jones-style adventurer (see what I did there?) who fights Nazis and weird mystical things. It would be nice if Steve Bryant could get the long-awaited sequel out, but for now, a trade will have to do! Meanwhile, another long-delayed book, The Black Coat, is out with a one-shot including two stories. If you missed the first mini-series or the beginning of the second (very late) one, check this out and see if Revolutionary War espionage adventure is for you!
I don’t think I’m going to buy Wingman from Arcana (page 216), but the solicitation text is certainly odd: “Wingman follows the adventures of two best friends, Hank and Max, whose main mission in life is picking up women. Hank, more confident and better looking than Max, is the stud of the two, while Max is mostly relegated to wingman status. One day, lightning literally strikes and alters Hank’s chemistry such that he’s no longer able to pick up women. However, women now find any man within a few feet fo Hank irresistible, thus Max instantly goes from wingman to Casanova. Hank and Max both struggle in handling this role reversal on their way to finding true love.” That’s … bizarre. But hey! it might be your thing!
There’s the usual stuff from Avatar, including a new series from Mr. Ellis, but I’m really interested in Aetheric Mechanics by everyone’s favorite curmudgeon (page 226). It’s weird future science again, but Ellis sets it in 1907, which means it’s Edwardian weird future science, which is always fun. It’s also a detective story, and Ellis can write those fairly well (as the first six issues of Desolation Jones - cocked-up ending notwithstanding - proves). It’s only 7 bucks, too!
Someone a while ago mentioned that you can read Pistolfist at Wowio, but I’m just too old-fashioned to read my comics on-line. So it’s nice to see that it’s at least being offered again, this time by Bluewater Productions on page 240. The first issue was not great but pretty interesting, and I was sorry to see it disappear. Maybe this time the entire series will come out!
On page 241, Boom! Studios has Challenger Deep #1, which is a tale of a nuclear submarine marooned in the Marianas Trench and the salvage team that must rescue it before it blows and, you know, destroys the world. It sounds neat.
I mentioned Sparks last month (page 248 from Catastrophic Comics), but since then, the writer, Christopher Folino, sent me a preview copy of issue #1. It’s actually kind of cool. Nice and moody, with not much action but a decent set-up. I’ll have a more thorough review right before the book comes out, but it works well, and Ringuet’s art fits the story well. You can preview the first six pages at their web site, by the way.
If you’re waiting for the trade on The Lone Ranger, Dynamite Entertainment has the second volume on page 264. It’s not as action-packed as the first arc, but it’s a bit darker and gets more into the relationship between John and Tonto.
The Hunter #3 is on page 266 from Dare Comics. I thought I’d point it out because I just not issue #2 in the mail and will be letting you know my thoughts on it this week. It’s six bucks, but it’s a hefty chunk of comics.
There’s a trade out of The Atheist (I guess we now have to add “Antoine Sharpe” to the beginning of that title) on page 268 from Desperado Publishing. Phil Hester’s story is very neat, and although the art has a weird shift because John McCrea didn’t finish it, it’s still a pretty cool-looking horror book. It’s in conjunction with the new series, which is also offered. Hester is an underrated writer, so check this out!
Well, I’ve been waiting for the monster trade of the “World War III” story arc of G. I. Joe, and on page 271, Devil’s Due gives it to me! It’s 35 bucks, but that includes 12 issues of non-stop action. I read several of these issues, and they’ve been very good. I just hope it ends well.
A few weeks ago I reviewed The Unwanted and mentioned that there was no price on it. It’s now offered on page 279 from Diablo Productions, and it’s 15 dollars. That sounds about right. There you have it! (They really ought to change their name, though, as a Google search of “Diablo Productions” turns up … well, I’ll let you check it out yourself, as I’m not going to link to it!)
If you missed the first issue of Comic Book Comics from Evil Twin Comics, here’s your chance to make amends, as issue #2 is solicited on page 298. I wasn’t as jazzed with issue #1 as I was with Action Philosophers!, but that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on the title!
Also on page 298 is Deitch’s Pictorama from Fantagraphics. Kim Deitch and his siblings give us a ton o’ weirdness, all for 19 dollars. Deitch isn’t for everybody, but he’s an extremely interesting creator. So you might want to check this out.
There’s also a new Love and Rockets series on the same page. And it’s a super-hero book! (????)
Brian just spotlighted Tales Designed to Thrizzle recently, and issue #4 is offered on page 300. You can also reorder issues #1-3, but at $4.50, you might want to stick to one, just to see if it’s for you.
Jason McNamara, the writer of First Moon and Continuity, has a new book from Girl Twirl Comics on page 305. It’s The Martian Confederacy volume 1, and it tells the tale of three rednecks who are the only hope to save humanity on Mars. It sounds rather odd, but McNamara is a pretty good writer, so it might work.
HarperCollins offers the first volume of Zot!, Scott McCloud’s seminal comics work, on page 306. I assume I should get this, right? There’s also a graphic novel of Coraline by a Neil Gaiman person illustrated by a P. Craig Russell. Considering that I haven’t read the prose version yet, I should probably skip this.
I have absolutely no idea if Journey by William Messner-Loebs is any good, but IDW is bringing it back into print on page 321, which is nice to see, as Messner-Loebs is a fairly underrated writer. 424 pages for 20 bucks is not bad, unless it sucks. But it doesn’t suck, does it? Anyone?
If you like Westerns, check out page 326. Moonstone is celebrating Wild West Month, and they have Westerns o’plenty! A few are written by Chuck Dixon, who writes two-fisted action well, and they all look neat.
Oni has its usual assortment, including Last Call volume 2 on page 330. Volume 1 was quite good, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. After Alec and Sam got separated, Alec aged ten years, while for Sam, hardly any time passed! What the heck? If you missed volume 1, you can get it on page 338.
I’m sure you all have $125 lying around, so why not get the second collection of Little Nemo in Slumberland? It’s from Sunday Press Books on page 347. I’m sure you have $245 lying around, so why not get both collections?
Moving on to page 364, we see that Viper Comics has a collection of all three Middleman stories in one big trade for only 20 bucks. Even though I already own the issues, I’m very tempted to get this. Unless, of course, Javier Grillo-Marxuach wants to send me a copy … Yes, I’m shameless. Deal with it! Either way, you should get this. The Middleman is a fantastic comic, and I hope the television show will be half as cool.
That’s it for comics, but I should point out a couple of neat things in the magazine section. First, Back Issue #29 (page 396) is an all-mutants issue, looking at the success of the X-Men post-1975 and the way the 1980s became the “Mutant Decade.” Back Issue is a really interesting magazine, and I really ought to get a subscription. Then, on page 397, there’s another issue of Tripwire coming out. I’m not terribly interested in this, as it focuses mainly on British sci-fi, but Tripwire is a very good magazine that always has interesting articles and good interviews with creators. It’s 15 bucks, but it only comes out once a year, after all.
44 Comments
TimCallahan
April 27, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Ambush Bug is the thing that excites me the most–is that wrong?
Also, I agree with you on Groo. I don’t dislike it, but what’s the benefit of reading, let’s say 10 Groo issues vs. just one Groo issue? Is there a cumulative Groo benefit?
And, you should definitely buy the Back Issue “Mutants” theme issue with that fancy Cockrum cover and an article written by me (inspired by CSBG’s own Brian Cronin!–who should be thanked at the end of my article, and if he’s not, then he will probably hunt me down, won’t he?).
Stephane Savoie
April 27, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Dead Boy Detectives was awful. It was from a middle period, when Brubaker didn’t seem as inspired as with his Indie work, but clearly was happy just be working for the Big Boys (also see “Robert Kirkman”). It’s possibly the worse thing he’s done.
Reno
April 27, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Wow! Cary Bates!
chasdom
April 27, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I’m pretty sure that the new Perry Bible Fellowship collection is a complete reprinting of the recently-ended webcomic, which means that it includes all of the material from the “soon-to-be-out-of-print” collection.
FunkyGreenJerusalem
April 27, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Why is Marvel collecting Ellis’ X-Force, and not his interesting early stuff like Hellstorm and Druid?
I know Marvel is often loathe to use creator names as the selling point, but surely this would sell.
Also on Ellis, I think you need to give Desolation Jones another shot Greg.
I really think it’s some of his better work.
If you look a bit deeper when reading it, there’s some good commentary on the state of society - those in charge screwing people around, base lusts getting in the way of decency etc
And also the ‘cocked up’ ending, was actually a nice twist of sorts - the conscience of the book turns out to be just as amoral and messed up as everyone else, if not more so. It’s not every book where your view point character turns out to be a bigger monster than those he’s up against.
Matthew E
April 27, 2008 at 7:19 pm
what’s the benefit of reading, let’s say 10 Groo issues vs. just one Groo issue? Is there a cumulative Groo benefit?
It’s like P.G. Wodehouse. Just because every Wodehouse story (or Groo comic) has the same virtues doesn’t mean they’re all the same.
I’m not sure I explained that well. Okay, look at it this way: Groo comics are like slices of chocolate cake (or whatever your favourite dessert is). You wouldn’t eat one and then say, well, what’s the point of having another slice? I’ve already had one and I know what it’s like.
DubipR
April 27, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I’m looking forward to the new annual Love & Rockets comic! For 15 bucks you get close to a 100 pages of Beto and Xaime goodness! What’s not to love….
Also DC’s getting smart with the Gotham Central HC. Personally I think a Absolute edition would be better with Lark sketches and some scripts.
TimCallahan
April 27, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I do love some chocolate cake.
Tom Fitzpatrick
April 27, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Keep Desolation Jones in mind, even tho’ it’s erratically and chronically late, it’s usually worth the wait.
Also, do pick up JOURNEY, it’s terrific, even tho’ Messner-Loebs will not be finishing up the WAR DRUMS mini-series that he left off (bummer).
I wouldn’t mind picking up ZOT! volume one, did it say how many issues it’s reprinting?
I agree with you that the Absolute Ronin is not worth $99.99 price tag, maybe half that, considering the trade costs about 25-30 bucks.
I’ve just heard that Larry Marder is bringing back Tales of the Beanwold (yay!), but didn’t say when or who is publishing it. Does anyone know?
FunkyGreenJerusalem
April 27, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Ronin might have been revolutionary when it came out, but I don’t think it’s aged that well at all.
stealthwise
April 27, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Yeah, Dead Boy Detectives was pretty terrible.
Suzene
April 27, 2008 at 9:07 pm
“On page 81 they give us The Joker’s Asylum, four one-shots released weekly that give ‘an inside look into the insane lives of the Dark Knight’s greatest adversaries.’ …and David Hine writes the fourth one.”
Sold!
So long as Marvel keeps me supplied with ‘New Mutants’, ‘Excalibur’, and ‘Alpha Flight’ Classics trades, I can’t rag on them for some of the more puzzling reprint decisions. I’d probably buy the Longshot mini again if it was in softcover.
Andrew Collins
April 27, 2008 at 10:19 pm
A few comments:
First off, ZOT!!!!!!!!!!!! You don’t know how excited I am to finally see it in print again. It’s my all-time favorite series. A few years ago, Kitchen Sink was releasing Zot in a nice series of hardcovers, but went out of business before it could get the last one out. Which was very unfortunate, as those are the best issues of the series, the “Earth Stories” from issues #28-36. Zot!!! Oh my god, I’m so psyched…
Oh, and to answer your question, yes you should definitely get the book. McCloud at his finest. While essentially a superhero book, McCloud works in all sorts of story telling styles and elements, including some of the earliest manga-influenced art in the US. For the Earth Stories arc, Zot gets trapped on our earth and the focus of the series shifts away from him. Instead, each issue spotlights one of the supporting cast members and in 24-28 pages, McCloud gives each one more depth than most comics manage in years’ worth of stories. The issue focusing on Jenny’s lesbian friend has one of the best endings in comics. Ever. Though I’m curious to see how it will read in the trade because in the original comic, the letters page was actually part of the story’s ending…
- The American Flagg hardcovers you mentioned. I ordered those too and I’m really annoyed right now. Those were solicited by Graffiti Designs a few months back in Previews and advertised as “a limited warehouse find” and made it sound like the only chance we’d ever have to see the series collected. These hardcovers date back to circa 1985/1986 and were released when First was still in business. I ordered them because I was beginning to think we’d never see that long promised Image collection. So of course, the next month they announce that they ARE releasing the Image hardcover after all. *grumble* So now it looks like Graffiti Designs had been sitting on these and was looking to unload them before they became worthless. *double grumble*
- I was shocked as hell too when I saw Cary Bates listed as writer on “True Believers.” I haven’t seen him write comics in years. I may pick it up based on how much I enjoyed his run on Captain Atom back in the 80’s/early 90’s.
- Athena Voltaire, Athena Voltaire…where art thou? I’ve been waiting nearly 2 years for thet sequel now, enduring a couple re-solicits in Previews that still haven’t lead to any release. Getting a trade of the first series now just seems kind of like a placeholder…or a slap in the face if you’re grumbly and bitter about it…which I’m not of course…
Oh, and one last time, ZOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buy it. You won’t regret it, I promise.
Andrew Collins
April 27, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Tom Fitzpatrick said:
“I wouldn’t mind picking up ZOT! volume one, did it say how many issues it’s reprinting?”
The solicits say issues #11-36, which were the black and white issues of the series. Issues #1-10 were released in color and tell a self contained story. Issue #11 picks up “some time later” after issue #10’s ending and gives you a nice re-cap and re-introduction to the cast members.
emanga
April 27, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Flippin’ through~~
Chris
April 28, 2008 at 1:14 am
Concerning the Counter X Ellis stuff, the only one I would recommend picking up is his run on X-MAN alongside Steven Grant and Ariel Olivetti. That was some pretty radical stuff that actually made me love a character I’d previously hated since the Age of Apocalypse had ended.
comb & razor
April 28, 2008 at 2:11 am
i think i’m most excited about Ambush Bug and the new Love & Rockets. Jasons Aaron and Pearson on the Joker too, i guess.
(seriously, though… how could you not have read anything by Cary Bates?)
MarxWatch » Middleman SUPER Trade!
April 28, 2008 at 4:58 am
[…] Comic Book Resources reports (ctrl+f for “Middleman”) that Viper Comics is releasing a trade paperback graphic novel in May featuring ALL THREE Middleman story arcs for only $20! […]
Steve Bryant
April 28, 2008 at 5:00 am
Thanks for the mention of my book, Athena Voltaire, Greg.
And my most sincere apologies to you and Andrew Collins (and anyone else who’s been wondering where we are).
A funny thing happened on the way to our follow-up series, The Legend of Mu-King.
My son, Chance, started experiencing some pretty troubling behavioral issues in kindergarten. It took a while to determine if it was chemical-based or a byproduct of his parents getting divorced.
Right around the time that we got that ship righted, Paul Daly and I had a falling out. Lawyers became involved. As is the case with any situation that involves lawyers, I was advised to not talk about AV. At all. Believe me, it was frustrating to hear folks say “Where the heck is this book?” and not be able to respond.
As Paul and my situation was nearing resolution, my dad died. Coincidentally, this coincided with my drawing 24: Cold Warriors. I apologize for my work on that to all 24 fans, as well.
Finally, Paul and I reached an agreement. Paul is leaving the title and I’ll be carrying on as both writer and artist. As a part of our agreement, Paul is taking his toys with him, which means that the previously-solicited follow-up, The Legend of Mu-King, is dead. Both Chad Fidler and Jason Millet will be returning as collaborators, sharing the color artist duties.
I’m in the process of drawing a new follow-up, Athena Voltaire and the Volcano Goddess, to be released by Ape Entertainment in late 2008 (shooting for November). The Volcano Goddess will be a 64-page stand-alone done-in-one graphic novella. I chose this format in an effort to win back retailer and reader confidence. It’s one book, no waiting for subsequent issues.
I’m very sorry for the delays and my silence during the past 18 months. Believe me, it’s been tough.
I wanted to time the announcement to match with the solicitation of the new book. If I had announced on comics news sites back in March when we resolved things, it may have been forgotten by the time the FoF trade was announced. So look for me to be hitting as many comics news sites and podcasts as possible in the coming weeks.
Here’s a shot from the forthcoming Volcano Goddess book:
http://www.athenavoltaire.com/av_vg14.jpg
Thanks for your patience and understanding.
–Steve
The Fortress Keeper
April 28, 2008 at 7:47 am
Journey was a great book, featuring the rugged exploits of a mountain man.
Kind of Eisner-esque, in its own way.
"O" the Humanatee!
April 28, 2008 at 8:17 am
Journey is perhaps my all-time favorite comic book, and everyone should read it. It combines (wonderfully) American history, human drama, adventure, humor, woodlore, bears, and occasional brushes with surreality, all grounded in the person of one Joshua “Wolverine” MacAlistaire, stoic woodsman (not “mountain man,” Fortress Keeper, unless there are significant mountains in Michigan that I’m unaware of). The bear chase in issue 1 is worth the price alone.
Dan Bailey
April 28, 2008 at 8:27 am
Y’know, I’ve never touched an issue of Previews in my life (my habits were formed back in the primordial era of corner-store spinner racks, & while I’m not sure exactly when Previews came into existence, it was sometime while I was taking the ’80s & ’90s & early ’00s off, & I guess it’s too late to teach an old dog new tricks), & I’m glad of it … If I had ANY IDEA of how much I was destined to (want to) spend over the coming months, I’d probably lapse into near-suicidal despair. Bad enough that you give me at least a sampler of what lies ahead, you terrible person.
*siiiiiiigh*
Anyway, good to see that Middleman TPB in the offing. Means I can cross the individual issues &/or previous compendiums off my want list in the meantime.
For some reason, the first 7 or so issues of Zot did very little for me when I read them about a year ago. (I’ve accumulated the entire run except for #33, which apparently is rarer than heck. I think I’ve seen references to some major character “coming out” in that one, which I guess might have something to do with its scarcity.) Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood, or something.
Quite a few items are definitely on my radar — Dugout, True Believers, Pistolfist (I thought the single Alias issue was pretty darned neat, actually) , Ambush Bug, I Kill Giants & undoubtedly others. I can only hope that certain publishers have the decency to help me prune my pull list with a few strategic cancellations, just so I can afford the new stuff. Or maybe I already see what that tax incentive check, or whatever it’s called, is going to be squirreled away for …
Greg Burgas
April 28, 2008 at 10:59 am
Steve: Thanks for the update, and the candor. I’m sorry to hear about your troubles - I know how “real-life” stuff can have a huge adverse effect on your work. It’s good to hear that things seem to be sorted out, and I’m looking forward to The Volcano Goddess.
Sorry about tempting you, Dan - I just enjoy pointing out the good stuff that’s on tap!
Patrick Lemaire
April 28, 2008 at 11:07 am
The Captain America trades included the Civil war issues as well as the Winter Soldier Special so I guess you mean that the trades didn’t include the House of M crossover issue (but it was printed in another trade with other series)
Zot! That’s great but why start with those early issues which while great, they earned a Kirby award after all, aren’t the best. We need the last black and white issues, including the Eisner award winning story. I’ve been missing two issues for twenty years to complete my run.
Dizzy D
April 28, 2008 at 11:20 am
Universal War One? That’s…. an odd choice. I have it all and it’s not bad at all , but it’s not one of the really popular/great titles over here. I wonder how Marvel selects titles for their new imprint.
At least Humanoids had some big names on their list.
Craig
April 28, 2008 at 11:26 am
Odds and ends…
- I’m horribly uneducated on Warren Ellis’ work in general, but didn’t his X-work have something to do with Pete Wisdom, who I believe is going to appear in Captain Britain and the MI-13? I could be waaaaay off base, though.
- William Messner-Loebs and I shared an elevator ride at a hotel during the Motor City Comic-Con in 2006. He looked disdainfully at me, because I was sorta hung over. I don’t hold it against him; he’s a pretty cool guy. I bet his new book will be good.
- Consider me burned by Diamond’s Summer Sizzler Sale. I grabbed all the Gotham Central TPBs except Half A Life (volume two, with the Montoya/Two-Face story), which is nigh-impossible to find. I figured it was my best chance to get most of them, and then I could track down the single backissues to fill in the cracks. Then DC decides to start putting out some swanky high-class hardcovers, which looks like they won’t skip material this time. Bah.
- I am a huge Longshot fan. 25 bucks puts me on the fence for the collected miniseries. I bet I could get them individually, for cheaper, if I know where to look.
- No one that is reading Kick-Ass is going to go “hey, wait a minute… this isn’t very realistic!” and stop buying it. Instead, they go “haha, testicular electrocution is funny!” and pad Millar’s pocketbook.
TimGunn
April 28, 2008 at 12:08 pm
the reasoning behind reprinting Ellis’s X-Force is that 1. the X-Force revival was the top selling book in February and 2. Ellis is returning to the x-world soon with Astonishing X-Men
and yes, counter x did deal with Pete Wisdom who will be in MI-13
Andrew Collins
April 28, 2008 at 12:20 pm
To Steve Bryant: Thanks for the update! I’m sorry to hear about your troubles and hope they are (or will be) working out okay. It’s too bad Mu-King won’t be coming out, but I’m excited for the new special. The jpg suggests a Hollywood setting, which should be very cool (I love stories set in 1930’s Hollywood!)
To Dan Bailey: The first Zot story, “Doorway At The End Of The Universe” is good, but not the strongest story of the series. Zot was one of those comics that just got better as it went along. And yes, issue #33 is the ‘coming out’ issue and is a lot of peoples’ favorite issue of the series, which might explain its rarity…
Greg Burgas
April 28, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Patrick: Oops, yeah, I meant the House of M issue of Captain America. My bad. It wasn’t great, but it bugged me that it wasn’t in the trades.
I’m sure it’s because of Ellis’ return to the X-Universe, but this wasn’t where Pete Wisdom was introduced, was it? Wasn’t that in Excalibur a few years earlier? So where are the trades of those????? It just seemed a somewhat random choice to promote both the new MI 13 book and Astonishing X-Men.
Michael
April 28, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Ellis created Pete Wisdom for Excalibur as his standard “chain-smoking British acerbic stand-in for me.” He then shoehorned him into X-Force (which he wasn’t actually writing, just plotting the first arc).
Marvel’s reprinting the Counter-X X-Force as opposed to his Excalibur because (a) they’re actually publishing a book called X-Force now, and (b) it’s more recent (i.e., after the time they started keeping these files around electronically) and therefore easier for the trade department to throw together.
Annoyed Grunt
April 28, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Really, not writing a comic makes Jenna Jameson too busy for porn?
punch
April 28, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Absolute Ronin? No way I can resist that.
Also, I loved Stroman’s work on X- factor. It’d be interesting to see what his work looks like now.
Hondo
April 28, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Hellboy by Richard Corben ! How perfect is that ? His work is over the top airbrush but with the right writer and a decent story (loved that Cage Max mini a few years back), Corben’s stuff is too cool. Too bad we don’t see his stuff more often.
BPRD by Guy Davis. Like above : great characters and underexposed artistic talent = must buy
Conan - I love that Dark Horse is giving this classic character their usual top tier treatment. I’m not into all the manga but I love it when Dark Horse works some of these classics like Conan, Doc Savage, the Shadow, etc.
Groo - ok but I’ve personally never understood how some guys are crazy nuts about him. Glad it works for Evanier & Aragones, though. Both super nice guys.
Joker’s Asylum - so so concept but that line up of creators make it a must buy
Ambush Bug - One of the few characters I’ll buy anywhere anyhow by darned neared anyone. Great to see the Bug again !
Ronin - $ 99 ?! Much as I love me some Miller and this story still holds up, this is definitely overpriced.
Catwoman - At one time this was one of the very best titles DC published under folks like Bru and Darwyn Cooke. I hate to see it go and apparently I’m in the minority, that even though I like Harley Quinn, I’m not wild about the whole Holly & Harley thing.
Gotham Central - Maybe DC’s finally waking up and seeing Bru’s success over at Marvel and riding their coattails by putting out more GC. I think this would sell in a Omnibus version. Michael Lark to boot ! How great is that ?
Godland - Easily the best thing Image has published in years. This too needs a complete collection. It’s ending soon ?
Universal War One - Never assume ! I never would have dreamed that modern day Marvel would ante up and put out such a sharp product ! This feels more like the glory days of Epic ! I’m very impressed. Hopefully this will continue.
True Believers - Cary Bates & Paul Gulacy. Wow, what an unusually classic team. These two have never worked together that I can recall and Bates hasn’t been heard of since Capt Atom, roughly 20 years or so ago. This could be great !
Tiki Joe - Vintage Vegas. That’s all I need to know.
more Deitch !! Anything with that name is an instant sale to me. I would love to have some of his original art. A truly unique style in the same kind of way that Crumb or Bagge are uniquely their own person.
Great seeing Zot get some more love. I have a near complete run from back when Eclipse originally published it. Way ahead of its time and highly recommended. Not a manga fan but this was just all out cool.
Journey is probably the very best work William Messner-Loebs ever did. Yes, it reminded me too of some of the best of Eisner. Good to see someone get it back into print.
Doug M.
April 28, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Zot is probably worth picking up; that series got better over time.
Journey is back! That’s wonderful — it was one of the most underrated independent comics of the ’80s. It’s set in Michigan back when Michigan was raw frontier full of Indians and wild animals, with just a few white settlers moving in. The War of 1812 is about to break out; nobody knows it yet, but it’s clear some sort of confrontation is shaping up.
The first two issues are both absolute gems. #1 has the protagonist being chased by a bear, and… that’s pretty much it. But it’s excellent: one of the best action sequences I’ve ever read anywhere. #2 is a sort of detective story, in which he stumbles on a very odd situation at an isolated homestead in the woods. Again, excellent. I might pay $20 just to get those two again.
Subsequent issues were very hit and miss; some were excellent, some much less so. And he gradually got sucked into a long, rambling plotline involving a utopian settlement deep in the Michigan woods that never really went anywhere. But it’s still well worth your time.
Hm. How many comics have there been that are
– non-superhero;
– historic;
– set in a period and place that doesn’t get much coverage in high school history books or pop culture, and
– good?
Not many. Not many at all. So, Journey would be worth a look for that alone.
Doug M.
Dan Bailey
April 28, 2008 at 6:03 pm
>>Hm. How many comics have there been that are
– non-superhero;
– historic;
– set in a period and place that doesn’t get much coverage in high school history books or pop culture, and
– good?<<
Ah … I sense another recruit for my campaign to convince DC to start giving us Showcase Presents: Tomahawk!
Otherwise, nice to hear from others that Zot improved as it went along. Those first few issues that I’ve read weren’t bad by any means … they just weren’t anywhere near exceptional.
Hondo
April 28, 2008 at 7:15 pm
DC esp has some great non-superhero genre stuff. I’d love to see Tomahawk, Firehair, Tor (I think Dark Horse was collecting these though), more Sgt Rock, Scalphunter…
Blair
April 29, 2008 at 1:18 am
I saw that American Flagg three book thing you were talking about - what’s it all about - anyone know???
Greg Burgas
April 29, 2008 at 6:51 am
Blair: Andrew Collins mentioned up there that those American Flagg! hardcovers were by Graffiti Design and were from when First was still in business. They apparently released them to pre-empt the Image release.
Dan Bailey
April 29, 2008 at 8:22 am
Hondo –
Not to metnion Sea Devils — Russ Heath at his (very considerable) finest!
Blair
April 29, 2008 at 11:12 am
Doh!
Elijah
April 29, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I sit alone in a four corner room, flippin’ through Previews…
(Don’t know why these always make me think of that lyric.)
Jason McNamara
May 3, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Greg,
I know I’m a little late to this party but I wanted to thank you for putting a spotlight on The Martian Confederacy. Would it make you more or less interested in the book if I mentioned the rednecks consisted of a horny tri sexual robot, a drinking bear and a complete moron? And that it’s a comedy inspired by American super conglomerate Betchels attempt to privatize the drinking water of Brazil?
I’m also stoked to see Adam Beechen’s Dug Out coming out from AiT/Planet Lar. He’s a great writer who got pushed on a sword for Countdown.
Greg Burgas
May 6, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Jason: Well, I did order it, so the text did something right! Actually, it was more your involvement that sold me on it. I hope you come back and see what I thought of it!
Jason McNamara
May 6, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Greg,
Wow, thanks for the kind words.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the book.