Wow, thanks for the kind words.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the book.

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.

(Don’t know why these always make me think of that lyric.)

Not to metnion Sea Devils — Russ Heath at his (very considerable) finest!

– 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.

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.

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.

Also, I loved Stroman’s work on X- factor. It’d be interesting to see what his work looks like now.

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.

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.

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…

and yes, counter x did deal with Pete Wisdom who will be in MI-13

- 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.