CSBG Archive
Sunday Brunch: 6/21/09
Spend Father’s Day by ignoring your children and reading about comics on the internet!
HAPPY! I’m a kid at Christmas every time Abhay puts a new review up on Savage Critics, and this time it’s a review of Gus and His Gang:
I think about that episode basically all the time. And by all the time, I mean the time I spend looking at internet pornography. I could have been a genius, cam whores! All that time, lost! To the internet, magazines, flipbooks. On one confusing yet magical night, a rerun of BARNEY MILLER. Lost, so much time lost! There are entire advanced degrees I could have earned. If I had that time back? I could have easily earned a Ph.D. You would have to call me DOCTOR SHITHEAD in the comments section of this post.
DOPEY! So the Clone Saga is coming back– sorta. In that there’s a six issue mini which retells it, but “the right way!” Or something. Read the solicitation for yourself, and ask: would a just and loving God allow such a thing to happen?
SPIDER-MAN: THE CLONE SAGA #1 (of 6).
Written by HOWARD MACKIE & TOM DEFALCO
Penciled by TODD NAUCK
Cover by PASQUAL FERRY
You’ve been asking for it…and now it’s here: THE CLONE SAGA!!! Marvel’s most controversial event of all time returns with a vengeance, presenting the Clone Saga as it was originally intended to be told! From the minds behind the crossover that changed comics forever and the artist that introduced Spider-Man to President Obama, it’s six issues of twists and turns that will shock fans old and new alike! Be here as Peter Parker’s worst nightmare begins again…now with an ending you have to see to believe!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
I mean, I liked Ben Reilly well enough, and I like that out-of-fashion creators like Mackie and DeFalco are still getting gigs, as they should, but this story is about as necessary as X-Men Forever, which is to say… more unnecessary than Lindsay Lohan undergoing gastric bypass surgery.
But maybe this interview with Mackie and DeFalco themselves will convince you. Big Tommy D himself says:
We are crafting a limited series that will appeal to anyone who has ever had any affection for Peter Parker or Spider-Man. If you loved the original Clone Saga, you will definitely love this limited series. If you hated the original Saga, this series will make you a true believer. If you never read the original saga, you can finally join the fun. This series will be totally accessible to new readers and it’ll take you on one of the wildest thrill rides in the history of Spider-Man. Hey, even if you don’t like Spider-Man, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll still enjoy this story.
So it will have something for everyone, it seems.
BASHFUL! Some Marvel comics were too shy to appear in solicitations. Bleeding Cool has the info on those, as well as some mini’s coming out in the following months. It’s an event-within-an-event! Hey, remember, before someone went with the term “story arc,” when they were called “mini-series-within-a-series”? And now they’re everywhere? Hmm.
GRUMPY! I’m sure Burgas is happy about that Moon Knight news, but I’m kinda surly about somebody beating me to a Brother Voodoo ongoing series. Oh, I’m sorry– Doctor Voodoo. Because the Sorcerer Supreme title comes with a Ph.D, now. But Rick Remender’s ideas sound pretty cool, and I’m very glad he’s keeping the character in New Orleans, so I will definitely give the series a try, hoping it will fill that Captain Britain-sized hole in my heart.
SLEEPY! You all attended Winsor McCay Day in Spring Lake, Michigan, right? You know, Winsor McCay, genius creator of Little Nemo in Slumberland? I’m sure it was worth braving the fabled beast-ridden jungles of Michigan.
SNEEZY! Well, I suppose it’s nothing to sneeze at that Wednesday Comics’ Superman strip will be running in USA Today, but I’m a bit bummed that only the first installment will actually appear in the print version of the paper. But then, now that the paper’s a dollar per issue, I can’t justify buying it regularly no matter how good the crossword puzzle is.
DOC! Neill Cameron’s A-Z of Awesomeness is going to be a page to keep up with for the duration of the alphabet, though I suspect it’s Already Achieved the Apex of Awesomesaucem with this little number– I mean, letter:
SNOW WHITE! Lots of it, in fact, in this trailer for the much-delayed Whiteout movie adaptation. Have we seen this before? It’s new to me.
REMAKE/REMODEL at Whitechapel this week is Digambara Samiyar, the holy hermit who fights crime. Yes, really. Some lovely pieces this week, but I have to share Ken Miller’s, because its awesome quotient is through the roof on the Sims scale. And his sequel ideas further down the thread are even more badass.
NICE DAY FOR A BILLY IDOL REFERENCE: Artist Carly Monardo would like to pay for her upcoming wedding– so she’s taking commissions. So pony up a few bucks and get that picture of Darkhawk and Sleepwalker making out that you’ve always wanted. Maybe.
NOT COMICS DEPT: I hope at least some of you would agree that Woody Allen is quite probably our greatest living screenwriter, and yes, he’s got yet another movie coming out– Whatever Works, starring Larry David. There’s a very good interview/article/examination of Jewish humor in America at New York magazine’s website. Yes, the article is nearly a month old, but IMDB only just linked to it, and the movie’s just out, so deal with it. I particularly like this passage:
“My story is, whatever works, as long as you don’t hurt anybody,” he says as the movie starts. When I ask Allen if the line represents the Weltanschauung of his thirtysomething or current self, he says his outlook hasn’t changed: “Yes, whatever works to get you through is fine, and not necessarily in relation to relationships. If it’s collecting stamps obsessively, or listening to ball scores, if you’re not encroaching on anyone else, then that’s what you have to do. I think from a philosophic point of view, existence is a nightmare. If you are honest with yourself, it’s a painful thing to go through. You know, the time goes.” He pauses, winces, shrugs. “And then, it stops.”
I think that could apply to quite a few comic fans, don’t you?
STILL NOT COMICS DEPT: This is not the plot to Ghostbusters III, but if it were, I would most probably enjoy it.
6 Comments
Dave
June 21, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I know it’s a marketing gimmick, but I sort of love that Marvel is using “controversial” as a stand-in for “cost the Spiderbooks over half their audience in the span of about six months.”
Eric
June 21, 2009 at 2:59 pm
So…on that cover…Spider-Man v. Clone Spider-Man — Spidey’s first move is going for the titty twister? That’s pretty cocky of him, don’t you think?
Oinkman
June 21, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Wasn’t the Clone Saga done right in Ultimate Spider-Man?
Alan Coil
June 21, 2009 at 3:31 pm
“Some Marvel comics were too shy to appear in solicitations.”
I’m not sure what you are saying here. I seldom look at the solicits for Marvel and DC because too much prior information often spoils the fun of the comic.
Is Marvel just putting SOME of their solicits online? Are they missing from Previews, too? Or is Marvel trying to pump up expectations be being cryptic?
Ian A.
June 21, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Alan,
A few of Marvel’s solicits were listed as “classified” (held off as not to spoil the con announcements this weekend), but something like half a dozen were flat out missing from the online release. It seems many of the missing solicits will be in Marvel’s Preview supplement for the month, though. Someone, I guess, forgot to copy and paste.
Chris Bloom
June 22, 2009 at 7:36 am
That is a sad, sad quote from Allen.
This makes me think that Woody Allen is the Clone Spider-Man. I mean, if you just got your nipple tweaked by someone with the proportional strength of a spider, you’d think life was a nightmare too.